The hapless ramblings of an intoxicated web designer.

Today I thought I would discuss one of the lighter sides of search engine optimisation. Recently a friend of mine introduced me to a novel SEO tactic that I had, quite frankly, completely overlooked.

Pink hat SEO is the practice of pretending to be a female in order to increase the number of stumbles, diggs, reviews, etc that you receive. In today’s male dominated internet this can give you a significant advantage. People will always respond better to your ‘female’ persona.

Isn’t it immoral?

Well, strictly speaking yes it is, but I don’t think it harms anyone. I think there’s nothing better than a quick spike of testosterone to make people’s eyes pluck up and pay attention to the quality content that you’re offering.

The downside

Expect to receive plenty of PM’s that quite frankly you don’t want to read. Another perspective is that this is quite humorous and you can have hours of fun reading the silly chat up lines that people use!

How much do you benefit?

A great deal. You will be surprised at just how much of an impact it actually has.

My perspective

I think, in circles where you aren’t actively socialising and are merely looking for reviews, this is a good tactic. I wouldn’t use this in say a forum or other circle that I actively socialise with though because, quite frankly, it just wouldn’t feel right.

What are your views on this? Have any of you used this strategy before? I would love to hear your stories concerning this.

Popularity: 28% [?]

A friend of mine, Adam Timberlake, wrote this article for Grumpycoder a while back and I’ve had a few requests for me to repost it, so here you go guys:

AJAX has become the talk of the town in recent months. Whole array of sites are using the new technology to craft websites that are just a little more fancy than in the days of Lynx. Although the question does arise, are we utilising the immense power that AJAX has placed into our receiving hands wisely? Naturally sites love to offer the resemblance of a standalone application to their doting users, but after all, this is the Internet. It is the stage and we are the audience!

Evidently, it’s all fine and dandy in many respects, a website telling me in real-time that I’ve made a momentous error in filling in a basic form. I wriggle under my desk as AJAX awakes to point me in the right direction. That’s great! However, with scientists currently working on artificial intelligent robots, should we not be aspiring to weave our websites in such a way? After all, there is an abundance of psychology that is fed into the computer every second of everyday. Every instance when we fulfil our own autocratic tendencies by pushing our mouse left and right.

After all, we have the means for transmitting that data in real-time. The days have gone where we await a user telling the system what they want; the system should be the conscious mind of the individual! Based on one or two mathematical algorithms, several or more scientific concepts and one almighty assumption, we can begin to deliver data to a user before they’ve even thought about it! And we already have a technology eager to perform that errand for us – AJAX.

Anyone on the Internet these days can become anyone they choose to be. Social networking sites such as MySpace, Bebo, Virb and a plethora of others, merely settle for the same old routines. It’s hard to ignore the fact that many of these sites simply glide on past the more complex theories out there which would make their system that more engaging. After all, I already know what I want, but I do not know what you offer. Instead of me telling you what I want to see, you tell me what you have for me. Now that would be different!

It’s clear to see that when a user navigates throughout your website, they are taking the path they desire the most. It is far from a random path composed of random clicks, but rather an intricate projection of my current state. Such as, if there is no referral link, could we make the supposition that they were linked to this site via a friend, and really have no such interest in that page? How about if a female is browsing many pictures of the same gender, is she a lesbian, lonely or just insecure? This is a question of core emotions; it’s the cognitive processes which are so abundant when browsing the Internet. It sure is worth questioning whether or not AJAX could be the means of gathering psychological profiles on visitors. Our experiences on the Internet could be both eerie and greatly enchanting.

An Internet that surpasses the vexatious ability to point our errors and instead, skip beyond and offer the tailored solution! Perfect?

Popularity: 25% [?]

Here are just a few reasons why I use Stumbleupon every single day for my web browsing…

1. I love randomness

I don’t think I’m alone on this one. Many times I’ve sat staring at the google search window looking for something new. Sure, Digg and other bookmarking sites have some random content but often it’s the same old stuff. Stumbleupon gives me true randomness, and I’ve discovered sites that both make me laugh and make me record them in my del.icio.us favourites for later consumption. Often I find sites that are very valuable to me in my work as well.

2. It doesn’t involve me typing

I hate typing. It involves exercising my fingers…

3. I don’t find myself chatting to 13 year olds

Digg in particular is legendary for this one. Many of the web savvy generation are just going through puberty right now and are, quite frankly, a major reason why I don’t use Digg very much.

4. Stumbleupon tunes in to my tastes

I just love this concept. It’s very web3.0, I feel. I’ve noticed Stumbleupon has an uncanny way of finding sites that I will enjoy. Giving feedback is a great way of doing this, and the vast majority of sites I visit either get the thumbs up or the dreaded thumbs down.

