What happened so absolutely right on Wednesday, January 18th was that a large consensus opinion was conveyed broadly and effectively by the web’s most prominent players; information was disseminated, action was taken, an effect was made. These same tactics are used across the communicative spectrum from marketing and branding to propaganda to entertainment, but rarely does a tenuous and dynamic audience like “the Internet” rally to such a cause, or any cause for that matter, and make a real and immediate change. The difference this time from previous internet based legislation, such as the Communications Decency Act which attempted to regulate obscene images on the internet, is that this would disrupt more than just, ahem, obscene material. This would affect the very core of the internet’s piece de resistance – the uninhibited dissemination of information. It also helped that the some of the most popular sites on the internet came out very strongly against these proposed bills and made the message impossible to miss. Certainly some lessons to learn.

At WebLinc we love a free and open internet. We cut our teeth during the early days of the web, helping to create, evolving with and adapting to emerging technologies, getting through the boom and the bust stronger and more aware of the importance of the freedom to innovate. These ideas are no less important to us now than they were in the past, especially with the emergence of mobile devices and social media interaction as an intrinsic element of our everyday existence. Companies like ours thrive on an ever-changing diet of fresh ideas and new technology, so here’s to hoping we never have to go hungry. Now I think I’m going to get some sopa de fideo con pollo.

Healthy Directions is in a business where trust and authority are crucial to engaging audiences and ultimately converting them into customers. Complicating matters is the fact that they operate in a regulated industry. Their new site delivers the credibility they’ve earned over the years, while at the same time cleanly connects consumers to the information and products they came for. For instance, user searches return products, but also articles, blog posts, and more. And once a customer becomes a devotee of a vitamin or supplement, using functionality WebLinc built, he or she can sign up for AutoDelivery, which ships products to customers’ doorsteps automatically, at intervals of their choosing.

Only WebLinc Direct was able to offer Healthy Directions the scalability and flexibility they needed to meet their requirements, which include but go above and beyond catalog functionality, reporting, content management, search engine optimization tools and more.

That being said, the Thanksgiving Day sales number is still a considerably lower number than Cyber Monday, which early results have as being up 20 percent from last year, and expected to exceed $1.5 billion.

How can eCommerce marketers benefit from these analytics next year? For starters, consider the timing of your sales and the marketing that goes with them. I know my inbox overflowed with offers from online retailers on Cyber Monday, but Thanksgiving was relatively quiet. Internet Retailer also suggests that traffic picked up markedly between the hours of 6pm and midnight. Think about enticing shoppers with limited, timed sales that occur after dinner. Don’t forget that many people are not shopping for themselves at this time of the year. Free shipping for purchasing from someone else’s wish list could drum up sales, especially since this is a time when many people are spending time with friends and family, and tablets and smart phones are making it easy to bring the online shopping conversation into the living room. Take a good look at your site’s analytics. Is there a spike in a spike in gift wrapped items? A spike in the type of items being gift wrapped, or the times those items are being purchased? Prioritize incentives using that knowledge to create meaningful promotions.

Lesson #1: This will be harder and more expensive than you think.

This lesson is particularly important for executives new to the online channel, many of whom have little perspective on the level of effort and investment required to build and sustain an online or multi-channel endeavor. It’s not just the technology. It’s the people, the design, the marketing, the analysis and the ongoing improvements. Many of the “rescue 911″ engagements I see are the result of underinvestment in critical areas of e-commerce.

Check out Sally’s blog for more.

Search engines are a long way off from Hammer Pants and the Hammer Dance, and I laughed a little bit when I saw the headline. But once I watched the video, I realized Hammer (whose real name is Stanley Burrell) deserves more credit. People mostly see “search engine” as a synonym for “Google,” but there’s room for competitors, and for new ways of adapting older technology. The test will be in wide-spread adoption, and whether WireDoo, which is currently in “pre-Beta,” will be able to balance advertising, relevance, and depth.

MC Hammer talks WireDoo in this video from the Web 2.0 Summit in San Francisco earlier this week.

Four out of six of Urban Outfitters’ eCommerce sites were developed by WebLinc (freepeople.com, freepeoplewholesale.com, BHLDN.com and the recently launched shopterrain.com). WebLinc also developed the Free People Mobile site. We are proud of our partnership with Urban, a client since 1998, and we look forward to what’s in store.

Some recent examples found on the WebLinc blog include:

My personal thoughts on this material are that it’s well-written, intelligent and easy to understand. I appreciate this kind of useful information, especially when it is this good.

There are usually not many web sites with info like this man! Bookmarked!

Oh my goodness! an incredible post dude.

It goes without saying I also love the design of your website, quite fresh. Cheers.

Of course, the devious links are still there, only now they’re consistently found in the commenters’ websites and email addresses, which allude to things like diet pills, fire arms, school loans, and MP3s. Something else I noticed is that the broken-English language that spam employs is becoming more colloquial (dude), making it a little harder to spot. At least we’re getting noticed, even if it is by bots. Guess we should take it as a compliment.

Their new site, built on WebLinc Direct and launched earlier this month, helps take the guesswork out of shopping online by allowing customers to easily compare similar products. Brides-to-be can create gift registries that synch with the retail stores, and wish lists provide an easy way to catalog your dream kitchen. The cart page lets you enter your zip code to estimate shipping costs before going through the process of setting up an account, and even if you don’t want to set up an account, you can still make a purchase using the guest checkout functionality.

WebLinc was involved in every aspect of this site launch, from technology to graphic design and production, to managed hosting to usability, and information architecture.

If you’re interested in setting up a specific time to talk, drop us a line.

I think the study paints a broad stroke, and social media’s impact on eCommerce is vast in some respects and limited in others. Having a Facebook presence simply isn’t enough to impact sales; it’s too often just another channel for one-sided marketing. However, giving loyal customers rewards such as referral credits for sharing your site, or creating social media contests, such as ideeli’s Twitter-based Flash Friday giveaways, seem to have a bigger impact on sales because of the engagement factor, and because a friend who recommends a site or product generally carries more weight than a marketer who’s hocking their wares to the general public.