Viewdle announced its Reuters deal, where the company’s technology will allow viewers to leap to precise moments of a person’s appearance in a Reuters video.

A demo of how Viewdle handles search for a handful of celebrities and politicians at Reuters said they have over 600 hours of video indexed. It isn’t a comprehensive repository of video yet, but the results for those who have been indexed works well.

Viewdle said its engine employs “a video indexing and reference system that fuses pioneering, facial-recognition visual analysis technology along with other leading search techniques to automatically look inside video streams, frame-by-frame, to recognize and index appearances of people on-screen.”

We think there’s more work to be done on Viewdle, just by looking at a couple of searches through the Reuters Viewdle site. A query for Tom Cruise brings up one video for the superstar, posing for photographers with Katie Holmes. Demi Moore and Ashton Kutcher appeared on screen after that, but doing a separate search for Moore returned no results.

It is a line of thinking that necessitates doing what is optimal: when to balance user experience with "bot experience" to create a site that will harvest any legitimate traffic without detriment to conversions, or without venturing into areas beyond the given risk threshhold for the project.

Technology and marketing were formerly unique disciplines with very different types of people. SEO’s are the folks in between. In my mind, the reason SEO goes well beyond just search marketing into most areas of business is because search engine marketing IMPACTS many of the decisions that are made in a business. Marketing, infrastructure, customer relations, analytics, accounting, human resources can all directly impact search marketing and vice versa. SEO has become more and more of a strategic vision as top rankings become more competitive, and more valuable. SEO is in large part the communication gap between marketing and IT, combined with top level executive strategy (The only good SEO’s that leave the field at this point, do so to become CEO’s – visual illustration).

This is intended to be an "advanced beginner’s guide" – which is a bit of a paradox, but the idea is that even the most proficient of SEO’s often revisit the basics, and that execution on simple solutions can be very elegant and effective. It will also help to cover many of the things that all too often get overlooked. Executing on basics is the most advanced play in the search engine marketing game. A little secret I’ll let you in on – Even the "SEO Pros" go back to basics – content and links. They’re only pros because these two critical elements have become second nature, and nearly every waking thought is based around how to create mo’ betta content, or get some new links in creative ways.

Even if you understand every single technique available – no matter what play you call – you still have to block and tackle to reach the endzone and score your top rankings. The most proficient SEO’s realize that search ranking, branding, marketing strategy, conversions, and postive conversations consist of two major elements – CONTENT and LINKS.

Content

User Experience and content organization

The user experience should be concise, and simple. Simple is elegant. You can have multitudes of functionality locked within a extremely simple streamlined interface. Read Don’t make me think, and the Big Red Fez.

Key tips with site architecture:

1. User architecture and bot architecture don’t need to be identical. A bot will determine the heirarchy of a site through it’s link structure. A user will determine the heirarchy of a site through the placement of the main navigational elements.

2. Search engines are becoming extremely proficient at incorporating semantics into link structure. Keeping a site sectioned into themes is extremely important. The importance of internal anchor text to this factor is rarely over-rated.

3. Internal search is incredible for gathering data on your site.

Resources for understanding information architecture, and balancing the user experience with the bot experience:

• User expectations for common ecommerce elements
• Search engine theme pyramids

Content Creation

Keyword based content

Creating content specifically to rank for keywords. This is a borderline practice, depending on the intelligence level of the content. A thousand monkeys with a thousand typewriters could lookup and change content based on a set of words.

User generated content

The beauty of web 2.0 – people decide to connect together to do something. Whether it’s worthwhile or otherwise, two heads are very often better than one, and conversation is the backbone of the web.

How to content

Everyone loves to know how to do something. I really wish I could download things like "how to do your own plumbing", and be able to figure it out. Someday, perhaps a well optimized and informative video will be able to do that.**

**after publishing Rob pointed me to these installation resources on Vintage Bath and Tub (who have some cool clawfoot tubs) – great examples of howto content

Blog content

Write what you know. Talk about a relevant, cohesive topic.

Linkbait content

Make a GREAT idea even better. Be remarkable.

Commodity content

Sometimes cheap content is better than no content. Don’t be lazy.

