VKI Studios Blog

Social Search, Preroll ads and Facebook and China - Monday February 8th Roundup

Mon, 08 Feb 2010 11:24:00 -0800

The Olympics start this Friday, to a nice warm Vancouver February. With a week light on rain and heavy on spring temperatures, it looks like its going to be a gorgeous month. Well, unless you want stuff like snow and ice and all that "winter Olympics" stuff.

This week we have real time social search, tests on the best kind of video ad (and its a preroll ad, ugh), CSS3 tips and tricks, and Facebook in China.

Internet Marketing and SEO

We start the week with Huo Mah and a discussion of whetherSEO's should care about social search. Interestingly he distinguished between social search (or user generated quality scores--such as vote up, vote down,etc) and real time social search, or the "fire hose" of information that comes out of sites like Twitter.
Pre-roll ads suck. They really suck. In fact, they suck so badly that a research project to find a greater method of video advertising was assembled and they found that… advanced pre-roll ads have the greatest ROI. D#$#$*&#@$&*. The Ad Selector model developed by Hulu took the lead here. Unsurprisingly, letting people select ads they're more interested in resulted in higher click through.

Now my question is: how did this impact the user experience?

Technology

With CSS3 being supported in (most of) the newest set of browsers SixRevisions has covered 8 CSS tricks you should know. If you've been following CSS3 then you already know these, but if not they're pretty cool. My only complaint is the inclusion of ::selection while leaving out round borders/objects.
Another from SixRevisions, this time 15 resources found on Google Code. They include icon and button sets, code cleaning tools, footers, and more.

Web Analytics

Fresh off their hilarious mistakes with Apple history, the Harvard Business Blog releases a pretty good post on the problems with Vanity metrics. Oh a problem I know too well, as I look at our per post page views…
It aint anything new, but ROI Revolution has a pretty good summary of Google Analytics custom variables, and how to use them.

Web Usability

Numeric filters have usability problems like anything else. UXmatters has an especially dense piece on various numeric usability issues and how they solves them.
Simplicity is hard. Forum one reminds us of this with 5 lessons in keeping your design simple.

Miscellaneous links of the week:

Coming on the tail end of the Google/China clash, and reports of profile abuse by Facebook employees, Facebook has apparently deleted the Facebook page of Hong Kong Opposition groups. Oh Facebook, when will you learn not to be douchebags?
I don't normally post the Tyee in the roundup, for the last while they've been running a series on "marker culture", and this week its all hackers.

The Usability Mindset: What You Need to Know Before Implementing User-Centered Web Design

Thu, 04 Feb 2010 07:30:00 -0800

If you're serious about bringing usability practices into your organization, there's something you need to know before you even get started.

To succeed, you're going to have to shift the core belief system of your organization. If you can't pull this off, you'll encounter resistance at every turn, and your project is destined for failure.

Below are some of the fundamental shifts that must occur before a true user-centered web design process can succeed.

Management: Embracing User Experience as a Core Value

At many companies, management is still focused on ensuring milestones and met, and budgets and schedules are under control. User Experience, if considered at all, is secondary. A bonus. This mindset must change if usability practices are to succeed. Management has to appreciate that the company website must:

Be usable and satisfying to a wide range of users. (Users of different skill levels, with different needs, and working from different environments.)
Provide real business value and a measurable return on investment (sales, leads, or other key performance indicators).

A good user experience is not just "nice to have". It is critical for success, and must therefore be managed and measured.

Development Team: Shifting From the Feature/Technology Mindset

Often, the development team's priority is simply to build out the features that been identified as necessary by themselves or management. If the website contains all the required features and is delivered on time, that's good enough... even if it leads to a confusing clutter of features that real users simply don't want.

Similarly, the development team is often too focused on technology. They're tempted to use the latest/greatest tools, rather than producing what real users want: something simple and practical.

A fundamental shift in mindset is required: to identifying what users really want or need, and making those features easy and satisfying to use.

Achieving these shifts in mindset is difficult. A certain amount of conflict and misunderstanding is inevitable, which is why diplomatic and communication skills are essential to the usability engineer. If management and the development team are not on board — if they are not ready to embrace User Experience as a core value — then a user-centered project simply cannot succeed.

8 Metrics for Judging the Value of a Link

Wed, 03 Feb 2010 15:16:00 -0800

it takes more than age to judge the value of a link

Link building is one of the essential tactics all SEOs must know how to do if they have any hopes of getting a website to rank in Google's organic results. This will remain the case until the day in which Google decides to move away from a links based ranking algorithm.

A big part of the link building process is determining what the value of a link actually is, because without that you'll have no clue as to how much time and effort to invest into getting it. So let's take a look at a few metrics that will help you make that judgment about a link.

Does it even pass value?

There are many links out there than will simply not pass any link value. If you are looking for links that will help your rankings then this should be the first thing you check. Here is a quick rundown of what you should check for.

