In his 2002 book The Big Red Fez, marketing author Seth Godin critiqued selected websites and how they helped or hindered their visitors. He likened the website visitor to a monkey looking for a banana. If the banana is too hard to find, then the monkey will go elsewhere. Today, are websites making it easier to find the banana or is the furry guy starving?

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Chris Anderson, editor-in-chief of Wired Magazine and author of the best-selling book The Long Tail, once stated that “your brand isn’t what you say it is, it is what Google says it is.” In a world where most website visitors find your company through search engines, this statement seems truer than ever. When search engines assign the same weight to bloggers as multi-national corporations, how much control can you exert over your brand?

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Curious about what websites some of the top professionals in your industry consult on a daily basis? Webcopyplus recently surveyed people we admire in web marketing and related professions to find out what they’re reading online, for both professional inspiration and general interest.  We hope their answers shed some light on what drives them, and perhaps inspire you to broaden your daily reading.

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For decades, the line between what we need and what we want has been blurring, leading to overconsumption and a range of environmental issues. Who’s to blame, and what can be done?

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Why do some ideas stick, while others silently slip away into oblivion? Made to Stick authors Chip Heath and Dan Heath pored over hundreds of winning ideas and saw, “over and over,” these same six principles at work.

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Due to the subjective nature of copywriting and design, copywriters and designers have difficult jobs. They get hired for their expertise, tap into their knowledge and experience, and propose a draft. When the response is positive, fantastic. But when businesses offer vague critiques such as, “I don’t like it,” that’s absolutely meaningless, setting the stage for unnecessary frustration, countless revisions, and wasted time for all parties involved.

When you hire with a copywriter or designer, you can eliminate misunderstandings, and achieve effective web copy or design without delays, by following these basic feedback guidelines.

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Online visitors form a first impression of a website quicker than the blink of an eye — literally. It typically takes humans 300 to 400 milliseconds to blink. Meanwhile, scientific research led by Dr. Gitte Lindgaard at Carleton University in Ontario reveals websites have as little as 50 milliseconds to establish a first impression — a mere 1/20th of a second. That’s it!

This is crucial information for any business because once a visitor forms an impression on a subconscious level, he or she will selectively search for information confirming that impression. People do this because we all want to prove we have good judgement. So, if our first impression of a website is negative, we have a tendency to mainly seek and see the negatives, regardless how good a business’ products and services might actually be. Alternatively, if we immediately like what we see, we’ll look for positive information to reinforce that impression.

So how do you avoid making a bad first impression on the Web? Easy. Get a good designer.

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Adding a blog to your website is a simple and affordable way to strengthen your connection with both current and potential clients, while improving your search engine rankings. However, many business blogs quickly become neglected and abandoned, which leaves a poor impression. So we asked successful bloggers and online marketing experts:

When should a business launch a blog, and how do you create a following?

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Consumers are going mobile, and fast. If your business isn’t, it could be missing out on potential revenue from the increasing number of consumers using their phones to decide where to direct their spending.

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