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How to Set Up a Search Engine-Friendly Site Maintenance Page

Posted on 03. Feb, 2012 by .

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I found this SEOmoz post on setting up a search engine-friendly website maintenance page to be very useful, especially as I have a significant website redesign launch coming up.In the past I’ve left this aspect of website management in the hands of my …

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Are Error Messages Getting Too Cute For Their Own Good

Posted on 20. Jan, 2012 by .

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I enjoyed this post by Golden Krishna on the Cooper blog about how error messages are becoming increasingly less useful in helping you identify what has gone wrong.

Fortunately, some suggestions on writing good error messages are included towards the …

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How to Make Data Tables Viewable On Mobile Devices

Posted on 03. Jan, 2012 by .

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I enjoyed this well explained tutorial on how to code multi-column data tables responsively (demo) so that they display in a usable format on small screen devices. The solution? Assign ‘essential’ and ‘optional’ classes to the the data columns and hide…

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Order Confirmation Page Done Well

Posted on 23. Dec, 2011 by .

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I thought this order confirmation page from Potbelly Sandwich Shop was nicely done (click to view larger).

Too often, confirmation pages such as these are overlooked from a design standpoint, so it really stands out when someone takes them time to ad…

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Use Icon Fonts to Create Lightweight, Flexible Icons

Posted on 30. Nov, 2011 by .

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I love this post from CSS-Tricks about using icon fonts to create website icons. I’d never really thought about using this technique before, but it seems like a clever way to build considerable flexibility into how you present icons and symbols on a we…

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When Features are Commoditized its the User Experience that Counts

Posted on 21. Nov, 2011 by .

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I recently cancelled my account with online backup service Mozy as they have discontinued their unlimited storage plan. Before I did, however, I moved to another service which still provides this option.In order to find a new provider, I started my res…

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Questions to Ask When Reviewing a Design

Posted on 14. Oct, 2011 by .

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Jason Fried posted a list of questions he asks when reviewing designs which struck a chord with me as I spend a lot of my time reviewing designs and providing feedback (a process I honestly don’t enjoy a great deal).I work with a great designer; howeve…

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Is This New Browser-Based CSS Editor a Firebug Replacement?

Posted on 23. Jul, 2011 by .

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When I read the words “browser-based CSS editor” recently on RedWriteWeb I got excited because it sounded like a way to be able edit CSS on the fly in browsers other than Firefox (yes, you Internet Explorer).Well, WebPutty is not necessarily a Firebug …

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8 Reasons Why Bad Web Design Decisions Get Made

Posted on 26. Jun, 2011 by .

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Sometimes when I’m struggling to complete a task on a website (or am watching my wife throw her arms up in frustration), I ask myself “What genius decided to build it like that?”

Having been on the other side of the web design fence for some years, I’…

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Reduce Bounce Rate by Making a Landing Page More Like a Landing Page

Posted on 27. Apr, 2011 by .

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After the home page the most popular landing pages for Supercircuits (one of the online stores I run) are the category pages.

While they are well optimized for SEO, since I joined the company I’ve wanted to make them more like landing pages — ju…

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Elegant Advanced Search Implementation

Posted on 09. Apr, 2011 by .

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I like this advanced search implementation on Elance a lot:

It makes it easy to choose between searching for jobs or talent without making the search interface overly complicated.On a related note, I have been noticing more sites are integrating the…

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Great Email plus Landing Page Marketing Campaign

Posted on 05. Apr, 2011 by .

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I enjoyed this marketing email I received recently from Paramore|Redd, in particular, how the landing page coordinates with the email campaign to provide a consistent user experience.Here’s the email:

And here’s the landing page it takes you to:

…

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Boden Email Design Showcase

Posted on 23. Mar, 2011 by .

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I quickly became a fan of Boden’s emails thanks to their colorful, textured designs.

Whether it’s the main brand, Boden, or the two sub-brands, mini Boden and Johnnie b, the emails are always fun and interesting with many delightful design elements….

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IBM’s Smarter Planet Icons are More Cute than Useful

Posted on 16. Mar, 2011 by .

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I came across these interesting icons on IBM’s site today, which are all part of creating a smarter planet, whatever that means. I’m trying to decide what I think of them.While they are quirky and interesting to look at, most of them don’t convey any…

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How to Make Login Forms More User-Friendly

Posted on 10. Mar, 2011 by .

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Login forms are often such sterile, unfriendly places. Which is why it’s nice to see SEOmoz taking a more people-friendly approach. Visit their login page and, along with the standard form, you will be greeted by a cartoony robot called Roger.

Better …

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Best Practices for Product Image Placement

Posted on 28. Feb, 2011 by .

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I’m in the process of redesigning an ecommerce product page which currently has the product images on the right hand side of the page. As part of the redesign I am proposing placing the image on the left. Why?Well, many other online retailers follow th…

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50+ Examples of Highly Optimized Landing Page Design

Posted on 09. Feb, 2011 by .

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Landing pages are a critical component of many online marketing activities, such as pay per click, email, and affiliate marketing. Much has been written about how best to design landing pages — just do a search for “landing page best practices” t…

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Kate Spade Email Design Showcase

Posted on 26. Jan, 2011 by .

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Now that I am responsible for my company’s email marketing campaigns I have become much more interested in email design and best practices. Once you subscribe to enough marketing emails you notice that there is a lot of great design going on in this …

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New "Deal of the Day" Email Template

Posted on 21. Jan, 2011 by .

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I’ve been working with Florida Flourish on a couple of projects and here’s the outcome of the first one — a new template for our weekly deals email.Here’s how the almost final version looks:

I couldn’t be happier with the result and I’m excite…

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LinkedIn Email Makes Great Use of Technology

Posted on 15. Jan, 2011 by .

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I really like this LinkedIn email I received recently. I was just checking my mail before starting some work, when before I knew it 20 minutes had flown by while I clicked around on ex-colleagues to see what job moves they had done in the past year tha…

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