Rating: Summary: Quick and to the point Review: There is a reason you are reading these words. There is a reason Amazon is a huge success. In a few simple examples Seth points out some of the ideas of effective web design.While this book is in no means comprehensive, it is a small invenstment into the future of your web site and business. At $10 and only a half hour read you only need 1 good example to make the book worthwhile!
Rating: Summary: Better Web Sites for a Better World Review: Think of this book as Cliff Notes for profitable web development. Seth Godin uses web site examples in pictures, with concise explanation, providing memorable snapshot summaries of key ideas. Topping out at 110 pages, this is an informative, evening read. "There are two definitions of what happens online. There's the engineers version, which is that smart people, with plenty of time, who know precisely what they want . . . are able to make a considered decision with access to all the data. . . Then there's the marketer's version. This version says that people are busy, ill informed, impatient, not very thoughtful and eager to click on something right now. Marketers also believe that if you don't give a prospect the right thing to click on right now, he's going to hit the "Back" button and leave. The second version is the one that's backed up with all the data and all the successful results. " To help us to remember what we're trying to do with a web site, Godin suggests we think of a monkey in a Big Red Fez. What is going to get and keep his attention? This monkey is always thinking "Where's the banana?" Seth Godin visits many sites, showing clear successes, blatant failures and many memorable, well-intentioned misses. His common-sense dictum keeps it simple: "The web is a giant direct-marketing machine, and the best tactic is to use direct-marketing thinking to create a site where your margin per relationship is greater than the cost of that relationship." Take an evening and find the banana for your site.
Rating: Summary: Increase ease of use and visitor satisfaction Review: This book will increase ease of use and visitor satisfaction to any web site. A lot of common sense, but also some great new tricks to increase sales. A fun read.
Rating: Summary: stating the obvious... Review: This e-book basically states and restates the obvious. Things we all know but sometimes forget. Don't expect to be treated to some kind of secret valuable knowledge : it is just a compilation of (mainly) registration process mistakes one can find here and there. There are also, far fewer, good examples. Parenthesis : as I write this mini-review, this e-book seems to be number 2 on amazon's sales list. As Seth says, we're all monkeys ;-) Seth justifies the price of this e-book ( he earlier argued that e-books should be free ) first because it is supposed to contain "timely exclusive data"; then because it's "an experiment". While we can contracdict the "experiment" part, don't let the "timely exclusive data" claim fool you, nothing exclusive here. "Unleashing the Idea Virus" by the same author, was free, more innovative and more timely. So, were do we stand ? Is the e-book useful ? Yes, somewhat, mainly as a guide to review your various web site registration procedures or entry pages. Is the book worth ... ? Your mileage may vary, but it seems that the author is giving the proceeds of the sale to a non-profit organization, so we can't really complain, can we ? Not bad, not dishonest, but not earth-shaking either.
Rating: Summary: Read it. Avoid some big, obvious and costly mistakes. Review: This is worth the read. Direct marketers are the only honest marketers on the planet. Seth brings a good direct marketing sensibility to Web site design. You'll find lots of errors pointed out which seem very, very obvious but after 7+ years of Web site design are still very, very common. If you only get the "Where's the Banana?" lesson your $3 and time will be well served. The book is light in lots of areas but it doesn't claim to be otherwise. Mainly oriented to consumer Web sites but the lessons are often applicable to B2B because, like most good direct marketing, the right things to do are obvious. Anyone who has a Flash-heavy Web site should have their heads examined. Happily, Seth makes this point. ....
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