E-consultancy - Blogs and Blogging - Internet Marketing News and Blogs

Site review: Authonomy

Fri, 5 Sep 2008 12:11:00 UT

Authonomy, a site from publisher Harper Collins, is a social network which will allow aspiring writers to exhibit their talents online.

Publishers receive too many manuscripts to sift through themselves,�and this seems like�a good way to sort the wheat from the chaff, so how does it shape up?�

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...

Salon.com looks to turn bloggers into waiters and waitresses

Tue, 26 Aug 2008 13:48:00 UT

As I've discussed quite a bit recently, the economics of blogging are often tough for both bloggers and the operators of blogging businesses.

I've noted that many blogging businesses appear to have a real problem - the cost of producing content exceeds the revenue that they're able to generate from it.

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...

Is PR broken?

Thu, 21 Aug 2008 07:45:00 UT

Steve Rubel, a senior vice president at Edelman Digital, essentially asked in a recent blog post if PR is becoming obsolete.

Founder of UK blog network plays the blame game

Tue, 19 Aug 2008 10:28:00 UT

I discussed the economics of blogging recently, sparking a bit of debate.

And it seems for good reason. The evolution of the blogosphere as a business hasn't been easy for many of its participants.

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...

The five factors of compelling content

Wed, 13 Aug 2008 07:45:00 UT

I've been involved with online content in a number of capacities. I've run my own online content ventures, consulted with people running online content businesses and obviously am a content producer myself.

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?

Internet fame is not a business model

Thu, 7 Aug 2008 07:45:00 UT

I debated whether or not to write this post - not because I wasn't sure if the topic was worthwhile, but because I couldn't write it without giving attention to one of the few people on the internet whom I believe deserves to be ignored.

Delicious launches revamped website

Fri, 1 Aug 2008 14:14:00 UT

Online bookmarking service Delicious has relaunched with an improved version of its site, with improvements including an enhanced search facility.

Is blogging a dead-end profession and business?

Thu, 31 Jul 2008 08:30:00 UT

It probably isn't a surprise that of the millions of blogs, the vast majority of active ones generate little to no revenue for their authors.

Yet is "professional" blogging, even at the highest levels, any more compelling a business opportunity than blogging at the lowest levels?

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...

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.

Five cool podcasting tools

Fri, 18 Jul 2008 07:45:00 UT

Podcasting certainly isn't for everybody, but it has grown in popularity over the years and for good reason.

Is "community" a panacea for ailing newspapers?

Thu, 17 Jul 2008 07:45:00 UT

Through TechDirt, I stumbled upon an interesting debate that questions whether the concept of "community" as it relates to newspapers is a major part of the industry's woes - and a potential part of the solution to those woes.

The internet's biggest problem?

Wed, 16 Jul 2008 08:30:00 UT

Winston Churchill once stated: "A lie gets halfway around the world before the truth has a chance to get its pants on."

This statement has never been truer than today. Thanks to the internet, a lie can be propagated around the world before the truth is ever discovered.

Guardian Media buys a blog

Mon, 14 Jul 2008 08:25:00 UT

Some members of Old Media may be going through some tough times, but those who say that Old Media doesn't "get it" and is dying should take note of what's happening. Old Media is buying New Media.

Site review: Borders' new UK offering

Mon, 14 Jul 2008 07:53:00 UT

Having�recently ended its partnership with Amazon and launched a new e-commerce site in the US, I expected that Borders would�develop a similar version�for the UK.

However, the redesigned�Borders.co.uk has now gone live and it is completely different to its US counterpart.

We�ve taken a look to see how they compare...