Human Factors International — “Recent research on usability techniques is yielding some interesting results, and may point us in different directions in the future. Do we stay the course of tradition, or do we embrace growth and change?”
This is a must read: New trends in usability testing
Let’s start with four examples:
Pet Comfort Products Page Strength (2/10) — “Your website/page is a relative unknown. Search engines and humans are (for the time being) infrequent visitors. Consider the accessibility of the URL, the desirability of the content and your marketing efforts online; all can have great impact on your reach.”
InvestorGeeks Page Strength (3.5/10) — “Although not a considerable presence, your site/page is making inroads online. Visitor traffic and search engine visibility is within your grasp.”
WebWord Page Strength (6.5/10) — “You’re running with the big brands and sites, making content that engines and visitors can’t help but gobble up. All that’s left now is to leverage your power and push ever onwards, towards utter ubiquity.”
Yahoo Page Strength (10/10) — “Among the most popular and important sites/pages on the web; you’ve achieved near legendary status. Congratulations!”
– — – — –
From the web site: The tool is designed to satisfy the curiosity of webmasters, surfers and web marketing professionals seeking a better metric to quickly assess a site/page’s relative importance and visibility.
Overall, this is one of coolest search engine optimization (SEO) tools that I have seen.
On Jason Calacanis’s web site I see the following note: All contents copyright Jason Calacanis. I’m 99% sure that Jason can invoke copyright for a blog. But, does copyright include comments? That is, if I post something, Jason holds the copyright?
What about John Rhodes and WebWord? Well, I expect copyright for my articles, reports, blog postings, reports, and so forth. I also feel it is appropriate to use comments in various ways, such as quotes for other postings. Very mild stuff; loose interpretation.
When you post something on WebWord or any other blog, do you feel that you own it? Who holds copyright? Who should hold copyright? I suppose that this isn’t a matter of opinion but a matter of law. I should just look it up but I’d prefer that a sharper tack provide us with guidance on legal matters.
I’m surprised that this has not flared up recently. Copyright vis-à-vis blogs was a messy topic a few years back when blogging was the new kid on the block, changing the world, and killing off traditional media. Giggle. Now some of the Big Brains are moving on.
In any event…
With all the Web 2.0 hype, including user contributed content and debates about paying bloggers, isn’t this a Big Deal? I mean, I think it is 95.73% hype, but it does have some traction. Where’s the firestorm over ownership and rights and all that legal schtuff? Do I just float in the wrong circles, or what?
Is it an All Your Base Are Belong to Jason Calacanis world?
For your reading pleasure: Pet Poop Bag and Pet Poop Removal This is an effective use of the word poop in my opinion. Back in 2004 I wrote a blog posting where I used butt which was also appropriate. So, there are times where these sensitive words make sense.
However, I’ve definitely used words in articles that were not effective or not entirely appropriate. Ironically, the first was an article on language use (Crap, Sucks, Turd, Puke!). The second was the Voyeur Web, which was about watching others on the web. Unfortunately, since I used the words crap, turd, and voyeur in those articles I get a lot of useless and untargeted traffic.
Words matter.
Please tell me that I am not the only person vexed by the term vertical search? Did I lose touch? Has the blogosphere passed me by? Did Web 2.0 ruin my brain? Is Ajax already old skool?
“Instead of just being aware of your current reputation and monitoring it retroactively, you can take practical and positive steps to promote your online identity as you you see fit.”
What do others know about you? And, what do you want them to know? How do you plan ahead to create the the right Digital You? What matters? What tools are available?
“MySpace, it’s the biggest social network out on the web today. It has everything people are looking for in a networking environment: the ability to add friends, leave comments, message members, create blogs, publish music, and much more. It’s also one of the butt-ugliest websites out there. What’s ironic is that in all practicality, bad design (or a poor UI) should inhibit user experience, yet MySpace suffers no such fate.”
What do you think of the redesign (png) versus the original?
User Experience Podcast — “User Experience Discussions”
“As we grow older we learn that more isn’t always better. More toys mean more to move, more cake means a bigger waist line and staying up late means less sleep. Expressions our parents taught us like ”quality not quantity” and “less is more” start to make sense and we finally understand the value of simplicity.” (Read the entire posting from Casie Gillette)
Less isn’t always more. Sometimes less is less. For example, I’ve seen some consumer electronic interfaces where there is so little guidance and information that I cannot take any reasonable actions. For example, some DVD players now only offer operation via the remote control. That’s great if your remote is handy and the batteries are juiced up.
Here’s my interpretation of this copywriting…
Short version:
DREAM / EMOTION
MONEY / POWER
SPECIAL / UNIQUE
PROMISE / TRUST
SIMPLE / CONTROL
LOW RISK / GUARANTEE
MORE FOR LESS / BONUS
ASK FOR ORDER
Long Version:
dream (headline, big)
money (big money, promise of money)
you can do it (you’re capable)
intro of connection (I understand you)
you’re different (special, you have hope)
dream (get what you want, appeal to emotion)
promise (the answer is available, now)
trust (build trust, trusting words)
easy (not too much effort for huge benefit)
reduce pain (you’re suffering; here’s answer)
easy money (not too much work to reach dream)
big money (huge pie, huge opportunity)
big money (really huge, provide outside proof)
money reinforce (you can grab piece of pie)
money reinforce (you can do it)
other “smart” have done it (proof of others)
everything you need (you don’t need more; all here)
story with money punchline (personal connection story)
elite, prestigious (unique, special, you’ll be in club)
everything you need (all in one, all here)
unique, special, no others like it (limited, special)
special, for you; any can, few will (targeted to you)
secret, join the club (one of a kind opportunity, invest)
control, dream and grasp it (you have the choice, control)
cost, but investment, or life, or always (give, but get)
what you’ll get, big benefits (huge payback, worth it)
easy to join, easy to start (not hard at all, easy, simple)
no risk, guarantee (nothing to worry about, obvious choice)
you’re smart for doing this (good move, good thinking)
wrap up (call to action, act now, do it, click, smart)
order (button, ask for sale, make it big, sale)
p.s., bonus (get more free, for taking action now, smart)
order (big button again)
I’m not even sure what I should write. I’m kind of stuck.
The story is simple. A couple of days ago I launched a new home page for WebWord. It was a Faustian bargain. In exchange for a new home page I’m now dealing with the following problems:
I’m sure there are other problems too. Sadness prevails and the children are crying.
In any event, I just wanted to let you know that I am aware of the issues and I’ll do my best to get everything fixed. If you need to reach me simply post a comment here. Oh, wait, scratch that. Instead, throw me an email: johnATwebwordDOTcom.
* sigh *
23-July –> Update: FIXED! (Thanks MadMan and Jason!)
18-July –> Update: Something is broken. Trying to figure it out…
I recently launched the new WebWord home page. In line with that effort, I’m trying to adjust my other efforts to increase the focus on readers and customers. I tend to say what I want to say without first asking for input from readers, like you. That needs to change. I need your help to make improvements.
So, with that said, here are some jump start questions:
Please post your comments…
You are currently browsing the WebWord weblog archives for July, 2006.
