BrettAtkin Design - Blog

Only the First Page Matters on the SERPS

4/20/2009 - 9:29:38 AM

If you don't know, "SERPS" stands for Search Engine Results Pages. I saw this amazing stat today...

"Links on the first page of Google get clicked 45 times that of subsequent pages (93% of all clicks come from the first page). This is very important to remember as your biggest organic keyword opportunities are current rankings of 11-15. If you can do something to �bump� them up to the first page, chances are you will reap major rewards." - Golden Nuggets From SMX Search Analytics

93% of all SERP clicks come from the first page?!?! That is amazing. The next time you're reviewing your ranking reports (you do review them don't you?), note how many of your pages are listed on the second page (the standard listing is 10 results per page). Review those pages. What can you do you make them more user and search engine friendly? Can the META tags be improved? Can the content be better written and organized?

As the above stat indicates, moving the "Page 2" results to the first page could improve your click-thru's dramatically.

While you're in there improving the SEO of those pages, don't forget about conversion. Do you have a single and well-defined call to action?

Good luck!

Designing the Obvious by Robert Hoekman, Jr.

3/4/2009 - 4:03:26 PM

I just finished reading Designing the Obvious by Robert Hoekman, Jr. It it is a book about web interface design and the process to achieve simple and efficient web applications. It is entirely conceptual, no code.

If you're designing web apps or having someone design one for you, you should read this book. I have never read a book twice, never. This one will be the first.

Before I reread this one though, I'll be reading Robert's follow-up, Designing the Moment,

Great Post on using Basecamp

2/20/2009 - 4:10:07 PM

Anthony Brewitt from Designbit has a great writeup on how he uses Basecamp for web projects. I'm happy to say I already use a number of his techniques, but I also missed a few things that I will be implementing on my next project.

Thanks Anthony.

5 Ways to improve your Messaging in Basecamp

2/18/2009 - 2:45:20 PM

37 Signals project collaboration / management application, Basecamp, is a great to tool for keeping you, your team and your clients working smoothly on all projects.

One of the primary features of Basecamp is the Messaging functionality. When used correctly, this feature is a replacement for project related email communications. Rather than CC'ing everyone and then dealing with all the responses (that may or may not have been copied to everyone), you send the message from Basecamp. All replies are saved in Basecamp as well as sent to everyone included in the original Message.

To help you use Basecamp and the Messaging functionality more effiiciently, here are 5 things to remember.

It is not a replacement for all email. If you want to ask your buddy down the hall for last night's scores, send an IM or a personal email. Your project manager and your client may not care.
One topic per message. If you include 3 questions in one message that goes to 10 people, you have the potential for 30 different answers. It will be difficult and time consuming to follow the message thread if everyone responds and/or comments.
It is about content, not presentation. This is a text-based tool. Special formatting will not be preserved, so focus on the words, not the layout. If you need to convey something where layout and presentation are important, attach a Word doc or PDF.
Nothing is private or confidential. Just because you unchecked Suzy from email notifications when you created the message, doesn't mean Suzy can't read the message. If you have an issue with someone on the project or the project itself, figure it out off-line.
Use the tool as it was intended. You can only create a new messages while logged into the tool. Accept it, it is what it is. You can reply directly from your email client to a message, but I would suggest you log into the tool for replies as well. Here's why. You'll be able to catch up on the entire thread before you reply. You may find that someone else already did and you just missed that email. Reading everything again may spark something new you hadn't thought about. Finally, Basecamp can't accurately convert the formatting from the various email clients, so replies you send from Outlook 2007 may loose their returns, bullets, fancy backgrounds, etc (see number 3 above). When you reply directing from Basecamp, you message will look exactly as you typed it.

Basecamp is a great tool with many useful features. As with any tool, it is only as good as those using it. It will take some time to learn and use correctly, but when you do, it will save you, your team and your clients a lot of time and money.

Email Conversion Depends On...

12/16/2008 - 7:03:24 PM

From my experience in email marketing for clients, email conversion does not depend on the sender name, the subject line or even the message itself.

Email conversion depends entirely on the subscriber.

Yes, the proper sender name/email and subject line impact open rates.
Yes, the message copy, layout and graphics impact click-thrus.
Yes, landing page copy, layout and graphics impact conversion.

