The weekly roundup is back and, as usual, Mashable has been working hard compiling the latest features and news analysis to fuel your social and techie adventures.

Whet your appetite with a list of Google’s top 10 most expensive acquisitions. Move onto an appetizer of MySpace memories. Have a second helping of back to school iOS apps. Finally, satiate your sweet tooth with a history of online activism. And be sure to come back for seconds next week!

Editors’ Picks

• 8 Tips for Small Business Homepage Design
  People do judge books by their covers — and your website’s homepage is the modern bookcover. Here are 8 design tips for your homepage.
• Social Media Marketing By the Numbers [INFOGRAPHIC]
  A market analysis of the top social media platforms and their performance over the years.
• The 10 Most Expensive Google Acquisitions
  In the wake of its Motorola Mobility purchase, discover Google’s top ten priciest acquisitions thus far.
• 6 Creative iPad Uses for Small Retailers
  Read on for some creative implementations of the iPad — we spoke to a nail salon, a cupcake shop, a restaurant and more to learn how they use iPads to improve the customer experience and help their business.
• HOW TO: Build Your Brand on Tumblr
  As Tumblr’s reach continues to grow, more brands are adding the blogging platform to their online marketing mixes. Here’s a guide to help you start tumbling.
• Back to School: 15 Essential iOS Apps for Students
  We’ve rounded up 15 educational iOS apps to keep your academic and extracurricular life on track.

Social Media

• Top 10 Twitter Trends This Week [CHART]
  Wondering which topics had Twitter abuzz this past week? Check out the full list of top trends.
• 5 Years of YouTube Politics [INFOGRAPHIC]
  If a politician does anything important, wonderful, stupid or wonderfully stupid on camera — it is likely YouTube has the video.
• A Brief History of Online Activism
  For as long as there’s been online communication, there have been political movements in the making. Here’s a look back at the history of social media activism.
• Who’s Winning the YouTube Town Hall? [INFOGRAPHIC]
  A while back, YouTube launched an online town hall to get the public interested and voting on the issues that matter most, and now the video site has released an infographic showing some of the results.
• MySpace Memories: 14 Stories From the Social Network
  In honor of Myspace’s anniversary, we asked the Mashable community to send in their memories from the social network. Here are our favorites.
• 4 Ways Non-Profits Can Jump Into Google+
  If you and your non-profit have steered clear of Google+ during its “people only” phase, now is a good time to reconsider. Here are four ways to get involved.
• What Shows, Teams and Celebrities Are TV Watchers Following? [INFOGRAPHIC]
  Which TV shows, sports teams and celebrities are capturing the attention of TV watchers? This infographic has the answers.
• How The Onion Surpassed 3 Million Twitter Followers
  The Onion has successfully continued its satire of news media to its Twitter account. Here’s how.
• 3 Tips for Teachers Using Social Media in the Classroom
  Here are some guidelines for using social media effectively in the classroom while maintaining your professional boundaries.
• Content vs. Community: How Online Publishers Can Nurture Both
  The past decade hasn’t fostered thoughtful interaction between publisher content and its consumers. Discover the tools to encourage community engagement within site content.
• Why Blocking Social Media During Civil Unrest Is Never the Right Choice [OPINION]
  Shutting down social media increases risk, while solving so few of the problems of civil unrest. It is the wrong choice during a time of crisis.
• 12 Incredible Internet Activists Changing the World Through Social Media
  Here are 12 people using their online influence to make a big difference.
• HOW TO: Properly Use Badges To Engage Customers
  Badges can be powerful tools in one’s engagement arsenal. By following these four steps, you can avoid the slapdash approach that undermines successful gamification.

• For more social media news and resources, you can follow Mashable’s social media channel on Twitter and become a fan on Facebook.

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  Tech & Mobile

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  • 3 New Ways To Create & Consume Media
    These startups are putting a new spin on consuming and creating media.
  • 5 Free iPhone Apps to Send a Photo Postcard
    Don’t be forced to choose from cheesy printed postcards at your vacation destination — use your own iPhone photos with one of these fabulous, free apps that create electronic postcards you can email.
  • 5 News Personalization Tools Bring You Only The Stories You Want
    How can you organize and stay on top of news? Here you’ll find five methods to help aggregate the news that’s important to you.
  • 3 Mobile Apps Poised to Change the Consumer/Brand Relationship
    Technology is rapidly changing the way we interact with the brands we love. These 3 mobile apps are pushing the boundaries even further.
  • Back to School: 42 Digital Resources for Students & Parents
    Take a gander at our roundup of tech tools, apps, social media and parenting tips that will ease you or your kid into another school year.
  • 3 Tips for Building a Web App That Can Scale
    Getting your SaaS company to scale isn’t so hard. All it requires is a little foresight, planning, and these best practices.
  • What to Consider When Developing a High-Traffic, Real-Time Web App
    Here’s a look at the key challenges that face developers of high-volume sites and some suggestions on how to overcome these hurdles.
  • How Musicians Are Engaging Fans With Location Tech
    We’re seeing mobile- and location-based technology making an entree into the music world to the delight of bands and fans alike.
  • Why Your App Must Comply With Child Privacy Regulations
    A leading mobile app developer recently settled with the FTC over allegations that it was collecting personal information from minors in violation of the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act. Here’s why this sort of practice will only cost you in the long run.
  • How Connected Devices and Streaming Video Are Changing the Way We Consume Content
    From TVs to tablets, refrigerators to ovens, connected devices aren’t just a buzzword, they are becoming the standard. Here’s a look at the devices and services poised to revolutionize the media landscape.
  • 17 Web Resources for Improving Your Design Skills
    Whether you’re looking to get a grip on design basics, or you want to sharpen your advanced skills, web resources can help you construct the perfect creative (and flexible) curriculum.

  • For more tech news and resources, you can follow Mashable’s tech channel on Twitter and become a fan on Facebook.

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    Business & Marketing

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    • 5 Web Tools to Enhance Your Online Sales Strategy
      Using supplemental cloud applications has helped startups accelerate their sales in more efficient ways. Here are five tools to get you started.
    • 5 Reasons Your Product Documentation Is a Marketing Asset
      As a CMO, there is no more high-margin initiative you can undertake than strategic documentation. Here are five reasons to pay closer attention to this under-appreciated task.
    • HOW TO: Protect Your Business’s Identity On Twitter
      Although a small business can’t be “verified” on Twitter, there are things you can do to protect your identity and be more official.
    • PPC Marketing: 10 Killer Tips for Better ROI
      If the tedious nature and large time commitment required to run a successful — or even unsuccessful — PPC campaign has got you down, check out these 10 tips.
    • 5 Handy Apps for Small Business Finance Management
      Invoicing and expense reports are arguably the least fun part of business — here are five apps that will make it easier to stay on top of your business’ finances.
    • 4 Traits of Better Business Software
      There’s a lot to consider when building enterprise software, but these 4 tenets should always be at the heart of your development process.
    • Beauty Delivered: How Birchbox Is Disrupting the Cosmetics Industry
      Katia Beauchamp and her startup Birchbox are aiming to change the way women discover beauty products online. So far, her business model has delighted brands and customers alike.
    • Why 11 Businesses Launched Online Instead Of With a Storefront
      Ever wonder why some businesses choose to nix the brick and mortar? We spoke to 11 businesspeople about the decision to exist entirely online.
    • 4 Top Customer Service Tips For Small Business
      Businesspeople have discovered how to use new online tools to their advantage when dealing with customers. Here are four tips.
    • 5 Tips for Crowdsourcing Your Next Marketing Campaign
      Crowdsourcing a marketing campaign is a great way to cut costs & get consumers involved. Here are a few tips to do it right.
    • HOW TO: Manage Social Media Accounts for Multiple Clients
      As an agency that manages social clients, understanding how to keep social media accounts streamlined and organized is important for the continued success of your projects.
    • QR Code Marketing: 5 Tips for a Successful Campaign
      As mobile barcodes crack the mainstream, they have enormous potential to present brands with brilliant results. Here are five best practices for your next campaign.

    • For more business news and resources, you can follow Mashable’s business channel on Twitter and become a fan on Facebook.

      ---

      Image courtesy of MarcoFolio

      More About: business, List, MARKETING, Mobile 2.0, social media, web

      For more Social Media coverage:

      • Follow Mashable Social Media on Twitter
      • Become a Fan on Facebook
      • Subscribe to the Social Media channel
      • Download our free apps for Android, Mac, iPhone and iPad

      
      

      
      

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Among magazines, Sports Illustrated has emerged as a leader in the digital age.

In addition to its print edition, the title has produced a tablet edition for the iPad every week since it debuted last June and more recently added to its roster weekly editions for Android and webOS tablets. Sports Illustrated also produces daily content for SI.com, highlights 10 sports photos every day on its Chrome web app, and offers more content on special cross-channel packages, including Swimsuit.

The numbers support the digital push. Sports Illustrated‘s digital revenue was up 22% between 2009 and 2010, and it is on track for double-digit growth again this year, says Scott Novak, VP of communications at Sports Illustrated Group.

Curious to know how and why the team could keep this pace, we visited editors, producers and operations managers as they put together a special double issue over a seven-day period.

It became clear that Sports Illustrated has alighted upon the best model for a print magazine in the digital age, not only in terms of content and design (i.e. the product itself), but also in the way the publication has organized its staff and workflow to produce consistently top-tier products across multiple platforms. Here’s why.

There Is No “Digital Department”

If you walk into the offices of almost any major print magazine, you’ll inevitably find a corner housing the so-called “digital department.” The staff there will be diligently putting together a website that is sometimes only loosely tied to the print title. These departments are byproducts of the early days of the Internet when publishers weren’t sure if a web edition had long-term potential. Magazine websites were treated like side projects rather than core parts of business and distribution strategies. The tablet edition usually ranks even lower on the priority scale.

Having a separate — and sometimes marginalized — digital department often leads to a discrepancy between the quality of the print product and the web product. Fewer resources are allotted to digital, in part because digital advertising revenues are far less than print.

This discrepancy is most apparent in women’s lifestyle magazines. Glamour and Lucky run thinly staffed, independent web operations that churn out upward of 50 pieces of original content per day. These are short, image-heavy pieces that have proven successful on the web. Both launched “blogger networks” earlier this year, an advertising play that allows the publications to sell ads across a network of content, namely pictures of the bloggers wearing different outfits.

Although the blogger partnerships enable the publications to bolster their advertising revenues in the short term and broaden their readership, there’s little sense that the content on these sites is curated. Rather, they feel like content farms licensed under the Glamour and Lucky banners.

At Sports Illustrated, by contrast, web and print are divided mainly by article length: the web is for shorter, newsier hits and print is a repository for long-form journalism. Quality is consistent largely because most of Sports Illustrated‘s staff touch every extension of the brand. Nearly all the writers (95%) produce content for both the web and print, filing short news pieces for the web while building out longer, weekly pieces for the print and tablet editions.

As a result, Sports Illustrated‘s brand and voice are consistently strong across platforms. But how do they do it and without substantially expanding or changing staff?

Producing More With the Same

It’s surprising how long most Sports Illustrated editors have been on board. Most digitally savvy media companies (The Huffington Post and Gawker Media, for example) are relatively young, or many of the older companies have brought in younger staff to turn things over (both The New York Observer and The Atlantic Wire are run by thirty-somethings who got their start at Gawker Media).

Take Assistant Managing Editor Chris Stone, for instance, who is tasked with overseeing the development of Sports Illustrated on multiple tablets each week. He has been with the magazine since 1992. The pace of the production was much different in the “pre-web” days,when he focused on the production of one to two stories per week as the baseball editor.

“Once upon a time you had a few ideas in the course of a week and they held up. If something happened six days before close, well, it was six days before close,” he recalls. “Now we deal with new ideas and three to four different ways to present a story every day.”

Stories are assigned for print, tablets and the web by the same vertical editors in conjunction with SI.com Managing Editor Paul Fichtenbaum and are then optimized for their respective platforms. When a large story breaks, for example, separate angles are developed for the web, for Sports Illustrated‘s social channels, as well as for print.

“Print is no longer separate,” Stone says. “We’re able to see the good idea that might just work better on the web because of the urgency of that story.” When stories are conceived, the editors think how to enhance them for the web and tablets, sometimes by including multimedia like audio interviews, galleries or video.

Social media is included in the ideation process. During a Monday morning run-through of the print edition set to close that evening, editors debated what to do with an extra Charlie Sheen interview that would not make the print edition before it closed later that night. Should they release it as a web exclusive, or perhaps as a bonus for tablet readers?

They elected to publish it on both, accompanied by a series of 10 tweets titled “10 Pieces of Wisdom from Charlie Sheen.” Although the print issue was the focus of the meeting, staff discussed the entire integrated publication: print, tablets, the web and social media.

Design is integrated as well. The design staff formats print and multiple tablet editions simultaneously, closing print Monday night, the iPad and HP TouchPad editions on Tuesday, and Android versions on Wednesday. The spacing in deadlines prevents designers from having to prioritize one version over another.

Editorial Workflow

“It became clear to us pretty early on that we needed to establish processes well beyond what we had in place for the print magazine,” says Bob Kanell, director of operations. Kanell has been working at Sports Illustrated for 17 years, long before it started to make its digital shift.

The week now starts Thursday morning. “That’s when we solidify what is going to be in the next particular issue. There are long-term stories that are in the works that we know we are going to run at some point, and our editors will decide when it is the right time to run that story,” he says.

The editorial team meets again Fridays and Sundays to discuss the issue, which evolves over the course of the week as major events occur. Saturday is the one day the entire editorial staff has off. Each editorial member works four full days each week and takes their remaining off-time on different days so that the issue doesn’t grind to a halt on weekends.

On Monday mornings and afternoons, the editorial team meets again to run through the print issue before it closes that same night. The issue is roughly 80% complete by the 9 a.m. meeting Monday, during which time Editor in Chief Terry McDonell runs through the entire issue on a large screen. He poses questions to Creative Director Chris Hercik about various design decisions and ensures that editorial layouts are properly differentiated from the ads.

The editorial team meets again Monday afternoon to review the edited copy and debate final photo selections. As articles are reviewed, McDonell inquires where add-ons for the tablet editions will appear.

At around noon on Tuesday, a mix of editors, designers and producers crowd around a single Mac in the production studio and walk through the nearly complete weekly editions for the iPad and HP TouchPad, both of which are formatted at a 16:9 ratio. Editors view the issues both on the devices themselves and using simulation software on the Mac, checking each button and function for potential bugs.

The same crew gathers again around 4 p.m. for the final review. The completed issue, once approved by Director of Imaging Geoffrey Michaud, is shipped to Apple’s and HP’s respective app stores around midnight.

At noon on Wednesday, the team runs through the weekly edition for two Android tablets, the Galaxy Tab and Motorola Xoom. Although the devices are different sizes, they run apps at the same 4:3 ratio, so there’s no need to format separate versions. The final run-through for Android occurs at 3 p.m. The completed issue hits the Android app store around midnight.

Design Workflow

Although Sports Illustrated‘s editorial team had to adjust to meet the magazine’s new digital demands, Kanell says the biggest adjustments occurred in the design department.

Designers must now reformat the issue in two different orientations — horizontal and vertical — for the iPad, plus a version for Android. (The iPad’s vertical layout is also used for the HP TouchPad.)

