At the Omniture Summit in Salt Lake City last week, Zaaz was one of the Gold Level sponsors and the sponsor of the networking lunch.

They are really thinking ahead (and having fun) with their website. At a time when the employment market place has more demand than supply for talented internet marketing people, they have gotten very creative with their recruiting.

Zaaz figures that if someone from a competing firm is visiting their site that they must be looking for a job, so they redirect the visit from their home page to their careers section.

They do this by identifying the IP addresses of the offices of their top 50 competitors and then redirect the visit if it comes from one of those addresses.

So, if you are wondering if Zaaz considers you to be one of their top 50 competitors, try visiting their site from your office to see if you go to their home page or their careers page.

I think this is an incredibly clever way to recruit top talent for your firm and take it away from your competitors.

If you're a Digger, then there's a good chance that you're probably among the majority who have never seen one of their submissions hit the first page, let alone the top 10. If you have seen your submissions made popular, then you can probably relate to that giddy little sense of excitement you feel when your story's Digg count explodes after reaching the first page. My latest submission to be made popular didn't just hit the front page, it hit the top 10, shot to the top and stayed there for most of the first 12 hours it was popular.

So why did my submission get so popular so quickly?

[More]

Q: What was the name of the click mapping application that you used in the AMA presentation?

A: The name of the click mapping tool is Crazy Egg

We really like this tool for a number of reasons:

1. It shows us which links are being clicked on a given page
2. It shows us specifically where those link are being clicked so that we can see if people are missing the links (so it shows us clicks that are made that weren't on links or buttons as well)
3. It show us the click activity by referral source so that we can see how different groups of people are interacting with the page

The tool allows you to understand how people are using your site, so you can decide how and where to position content and links. Give the tool a try and see what insight you can gain from it.

If you missed VKI Studios live AMA webinar featuring Tom Leung of Google and John Hossack of VKI Studios, it is now available to be viewed on demand.

On Demand Play Back

The second question that was asked was:

"Could you please share the presentation slides or similar info that would be equally helpful."

Answer: "The slides from my presentation are currently available at http://www.vkistudios.com/ama/.

Tom Leung's slides will be available from the same URL later today (February 5th, 2008)"

Q: Can you please email me the list of blogs, books, and conferences you mentioned at the end of the AMA webinar about Landing Page Optimization (Data Analytics)?

Answer: If you are looking for resources to help you learn more about analytics and conversion testing then there are some excellent blogs by experts in the industry such as:

• Avinash Kaushik,
• Eric Peterson
• Robbin Steif
• Or see our blog roll to the right

If you are interested in analytics and you want to meet the movers and shakers then you must attend one of the eMetrics summits. eMetrics Toronto is coming up at the end of March 2008. VKI Studios is a proud sponsor and we encourage everyone who is interested in meeting and listening to analytics thought leaders to attend.

Finally, books. There are a number of great books on the topic of analytics and testing. A few of my recommendations are:

• Web Analytics Demystified: A Marketer's Guide to Understanding How Your Web Site Affects Your Business by Eric Peterson
• Web Analytics: An Hour a Day by Avinash Kaushik
• Actionable Web Analytics: Using Data to Make Smart Business Decisions by Jason Burby and Shane Atchison
• Web Metrics: Proven Methods for Measuring Web Site Success by Jim Sterne.

Good luck

Below is our current travel/exhibit/sponsorship schedule for 2008 (more events will likely be added in the coming months). If you would like to meet and have a face to face with VKI Studios this year please check our conference schedule below. This is our initial list of event that we will be attending, exhibiting and or sponsoring in 2008. Please contact us and let us know if you would like to meet us at any of these events.

Omniture Summit: Orem Utah, Mar 4-7, 2008

Emetrics: Toronto, Mar 31-Apr 3, 2008

Emetrics: San Fran, May 4-7, 2008

SMX Advanced: Seattle, June 3-4, 2008

Internet Retailer: Chicago, June 9-12, 2008

SES: Toronto, June 17-18, 2008

Internet Marketing Conference: Vancouver, September 11-12, 2008

I was at a friend's place for a pot-luck dinner last weekend. We were all hanging around in the kitchen and I happened to be standing by the microwave. The host handed me a gravy boat and asked, "Hey, can you nuke this for a minute?"

"Sure, no problem," I said confidently. I put the gravy boat in the microwave and closed the door. My eyes then searched for the "Min Plus" button. After all, that's how my microwave works. Aren't they all the same?

Nope. This one was littered with unfamiliar controls. Some obviously dealt with power levels, some set a timer. There were other controls for defrost functions, a cluster of specialized "one touch" buttons for Popcorn, Baked Potato, etc. But there was no "Min Plus" button to be found...

How do I just turn the damned thing ON??

