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Advanced Google Search Operators

August 4, 2006 /

Google SearchGoogle has published an improved help center which gives information on advanced search operators such as "link:":

Google supports several advanced operators, which are query words that have special meaning to Google. Typically these operators modify the search in some way, or even tell Google to do a totally different type of search. For instance, "link:" is a special operator, and the query [link:www.google.com] doesn't do a normal search but instead finds all web pages that have links to www.google.com.

This is helpful if you do day-to-day SEO analysis. Read full article: Advanced Google Search Operators

Essential email filters

August 3, 2006 /

gmail_filters.jpg
You may not use them all, but there are some great ideas for email filters here:

I receive hundreds of email messages a day, but only a couple dozen actually make it into my inbox. Thanks to the automated power of full-strength email filters, just the messsages that are important enough to deal with catch my attention when I'm busy.

Read filter details at Geek to Live: Essential email filters

Gmail Contact View

August 2, 2006 /

A great Gmail tip:

In Gmail, I keep finding it really useful to hit the Contacts button on the left side navigation area, and then click on a contact’s name. What comes back is a little contact card area up top (complete with picture, if they’re a Gmail user, or if you’ve bothered to add pictures to your contacts).

Full article at lifehack.org

GIMP for Photoshop Users

July 25, 2006 /

wilber.jpgGIMP is a full featured Photoshop competitors. Even better, it is cross-platform (Mac, Windows, Linux) and FREE! Explore books and tutorials on GIMP. There is even a portable version that runs on a USB stick.
Already an experienced Photoshop user, and you don't want to re-learn another tool? No worries, enter GIMPshop:

If you’ve never used Photoshop before, you may not appreciate my GIMPshop hack. What I’ve done is renamed and reorganized GIMP’s tools, options, windows, and menus to closely resemble Adobe Photoshop’s menu structure and naming conventions. Many of the menu options and even whole menus were recreated to faithfully reproduce a Photoshop-like experience. After running my GIMPshop hack, you’ll find that Photoshop and the GIMP are strikingly similar.

Longtime Photoshop users should feel very comfortable using GIMPshop.

gimpshop.gif

Read more about GIMPshop.

A/B and Multivariate Testing

July 19, 2006 /

I ran across this nice summary explaining the differences between A/B and Multivariate Testing:

A/B testing is trying 2 (or more) versions of a page component like a headline, image, button, etc. and seeing which one leads to the best increase in desired visitor behavior.

Multivariate testing is trying 2 (or more) versions of multiple page components at the same time - e.g. 2 headlines 3 images 5 buttons, etc. It's like running multiple A/B tests simultaneously.

A/B testing is a good way to have a simple "bake off" to decide which version is more effective towards a visitor goal like a purchase/conversion, lead submittal, registration, etc. It's also a good way to get started with testing before advancing to more complicated methods (and it's far better than not doing any testing at all!)

Multivariate testing tells you not only which versions of each component are "best", but reveals which components are more or less influencial towards one or more visitor goal. It tells you, for example, that a range of versions of the homepage image accounts for /- 30% in click-through to the next page, whereas the range of versions of headline accounts for only /- 4% in click-throughs (Why do you care? Next test you run you shouldn't bother with the headline... just focus on the image since it is more influential!)

You can roll your own A/B testing using homegrown software, and there are also several free/low cost PHP/ASP scripts that can do the job and get you up & running.

Tools and services that allow you to do A/B and Multivariate testing include:

Read more about this topic at this forum discussion.

Google, Yahoo, & MSN Search Engine Algorithms

July 18, 2006 /

Search engines have different algorithms to determine search results. New research from Fortune Interactive explains some of the logic behind these Web page rankings.

Google's algorithm:

At Google, inbound links rank in the following order: quality, relevance, title keyword, anchor keyword, quantity. Further down the list, site factors such as title keyword, anchor keyword, body keyword, content relevance and title content weigh into the equation.

Yahoo's algorithm:

Yahoo places the most importance on inbound link quality. To a lesser degree than Google, it looks at inbound links for relevance, anchor keyword, title keyword and quantity. Further down in organic results priority are general site characteristics like title content, title keyword, anchor keyword, body keyword and content relevance.

MSN's algorithm:

Inbound links rank at the top of MSN's equation as well, but are ordered differently. Inbound links are looked at for quality, anchor keyword, relevance, and title keyword. Inbound link quantity is weighted, but not quite as heavily. The search engine then looks at title keyword, body keyword, anchor keyword, content relevance, and title content.

Read full article: To Each Search Engine Its Own Algorithms

Landing Page Design Tradeoffs

July 18, 2006 /

This great article on user interface design highlights many of the design considerations one must consider when building an optimized web site. These principles are particularly applicable to landing page design, where the page layout is critical to driving conversion rates. Here is a table summary Digital Web Magazine's writeup of design tradeoffs one must consider.

Design Benefit Cost
Shallow information architecture Fewer clicks to find info More clutter
Deep information architecture Clean, reduced clutter More clicks to find info
Small font More information per screen More difficult to read for some users
Large font Easier to read Less information per screen
Drop-down box Selection amongst many choices using limited space Hidden choices
Radio buttons See all selections at all times Additional space required, clutter
Icons Quick recognition once learned, aesthetically pleasing Must be learned
Text links Always understood Must be read, do not stand out as actionable items as much from other text
Abbreviations Save space Must learn or recognize
Full text Easily understood Requires additional space
Keyboard shortcuts High speed of data entry Must be learned
Point and click Intuitive Additional time required for interaction due to increase motor skills required

Read article at Digital Web Magazine