Sports Illustrated uses a software program called WoodWing, which allows designers to lay out the issue in multiple formats (both print and tablets) simultaneously. If a change to the copy is made in the print version, for instance, those changes will be automatically replicated in the different tablet versions.

“Everything still starts with print,” says Hercik, who has worked in the creative department of the Sports Illustrated Group for nearly a decade. “You work from scratch on every [layout] you do. There’s few layouts where it feels like you plug in images and text.”

Those problems are felt across the department. “Nothing that we do converts easily one from the next,” Senior Editor Stephen Cannella explains. “Even after the iPad, you have to tackle a whole different aspect ratio with the Galaxy and Xoom,” noting that tablet layouts also have to accommodate multimedia add-ons.

The design team is always conscious of file size when including additional images, videos and audio in the issue. Larger file sizes will take readers more time to download and will occupy a larger portion of their device’s storage space.

“If an add-on is really important to the experience, like a video cover, we’ll embed it,” says Hercik, but otherwise the team will opt to stream large files, like video, to minimize the issue size.

Hercik says the tablet versions are complete when they achieve a certain flow. “You want to interact on every page or every other page. If you go through a story and you haven’t had any interaction, you feel something is missing.”

Room for Improvement

Although Sports Illustrated‘s tablet editions are strong by design and engagement standards, the editors have not yet examined any reader usage data.

Examining usage statistics would enable them to understand, for the first time, which weekly sections and stories are most popular, how long readers spend reading certain articles compared to others, and what multimedia additions get the most attention. For now, editors have depended on a mix of feedback from focus groups and the comments left in various app stores to help them improve their tablet editions.

Going Forward

Sports Illustrated has emerged as a leader among magazine publications because it doesn’t think of itself as a magazine, but as a sports media company. “We don’t compete with magazines, we compete with networks,” says McDonell.

It’s sentiment shared by Mark Ford, president of Sports Illustrated Group. “We think of ourselves as a sports media company, number one,” he says. “We believe that we have got to reach our audiences and our fans wherever and whenever they’re consuming content on sports, and that means making content available on whatever device they use. Hopefully that extends to TV at some point.”

In fact, Sports Illustrated‘s video operation has already proved profitable, bringing in $3 million in incremental revenue in its first six months, says McDonell.

It’s a mindset that other magazines would do well do emulate. Any publication, whether its roots are in the web, on TV, in print or even on tablets, is truly a media company. Any platform their audience is using should be treated as a crucial distribution outlet.

And that means dissolving those sideline digital departments and refiguring digital — and every other medium — as a priority on par with print.

More About: android, galaxy tab, hearst, hp touchpad, iOS, ipad, magazines, media, motorola xoom, Sports illustrated, Tablet, terry mcdonell, webOS

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Still-in-beta interactive music startup Turntable.fm has taken another step toward going mainstream Tuesday. It has just become licensed by ASCAP (American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers), a performing rights organization which licenses and collects royalties for performances.

Turntable.fm has been taking the web by storm of late, amassing around 300,000 users and more than its share of buzz. However, many have wondered if the site is wholly legal. Basically, it’s a series of musical chatrooms in which five DJs can spin tracks on demand via Medianet or by uploading their own music. The site even shut down international usage recently in an effort to stay Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA)-compliant (the DMCA is U.S.-only).

Still, myriad musicians (and music industry types) have flocked to the site, and we have yet to see any significant backlash against it. However, Turntable.fm is still in beta and is invite-only (if you have a Facebook friend on there, though, you can get access), so it’s still a bit under the radar in the mainstream sphere.

The fact that the site is still in its infancy makes the ASCAP license an interesting milestone (Spotify secured its license when it launched in the U.S. last week). “It’s great to see a tech start-up securing an ASCAP license from the outset, ensuring that songwriters, composers and publishers will be paid fairly if the site succeeds,” said Jon Bahr, director of marketing for ASCAP, in a statement.

Perhaps we could be seeing Turntable.fm coming out of beta soon.

We’ve contacted the team for comment.

More About: ASCAP, music, startup, turntable.fm

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Whew! This week was awash with news. So, we transformed that news into advice, tips and how-to’s that you can reference for years to come.

Take Facebook’s video chat launch — we’ll guide you in setting it up. Or the space shuttle launch — we provide the Twitter accounts for dozens of astronauts and space experts. And Google+ has been on the minds of millions — we present its pros and cons. Mashable not only releases breaking news, we help you learn how to apply it to your business, your interests and your personal life.

If spare time for reading didn’t exactly factor into your busy week, here’s a roundup of resources that appeared on Mashable.

Editors’ Picks

• Top 10 TrueHDR iPhone Photos
  We showcase 10 fantastic TrueHDR iPhone photographs in this gorgeous gallery.
• 5 Tips for Creating More Efficient Social Media Processes
  Find out how your business can save time, money and other valuable resources by creating more efficient social media processes.
• 11 Startups That Found Success By Changing Direction
  Sometimes the best thing your company can do is something else.
• 15 Keyboard Shortcuts to Enhance Your PC Productivity
  If you’re aiming to speed up your workflow and impress your colleagues at the same time, check out these little keyboard gems.
• How the Private Space Race Has Taken Off
  Private manned spaceflight is set to revolutionize aerospace and give future generations the ability to visit the stars on the cheap.
• Space Exploration: 9 Private Sector Companies Ready to Take Off
  After Atlantis launched on Friday, NASA’s shuttle program will end. But thanks to private sector companies, space exploration is far from over.
• HOW TO: Measure the ROI of a Content Marketing Strategy
  Measuring the ROI on content is difficult, especially if you’re not judging success by ad revenue. Here are three steps to effectively measure your content strategy.

Social Media

• Google+: The Pros & Cons
  Here are some pros and cons of Google+ from the social network’s early users.
• Top 10 Twitter Trends This Week [CHART]
  Wondering which topics had Twitter abuzz this past week? Check out the full list of top trends.
• 3 New Apps For Self Improvement
  Since Americans had some extra time last weekend for the Fourth of July, we highlighted three startups with products that could help you improve your finances, dating conundrums or skills.
• Mashable Picks: Our 11 Favorite Tumblr Themes
  Browsing for a beautiful new blog? These 10 Tumblr themes come highly recommended by Mashable staff.
• The History of America, As Told by Facebook [PIC]
  In honor of Independence Day, The New York Times published an op-art depicting America’s would-be Facebook profile, entitled “Like It or Unfriend It?”
• HOW TO: Import Your Facebook Contacts on Google+
  A new Google Chrome extension makes extracting Facebook contacts a lot easier, helping new Google+ users more easily reconstruct their respective social graphs.
• 10 Accessories to Cheer Up Your Office Break Room [PICS]
  If your company staff room’s highlights are a handful of tattered magazines, a tired vending machine and a half-dead plant, then take a look at these creative ideas.
• The Connected States of America [INFOGRAPHIC]
  The Connected States of America shows that social interactions do not always coincide with administrative borders.
• HOW TO: Get Your Own Google+ Vanity URL
  Gplus.to lets you create a vanity URL for your Google+ Profile.
• HOW TO: Launch Facebook Skype Video Chat [PICS]
  Our first look, with images, at Facebook’s Skype-powered video chat.
• The 20 Most-Shared Video Ads This Month
  Angry Birds get real and a video with a real bird turns out to be fake in June’s 20 Most-Shared Video Ads of the Month.
• 10 Top Google+ Users Weigh In on the Web’s Newest Social Network
  We’ve scoured the profiles, Twitter feeds and blogs of the top Google+ users. You might be surprised to hear their reviews of the recent social networking phenomenon.
• 4 Fresh Ways To Share Video on Twitter
  When words or pictures won’t suffice on Twitter, rev up your tweets by sharing videos via these four sharing services.
• Which TV Shows Were the Most Social in June? [INFOGRAPHIC]
  Trendrr put together an infographic detailing the most social TV shows on broadcast and cable in June 2011.
• 4 Ways Colleges Can Take Their Social Media Presence to the Next Level
  Most schools have a social presence, but what strategies can they use to take it from good to great?
• Space Tweets: 23 Must-Follow Twitter Accounts for Astronomy Lovers
  Twitter provides a wealth of astronomy information. Here are 23 ways to space out your Twitter feed.