But in the end, if the subscriber doesn't want or need your product or service right now, they are not going to click "Buy Now". If the subscriber doesn't see value in your offer, they are not going to fill out that form and click "Get More Information".

Unless your name is Seth Godin or Malcolm Gladwell, your subscribers are not going to buy on the first announcement of your new book.

Email conversion depends more on the relationship you have with the subscriber than anything else. You have to cultivate that relationship every opportunity you can. You have to deliver on what you promise. You have to respect your subscribers has much as you want them to respect you. You have to become the "expert" in their eyes.

Once you do all that, conversion becomes a function of the offer and its' presentation.

If you break that trust at any time though, you might as well remove that subscriber from your list (if they haven't already). They will never care about your message or make a purchase again.

How good is your subscriber list? Do they trust you? Do you respect them?

Spend as much time developing, supporting and respecting your subscriber list as you do with landing page copy and image placement. The size of your subscriber list isn't nearly as important as the qualiy of that subscriber list. It is better to have 500 subscribers that can't wait until your next message than 15,000 subscribers who have your message filtered into their "To Read" folder in Outlook.

Remember, email conversion depends on your subscribers more than anything else. Keep that in mind with every message you send. If you're not delivering valuable information that is timely and relevant to your subscribers, don't click "Send".

Web Site Stats

12/10/2008 - 7:28:48 PM

Do you monitor your web site traffic?

Do you monitor your conversions for promotions, sales pages, newsletter subscriptions, etc.?

Do you monitor your keyword placement in the search engines?

If your eyes have glazed over or you're scratching your head, I'll take that as a "no". That is the wrong answer on so many levels.

Getting quality web site traffic reports is easy AND free (Google Analytics).

Generating keyword placement reports is easy AND free (Rank Checker).

Tracking conversions is easy AND free (again, Google Analytics).

So, why aren't you doing this? Is you web site making you so much money you don't care? Are you getting new clients faster than you can update your CRM app?

If either of these apply to you, you can stop reading now. For those of you who are left, please read on.

Looking at your traffic reports can tell you so many things. Here are just a few things you should look at:

Unique Visitors: trending up, down or staying steady
Time on Site: low numbers here are never a good thing
Average Pageviews: again, low numbers are not a good thing
Bounce Rate: high bounce rates indicate low engagement (if your site is just a blog, higher bounce rates are common and Average Pageviews will be lower)
Referring Sites: indicates who your "friends" are
Keywords: do they match your site content?
Keyword Rankings: you better be number one for you company name.

Just looking at this data once a month can help you gain a better understanding of who uses your site, how they use your site and how effective and useful your site is to them.

So, start tracking your site traffic and you keyword rankings. If you're not doing this, how do you know if your site is supporting your business? How do you know if all those changes and additions are actually working?

If your web site is an integral part of your business, please give it the attention it deserves.

Getting Organized

12/8/2008 - 8:51:51 AM

If you don't already know, I'm a big fan of Highrise and Basecamp (products from 37 Signals). Both are tools to help you get and stay organized. I've been using both for at least a year now, never to their full potential though.

In the last month or so, I upgraded my package on both apps to include new features (more projects and time tracking for Basecamp and for the "Deals" feature in Highrise). 2009 will be the year I become "religious" about using both these tools because I truly believe they can make my life easier and more productive.

As I started to use the time tracking feature in Basecamp, I had a question about what the clients could and could not see. I first looked up the FAQ, which answered my question, as well as logged in as a client to "see what they see". From there, I took a quick detour to the Forums just to see what others might be asking (you can learn a lot by reading how others are using something).

One of the first posts I read was a rant about what the time tracking feature didn't do. My first thought was, "You idiot, did you bother reading about the feature before you upgraded." It clearly doesn't do what they thought it should.

Beyond that, I wonder how many people buy something thinking it will do what they want without actually reading about the features before the purchase. I wonder how many people use the wrong "tool" for a job. I wonder if it is the tool's fault, the user's fault or maybe the marketer's fault.

I my opinion, it is rarely the tool's fault. It does what it does.

If you're using a hammer to drive a screw... Having all-wheel drive doesn't mean you can go off-roading (Porsche Turbo). The picture on your new 46 inch LCD TV isn't going to be better if you're still using an analog antenna on your roof.

Sometimes the "marketing" of a product or service isn't entirely accurate. Just because an app can send email messages doesn't mean you can use it as an email marketing tool. Just because your phone has internet access doesn't mean you're going to be able visit YouTube and watch videos.

