Fresh Tilled Soil Blog

Wealth only corrupts the corruptible

Mon, 06 Oct 2008 20:18:43 CDT

This morning I heard the Pope announce that the current global financial crisis is a reminder that the pursuit of money is meaningless. The Pope said, ''He who builds only on visible and tangible things like success, career and money builds the house of his life on sand''. Although I agree that pursuing money for the sake of money is futile, his statement might be perceived as meaning money is a corrupting force. Money, or the pursuit thereof, seems only to corrupt the corruptible. Money and wealth doesn't corrupt you, it only exposes what you already are. People who are giving and benevolent will very likely be the same when they have lots of money. It's very likely that having money hasn't anything to do with your ability to do good things. Watch out for people spreading the "money is evil" mythology. Money is not evil without somebody to make it so. The media loves to tell the stories of how money corrupts and destroys.

The Sunk-Cost Fallacy

Mon, 06 Oct 2008 15:34:45 CDT

I keep being reminded of a blog post I read this weekend on, of all places, a personal finance blog. The topic is the sunk-cost fallacy: "the mistaken belief that just becuase you’ve spent money on something you should continue to spend money on it". Read the full post here.

This actually applies well to the world of digital marketing and the time and money we spend on our projects. Think of the "continuing to spend money" part as lost revenue on a site that fails to attract and retain users.

If something is not working, there's no use fretting about the time and money that was already spent and whether or not that value has been extracted from the site yet. We need to be honest with ourselves and seriously consider the changes that need to be made. The good news is, we've already got a framework to build off of, rearrange, reorganize ... and the experience of our past mistakes to lead us to the right solution.

What a web designer can learn about business from watching Kitchen Nightmares with Gordon Ramsay.

Tue, 30 Sep 2008 08:35:32 CDT

I am not the biggest reality TV fan, but I found a show that actually teaches about business disguised as a cooking show. On Thursday nights I like to watch Kitchen Nightmares on Fox. Gordon Ramsey visits a restaurant in crisis and helps to turn then around. He has this great formula that he uses every week.

Restaurant success recipe
Step 1 - Keep your kitchen clean and organized. This is your showplace of what you do and where you create.
Step 2 - Use fresh and local ingredients.
Step 3 - Keep the menu simple and easy to execute for the kitchen and wait staff
Step 4 - Have a marketing plan to differentiate you from your competition but also target a specific audience.

As a web designer you can follow these same principals.

Web Design success recipe
Step 1 - Keep your design clean and well organized. In Many cases this is your customer first impression.
Step 2 - Use fresh colors and techniques.
Step 3 - Keep the layout and flow of your website simple and easy to navigate.
Step 4 - Have a marketing plan to differentiate you from your competition but also target a specific audience.

Hopefully following these steps and principles will keep your web design business out of a crisis.

Predictable irrational behavior and deadlines

Mon, 29 Sep 2008 14:13:54 CDT

Dan Ariely's ideas of Predictably Irrational claims that procrastination is a universally human issue. According to Ariely's studies, people do better when they complete the work closer to the start of the project than if they leave it to the last minute.

Based on this idea he suggests that there are two things you can do to ensure delivery on or before the deadline arrives. The first is to set deadlines for competing the work long before the actual deadline. The second thing is to let the people doing the work set their own deadlines. The key issue with allowing the people doing the work to set deadlines is to tell them first about this concept. In other words, the fact that they are aware of this human behavior will make them set deadlines well be fore they are due.

In the design of websites this might translate to asking the designer doing the work to set their own deadlines. Could you even request that the deadline must be at least 50% before the actual deadline? How would this knowledge change the way you work with clients?

Social media from a parent's point of view

Sat, 27 Sep 2008 07:28:55 CDT

I came across this excellent article on Remarkable Parents written by a dad, Jeremy Biser, that has discovered the importance, and necessity, of embracing social media. It's a reminder that social media is SO much more than a virtual playground for Millenials. It's part of our lives and the lives of our children, our parents, our customers and our vendors.

"Looking back, I’m disappointed at my own ignorance. I wish I would have started a blog 4 or 5 years ago. I wish I would have discovered Digg or StumbleUpon or Technorati when they first launched. I wish I wouldn’t have grounded my teenage daughter for 2 weeks when I found out she created a My Space page and lied about her age on it."