• For more social media news and resources, you can follow Mashable’s social media channel on Twitter and become a fan on Facebook.

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  Tech & Mobile

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  • Texting Teens: Typing Replaces Talking [INFOGRAPHIC]
    Has texting taken over as the primary form of communication for today’s teens?
  • 7 Great JavaScript Resources
    As a JavaScript developer, you’ll need to keep up with the latest news and learn new skills. We’ve put together a list of our favorite JavaScript resources to help save you time and energy.
  • 10 Fascinating Facts About Phone Numbers
    You probably dial a few of them every day, but do you ever stop and think about what’s behind a phone number? When the first numbers were introduced? How you ended up with the area code you did?
  • The Future of Mobile Payments [INFOGRAPHIC]
    We know that mobile payments are redefining commerce, but will our phones soon replace our wallets?

  • For more tech news and resources, follow Mashable’s tech channel on Twitter and become a fan on Facebook.

    ---

    Business & Marketing

    ---

    • HOW TO: Leverage Location for Better Ad Campaigns
      While local advertising may not be new, the question is, how do brands win in this new world of location media?
    • Zynga’s Journey From Founding to IPO [INFOGRAPHIC]
      Zynga’s come a long way in 5 years — and it’s taken a lot of funding and acquired a lot of talent & companies along the way.
    • 5 DIY Ecommerce Solutions for Small Business
      For the small retailer who wants to start selling quickly, there are several great options available in the form of hosted services and subscription-based web applications.
    • HOW TO: Land a Job at Airbnb
      Mashable spoke with Joe Gebbia, Airbnb’s co-founder and chief product officer, to learn more about what it’s looking for in new hires.
    • Convertible Debt vs. Equity: Which Is Right for Your Startup?
      Investors and entrepreneurs butt heads on whether convertible debt is better than equity. Here, we review the pros and cons of each.
    • 7 Twitter Marketing Campaigns to Learn From
      Delve in to Twitter marketing lessons from American Airlines, Network Solutions, UNICEF India, IBM, USA for UNHCR, McDonald’s Canada and appbackr.
    • HOW TO: Use CoTweet as a Marketing Tool
      A great way to keep your social media presences in line is with CoTweet, a web-based social media management and analytics tool.
    • 7 Winning Examples of Game Mechanics in Action
      Gamification is the use of game mechanics to engage audiences and improve a business. These seven gamified innovations should inspire you to strategize via game analysis.
    • Find a Job in Social Media, Communications or Design
      If you’re seeking a job in social media, we’d like to help out.
    • Why Facebook Relies on Third-Party Agencies to Scale Its Ad Platform
      To buy ads on Facebook, you often have to go through 22 firms with access to Facebook’s Ads API. Why are such companies necessary?
    • 10 Top Tech Entrepreneurs Share Their Favorite Food Trucks
      Food trucks purvey the meals on wheels that keep entrepreneurs well-fueled.
    • 7 Easy Ways to Do Good Online Beyond Donations
      Even if you lack spare money and extra time, there are many meaningful ways to give back beyond check writing or volunteering for hours.
    • How the Private Space Race Has Taken Off
      Private manned spaceflight is set to revolutionize aerospace and give future generations the ability to visit the stars on the cheap.

    • For more business news and resources, you can follow Mashable’s business channel on Twitter and become a fan on Facebook.

      ---

      
      

      Image courtesy of Webtreats

      More About: business, List, Lists, MARKETING, Mobile 2.0, social media, tech, technology

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We all love Tumblr for its ease of use and unique social blogging features. But we really love Tumblr because the right theme can turn your humble cat musings into sophisticated works of web literature. Just click that “install” button and, “Look Ma, I’m a web designer!” (Our judges would have also accepted, “Mmm, I loves me some gradients.”)

Tumblr’s theme garden grows bigger by the day thanks to the contributions of some premier developers. Whether you’re looking to pimp your existing blog or arrive on the Tumblr scene in style, we thought it helpful to highlight a few of the themes we find beautiful, compelling and feature-rich.

See below for staff-picked Mashable favorites, and let us know which theme(s) you’re using in the comments.

1. Savory

Josh Catone: One of the things that makes Savory so nice is that it clearly defines different Tumblr post types while still cohesively tying them together. It also has a massive amount of customization options and built in support for Disqus and Typekit.

Preview it: here.

Install it: here.

Price: $49

2. Field Notes

Lauren Rubin: Field Notes FTW. Not only do I love the products, I love how they've kept the branding consistent in the digital space.

Preview it: here.

Install it: here.

Price: Free

3. Plaid

Brenna Ehrlich: The theme that started my hipster media empire.

Preview it: here.

Install it: here.

Price: Free

4. Brutal Simplicity

Christina Warren: Brutal Simplicity, as the name implies is simple. It's also elegant and easy to customize.

Preview it: here.

Install it: here.

Price: Free

5. Chunky

Lauren Drell: I love Chunky, which I use for my typo blog (#nerdalert). For a lot of Tumblrs, you have to keep scroooooolling down to see older posts. For my purposes (flaunting people's careless spelling on signage), Chunky provides a collage aesthetic that makes the images super easy to consume — barely any scrolling necessary! Plus, I love bright colors, and this theme is "slabby, colorful, fun."

Preview it: here.

Install it: here.

Price: Free

6. Solaris

Matt Silverman: Few Tumblr themes make good use of white space while keeping posts organized. Solaris is modern, super clean, and instantly digestable. Well worth nine bucks.

Preview it: here.

Install it: here.

Price: $9

7. Effector

Christina Warren: Lots of options, color styles and built-in social tools make Effector a great theme to use and tweak.

Preview it: here.

Install it: here.

Price: Free

8. Chalkdust

Stephanie Buck: I've always wanted to paint my apartment walls with that chalkboard paint. The "Chalkdust" Tumblr theme allows me to virtually paint – without inciting the wrath of my landlord.

Preview it: here.

Install it: here.

Price: Free

9. Rubber Cement

Stacy Green: I love the Rubber Cement theme from SleepoverSF, because thats what I use — in purple of course.

Preview it: here.

Install it: here.

Price: Free

10. Storybook

Christina Warren: This illustrated Tumblr theme is just beautiful to look at.

Preview it: here.

Install it: here.

Price: $49

11. Blank Slate

Christina Warren: Blank Slate indeed! I love the fixed sidebar and the textured background.

Preview it: here.

Install it: here.

Price: $49

More About: blogging, List, Lists, social media, tumblr, tumblr themes, web design, Web Development

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Mashable has finally returned from Disney World (also known as the happiest place on earth) with the conclusion of Connect. Since returning, we’ve have no time to slump, turning out another great week of tools and resources for your social media pleasure.

Read on for some great stories about how to use Gmail Labs to boost your productivity, 13 alternative ways to get your news online, and a ton of resource roundups for developers, designers, and small businesses alike.

Looking for even more social media resources? This guide appears every weekend, and you can check out all the lists-gone-by here any time.

Editors’ Picks

• How 5 Non-Profits Are Innovating With Mobile
  Non-profits large and small are using mobile to educate, activate and engage their audiences. Here are 5 impressive examples.
• 10 Creative Social Media Resumes To Learn From
  Want to stand out from the crowd of social media applicants? Check out these 10 impressive resumes for inspiration.
• How HTML5 Will Transform the Online Video Landscape
  While HTML5 holds immense promise for the future of web video, the stakes are complex. Here’s a breakdown of where the industry stands in terms of browsers, video services and content providers.
• 9 Outstanding Websites for Design Inspiration
  Sometimes seeing a great site is all it takes to get the creative juices flowing. We spoke to top designers about which web designs inspire them.
• Why the Success of the Smart Energy Grid Requires a Multipronged Approach
  Energy use and efficiency are more important than ever. What are the right conversations companies and consumers should be having around energy tech?

