There have been some great blog posts written in 2009 and here are some of my favourites.
These posts, collected from around the web, start with the oldest first. Links like these can be found in my delicious feed or by subscribing to this site’s RSS feed.
The $300 Million Button
Guy changes one button on a website which leads to a lot of extra revenue. Hooray for usability.
10 Harsh Truths About Corporate Websites
Smashing magazine lays down the law on the corporate website.
The $50 logo experiment
“Here’s the truth, though, and why all the good designers need to relax: the vast majority of the self-described designers on sites like CrowdSpring aren’t really designers.”
What I learned redesigning the Campaign Monitor newsletter
This reads like a fantastic how-to design HTML emails.
Independent Software Development
Good insight into what it’s like to set-up and run your own software (web-app) house by Garrett Dimon of Sifter.
College vs Start-up
Daniel Teller sums up my opinion on this subject pretty well.
Why payment prior to launch is so important
A good case study about an awkward client not paying up from Sarah Parmenter.
Why I think SEO is bullshit
Sam Brown lays down the law on SEO.
Dear American Airlines
Ah, I remember the complete storm this article caused. The follow-up, Dear Dustin Curtis, is worth a read too. As is the follow-up follow-up, The Incompetence of American Airlines & The Fate of Mr. X.
Link Building from A-Z
If in 2010 you wish to stop paying your SEO provider then read this, then read the rest of the articles at SEOMoz.
Promoting your product or service with banner ads – is it worth it?
Really interesting write up about experience using ad banners/landing pages from CampaignMonitor.
Stop Password Masking
Jakob Nielsen calls for the end of the asterisked password field.
How to Increase Sign-ups by 200%
Simple tip about how 37Signals increased sign-ups with a little A/B testing on some copy.
The World’s Best Web Designers Are Unknown
John O’Nolan let’s .NET magazine have it after their inane article about the top 20 web designers in the world.
Spammers, Evildoers, and Opportunists
SEO’ers came in for some right stick in 2009, first Sam Brown, then Derek Powazek kicked their bums. The follow-up, SEO FAQ is equally good.
Never knowingly undersold?
How John Lewis tackle the shop v e-shop rivalry and a short summary of the problem.
8 ways we increased ecommerce sales by 10,000%
Case study from Headscape (boagworld) on the increased sales of one of their clients.
9 usability mistakes even the big boys make
Some nice examples of common user interface/experience errors on big websites.
Top Tips for Account Managers
Ed Baldy provides digital account managers with some useful guidelines.
The HTML5 syntax options problem
To me, HTML5 just seems like a bit of a mess and it would appear that Robert Nyman, kinda agrees.
The Apple Store’s Checkout Form Redesign
Review of apple’s online store’s checkout forms being redesigned.
Stuff I’ve learned at Microsoft
Sriram Krishnan, a Microsoft employee tells us what he’s learnt from working there for 5 years.
This is great bunch of links Phil, I have been reading through these over the past few days – it’s good to have a 2009 list that isn’t based around tech or celeb trends.
Glad you liked them Lawrence