I think many other users do this as well and so Stumbleupon is much harder to influence by a small pocket of cooperative digging.

5. Stumbleupon seems friendlier

I get the feeling that Digg is a bit, ummm, elitist. The fact that the whole rating system is much more behind the scenes makes Stumbleupon users much less mercenary, I feel. There’s also no apparent ‘elite class’ for people to be jealous of.

6. Stumbleupon is bigger

It’s a little known fact, but Stumbleupon is actually much larger than Digg even. More hits are sent out from the stumbleupon toolbar than all of the Digg topics put together. Digg receives a higher profile simply because it’s legendary, but somewhat temporary, Digg spikes get a lot of attention. Stumbleupon’s day-in day-out hits often pass by, under-the-radar so to speak.

7. Stumbleupon has a more diverse usership

You’d be very surprised at the kind of people who use Stumbleupon. There’s a far higher proportion of women, non-geeky, less tech-savvy people who use stumbleupon. Using a toolbar is far easier than visiting a website. Often the toolbar will be recommended from a friend to people who are otherwise oblivious of the bookmarking ‘revolution’.

8. I don’t end up reading top 10 lists..

..like this one. Digg is famous for its top 10 lists. Top10 lists are a great way to grab attention and summarise content. Unfortunately, after a while, they do begin to grate on people.

Popularity: 100% [?]

Today I came across a new site that might spell the end of Digg and, quite possibly, for tales the end of social bookmarking altogether. Diggxchange is a new service that allows users to collaboratively exchange diggs with other users. All you need to do is register and send a few diggs out and you’ll get those diggs flooding back.

As a site it looks pretty basic and I’ve had a few problems with loading speeds. This doesn’t fool me though. The concept seems like the next step in the spam arms race that seems to be overshadowing the internet. I expect very soon to see a site that allows exchange of diggs, reddits, stumbles, you name it, all into one.

How can they stop it?

Well basically, I don’t think they can. I’ve read quite a few understandably poisonous blog posts describing how all the users will be banned from the bookmarking sites but really it doesn’t take a genius to realise that by mixing in a few (or even a majority of) randomly selected innocent bystanders into site output you can prevent the bookmarking sites from taking action. How can you ban all the users if you will be mostly banning innocent people?

Natural evolution

I think the internet is a true expression of Darwinism. The weak shall perish and, judging from Digg’s front page content, I won’t be shedding many tears.

One of the wonderful things about this is that, as the bookmark sites die, so will those who prey on them. Just like the mammals taking over from the dinosaurs something better, something more intelligent, will rise from the ashes and inherit the netosphere.

Popularity: 25% [?]

Today I installed the dofollow plugin for wordpress by Kimmo Suominen. This popular plugin removes the default rel=’nofollow’ microformat from Wordpress visitor comment links. It’s just one of a range of plugins available. Andy Beard, a leading supporter and member of the dofollow community, has kindly put together a comprehensive guide to removing the nofollow from a wide range of blogging engines.

So why did I take this step? Here’s just a few reasons…

1. So not to deceive my visitors

I think that the vast majority of people who see the ‘website’ box on my comments form will believe that they are receiving the full value from that link. Therefore without removing the ‘nofollow’ I am, by default, deceiving my visitors. This isn’t acceptable to me.

2. Show appreciation for participation

I think comments enrich the content. Many times I have read an article and scrolled down looking for a quick link to something relating to the topic. Comments also show that my posts have authority and have been approved/disapproved by the wider online community. This mandate is incredibly valuable.

3. I’m not an information dead-end

Call me a hippy, but without outgoing links your users will have to go back to square one and open Google, Stumbleupon, etc to search for more relevant information. Just like a river, current has to flow out as well as in from a website for it to become a major pathway on the ‘blogosphere’.

4. Nofollow is a plaster over a bullet wound

Nofollow should be a perfect solution to the blog spam problem. Unfortunately it has proved far less than sufficient. There is still great value in standard click through traffic when spam posting is automated. Matt Mullenweg from Wordpress has stated that nofollow is a failure.

5. Spam filters work better

Spam filters aren’t perfect, but they are still pretty damn good. I don’t mind occasionally pruning the few bad apples that slipped through the net for the benefit of my other users. There’s a fairly comprehensive guide to spam filtering and other techniques on Sixapart.

Popularity: 36% [?]

Ever suspected there was something very quantifiable about the way users viewed website content? Turns out there is.

Studies have been conducted using retinal eye tracking equipment on average web surfers. This tells us exactly where people’s eyes are focused, how long they are focused for and even the order in which this process occurs. The surprising conclusion is that users almost always use an ‘F’ shaped viewing pattern.

Phase 1: Top horizontal

Users almost always read the first paragraph in great detail. They are highly focussed at this point.

