Welcome to Bridgeline Digital’s daily links post on the B-Line blog named “Around The Web.” We’ll be checking in every morning with relevant (and entertaining) pieces found across the Internet about Content Management, Marketing, SEO news, and General Business News. Our hope is this will become part of your morning, a detour you enjoy as you sip on your third cup of coffee before noon. And fear not, this space is not a one-way street: We want you, dear reader, to interact with us; tell us what you like, what you hate, and what you want more of in the comments section and on Twitter.

Around the Web

Before we get to the day’s business, I strongly encourage you to check out Brett Zucker‘s column on vendor selection. Bridgeline’s CTO dissects and highlights truths and myths of Real Story Group‘s article about the common mistakes that ruin a technology project before it begins. Also, while you’re at it, make sure to give Brett a follow on Twitter @BrettZucker.

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Speaking of internal content, on SEO MOZ, John Doherty contributes great insights about growing your brand. One of his key factors is having a spokesperson — like Brett for Bridgeline — to carry your brand.

Having a spokesperson, or public face, is highly underrated by most companies. Potential customers don’t (usually) connect with a brand, but they do connect with a person.

There are many ways companies can get their spokesperson (a CEO, a CMO, an awesome consultant) known:

• Meetups
• Conferences
• Blogging
• Presentations
• Social media
• Q/A Forums (like Moz Q/A)
• Engaging in online conversations (forums, blog commenting, social media)

The heart of Doherty’s thesis is that opportunities for effective branding are everywhere. Sure, there is a marketing department in place, but the whole company should be thinking of different ways to participate in brand growth. Other specific tips from Doherty include — be likable, have a face, engage in your community.

Via SEO MOZ:

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We’ve talked about the importance of video in this space before. It’s a booming medium that your company should explore. But Patricio Robles, of eConsultancy, writes that slow video playback could be extremely damaging to a company‘s web strategy.

According to a study (PDF) conducted by computer science professor Ramesh Sitaraman, user expectations are equally high for online video. In looking at some 23m video views generated by 6.7m unique users, Sitaraman found that users, not surprisingly, have no qualms about abandoning a video if it takes too long to play.

Just how long is too long? By five seconds, 20% of users will leave for short-form video; purveyors of long-form video have a few seconds of wiggle room. All told, each second of delay after the first two seconds increases the abandonment rate by nearly 6%.

Perhaps worse, redemption doesn’t seem to be an option. Sitaraman suggests in many circumstances visitors never return to a website after poor video experience.  It’s worth noting, soon the platform will no longer be an excuse for playback deficiency.  As smart phone use soars, so do expectations.

Another study published at the beginning of the year revealed that in 2011, 71% of those surveyed expected a site to load just as quickly on a mobile device as on a desktop computer, up from just 58% in 2009.

INFOGRAPHIC OF THE DAY

There is a sensation that trickles through my body when something I write gets several retweets; almost like earning a Gold Star. The implication of a retweet is that content is being spread and thus read. This, however, may not necessarily be the case.

Dan Zarrella, of Hub Spot, executed a study of 2.7 million tweets containing links and found no correlation between retweets and actual clicks. Nearly 17% of the tweets with links Zarrella looked at were retweeted more than clicked on. Presumably, this speaks to the way readers consume content — we search for headlines, tidbits, and disseminate that information — without any context. Mind boggling.

Via Hub Spot: