webbage

Website analytics are an essential part of digital marketing but it is the biggest pain in the arse for an agency. You build a website and add tracking code from a dedicated web stats service (ie Webtrends) and everything’s great. But then the client asks you to add Google Analytics tracking code to the site as well.  Why?

…Read the rest of this entry »

“When you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change” - Wayne Dyer

I love this. It’s very true. Perhaps obviously true. But when you think about it, we could all benefit from looking at certain things differently.

1. Go to Spotibot.com/playlist
2. Enter an artist or band name
3. Click generate playlist
4. Marvel as a playlist is generated using data from Last.fm’s database that you can drag and drop into Spotify for instant listening.

A great way to find more bands, well done @asmitter

In 17 days, the movie Avatar has already made $1 billion at the box office making it the 4th biggest film of all time, and I would suspect it will go on to become the biggest film of all time.

Good job too, because Avatar cost approximately $280 – $310 million to produce (plus $150 million for marketing) – an unreal sum of money. But when you look into some of the tech behind Avatar you can start to see why it cost so much.

…Read the rest of this entry »

I am a huge fan of website optimisation. Pre web build usability reviews and post build data analysis are both essential but nothing helps you tweak your website towards perfection better than live unbias website optimisation tests using tools such as Google Website Optimizer (free and good enough for most digital marketers).

While most people will test a few different images and the placement of calls-to-action, it is important not to forget that optimising your copy is just as important and nothing has made me realise this more than the book, ‘Nudge‘ by Thaler & Sunstein.

…Read the rest of this entry »

So the @Redweb Christmas party 2009 comes to a close and to be honest, it’s been a great night.  Due to the significant increase in staff it’s been difficult for various members of the company to become acquainted but tonight everyone was on good terms and I didn’t hear one mention of work which is impressive at a company xmas party

I’m looking forward to the pics!

Upon hearing the news that her father had lost his job, the daughter of GM (General Motors) EX-chief executive, Fritz Henderson decided to post her thoughts on GM’s Facebook page. A pic is below, but in short her wall post can be summed up as “Fuck you GM!”

There has been a lot of “hooha” about this. The Times Online article opened with:

“If anybody needed a lesson on what not to do when dad loses his job, Sarah Henderson, daughter of General Motors’ ousted chief executive Fritz Henderson, has the answer.”

and the Telegraph put:

“The rant, although not a major issue for the company, highlights the problems that can occur when companies use social networking sites”

How is this a problem? It doesn’t harm GM, it doesn’t harm Henderson but it has given Sarah an outlet to vent her anguish (in spectacular fashion). If she was my daughter, I would be very proud of how she fought in my corner and basically said what I was thinking but couldn’t say out loud.

Don’t you just love the power of social media?

Spotify has teamed up with UK based 7Digital.com to enable users of the music player to download songs as 320kbps mp3s to their hard drive.

…Read the rest of this entry »

I use a huge range of Internet start-up websites and applications. There’s something very satisfying about being the early adopter and introducing others to great services that you have found, whether it’s a tool for improving productivity (Evernote) or a social media site (Social Median, ok maybe not a “start-up” anymore. Congrats Jason Goldberg). Anyway, one start-up I thought was great was iwantsandy.com.

…Read the rest of this entry »

Twitter is now 2 and half years old and is probably one of the most popular Internet start-ups in recent years.  Despite its constant down-time, America loves the micro-blogging platform and nothing seems set to topple it (yet). Personally, I can’t get into it (I have tried). In theory, I love the idea of it, but in practice it doesn’t work for me.

…Read the rest of this entry »