Lorem Ipsum is simply dummy text of the printing and typesetting industry. Lorem Ipsum has been the industry standard dummy text ever since the 1500s, when an unknown printer took a galley of type and scrambled it to make a type specimen book. It has survived not only five centuries, but also the leap into electronic typesetting, remaining essentially unchanged. It was popularised in the 1960s with the release of Letraset sheets containing Lorem Ipsum passages, and more recently with desktop publishing software like Aldus PageMaker including versions of Lorem Ipsum.
Why do we use it?

It is a long established fact that a reader will be distracted by the readable content of a page when looking at its layout. The point of using Lorem Ipsum is that it has a more-or-less normal distribution of letters, as opposed to using

Lorem Ipsum is simply dummy text of the printing and typesetting industry. Lorem Ipsum has been the industry standard dummy text ever since the 1500s, when an unknown printer took a galley of type and scrambled it to make a type specimen book. It has survived not only five centuries, but also the leap into electronic typesetting, remaining essentially unchanged. It was popularised in the 1960s with the release of Letraset sheets containing Lorem Ipsum passages, and more recently with desktop publishing software like Aldus PageMaker including versions of Lorem Ipsum.
Why do we use it?

It is a long established fact that a reader will be distracted by the readable content of a page when looking at its layout. The point of using Lorem Ipsum is that it has a more-or-less normal distribution of letters, as opposed to using

Lorem Ipsum is simply dummy text of the printing and typesetting industry. Lorem Ipsum has been the industry standard dummy text ever since the 1500s, when an unknown printer took a galley of type and scrambled it to make a type specimen book. It has survived not only five centuries, but also the leap into electronic typesetting, remaining essentially unchanged. It was popularised in the 1960s with the release of Letraset sheets containing Lorem Ipsum passages, and more recently with desktop publishing software like Aldus PageMaker including versions of Lorem Ipsum.
Why do we use it?

It is a long established fact that a reader will be distracted by the readable content of a page when looking at its layout. The point of using Lorem Ipsum is that it has a more-or-less normal distribution of letters, as opposed to using

Lorem Ipsum is simply dummy text of the printing and typesetting industry. Lorem Ipsum has been the industry standard dummy text ever since the 1500s, when an unknown printer took a galley of type and scrambled it to make a type specimen book. It has survived not only five centuries, but also the leap into electronic typesetting, remaining essentially unchanged. It was popularised in the 1960s with the release of Letraset sheets containing Lorem Ipsum passages, and more recently with desktop publishing software like Aldus PageMaker including versions of Lorem Ipsum.
Why do we use it?

It is a long established fact that a reader will be distracted by the readable content of a page when looking at its layout. The point of using Lorem Ipsum is that it has a more-or-less normal distribution of letters, as opposed to using

Lorem Ipsum is simply dummy text of the printing and typesetting industry. Lorem Ipsum has been the industry standard dummy text ever since the 1500s, when an unknown printer took a galley of type and scrambled it to make a type specimen book. It has survived not only five centuries, but also the leap into electronic typesetting, remaining essentially unchanged. It was popularised in the 1960s with the release of Letraset sheets containing Lorem Ipsum passages, and more recently with desktop publishing software like Aldus PageMaker including versions of Lorem Ipsum.
Why do we use it?

It is a long established fact that a reader will be distracted by the readable content of a page when looking at its layout. The point of using Lorem Ipsum is that it has a more-or-less normal distribution of letters, as opposed to using

Working with a lot of smaller businesses lately, I’m really seeing the need for smaller firms such as mine to reach out and help small businesses interpret and set up web tracking. Google Analytics is a great solution for small companies. It’s free and quite comprehensive.

This move into web analytics, coupled with my design and user interface background, is going to give my clients a much better picture of what their users are doing on their sites and why.

I watch a lot of people use the web ever day and I find that about half of all users don’t know that clicking the logo will take them to the homepage. If there isn’t a clear home link or tab, these users are often not sure what to do next. I regularly hear users say “Where’s the home button?” or “There doesn’t seem to be a way to go home”.

To get home, I’ve seen users type in the site’s name in the browser’s search box or cut off part of the url and hit return. Most click the back button over and over until they get to the homepage.

But why do they want to go home?

The need to go back to the homepage comes to many users naturally. I’ve found that on search-oriented sites like Amazon, a “home” link isn’t necessary or even thought about by users. But on sites with more traditional navigation, or sites that the user isn’t very familiar with, a home button allows users to find their way easier, makes users feel the site is easy to use, and acts as a way to double check or clarify what they’ve seen before.

If your site isn’t a large, highly recognized site like Amazon, I suggest that you keep the home link in your navigation.

Ken Kash was recently mentioned on CNN Money as being an example of a small business launched during this recession. The article makes him and his custom metal furniture business sound pretty cool. I’m sure a lot of people clicked on the link to his web site after reading the article. I know I did.

The problem is Ken’s site wasn’t ready.

Would you hire someone who’s website has lots of mistakes, broken links and little information? Would you hire someone who’s contact form didn’t work or who didn’t seem to have a phone number?

I’m not picking on Ken. I’m sure he does great work, but when opportunity knocks (and being interviewed by a reporter for CNNMoney is definitely an opportunity), your web site has to be ready for any potential customers the article sends your way.

How ready would your site be if you were mentioned in a suddenly hot blog post or a major news article?