In the beginning, there were lots of search engines. Our SEO service used to optimise client websites for AltaVista, Yahoo, InfoSeek, Lycos and others. Each of which had their own priorities and methodologies. Great fun. Then came Google, and that was more or less that. As an early adopter of Google, I found it interesting that the very issue that initially … Read More
The most tragic website design mistakes #1: the wrong links
Most websites see the majority of their visitors arrive at the home page. From that point on, the website designer is in control of what happens next. Unless, that is, they make mistake #1 – the wrong links. The links you put on your website pages aren’t there to look good, fill space or offer a means of accessing every single … Read More
Buying a diamond
I’m not. But I thought it would make a good example. Let’s imagine I was twenty years younger, and looking to buy a diamond. Being a twenty year old male means that I wouldn’t know the first thing about diamonds, so my first port of call to expand my mind would be to Google: “advice on buying a diamond”. Let’s … Read More
BBC News: great content, horrible website
As a very regular user of the BBC news website, and someone who works with website optimisation and usability, I was geekishly excited when I heard that the BBC were in the process of a major redesign. Yet what a disappointment! The preview certainly sounded good: • a fresh, updated design, with more space for the main stories of the … Read More
Worst product description ever?
We recently started working with a client who sells SharePoint solutions. I personally am not handling the account, but after looking at their website, realised that although I have heard about SharePoint, I don’t know exactly what it is. So I went to Microsoft for the answer: “What Is SharePoint? Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007 is an integrated suite of … Read More
Stop torturing your website visitors
Remember when 468 x 80 banners were the big thing? I do. In fact I used to sell advertising on some of our websites using the format, as did most websites at that time. Then we hit ICO – Inevitable Cycle of Overuse. Stage 1 – the format takes off; now “everybody” is using it. Stage 2 – we see … Read More
Google hypocrisy reaches new levels
According to a post on the Google Analytics blog, Google are developing a “global browser based plug-in to allow users to opt out of being tracked by Google Analytics“. The writer explains that this is in the interests of “protecting use data privacy“. Sorry? This has the potential to cripple the accuracy of Google Analytics data, and will effectively be … Read More
Short, sharp headlines that work
A newspaper headline is written in large letters, and is supposed to indicate the content of the article. Front page headlines are the most important, as they need to be eye catching enough to snare the interest of passers-by. You can probably see where I’m going with this. Our own company sells services to help (mainly) software developers increase their … Read More
Time to say goodbye to Jakob Nielsen?
If you haven’t yet heard of Jakob Nielsen, I can only assume that you have memory issues. Welcome to my world. Jakob Nielsen has been described as the guru, king and world’s leading expert on website usability, and even the stoic Financial Times describe him as “perhaps the best-known design and usability guru on the Internet“. Perhaps. So it is … Read More
