[sift this] As the workday winds down at The Company, I usually park my browser on ESPN's hockey scores page. Automatiocally reloading each minute, I can continue working while occasionally checking on the NHL action.
Several months ago, the Digest crowned ESPN the king of the hill for Web sports sites. Being a combination of quality content with an effective layout, the site is clearly ahead of other sport related sites, including Sportsline and the Sports Network. $30 million dollars may change that.
CBS
recently dumped those millions on Sportsline with a face lift being the
immedate result. More importantly, the site also received a major speed
increased thanks to a completely new hardware set-up. In the Bitsifter
labs, we found Sportsline pages loading sometimes twice as fast as similar
pages on ESPN. And load times make a difference.
As I've said in the past, Instant Gratification is the Web's guiding mantra. The quicker a site can get information to an interested individual, the better the impression, and the more times that individual is going to return to that site. With almost instant access to Sportsline pages and robust content, ESPN's paying users are going to begin question whether they really need to pay $5 for service then can get at Sportsline for free.
ESPN still dominates Sportsline in most significant categories. With name brand writers and clean layout, they'll stay on top -- they've benefited from a quick start out of the gate. Still, a little competition never hurt anyone - especially consumers.
[sift this] Here's the scene: You and your significant other have decided to get a new puppy, but neither of you have any significant experience caring for animals. How much is he going to eat? Where can you find the kind of dog you want? Are you ever going to sleep again?
While you're likely to find several Web sites just on Yahoo which address the topic, chances are the information is going to be spread across an entire Web site. What you want is a condensed version of answers to all of your questions. What you're looking for is a FAQ.
FAQ (pronounced: "fak") or Frequently Asked Questions are
documents which arose for the Internet's USENET newsgroups. Similar to
bulletin boards, each newsgroup focuses on a particular topic. Readers
can post questions, comment, or 
just
following the discussion. A problem arises when regular newsgroup readers
grow tired of hearing the same questions over and over again. In a fit
of frustration, an enterprising individual (or individuals) combines all
of the knowledge of the particular newsgroup into a document known as a
FAQ and makes it available to the Internet community.
FAQs don't tend to be fancy, they're text-based collections of questions and answers, but they're often mother lodes of information on variety of topics. Several Web search engines have been created for the express purpose of allowing folks to use key word searches to find FAQs relevant to the interests:
While FAQs offer a wealth of information on a variety of topics, they lack the interactivity of HTML pages. If you're not finding a FAQ that suites your topic, start over with the major search engines.