Check for nofollow. Use of nofollow will prevent any link value from being passed. You will need to check the Meta Robots tag, the X-Robots-Tag within the http headers and the actual link for nofollow.
Check for use of anything other than a regular html link. The link will most likely not be passing any value if it's using something other than html.
Watch out for redirects. If the links are being passed through a redirect then the majority of the time they are not going to count.

Cache date

The more trust a document or domain has in Google the more often they will revisit it and update their cache of it. You can check the cache date in Google by searching cache:www.example.com/page-you-want-to-check/. Look for something within the last 3 or 4 weeks.

Quantity and quality of links to domain

The amount of links a domain has pointing to it and the quality of those links are going to influence the amount of juice you are going to get from a link. To check the links for a domain, go to Yahoo and type in linkdomain:www.example.com -site:www.example.com. This will show you which links are pointing to the domain. Check both the amount (higher is better) of pages linking to it and the quality (you can use these 8 metrics) of those pages.

Quantity and quality of links to page

Run through the same process as you did when checking the domain's links except change your query in Yahoo to link:www.example.com/page-you-want-to-check/ -site:www.example.com.

Internal links pointing to the page

A link from a page that is linked to from other pages on the same domain is going to pass more value on to your site than one that is not linked to internally. To check the amount of internal links pointing to the page go to Yahoo and type in link:www.example.com/page-you-want-to-check/ site:example.com. Look for pages that are heavily linked to from other important pages on the domain.

Location on page

The sidebar and footer are a common location of bought links, which Google is working to devalue. Getting a link from one of those locations may not pass on as much link popularity as getting one from with the body copy.

Where does the page rank?

Is the page you are looking to get a link from ranking in Google for your targeted term? I don't think it's necessary to go into why this is good, it should be obvious.

Does it work for others?

Find other sites that are being linked to from the page in question then grab the anchor text and do a search for it in Google. Does it rank for that term? Now this will not give you an absolute answer, because there are many other factors that could influence the ranking of those pages, but if none of the pages that are linked to rank for the anchor text then something could be off.

There are hundreds of other factors that you could consider when determining link value, but those 8 should give you a good starting point for your next link building campaign.

Like this post? Give it a Sphinn!

Email Marketing: Three lessons you can learn from the little guys

Tue, 02 Feb 2010 15:49:00 -0800

Maybe it's because I do an email newsletter, maybe it's because I write blog posts, maybe its because I love to complain about peoples lack of CAN-SPAM compliance, but I just love to sign up for newsletters. I'll sign up for any one I see, then go about trying to unsubscribe if I don't like it.

Normally I'll rant about how one email campaign or another doesn't comply with some best practice, but today I decided I am going to take a different tact. Instead, I am going to show off some email campaigns, mainly from small companies, that do things that I just love. Campaigns of little guys, without huge marketing budgets, which manage to pull certain effects off better than most of the high-class email marketing I see. While none of the following are examples of perfect email campaigns, each does one thing well, be it providing useful content, tempting the reader to buy, or creating a lasting relationship with the reader.

1. Blair from Extremefoods.com

With double opt, great CAN-SPAM compliance (thanks to Constant Contact), and from "Blair at Extreme Foods" I was impressed with Extremefoods.com's email campaign from the get go. Blair's campaign does one thing, and it does it well: it maintains a relationship with his customers.

Is Blair's campaign effective? I don't know to be honest. But I do know that, despite not liking the Jets (they play Football right? Baseball? I don't know), not being big into the whole barbecue thing, I keep reading his damned emails!

You have to appreciate the way he will send our emails when his favourite team plays at the super bowl, or when there's something personal going on with him that he wants to tell people about.

And that's the thing about Blair. His emails just seem so heartfelt. Each email is written as if it's a personal letter, including pictures of himself and his grill, or parties, or his Mr. Potatohead. He always asks for feedback directly to his own email address, and always signs it—even if the red background in his signature never seems to properly match the red he uses in his email.

His recent email revamp (or at least I assume it was a revamp, as I haven't seen a two column email form him before) also keeps his casual style while providing recipes and increased content. He also has increased his call for interaction, encouraging readers to submit stories and recipes in. You want to talk about integrating social media? This, not adding a "share on Facebook" button, is it.

All of this builds one of the most personal email experiences I've had, and it does so with no personalization.

2. Tree's Coffee

Let me just say that the Trees Organic Coffee and Roasting House has an ugly newsletter. Their permission marketing could use work. The whole thing is a little long (partially due to over sized font, as required by their darker backgrounds). Their content is largely advertising for their cheesecake. But do they ever make you hungry at the end of the day. With large tasty looking cheesecake pictures, followed by a coupon for a free latte when you buy cheesecake, Tree's campaign builds temptation. Nothing more.

Sure they identify themselves well, with consistent brand positioning in their subjects, and a good (if long) "from" name… basically they do the basic's right. But what they really do right is big pictures of cheesecake with a coupon, giving you that little push to go get some cake.

3. The SEO Geeks Newsletter

Dave Harry does search engine optimization. He's a smart guy and a good writer (running his own blog "Trail of the Fire Horse"), and while it could use a little design fix up (specifically the ratio of the width of his top right box to the body content) his email campaign wins on its ability to provide a large amount of really useful information.

