MappingTheWeb //

You gotta be kidding me. It used to be a joke, and now it’s just plain ridiculous. Obviously, I’m referring to the new Technorati site re-launch. Techcrunch seems to like the new offering. Don’t ask me why. I’m completely baffled by the new direction of the company.

To me (and many others), search is CORE to Technorati. It is their primary offering. But it seems that the focus is shifting. The new site looks more like a news portal than a search engine. Features such as the “percolator” and tag cloud are being emphasized. I believe these to be secondary/supporting features. In other words, they shouldn’t be showcased. As search is the core offering, SEARCH should be emphasized. And for some insane reason that’s beyond me, they’ve shrunk the search box - it’s tiny. I implore everyone to visit the Technorati home page and take a look at the size of this box. It’s comparable to a regular (small) search box on any given website. This is ridiculous for a so-called “blog search engine”. It’s unacceptable.

I wish I could talk to the new CEO and say, “What the heck are you doing?” The guy is off to a bad start already. I’m genuinely upset about this new company shift. It’s illogical and irresponsible. If less concentration is going to be placed on search and more on content and discovery, then rebrand the company. Otherwise, focus on your core competency and let the rest take care of itself. Like I say, any new visitor to Technorati would assume that the site is more focused on current blog content rather than search.

Let me go on to criticize the home page a bit more…

First of all, way too much space has been allocated for advertising. I can spot one leaderboard, one giant square, and three text ads above the fold. Personally, I think they diminish the overall experience. I understand that they are part of the revenue model, but I still think they can be integrated in a more appropriate manner. Currently, they are completely ruining the experience.

I’ve criticized the company in the past, but this is a whole new ball game. Here is my advice for the company (free of charge): throw out the new stories, tags, some of the ads, and just gimme a big friggin search box. There… I saved the company thousands in consulting fees. Thank me later.

Once again, I encourage everyone to hit the Technorati home page and try to spot the search box. It’s like “Where’s Waldo 2.0?”… I’m sure you’ll be unpleasantly surprised.

Good question. Apart from MyBlogLog users, I have no idea who reads my blog. Having said that, I am very keen on getting to know my readers. I truly appreciate all the comments, trackbacks, links, and e-mails. Nevertheless, there are still those who like to hang around the periphery and watch from a distance. I have no problem with that, but for this one post…

I would like all regular readers, as well as new visitors, to introduce themselves with a simple comment below. Just mention your name, how long you’ve been reading the blog, and what you do for a living. Heck, you can even mention your company or your pet’s name.

This is simple experiment to help us all get to know one another. It may also provide some added exposure for yourself or your company. So please be sure to drop a comment - even if it is very short. Thanks guys.

Nearly all website owners monitor their statistics and traffic levels. This is essential to gauge the success and growth of a website. From a business perspective, it is necessary for calculating the ROI of a given marketing initiative. From a personal level, it is encouraging and motivating to watch traffic climb over time. The gratification from hours of hard work speaks for itself in numbers.

Every type of website measures (or should be measuring) different statistics depending on the nature of the site. A blog and an e-commerce site, for example, should not be tracking the same numbers. The former is probably focused around RSS subscribers and page views, while the latter is focused around conversions and sales.

From a personal standpoint, I am mostly focused on RSS subscribers and unique visitors for Mapping The Web. I’m not so focused on page views, as I choose to display entire posts. This eliminates visitors from having to read a snippet, then click to read the rest. Also, I always make a note of checking inbound links and traffic, as well as search traffic. These important sources let me know where my visitors are coming from.

Having said all that though, I still think that a majority of website owners are focused on 1) page views, and 2) unique visitors.

Sites that rely heavily on AJAX technology and “on-page” interaction are an interesting case. Take Google Maps, for example. If you are simply measuring page views, you might only record one per visitor. However, the length of time that that visitor spends on a given page is likely to be significantly higher than on most sites - say, 3-5 minutes. For this reason, a site like Google Maps might want to measure average stay (in minutes) or some other ‘attention’ statistic.

Websites that engage in offline marketing tactics and campaigns should be looking at geographic data. In other words, what city and/or country are visitors coming from? Is there any correlation with the offline strategy? There should be. If not, a re-evaluation of the campaign is necessary.

