Premium Website Picks: January '09

In my web travels (and twitter sessions) this week, I came across several sites that made me think, “Hey, that would make a great post” or “That’s is really good info”. So I thought I would pass these jewels along in their original form by the original authors.

These posts were chosen as Premium Websites because I witnessed first hand their benefit to a website or blog owner. The post or website made me reconsider a choice I had made, or am about to make. It also provided some form of excellent value in response to questions I came across during the past week or so.

So here they are, in so particular order. This weeks premium website picks for the first month of 2009.

How to Build a Variable Width Website

Creating an Awesome Home Business

Martin Malden writes this hype free blog for website and blog owners. His advice is always spot on. This week, another friend of mine, Sean, was having CSS problems. Being in the middle of my own design projects, as he described his issues my mind was cluttered with the issues I was currently facing. So I helped where I could, but didn’t really solve all of his problems.

Enter Herb Stalk from “What’s This Web Thing“. Sean left a comment on Herb’s new social network asking for help on the matter. Herb promptly pointed Sean to Martin’s latest blog post. I also had a look at Martin’s post and it made me examine what I was doing with my own projects. Martin’s advice not only solved Sean’s problem, it helped me in taking another look at my issues and I resolved my problems as well.

This shows that one post, and a collaboration of people is a thing of value.

“Brand” Me: What’s It Worth To You?

The Cause is The Habit

I have had a fruitful week on Twitter and met db. Damien “db” Basile in from New York and runs the blog “The Cause is the Habit“. Damien’s post on branding gave me some new directions of thought as I plan how my own website portfolio is going to brand itself. Making me reconsider such deep questions like “who am I online” and “who do I want to be”.

You can find out more about Damien here.

10 Promising Free Web Analytics Tools

Six Revisions

As I have been running websites for about 10 years, I have a continued interest in analytics in relation to website traffic. Too much value can not be put on the data collected from those that visit your website. So it was with great interest that I devoured this post on web analytics tools, as an alternative to the main stream tools.

The 10 tools reviewed here DO NOT include a review of Google Analytics, Crazy Egg, Alexa, Compete or even Quantcast. Everyone of the tools is worth a look. I was very impressed by the research that the writer had done just to identify the tools in the first place.

What’s This Web Thing

I posted a review of this site earlier in the month. Their membership continues to grow at a consistent rate. This is probably due to the fact that there is such a good community atmosphere here. Just look at the example of Sean getting his CSS issues resolved. This is exactly what the network was designed to do and it works well.

If you haven’t gone by and visited this new network yet, I recommend that you have a look.

Free Twitter Ribbon Ad Generator

Twitter Know How

I have really been getting into the spirit of “all things Twitter” this month. I have been looking for a unique way to advertise to visitors of my main site (Siam Communications) a way to follow me on Twitter. I feared that a menu item just wouldn’t stand out like I wanted. And I couldn’t find a way to work an icon into the current design of the site.

So I was really pleased when I cam across this site. The banner sits at a 45 degree angle in the upper right hand corner of the browser screen without detracting from my message or website design.

Summary
Thanks for coming by and reading about our valuable finds. Tell us if you have found a Premium Website that you feel has exceeded your expectations, or has helped you solve a particular problem.

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