From the category archives:

Resource

The New York Times article “Real-Life Lessons in Using Google AdWords” is a good resource for Google AdWords 101.

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From the NY Times article “Closing the Deal at the Virtual Checkout Counter”:

“In online stores, it is much easier for shoppers to fill their virtual shopping carts — and much easier for them to get distracted by an e-mail message or comparison shopping on other sites. Then there are the design flaws and technical glitches that can get in the way of closing a sale.

These problems have been around since online shopping was invented, but they have taken on more urgency in the last year as consumer spending has shriveled. So e-commerce companies are trying a variety of techniques to push shoppers through the virtual checkout line.”

Two firms the article mentions are http://www.trialpay.com/ and http://www.criteo.com/

Read the whole article here.

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CSS Magic: The Ultimate Guide (from emastudios.com)

September 21, 2009

Visit this blog post from emastudios.com for their “Ultimate Guide” to CSS, including:

Boxes with Rounded Corners
CSS Drop Shadow
CSS Tabbed Navigation
CSS Forms

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Marketplace for custom images

August 10, 2009

While geared towards advertisers, customAdArt (http://www.customadart.com/) is an interesting alternative to stock photography sites for website builders as well.
customAdArt allows advertisers (or website builders) to post requests for specific shots and then have member photographers shoot and submit their best efforts to satisfy them.
Springwise describes how it works:
Advertisers begin by posting a job on the [...]

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“Reducing Your Website’s Bandwidth Usage” by CodingHorror.com

May 12, 2009

This post from CodingHorror.com is another resource with four good ideas to consider for speeding-up your website.
1. Switch to an external image provider
2. Turn on HTTP compression
3. Outsource Your RSS feeds
4. Optimize the size of your JavaScript and CSS

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“Best Practices for Speeding Up Your Web Site” from the Yahoo Developer Network

May 8, 2009

Minimize HTTP Requests

Combined files
CSS Sprites
Image Maps
Inline images

Use a Content Delivery Network
Add an Expires or a Cache-Control Header
Gzip Components
Put Stylesheets at the Top
Put Scripts at the Bottom
Visit this terrific resource at http://developer.yahoo.com/performance/rules.html and read the detailed information.
HOWEVER, CodingHorror.com suggests caution when considering the advice from the Yahoo Developer Network:
“There’s some good advice here, but there’s also [...]

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Which Kind Of Chart Should I Use ???

May 3, 2009

It’s been said that a picture is worth a thousand words.  Good graphics or charts – in the right situation – are worth as least that much.  They can be colorful, engaging, and simplify otherwise confusing information.
ExtremePresentation.com offers this (http://www.extremepresentation.com/uploads/images/choosing_a_good_chart.jpg) helpful graphic for choosing the right kind of chart.
Start in the “What would you like [...]

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Create Static or Animated Favicons from Images

February 21, 2009

Many thanks to whoever runs html-kit.com because this is a VERY handy tool for putting a nice finishing touch on any website.

What’s a favicon?  PC Magazine offers a fine defintion: “(FAVorites ICON) When a Web page is bookmarked, a favicon is the icon used in place of the standard icon next to the name in [...]

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HTML Cheatsheet by Webmonkey

February 20, 2009

As you might have guessed from the title above, this http://www.webmonkey.com/reference/HTML_Cheatsheet link leads to a ‘cheatsheet’ on HTML for Basic Tags, Body Attributes, Text Tags, Links, Formatting, Tables, Table Attributes, Frames, Frames Attributes,
and Forms.
Thanks Webmonkey.com
Enjoy!

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Book: “Don’t Make Me Think: A Common Sense Approach to Web Usability” by Steve Krug

February 20, 2009

We’ve all been to websites that just don’t feel right for some reason.  Maybe they’re hard to navigate, or the instructions are not clear, or they use a dozen words to explain something that only takes one. We’ve also been to websites that are just plain easy in every way (ideally you don’t notice anything [...]

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