Social Media

• This Week in Politics & Digital: 2012 Strategies, Crowdsourced Cuts
  Last week in politics, Newt Gingrich announced his presidential bid, Obama hired his 2012 Digital Director, and the GOP asked the public for help with spending cuts.
• 17 Twitter Tips from Mashable Connect Attendees
  A few of the world’s leaders in digital answer one simple question: “What one tip do you have for best using Twitter?”
• 20+ Easy Exercises You Can Do at Your Desk [VIDEOS]
  From simple stretches to help circulation to more complex maneuvers, here are more than 20 exercises you can do at your desk during a sedentary day at the office.
• Skype’s Rollercoaster History [INFOGRAPHIC]
  In 2007, Skype lost almost $1 billion and was valued at $2.7 billion — but the company was just bought by Microsoft for $8.5 billion.
• What Does the Social Good Ecosystem Look Like? [INFOGRAPHIC]
  Blackbaud, a fundraising software company, has put together an infographic that tries to answer the question: “What good is social good?”
• 13 Alternative Ways to Consume Your News
  People get their news from all manner of sources. Here, we’ve collected 13 new ways to get your current events fix online and via mobile.
• Anonymous or Transparent: Which Side Are You On? [INFOGRAPHIC]
  How you represent yourself online boils down to a core belief. Which is more important to you: your privacy or your authenticity?
• 8 Gmail Labs Features To Boost Your Productivity
  We’re highlighting eight great Labs options that will speed up your Gmail experience.
• HOW TO: Get the Most Out of Google Reader
  While social news is all the rage, RSS is still a great way to consume large quantities of online content. Here’s how to optimize the web’s most popular feed reader.
• How Digital Tech Can Help You Become a More Socially Responsible Consumer
  We can change our spending or consumption habits, but digital technology allows the average consumer to take his support for a cause to a whole new level.

For more social media news and resources, you can follow Mashable’s social media channel on Twitter and become a fan on Facebook.

Tech & Mobile

• Take a Seat: 5 Office Chair Alternatives
  This just in: Sitting down will kill you, so we’ve taken a look at alternatives to the traditional office chair.
• 33 Essential Resources for Developers & Designers
  Web developers and designers have flocked to Mashable to learn from and share our how-to guides, analyses, videos, lists, videos and galleries. Here are 33 of those great resources.
• 3 Apps For Pleasure & Productivity This Weekend
  Each weekend, Mashable handpicks a few startups we think are building interesting, unique or niche products.
• 10 Stylish iPad Cases Made From Recycled Materials [PICS]
  From billboards to clothing via vinyl records, our gallery shows off how great creativity and imagination can result in “upcycling” everyday materials into brand new, useful items.
• Review: iPhone Case Has Detachable Piggyback Battery [PICS]
  Need an iPhone case with a little more juice? Check out this review to find out if this one’s right for you.
• Can’t Afford A Stand-Up Desk? Try Standing Clock App [PICS]
  Since sitting is apparently killing us all slowly, here’s a web app to keep track of how much time you spend standing.
• 6 Reasons Tablets Are Ready for the Classroom
  If tablets have penetrated mainstream consumer markets, what’s preventing them from widespread use in schools?
• 15 Mesmerizing iPhone Photos of Cloudscapes
  Whether cirriform, cumuliform or convective, we’ve got a variety of cloud photos for your viewing pleasure, snapped by iPhotographers from all over the globe.
• HOW TO: Optimize Marketing Materials for Mobile Devices
  People consume a lot of content while they’re on the go. Here are tips to make sure your site is mobile-friendly for numerous devices.
• The Case For Making Online Textbooks Open Source [INFOGRAPHIC]
  As companies compete to digitize the textbook market, open source textbook proponents believe online educational tomes should be free.
• 5 Unique Ways to Transform Your iPhone Into an Alarm Clock [PICS]
  We’ve found five fabulous devices that will turn your iPhone into a cool alarm clock, ranging from a seriously analogue option to some high-tech docks that come with free apps.
• HOW TO: Build an SMS App Quickly & Easily
  Ready to get down and dirty with SMS? This new API makes SMS apps a lot easier than you might think.
• Canon & Nikon Cameras Square Off [INFOGRAPHIC]
  In an infographic that’s likely to ignite a powderkeg of controversy, Nikon and Canon cameras are compared in a photographer’s equivalent of a Mac-versus-PC cage match.

For more tech news and resources, you can follow Mashable’s tech channel on Twitter and become a fan on Facebook.

Business & Marketing

• How Brands Can Work With Startups
  Brand marketers and startups may have little in common, but they have a lot to gain by working together.
• 73 Essential Social Media & Tech Resources for Small Businesses
  Here are 73 resources to help small business owners stay on top of social media, marketing, tech and mobile trends.
• 5 Best Practices for Fashion Retailers on Facebook
  Leaders in fashion marketing and ecommerce offer advice for optimizing retailers’ Facebook Pages.
• 8 Tips for Nailing Your Next Startup Job Interview
  Dozens of smaller-stage companies have emerged and are hiring everyone from programmers to interns. Snag a gig with help from these tips.
• Why Gift Cards Will Lead the Transition From Plastic to Digital
  It wasn’t so long ago that credit cards replaced cash as the dominant form of payment. Now, digital payments are primed to take over, and gift cards are leading the charge.
• 5 Tips for Building Vibrant Branded Online Communities
  What engagement strategies can we take away from the most successful online network of all time?
• 7 Resources for Startup Investment Opportunities
  The Internet has changed the flow of venture capital. If you’re looking to find (and invest in) the web’s next big ideas, check out these sites and networks.
• HOW TO: Hire (or Be Hired as) a Team of Devs
  Need a tech team fast? Here’s how you can find and hire a pre-assembled group of devs — or market your own team as a group.
• 6 Important Tips for First-Time Startup Investors
  Welcome to the startup Wild West. Angel investing is both exciting and lucrative. What do you need to get started? Read on to find out.
• 5 Strategies for Maximizing Your Website’s Conversion Rate
  With all the fuss made over the power of social networks, it’s easy to forget the power and marketing potential of your own website. Here are ways to optimize.

For more business news and resources, you can follow Mashable’s business channel on Twitter and become a fan on Facebook.

Image courtesy of Dawghouse Design Studio

More About: business, facebook, Features Week In Review, gadgets, List, Lists, Mobile 2.0, social good, social media, tech, technology, twitter

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The news cycle this week has been unstoppable, with major events from international politics to British royalty dominating the conversation.

This week saw the marriage of Prince William to Kate Middleton, U.S. tornadoes, the death of Osama Bin Laden, and of course, this weekend’s big event: Mother’s Day.

With all the hubbub, we understand if you missed a story or two from Mashable’s trove of tools and resources published over the past week or so. This week, we have resources on bin Laden as well as our regular social media-focused tools such as PR tips for Facebook, business and marketing case studies, and the evolution of Twitter.

Looking for even more social media resources? This guide appears every weekend, and you can check out all the lists-gone-by here any time.

Editors’ Picks

• Seven Ways to Help Tornado Victims
  The death toll from the catastrophic tornadoes in the South has climbed to more than 340, with thousands injured, homeless, without power or clean water. How can we harness the power of social media to help?
• Timeline: How News of Osama Bin Laden’s Death Unfolded on Twitter
  At 11:35 p.m. ET, the White House’s Twitter feed posted a quote from President Barack Obama that confirmed Osama Bin Laden’s death. Click through this gallery for a chronological look at how things transpired on Twitter.
• White House Releases Situation Room Images From Bin Laden Raid [PICS]
  An inside look at the President’s involvement during the Bin Laden compound raid.
• 6 Mother’s Day Gifts You Can Make [VIDEOS]
  Whether you’re looking for simple craft ideas to create with your kids or just something homemade to surprise your mom on Sunday, we’ve got some great video tutorials to help.
• 7 Ways to Show Mom You Love Her & Support Social Good
  Amidst all that mother lovin’, there are a bunch of ways you can help celebrate Mother’s Day and also give back to good causes. How’s that for two birds with one stone?
• How Barbie & Ken Were Reunited by Social Media
  Take a look behind the scenes at how Mattel reunited its iconic doll couple with a marketing campaign that heavily utilized social media.
• How Converse Became the Biggest Little Sneaker Brand on Facebook
  We spoke with Geoff Cottrill, CMO of Converse, about how the brand found success on social media platforms and stays true to its roots.

Social Media

• Top 10 Royal Wedding Twitter Trends [CHART]
  Stats about who and what was being talked about on Twitter during the Royal Wedding.
• Comic: Sony’s Apology for PlayStation Network Takes a Surprising Turn
  How will Sony handle the ill will from the PlayStation Network fiasco? Here’s a humorous possibility: a very special kind of “apology”.
• Royal Wedding Snapshot: Who Got the Most Buzz? [INFOGRAPHIC]
  The Royal Wedding participants have all put away their tiaras, swords and spurs, and now it’s time to see who created and received the most social media buzz.
• 4 Lessons for Parents in a Constantly Connected World
  Today’s parents struggle to manage their kids’ online time as well as their own connected lives. Here are a few tips for judging when to engage, and when to unplug.
• The World Responds to Osama Bin Laden’s Death
  People around the world have taken to social media channels to share the news and their feelings about Bin Laden’s death.
• Name Fail: The Media’s Most Embarrassing Obama/Osama Gaffes
  The U.S. president was prematurely reported dead and otherwise mixed up with the terrorist that he had ordered killed late Sunday evening.
• How the Social Web Reflected on Bin Laden’s Death
  We found out on Twitter, then turned to Facebook, Foursquare & Instagram to share news and express our joy, our outrage, & even our doubt.
• Too Soon? Osama Bin Laden Memes Abound
  Meme-makers have been on a tear, pumping out graphics depicting Osama Bin Laden’s death and U.S. President Barack Obama’s hand in it.
• HOW TO: Sustain a Social Movement After Initial Success
  It’s one thing to get a cause campaign off the ground with social media. It’s entirely another to achieve your long-term goals. Here are some tips for keeping a social movement on track.
• Does Twitter Drive TV Viewership? [VIDEO]
  Twitter opines that engagement on Twitter drives TV viewership.
• The Osama Bin Laden Takedown, Tweet By Tweet [INFOGRAPHIC]
  Here’s an interesting infographic showing confirmed facts of the raid that ended the life of Osama Bin Laden.
• Explore Twitter’s Evolution: 2006 to Present
  Check out this comprehensive timeline of some of the most memorable moments in Twitter’s eventful five years on the web.
• Google’s Plan To Win Location & Social
  Google VP Marissa Mayer laid out the company’s vision and strategy for winning in local and in social in a keynote and Q&A Thursday at the Social-Loco conference in San Francisco.
• 10 Historic Tweets That Captivated the World
  Here are 10 tweets that changed the world, or showed us how much the world has been changed by social media.
• Stand-Up Web Developers [COMIC]
  Some humor is just too niche for prime time.

For more social media news and resources, you can follow Mashable’s social media channel on Twitter and become a fan on Facebook.

Tech & Mobile

• How Web Security Will Change With HTML5
  As browsers implement more and more HTML5 functionality, security fixes for current issues will become baked into the web. Here’s an overview of HTML5′s potential.
• The Daily Deals Bandwagon Dissected [INFOGRAPHIC]
  Here’s a cheat sheet for how four of the most popular deals services work — and how much money each one is making.
• Review: Rugged Android Smartphone Takes a Licking [VIDEO]
  The hardened Casio G’zOne Commando Android smartphone is so tough, the company says it can withstand 30 minutes under three feet of water. We’ll see about that.
• Why Location-Based Services Will be the Killer App of the 2012 Elections
  Location-based services will be the killer app of the 2012 presidential election and will change the landscape of all elections to come.
• Review: Pogoplug Software Creates a Personal Computing Cloud
  Pogoplug is now available in a software version, letting you share pictures, music, videos and data with any of your devices or with anyone else.
• HOW TO: Document Your Life Using Photo Apps
  An abundance of apps have launched recently to complement the possibilities of always having a camera on hand. It’s now easier to take, tweak, share and display photos than it ever was in a non-app world. These are some of our favorites.
• HOW TO: Get More From Your iTunes Playlists
  How hard could it be to set up an iTunes playlist, right? We’ve found some tricks you may not have thought of.
• Top 10 Free Android Photo Apps [PICS]
  There’s no need to envy our iPhone-toting brethren. The Android Market is filled with fantastic free photo apps. Here are our favorites.
• Why Mobile Users Aren’t Checking In [INFOGRAPHIC]
  Those who use social location-based apps such as Foursquare or Facebook Places represent just 17% of the mobile population, according to a study commissioned by digital agency Beyond.
• 4 Ways Mobile Tech Is Improving Education
  With Internet in the palm of our hands, educators are looking to mobile as the next big tool for schools.
• How You Can Help Find Alien Life
  The Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence (SETI) has launched a contest with Gamify to find ways to get the general public involved in the search for alien signals.
• The Past, Present & Future of Email [INFOGRAPHIC]
  Our reliance on social media, instant messaging, texting and especially email is growing at a rapid rate, according to a new study.
• HOW TO: Build a Mobile App for Better Customer Support
  Most digital natives would rather fire up an app than get on the phone with customer care. Here’s why you should be investing your support dollars into mobile solutions.
• Flip Alternatives: 5 Great Pocket Video Cameras
  It’s a strange twist that the Flip would flop in the market it helped create, but it’s given rise to some seriously capable rivals.

For more tech news and resources, you can follow Mashable’s tech channel on Twitter and become a fan on Facebook.

Business & Marketing

• HOW TO: Create a Group Tumblr Blog
  Want to create a multi-user Tumblr blog? Here’s a step-by-step guide.
• How 3 Companies Took Content Marketing to the Next Level
  Five years ago your business needed to have a website in order to exist, but soon your company’s survival may depend on your ability to be an effective publisher.
• HOW TO: Ask For an Online Recommendation
  When you’re looking for a job, you want to get a few job recommendations on sites like LinkedIn. Here are tips on whom and how to ask for one.
• 5 Valuable Online Communities for Freelancers
  When you’re a freelancer, it can be hard to find job leads and tips about how to sell yourself and get more clients. Here are 5 communities to make it easier.
• 5 Best Practices for Travel & Tourism Brands on Facebook
  Here are some tips for hotels and airlines that are looking to spruce up their Facebook Pages and drive more sales.
• Big Data: How New Technology Is Helping Marketers Create Better Consumer Experiences
  Just like consumers, marketers are facing information overload. The big question is: How can we use this data to produce better, more relevant customer experiences?
• 3 Traits of the Most Compelling Internet Companies
  Can success be predicted? Here are three characteristics that many successful Internet products share.
• HOW TO: Get Your Employees On Board With Your Social Media Policy
  If your employees represent your company, where’s the line between their personal accounts and their responsibility to your brand?
• Why 5 Big Brand Marketing Campaigns Are Betting Big on Social Gaming
  There are more than 60 million social gamers in the U.S., and big brands are spending big money to target them. Here are five good examples.
• HOW TO: Sign Up Users Even Before You Launch Your Startup
  How do startups break through the consumer-pitching chaos? Here are four tricks smart brands have employed to get the word out before the company is even off the ground.
• The PR Pro’s Guide to Facebook
  Here are tips of the trade for starting and managing a client’s Facebook Page.
• Why Small Risks May Yield Bigger Returns for Startups
  Has the Internet fundamentally changed the way companies think about risk? Author Peter Sims discusses the concept of “Little Bets” in his new book.

