Archive for July, 2009:
10+ Current Web Order Form Designs To Impress Your Visitors
However, designing effective web forms isn’t easy. And it has one simple reason: nobody likes to fill in forms — neither offline nor online. Therefore, as designers, we need to figure out sound design decisions to make the form completion easy, intuitive and painless.
Form design in general is an overlooked part of web design in my opinion and without web forms, customers will be unable to purchase anything. Good design can encourage users to become a paid customers but poor design can put users off and cause them to leave before purchasing anything. Below we present findings of our survey of 10+ current web form design patterns
1. Threadless
2. Greenhouse
Primo – 200+ Free Vector Icons Set
The icons are provided in both raster and vector formats: The transparent PNG versions are 48×48, 64×64 and 128×128, and we have also included Illustrator files so that you can resize the icons as needed.
The icons are completely free for personal and commercial use and they’re being released exclusively to all our readers.
Shopping – Apparel & Shoes
PhotoAlto – Surprise Gifts
HQ Couples Photos
Twitter Highlights Search on New Home Page
We all knew that Twitter is about to launch its redesigned home page. But we didn’t expect it to be this fast and neither did we expect that it will do it this way. If you sign out of your Twitter account, you will see the new Twitter home page with the sleeker design and a new darker blue theme. But there’s more actually – and it stares at you upfront – the Twitter Search Box.So now, right up front you can start discovering tweets and updates. The redesign was made more for first time visitors to the Twitter home page and who are not yet using Twitter. Putting the Twitter search box right up front would give these visitors a first taste of how great Twitter is as a discovery engine and not just a social media tool for communicating with Twitter members.
It’s a good strategy for Twitter which defines what it could do aside from being a micro-blogging service. And this could also be the start of biggger, bolder things to come for Twitter.
As Loren commented to me via IM – “looks like a search engine to me…“
Check out the SEO Tools guide at Search Engine Journal.
Twitter Highlights Search on New Home Page
Twitter Reaction to Microsoft Yahoo Search Partnership
A few hours after the first news coverage on the upcoming announcement about the Yahoo-Microsoft search deal, it started to generate substantial buzz on Twitter. If you search “Microsoft Yahoo” on Twitter Search, you’ll get tremendous number of Tweets, with updates coming in every second.
While most of the Tweets are just providing links to various news sources running the story, there were some valuable commentaries and reactions posted by the more opinionated (I guess) Twitter users.
Some of the notable Tweets related to the Yahoo-Microsoft Deal:
And if you want to read some more, here are the coverage from some of the leading news sites/blogs:
- Microsoft, Yahoo Still Negotiating; Deal Could Be Announced Any Time
- Microsoft, Yahoo may finally embrace with search, advertising deal
- Reports: Microsoft-Yahoo deal to come in next 24 hours
We’re still waiting for the official announcement which could come out in the next few 24 hours.
In the meantime, you might want to start a discussion here and view your reactions/comments to the Yahoo-Microsoft search partnership. You may share your thoughts by leaving a comment below.
Check out the SEO Tools guide at Search Engine Journal.
Twitter Reaction to Microsoft Yahoo Search Partnership
Microsoft and Yahoo Inch Closer to a Search Deal
It looks like Microsoft and Yahoo have finally agreed to a search and advertising deal. AllThingsD is reporting that an announcement will be made between now and tomorrow. Wall Street Journal is also running a similar story as well as Advertising Age. While both Yahoo and Microsoft refused to confirmed anything about this, the signs have been pretty much sent out the past couple of days. But perhaps Yahoo CEO’s comment about Bing gave away the validity of the said agreement. Ms. Bartz openly congratulates Microsoft for what it has produced in Bing when Yahoo reported its Q2 Revenue Report. In addition, Ms. Bartz also said that Yahoo will be focusing on its web portal which is the company’s strongest online presence until now.