Content Resources:

• 10 Web Tools to Help Generate Blog Content Ideas
• Adding content pages – 78 possible topics – Jim
• Can your content pass a hand check – Martinibuster_
• Content Planning for Search Engine Optimization – SEO by the SEA
• Content to create links – SEW
• Read Copyblogger through twice
• Directory of Government RSS Feeds _ Threadwatch.org
• Fifty (50!) Tools which can help you in Writing – lifehack.org
• Search’s Long Tail
• The Long Tail_ SEO Tips
• When Unique Content Is Not “Unique” – Sugarrae
• Finding Hidden Content – Content idea – RogerD’s notebook
• Editing Press Releases
• Writers’ Block_ Breaking Out With Ten Simple Ideas

WebmasterWorld Supporter’s forum:

• 63 Questions to Ask Prior to Building a Content Site
• Content creation What do you know about writing for the web
• Providing Decent Content vs Providing Crap Content

Content Structure:

Duplicate content thinking

LINKS

The "Bot Experience"

"Create a site with your users in mind" has become an oft-quoted mantra of search engine representives when asked about how to rank better in search engines. While the logic is sound, it is also somewhat incomplete. The "experience" that a bot has when visiting your site will often determine the initial experience that a user has with your site as well. Controlling where the bot enters the site, and how the bot "sees" the site is of paramount importance to determining how users will find and navigate through your site.

Information architecture is one of the most overlooked areas of good search marketing. Mainly because it is one of the most difficult areas to retrofit on a site, and it’s extremely difficult for consultants to demonstrate the value to justify the workload needed to overhaul a site.

Link Development

Old is good – Old sites are trusted. Trustrank is a part of the game, and if you don’t believe it you’ve been sleeping. There is no sandbox, there is only the trustbox, and the trustbox emphasizes old, aged links that are on trusted domains that are relevant to your targeted query.

Link equity is the new brand building. Perhaps I’m a bit wrong – link equity, strategy, and development is the new brand building. Brand building and link building should coexist peacefully. Those folks out there that you’re paying $10 – $20 per hour for link building, are building your brand for the future. Why? because a brand is only a google search away these days. If I want to know how strong McDonald’s brand is – I do a google search. Perhaps I’m ahead of the curve, but even Joe sixpack isn’t that far behind me. He knows that google is a verb, and he’ll soon figure out how to change his default search application from windows live to yahoo or google. New brands don’t underestimate the intelligence of their consumers. Default search doens’t "WOW" anyone. Relevance, and information quality does.

Types of links and how to get them. Learn what they are, and how they apply to you. 12 types of links and how to get them.

Article link development

Write articles – submit to various sites based on automation for quantity or personal contacts for quality.

Press link development

Write articles – see above.

Partner link development

Network at conferences, through IM, or email, and make nice with friends.

Affiliate link development

Start an affiliate program with a service that is in the know. Redirect appropriate pages.

Paid link development

Buy text links on relevant sites

Viral link development

This one is probably among the toughest because it is becoming increasingly difficult to do something remarkable that people talk about.

Try learning what linkbaiting means.

Directory link development

Proceed with caution – you don’t need many.

Reciprocal link development

See above.

Link Development Resources:

• Graywolf’s Linkbuilding roundup on TW
• 10 steps to getting links to your site from M$ employee
• 101 Ways to Build Link Popularity in 2006 _ SEO Book.com
• 131 (Legitimate) Link Building Strategies
• A Few Quick Link Building Tips – Jason Hendricks
• Advice_ Increase Email Response Rate _ Justilien.com
• All links are paid – More No-Follow Fallout
• Are You Guilty of Stinkin’ Linkin’ Thinkin’_
• 7 Even More Effective Ways to Build Links SEO Black Hat
• Building an outsourced team of link builders
• Buying Links – O’Reilly In Debate Over Link Selling
• CSS Redesign list – How-to increase your links through a redesign
• Delegating Link Development_ Outsource or In-house_
• Determining the Value of Links from Link Renting
• Does Your Site Have Link Building Potential
• Doing SEO in a Vacuum – natural link development
• Email is Still the Key to a Successful Link Building Campaign – seomoz
• Filthy Linking Rich by Mike Grehan
• Finding Most Relevant Powerful Page for Link from Jim
• Getting Links 1 of 5 – Neil ACSEO
• Google s New Link Filter
• How to Request Links From Picky Sites – mm – seomoz
• Increase Your Link Request Conversion – Don’t Do This!
• Interview of Patrick Gavin
• Jump-start Your Link Building (without Getting Sandboxed) by Andy Hagans
• Link Building 101 – SEW
• Link Building for Blogs Online Marketing Blog
• Link Building Guide – jim westergren
• Link Building Services – How much $$ per link_
• Link Building Strategies – Who To Link To
• Link Building Wiki – Main – Link Building Wiki
• link building with affiliate programs — does it work_
• Link Building with Landing Pages_ a basic guide
• Link Popularity and Link Building Basics-Linking101.com
• LinkHounds – Great Link Building Tips & Link Popularity Tools
• Linking Strategies that work in 2005
• Linking Strategies, items 1 to 50
• List of Searches for Link-Popularity Building
• Natural Backlinks – Getting backlinks without even asking. – Jim Boykin
• Natural link paterns – How “Internet Phenomenon” Gain Links Over Time
• Recommendations on Content to Attract Links
  Secrets from Debra M
• SEOmoz – Unconventional Link-Building Ideas
• SEOmoz Blog _ 5 Rare & Valuable Link BuildingTactics
• SEOmoz Blog _ Long List of Link Searches
• SEOmoz Blog _ What a Good Link Request E-Mail Looks Like
• Seth’s Blog_ What makes an idea viral_
• The Link Building Knowledge Base by Andy Hagans @ www.linkbuilding.info
• Threads of the Web – Linking for Success
• Threadwatch to Build Killer Link Analysis Tool

Linkbaiting

• 21 KEYS TO LINK BAIT SUCCESS
• Blogger Relations 101 – Lee – How to pitch a blogger
• How to Attract Links and Increase Web Traffic The Ultimate Guide
• I Just Hired A Billion Linkbuilders _ Scoreboard
• Link Bait – jim westergren
• Linkbaiting or Link Baiting Strategies – Aaron Wall
• Linkbaiting or Link Baiting
• Linking The Unlinkable_ When Digg Won’t Work
• Viral Marketing With Blogs _ Copyblogger
• What is Linkbait

Webmasterworld Link Development Threads

• Bad Webmaster – No Donut for You!
• Basic Link Dev Strategies
• Buying text links
• Confessions of a Link Building Casanova
• Explaining to Clients How to Get Links
• How can I get inbound links
• How much to quote for link building_
• It’s time to get some new links!
• Link Development in the Blogosphere
• Link Development Persona_ Male Versus Female
• Link Development Post Toolbar PR
• Link Development Strategies In the Age of Sandbox
• Link Development vs. Traffic Development and Staying with the Times
• Link Strategies To Build Presence and Gain Exposure
• New Link Spamming Technique
• Promoting deep linking
• Quality Content as Passive Link Development
• Research your Competition
• The Art Of Persuasion in Link Exhange Requests
• The Dark Side of Exchanging Reciprocal Links
• Buying Links – ‘Staying under the Radar’

Supporter’s Forum (worth every penny of membership)

• How many new links per month to be on the safe side
• Things to watch out for when outsourcing link development
• Tips For Attaining One Way Inbound Links
• If I was a search engine, part 1…
• "Triangular" link exchange
• Brainstorm On How To Get One Way I.B. Links
• Employing Link hunters
• Hints from Search Engine Engineers about Links
• Link Patterns
• The text link market
• They Handy Dandy [Sponsoredy] Linky Getting Guidy
• Paid Links – Is it time to take it seriously_
• Part 2 Explaining to Clients How to Get Links

Welcome to the Rabbit Hole Alice – Resources for those figuring out what SEO really is.

You can take the blue pill or the red pill. The blue pill will take you back to your cozy desk job coding for the man, and the red pill might lead you to insomnia induced by ideas of how to turn your startup into a real company using only your laptop combined with some technical and marketing skills, and a realistic gameplan to pull it off. Or you might end up going from self employed to unemployed real quickly.

The first converstation I have with folks generally consists of them asking some questions about what SEO is. If they are REALLY interested, and get beyond thinking about the fact that I tell them meta tags generally don’t matter much, I would guess it feels a bit like Alice falling down the rabbit hole. I am still overwhelmed with information overload on a daily basis, and this is after over about 6 years of studying and experimenting with SEO techniques on a daily basis. I think the information overload stems from having so many opportunities to apply the information, as well as trying to keep up and evolve process with emerging opportunities. Digesting, managing, and even thriving on the information overload is extremely important in a business built on timely, relevant information.

