News You Might Use

I’ve just recently been working on a project that required the purchase of some .mobi domains.  It just so happens that one of my favorite apps and most used Daylight by Marketcircle, makes iPhoney.  iPhoney is an open source project for web designers who want to build and test web sites for the iPhone.  We all know that everyone in the world has an iPhone.  Here are some of iPhoneys features for you mac savvy web designers.

• View source to see the source code for the page you’re viewing, great for checking iPhone targeted pages.
• Localized for Norwegian (Thanks to Fredrik W.), French, and German users.

• Test your iPhone-enabled Web 2.0 applications and compatible web sites.
• Open any website that works with Safari (use Safari 3 beta for the most accurate experience).
• Rotate to see websites in either portrait or landscape orientation.
• Show or hide the location bar for a full-screen iPhone experience.
• Simulate the iPhone user agent, to test browser redirection scripts.
• Zoom out to see how your current pages might look while zoomed out on iPhone.
• Turn off plug-ins (including Flash, but note that they all turn off (including QuickTime).
• Automatic updates with Sparkle, so you’ll always know if there’s a new version.
• And of course, open source code so you can contribute to iPhoney’s rapid development.

I just wanted to take a minute to talk Adobe AIR.  “Adobe® AIR™ lets developers use their existing web development skills in HTML, AJAX, Flash and Flex to build and deploy rich Internet applications to the desktop.”  Adobe AIR is still new but quickly becoming adopted by many big name companies.

This really gets my creative juices flowing when I think about the possibilities.  Here are two of my favorites that I’m really digging.

Google Analytics Reporting Suite, yes they are currently working directly with Google.

The second one from Ribbit, Silicon Valley’s first phone company.  They came out with an AIR iPhone desktop app using their phone service.

Some of you might be using Google Trends, if not it allows you to track and compare what Google users are searching for.  Google has gone one step further for us eCommerce junkies and introduced Google Checkout Trends.  This is very similar in that it gives you insight into what people are buying and selling online.  This data is directly aggregated from Google Checkout merchants.  So if your interested in comparing sales of Fluke Multimeters or Flir Infracam Thermal Imaging Cameras or just wondering how popular an item is, Google Checkout Trends will give you that.

Every web page should have a title and every good title should have keywords.

Include only your main keywords.  You want to use the least amount of keywords you can, the idea being that Google will give each of the
keywords more weight and the higher you will rank.  So in other words don’t use every keyword you can think of in your title.

This would be a perfect title for your web page.

Search Engine Optimization | SEO/SEM Camron Deen

Rememeber always put your most important keywords first.  Replace all “ands” with “|” character.  Make sure the titles pertain to the page.

Google Analytics is great for showing just about everything about your users. I’ve noticed that some of my clients have not even touch on one special feature in Google Analytics. The Site Search. From an SEM standpoint this is a goldmine of information because every time a user lands on your site and performs a search ( if you have a search box ), they literally tell you in their own words what they are looking for. This gives you the access to drill down and see how they attempted to refine their search when they didn’t find what they were looking for. If your running ecommerce you will see how this correlates with conversion. Another sweet section in the Site Search if your doing a lot of ecommerce like me is the ability to break down Categories ( product groups ) and Trending ( track metrics over time ).

The Site Search reports are located within the content section. You will first need to enable Site Search to see the reports.

Today when I was checking Analytics I noticed a new feature which allows you to compare metrics (One Metic, Two Metrics, and Compare to Site).  You can find this feature under Dashboard/Visits.

You can find more high-quality free fonts in library of Jos Buivenga.

Bloggers and hackers aren’t the only ones sticking it to iPhone maker Apple Inc. for its closed minded approach to user-customization of the touch-screen handsets — Nokia has taken advantage of the situation by launching a print and web campaign dubbed “Open to anything.”

“We believe the best devices have no limits. That’s why we’ve left the Nokia Nseries open,” the Finland-based handset maker wrote on its new “Open to anything” website. “Open to applications. Open to widgets. Open to anything. So go ahead and load it up. What it does is up to you.”

• 1. Do you get more excited about your work than about family or anything else?
• 2. Are there times when you can charge through your work and other times when you can’t?
• 3. Do you take work with you to bed? On weekends? On vacation?
• 4. Is work the activity you like to do best and talk about most?
• 5. Do you work more than 40 hours a week?
• 6. Do you turn your hobbies into money-making ventures?
• 7. Do you take complete responsibility for the outcome of your work efforts?
• 8. Have your family or friends given up expecting you on time?
• 9. Do you take on extra work because you are concerned that it won’t otherwise get done?
• 10. Do you underestimate how long a project will take and then rush to complete it?
• 11. Do you believe that it is okay to work long hours if you love what you are doing?
• 12. Do you get impatient with people who have other priorities besides work?
• 13. Are you afraid that if you don’t work hard you will lose your job or be a failure?
• 14. Is the future a constant worry for you even when things are going very well?
• 15. Do you do things energetically and competitively including play?
• 16. Do you get irritated when people ask you to stop doing your work in order to do something else?
• 17. Have your long hours hurt your family or other relationships?
• 18. Do you think about your work while driving, falling asleep or when others are talking?
• 19. Do you work or read during meals?
• 20. Do you believe that more money will solve the other problems in your life?

This could be the next BIG thing.