The SEO Geeks Newsletter provides a really amazing amount of content, from an entire opening "lead" story, to a series of links with very personal excerpts form Dave Harry himself (similar to what I do), and finally 20 some odd links to other great SEO related stories. All in all, it does a good job at making sure that you find something useful to you.

The result is an email campaign that I come back to time and time again for information, understanding, and reference material.

Story tellers, algorithm chasers, and the monomyth - The Monday Feb. 1st Roundup

Mon, 01 Feb 2010 14:07:00 -0800

Oh god it's February. There's going to be chaos in Vancouver as a million tourists pack onto public transit, line the streets, fill the locales. There's going to be protests, armed guards, no parking— it's going to be grand! Oh and there's also some kind of sporting event or something going on…

In the internet marketing world we've got notes on how story telling can improve your user experience, stories about SEO algorithm chasers, the splintering of the internet and how redesign should actually your site.

Internet Marketing and SEO

We start the week with an old favourite: Kim Krausberg writing for Search Engine Land, and writing about the algorithm chasers and how a chase to take top spots for trending topics failed inthe face of stories targeted to clicks, not bots.
SEO Roundtable asks if too much keyword density be interpreted as boiler plate text, citing an odd Google Webmaster help thread.

Technology

Emarketer suggests that Second Life is booming right now. Their user base 15%, and spending is up over $200m.

God help us all.
In one of the more interesting articles of the week, the Groundswell blog suggests that the golden age of the web is over, and now it's splintering. They argue that proprietary technologies are killing the dream of a unified web. I am not sure I agree. In fact, many of the technologies they are talking about are built around the idea of integrating with other technologies more seamlessly. For instance, the iPhone displays web pages as they're made, employing a ZUI to deal with sizes. A far cry from the micro readers of the cellphone/PDA world before it. Facebook has opened its API and is trying to convince people to make their information public, and other social networking apps are trying to stay open so that they can gain valuable SEO traffic—unlike the closed private forums of yester year. Sure, the iPad might not support flash, but flash itself was a proprietary technology, and there is a major move away from it starting (look at HTML 5 Youtube). Proprietary platforms are a problem, but lets not fool ourselves into thinking that these are new, or that they aer affecting the web in any kind of new way.

Web Analytics

Kaushik is back with more Analytic ninjitsu: leveraging custom reports for better insights, which gives insights into setting up custom reporting based around website goals.
Wingify presents 10 must read conversion optimization papers. As much as I hate to post top 10 lists, this one is absolutely great.

Web Usability

Somerandomdude, who I've never heard of before, argues that a redesign means you should actually redesign, not just make your site prettier. It should be based around improving the usability of your content, and the workings of your site, not just the prettiness of your interface.
From Smashing, how understanding storytelling can powerfully improve your user experience.

Miscellaneous links of the week:

Scalzi, whom I have never heard of, has a post vaguely reminicient of my old Motrin Moms rant, on how badly Amazon failed this weekend. As some one who wasn't paying attention to the weekend drama, I'm finding this immensely entertaining, partially because of Scalzi's entertainingly snide writing style but mostly because of Amazons sheer unadulturated stupidity.
Is our children learning? Social Media Today sez no. Actually my old alma mater is saying it. The thing to remember in this situation though is that there is a double standard coming from the university: school administrators are being driven by business objectives (SFU was notorious for firing their academic administrators and brining new ones in from the business community) not academic objectives, leading them to allow students in who do not reach the written English requirements for a university. Meanwhile, the academics are complaining that students can not write. You can blame technology all you want, but in the end if administration isn't telling students that they need to know more in order to enter then students are not going to know learn more before they do.

Oh and don't get me started on "propper grammar" versus "effective grammar".

Privacy, Cookies, and Tracking

Fri, 29 Jan 2010 16:18:00 -0800

People frequently complain about cookies. They don’t like the idea that their actions are being tracked and watched, so they disable cookies outright. The thing is that cookies are really the least of your problems.

Cookies may be a good way to track people, but they are at least a known way. You can clear your cookies, disable them, manage them—and if you know enough, edit them.

More insidious tracking methods exist. One frequently talked about one these days is flash cookies, which can reset cookies upon deletion.

If youre concerned about these you can use Better Privacy extension for Firefox and Ccleaner (windows) or Flush.app for MacOS.

What really impressed me recently, however, was the EFF’s Panopticlick. This neat little web app scans your browser using methods available to any website and gives you information about how unique your "digital finger print" is. Every computer and browser I’ve tried it on (including using privacy modes) comes up with a unique fingerprint.

The theory behind this app is pretty neat—at least for the ubergeeky. It’s founded on the idea of informational entropy (roughly the number of possibilities that exist for a random variable).

From the EFF:

There is a formula to say how much:

ΔS = - log2 Pr(X=x)

Where ΔS is the reduction in entropy, measured in bits, 2 and Pr(X=x) is simply the probability that the fact would be true of a random person

By gaining more information about a person you can reduce the entropy level required to identify them.