Here’s where to start with your SEO Training if you’d prefer the red pill:

• SEO Glossary
• SEO Beginner’s Guide
• Google hot topics (Tedster is truly amazing)
• Search Engine Ranking Factors V.2
• SEO Tools
• SEO Tools 2
• SEO Manifesto
• Jim Boykin’s best posts

If that’s not enough, check out Lee’s list of SEO/SEM blogs, or Search through them. 

More resources on site strategy: 18 questions your CEO forgot to ask when building your website

Practice your blocking and tackling every day. Read these long enough, focus on refining tactics, and experimentation, and you’ll always have a team to play for; your clients, vendors, employer, or partners will be dumping the gatorade all over you for being the one that "made it rain".

What resources do you use for your SEO Playbook or your SEO blocking and tackling?

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Seattle-based start-up Pluggd was founded in February 2006 with the goal of making it easier for people to discover, experience, and share online audio and video programming, which is more commonly known as podcasting.

According to the creators, the website “is an aggregation of both traditional media and independent online-only producers.” The site’s search results are based on topics of interest, popularity, and critical acclaim.

But what, you might ask, sets this start-up apart from the plethora of other audio and visual search choices? The answer lies in the unique search result features of the site, including heat mapping and the ability to choose the exact point of the audio or visual result you would like.

The heat-mapping feature allows users to search for a particular point in the broadcast of a recording or visual image that is most closely related to the original search topic.

For example, if a user were to search ESPN radio for “University of Kentucky basketball”, Pluggd would show the user on the heat map display the “hottest” place of interest in the color orange.

Pluggd even locates related topics in a broadcast, for example the term “bowl game”. A user listening to a broadcast about UK football could find the exact point in an ESPN broadcast where the team’s bowl game site would be mentioned.

Competing podcast sites, such as Podzinger, do not offer such relevant features as heat mapping. The lack of such a convenient feature could mean decreased traffic for the competing sites in the future.

Intel, who have their own audio and visual feature, made the largest donation. Intel, as well as other investors, seems to believe that Pluggd is a superior product, investing $1.65 million in the start-up.

Some other generous investors besides Intel include:

-Paul Maritz, former Microsoft group vice president of systems and applications
-Scott Oki, former senior vice president for sales, marketing and service at Microsoft
-Brian Magierski, CEO of Kalivo, former co-founder/CEO of iMark (acquired by Ariba);
-Fraser Black, technology investor
-Bill Bryant, founder and investor in numerous search-focused startups including Netbot, Medio and Singingfish;
-Alex Alben, former executive at Starwave and RealNetworks;
-Barry Newman, venture partner at NeoCarta, former vice chairman of the technology group at Bear Stearns;
-Mark Klebanoff, former chief financial officer at RealNetworks.

If you are interested in using the unique features of the search site, the download is available at Pluggd’s demo site.

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Autmn Davis is a staff writer for WebProNews covering ebusiness and technology.

By leveraging the .NET Framework you can do absolutely anything in no time, but is that power also the problem with ASP.NET?

In the dark ages before ASP.NET, we were stuck with ASP and PHP but we were just as enthusiastic about them as we are with ASP.NET now.

They were relative easy to learn and to learn well enough to do something really cool with in a short period of time.

That made them accessible to almost anyone with just a will to learn and in my opinion that’s what made the web what it is today.

ASP.NET changed all that.

The power and scale of it was so immense that it could take years to be familiar with just the page life cycle or the basic classes in the CLR and even longer to be able to take full advantage of the entire platform.

After almost 5 years I still find classes and methods I didn’t know existed.

That makes ASP.NET much more difficult to learn and master than ASP and PHP.

The tools used to build ASP.NET web applications, Visual Studio, Visual Web Developer Express and Expression Web Designer, are also much more advanced than the earlier tools.

The traditional webmaster now has to be a full blooded programmer just to be able to open up a user control’s code-behind file to add another item to a DropDownList.

HomeSite, TextPad and Dreamweaver 4 were much easier and simpler at the time for editing ASP and PHP files.

My point is that the very essence that started the dynamic web is missing out on ASP.NET because it is too difficult.

The hobby web developers and the newcomers face a much steeper learning curve, which might lead them to choose another platform.

I believe in the power of ASP.NET, but then again, I’m neither a hobbyist nor a newcomer.

