E-consultancy - AJAX - Internet Marketing News and Blogs

How much change does your site really need?

Thu, 26 Jun 2008 07:45:00 UT

In an online retail market expected to double in size to �78 billion by 2010* the potential rewards for e-commerce businesses are huge. Equally, so is the pressure to stay ahead of their competition.�

The desire for online businesses to become bigger and better inevitably affects their approach to redesign. There�s a huge temptation to introduce the latest whiz bang functionality and super cool design which will appeal to a whole new generation of customers.

25 useful Wordpress plugins for bloggers

Thu, 19 Jun 2008 11:37:00 UT

Open source blogging platform Wordpress can be enhanced with the use of free plugins which can help you manage comments and spam, as well as improving SEO and user experience.

We've put together a list of some of the most useful plugins for Wordpress...

Save web pages forever with Iterasi

Thu, 5 Jun 2008 11:05:00 UT

Iterasi is a browser-based bookmarking tool that can be used to capture a webpage in the state in which you see it and save it for later.

Unlike some other bookmarking tools, Iterasi doesn't just bookmark a link to the web page you saved, but saves a screenshot of the site in html format.

Taking the Web 1.0 out of online retail

Wed, 30 Jan 2008 10:30:00 UT

Many online retailers must work harder to�create a more�personalised and interactive experience which does a better job of reflecting their brand, writes Aliya Zaidi.

Yahoo! acquires email provider for $350m

Tue, 18 Sep 2007 09:42:00 UT

Yahoo! has acquired Zimbra, a provider of web based email and online/offline office software, for a cash price of $350m (�175.5m).

Zimbra's product is essentially a web based version of Outlook, though the company recently added�Zimbra Desktop, which allows users to access email and other functions when offline.

Interview: Webtogs founder James Balmain

Tue, 21 Aug 2007 10:26:00 UT

James Balmain is the founder of Webtogs, a new outdoor equipment and clothing retailer that�s set to launch a shop and very professional looking site in the autumn.

We asked James, who has little previous retail experience, how the Webtogs team is coping with the�various challenges of launching an e-commerce start-up, especially in a sector that�s not as web-savvy as others.

For any budding etail entrepreneurs,�it's well worth a read...

Jesse James Garrett on Ajax, Amazon and Web 2.0

Tue, 7 Aug 2007 11:24:00 UT

Jesse James Garrett , the man who coined the term 'Ajax' and president of Adaptive Path, has been talking to us about usability and the user experience. It�makes for a�great read.

Jesse's book, The Elements of User Experience, is one of the most widely read books on user-centred design, and he was recently named as one of the top ten user experience experts in an E-consultancy survey.

Here, we speak to him about the psychological�background to web design, the pros and cons of behavioural targeting and Ajax, and why he thinks Amazon and eBay's usability has gone "astray".

AJAX and accessibility - Jaws to the rescue?

Mon, 23 Jul 2007 09:18:00 UT

RIAs like Ajax often have an accessibility weak spot since they need to work with JavaScript off to meet the basic accessibility guidelines.

Rumour has it that the next version of the popular screen reader Jaws may be able to handle Ajax interfaces.�

Yahoo! searchers suggest fix to buggy new feature

Fri, 13 Jul 2007 12:00:00 UT

Yahoo! engineers had to start fixing a bug in a new live search feature, just a day after announcing the addition.

Yahoo! Search's Kevin Lee introduced the new Search Suggest function, which offers suggestions on search terms as a user types.

How much traffic does my competitor get?

Thu, 12 Jul 2007 09:00:00 UT

Even if you had a spy in the heart of your competitor's e-commerce team, you might struggle to answer this question.

It's far from impossible that your competitors are neither appropriately recording their web traffic nor confident in which metrics to analyse.

Nielsen/NetRatings drops page views metric

Tue, 10 Jul 2007 11:00:00 UT

Web traffic measurement agency Nielsen/NetRatings will reportedly scrap the "page views" metric in response to the growing challenge posed by dynamic websites.

Ajax websites and web-based videos mean content can be loaded with no web page reloading, so the firm will begin instead reporting the length of time users spend at audited sites.

CNN.com to revamp news site

Tue, 26 Jun 2007 16:58:00 UT

CNN is planning to relaunch its main news site in July with a major redesign and a number of Web 2.0 features,�extending the site's�choice of�video and�user-generated content.

Google shifts in to offline web gear

Thu, 31 May 2007 08:42:00 UT

Google is attempting to bridge the divide between online and offline working by releasing new software that syncronises the two.

At its Developer Day in Sydney today, the company announced Google Gears, an open-source technology platform that allows programmers to build websites that continue to function even without connectivity.

RobotReplay, TapeFailure join visual metrics new-wave

Wed, 16 May 2007 09:00:00 UT

Web 2.0 developers have launched the latest in a growing line of visual usability and metrics tools.

Nitobi has rolled out RobotReplay and TapeFailure has also released its product; both allow website owners to play back video recordings of visitors' browsing sessions.

Interview with Jakob Nielsen

Tue, 15 May 2007 11:54:00 UT

In this interview, usability guru Jakob Nielsen takes aim at RSS, Flash�and�the design failings of the consumer electronics industry.

He calls Google's non-search�products a "hotch-potch of weird stuff". He digs into sex and segmentation. And he also reveals his day rate...

New ad measuring guidelines for Ajax

Thu, 10 May 2007 08:05:00 UT

The association representing online advertisers�in the US has�moved to address�the problem that leaves hits on modern, Ajax-based pages unable to be tracked.

The Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) has released a new set of guidelines for measuring rich web applications.

comScore metrics re-jigged to acknowledge AJAX

Thu, 15 Mar 2007 09:41:00 UT

Web stats auditor comScore has introduced a new 'visits' metric to augment its 'page views' tracking after conceding its previous system unfairly represented Yahoo!

Yahoo! protested in December after comScore data placed it behind MySpace�for pages viewed. Yahoo!'s increasing use of AJAX�means users create fewer page views because tasks can be completed without reloading pages.

Why the real value of Web 2.0 for marketers is in mash-ups

Mon, 22 Jan 2007 09:17:00 UT

A lot of talk about Web 2.0 is focusing on the brilliance of AJAX.�While AJAX looks good on a website and provides sexy functionality, the real value in Web 2.0 for the marketer is in mash ups.�I�ve got a story to prove it.

Behavioural targeting key to more brand advertising

Tue, 2 Jan 2007 11:43:00 UT

The web�s success as a direct response medium has made its failure to attract brand advertising even more apparent. However,�as the main hurdles�are overcome all of that could change for Web 2.0 enabled sites in 2007.

Myspace gains highlight reporting problems

Thu, 14 Dec 2006 15:34:00 UT

This week�s news that Myspace has overtaken Yahoo! in terms of page views seems to have kicked off a much-needed debate about how sites' popularity is measured.

Research, released by comScore on Tuesday, found the social networking site had 0.6bn more page views than Yahoo! in November � a boost to Fox Interactive Media in its battle with the web giant for ad dollars.