As for the details of the search and advertising agreement – it will be a revenue sharing deal but would entail Microsoft providing search technology on Yahoo sites as well as using its AdCenter as the backbone of both Yahoo and Microsoft advertising programs. This could mean the end of Yahoo’s Panama, Microsoft AdCenter and Google AdWords’ competitor in the online advertising market.
Now, will these have an impact on Google’s dominance in the search advertising business or search market as a whole? That remains to be seen. Combining Microsoft and Yahoo’s search market share would not even equal to half of Google’s search market share.
The deal could work both ways. On the one end, it will certainly benefit Yahoo but not as much as it would benefit Microsoft. Microsoft is gradually gaining positive grounds with its Bing search engine. And who knows, eventually Bing might power searches in Yahoo’s content network. By that time, Google will be facing stiff competition. But for now, Google may still relax and conduct its usual business. This partnership is not yet a threat. But it might be in the long-run.
Check out the SEO Tools guide at Search Engine Journal.
Microsoft and Yahoo Inch Closer to a Search Deal
Microsoft Bing Yahoo Partnership Supported by Search Engine Industry
As soon as this week Microsoft Bing may be powering the search results and advertising at Yahoo, and an overwhelming amount of Search Engine Journal readers support the move, which would establish Bing with an estimated 30% search market share and position a cooperative Bing & Yahoo as a serious competitor to Google.
Yesterday, upon the news leak that Yahoo & Bing may be coming to terms on an agreement which could be announced as early as this week, SEJ polled its readers on the likely possibility of a Yahoo & Microsoft search engine venture under the likely scenario that Yahoo will be powering Yahoo Search and YSM with Bing search technology and serving Microsoft AdCenter advertising.
Should Yahoo & Microsoft partner on search?
Here are the results (note that this poll is running until Friday, so the percentage points may change) :
The SEJ reader response was overwhelmingly supportive of a partnership, and since our readers are predominantly search engine search marketing professionals, an early consensus could be that the search engine industry is behind the Microsoft Yahoo deal.
Check out the SEO Tools guide at Search Engine Journal.
Microsoft Bing Yahoo Partnership Supported by Search Engine Industry
Apple Rejects Google Voice iPhone Apps
Apple has rejected Google Voice applications from its iPhone apps store and for the iPod touch under a ban of the Google Voice products. Despite Google Voice applications being readily available for the Blackberry and Android based phones, Apple has yet to approve a Google Voice App for the iPhone, and the reason may have something to do with competition between Google and iPhone’s select carrier in AT&T.
From Claudine Beaumont of the Telegraph
Apple has rejected Google’s official Google Voice app, as well as several applications, developed by third parties, that replicate the functionality of Google Voice on Apple’s devices…
… Two other applications based on the Google Voice platform have also been removed by Apple from its iTunes store. VoiceCentral has disappeared from the store, while GV Mobile has also vanished.
Sean Kovacs, the developer behind GV Mobile, said Apple told him they had removed the application because it “duplicates features that come with the iPhone”.
Google released this statement on its Google Voice and iPhone Apps issues :
Apple did not approve the Google Voice application we submitted six weeks ago to the Apple iTunes Application Store. We will continue to work to bring our services to iPhone users – for example, by taking advantage of advances in mobile browsers.
Why not approve Google Voice for the iPhone? According to the Telegraph, one issue may be a conflict of interest between Google and AT&T, the US carrier for Apple.
The reasons for the removal of the Google Voice applications from the iTunes store remain unclear, but some industry commentators have speculated that AT&T, the iPhone’s exclusive carrier partner in the United States, may have played some part in events.
Google Voice could be viewed as a threat to the key revenue streams of network operators because it allows users to make cheap calls, save money on their text messages, and circumvent the products and services offered by the carriers themselves.
Of course, until Apple and Google and possiby AT&T clean up this mess, iPhone users can access Google Voice via their phone browsers.
Check out the SEO Tools guide at Search Engine Journal.
Apple Rejects Google Voice iPhone Apps
