Bloggers Digest June 2010

Bloggers Digest is our monthly ritual that highlight posts from other blogs that are of value and interest to online retailers and Internet marketers.

This month I've added Twitter accounts for the contributors of this great content so you can connect further with the gurus. Hope you like!

• Advanced segmentation in Web analytics is the most powerful way to extract true insights from your mountains of data -- but most folks need a little help figuring out what to segment. VKI Studios has a great tutorial on 6 Google Analytics segments that can help you analyze your search engine traffic.

• Do you know how to identify known unknowns? Avinash Kaushik shows you how you can leverage custom alerts in your web analytics tool to deliver meaningful information on a regular basis.

• Econsultancy's Graham Charlton takes a look at ecommerce sites on the iPad and reports the most common usability quips you should be aware of when designing your own iPad-friendly version of your site. This in light of studies by both the Rimm-Kaufman Group and Shopatron that found conversion rates on the iPad are far better than mobile phones, and almost as good (or better) than desktop computers.

• Hubspot released a free ebook on How to Use Facebook for Business. Yours truly submitted the chapter on ecommerce.

• SEOmoz has updated its Beginner's Guide to Search Engine Optimization. Once available to paid subscribers only, this guide has had a timely refresh to its content (as the SEO game changes by the minute) and its appearance (the Moz deserves a design award for this). You can view it online for free or download the PDF. Even if you're an SEO rock star, someone in your organization will benefit from this resource, so pass it on!

• Continuing the free love, Wordstream has just launched the first negative keyword research tool. As I've mentioned before, negative keywords are key if you want to minimize money wasted on broad match campaigns in PPC.

• Joost de Valk shares 4 ways to optimize your site's video for search engines.

• Kevin Hillstrom says "If there is one segment of customers you want to track every single day, it is the first time buyer with a purchase recency of 0-3 months." Find out why.

• Geno Prussakov shares some interesting stats on why online coupons are important for online retail.

• Finally, Smashing Magazine has compiled a most excellent roundup of A/B testing tips and case studies aptly named The Ultimate Guide to A/B Testing. And don't forget to sign up for our upcoming Webinar Taking Your Site Performance to The Next Level With Optimization Testing, where I'll be sharing my own tips and tricks for A/B testing on July 20.