For more business news and resources, you can follow Mashable’s business channel on Twitter and become a fan on Facebook.

Image courtesy of WebTreats Etc.

More About: business, facebook, Features Week In Review, gadgets, List, Lists, Mobile 2.0, social good, social media, tech, technology, twitter

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If you’re a small business owner, your website is the central hub of your company, and it’s a pivotal part of your marketing and branding.

Potential customers visit your site specifically for its content, meaning its appearance and usability are critical to its success and how those users view your company. However, getting your web design wrong can have a negative impact on your business.

Here are 5 common web design mistakes you must avoid to create a great user experience and grow your bottom line.

1. Poor Navigation

Many small businesses fail to make navigation a priority, but without careful attention to how people navigate your site, you could unintentionally be creating a frustrating experience for any potential visitor. People visit your site for specific information, and if they cannot find it they will quickly go elsewhere, leaving with the impression that your business is disorganized in more than just its website.

A good navigation structure should be seamless and will keep visitors on your site longer, which means potentially more readers, subscribers, sales or leads — whichever is your primary objective.

Website navigation affects both usability and accessibility, so it’s important to make it a primary concern. Most websites and blogs use common navigational techniques that are expected by the average visitor. The pages and sections of the site should be easy and logical for visitors to maneuver. Don’t make your visitors think about how to navigate your site; it should be effortless and natural.

There are several principles you can follow to create an effective navigation structure:

• Use icons to aid navigation. They’re both visually appealing and easy to use and understand.
• Create logical groups of related links, with the most important links on the top-level navigation bar and functional (dashboard, account, settings, etc.) and legal (copyright, privacy, terms) located elsewhere.
• Provide location information so users know where they are on any given page and how to proceed to another area of the website. This can be achieved by using Breadcrumb navigation.

2. No Clear Calls To Action

The fundamental error of many small business websites is the lack of a clear call to action. We’ve all seen bland small-business brochure websites with nothing but endless descriptive paragraphs. If you aren’t leading users to commit to an action (buy a product, contact you or subscribe, for example), then you are losing them.

Driving traffic to your website is important, but that traffic is useless if your primary call to action is a plain “click here” link buried in a sea of text. Call-to-action buttons are a great way to grab the user’s attention, and these buttons can be the key to higher conversions. Investing time and consideration into creating successful calls to action can help guide users and address their needs while achieving your own business goals.

It’s important to keep the following best practices in mind when creating an optimal call to action:

• The design of a call to action can be broken down into 4 simple elements — size, shape, color, and position. Each plays a vital part in determining how effective the call to action is in directing the user.
• Don’t make your users work or think, or they’ll leave. It’s not that they aren’t smart, it’s that they want access to information quickly without spending unnecessary time searching for it.
• Don’t overdo it with multiple, competing calls to action on every page. Decide what your primary target is and then define a clear objective per page. Your content should have answered, “What’s in it for me?” and your call to action should now answer, “What do I do now?”

3. Color & Contrast

Color and contrast aren’t usually high up on the list of priorities for a small business owner when it comes to creating a website. But it should be, because if your website text does not have sufficient contrast compared to its background, people will have difficulty reading your content, especially people with poor vision or color-blindness.

Aside from plain readability, color and contrast are important because they can be used to create visual interest and direct the attention of the user. It can equally be effective in organizing and defining the flow and hierarchy of a page, and it’s therefore an essential principle to pay attention to during the design process. Here are some tips:

• Using a free a Color Contrast tool (which conforms to accepted standards) you can easily check to see how the contrast on your website measures up.
• Research how major sites use color and contrast to improve readability and highlight specific sections, and use this knowledge to experiment with color schemes.
• One of best ways to enhance contrast is by creating size differences between elements, making some things appear larger than others. This works especially well within a minimal color scheme, and it means you don’t have to necessarily rely on color.

4. Content, Content, Content

People visit your website for its content, and how that is structured is a huge factor in its success or failure. Unfortunately, an overwhelming number of small businesses get so caught up in overloading the user with information that they overlook how that information is presented.

Most people do not read unless it’s absolutely necessary, and they prefer to scan through information quickly to get to the points of interest. This is why it’s so important to establish a strong visual content hierarchy so users can quickly scan your site and sifting through relevant information. A logical content hierarchy also acts as a guide through each page and creates a more enjoyable user experience.

So when focusing on your content, it’s best to keep in mind these three tips:

• White space is possibly the most important factor to consider. It will allow the user to focus on the meaningful content within each section.
• Break up lengthy pieces of information into digestible blocks of text, utilizing headings, sub-headings, bullets, blockquotes and paragraphs.
• Readable content is important, so use a good line height that is large enough to make content scannable. Margins and letter spacing also need to be taken into consideration.

When talking about content, spelling and grammar cannot be underestimated.

5. Clutter

We all know at least one small business website that seems to include everything but the proverbial kitchen sink. Many small business owners tend to cram as much as they can onto a single page — the end result is a busy, cluttered and unreadable page.

The more extraneous items there are on a web page, the more unprofessional it looks, and it becomes overwhelming, confusing and distracting for the user. A cluttered website will also affect traffic because visitors won’t return if they can’t understand or follow the content, which leads to low traffic, a high bounce rate and possibly a poor Page Rank.

Clutter also applies to images. Too many can be a huge distraction and just plain annoying. Images should be used to illustrate, capture attention and guide the user where required.

Follow these guidelines for a more streamlined visitor experience:

• Challenge every item on each page and ask, “Does it really need to be there? Does it serve a specific purpose? Can I live without it?”
• The key is to aid the visitor in finding the information they’re looking for, so make sure to differentiate between areas of content, advertisements and promotions.
• Prioritize your content and decide what is the most important to your visitor and potential customer — and sell it well.

Even the greatest content can become lost in a mess of words and graphics, so de-cluttering is essential.

These are just five web design mistakes that many small businesses make. What other mistakes have you noticed on small business websites?

Interested in more Business resources? Check out Mashable Explore, a new way to discover information on your favorite Mashable topics.

Image courtesy of iStockphoto, RBFried

More About: branding, MARKETING, small business, trending, web design, website

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Twitter has updated its developer tools, making embedded tweets more interactive and functional. The new tweets allow users to reply, retweet or favorite a tweet directly from its embedded version.

Twitter introduced embeddable tweets last year — and while the end result has been quite effective, the set-up process involved in actually embedding tweets is more trouble than its worth. Fortunately, plugins like Blackbird Pie for WordPress have made the process less cumbersome.

The new functionality of embedded tweets comes courtesy of a developer tool called Web Intents. Users must first insert a script on a page that will use the intent. Those that already use the Tweet button on their websites will be able to start using Web Intents right away.

The integration process is still surprisingly cumbersome — especially for users that just want to easily and quickly embed a tweet. But the code itself looks a lot more clean. Already, WordPress.com users can take advantage of Web Intents powered embedded tweets. We imagine that the WordPress.org version of that plugin will be updated soon.

There are some cool things about Web Intents. Not only can content creators embed a tweet on their website, they can also embed a pre-filled Twitter message window. Web Intents are mobile-friendly and work with both iOS and Android, which is a nice touch.

The fact that users can send a tweet directly from a webpage or retweet messages without having to use a third-party program or extension could make for some interesting possibilities — at least for web developers and app makers that want to add more seamless social ability to their sites.

