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I just opened my Google Analytics page and found a pleasant surprise, a new interface!  I’ve barely cracked the surface, but I’ll give you a quick rundown of the changes I see.

• New icon based gui, using *much* larger type
• Configureable dashboard view
• Emailable reports
• Ability to schedule reports

On the surface, it looks like they’ve made a great step forward towards becoming a threat towards the high end pay packages.  I’ll be digging in deeper over the weekend.

Read more in Jeff Gillis’ post on the Google Analytics Blog.

James Blood Ulmer with Alison Krauss at Radio City Music Hall performing “Sitting on Top of the World” – date unknown, but I am assuming it’s fairly recent.

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I updated to the latest greatest, then renamed the comments file to help foil comment spammers.  Let’s see how this goes…

I was inspired by Mary’s post here, in which she’s quoting Mike Sansone.  I almost soiled myself – for those of you who don’t have a lot of experience with web design let me explain:  there are a lot of folks out there who claim to be web designers and do not have a clue.  It’s bad enough they besmirch the rest of us, but some of the horrors perpetrated on their clients are truly criminal. 

While they’re talking specifically about blogs, I’m going to expand it to web sites in general.

The list – Your site might be 4Qd if:

• It uses Frames – Frames are 1995 design and they don’t work in Google.  If the site was designed any time after 2000, do not ever talk to or refer business  to the “designer” again.
• The designer used a cookie cutter template – If a reader can’t get an idea of what you do without reading the text, there’s a design problem.  Don’t read the text – what does the design say?  If the possible answers cross the spectrum of “web design, hair salon or escort service,” you’ve got a problem.
• The Flash animation’s busier than a Vegas marquee – Flash is fine if it adds to the overall design and utility of the site.  Scrolling, blinking and otherwise distractive animation that doesn’t add anything is an issue.
• The text rivals Tolstoy’s work in length and complexity – We’ve all seen it.  Pages that go on for ever.  The writer must have been a rocket scientist.  But unless you’re selling rockets, there’s no place for reams of pointless text.  Bullet lists and short summaries, all directed laser like your true point – selling, generating leads, etc.
• It uses Ajax or Flash for the navigation scheme – I’ve seen it too many times.  The developer creates a cool navigation scheme that uses Flash or Ajax.  They go live.  Two months later, they are asking why their traffic and their Google Ranking have dried up.  Navigation is usability – if Google can’t get in, or your users can’t figure it out, you are hosed.

Our host, OneWorldHosting.com had a problem with the comments script in WordPress and has turned them off.  I hope to have them back online soon.

I’ll give OneWorld the benefit of the doubt – they’ve been good over the past few years, and I’ve had no other problems with the 15 or so websites that I manage using their service. 

Apparently they are saying that the wordpress wp_comment_post.php script is sending spam emails.  Very strange…and I haven’t been able to find any instance of it behaving that way anywhere online.  I did immediately upgrade to the latest and greatest word press, but obviously I don’t have permission to access that script.

It’ll be interesting to see what’s going on. 

In no particular order:

1. The owner doesn’t use content sharing services – tools like technorati, Digg, FeedBurner, Google Blogs, etc. are great ways to publicize good content.  The end result, the blogger is whistling in the wind.

2. The content isn’t unique – either the writer hasn’t developed a particular voice, or is simply providing links to other peoples content.  Thus when readers check in, they find nothing of value to bring them back.

3. Over use of advertising – it makes the blog too hard to read, and makes it appear to be more of a revenue vehicle than a communication means.  Bloggers and blog readers turn off at overt marketing pitches.

4. Dead Blog Syndrome (DBS) – the blogger updates so infrequently most readers stop checking back.  My gut is that a blog needs at least two posts a week, and one of those should probably have some new thought, the other could be simple commentary on the hot blog issues of the day.  Give readers a reason to put you in their morning reads and you’re on your way to success.

5. Knee Jerk Blogging – many bloggers feel the need to write about every hot issue of the day.  Boring…I don’t need to hear yet another viewpoint on Anna Nicole, the Ft. Dix terrorists, etc.  Chances are whatever you have to say on those issues, it’s been said somewhere else, and said better.  And unless you’re specifically blogging about politics, it’s probably a good idea to avoid topics like “Bush should be (take your pick, Sainted or Impeached)”.

