E-consultancy - Publishing - Internet Marketing News and Blogs

Six things that annoy me about newspaper websites

Wed, 27 Aug 2008 08:00:00 UT

Many of the UK's newspaper websites have been redesigned over the past year or so and, in general, most are pretty good.

However, there are still a few annoying features of these sites which can spoil the user experience and�could be improved upon.

Here is a selection...

Guardian revamps its blogs

Tue, 26 Aug 2008 13:45:00 UT

The Guardian has updated its blogs section to bring it in line with the rest of the site, while navigation and comment functionality has also been improved.

At first glance, the new design looks pretty good, but we've taken a closer look to find out more...

BBC finally experiments with in-text 'links'

Mon, 18 Aug 2008 11:29:00 UT

The BBC�is experimenting with the idea of linking out to external sources from within the body text of its news articles, in a trial which will last for four weeks.

Obviously this is a good idea, though why it has taken a decade for the BBC�to roll out a 'trial' is anybody's guess (though it won't have done any harm to The Beeb's own Pagerank).

However, the way it is going about this is, well, a little bit Noddy...

How do you manage your internet channel?

Wed, 13 Aug 2008 16:06:00 UT

Our recently released Managing Digital Channels report has been very well received by the internet strategists who are responsible for figuring out how to best run their online operations.

Published two weeks ago, and compiled by Dr Dave Chaffey, it is an update to a report called �Managing an E-commerce Team�, a study we first conducted in 2005. Things have moved on since then, some for better, others for worse...

News of the World gets a new look

Fri, 8 Aug 2008 08:31:00 UT

The News of the World is launching a new look website next week, with more of a focus on blogs and video content.

There is a beta version of the site online now, so�are the changes an improvement?

Site review: Mirror.co.uk redesign

Tue, 29 Jul 2008 07:50:00 UT

In a bid to catch up with its tabloid rivals online, Mirror.co.uk launched the first stage of its website redesign last week, starting with a new look for the homepage.

We've taken a look at the site to see what other improvements have been made...

Scoble freaks out over negative comments

Thu, 24 Jul 2008 12:32:00 UT

Robert Scoble, the blogosphere�s historical cheerleader extraordinaire, seems to be in a bit of a state.

He�s published an overview of all the things he considers wrong with tech blogging, a list that includes negative reader comments, conflicts of interest, a lack of focus on writing follow-up articles, and so on. Poor chap: he�s quite the grump.

Scoble might be right about a number of things, but he�s got it a little bit wrong when it comes to �negative comments�. He blames, among other things,�the various tools employed to stop spam, claiming these hurdles prevent mass interaction. There�s a bit more to it than that...

Site review: Telegraph.co.uk revamp

Thu, 24 Jul 2008 07:45:00 UT

Telegraph.co.uk unveiled its new look website this week, with the stated aim of increasing the number of pages each visitor views on the site.

We've taken a look�to see how it shapes up...

Q&A: Dr Dave Chaffey on Managing Digital Channels

Tue, 22 Jul 2008 12:16:00 UT

This week, we ask Dr Dave Chaffey, author of the new E-consultancy Best Practice Guide to Managing Digital Channels (published today) to�run us through�the results and insights arising from the report.

Dave is director of Marketing Insights and author of several best-selling internet marketing and e-commerce books. He was recognised in 2004 by the Chartered Institute of Marketing as one of 50 marketing gurus who �helped shape the future of marketing�.

Dave is also author of three other practical E-consultancy Best Practice Guides, including those�on search engine optimisation and website design.

Mainstream media benefits from outbound links - study

Tue, 22 Jul 2008 07:48:00 UT

David Eaves has taken a look at the linking policies of major US and UK news websites, and�found a correlation between the number of outbound links and incoming links.

This, he says, indicates that rather than taking away valuable page views,�being generous with outbound links can actually benefit�publishers by increasing the number of incoming links.

Does on-demand content lead to on-demand advertising?

Thu, 10 Jul 2008 09:01:00 UT

For the past 300 years or so, media has been a one-to-many broadcast model. But now we see TV, radio and press all moving towards an on-demand model.

In a world where content is delivered on-demand, would on-demand advertising be a more relevant approach in the future of broadcasting?

Tapan Bhat, SVP of Yahoo Front Doors, on Yahoo Buzz

Thu, 3 Jul 2008 11:51:00 UT

A few months ago Yahoo! released the beta version of Yahoo! Buzz, which is a user-rated news site that is already closing in on 10m unique users per month.

Here we talk to Tapan Bhat, Senior Vice President of Front Doors, Communities and Network Services at Yahoo!, who explains more about the company's plans to encourage user participation while making friends with lots of publishers...

Site review: Sky News beta

Fri, 27 Jun 2008 15:43:00 UT

Sky News is in the process of updating its website.�It currently has a new beta site running alongside the old one.

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It has a bigger, bolder look, but is it an improvement on the old version?�

Q&A: Sara Vincent of Media Corp on sport.co.uk

Fri, 13 Jun 2008 07:25:00 UT

Online publishing and ad firm Media Corp�recently launched sport.co.uk, with the aim of developing the site into a major web destination for sports fans.

We talked to Sara Vincent, the commercial director of Media Corp's publishing division about the launch of the new site...

Daily Mail officially launches slow website

Fri, 23 May 2008 07:45:00 UT

The new revamped and rebranded Mail Online�website came out of beta this week, with a number of improvements to the previous version.

There is one major problem though; browsing through the site and loading pages can be a painfully slow process.

Q&A: Prof. David Crystal and Sacha Carton on semantic targeting

Fri, 16 May 2008 07:30:00 UT

Professor David Crystal is a linguistics expert�and has�developed 'semantic ad targeting' technology that�he claims can be used to more accurately place ads in the correct context.

Professor Crystal recently sold his company Crystal Semantics to online ad network ad pepper media, which has used the technology to launch its iSense targeting system.

We talked to Prof. Crystal and ad�pepper's�board director Sacha Carton about the technology...

Guardian launches new Web 2.0 sports section

Fri, 25 Apr 2008 09:49:00 UT

The Guardian's ongoing site redesign continues this week with the�launch of an all new sports section, complete with embedded video and enhanced photography.

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Site review: Daily Mail redesign

Thu, 24 Apr 2008 09:33:00 UT

The Daily Mail�launched a new beta version of its website last week and is running it alongside the current�layout so users can provide feedback.

We've taken a look at how it shapes up....

US online ad spend up 19% in 2007

Tue, 1 Apr 2008 13:54:00 UT

Overall advertising spend in the US rose by 0.6% last year, but online ad revenue continues to rise, growing by 18.9% compared with 2006.

These figures (PDF) are from the Nielsen Company, and show that online advertising�is still growing much faster than all other categories, though growth has slowed from 35% between 2005 and 2006.

Yahoo targets female web users with Shine

Mon, 31 Mar 2008 16:39:00 UT

Yahoo has today launched Shine, a new site which is taking aim at women between 24 and 54.