Back to Highrise and Basecamp, more often then not, I find myself and my clients using them incorrectly and/or with unrealistic expectations.

I need to stop trying to make the tool do something it wasn't designed to do. Or, maybe I need to find a different tool.

In the end, if you use the right tool, at the right time, in the correct way, you just might be able accomplish something you never thought possible.

How Pathetic Am I?

12/3/2008 - 11:14:13 AM

This is my first post since July 9th. How can I sell my SEO services and push Blogging when I don't do it myself?

That's about to change for several reasons.

Starting January 5th, I'm starting a little SEO experiment of which Blogging will be an important part
I'm going to be launching a few small web apps and additional services in January and I need to get the word out using every possible communication tool.
So I can stop being the type of person that says "Do what I say and not what I do..."

The same goes for sending newsletters and my Email Marketing services.....

Finally...

7/9/2008 - 8:22:17 PM

Seth Godin always has great blog posts. This might be the best. Since the beginning (10 years ago for me), I just laughed at those idiots who "claimed" to be able to make you money by selling you junk on how to make money on the web.

Seth finally put it out there.

LinkedIn Answers

7/4/2008 - 8:27:05 AM

If you`re a member of LinkedIn and haven`t at least reviewed their Answers section, you need to. Sometimes there are some great questions and even better answers. I`ve been following the questions/answers around web development for some time now. I`ve even answered a few.

This morning someone asked, "What are the main criteria for a successful e-commerce website?". I currently have two personal sites I`m working on that will need e-commerce elements. So this question was extremely relevant to me.

The question has 34 answers so far, a lot say the same thing, but the answers have been great and informative.

If you have a question that needs an anwer, LinkedIn Answers might be a good place to start.

On Blogging

5/23/2008 - 9:16:52 AM

I have a client (Training-Modules.com) that started blogging back in February. It hasn`t been as successful as I would have hoped (in terms of traffic and comments), but it is fun to read. Susan`s posts are short but interesting. To many blogs these days write posts that are just too long on word count and too short on content if you know what I mean.

If you need something to read that is fun and interesting but doesn`t require spending half your morning and two cups of orange juice, visit Susan`s Blog.

Design - Content / Chicken - Egg

5/14/2008 - 8:38:46 PM

Jeffrey Zeldman had an interesting post recently entitled Content preceeds design.

"Content precedes design. Design in the absence of content is not design, it�s decoration."

I`ve been involved with a number of projects where the design was created in the absense of content. Inevitably, when content starts getting added, it breaks the design.

My tag line says, "Bringing Together Function and Form". Which is really saying the same thing that Jeffrey says.

Form without function is decoration.

What is your Budget?

5/6/2008 - 2:26:08 PM

I have met and talked with a lot of people over the years about developing a web site for their business. Remembering back, I can`t think of one potential client that had given any thought to their budget for the project. More often than not, that leads to "sticker shock" when the discussion turns to numbers.

Having a budget is extremely important. Knowing and being honest about it will enable you to get the best possible web site solution. In my questionnaire I give all new clients, I ask about their budget and open with this statement.

"This information won`t be used to charge as much as possible, it will be used to ensure that you`re getting the best possible solution for the money you have to spend. In some cases, you may have more to spend than is necessary to meet your needs. On other cases, what you envision for your site may not be possible with your budget. The great thing about the web is that your site can grow with your success. What may not be possible starting out can be added later."

I know potential clients want to protect that information, but honestly, I expect them to talk to multiple developers, so knowing that information doesn`t allow me to over bid the project.

Determining a budget is just good business. How can you get the best solution for your money if you don`t have any idea how much you want/can spend?

Something Worse than Urgency

4/27/2008 - 11:32:42 PM

Jason from 37Signals wrote in interesting post entitled Urgency is poisonous. Rather than summarize the article, please read it yourself.

I agree with Jason completely, but I can think of one thing more toxic than urgency, and that is urgency that only applies to the workers and not the "executives".

How many times have you had to have something done by Thursday only to be told that "Executive A" (the one you must sign off on the work) is on vacation until the following Friday?

Or maybe this?

The deadline is Friday. The work is done and you submit the work for review and approval. Three Friday`s later, you get an email asking for a review meeting and an apology (yeah right...) for the delay because something else came up that required immediate attention.