Here are a couple of links on the subject (I read them after writing this…)

Bloghash – 4 Reasons Blogs Fail
BlogCut – 5 Reasons why Blogs Fail?
The Wrong Advices – Why Do Blogs Fail?

Great reading in all of them…

My favorite web analytics soothsayer, Judah Phllips is blogging at WebAnalyticsDemystified.com – *how cool is that*!  And even better he’s got a great post from a presentation he delivered at the ClickZ Conference entitled “Non-Transactional Web Analytics: A Methodology I presented at a cool ClickZ Conference”. 

His post presents a “simple” model for doing web analytics for non-transactional (ie. non-ecommerce) sites.  Basically, it’s a rich list of the seven steps involved in true analysis.  Great info even if you don’t often step into the analytics engine room to shovel coal.  A quick sample:

His list is well worth taking the time to dissect and understand.  Check it out here…

So a company has some custom ‘download 2 free tunes” card done for a tradeshow from Puretracks.  I tested the service Friday after we’d had a couple complaints that people couldn’t download.  What resulted is an utter web horror show.

For the record, I had told the folks doing this promo not to even bother if the download didn’t come in mp3 format.  Which of course it doesn’t.

The problems were quite extraordinary.  First, no macs need apply.  Gee, that’s a great way to win business.  Then, two windows machines were unable to get through the registration process without crashing their browsers. 

I was able to get through the heinous process of registration and actually enter the codes to get my two free tunes.  They downloaded okay, but then promptly through a “License Error” – you see, these were in WMA format, and had to be played via Windows Media Player.  So I followed the troubleshooting instructions and downloaded the latest version of Windows Media Player, then retried.  Still nothing. 

So I tried to open a support request.  Up pops a login screen, only this little gem won’t accept my login that I’d just created and had verified by email.  Turns out you have to register…again for support.  So I did that, and sent off an email. 16 hours later, I’m still waiting for a reply.

Here’s the scoop – if I wasn’t testing, I would have stopped at the registration process.  Forget it, I don’t need the stinking free music if it’s in a format that won’t work on my IPOD, that I can’t switch from machine to machine (I use several different computers, and I’m not about to try to move DRM Licenses around.  This is an utterly failed business model.  A couple of hints:

• The price point of the product that is delivered here is under a dollar.  Make the effort level required to redeem it on par.
• If it’s easier to register for online banking, there’s a huge usability problem.
• If your system isn’t working due to a temporary glitch, let people know via a system message.
• Provide an easy means to get support without making users register (again) and answer support requests immediately.  No email unanswered within 30 minutes would be the gold standard here.  Better yet, a chat service link ought to solve this.

For those thinking about using free downloadable music cards for handouts:

• Use a reputable source 
• Test before you give them to your customers
• If it’s a Rube Goldberg DRM scenario that is virtually unusable, go with something else.  You will just annoy your customers.
• If it relies on a single player, such as Windows Media Player, run away.
• If they can’t use them on an IPOD, don’t bother.
• Most of the web uses ITunes – your downloads should be ITunes compatible.

For a short while, I will be doing free site assessments. Basically I have a quick look to see if the site is properly designed for search engine positioning, check it’s key word position, and generally assess the design or your site. If you can get me access to your traffic stats, I’ll have a quick review of them as well.

Why? I did an assessment of Ryan’s site yesterday, which actually was well designed, but found that he had no search engine placement at all. The culprit turned out to be the use of frames. Additionally, most of the site information was contained in images, which Google can’t read.

I’m betting he’s not the only one out there with problems keeping them from business success.  I’ve seen too many sites that have major issues out there, and I’m betting that if I take a look at 10 sites, a good percentage may need work, and that’s potential business.

First come, first serve, for a limited time only. Absolutely no strings attached, your name won’t be mentioned here. Use this form…and mention the Free Site Assessment.

From the Jacksonville Jazz Festival DVD – No Egos Underwater. 

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