The Webmasters’ Desk

Thanks for coming. The Webmaster’s desk is a forum for School of Business faculty, staff and students who use the Web, particularly if you maintain any Web pages of your own. I intend to post about issues related to Web design, usability, coding, software…the whole ball of wax. However, if you have a topic or issue you would like to discuss, just send me an email and we can work to get your message on the blog.

For those of you who haven’t spent much time on a blog, allow me to give you the nickel tour. Articles are catagorized by topic and date in the right column. You can add a comment by clicking the “comments” link under the article title. This comments feature is one of the unique features of a blog, so I implore you: ask a question or leave a comment. Just a note: comments are moderated to keep “comment spam” and other unsavory things off the site.

Be sure to email me if you would like to be added the email notification list. I’ll send out notifications when I add a new post.

Thanks again for reading, be sure to check back regularly!

In Netflix - Keeps It Reel, BusinessWeek online takes a look at the usability of the Netflix site as compared to Blockbuster (the company Netflix socked in the mouth). Both site designs (Netflix, Blockbuster) have similar designs at first glance. But after a longer look, you can begin to see the points that BusinessWeek is making.

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The MT-Encluosures plugin searches each post for a link to media files and writes them into the RSS 2.0 feed.

In English, if you link to an audio file in your post, you create a podcast. Here’s a test that links to an mp3 file of Mike Knetter speaking on Bloomberg Radio in 2004.

I just installed a Movable Type plugin called FormatList. It makes it easy to:

• Create lists like this
• Save keystrokes

That is all.

Jakob Nielsen has posted results of a recent study that uses eye-tracking technology to understand how people scan web pages. Some quick take-aways from this study are:

• Users won’t read your text thoroughly
• The first two paragraphs must state the most important information.
• Start subheads, paragraphs, and bullet points with information-carrying words

Not is this good advice for readers, it’s also good advice for getting the attention of search engine spiders!

If you write anything (and I mean anything) as a part of your job at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, you should spend a lot of time with the University Communications editorial style guide: Search. Is it “School of Engineering” or “College of Engineering?” Is it “Agriculture Hall” or “Agricultural Hall?”

If you care about accurately communicating information about the University of Wisconsin-Madison you’ll bookmark this page.

Dynamic Drive CSS Library is a repository for all the niftiest CSS scripts and tricks. What’s great about using CSS to achieve fancy effects on your site is that the content is search-engine friendly and degrades gracefully for those who have older browsers or are using screen-readers.

If you’re comfortable with CSS, you can try these on your own. If you’re not, let me know and I can help you install your favorite widget on your School of Business Web presence.

I ran across this oldie-but-a-goodie article at AListApart.com, a weekly online magazine devoted to issues surrounding the design of Web sites.

In Design Choices Can Cripple a Website, Nick Usborne shows how subtle differences in layout can make or break a page (or a site). He also shows the value of user testing to determine the effect of design on user behavior and ultimately on sales.

Personally I was surprised by which of the three designs performed the worst. The lessons I learned from this article are one, that what seems to be elegant, efficient design isn’t necessarily usable and two, that if a page isn’t performing well, don’t throw the proverbial baby out with the bathwater. Design tweaks can make for big results. User testing is the key. That’s who’s important. Not the designers ego, not the clients ideas, not articles about usability. Repeat after me: “it’s about the user, it’s about the user, it’s about the user….oooooommmmmmmmmmmmm.”

Stephan Spencer, founder of Netconcepts and speaker at University of Wisconsin-Madison Executive Education e-Marketing courses runs down some recommendations for doing competitive analysis for Search Engine Optimization projects.

Stephan runs down a great list of tools and reminds us to pay close attention to our neighbors on the search results pages. This is what’s referred to as “search engine reputation management,” and it’s important.

A quick example would be a search engine results page (SERP) that lists Super-Duper Widget Company’s web site first in the results, but right underneath it is a blog post from an angry customer delcaring “Super-Duper Widget Company has the worst customer service I’ve ever encountered.”

Check those SERPs, how are you doing?

About.com has a good tutorial on the basics of podcasting.

It includes information on what a podcast is, how to record your audio, how to create the RSS feed (read the article for an explaination) and how to finally publish the podcast. An excellent overview.

Enjoy.