Google In-Page Analytics. Seems like a more interactive Page Overlay with more context. After test driving this for only a few minutes, I can already tell this is going to be useful!
HTML5 Boilerplate / Index.html →
These days HTML5 Boilerplate is my starting point for any substantial web project. It has so many SEO and website performance considerations baked right in (more on that in a week or two).
index.html is a great start for markup. But like any template, there are tweaks and customizations to be considered. Design Reviver walks us through the file.
You’ve heard blogging is good for your business. But did you know businesses with blogs get 55% more site traffic?
— Hub Spot
How to Get Inbound Links to Your Site →
I’ll save you some time and let you in on the secret…
Earn Them!
SPAM commenting, directory submissions, even buying links - these don’t really cut it. To get good quality, relevant inbound links, you’ve got to put in some work.
WebP is coming, Could Replace JPG
Move over JPG, make way for… WebP? WebP is an image file format focused on improving compression of the lossy images like JPGs.
WebP aims to lower file sizes and in turn reduce download times while still retaining a certain level of quality.
Sitepoint notes that people want faster-loading sites and, currently, images make up a majority of many web page downloads. WebP seems like a natural fit.
Not So Fast
But don’t expect to see WebP popping up everywhere just yet. No major browsers support the format yet (though Google is working on a webkit solution for Chrome). Furthermore there are indications that file size reductions also cause somewhat noticeable quality reductions as well.
While it appears WebP has a few fatal flaws, the ball is rolling. Gonna keep an eye on this one…
The key to creating a fast user experience in today’s web sites is to render the page as quickly as possible. To achieve this JavaScript loading and execution has to be deferred.
— Steve Souders. (… and don’t you forget it!)
Microformats, POSH, HTML5 and more →
A seriously great article covering existing microformats, using them in POSH, and what new microformats are included in HTML5. Includes a bunch of code examples with explanations.
Range Free Content
Microformats make data easier for machines to interpret and pass around. It all comes back to making content portable.
SEO for Images →
An excellent collection of the little things to consider when preparing and coding seo-friendly images for the web. In this case, seo-friendly is in regards to being found on image search engines like Google, Yahoo, and Bing.
While this is a pretty thorough list of factors to consider, two main themes ring clear: consistency and Moderation.
Consistency
The filename, alt-text and caption of an image of a website combine to form an impression of what the image is showing. For maximum impact these three factors should be aligned, containing the same or similar keywords
Moderation
…with so many factors to keep in mind it’s very easy to stuff keywords in everything and hope for the best. Needless to say, this is not desirable. So practice moderation and don’t stuff keywords everywhere. Relevance is key…
Designing for Information Scent →
Logic would say that once a visitor lands on your site, it’s best to have what they’re looking for right on the page, front and center if possible.
But what if it’s not possible? Give them a wiff. If you give the visitor an indication that they’re on the right track, they’ll stick around a click as long as the trail doesn’t get too cold.
I first read about this in When Search Meets Web Usability, whose authors have long advocated the idea. Tyler Tate and H. Stefan Olafsson of TwigKit offer some ideas on how to amplify information scent on a website.
How NOT to design a search-friendly URL…
Unless you’re the Wall Street Journal and have a well-known brand to fall back on…