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Mads Kristensen currently works as a Senior Developer at Traceworks located
in Copenhagen, Denmark. Mads graduated from Copenhagen Technical Academy with a multimedia degree in
2003, but has been a professional developer since 2000. His main focus is on ASP.NET but is responsible for Winforms, Windows- and
web services in his daily work as well. A true .NET developer with great passion for the simple solution.

http://www.madskristensen.dk/

Hello Yahoo!,

I am one of the regular user and lover of Flickr and Del.icio.us services. Whenever I am working of these web applications, I used to feel the need of some simple changes in them.

[Thanks Balakumar!]

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Philipp Lenssen from Germany, author of 55 Ways to Have Fun With Google, shares his views & news on the search industry in the daily Google Blogoscoped.

If you can find ways to remove market friction or create things that will be relevant to many different value systems you stand to generate great profits. Search + advertising is one way to leverage others work into a value system of some sorts, but search is still in its infancy. That is why visual search is new and Google is trying so hard to shore up their other revenue streams.

Money only has value because people push it hard and powerful organizations standardize it and require it to pay taxes. Value only exists in your mind. At the root of all value systems is a marketer and a belief.

The more your work resembles your own beliefs the easier it is to push it as being authentic because it is. The more time you spend figuring out your own value systems rather than accepting the ones others push the happier you will become and the more you will attract possitive influences in your life.

What things in your life caused the most abrupt changes in your beliefs or value systems? What knowledge or knowledge sources can help you bridge the gap to profit from value disconnects?

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Aaron Wall is the author of SEO Book, an ebook offering the latest
search engine optimization tips and strategies. From SEOBook.com Aaron
gives away free advice and search engine optimization tools. He is a
regular conference speaker, partner in Clientside SEM, and runs the
Threadwatch community.

These days, Google and the rest of the search engines (eg. Live, Yahoo!, Ask and so on) have become the central location where everyone can find information about anyone or anything:

According to a recent survey by CareerBuilder.com:

One in four managers now Google’ potential employees and 51% of applications were rejected because of what was found.

When asked to divulge the types of information discovered on the Web that caused them to dismiss potential employees, hiring managers pointed to the following:

• 31% – candidate lied about qualifications
• 25% – candidate had poor communication skills
• 24% – candidate was linked to criminal behavior
• 19% – candidate bad-mouthed their previous company or fellow employee
• 19% – candidate posted information about them drinking or using drugs
• 15% – candidate shared confidential information from previous employers
• 12% – candidate lied about an absence
• 11% – candidate posted provocative or inappropriate photographs
• 8% – candidate’s screen name was unprofessional

Hiring managers said the following information discovered on the Web helped to confirm their decision to hire a candidate:

• 64% – candidate’s background information supported their professional qualifications for the job
• 40% – candidate was well-rounded, showed a wide range of interests
• 34% – candidate had great communication skills
• 31% – candidate’s site conveyed a professional image
• 31% – got a good feel for the candidate’s personality, could see a good fit within the company culture
• 23% – other people posted great references about the candidate
• 23% – candidate was creative
• 19% – candidate received awards and accolades

I often find myself Googling (for employee, business or general research reasons) e-mail addresses, names, businesses. That’s the case for other employers too. Most of them search your name in the search engines, trying to find online references and discussions, simply because they know how to do it and because they found that this works brilliantly to their advantage. Those online references make his decision about you easier and shed some impartial light on his opinion about you (other than your interview or CV references).

So be careful what you write on the Internet. If your CV states perfect C# programming skills (or Expert Search Marketing Consultant) and your employer finds you on the Internet asking how to install Visual Studio (or how to search inbound links in Google) or swearing and harassing people for no reason (like I do, but at least with solid reasons) that won’t be in your best advantage right ?

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Cristian Mezei is the Founder of Infomarket Network, a web marketing agency
based in Bucharest, specializing in search marketing, social media and usability/accesibility. Cristian shares some of his views in Seopedia, his personal blog.

While precompilation certainly saves users from the notorious first-hit delay, I don’t believe that this simple fact, which affects only one user per page, is going to change users’ feelings about the overall usability of the site.

Precompilation is mostly a safety measure: using precompilation makes your application safer because when you deploy it you know that all pages compile without errors. In addition, your precompiled application is safer because any valuable source code is out of reach.

