From Ralph Wilson's Web Martketing Today:

A Case for Publishing via RSS Feed AND E-Mail

RSS Feeds - growing list of links with particular relevance to those operating websites

How to Set Up an RSS Feed to Syndicate Your Headlines - brief guide on how to create and use RSS - again particularly relevant for those interested in web marketing.

On the subject of RSS, the site I recently launched, What is RSS? RSS Explained, has been receiving a steady flow of initial traffic. Google had it in its index within a couple of days of putting it up and there are a few sites linking to it already. People seem to be finding it a useful tool to explain RSS.

1. Searcher has a need and enters a search.
   
2. Searcher sees several paid listings, perhaps several organic listings.
   
3. Searcher selects a listing based on some combination of position, domain, title, description, and offer.
   
4. Searcher clicks on a link.
   
5. Searcher lands on a site.
   
6. The page is either a good fit or a poor one.
   
7. The offer on the page is either compelling and appropriate to the search or not.
   
8. Searcher takes a desired step (adds to cart, clicks on contact form, views store location, registers, etc.).
   
9. Searcher checks out or possibly becomes a lagged (delayed) conversion in e-commerce or business-to-business (B2B).
   
10. Searcher becomes a customer.
    
11. Searcher remains a customer over time, contributing to the bottom line.

From: The SEM Shakeout: Are You Ready?

Autoresponder Renaissance

An article on uses of Autoresponders, including make it easier for customers to request information and measuring response rates to offline advertising.

"Too often color is an afterthought when creating a Web site. The final color palette affects customers and could cost you money. ... a quick primer on the return on investment (ROI) of color."

The Color of Money

"Your customer evangelists are typically Internet junkies, too. Putting your best foot forward online is essential to winning the hearts and minds of frequent-forwarders."

Church of the Customer: Understanding customer evangelist behavior

Brief summary of the findings of research on "influentials".

Top Ten Web Design Mistakes of 2003 from Web Usability Expert Jakob Nielsen.

Brief explanation of what number 8 wire means in kiwi culture and asks the readers "Does your company have a Number 8 wire culture? What tool, skill, or practice do you consider your Number 8 wire?"
Wired? Number 8 Wired!

I regularly read this weblog so interesting to see New Zealand getting a mention.

"Everything that can be invented has been invented." --Charles H.Duell, Commissioner, U.S. Office of Patents, 1899.

Sock puppets: unimportant

Usability: important

Good programming: necessary

Persuasive copy and design: critical

Business objectives balanced with customer needs: invaluable

Customer satisfaction and profit: priceless"

Does Usability Actually Sell Anything?

A good opinion piece on the relative importance of usability in the overall communication and selling goals of a business site.

Search Engine Decoder

The Search Engine Decoder provides a graphical way to see how the major search sites are linked together. They have managed to remove the confusion by allowing you to click a search site and see who it receives results from and who it supplies too.

Presentation from 37 signals on Business Blogging. Includes an overview of what blogging is, some examples of business weblogs, blogging tools, pitfalls and risks of blogging, and some good business blogging links.

Related article: Blogging for Business

osCommerce Watch

Yes - two Attitude sites launched in 24 hours!

The aim with osCommerce Watch is to provide information relevant for users and potential users of osCommerce. The idea is to provide information in a reasonably regular and accessible way.

I will be discussing issues, problems, contributions, modifications and other observations about osCommerce as I work on osCommerce-based sites.

If I can save someone some time hunting in the forums or hours nutting out a problem that may have been quite easy to fix - well that would be great!

I have thought alot about shopping sites in the last year or two and what makes a good shopping site. I intend to share some thoughts on how shop owners can more effectively sell online and links to sites and articles I discover related to this topic.

What Is RSS? RSS Explained - www.WhatIsRSS.com

I have put together a quick RSS primer aimed at the general web surfer - not web specialists or webmasters. It briefly explains what RSS is, why it is useful, and how to start using it.

I figure there are enough sites needing to educate their users about RSS that this should be useful. Link to it if you like it. Email me with improvements or feedback.

Two Selections from Seth Godin

Excerpt from Purple Cow and a free ebook providing advice from Seth on improving the response rate of a specific site. It includes some excellent general advice on using your site as a measurable direct response tool.

Submit your site and the name of your company and get a rating back on your customer-centric-ness. A good reminder to assess the content on your site from the readers perspective:

We We Calculator - measure your copy for customer focus

The rest of their site is worth a look too. Check out www.grokdotcom.com for some excellent articles, advice and tools.

From search engine authority, Danny Sullivan: Google Dance Syndrome Strikes Again

A tool to see how rankings on different keywords have changed: Scroogle

Both links courtesy of MarketingWonk.

Two articles on recent observed changes in the way Google ranks pages:

Been Gazumped by Google? Trying to make Sense of the "Florida" Update!

Search and Destroy: Google Upgrade Slams Freeloaders

An attempt at a graphical representation of the Internet produces some interesting images:

The Opte Project
Brief Article from New Scientist

Hours of fun:

Virtual Drum Kit