21
Jul
2010
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Jul
2010
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Jul
2010
14
Jun
2010
The World’s Hottest Brands
It’s surprising what you can learn about local marketing from the parochial approach of South African chicken chain Nando’s as it expands into three continents. Or how customer service can be the differentiator that makes an upstart brand like Brazilian airline Azul. Or how to keep your cachet even when moving into second and third-tier markets as Swedish retailer H&M has done in its aggressive global expansion.
04
Jun
2010
Top 10 Tips for an Effective Ad Campaign
The goal of advertising is to cost-effectively reach a large audience and attract customers. If done correctly, advertising can enhance the success of your business. Here are 10 advertising tips to pay attention to:
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04
Jun
2010
Twelve Things Most Sites Need – Part II
In the first installment, Twelve Things Most Sites Need – Part I, I offered a six-pack of must-haves. Specifically I suggested sites should have a proper navigation menu, a meaningful, well-formed title, a method of contact, a site map, passive accessibility, and standardized markup. Now, as I offered the last six, in the order in which I thunk ‘em up, here is the balance.
03
Jun
2010
Twelve Things Most Sites Need – Part I
There are a plethora of Websites out there, each one unique in its design, its content, markup, features, functionality, and in myriad other ways. Yet, despite these differences, there are specific needs that should be met with near consistency, Internet-wide, regardless of the site. Let’s take a look at twelve of these common denominators. Below are the first six. They appear in the order in which I thunk ‘em up. They’re just numbered so you can refer to them more easily.
1. A Proper Navigation Menu
Any domain on the Web that consists of more than one page is a Website and as such needs to be navigable. Now this might seem obvious, but if that is so, why do I occasionally encounter sites with mystery meat navigation? Or, on a deeper level, are inaccessible because they require JavaScript or images in order to function. These must be a upper layers consistent with a progressive enhancement, not a requirement. An easy to use and accessible navigation menu must be available. There are other concerns as it pertains to building a proper navigation menu, as well, such as…
* Its link styling the :hover, :focus, and :active pseudo elements.
* The semantic use of lists to properly organize your links into a proper menu.
* And even going so far as marking the current page.
27
May
2010
The death of IE6 & its funeral
Microsoft sent flowers to IE6’s funeral, thanking the browser for “all the good times.”
The nine-year-old IE6 was laid to rest yesterday in Denver, Colorado, after suffering a “workplace injury” at the offices of a certain search giant in Mountain View, California. Mourners unable to attend were asked to send flowers, and Creative Magma team was among those who did so.
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