To get both benefits you must opt for deploy precompilation. This form of precompilation creates a read-only image of the site that might be packaged to MSI or ZIP files as well as directly x-copied to the web server machine.

For web sites that are subject to frequent page updates, updateable deploy precompilation is probably better because updateable precompilation allows you to edit and add new pages. These new pages will be compiled on first hit, though.

If you leave the Allow this precompiled site to be updatable checkbox checked, markup inside of your Webforms and user controls will not be pre-compiled into a DLL allowing you to make changes after deployment. If you would prefer to lock down the markup so that changes to the deployed content are not allowed, uncheck this box.

The Use fixed naming and single page assemblies checkbox allows you to disable batch compilation so that each page is compiled into a fixed-named assembly. Leaving this box unchecked allows you to take advantage of batch compilation.

The Enable strong naming on precompiled assemblies checkbox allows you to strong-name your precompiled assemblies.

Note: In ASP.NET 1.X, strong-named assemblies had to be installed into the Global Assembly Cache (GAC). In ASP.NET 2.0, you are not required to install strong-named assemblies into the GAC

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Kenny Tran is the author of the “Kenny and .NET” blog.

There is nothing quite like firing up a new program and watching it return something to standard output that looks more like a cat walked across a Cyrillic keyboard than the results one expected to see.

Developers working in Microsoft’s Visual Studio can take steps to help avoid the pain of invoking the debugger yet again, by proactively preventing some of the more common bugs from cropping up in code.

Author Peter Aitken has worked on several programming related books, including ones about Visual Studio.

He recently posted some commentary to InformIT that aims at placing the virtual flyswatter in developers’ hands and turning them loose on those bugs.

Even the most dedicated programmer who follows Aitken’s suggestions on good programming practices might still end up having to track down a belligerent byte or two of buggy code.

Just like the well-known maxim ‘divide and conquer’, breaking up one’s code can help a programmer narrow down the section where the bug lives.

Aitken suggests using breakpoints to find that critter.

“While the program is paused, you can take various actions to help find a bug,” he wrote.

Those actions include modifying the conditions that trigger the breakpoint, or specifying a hit count for each time the breakpoint is passed.

Once the program pauses, it’s time for the sheer joy of single-stepping through the code.

Aitken pointed out some useful keyboard shortcuts for when the program enters break mode. The developer can continue to the next breakpoint, or step into, over, or out of running the next statement.

Sometimes seeing the value of variables can help identify the problem.

By setting watch expressions for program variables through the Debug menu will show those values as the program executes.

If a variable reaches an unexpected value, that would indicate some kind of issue impacting it.

Go get those bugs. (Ok, maybe not those bugs. You know what I mean.)

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David Utter is a staff writer for WebProNews covering technology and business.

Remember the good old days of web development, back around ’97, when “Creating Killer Web Sites” seemed like a good idea, with its entry page concept that quickly became extinct when search engines and online advertising began to take off?

Today, a webmaster would sooner gnosh on a live power cable than design a site that does not follow the commandments set down by Google. While a site publisher will desire search engine attractiveness, it is sensible design atop quality content that draws the links and helps along the organic search ranking.

Not everyone has read Edward Tufte’s “The Visual Display of Quantitative Information.” Most web developers should read it, while a select few deserve to have this classic hardcover dropped on their heads, preferably from a great height.

When people speak of history repeating itself, it’s usually done with a negative connotation. But history can repeat in good ways as well, which is what Tufte illustrated in his work, using examples from as far back as the 1600s to show what works.

Tufte still travels and lectures on the topic of visual design, and discusses design for the Internet. There are a few tricks developers can utilize to improve the design of a website, without taking in a Tufte class.

A recent blog post by Mike Arace of 18th Street Software discussed six useful tips for “sane user interfaces.” He noted how rare it is for firms to have people performing specialized roles like graphic designer and programmer, and how they instead look for people who can do everything when it comes to a web application.

His tips are aimed at those people who are part Photoshop hero, part database master, and part coding genius. He made some sensible suggestions in his post, listed in bold, which I’ve commented on here:

Sanity does not mean a Google-style simplicity, but a minimalism that communicates directly to the user what they are expected to do with a web application. Anything that makes the user experience easier makes the user happier. Happy users tend to be repeat users, and for a website focused on online retail, loyalty can be a rich reward.

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David Utter is a staff writer for WebProNews covering technology and business.