Developers, what do you think of the new Twitter Web Intents? Let us know in the comments.

[via ReadWriteWeb]

More About: blackbird pie, twitter, web intents, WordPress.com

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Notice something different in the air? No, it’s not hordes of people rushing out to buy Valentine’s Day presents — we’ve added a section to our weekly roundup.

We’re still bringing you all the tools and resources from the past week or so, but we’ve also combed through to pull out some of the best, most useful, or most interesting reads as collected by our editors. These include stories on the smart grid, a guide to Facebook privacy, and a break down of how 3D technology actually works.

Looking for even more social media resources? This guide appears every weekend, and you can check out all the lists-gone-by here any time.

Editors’ Picks

• Facebook Privacy: 10 Settings Every User Needs to Know
  We’ve entered Facebook’s maze of privacy options and came out on the other side bruised, battered, but with 10 essential settings in our hands. Disregard them at your own peril!
• How Social Media Will Make the Smart Energy Grid More Efficient
  Web-enabled electric meters and appliances are part of the new smart grid. With the added layer of social media, we’re seeing a new level comparison and competition.
• HOW TO: Run a Global Charity Event From Your Laptop
  Twestival is possible thanks to a suite of online tools, a little missed sleep, and an enthusiastic team of global do-gooders. Here’s a behind-the-scenes look at how it all happens.
• How Does 3D Technology Work?
  From films to TVs to gaming, 3D is big right now. But how does this technology get your brain to “see” a screen in three dimensions?
• How an Online Game Plans to Reward Kids for Playing Outside
  By connecting physical sports equipment with its new online world, FunGoPlay is hoping to curb childhood obesity and encourage young athletes.
• 10 Online Resources for Free, Legal Music
  We’ve gathered together 10 resources for scoring tunes online for merely a song.
• Top 10 Most Shared Super Bowl Ads Of All Time [VIDEO]
  Excitement for Super Bowl XLV is upon up — football, the halftime show, and of course, the commercials. These are the most shared Super Bowl ads ever.
• Guitar Hero Gone: What Went Wrong?
  The plastic guitar game just flamed out. Activision is set to shutter the division that created Guitar Hero and its sequels.
• What Is 4G? An FAQ On Next Generation Wireless
  We’ve sifted through the buzzwords, technical overviews and acronyms to distill the facts about 4G and what it means for consumers.

Social Media

• 7 Years of Facebook: A Retrospective
  Mashable created this gallery to highlight the biggest Facebook events (and controversies) over the years.
• Fun With Twitter: 5 iPhone Games Made of Tweets
  If you thought Twitter couldn’t get any more fun, think again. These clever games turn tweets into puzzles, points and obstacles.
• Why Fashion’s Top Brands Are Flocking to Tumblr
  A look at the Tumblr strategies of fashion brands and retailers, including Kate Spade, Oscar de la Renta, Alexander McQueen, Ann Taylor and ModCloth.
• Which Films Captured the Most Twitter Buzz During the Super Bowl? [INFOGRAPHIC]
  The Twitterverse was giving ample attention to TV spots advertising upcoming films.
• Watch Every Super Bowl XLV Ad [VIDEO]
  Here’s a gallery of 60+ Super Bowl ads.
• Why Virtual Worlds Play an Important Role in the Changing Arab World
  Virtual worlds like Second Life have increasingly become a place for Arabs to gather, speak their minds, and protest.
• Top 10 Funny YouTube Videos About Twitter
  We’ve scoured YouTube to bring you 10 funny Twitter-themed videos. From parody to satire to the downright silly, click here for some LOLs from the Twitterverse.
• HOW TO: Follow New York Fashion Week Online
  We’ve gathered together the best online resources to help you follow New York Fashion Week on your social platform of choice.
• How Premium Fashion Brands Are Maximizing Their Social Media ROI
  What are luxury brands doing to boost revenue streams from the social web? Check out these tactics from the likes of Marc Jacobs and DKNY.
• #TypeNerdyToMe: Top 5 Valentine One-Liners [PICS]
  Mashable asked readers to submit their best nerdy valentine lines. We’ve chosen and designed the five best entries, which can be viewed in this gallery.
• 7 Ways Print Magazines Are Using Social Media to Engage Readers
  Many print publications have been able to keep the conversation going beyond the page with social platforms. Here’s how they’re succeeding.
• Watson vs. Jeopardy: The Early Years [COMIC]
  Watson’s computational development was a slow and arduous process. In the early days, he just wasn’t all that good at Jeopardy.
• 7 Free Music Playlists for Valentine’s Day
  Here are 7 playlists to suit your romantic mood — whether it be bitter or sweet.

For more social media news and resources, you can follow Mashable’s social media channel on Twitter and become a fan on Facebook.

Tech & Mobile

• HANDS ON: HTC Inspire 4G Is a First For AT&T [PICS]
  The first 4G phone using the AT&T wireless network is about to arrive, and we have one here for testing. I’m impressed with the hardware, but not with AT&T.
• 10 Stunning iPhone Sports Photographs [GALLERY]
  For our latest iPhotography gallery, we’ve looked to the wonderful world of sport, with some action-packed snaps and some careful studies in texture and light.
• The iPhone Ad War: AT&T vs. Verizon
  Verizon and AT&T are already starting a back-and-forth in ads over the iPhone.
• 5 Tech Advances That Are Transforming Digital Entertainment
  What technology has changed the way we experience digital entertainment? Read on for five picks that promise to do just that.
• 5 Decadent iPhone Apps for Chocolate Lovers
  Just in time for Valentine’s Day, these iPhone apps will whet your appetite for this sweet seductress.
• HOW TO: Transfer Your Blog From WordPress.com to WordPress.org [VIDEO]
  This screencast will guide you through the process of moving your content from a WordPress.com account to a self-hosted solution.
• 10 Free iPhone Apps for a More Romantic Valentine’s Day
  If you’re planning a special night, these free apps can help you take your romance game to the next level.
• Engineering Intelligence: Why IBM’s Jeopardy-Playing Computer Is So Important
  IBM’s Watson supercomputer will compete with Jeopardy champions next week, and it has a good shot at winning. We spoke with Stephen Baker, who chronicled Watson’s development, about this comp-sci achievement.
• Why Microsoft Is Nokia’s Last Best Hope [OPINION]
  Microsoft may have been Nokia’s only option, but it is far from a guarantee of success. Still, here’s why these two computing giants are a good fit.

For more tech news and resources, you can follow Mashable’s tech channel on Twitter and become a fan on Facebook.

Business

• Are Cover Letters Still Relevant For Social Media and Tech Jobs?
  Here’s a look at why you may not want to send a cover letter, why it could still be useful to send one, and how to optimize your approach for social media and tech positions.
• Social Media: The Final Piece of the Super Bowl Advertising Puzzle
  In 2011, it’s not enough to drop $3 million on a great Super Bowl spot. You’ve got to port that engagement over to the online world.
• 5 Tips to Strengthen Your Company’s Social Media Voice
  When it comes to social media, even big brands need to have personality. These 5 tips will spark some better online conversations.
• HOW TO: Be a Better Coworker
  When your offices mates are all working toward different goals and projects, the etiquette can get a bit muddled. Check out these proven tips for keeping the peace in a shared workspace.
• HOW TO: Optimize Your Social Media Budget
  Inspired by Alitimeter Group’s recent report, check out this guide to budgeting for corporate social media programs, as based on a program’s maturity.
• How Brands Can Make the Most of Facebook’s New Pages
  What do the new Facebook Pages mean for brands? We’ve laid out a guide to the changes that affect the way companies interact on the social network.

For more business news and resources, you can follow Mashable’s business channel on Twitter and become a fan on Facebook.

Image courtesy of Flickr, Rosaura Ochoa

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