In the case of computers, when surfing we give a lot of information about our browsers capabilities. By combining this information with data such as available fonts, installed plugins, and even privacy options, you reduce the information required to identify a single computer greatly. In most cases, even to 0.

The way to prevent unique finger printing is opposite of most privacy practices. Instead of turning stuff off, you want to normalize your settings. A few things, like javascript can be turned off to prevent other information (like fonts) from being tracked, but that in turn breaks any website that uses JS (which is most of them).

My question for the EFF, though, is that while this is a fantastic way to identify some one, how well would it work to track some one?

Take the following situation:

I have Firefox on my netbook. As Im surfing I start getting annoyed at how much screen realestate the Google Toolbar takes, and how slow Firefox is, so I uninstall it. I also go through and uninstall a bunch of other plugins. Then I decide to add a bunch of font’s because, hey, I like fonts. Then I notice a neat privacy plugin so I install that, which in turn changes one of my various user data sets.

How well would this method cope?

Here’s the thing about fingerprinting. Fingerprinting is not when you acquire unique data, but when it gets permanent unique data. For instance, hair is a pretty poor item to finger print on, though its an incredibly unique data set—it changes to much. Fingerprints are fantastic because they almost never change (barring injury or what not).

The entropy model that the EFF uses appears to be good at distinguishing, but no so much at identifying. With enough distinguishing you can develop an identifiable profile, but if we begin to change data how accurately can we still track? Maybe I’ll delete my cookies, clear my fonts, try again, and see if it still registers me as unique...

Beyond Usability: Cool, Usable and Persuasive Web Design

Thu, 28 Jan 2010 07:30:00 -0800

Even die-hard web usability zealots agree that being easy to use is just a starting point. To be truly effective, a website must also be beautiful, inspiring and (in most cases) persuasive. But very few people are experts in usability, graphic design and marketing. That's why:

Usability professionals tend to make designs that are easy to use, but very conventional and uninspiring.
Art directors and graphic artists tend to make designs that are beautiful and innovative, but hard to use because they don't work they way users expect.
Traditional marketing folk (who are usually the most knowledgeable about marketing strategies and the psychology of persuasion) often know little about usability or graphic design... and can't make either type of web site!

To create a site that is cool, usable and persuasive requires a cooperative effort between these three diverse groups. Yet they each have such different approaches, priorities and mindsets. Is it any wonder that such sites are rare?

Bringing these three groups together requires strong management. Each side must be taught to understand and respect where the others are coming from. And clear boundaries — areas of responsibility — must be negotiated and defined. Usually, it breaks down like this:

The usability expert is responsible for information architecture, navigation and interaction
The graphic designer is responsible for the overall design and graphic elements
The marketing expert is responsible for content

Naturally, some projects will require more or less input from each group. Most Intranets, for example, have little need for cutting-edge design, let alone marketing or persuasion efforts. The users just want to get their jobs done. So it makes sense to let the usability team take the lead.

An online brochure, on the other hand, requires a focus on creative design. The usability team need only perform a reality check.

Ecommerce sites are where the real challenges lie. All three areas of expertise are needed, and a true multi-disciplinary approach is required.

7 ways to avoid being an "Accidental Spammer"

Wed, 27 Jan 2010 11:04:00 -0800

No problems with permission this week, I'm afraid I just haven't been getting that much spam. However, this is a good time to explain something that we tend to gloss over when talking about email marketing and problems with permission:

You may be an "Accidental Spammer"

What's an accidental spammer? You ask.

You don't have to be one of those devious "80% OFF of Pfizer" senders to be a spammer. In fact, devious problems are less of a problem than you might think. Over the years spam filtering engines have gotten really good at both filtering those before they go out, and catching them before they reach the inbox (in fact 95% of email gets caught as spam). The problem lies in legitimate email senders, small businesses and the like, who in good faith decide to send an "email blast" or overload their viewers with marketing messages. These seem like legitimate marketing, but are seen negatively by users all too willing to hit the mark-as-spam button.

We've covered a few times why being considered spam is bad. In a nutshell, spam complaints adversely affect your ability to send mail, as well as your ESP (Email Service Provider). Because of this you don't want it, but your ESP really doesn't want it (just a few bad email campaigns can ruin an IP). Lots of stuff counts as spam complaints, from weighty complaints and domain blocks by IT admins to too many viewers hitting the report-as-spam button.

All that needs to happen for you to be considered spam is that you send an email to some one who doesn't want it or for a filter to mark you as spam.

That's it. So how you can prevent that?

How do you make sure you're not an "accidental spammer"?

1. Permission (and list management)

Make sure that you're only sending to people who want to receive your email. Get permission via an opt-in, or even better a double opt-in (send them an email after they've signed up thanking them for signing up and informing them that to complete the process they need to confirm their subscription, this is also a great time to segment your list by having them cite preferences and interests).

A less obvious side of permission is making sure that your list is well managed. For example, hard bounces, that is emails that don't make it to an address, aren't going to hurt you persay, but continually sending to these addresses is a sign of spam.

