If the search engine and the website are working in harmony, the user is happy and a successful joint transaction between the user, search engines and website is completed.

Unfortunately, this does not always take place.

Either the search engine does not index the site in a manner useful for the user or the website construction does not allow for effective and accessible indexing by the search engine.

Recently we have been noticing users entering the site from search engines, only to immediately use the search feature. Sadly, we believe this to mean that site visitors are not seeing the expected results.

To serve you better we will look into different ways to allow search engines properly index BigBerries, in hopes to provide you with a better experience and give you the results you are looking for.

Another Apple Store employee pulled up and promptly supplied a few phones. I thought there would be mention of the iPhone purchase limit (5), but there was not. After the transaction completed it was back to the web to figure how to upgrade iPhones without a headache.

There was conflicting information online and with customer service regarding updating/upgrading from the 8GB iPhone to the 16GB iPhone. I eventually swapped sim cards as suggested by an Apple employee.

However, all of the phones received contract extensions, contrary to what I thought would happen. Despite the hiccups, here are my thoughts after 3 days of playing with the 16GB iPhone.

Bluetooth Headset Pairing and Restoration from 8GB iPhone
It took longer on the new 16GB iPhone to sync with the Motorola Pure H12 Bluetooth headset than it did with a previous 8GB iPhone. Restoring contacts and information gets a mixed review, because one phone restored everything, text messages and all, while another did not.

iTunes
As far as media goes, I am not sure if it is iTunes or the new 16GB iPhones, but I find myself needing to repeatedly sync to get all media on the device. Maybe someone at Apple is not a fan of Tiesto.

When docked it the 16GB iPhone says it has 14.74GB of free space and it ships with version 1.1.3 software. If not mistaken, that means the 16GB iPhone software takes up more space than the 8GB iPhone, which is a bummer.

Other than what I listed above for the past day or so, the 16GB iPhone is performing well. Expect a mention of the Motorola Pure H12 coming soon. That headset replaced the highly regarded Jawbone.

When you come to a site, you want content, I know I do. You do not want to see the title of the article, surrounded by several advertisements and maybe the first sentence of what you are looking for. You want content.

This experience can be frustrating for users. Despite a perceived increase in revenue, long term it may be causing you to lose money. Many above the fold proponents will cry foul, but user experience is core.

During the latest revamp of BigBerries.com, the primary goal was to figure a way to build on our original ideas and navigation while bringing the content that users were looking for higher up the page.

I am aware this goes against the design of practically 100% of the advertising web, but ad revenue is not as important as users being able to scan, find, decide, and digest content.

We are not bashing those who maximize monetization. Properly placing ads and wanting to get more clicks to boost revenue is okay. We have played with several ad placements and layouts over the years.

However, we have not committed to anything that severely compromised the user experience or aborted the BigBerries ideal. Personally, I have gained a deeper level of respect for usability and web design and hope to strike a harmony with all aspects of the user experience.

At some point, I will go over a few of the designs we have had and why we make changes. I hope that it will give you a better understanding and inspire you to find ways to better the experience of your visitors.