Keep in mind that statistics can be deceiving at times. Some sites boast higher numbers than actual, in an attempt to appear larger than reality. Furthermore, the misuse of terms can skew perception as well. During the 90’s, the term “hit” was used universally as a substitute for what we now know as a “page view”. The problem was that a “hit” described (by definition) the loading of any file, whether it be an HTML page, an image, or a video. In other words, if you had an HTML page that contained 100 images, one page view might also be classified as 101 hits. What a sham. Companies used this common misunderstanding to boost numbers and create false impressions. Eventually the term was dropped after Internet users discovered the truth. Nevertheless, people still use the term today - once again, usually describing a page view.

More recently, problems (and even anger) have arisen around RSS subscribership. FeedBurner is the big gun in this area, and most big blogs choose to display the company widget. Critics are arguing that given tallies are inaccurate at best and do not accurately reflect the readership of a blog. This many be true to some extent, but it does give you a general idea of the overall popularity of a given blog.

If you are looking to implement a web statistic or analytic service on your website or blog, I would highly recommend Clicky or Google Analytics. Both are free services and offer an incredible array of features. Clicky is my personal favourite, but I’ve used Google Analytics on the occasion and it’s been great too.

So… what statistics do you measure and why?

At some point in time, many of us are forced to choose a domain for a specific need - whether it be for an online company, a blog, or a web application. Some domains are clever and remarkable, while others languish. I’ve chosen several domains over the years and I’ve come to some important conclusions. Here is a list of the 4 rules I abide by (and advise others to abide by) when choosing a domain name:

1. Must be a .com - Forget what everyone says about .net or .tv or whatever. If you are truly looking to make an impact on the web, a .com is a must. Exceptions can be made for non-profits (a .org is a better choice) and for localized companies/services, where a country specific domain may be chosen.

2. Must be relatively short - I understand that 5 and 6 letter domains are hard to come by nowadays, but that’s not what I’m talking about. As a rule of thumb, I wouldn’t choose a domain longer than 15 letters or so. It may be hard for others to remember. You must also keep in mind that the longer the URL, the more likely it may be misspelled. In other words, if your URL is http://www.firefightersassociationofnorthamerica.com/, you may want to rethink your choice.

3. Must NOT contain dashes - Simply put, dashes are no-no in the world of top-level domains. Unless you’re creating mindless SEO-tailored landing pages, domains containing dashes should be nixed. In all likelihood, you will be driving traffic to the domain without the dashes. Moreover, I find that they take away from the professionalism of the site and/or service.

4. Must be memorable - Generic domain names are not only boring, but also dangerous. Their brand recognition is minimal and customer loyalty isn’t likely to be as strong. Generating a more remarkable, memorable domain name that can be branded is key. The loss in SEO juice will be more than compensated by an increase in brand equity and perception. After all, who’s going to remember a site called http://www.menstailoredsuits.com/? Not me… would you?

I hope this facilitates your quest for the ultimate domain name. If your choice fits all 4 criteria listed above, congratulations.

How do you choose a domain? What criteria do you use when searching for the perfect name?

Top (insert number) lists are a hot ticket item right now, but their appeal and popularity are getting saturated by an over-abundance of such posts and articles. I’m fairly certain that their seductive powers will soon fade and the trend will slowly die off.

But what is it that makes these posts so enigmatic and enticing? Here are 5 reasons why they we find ourselves constantly clicking and reading these (frequently) useless tidbits:

1. Easy-reading - Lists are bullet points or quick points. You don’t have to hurt your head trying to deal with an in-depth analysis of the newest application framework.

2. Comfort - People find comfort in numbers. A quantifiable list relaxes the nerves. A beginning and an end are apparent.

3. Exclusivity - “I know something you don’t.” People like to be in the know. If you know something others don’t, you have the upper-hand - or at least you think you do (in your mind).

4. Appeal - For the most part, lists tend to be quirky and interesting. This is a far-stretch from tedious newspaper and magazine articles.

5. Sex Factor - Let’s be honest. Lists are sexy. People naturally gravitate toward them. It’s no wonder they’re all over the front page of Digg. Furthermore, they’re a conversation piece. Lists are often easy to remember and provide huge gossip value.

Note: If you fail to recognize the irony in this post and choose to scorn me in the comments, it’s your own fault.