iBizDaily

This is a good article:

I've always found it ironic that some of the most fancy hotels have some of the worst websites in the world. It's the same with restaurants. Both are long serving fans of Flash and autosound, and the result can be hellish.

If websites are particularly bad, and if I'm the one tasked with booking or buying something, then I can tell you for a fact that I will look elsewhere. The problem is that there isn't always an 'elsewhere'. Luxury brands pride themselves on their uniqueness, after all. If your better half wants some Jimmy Choo for her birthday then that's what you need to buy.

I work a lot with luxury retailers (and have also done work for hotels and restaurants) - and many of the clients tend to still have a lot of misconceptions about the internet in general and what a "website" really is. What you can't forget in the end is that even if you are a Gucci or Ferrari or whatever - you still have to have a website that defines the user's definition/expectation of a website. Can you market or brand and have one off amazing visuals, images, presentations, movies, etc. Yes, definitely - but in the right place and at the right time (meaning, not onload when someone firsts visits!). But the web still has a core demographic of people looking for information.

And if they have come to your website, they usually want to be able to find that information, in a click or two. Splash screens, pop ups, begging people to join your email list or like your Facebook page, auto play music, etc. - these are distractions and at worse turn users off so much that they leave your site and maybe even begin to have a negative feeling towards your brand or business. So don't blow it. Read the article and get an idea of some of the specific mistakes still being made.

I have a very difficult time convincing many clients that you can't just add random email addresses to your newsletter list, etc. Most people just don't take it seriously. But spam is not only annoying - but illegal. Case in point - Papa John's.

I know a small business owner is probably never going to be gone after in the same way - but a fact is a fact. Spamming anyone, via text, email, etc. is bad business, bad manners, and against the law. Don't do it.

A mostly interesting article - which somehow doesn't mention the Internet or the influence social networks and sites like Polyvore have on global fashion trends:

How Zara Grew Into the World's Largest Fashion Retailer From an unfashionable corner of economically disheveled Spain, Zara has conquered the "fast fashion" market by learning a new way to understand shoppers all over the world.

Via SEOMOZ I see on Quora.com "What is the single best piece of SEO advice?"

My advice: Forget about SEO.

Okay seriously - I think SEO is just an industry buzzword for common sense. My SEO technique is anti-SEO or maybe deconstructive SEO. Meaning you will get your best SEO results by forgetting about SEO. Just do everything like a human would, and use common sense. Correctly name and label all files, folders, directories, etc. like a human - not a machine (i.e. words, not numbers). Write original content. Make list and references. Use great original photos and video. Blog, tweet, tumble and use Facebook. Answer questions. Comment in other places. But just keep working - and forget about SEO.

The last part of a four part series from Forbes, "Amazon In Fashion: Give The Lady What She Wants" details some new and innovating marketing techniques tying the social web into real bricks and mortar shopping by Amazon and other retailers.

Amazon is making a big move to be the world's global fashion retailer, and with their penchant for foregoing profits and throwing money at something until it works - they may just succeed.

You would think this would be easy - Google Analytics is such a sophisticated product and really can do some amazing things (for some examples just do a search on something like "top ten Google Analytics tips").

But searching around for this, even searching the exact phrase "Tracking outbound clicks with Google Analytics", first brings you to an outdated (!) page on Google's own website (why Google is not smart enough to point to the more relevant new page is beyond my area of expertise).

When you finally find what you are looking for, you get a detailed yet lacking explanation of how to track outbound clicks. Two examples are given - for (the newer) Asynchronous Code (which seems to be the only code still available) and for the older Traditional (ga.js) Code (you will have to decide which one to use - but if you are not using the newer code now is probably a good time to update to it anyway).

You have to put this extra code into the HTML Head of all your pages - (extra meaning that you also need to have your regular Google Analytics code in place). The key part which took some trial an error on my part, is that this code must be ABOVE the regular part of your Analytics code. I know this would probably seem logical to most people, but why something this simple can't be better explained, and an example shown, is beyond me. Unfortunately while it sounds relatively simple here, this process, by the dozens if not hundreds of posts you can find and variations and permutations there are of it, has driven hundreds of people insane.