2. Obey (the law)

Local laws on spam often follow best practices in preventing oneself from being considered spam. CAN-SPAM actually lays some really great ground work (though perhaps not going far enough) for maintaining a quality email campaign. These include:

Be honest!

Don't lie to your viewers. This includes misrepresenting your "from address", or mucking with email headers.
Provide an easy unsubscribe

If some one doesn't want to receive your email don't force it on them! You aren't going to win them over by invading their mailbox.

Much like I point out in "problems with permission", just providing an unsubscribe isn't enough. A user should never have to enter more information than their email address to unsubscribe. Making a user log-in or
Identify yourself

Let people know who you are in the real world, including an address!

3. Accurately describe your from addresses and domains

An SEO client who has does his own email newsletter recently asked us if we had any idea why his single opt-in's were getting higher, but his double opt-ins weren't. On investigating I noticed that his double opt-in was being marked as spam. Not sure why, I checked his headers and noticed that the sending address of his opt-in was a constant contacts address.

This is more than a deliverability issue. If your email is coming from an address other than the domain that users signed up for it on it has the potential to confuse them, and possibly even make them think it's spam.

4. Beware who you work with

Much like in the SEO world, associating with spammers can get you marked as spam. This includes advertising with known spammers, or carrying the ads of those who spam.

5. Avoid Invisible Graphics

This includes invisible tracking images. Invisible content is often considered a sign of spam, and thus get picked up by spam catchers.

6. Beware your subject

Descriptive subjects are much more likely to get clicked on. While stuff like "10 ways to avoid being an accidental spammer" might be a popular kind of headline, remember that the emails that have the highest open rates tend to be "[company name] monthly newsletter".

Also make sure that when writing headlines you avoid spammy language or ALLCAPS.

7. Keep your email regular

Bad jokes aside, a regular email campaign will always do better than a sporadic one. Sending a bunch of emails at once can drive away users who find the overload of email too much. Just as bad, not sending any email for a long period of time and then starting again can cause users to forget about you, then consider your sporadic messages spam. Make a schedule, perhaps once a month, and stick to it.

Finally, most ESP's use some variation of—or alternative to—SpamAssassin. They offer a whole boatload of tips for making sure that your email doesn't get caught by their software, and you should make sure to pay attention to what they say.

Spam Statistics, Personalized Search, and the Nature of Beauty - Monday Jan 23rd Roundup

Mon, 25 Jan 2010 10:53:00 -0800

Lots of stuff this week. With hype building over Apples show on the 27th the tech blogs are filled with tablet rumors, burying a lot of good content with hype and speculation.

This week we've got European spam statistics, studies on personalized search, SEO analytics tips, and the connection between beauty and fluency…

Internet Marketing and SEO

In 2009 95% of EU mail traffic was spam. Let me repeat that. 95% of email in the EU is spam.
In other news, Huo Mah looks at Google re-ranking and personalized search.

Technology

Adage thinks that sooner or later Facebook will launch a phone and Google won't be able to compete. Suuure. Hilariously it starts with an explanation of how Microsoft upset the market controlled by IBM, and Google upset Microsoft, and then "Just as everyone is thinking Google is unstoppable comes Facebook" (yeah, hurts your head in more ways than one). Now you'll have to excuse my ignorance of the pre-2000 market (that was a decade ago and I was still moping about trying to finish school), but didn't IBM continue to control the server market (albeit failing in the desktop market), didn't Microsoft continue to control the desktop market, and doesn't Google still dominate search? What's this upset? All I can figure is he means that they stole their hype, but a)hype is a dying game (no matter how awesome you are your hype fades), and b) to quote roundup-regular Gord, as long as we're chasing hype followers "Our audience will always be "just passing through" on the way to the next thing".

But to get back on topic, the problem is that Facebook isn't in a position where a phone is a realistic extension of their service, or at least not a realistic extension of their current service. It was for Google, who already had a mobile OS out and a desktop OS on the way. Further Google had the money to throw around while Facebook is still struggling to make a profit.

Given Facebook's goals it would be considerably cheaper and more effective for them just to make their service interoperable with every other phone, so that their market includes Nexus users, and iPhone users, and Nokia users…
More Adage in the tech section this week, with their five mobile trends of 2010. Again, what's going on Adage? This starts by proclaiming that invasive anti-permission "location aware" mobile marketing is going to be a savior for mom & pop stores, then that "consumers" "enjoy" "micropayments". Let me assure you, no one enjoys micropayments, and buying apps isn't a sign of the contrary, it's a sign of excitement over a new tech. They are right on the potential for mobile comparison shopping engines to provide a boon for marketers, but given their role in reducing proces they might cause trouble for the very mom and pop stores that Adage claims that mobile technology is going to help.

Web Analytics

Avinash strikes again. This time in his Q&A, which answers one of the first questions everyone starting at Search Engine Optimization asks: how do I measure SEO performance on a page level?. The article goes on to answer a lot of great SEO related questions. A really great post, if a little less analyticsy than most.
More Q&A, from Luna Metrics this time. A reader asks about how conversion goals would work across a domain, and in the process points out how conversion rate functions in GA, and how to determine a per landing page conversion.

