Comments on: Is Personalization Changing Your Game Plan?

By: Angie H

Angie H — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 18:25:50 +0000

I hear you Shane! I actually wrote a guest post over at NowSourcing on a similar issue. (It's called Chicken Suits, Killer Dust Bunnies & Branding: Why Good Content Is Crap.) It blows my mind that some people will hunt out an expert, hire that person, then argue with everything they recommend. Very frustrating, and it's sad because regardless how you handle the situation, the client still loses.

By: Shane Arthur

Shane Arthur — Sun, 28 Feb 2010 21:35:41 +0000

Angie,

I do a lot of work with small businesses. They are still stuck on “I want an animated graphic.” When told they don’t need it, they need copy and a clean coded site to get noticed above their competition, they usually ask for two animated graphics.

Gail, those websites are good and I’d add http://www.jeffsextonwrites.com/ to that list.

By: Angie H

Angie H — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 20:01:49 +0000

Thanks Gail

Completely agree. Those are all fantastic resources. Websites and businesses that fail to diversify will simply disappear. So glad you stopped by.

Angie

By: Gail - GrowMap

Gail - GrowMap — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 19:48:20 +0000

I sincerely hope those reading this take it to heart. NOW is the time to start and continually improve and enhance your Web site. Businesses that are not actively growing will start failing rapidly. Nothing is as fast as pay per click and search traffic – other methods take much longer to bear fruit – especially if you don’t have money to burn testing them.

Angie is absolutely correct about testing usability by watching someone who is not familiar with your site try to use it – and I do mean TRY. I highly recommend reading Steve Krug’s excellent book Don’t Make Me Think for more on optimum Web design and usability testing.

There are several exceptional sites on usability including UserEffect.com, GrokDotCom.com, BryanEisenberg.com and Sensible.com. All are well worth reading. I sometimes write about usability but always write about proven methods for growing businesses and blogs. I do hope you’ll become a regular reader.