Author: Stan Shinn

Just in case you needed ammo as to why splash pages were bad:

The number one reason for getting rid of our splash page was that it turned away at least 25% of our site visitors, sometimes more. This percentage is has actually been researched and it turns out that at least 25% of site visitors will immediately leave a site as soon as they see a “loading” message for a Flash splash screen (even if there’s a “skip intro” link). Our access logs confirmed this for us and this over all the other reasons caused us to get rid of it. source

Much is being said about Web 2.0 and the Long Tail. Web 2.0 is the marketing term for next generation web sites, but what is 'The Long Tail'?

In a nutshell, it's being able to put those infinitely large inventories of product up on the web for consumption, and making money off niche markets. In the new world of the Internet, the 80/20 rule no longer applies. Take this quote as an example:

What's really amazing about the Long Tail is the sheer size of it. Combine enough nonhits on the Long Tail and you've got a market bigger than the hits. Take books: The average Barnes & Noble carries 130,000 titles. Yet more than half of Amazon's book sales come from outside its top 130,000 titles. Consider the implication: If the Amazon statistics are any guide, the market for books that are not even sold in the average bookstore is larger than the market for those that are (see "Anatomy of the Long Tail"). In other words, the potential book market may be twice as big as it appears to be, if only we can get over the economics of scarcity. Venture capitalist and former music industry consultant Kevin Laws puts it this way: "The biggest money is in the smallest sales." Source

Amazon doesn't make 80% of it's money from 20% of it's titles. They make > 50% of their money from < 50% of their titles. The Long Tail is changing the rules of Internet retailing. Note these three rules of taking advantage of the Long Tail:

• Rule 1: Make everything available.
• Rule 2: Cut the price in half. Now lower it.
• Rule 3: Help me find it.

Read more

Google search keeps getting smarter and smarter. Search relevancy scores have changed recently. Insiders attribute this to latent semantic indexing, which Google had already been using, but recently increased its weighting to make this algorithm all the more important. So what is it?

Latent semantic indexing allows a search engine to determine what a page is about outside of specifically matching search query text. A page about Apple computers will likely naturally have terms such as iMac or iPod on it...By placing additional weight on related words in content LSI has a net effect of lowering the value of pages which only match the specific term and do not back it up with related terms. Source

To give another specific example:

In an AP news wire database, a search for Saddam Hussein returns articles on the Gulf War, UN sanctions, the oil embargo, and documents on Iraq that do not contain the Iraqi president's name at all. Source

Question: How do you know if your content is laced with enough related keywords to rank well in this new world of latent semantic indexing?

Answer: Search Google for search results with related terms using a ~. For example, Google Search: ~computer will return pages with terms matching or related to computer and will highlight some of the related words in the search results. In this example you can see hardware and Laptop show up on the first page of search results, showing how deeply important these related keywords are to improving the relevancy of your content. If Google is showing related keywords in the first couple of pages which your content lacks, rework your content to include these terms.

For further reading on the latent semantic indexing:

• http://www.seobook.com/archives/000657.shtml (A great overview!)
• http://javelina.cet.middlebury.edu/lsa/out/lsa_definition.htm
• http://lsi.research.telcordia.com
• http://research.microsoft.com/users/marycz/ht98.htm
• http://www.cs.utk.edu/~lsi/papers/index.html

This article shows how to connect to Box.net via the Mac Finder, giving you desktop access to a free, mountable 1 Gig online storage account. In a nutshell:

1) Get a box.net account.
2) In the Mac Finder select the GO menu then choose Connect to Server (Or Command-K).
3) Put in the address: https://www.box.net/dav
4) When it prompts, put in your Box.net username as your name and your Box.net password in the password field.

That’s it, look on your desktop. There should be a new connection mounded on your hard drive called dav.

Here's an article for connecting to Box.net under Windows XP.

The secret is a web protocol called WebDav, which both XP and Mac support, and Box.net now provides as one of their many ways to access your Box.net file storage.

A fascinating opening line, and insight into Google's Borg plans for universal domination:

Google has revealed plans to help convert the world's paper filing cabinets, in Tron-like fashion, into mere nodes in the great hive mind.

But Borg in a benevolent way, if they stick to their 'don't be evil' world view.

Read article: Google eyes filing cabinets @ The Register

Top web marketers are always on the prowl for new initiatives to drive volume through their web site. Sometimes picking which ideas to implement can fall into a blur. One solution -- make sure initiatives are SMART projects. SMART is an acronym that breaks down to:

S: Specific
M: Measurable
A: Achievable
R: Realistic
T: Time-Sensitive

Putting together a quarterly plan and a year long road map peppered with SMART projects is a key to any winning web market strategy. Is the idea a good project? Run it through the SMART test to make sure.
Read more about SMART projects here: Making Your Goals SMARTer

This article lists must-have desktop apps for Ubuntu such as amaroK (sync to your iPod), CheckGmail, Automatix, Gnome Deskbar Applet, & VLC.

Of notable interest is Beagle:

Beagle is the Spotlight/Google Desktop search app for Linux. However, think more Spotlight than Google Desktop (which is a good thing, because Google Desktop can suck at times). Beagle indexes your files and lets you construct quick, powerful file searches.

Read full list of tips at Top 10 Ubuntu apps and tweaks - Lifehacker