How to calculate driving distance with Google Maps API
June 23rd, 2009 / Web Development / 10 Comments
Once upon a time I wrote How to calculate distance with javascript and Google Maps API. This article showed my readers how to calculate the straight line distance between two addresses. It turns out that people really wanted the driving distance between two addresses. I get an e-mail about this about once a day.
Today I will finally provide the long–awaited much–anticipated tutorial: how to calculate driving distance between two addresses using javascript and google maps API.
Wordpress loop hack: Show related posts with full HTML and CSS control
June 22nd, 2009 / Web Development / 2 Comments
Use this code on single.php inside “the loop” to show related posts based on the current post’s tags. Customize the HTML and CSS as you see fit. Enjoy!
Why some web-based products are successful and others aren’t
June 18th, 2009 / Internet Marketing, User Experience / 0 Comments
Note: when I say “product” i’m speaking about your web-based product.
Useful (not for technology sake)
Good: “OMG this will help so much”
If you hear this from an actual user (as opposed to a salesman), you’re on your way to a marketable product.
Bad: “That’s cool!”
If your users recognize the glitter first, you’re either creating an unsustainable product or positioning your product incorrectly. Glitter is something nice to look at, but glitter collects dust in an art gallery if it isn’t also useful.
5 web-based tools for improving user experience
June 13th, 2009 / User Experience / 8 Comments
As always, my roundups are very small because I focus on quality over quantity. You can keep your 54 of this and 88 of that. Here’s 5 high quality web-based tools for improving user experience that I think are simply the best at what they do. And you’ll get no less from me.
1. Userfly
Userfly records random user sessions with javascript that you can replay and watch. Userfly is second only to watching your visitors use your site in person. Visit Userfly and signup for a free account.
New jQuery plugin: linkNotify() – An inline link click notification
June 9th, 2009 / Web Development / 8 Comments
What does linkNotify do?
When a user clicks a link, the link text changes to “Loading…” so the user doesn’t keep clicking.
Rethinking website navigation design
June 7th, 2009 / User Experience / 9 Comments
The first thing a user does when they come to your site is read the “clear read,” the headline that stands out the most and marks/positions the page. And this is the way it should be. Content comes first, not navigation. You want the user to read and convert. It’s not just want you want, it’s what the user wants too. The user doesn’t want to navigate right away. They expect they’ve landed on the page that will answer their needs.
Thus, content takes primary attention, while navigation accepts secondary attention. Once the user has decided to move on (within your site), they will actively search for your navigation. Obviously your navigation should be easy to find, and it should likely be at the top of the page according to cognitive models the user has acquired from previous websites.
But how should you design your navigation?
Find web visitor’s location automatically with javascript and Google APIs
May 29th, 2009 / Web Development / 24 Comments
Update June 1, 2009: This works great in the United States and has mixed results elsewhere. I’m working to see if I can change that. If your primary customer base is in the US, use this confidently. If your primary customer base is elsewhere, use in development stage only.
What if you could automatically identify where your website visitors came from? Imagine the possibilities of serving web visitors locale–specific information without the slightest effort on their part. Now that’s what I call usability, accessibility, and pure marketing awesomeness all wrapped in one package.
This tutorial finds a web visitor’s location based on their IP address. Keep in mind that IP to location translation isn’t an exact science. After all, would you want the websites you visit to be able to find your exact home address? That’s a scary thought.
Measuring Twitter influence: 6 metrics for a new Gold Standard
May 22nd, 2009 / Social Media / 5 Comments
How does a business or individual measure their influence on Twitter? Why do you have a low or high score on tools like Twitter Grader or Twitalyzer?
Here are 6 metrics for measuring your influence on Twitter. You can manipulate these metrics to grow (or kill) your influence on Twitter.
Branding for web professionals: An introduction
May 18th, 2009 / Internet Marketing / 17 Comments
As a web professional you are likely charged with delivering branded experiences online. So you follow your company or client’s unnaturally complex guidelines on logo placement, color use, etc, and at the end of the day you feel like you’ve hit the mark, right? Wrong.
The only thing you’ve done is aided the perpetuation of an excessive control freak-like practice—because colors and logos don’t make a brand. Disagree?
New guest post over at Columbus AMA
May 14th, 2009 / Internet Marketing / 0 Comments
Read it here: 5 Crucial Steps to a Powerful Landing Page.
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