I understand the importance of deadlines, they are necessary, but in many situations, it should be more important to get the work done correctly rather than just done.

As Jason says, urgency can do more harm to morale than getting a project done 3 days earlier.

The Future of Search

3/28/2008 - 11:00:13 AM

A recent article in the WSJ entitled Testing Souped-up Search Functions highlights two new search engines. They both provide visual search results - screen shots of the sites in the results.

The first one reviewed was Searchme.com. The second one was Spacetime.com. The both allow you to scroll through the visual search results. If you`ve seen Cover Flow in iTunes, imagine that for search results.

I tried Searchme and it is a very interesting approach - probably the next step in search. It is really quite amazing. I`m sure Google will be heading in this direction. The search results are still lacking for a couple of searches I tried, but the concept is outstanding.

I didn`t try Spacetime since it requires a download. Searchme works directly in the browser.

I think this will impact web design as well. Sites with poor design might be adversely affected by this. If you have the choice between clicking through to a site that is text heavy and a site that has a great layout and graphics, what do you think most people will do (right or wrong)? Additionally, this might bring an end to the those link farm sites. Even the average user can spot those as soon as they see them.

Keep this on your radar.

Search Engine Site Audit

3/23/2008 - 10:06:25 PM

Based on recent experiences I`ve had with a couple of clients, a search engine site audit is something that should be done on a regular basis to ensure that your site is performing optimally. Don`t just take my word for it, read SEO Site Audit: A Wise Investment For All Companies by Jessica Bowman.

After you read that, read about my SEO Assessment on my Search Engine Optimization page. It could be just what your site needs to move up the search engine rankings.

Skynet is coming...

3/21/2008 - 10:41:54 AM

This is amazing...

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=mmVaLp8icoU

The sequence with the Big Dog walking on ice is just scaring. Better than living mammals.

Sarah Conner, we need you.

Are You Remarkable?

3/18/2008 - 9:42:49 PM

As always, Seth Godin has something interesting to say about resumes. It`s been my experience and belief that Seth is 100% correct.

If I`m truly great or remarkable at something, I don`t need to tell anybody, they will already know. If they don`t know, somebody else will tell them, I won`t need to.

As Seth says, show them how great you are, don`t tell them.

Maybe I just hate to fly

2/28/2008 - 11:04:57 PM

Is there something fundamentally wrong with our economy that I can fly to Orlando (from Indianapolis) and back cheaper than I can drive. It takes more fuel, is worse for the environment and is faster, but costs less?

Maybe the airlines wouldn`t be in so much trouble if they charged based on the benefits of the service rather than striving to be the cheapest provider of the service.

I`m a strong believer in that you get what you pay for. When I see things like this, I wonder what I don`t know. I would think the price of fuel would be a major component of the cost of a ticket. The price of oil is near record highs but the price of an airline ticket holds steady?

Hummm

What a Great Idea!

2/26/2008 - 8:16:23 PM

In one of the many (too many maybe) magazines I read, I saw one of the greatest ideas every. It was an ad for Corporate Angel Network. The idea is that cancer patients that need rides to treatment centers fly free on corporate jets. It has been around since 1981 and has helped with 25,000 free flights.

56 of the top 100 in the Fortune 500 have helped. My only question is this, "where are the other 44?"

Anyway, what a great idea. Thanks to those that have contributed.

How`s this for open communication.

1/16/2008 - 3:05:17 PM

I received this email from Netflix today.

How is that for open communication?

Speaking of Netflix, their new offerings around on-demand content is amazing.

Under Promise - Over Deliver

1/7/2008 - 11:51:32 PM

Seth Godin has so many great things to say - here is his latest...

Making Promises

My Assets are Safe

12/18/2007 - 8:46:21 AM

After a year of screwing around, I finally converted by business to an LLC. So from here forward, my "official" name is BrettAtkin Design, LLC.

What does that mean? Other than my personal assets are safe if I have a mammoth screw-up with a client, not a whole lot. Hopefully, it looks more professional though.

Does it make me look more professional?

Henderson Drugs Site Launch and other News

12/18/2007 - 5:22:57 PM

I finally completed a small site for a client this week Take a look at Henderson Drugs and tell me what you think.

I will be re-designing the PCA Florida Crown Region. I`m still laying out the IA but I hope to have the site launched before February.