When I was younger, I was obsessed with building websites.

It was a wild phase where I'd churn out a brand new homepage every three days using Namo WebEditor.

If I hadn't kept my hand glued to the mouse instead of studying for the college entrance exam back then,

who knows what kind of person I'd be today?

I find myself imagining it, out of nowhere.

The book I just finished, Websites That Boost ROI, is worth reading for anyone who makes websites:

designers, developers, planners, and clients alike.

Putting a technical term like ROI (return on investment) in the title

isn't something I love, either,

but when you consider how many websites exist as platforms built to generate "profit,"

the term return on investment fits well enough.

The return on investment discussed here is clearly meant in cost terms.

It touches on bounce rates, on the conversion rate from potential customers to actual buyers,

and more. But.

But.

that's clearly nothing more than an introduction to the theory.

What makes this book appealing is that it's packed with practical advice

you can actually apply, page by page, to your own website.

To be more specific, it walks through:

form and checkout pages

landing pages

detail pages

category pages

the homepage

covering the goals for each type of page, the metrics worth watching,

and design guidelines, all in detail.

For me, having recently gotten seriously into web design again,

this might be the most practical book I've read in a while.

While reading, I worried that since it was published in 2008,

the information might already be outdated in a web world that moves so fast.

But there are still plenty, more than plenty, of websites out there that need fixing.

Starting, of course, with my own blog. ;;

I'd highly recommend it to anyone interested in the "web" business.

Websites That Boost ROI