I had the pleasure of speaking with Dan Benjamin and Jeffrey Zeldman on The Big Web Show about findability, web standards, usability, and emotional design. Have a listen, won’t you?
Aarron Walter
Beyond Usability on The Big Web Show
See Me Speak in 2009
2009 is shaping up to be a busy year for me. I’m going to be speaking at a number of conferences around the United States, and I hope to meet you at one of them to share a beer and conversation about our craft.
Findability/SEO Cheat Sheet: Guide to Web Standards SEO
When I was researching my book, I asked a group of my students at The Art Institute of Atlanta what sorts of content they’d hope to find in a book exploring findability and SEO through web standards. Thinking like students with limited time to work on their projects, they all agreed that “the book should include coverage of what needs to be prioritized, and what can be done later if you run out of time”. Brilliant idea! I never would have thought of that. Well it’s covered in chapter 9 thanks to them.
As I was running through my table of contents with them, they pointed out that it’s all useful info, but it would be nice if there were a quick reference that you could just print out and keep nearby as you start new projects. That way you don’t miss any of the important stuff you should be doing to make your site findable.
I’ve created what I think is a pretty comprehensive findability strategy cheat sheet that will guide you through all of the stuff you should be doing when creating new websites or even redesign existing ones. All of the advice follows industry best practices and web standards, and have references to the places in my book or in the 5 free online chapters where you’ll find detailed explanation and examples of how to do this stuff.
I hope you find it useful!
Findability in A List Apart Issue 255
A List Apart recently published an article I wrote entitled Findability, the Orphan of the Web Design Industry. It’s a story of a sadly neglected little boy named Findability whose siblings―Information Architecture, Usability, Project Management, Design, and Development― all garner ample attention from folks in a web design agency while he remains unnoticed despite his essential role to the success of all projects.
Tim Berners-Lee Video: The Semantic Web
I recently ran across a wonderful video on YouTube in which Tim Berners-Lee, the father of the Wold Wide Web, speaks about the idea of the Semantic Web. It’s a simple, yet elegant concept that has yet to come to fruition as Berners-Lee had originally dreamed.
Win an Autographed Copy of Building Findable Websites
To celebrate the release of my new book Building Findable Websites: Web Standards SEO and Beyond, I’m giving away an autographed copy to one lucky winner.
What's it Like to Write a Book?
At SXSW last year I met Michael Nolan – senior acquisitions editor for Peachpit Press – and pitched him my idea for the book Building Findable Websites. Almost one year later the book is in print and on its way to a bookstore near you. read on »
A Brief Interview With Jeffrey Zeldman
In preparation for An Event Apart New Orleans where I’ll be speaking about how to make websites more findable with web standards, Jeffrey Zeldman conducted a brief interview with me consisting of just one, simple question.
An Event Apart New Orleans: Hear Me Speak
An Event Apart is a brilliantly inspiring conference series crafted by Jeffrey Zeldman and Eric Meyer that provides attendees with a deeper understanding of web standards and emerging best practices in web design and development. They’ve recently published the schedule and list of speakers for 2008, and I’m happy to say I’ll be sharing the stage with Zeldman, Meyer, and a host of Web luminaries in New Orleans.
Support for Building Findable Websites
As I have been wrapping up the final chapters of the book, some really kind support has been coming in from some folks I hold in high esteem. When conceptualizing Building Findable Web Sites: Web Standards SEO and Beyond I had hoped to create a natural continuation of Peter Morville’s Ambient Findability and Jeffrey Zeldman’s Designing With Web Standards with plenty of practical, real-world-ready examples to illustrate what it takes to make web sites more findable using web standards best practices.
Building Findable Websites: Coming Feb 2008
As I’ve mentioned previously on this blog, I’m currently working on a book to be published by New Riders called Building Findable Web Sites: Web Standards SEO and Beyond. I’ve been teaching a course at The Art Institute of Atlanta called Findability, which teaches students practical solutions for creating findable web content that draws in viewers, and encourages repeat traffic. While researching and developing the course I realized that most of the conversation around the topic is either very theory focused with little practical advice or very SEO/marketing focused appealing to business-minded readers with little knowledge of the way web sites are planned and built.
SXSW Panel Picker Open: Place Your Vote
South By Southwest, the coolest Web conference on the planet that takes place annually in Austin, TX, has let loose it’s panel picker. Rather than creating a schedule of discussion panels and presentations that may not interest conference goers, the SXSW organizers have devised a democratic way for people to vote on what they want to hear discussed.
