Projects
- [Scal] A simple javascript calendar control. based on prototype and scriptaculous. (that's what you came here for, right?)
Redesigning your site? Remember: Every Page is Your Home Page
No CommentsMitch Joel from Six Pixels of Separation provides a fine encapsulation of Avinash Kaushik's presentation at InfoPresse Web Analytics Day. I've snipped the part that should inform your site design. Even if you're not in the middle of a site redesign, the post is well worth the time to read. This is something every shop should be thinking about...
The premise is simple: every page of your Website must now be considered a homepage. The hours spent tinkering on your current homepage needs to shift into ensuring that every page is a brilliant representation for the keywords and external links that drove someone to your site. Fewer and fewer consumers are coming in via the homepage. They could also care less about what your company does or the other products you sell. They were searching for something specific, and if it's not there after they've clicked on a search result link, they're you're roadkill on the information super highway.
[Via: Six Pixels (Mitch Joel)]
Marketing Gone Turing'd
No CommentsKevin Kelly's Technium has turned out some great articles of late. His latest tidbit is a little question about the computerization of, well, everything.
We have this long list of tasks and occupations that we humans believe only humans can do. Used to be things like using tools, language, painting, playing chess. Now, one by one they get Turing'd. A computer beats them. Does it better.
So far we've can check off arithmetic, spelling, flying planes, playing chess, wiring chips, scheduling tasks, welding, etc. All have been Turing'd.
[Via: The Technium]
At the end, Kevin wonders to the audience what else has been Turing'd (i.e. given over to computers because they are better than we are). I'd like to add Marketing to the list of fields and disciplines that have been Turing'd.
Most of us in the online marketing sphere are well past the idea of marketing on instinct. The medium lends itself quite handily to automation and marketing to algorithms.
The direct marketing world is slowly giving itself over to the same idea. Not that they haven't been using computers and models for years. In fact, direct marketers are some of the most disciplined adherents to deep testing methods that tweak and adjust the smallest minutiae.
Still, this isn't quite the same thing as giving it over to the computer entirely. To build models that run without human intervention and sort the massive data sets into personalized (and quantified) offers that are proven to be more effective.
It's coming, folks. Actually, the best companies are already doing it.
Web Analytics Roundup - Recent Links of Interest
2 CommentsOmniture Summit
I started the month with a visit to Omniture's Summit in Salt Lake City. The conference was great, even without swell keynotes from Lance Armstrong and Seth Godin (which were both awesome in their own way). Omniture has an ambitious vision for their product line. I'm especially excited about the deep automation they are building with their Genesis platform. If it works even half as well as they claim, it will change the game for many of Omniture's customers.
Recent Links of Interest:
Avinash Kaushik has a great article on the importance of putting context in web analytics reports.
Debbie Pascoe gives us a look at the new page load time calculations being used to grade AdWords advertisers.
Charles Thrasher has a bitty note about Gord Hotchkiss' recent presentation at Microsoft. Gord's talk revolves around Malcolm Gladwell's thin-slicing hooptedoodle from Blink. Here is a snippet from Charles' post to whet your appetite:
On a SERP, thin-slicing occurs at the very first listing, either sponsored or algorithmic. The very first listing determines the credibility of the rest of the page. If the reader finds the first listing relevant to their intent, the rest of the listings get a lift in credibility, even when the only thing changing between test SERPs is the first listing! Conversely, poor relevance in the first listing can taint all other listings on the page.
Interested in the Taguchi method? Billy gives a nice overview of the Taguchi Method in this post:
The Taguchi method (also known as robust design) belongs to an engineering discipline called Quality Engineering. The main objective of the Quality Engineering design is to minimize variability in the performance of a product under different environmental conditions.
[By the way, like Dave Taylor, I always think about Tamagotchi when I hear or read Taguchi.]
Ian Thomas gives a solid overview of Gatineau Microsoft adCenter Analytics. Big congrats on the launch of 2.0, Ian!
I hate the term customer engagement, but I respect Eric's attempt to bring mathematical rigor to his framework. I hope he can devise a decent and reproducible model, but I pray that he can get a better name for his concept. 
VeenAndy has some super links in this post about learning AB testing from the pros. I really appreciate his recap of the 7 pitfalls of controlled experiments on the web.
And to round out the lot, here is a post from Matt Belkin at Omniture about spending smart money on internet advertising during tough times. I attended this presentation at the Summit (it was packed). Matt is a great speaker (funny and knowledgeable) and the information in his long post is timely. I wish he would post the crappy PPT his team made. Very funny.
MacBook Air Baffles TSA
No CommentsI just got back from a trip and I had to post this one. Hilarious.
Steve Jobs Made Me Miss My Flight:
They pull my laptop, my new laptop making its first trip with me, out of the flow of bags. One takes me aside to a partitioned cubicle. Another of the endless supply of TSA agents takes the rest of my bags to a different cubicle. No yellow brick road here, just a pair of yellow painted feet on the floor, and my flight is boarding. I am made to understand that I should stand and wait. My laptop is on the table in front of me, just beyond reach, like I am waiting to collect my personal effects after being paroled.
[Via: Wide Awake Developers]
MacBook Air Ad:
Dell laptop tries to lose weight after watching Air launch video:
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