Customer Rating:  
Summary: Try Kevin Potts Instead
Comment: I've been working in web marketing for longer than Mr. Loveday, and I can tell you that this book is utter crap. Using VERY fuzzy mathematics, he attempts to give some suggestions on how some changes to style and content can boost your ROI. Flip through the book, and you'll immediately wonder why you're taking style and content advice from a book with so little of either. Methods vary from outdated to downright foolish, and the numbers are so bad that they border on unethical. There are tons of great books on Amazon addressing this topic, and this one is a total waste of money. Buy Kevin Potts instead, you'll find it much more helpful and current.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Perfectly explains often overlooked concepts
Comment: This book easily earned it spot on my easy to reach bookshelf as I find myself referring back to it again and again. It is perfect for anyone who needs or wants to better understand how every decision made affects the overall performance of their website.
The chapters that break down specific portions of a website (landing pages, home page, category pages, etc.) gave enough information to help me better understand those sections without being so detailed that it turns into a textbook.
This book serves its purpose perfectly.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Easy to Consume Web Strategy Knowledge
Comment: Did you like "Don't Make Me Think?" If so, this is a must-have addition to your core web strategy, design, and marketing knowledge library.
Who wrote this book and why does it matter?
Luckily, I had the opportunity to see the authors, Lance and Sandra, present at a recent web conference and I was blown away by their insight into lead generation and how effectively they could communicate it.
Lance and Sandra are well respected thought leaders in the web industry who speak regularly at conferences and have now delivered a practical guide to help business leaders, web marketers, web designers and everyone else understand the value of proper web design and how to improve a web site to achieve an impressive ROI.
What is the best thing about this book?
I greatly appreciated the investment they made in the elegant organization and design of this book since it makes it so easy to consume. Most books try to do too much and over complicate the information they are looking to pass on to others. When I came across this book I greatly appreciated that I could quickly absorb it and then easily refer back to key information when needed.
Why do you need this book?
The design guidelines Lance and Sandra provide will help you optimize your website conversion to deliver a clear ROI and, more importantly in our case, they help you better understand and communicate the business case for doing so.
We have a great library of web design, strategy and marketing books but only "Don't Make Me Think" and "Web Design for ROI" are used all the time as quick reference books when we want to help a client understand why we are making the decisions we are or to help remind us what the proper way to approach web design is from a usability and conversion stand point.
Who do we recommend this book for?
Anyone who has any influence on web design whatsoever even if it is just approving the budget.
If you work for a web design agency, we highly recommend sending this book to your clients so they better understand the value of experienced web designers and the direct potential it has to drive revenues when done following the guidelines in this book. Also, get a copy (like we did) for everyone on your web design/development team so they will understand key web design principles and how they help you focus on and exceed your clients' business goals.
Lance and Sandra, thanks for the great book of web knowledge and please write more books on web design, strategy, and marketing topics!
Customer Rating:
Summary: Just Buy It!
Comment: Building on the foundation provided by the likes of Steve Krug, Loveday and Niehaus do a nice job of explaining various graphic design elements for websites that will either detract from, or contribute to conversion.
As well as illustrating some general concepts like using sub-heads, the design of buttons, the authors do a fairly detailed break down of different page types: home pages, category pages, product detail pages, etc. Some of these will be of particular interest to the e-commerce web marketer.
With a great number of full color screenshot examples from all over the web, Web Design for ROI should be required reading for any graphic designer.
Mat Greenfield
www.webleadmachine.com
Customer Rating:
Summary: You MUST absolutely read this one if you want to build an ecommerce site or if you are having one built for you!
Comment: I read this wonderful book so that I know what to ask for when I have a site built for me. However, after finishing the book, I think that I must design the whole site myself since I want each and every page to incorporate and comply with all the advice of this book. The book will not take long to read; about four to five nights with pauses to think and look at examples. It will really open your eyes to a great deal of what at first feels like common sense stuff, yet you come to realize that you would have made all the mistakes possible and your conversion rates would have seriously suffered without the benefit of its advice. The book is not just for ecommerce. It is essential reading for anyone who cares about their conversion rate, whatever form their conversion might take. Thank you Lance and Sandra and please please please do not stop here. I will read anything else you will ever write. frankshayan@yahoo.com
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