Archive for February, 2010

• Consistent User Interfaces Help Users

  Conversion rates, user satisfaction, and retention improve when you deliver a consistent user interface – one in which you tell customers something that is consistent with what you actually do. The issue arose with a client, but I have a personal experience of a very similar case. I logged into our banks internet banking facility. [...]

  February 7th, 2010

• SEO: Remember relevance?

  Inspired by a great piece of spam this morning. This looks like a lengthy and individually crafted posting, offering a summary of what looks like the current situation on H1N1 in the USA. The problems? Well, it is targeting a US dentist, and the spam was contributed to an article about how Google has been [...]

  February 5th, 2010

• Google. Foot. Gun. Shoot.

  The AdWords Help Forum has degenerated over the last year or so, into a customer service forum. I intend to cover that in detail some other time. The common signatures of pain in the forum are: Complaints that “Google won’t accept my Credit Card“ Making promo vouchers work Suspension for various reasons, often involving guaranteed [...]

  February 4th, 2010

• PC World – Online Subscriptions

  There’s a classic FAIL in user handling on many eCommerce sites: forcing users to register details before you’ve explained the reason and value. People know that they need to hand over addresses for shipping, but requiring them to offer these details before you’ve verified that the items are in stock and available, or that you [...]

  February 3rd, 2010

• AdWords Help Experts – Twitter Influence

  AWHE (AdWords Help Experts, is now rated as “Influential” by Topsy. The blog was started by Google-recognised “Top Contributors” in the AdWords Help Forum, to help us to include pictures and video and common answers for frequent or tricky questions in the AdWords Help Forum. A recent graphical rework and substantial posting by Kim Clinkunbroomer [...]

  February 3rd, 2010