Like with everything Google these days, their free web analytics application has become almost the de rigeur app for measuring web trends and traffic. This site uses it, for example, as well as many more blogs, small and medium web sites and even large enterprise ones. The data you get can be overwhelming and the list of features can be daunting. Hopefully, this basic how-to video will help get you on your way to making more sense of the statistics you get.
In a classic case of one-upmanship, like in I’ll do you one better, Yahoo just released its own web analytics application to rival that of Google. As a long-time (and satisfied) user of Google Analytics and web analytics in general – this site is running on one – what is instantly attractive in Yahoo’s offering is the promise of almost real time turn around, and access to raw data. Google normally needs 8-12 hours hours to display your current statistics.
Yahoo Analytics is based on IndexTools, which Yahoo recently acquired and now has quickly put to good use.
Ten Years. That somewhat low key article is how A List Apart writes about its first decade defining how we use and build the web. From its simple beginnings as a mailing list, then a magazine, an ezine, ALA, as it is fondly called, has been the leading journal of standards-based design, introducing foundational concepts and advanced techniques that were “initially mocked, feared, and hated, but are now part of every good web designer’s repertoire”. It’s list of authors are now the web’s leading figures, speakers and authors.
So to ALA, we’re a captured audience and we mark this milestone with you, and look forward to the next web.
Blogging is still as popular as ever, according to Technorati’s State of the Blogosphere report for 2008, but growth has slowed and more and more bloggers have specialized or have monetized their online presence.
Some statistics: 184 million recorded blogs worldwide since 2002; 346 or million peopleor 77 percent active internet users around the world read blogs; and total internet audience for blogs collectively is 188.9 million, more than Facebook and MySpace combined.
Technorati also published a number of other statistics about bloggers, such as the fact that 66 percent are male (57 percent of US bloggers are male), with just over a third of all bloggers falling into the 25-34 age range. More than half are employed full-time, and they tend to be more educated and affluent than the general Internet population. 48 percent live in North America, with the next largest chunk (27 percent) coming from Europe, and then 13 percent from Asia. They tend to write about an average of five topics per blog, ranging from personal/lifestyle to technology to politics and music. 54 percent say that they blog for fun and that they don’t make money on their blogs, but 42 percent also say that they’d like to make money “some day.”
Their conclusion: Blogs are here to stay. To which I say, “Amen, fellow-bloggers, Amen.”
Widely touted to be the one of the world’s most visited web page, Yahoo’s front page is undergoing another makeover. This time, the direction is towards customizable widgets made popular by social networking giants Facebook and iGoogle.
More importantly, though, Yahoo is going to allow its home page and these widgets to interact with third-party sites and services. There’s a detailed writeup of the new and old Yahoo at TechCrunch.
Yes, Google thinks so and is releasing today, Tuesday, 2 September, its Google Chrome web browser. The web browser is intended to be fast, easy and secure. It is being built around Webkit, an open source project that is also the foundation for Safari and Nokia’s S60 browser. It is designed to most accommodate how today’s users use the web – chatting, sharing, emailing, watching video of playing online games.
To ease the introduction Google has also released a comic version telling what the browser can do and how it will work. The comic version, drawn by Scott McCloud, is available here.
A List Apart is currently conducting a survey of people who make websites, to help us form a picture of the ways web design is practiced around the globe. And by making this data available, the survey organizers hope to have a positive effect on best practices and employment, and enhance public understanding of, and respect for, the web profession.
So what are you waiting for? Go ahead and take it. I did.
Mozilla want to set a world record of sorts on June 17 by encouraging a record number of downloads of the latest version of Firefox. It is hosting a worldwide Download Day to mark the official release of Firefox 3. The number of total unique downloads will be tabulated and submitted to the Guinness World Records organization for evaluation and potential inclusion in the Guinness World Records. There is no existing record for most software downloaded in 24 hours, so Mozilla has a good chance of being the first to appear in Guinness.
Mozilla is encouraging users and enthusiasts to participate by downloading Firefox 3 on the day of its release. Those who have nothing better to do tomorrow or wanting to take a break from saving the world or feeding the hungry can to show their support by signing up and pledging to download at the Spread Firefox web site.
After more than 10 years in the business, I know that is not always easy to explain the principles of good web design without the audience falling into a trance. The video clip below is probably the hippiest approach I’ve seen so far.
After the spate of family events, it’s time to go back to my favorite topic of late – web version 2. And speaking of which this site, aptly called web design from scratch, gives a definitive guide on how to (and the why’s) of designing the Web 2.0 way. It’s interesting read and gives a good overview of the rationale for the new “simple and bold, less for more” approach to presenting today’s new crop of web sites.
The site is by Ben Hunt, a UK based web designer and developer.
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