September
1, 2004
In
This Issue:
1. Selling Simple Web Design
2. In the News - Yahoo Blog, MoreGoogle
3. More News Headlines
4. This Week's Q&A - Business Blog Examples
5. Wrapping It Up
_________________
Selling Simple Web Design
It happened again. While discussing design ideas with a potential
client who wants a site re-design, the potential client suggested
it would be a good idea to turn the home page into an animation
showing the old site going away and being replaced by the new site.
Well, no, it wouldn't. Web users don't care for "jazzy" and "fun" home
pages, at least not from the typical business web site. Maybe from
disney.com or pbskids.org, but not from Tri-City Widgets, Inc.
Jakob Nielsen is a "usability guru" who's been preaching
user-centered ideas for a long time online. His latest column talks
about web design, and he sells the need for "simple, unobtrusive
designs that support users." Now, some of what Nielsen has
written about over the years is pretty extreme, and his writings
are occasionally debated to no end in web design circles. I don't
always agree with what he says, but he's right on with this latest
column.
On owtweb.com, we call it "simple, elegant" design --
that's our philosophy. Get out of your customer's way; make it
easy for them to find what they want from your web site. As Nielsen
says, "A simple user interface is not boring. It excites users
because it lets them connect with the content and engage the company
behind the site." Amen to that.
Mastery, Mystery, and Misery: The Ideologies of Web Design
_________________
In The News
Yahoo! Launches a Blog
Blogs were the big topic of discussion in the last newsletter
a couple weeks ago, and wouldn't you know - the very next day the
folks at Yahoo! launched their own blog. They are, frankly, off
to a slow start (just like Google is with their blog), but you
have to start somewhere. And unlike Google, Yahoo is allowing public
comment in their blog postings, which means you can, in theory,
chat directly with Yahoo.
Yahoo Search Blog
More Google
MoreGoogle is a new utility for Windows user that enhances how
Google works when you use it for search. The main enhancement
it offers is the displaying of web page thumbnail images
right in your
search results, which is something I'd like to see Google
add on their own. MoreGoogle also claims to offer some additional
enhancements,
but as a Mac user, I can't speak directly to how well these
work or how useful they are. The utility is free and it's
only a
300k download. Windows users can check it out and let me
know
if you
like it.
MoreGoogle
There's a web site which tries to do a similar thing with
thumbnail images next to Google SERPs, but it only seems
to work about
half the time I try.
ggler
_________________
More News Headlines
Here are a few news headlines worth your time to read.
These are just some of the headlines we've posted
to OWTweb.com in recent
days.
How effective is your keyword research?
August 30, 2004 - ClickZ.com
When to optimize and when to advertise
August 30, 2004 - ISEDB.com
The leading sites in online customer experience, according to
a new survey
August 20, 2004 - Internet Retailer
Vividence says the most common frustration in online shopping,
cited by 25% of respondents as among the 10 biggest problems,
is being forced to register in order to make a purchase.
More headlines: http://www.owtweb.com/news/
_________________
This Week's Q&A
Matt,
I'm interested in what you wrote in this week's newsletter about
blogs. Can you recommend some business blogs that show how they're
being used?
Jill
Hi Jill --
Probably the most well-known is a blog done by Robert Scoble,
a "technical
evangelist" at Microsoft. He definitely sells Microsoft in
many of his posts, but he also writes about (and replies to) a
lot of the anti-Microsoft public sentiment. And he has a disclaimer
that says everything on the blog is his opinion without anyone
at MSFT filtering or approving what he says.
Business 2.0, one of my favorite print magazines, has a blog
that offers daily news, links, and commentary that doesn't
fit in the
magazine itself. Macromedia has a blog for developers. And,
of course, there are the previously mentioned Google and
Yahoo company
blogs.
Robert Scoble
B2Day
Macromedia
GoogleBlog
Yahoo Search Blog
(Have a question? Email questions@owtweb.com)
_________________
Wrapping it Up
Those of you who like Dilbert, or just appreciate the humor of
corporate life, should enjoy this:
The Adventures of Action Item
Thanks for reading,
Matt McGee
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