Good UI

Well, the advice was about optimizing calls to action and flow... as to the sidebar, I didn't even see it, I don't go fullscreen on my windows, so had to make it larger to see it after seeing your comment.

For me, I've moved away from trying to use any hover events for critical interaction, like that sidebar has. As tablets/phones are becoming the default choice, it makes sense to cater more towards that environment. The one thing that does stand out, is making sure to indicate there's more to read/do down the page, and the lack of an ever-present scrollbar in phones/tablets is a big one here.

Some points are about UX, others are about marketing and conversion... "Good" is from the POV of the business, what is best for the business isn't always what's best for the user. I, for one hate the large call to action/subscribes that pop up at the bottom 1/3-1/5 of the screen, such as on this site.

I saw the little text box at the bottom jiggle at me and immediately closed the page.

#1 PROTIP to a good UI. Don't jiggle anything, anywhere, ever, for any reason.