A recent article from MarketingVox reports that 72% of Internet retailers plan to purchase ecommerce applications or services this year. Spending is expected to increase less than in 2007, with about half of the respondents planning to increase spending budgets by less than 10%. The top ecommerce enhancements include replacing outdated platforms, adding applications and updating content management systems. The top application is customer reviews and ratings, which 35.5% of respondents plan to implement this year.

Click here to read the full report.

Wouldn’t it be fantastic to go back to the past and view websites and their content as they once appeared…as if there was some sort of “Wayback Machine”? I’ve been using the Internet Archive Wayback Machine for several years now when I need to view content on websites that I had previously worked on. This tool allows users to browse through 85 billion web pages archived from 1996 to a few months ago. Just type in your search and then browse through the archived website as you would have back then.

Shocked that such a tool exists? Most people I tell about it are and can’t wait to begin searching through archived web material. And why not? It’s fun to go back and view how website design and technology has changed over the years.

It’s also fun to do the following:

• Check out a bad haircut of someone you used to work with who had their picture on the web.
• Read how stories that defined our generation were told at the time they happened.
• See how the media described your favorite team before the season started and compare it to now.

A few notes: searches can take a little time (can you imagine the server space it takes to archive 85 billion pages?) and sometimes the images on older searches don’t appear.

Click here to start searching now!

More and more in our web design projects we are applying large single images to page backgrounds to create a three dimensional appearance or a less “boxy” feel.

Viewers tend to comment on my own Twitter profile page where I’ve tried a few background images, and the overwhelming majority is in favor of organic imagery. My current profile showcases a macro shot of some budding bulbs in our office’s front yard from late spring: twitter.com/jsemerson. The page content simply floats on top of this vibrant image, giving you the feeling that the page is richer and deeper than it could be with a pattern or color.

Another one of our recent site launches exemplifies the effect that a spanning background image can have on a layout: pigeonforgetrack.com. Here the image is a computer-generated gradient with illustrated tire tracks. The background makes the homepage feel like it is part of the viewing window, and more than a box displaying information.

Utilizing great photography and CSS, we’re able to help our clients achieve a dynamic effect with their websites. As web trends move toward rich media, we’re finding new ways to make a bigger splash with bigger photography.

Have you noticed? The advent of Facebook and other social networking sites has created a whole new brand of etiquette dilemmas. I was out with the WS team the other night, and it turned out we’d all experienced these new social situations (most of them a bit junior high in nature).

• Someone I know befriended a good girlfriend of mine. I’m on her profile picture, so he knows I’m on Facebook, but he didn’t “friend” me. Do I assume he doesn’t want to be friends? Do I “friend” him?
• Tagging photos is a popular Facebook feature. What if someone tags everyone in the photo except you? Being tagged in photos “boosts” your profile, so could someone be sabotaging you by leaving you out?
• More seriously, someone I know was inadvertently “outted” on his Facebook wall. With family not in on his secret, this was extremely traumatic!
• What about someone you met once at a party (whom you never expect to see again) “friending” you? Shouldn’t there be a statute of limitation on Facebook Friendship? Even creepier is someone you’ve never met who “friends” you.
• Some applications have a mind of their own. After simply opening an application, a WS team member realized that notifications had been sent to many of her contacts saying she had selected them as her most attractive friends. Friends that received this included a co-worker, former boss and a priest, but not her husband!
• My favorite kind of faux pas has to do with a Facebook application called Pokey, in which you have to feed your virtual dog to keep it healthy. A team member was asked to feed someone’s virtual dog while they were out of town. Isn’t that crossing some kind of line?

Have you witnessed a Facebook faux pas that we haven’t mentioned? Leave a comment with your thoughts!

One of the things we love most about our jobs is having old friends return to us when it’s time for a website facelift. Such was the case with The Track Family Recreation Center. Wright Strategies designed and built The Track’s website in 2003, but as we all know, the web is a fast-evolving and ever-changing entity. While the old site had served them well, it had started to show its age and needed an update. 

New design elements included increasing the width of the website to achieve maximum viewing potential of The Track’s new broad, sweeping photography. On the homepage, we incorporated a mini-game, creating a fun and unique way to reveal a product discount.

Perhaps the most innovative new feature is the introduction of a Flash product wall in the footer of the site. With this feature, visitors can purchase products on every single page, giving our friends at The Track the maximum purchasing potential from their customers.

Take The Track’s new website for a spin at www.pigeonforgetrack.com.