Bloggers Digest: May 2011

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

• Perhaps the biggest news of May June (so far) is the rollout of 2 new social buttons. Long anticipated Google +1 is now available for web pages, not just from search results. Hey, if I waited for June's Blogger's Digest - it'd be ancient history! Not to be overshadowed, Twitter also released a new button, the Instant Follow. Check 'em out.

• UX Matters describes how you can harness the powers of free and scarcity and work them into your UX, persuasively.

• Web usability expert guru Master of the Universe, Jakob Nielsen, has a new beast to conquer - the mobile web. Check out his learnings from user testing the iPad and tips for making the most of your mobi real estate.

• And the phoenix rises...JC Penney has rebounded from it's Google penalty. Proves there's hope after a fall with the search engines.

• Some juicy mobile stats: How tablets are affecting the usage of other devices.

• File this under "don't be a Borker." Borker the New Yorker, aka the guy behind DecorMyEyes whose SEO strategy was over-the-top bullying of customers, pleaded guilty to 2 counts of sending threatening communications, 1 count of mail fraud and 1 count of wire fraud and could face up to 6 1/2 years in prison.

• If you've ever wondered how many bad reviews does it take to send a customer running away screaming, Econsultancy shares Lightspeed Research's findings on the subject.

• Does Facebook ever contribute to sales? The social networking juggernaut provided Danny Sullivan with exclusive stats including ecommerce examples of the impact of the "Like" button on traffic and revenue.

* Levi’s saw a 40 times increase in referral traffic from Facebook after implementing the Like button in April 2010 and has maintained those levels since.
* Outdoor sporting goods retailer Giantnerd.com saw a 100% increase revenue from Facebook within two weeks of adding the Like button.
* American Eagle added the Like button next to every product on their site and found Facebook referred visitors spent an average of 57% more money than non-Facebook referred visitors
* Children’s clothing retailer Tea Collection added the Like button to sale merchandise and saw daily revenues increase 10 times.
* ShoeDazzle added the Like button to all of the products on its site and within the first month had thousands of likes for its top products.
* ShoeDazzle also lets people login to its site using Facebook, and Facebook-connected users were 50% more likely to make repeat purchases every month than average shoppers.
* When a Ticketmaster user posts a specific event they are attending, or may want to attend, to Facebook, it generates $5.30 of direct ticket sales
* Eventbrite reports that a link shared on Facebook is worth $2.52 in ticket sales (see also here and here)

• Have you explored the new Google Analytics interface? Cardinal Path (not to be confused with Elastic Path, LOL) has put together a thorough tutorial on how and where to find things in the new GA.

• For some comic relief, check out Mark Brownlow's How good of an email marketer are you? is a gas, and you might learn something about email marketing to boot.

Looking for help with ecommerce? Contact the Elastic Path consulting team at consulting@elasticpath.com to learn how our ecommerce strategy and conversion optimization services can improve your business results.