Web Usability

Easily the coolest story I've read in a while, and a great example of why one should test: OkCupid busts 4 profile photo myths. Included are a bunch of "really!?" moments, such as that guys who look off screen do better than those who make eye contact, or that having your face in the photo doesn't really do anything.
Humanfactors. They have something to do with usability or user experience or something, right? Maybe a little old, but too good to pass up. In it the author looks at three theories of beauty and the role that "fluency" plays in it.

Miscellaneous links of the week:

In CAN-SPAM news, WHOIS privacy has been ruled "material falsification". While I am totally for CAN-SPAM (as anyone who reads my email posts knows) I actually find this a little bit harsh, given how common WHOIS privacy is.
One for the Facebook privacy crowd: Forrester breaks down Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg's claim that people have gotten more comfortable sharing more information online.

New VKI Courses: (Really) Understanding Google Analytics

Fri, 22 Jan 2010 09:30:00 -0800

If you've been wondering where BrianK and his series of Google Analytics Tips Tricks and Traps has been, wonder no more! Coming this February we're launching the newest of our seminar sessions: (REALLY) Understanding Google Analytics, planned and taught by none other than BrianK.

This two seminar session covers a host of Google analytics concepts and issues beginning with understanding the specifics of Google Analytics and how it tracks data (including solutions for subdomains, cross domain tracking, eCommerce, etc.), and following up with analysis and interpretation.

Instructor: Brian Katz

Location: VKI Studios (Google Map)

REALLY understanding your GA Implementation

When: February 9th (vCal)

What's covered:

What REALLY gets tracked?
How do GA accounts and profiles REALLY work?
What's the plan - Implementation Steps and Best Practices
Is your tagging working. REALLY?
REALLY understanding sub-domains?
To cross or not to cross-domains?
eCommerce for (non-)eCommerce sites
Why is Site Search indispensable and tracking it vital? REALLY

Interpreting Reports - Making the Most of your Metrics
(and other alliteration)

When: February 10th (vCal)

What's covered:

What questions should I be asking and how do I answer them?
What do my numbers REALLY mean?
What metrics should I be lookin at?
What are my KPI's?
What should be my goals? How do I manage funnels?
How do I understand traffic sources?
How do I segment my visitors?
How do I use GA to help me improve my performance?

Each seminar is being sold separately at $375 a pop.

For more information see: (Really) Undertanding Google Analytics

Site Maps: Are They Worthwhile?

Thu, 21 Jan 2010 07:30:00 -0800

In a recent project, a client asked me whether I'd recommend getting rid of his Site Map. We had just conducted a series of user tests, and the client noticed that not a single subject ever looked at the Site Map. Not even when they were hopelessly lost.

Following the "less is more" principle of design, he argued, didn't it make sense to eliminate rarely-used features like Site Maps?

Though I understood his position, I strongly recommended he retain his Site Map. Here's why:

Comprehensive Overview

Your Site Map is (or should be!) a visual representation of your website's Information Architecture. It's therefore a great place for visitors to gain a quick understanding of what you offer and how your content is organized.

In fact, your Site Map is probably the only place on your site that provides a comprehensive overview of — and direct links to — all your content.

The Site Map is also a great secondary navigational feature that users can turn to when they're lost.

Advanced users want them

Though seldom used by "average users", Site Maps are commonly used by more advanced users. (A similar situation exists with that other popular form of secondary navigation: bread crumbs) Why alienate advanced users without good reason?

They're great for SEO

One of the first recommendations we make for new SEO clients is to include a Site Map. Reason: Site Maps make it easier for the search engines to spider and categorize your site, ensuring all pages get properly indexed.

No reason not to have them

Site Maps are easy to put together, and they needn't adversely affect your design or clutter your navigation. Just include "Site Map" as one of the text links in your footer navigation. It'll be the first place users will look for it. (Or at worst, the second place they look. They might first look in the header navigation, if you have it. So consider putting a link there too.)

With so many compelling reasons to include a Site Map — and no real downside to their inclusion — I think the answer is obvious. Make sure your website includes a well laid out, comprehensive Site Map. Your advanced users (and the search engines) will thank you.

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Who is looking at your Facebook? 3 Privacy Options you NEED to set

Tue, 19 Jan 2010 11:28:00 -0800

Back in September we reported that Facebook had, at the behest of the Canadian government, implemented a host of new privacy options. However implementing these features meant changing users privacy settings, and while Facebook took lengths to make sure that users were prompted with a message about the new privacy settings and given immediate options for securing their profile, the pop up left many people with a false feeling that they had secured their Facebook profile from prying eyes.

In fact, the update left many things open and accessible to the public, things that you need to secure.

1. Reset your Album Permissions

One of the first things that happened after the Facebook switch over was that everyone's albums became public, including profile pictures.

To correct this, click profile and then at the bottom of the page click "Album Privacy". Now you have to set each album manually to be viewable by everyone, groups of friends, friends of friends, or custom settings that will allow you to do such things as make photos only available to specific people.

