Adam Mc

Thoughts on the web.

January 22, 2012
by amccrim
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Web Optimization: A closer look

Creating a website can be an expensive and time consuming process and once a site is launched there can be a tendency to take scratch it off the list of todos. You breathe a sigh of relief and move onto to other goals and objectives. Working hard to grow the business and yourself knowing that you’ve got a great site to back you up.

Well, while you and your business continue to change that site is frozen in time. After a while that very expensive and well thought out website starts to seem dated and ineffective. Maybe the marketplace has changed. Maybe the business goals have shifted. Maybe technology has made users expect more. No matter the reason it’s apparent a change is needed. But the cost of recreating the site might seem too large to swallow. That’s where web optimization comes in. Optimization is like a tune-up for your site.

Web Optimization can fall loosely into 3 categories: Content, Structure and Iteration.

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December 6, 2011
by amccrim
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The Web Browser: Standards & Mobile

At work, I write a weekly column about what’s happening in digital. This post is stolen directly from that column.

When it comes to the web every experience has one very important thing in common: The Web Browser.

There is a very dated metaphor from the early 2000′s that says “Web browsers are the car that let us drive along the information superhighway.” (ugh…)

If you’re still thinking that way then allow me to adjust the metaphor slightly for you. “Web browsers are the vehicle that gives us access to the information superhighway”. It’s a slight adjustment – but an important one.

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google-reader-logo

November 17, 2011
by amccrim
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Google Reader – Part 3: The Anti-Social Update

This is part 3 of my 3 part Google Reader story. Check out Part 1 – Information Addiction or Part 2 – The Love Affair

Over the last few years, Google has tried their hand at creating a social network a few times.

  • First, there was Orkut, which was popular in Brazil & India but never really picked up in the U.S. or Europe.
  • Then came Google Buzz, which was quickly shot down due to its privacy concerns, bad user interface and Gmail integration. (Although I should note that I disagree with that last part.)
  • Most recently, they introduced Google+ and it’s still gathering steam.

Given how large their user base is, it makes perfect sense that Google would want to create a social network. However, through all their attempts, they seemed to forget about a secret weapon they’ve had the whole time: Google Reader.

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google-reader-logo

November 16, 2011
by amccrim
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Google Reader – Part 2: The Love Affair

This is Part 2 of my 3 Part Google Reader story - Read Part 1 – Information Addiction

In 2008, Google Readerhad become my new daily web destination. I had given up on Digg and at that point Twitter wasn’t the firehouse it is today. Reader was how I kept up on the news, web trends, new ideas and content from my favorite websites. If your site posted content relevant to me and had an RSS feed, I was a subscriber. From my perspective, it was a great relationship. Instead of weeding through pages and pages of content I didn’t care about on other sites, I had complete control. I subscribed to sites I cared about and nothing else.But there was something wrong. Something was missing…
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