Are web designers failing restaurateurs?
Running a restaurant profitably may be one of the toughest challenges in business. But according to a scathing review of restaurant websites written by Slate's Farhad Manjoo, finding a good restaurant website may be even tougher.
In surveying a variety of restaurant websites, including some of the most notable in the United States, Manjoo came to a disappointing conclusion: they are, by and large, "horrifically bad."
Eight lessons from Gawker's redesign atrocity
Gawker's recent launch of a new design may prove to be one of the worst redesign launches in the history of the internet. It not only sparked an outcry from users, but let to a massive drop in traffic for one of the internet's most popular publishers.
In the face of what can only be described as an online publisher's worst nightmare, Nick Denton, the outspoken head of Gawker, has been unusually silent. Until now.
In an email he sent to staff, he admits that "the transition was definitely more bruising for readers and our own staff than it needed to be" and discusses what is being done to rectify the situation.
Affiliate programs: five worst practices to avoid
Affiliate marketing isn't new, and many companies operating in the affiliate channel have significant experience operating affiliate programs. But this doesn't mean that plenty of affiliate program operators don't drop the ball. They do, and oftentimes, the mistakes they make are easily avoided.
Here are five worst practices that affiliate program operators can easily avoid.
Houston we have a problem: five 404 page best practices
Running a successful website and maximizing ROI not only requires doing the big things right, but also doing the little things right. Even when attention to detail won't make or break your business, it can have a meaningful impact.
One page that publishers often don't pay enough attention to is an important one: the 404 page. While you would hope that every visitor to your website will land on the page he or she intended to land on, that's often not the case. And the page he or she is greeted with, the 404, can determine whether you lose a visitor (sometimes for life) or make lemonade out of lemons.
Dealing with freelancers: five common mistakes
If you're an entrepreneur or run a small business, chances are you've hired a freelancer or considered hiring a freelancer. And for good reason: when you don't need or can't afford an employee, freelance labor gives you access to talented workers who can take care of a specific set of tasks.
But getting the most out of freelance labor is not always easy because freelancers work differently than employees and many entrepreneurs and small businesses don't understand that. To ensure a successful relationship with a freelancer, here are five common mistakes to avoid.
The 10 Twitter Commandments
Twitter can be used for many things. From communicating with friends,
family and associates to building an online profile to promoting
products and services, many individuals employ Twitter for important
functions.
But some of them shoot themselves in the foot by engaging in Twitter sin.
Social media and affiliate marketing: a slippery subject
Social media has opened up quite a few cans of worms. Lots of people have been forced to reevaluate how they handle certain things in light of social media's increasing prominence with consumers.
Add another can of worms to the debate: the potentially treacherous combination of social media and affiliate marketing.
Yelp gives businesses a voice
Yelp, the popular online review website that has a strong following in major US cities and launched in the UK earlier this year, has seen its fair share of controversy.
One of the biggest complaints amongst business owners: that reviews can "become a shakedown by emboldened customers or Internet trolls".
5 simple tips for improving your media outreach
If a great product is created but nobody knows about it, does it really exist? This isn't some philosophical question without answer: of course it doesn't exist!
This is why marketing and PR is so important, especially for new businesses. Making sure people know about your product is a prerequisite for success and for obvious reasons, most new businesses see media attention as one of the best ways to introduce their products to the public.
Online retailers squandering email opportunities
Online retailers are getting lazy, irresponsible, and are disregarding best practices when it comes to responsible email marketing, according to a new study from Return Path.
These dire findings were based on buying items from 45 online retailers, then monitoring their transactional and promotional message streams. These emails messages were then compared with messages received by registering for the same retailers' email programs without making a purchase.