If you have photos from parties, photos of yourself drunk, or any other embarrassing pictures you will want to set those to private, friends, or custom.

2. Set what your friends can share about you

One of the more insidious Facebook privacy loopholes was that if a friend had an application installed, that application could mine information from your profile without you knowing—even if you had locked that information away. This persists, but you can limit it by changing your settings under privacy settings>Application and Websites>What your friends can share about you. You can't keep them from sharing publicly available information, but you can limit a lot.

By default a strange selection is on. It doesn't share innocuous information like religious and political views, but it shares your pictures, personal info, notes, status updates.

3. Segment your friend list

One of Facebook's great new features is the ability to segment your friend list. Do this. Do this now. Facebook's default options are a somewhat poor way to sort ones profile.

Simply view all friends and select "create new list" from above your friends list.

These lists allow you to custom tailor who gets to see what on your Facebook page. Under almost any privacy setting option select custom. You can then enter your list in either the "make visible to these people" or "hide from these people" fields, showing it only to them or hiding it from them. You can also do this when releasing a status update, letting only certain people see what you write.

This lets you get around using the default user group settings, which can be deceptive in who they share with. For instance, beware of setting anything to "friends of friends", as people often add their boss, their mother and father, etc. to their friend list, meaning that if you've used this setting, have a coworker in your friends list, and your coworker has your boss in his list, suddenly that's available to him/her, whether you wanted it to be or not.

Addendum: Beware of anti-social networking.

Privacy option are great, and often there are things that you only want certain people to see. However, resist the urge to hide everything.

With all this fear of breaches of privacy we often forget that the point of these websites is to share information. They call it social networking for a reason: the point of Facebook is to provide information so that other like minded people, or people you once knew, can find you. As such you should set a lot of information to be available to everyone. Let your About Me be public, let your Personal Info (interests, activities and favourites) be public, let your religious and political views be public, and if you take a lot of work safe photos, set them to public too.

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Google's treatment gov/edu's, the science of SMM, and more... - The Monday Jan 18th Roundup

Mon, 18 Jan 2010 10:52:00 -0800

We are not going to talk about Google and China. I promise. Instead, this week, we have our usual mishmash from around the web, with a bit more of a focus on marketing theory, just because that's the kinda mood I'm in. Included is: How Google treats gov/edu's, the science of SMM, and more…

Internet Marketing and SEO

We'll start this week with a question I've always wondered about:how does Google treat links from social sites? Matt Cutts explains a few things that might surprise you, such as .gov and .edu domains don't necessarily pass more value. In classic Cutts fashion he doesn't [em]really[/em] answer the question, but the .gov/.edu line is pretty major. That said, there is still a good chance that .gov and .edu domains themselves carry a lot of trust/PR and thus are likely good links, it's just that those three letters alone don't mean jack to Google.
Next up e-nor and The Science of Social Media Marketing. Nothing we haven't heard before, but still worth noting.

Technology

Slightly old news, but Hexxeh has released Chrome Zero. If you ever wanted to check out ChromeOS, this is the time. The process for installing Hexxeh's ISO onto a thumb drive using Hexxeh's ISO is just slightly more difficult than scratching your head.
Oooh, cross topics! Luna metrics has a post on HTML 5 and analytics.

Web Analytics

The boldly named Analytics 2.0 is talking about identifying site interactions, the key for optimizing.
Easily the post of the week, Dan Siroker talks about how they used data (and analytics) to win the election.

Web Usability

Usability counts doesn't like tag clouds. I can't blame them, as they don't really seem to offer any kind of interesting information to a user visiting a site.
Out of my Gord asks How Our Brains "Google", and responds with eyetracking heatmaps. The actual topic is how people read Google results, which corresponds with the classic F shape. Then they dive into a lot of detail on how people look at stuff. The most interesting part, though, is how the inclusion of an image in the middle of the Google results changes the way people scan, turning from an "F" to an "E". Very cool.

Miscellaneous links of the week:

Not sure I agree with SixRevisions here, but they list Five Ways to Guarantee Your Failure as a Web Professional. I know I've complained about the second point in more than once in more than one job, and it seems to be a result of companies being scared about their revenue.
More Out of my Gord, saying "Who cares about what's hot?". Bingo! From describing marketing fads as digital candy to pointing out that Facebook isn't necessarily functional for everyone, he argues that effective marketing relies on targeting, which relies on established patterns and sustained behaviors, which depend on things we find useful. Otherwise our audience will always just be "passing through" to the next thing.

Web Design and Concept Development: Get Free Advice at ConceptFeedback.com

Thu, 14 Jan 2010 07:30:00 -0800

When you come up with a web design or marketing concept, how do you know if it's any good? You're too close to it to be impartial.

You can ask your friends and coworkers. But they're probably too close to it too. Plus, they might try to spare your feelings and not tell you that your concept is obviously flawed.

Web design and concept development can be a lonely business. Especially for small to medium-sized concerns. Wouldn't it be great if you could get impartial opinions and advice from outside design professionals?