Phase 2: Second horizontal

Users read part or all of the second paragraph. At this point they have almost always made up their mind about an article already.

Phase 3: The long left line

At this point users will quickly scan down the left hand side of the page to ‘check they haven’t missed something’. They will only notice the first 3-4 words of each line and are far more likely to notice something if it is on the first line of a paragraph or differentiated using a title, indentation or some other method that makes it stand out.

Phase 4: Extra horizontals

If something stands out during the ‘long left line’ it may well trigger additional horizontal lines to the ‘F’ pattern. The further down a page, however, the less likely it is to hold interest for very long.

Implications for web designers & bloggers

The first thing to remember is that those first two paragraphs will, without question, determine the success of your article.

Secondly, it’s hugely important to keep any further paragraphs short, snappy and well subdivided. This is the best way to trigger those all important extra horizontal lines of reading.

Thirdly, keep things short. Another observation made from these studies was that the further down the page, the shorter each of your horizontals will be.

Potential rewards

This theory, if well implemented, has the potential to give you a serious edge over other web sites. By keeping the ‘F pattern’ in mind you can design content that grabs your user’s attention, and doesn’t let go.

Popularity: 24% [?]

There’s plenty of statistics services out there. Google analytics and Statcounter are market leaders, and offer incredibly detailed visitor behaviour statistics. Over time you realise that there’s still missing something though. If only there was some way to understand your user behaviour at a glance. It seems that heatmaps are the solution.

What is a heatmap?

Heatmaps record where your users click within your website, and then compiles the information into a intensity map showing your clicking hotspots.

How will a heatmap be useful to me?

At a glance you can see what areas of your site are performing best. You can even see when users are becoming confused and clicking in the wrong places. This information, if used correctly, can prove invaluble for improving your user experience, ad performance and navigation.

How do I set up a heatmap?

Crazyegg offer a paid service with a powerful heatmap and statistics service. If you don’t want to spend any money though you can use the free heatmap script Clickheat provided by Labsmedia.

Popularity: 15% [?]

Remote mouse viewing is nothing new. There’s plenty of software out there that allows users to transmit their mouse movements and activity to another users’ screen. In a sense it was only a matter of time before the website usability trade got a hold of this concept.

A company called Tapefailure are one of the first on the scene. Robotreplay have also recently entered a free beta testing phase. The new services allow webmasters to monitor user activity in ‘video replay mode’. Essentially this is just like looking over the persons shoulder while they surf your site. Activity is tracked from the moment you enter a site using the script until you leave it.

Where’s my right to privacy?

Well I’m sorry to say that you don’t have any. In a sense you didn’t have any before. The vast majority of computers have hidden spyware that monitor your surfing for marketing purposes. Many sites already use services like google analytics to give incredibly detailed statistics about your surfing behaviour. The only new thing about this is that it doesn’t just record your activity - it watches your every mouse movement. It adds a very personalised touch to something that was previously very generalised.

I’m sure a lot of people reading this will be feeling outraged. I think it’s a growing concern in the society that we live in that we are being increasingly surveyed.

The flip side: better usability

As with any product that has a hard sell there tends to be a big advantage to make up for it. In this case it’s usability. By watching mouse movements webmasters can optimise their websites to make them easier to use for those who visit them, and more profitable. You can watch, for instance, a user that goes to the final confirmation of payment for one of your products and then backs out. Understanding customers is big business.

In addition, there’s thousands of hours of activity being recorded. The odds are you will never have your activity watched. If you think about it, this has been the case in the telephone call center industry for a decade now. Ever heard the “your call may be recorded for training purposes” message?

Webmasters will also find the software useful to convince their managers that something needs to be done that is affecting their business. User behaviour becomes more of a fact than a science when you are watching it in real-time.

Ease of use

Services like this are very easy to use. You simply have to insert a small snippet of code into your head section and activate your account on their website. The entire process takes 5 minutes.

Can I protect my privacy online?

Yes! Most modern browsers give users the ability to disable Javascripts from running while browsing. This will prevent the required mouse surveillance scripts from being activated. Unfortunately many (poorly designed?) sites use Javascript in their core functionality. Users therefore stand to lose a great deal of quality in their surfing as a result.

In the wrong hands

I do worry about the potential uses of software like this in the wrong hands. It could potentially be included in all sorts of nefarious activity. It’s worth noting though that the software only displays your browser window (rather than your computer screen). Certainly though the creators of this service will have to be very aware of the potential negative power of this technology.

I hope that this software plays a positive role in the internet and delivers on website usability while minimising the potential negatives. Perhaps an inclusion option for website web site users, “tick this box if you do not wish to have your mouse activity surveyed”? Then again, maybe this isn’t something companies want to advertise!

Popularity: 9% [?]