Taking a guess, I pressed 6-0-Start, assuming that would give me 60 seconds. It works on my microwave - and my sister's too. Surely it must work on all of them?

Nope. The panel beeped with every press of a button, but beyond the beeping, the microwave stayed dark and silent.

Hmmm. Maybe I have to enter a power level first? So I pressed the "Power Level", then 9 (figuring 9 would be highish). Then I pushed "Time" and 6-0. THEN I pushed "Start". This has GOT to work, right?

Nope. By now, the other party guests had noticed the long series of unproductive beeps coming from the microwave, and they started to snicker. "Hey Straker, how many years did you spend in university?" one asked sarcastically. The kitchen exploded with laughter, and everyone's attention turned to the moron who couldn't figure out how to use the microwave.

To the amusement of all, the scene continued for another agonizing minute or so, as I tried any number of pushbutton combinations in a futile attempt to bring that dead hunk of metal and plastic to life.

I eventually bluffed my way through with a cheat. I pressed "Popcorn" figuring that would at least turn the stupid thing on. It did, and a round of well-deserved applause erupted. I bowed in triumphant victory.

So... what's going on here? Am I really a hopeless techno-peasant? Well perhaps that's part of it. But I like to think there's another reason I looked like such a fool: when it comes to microwave operations, there's no established standard. Every manufacturer uses a different scheme, so you can't transfer what you've learned from using your microwave and apply it to using someone else's. You're left feeling - and looking - stupid.

And what has any of this got to do with web design? Easy. If you don't want to make your visitors feel stupid - if you want them to be able to accomplish their tasks easily - stick with established conventions. Sure, it's nice to break new ground with a new and "better" navigational system or whatever. But think twice before taking such chances. Remember yours truly at the helm of a microwave. Don't make me use the "Popcorn" button to reheat the gravy. Trust me, it doesn't work well...

Many of you don't have to imagine what it's like to type your name or your company's name in Google and find search results that paint you in, shall I say, a less than positive light. And none of you have to imagine the kind of impression this leaves with people who are looking you up.

Your online reputation doesn't just depend on the press releases you send out, which journalists or bloggers they reach and how these outlets spin your brand. The real battleground for your online reputation is across the online arena in almost all the places where you or your industry are topics of debate, discussion or competition.

Circumvent the Democracy

This online battle is more democratic than ever. These days any individual with a grudge can have one of the loudest voices when it comes to who you are in the online arena.

So how does one battle against the tyranny of this online democracy? If it's a person with a grudge, It's always advisable to start with contacting them and trying to reach an agreement or understanding. If that doesn't work, or if your online image is tarnished by unflattering news articles, then its time to implement a more aggressive campaign.

Outrank negative search results with pages of your own until the bad publicity is pushed down to pages that most people just don't look at. You do this by optimizing your existing pages for the search engines, and creating even more pages that will outrank and quell the banter that's harming your online reputation.

Always Tread Carefully

You don't want to make this investment and have it backfire on you. Search Engines rank pages on the basis of relevance and trust; the pages you optimize have to communicate this not only to the search engines, but to users.

If you're going to dominate the first pages of search engine rankings with your own results, make sure your pages are worth being there. Crowding Google's results with pages that are juiced with links but deliver no real value to the people who will be consuming the information is spamming, which is invariably BAD 'netiquette'. You need to put in your time and understand how to play within the guidelines of the unspoken laws of the web.

Be truthful regarding the content of the pages you are optimizing and engage people in honest conversation; that's how you develop real trust online. This is doubly important in the more social aspects of online communications. More to come on that soon...

On Tuesday the 4th of December from 7:00AM to 9:30AM at the Terminal City Club, 837 West Hastings Street, Vancouver VKI Studios with be hosting the first WAA & eMetrics breakfast event.

This event will feature Jim Sterne, founder of the eMetrics Marketing Optimization Summits, and founding Chairman and current President of the Web Analytics Association. Jim will be speaking about the current maturity of the web analytics industry. He will share insights into the level of expertise among today's practitioners; challenges they face; the opportunities that are available; and the role we play as companies adopt the continuous improvement method of marketing optimization (at VKI Studios we have branded this as our Hippo Tango service) and truly start listening, engaging and participating in a dialogue with customers.

In addition to Jim's presentation I will be presenting a recent case study that we have put together on marketing/landing page optimization. This case study will focus on the use of web analytics and testing (in this case Google Analytics and Google's Website Optimizer) and the importance of planning and process to maximize results.

This event is targeted at people who want have an interest in marketing optimization, web analytics, and testing. I hope that attendees will gain a solid understanding of the current state of the analytics arena from Jim and an appreciation of the benefits of becoming a data driven organization and the importance of planning and process from my presentation.

Click here to register