ConceptFeedback.com is an incredible resource for web marketers and designers. You simply post your concept, and members of the community will review it and provide their feedback. You can use this free service to get feedback on:

Web designs
Logos
Advertisements
Landing pages
Videos and flash presentations

Take a look through previously-posted feedback and you'll see it runs the entire gamut. Some members focus on the big picture: first impressions and overall concept validity. Some will point out usability issues. Others will nitpick about fonts, gradients, drop shadows, colors and the precise alignment of elements. And that's great, because all these things are important.

Naturally, you won't agree with the all feedback you receive. Some members might not understand your target group, or just won't "get it". Also, there will occasionally be a pile-on effect, where one prominent member makes a comment, and there follows an inevitable series of "me too" posts. But you're bound to get at least a few helpful suggestions to make your concept more effective. Also, each member has a reputation score, to help you decide whose opinion to trust.

One potential downside: If you have a truly groundbreaking concept, posting it publicly could allow someone to steal it before you've even had a chance to launch. But we tend to overestimate the likelihood of such things. And in most cases this won't be an issue.

I highly recommend ConceptFeedback.com. Not only can you get valuable advice for free, but it's a great place to network, learn and get inspired.

Crash course in online persuasion -- right here at VKI

Wed, 13 Jan 2010 13:33:00 -0800

Unsure why more visitors aren't converting? Want to know more about designing landing pages? Enjoy laughing maniacally while bending people to your will?

…Yeah, us too.

After the success of our last course on online persuasion, we're putting it on once again. On Thursday, January 28th, we're hosting Michael Straker's The Art and Science of Online Persuasion: How to Get Your Visitors to ACT. Read on below for more info:

The Art and Science of Online Persuasion: How to Get Your Visitors to ACT

Instructor: Michael Straker
When: January 28th 8:45am–4:45pm (add to Google calendar)(Get vCard)
Location: VKI Studios' head office in Downtown Vancouver.
1080 Howe Street #505, Vancouver, BC

Price: $375 per person

On January 28th, learn 14 diabolically effective tricks to get your visitors to take action.

We won't dwell on obvious techniques like offering discounts or the power of “FREE”. Rather, we'll teach you how to create emotional appeals that may not sound strictly logical... but work! In just 7 hours, you'll learn 14 downright sinister persuasion tools including:

Ugly Jerry and the Contrast Principle
Optimal Level of Dissonance
Distract then Reframe
Harnessing the Power of People We Like
Plus at least 10 more!

This will be a small, intimate gathering. Participants will get lots of personal attention and will be encouraged to ask questions and share experiences. With only 10 seats, space is limited so reserve now.

To register, call 1-866-733-8899 ext 242.

VKI Studios Blog

Social Search, Preroll ads and Facebook and China - Monday February 8th Roundup

The Usability Mindset: What You Need to Know Before Implementing User-Centered Web Design

Management: Embracing User Experience as a Core Value

Development Team: Shifting From the Feature/Technology Mindset

8 Metrics for Judging the Value of a Link

Does it even pass value?

Cache date

Quantity and quality of links to domain

Quantity and quality of links to page

Internal links pointing to the page

Location on page

Where does the page rank?

Does it work for others?

Email Marketing: Three lessons you can learn from the little guys

1. Blair from Extremefoods.com

2. Tree's Coffee

3. The SEO Geeks Newsletter

Story tellers, algorithm chasers, and the monomyth - The Monday Feb. 1st Roundup

Privacy, Cookies, and Tracking

Beyond Usability: Cool, Usable and Persuasive Web Design

7 ways to avoid being an "Accidental Spammer"

You may be an "Accidental Spammer"

How do you make sure you're not an "accidental spammer"?

1. Permission (and list management)

2. Obey (the law)

3. Accurately describe your from addresses and domains

4. Beware who you work with

5. Avoid Invisible Graphics

6. Beware your subject

7. Keep your email regular

Spam Statistics, Personalized Search, and the Nature of Beauty - Monday Jan 23rd Roundup

New VKI Courses: (Really) Understanding Google Analytics

Instructor: Brian Katz

Location: VKI Studios (Google Map)

REALLY understanding your GA Implementation

Interpreting Reports - Making the Most of your Metrics (and other alliteration)

Site Maps: Are They Worthwhile?

Comprehensive Overview

Advanced users want them

They're great for SEO

No reason not to have them

Who is looking at your Facebook? 3 Privacy Options you NEED to set

1. Reset your Album Permissions

2. Set what your friends can share about you

3. Segment your friend list

Addendum: Beware of anti-social networking.

Google's treatment gov/edu's, the science of SMM, and more... - The Monday Jan 18th Roundup

Web Design and Concept Development: Get Free Advice at ConceptFeedback.com

Crash course in online persuasion -- right here at VKI

The Art and Science of Online Persuasion: How to Get Your Visitors to ACT

To register, call 1-866-733-8899 ext 242.

Interpreting Reports - Making the Most of your Metrics
(and other alliteration)