Testing is key. Don’t use new technology just because it has a lot of bells and whistles. If it isn’t effective throw it out and stick with the older technology that is.

This guy obviously doesn’t have anything on his site that’s going to slow it down. While he may have the fastest downloading site in the world there is something to be said for style.

Barry O.

Summary:
AJAX, rich Internet UIs,mashups, communities, and user-generated content often add more complexity than they’re worth. They also divert design resources and prove (once again) that what’s hyped is rarely what’s most profitable.

Who’s Jakob Nielsen? Well click and find out. Love him or hate him, he’s got some good thoughts on web site usability to ponder…

Cheers
Stephen Spry

You are so right. There is a lot of value in posting to other people’s blogs for both the writer and the blog owner.

The writer not only gets a link back to their site but, they also get the chance to gain a larger audience which could ultimately lead to more subscribers, sales, etc…

The blog owner gets a lot of fresh, relevant content that the search engines, and hopefully his readers, will love!

Thanks for telling us about your blog. I’m on my way over there to post.

Barry O.

Something else I noticed while I spent a few HOURS over at Courtney’s blog – thanks to your referral LOL – is the number of times Courtney personally replies to many of the comments that are made on his site.

Often he’s replied to a comment within minutes of it being made!

Now THAT’S a level of dedication that can only encourage people to participate!

Stephen

I think it’s a great idea, and it’s one that I’ve had on my (newish) blog since the middle of June this year… See my JV invitation for details.

So far two people have taken up my offer. Others have been very slow, probably because…
1. it’s only a relatively new blog (and therefore not likely to get as quick a reaction as if you published on Courtney’s blog),
2. maybe a lot of people who COULD contribute don’t have enough confidence in their writing ability, and
3. perhaps people aren’t convinced that writing “guest” articles for blogs is an effective use of their time… but then a lot of people still aren’t convinced about “normal” article marketing either… yet!

I will certainly take Courtney up on his offer – several times over! A link back from his site, with an Alexa rank of 20k, is absolutely priceless, and he’s to be congratulated on making such a valuable offer available… to anybody!

And if you don’t think your writing is up to scratch for Court’s blog, come over and practice on mine ‘cos a link back from The Net Marketing Toolbox is still fairly useful… (Alexa 550k, PR 4)

Seriously, all contributions are welcome! And once you get into the swing of this writing thing… it does becomes second nature and is well worth the time!

Regards
Stephen Spry