So remember - to track clicks using Events in Google Analytics, go here for the latest code, place it in your HTML head before your Google Analytics code, change the parameters accordingly in your links (detailed also on the page linked to), and then wait a day to see your results. They should appear as "Events" in your "Content" category menu, and you can drill down further from there for specific results. Good luck -

I have been coming across a fair amount of nudity if not outright pornographic images on Facebook when working for a client (fashion related stuff, which quickly led to fetish related stuff, etc) , and wondering just exactly what their policy is on pornography. It can be a little difficult to find, but here it is (from this page):

"You will not post content that: is hateful, threatening, or pornographic; incites violence; or contains nudity or graphic or gratuitous violence."

So I guess the thing is that people that post this kind of stuff have like minded friends, and they don't report each other, so the stuff stays up there? I am not talking about porno spam on your wall from a complete stranger, but photo galleries, wall posts, etc. containing pornography and more often than not copyrighted material.

I guess it pretty much amounts to a don't ask don't tell policy, or nudge, nudge, wink, wink - but to me it just screams again that Facebook's user numbers are inflated for all the wrong reasons (like the gazillion under age kids that use it, etc.).

The IAB is hosting a conference in Milan in a couple of weeks - I am hoping to attend and will blog from the event. My clients know that I have been pushing IAB standard sized ads forever, even though they always seem to push back...

Anyway looks like some interesting seminars and it will be great to meet some people in the business.

If you can take the engineered drone of Matt Cutts (sorry Matt - but you put me to sleep) there is some useful stuff in these videos: http://www.youtube.com/user/GoogleWebmasterHelp

Go read (hat tip to Jakob Nielsen).

Here is my take/addition to this article - people (chefs) just don't realize/know what they need, and they think that they have to sell or dress up their websites just like they do their food - and so they get sold on things by poor developers, or the developer just says yes to whatever the chef wants for fear of losing the job, etc. (and I bet that most chefs/restaurant owners are cheap when it comes to the web because they don't believe in it).

Anyway - there are basic simple concepts that must be followed, as always, no matter what the industry is and we talk about them all the time. Simple navigation, clean design, information quickly and easily. It isn't rocket science - there is no need to "tart" it up - especially in the increasingly mobile world.

This is all a restaurant website needs:

Hours, Location (and a map with directions or directions available via Google), contact phone and email, sample menu (no prices!), sample wine list, and a photo or two.

You want to go crazy and plan to update the site all the time? Add a current menu with prices, current wine list with prices, and a photo album. Perhaps a link to reviews on Yelp and TripAdvisor. Maybe a sign up form for a newsletter (but only if you are going to really send a newsletter).

Insanity levels would include a reservation system via form of some kind.

Otherwise, use blogger or Facebook to add current menu items, announce specials, news, etc. Anything else is really overkill, and not anything someone who wants to eat your food needs.

One of the things I am always going on about is using the tools that are out there. You can do a lot of pretty sophisticated things for free or very low cost. If you are an AdSense publisher, you should be getting their monthly email newsletter, which today contains this info about the new Google +1 button:

+1 Reporting is now available

In our last issue we told you all about the +1 button and how it can help you drive more and better qualified traffic to your site. This time, we're excited to share the new reporting tools Google has designed to help you keep track of your +1 activity.

The best place to find out how the +1 button is performing is in Google Webmaster Tools . You can get more information on how much additional organic search traffic the +1 button is bringing to your pages, how many times your pages have been +1'd by your users and demographic information for those users. If you haven't done so already, you'll need to verify your site on Google Webmaster Tools to get access to these features. In addition to this, Google Analytics is offering the new Social Plug-in Analytics tool. This will give you insight into the different types of actions taking place in your site once users reach it. You'll be able to compare behavior between users who +1 your pages and those who don't, as well as track other social actions and see which pages are driving the highest number of them.

It is good info, and stuff you should be on top of if you are running a web business, blog, or develop sites for clients.

I will admit to having bigger plans for this blog when I started it, but like most things I do the germination process can take years. I got it off the ground, but never really gave it the attention it needed. This post hopefully changes that.

I just added a couple of links in the blog roll in the right column - to asymco and Apple 2.0. These are both more business and news related but are things I think anyone who visits this site should probably be keeping an eye on.

I am also planning some articles on affiliate marketing and app making/design etc. As well as web advertising and development in general. Basically the things we work on and read about all day long.

So, more to come. Stay tuned -

Just one of those tips I am constantly looking up for clients - here it is, just add it to the style sheet:

#navbar-iframe { height:0px; visibility:hidden; display:none; }

Thanks to Amit at Digital Inspiration.