I wonder how many of you had similar fears and experience when you first heard about Facebook. It's still a little surprising to me to hear that some of our friends are only discovering Facebook, Linkedin and Twitter now.

Ten steps on how a web designer can optimize a new website for SEO

Wed, 24 Sep 2008 10:28:24 CDT

As a web designer you can follow these 10 steps to help a new website with SEO rankings.

Step 1 – Name your web pages with a recognizable filename rather than a jumble of letters. Your filename will be come part of your URL. The file name should be no more than 32 characters including the “.html”.
Good example: http://www.rentingyourhome.com/pricing.cfm
Poor example: http://www.rentingyourhome.com/prcng.cfm

Step 2 – Optimize your title tags with the below naming convention
Page name | Company or organization name
Example: Admissions | Center for Digital Imaging Arts at Boston University

Step 3 – Name all images in the image tag with the “alt” attribute and the “Title “attribute.
Example: <img src="images/rapid-prototyping.jpg” alt="rapid protyping button" title=”rapid web protyping ” />

Step 4 – Fill out Meta tag description-
Example: <meta name="description" content="Fresh Tilled Soil is web design and online marketing firm providing business consulting, user interface design, website design and search marketing services." />

Step 5 – Fill out Meta tag keywords
Example: <meta name="keywords" content="boston web design, boston user interface design, boston web application and experience designers, boston search engine marketing, boston search engine optimization, boston social media marketing" />

Step 6 – Only use <h1> tag per page
The h1 tag should be the heading or topic of the entire page. Having more than one <h1> is considered an error by SEO grading websites. Although it's not invalid code, it is not the best structure to follow.

Step 7 – Add locations to the footer of your page. You may want to do this with a js “show/hide” to keep your footer design clean
Example: Boston, Cambridge, Somerville, Medford, Malden, Newton, Brighton, Quincy, Watertown, Arlington, Belmont, Dorchester, Lexington, Everett, Chelsea, Saugus.

Step 8 – Register your web domain for a long period of time. 1 Year Plus.
Google and other search engines like to see that there is stability with a website and that it is not a temporary spam site.

Step 9 – Add a Wordpress blog to your website.
wordpress.org Updating the blog on a daily/weekly alerts the web crawlers to visit your site as you have new content.

Step 10 – Add your URL to Google
www.google.com/addurl

Excellence is Still the Purple Cow

Thu, 18 Sep 2008 16:04:53 CDT

Excellence is still the purple cow.... When you design a website, develop a product, create a brand or make a cake, aim for it to be the best every time...

Thank you Dee for continuing to make me the best looking birthday cakes.

One Platform for Contacts

Thu, 18 Sep 2008 13:52:34 CDT

Just a few hours ago, we were discussing how we wish we had access to one central database that held information about all of our clients so that we could send out things like birthday cards and have up-to-date contact information for everyone we've worked with - past and present. Part of this came from a desire to integrate a very light CRM system into an upcoming product we're developing, but the other part is the simple desire to reach out to clients and friends on days that are important to them.

It then occurred to me that there is such a tool... and what's more - it's free. Plaxo has been solving this problem for years, free of charge. However, the unfortunate side of this equation is that if I counted all of the contacts in my address book who are using it as opposed to those who are not, the folks who haven't adopted it wind by a landslide.

That lead me to wonder why people wouldn't want to keep their network updated on changes to their contact information, let others know when their birthdays or anniversaries are and simply keep in touch using a simple, passive and free web-based tool. If you're reading this and you've ever had the same frustration, then sign up for Plaxo for free right now and make connecting easier.

Website Design Project Management

Tue, 16 Sep 2008 15:34:58 CDT

What does project management mean for your company? Do you have multiple layers of PM? We've been discussing if project management has any value, and what is that value? It's a question that all service companies have to deal with now and again. There is no right or wrong answer on how any PM must get done, projects just have to be completed well and ontime.

If you're building the Burj Dubai you need to have multi levels of managers overseeing each specific area and job on the site. Overseers are then checking their work and double checking it and the King oversees everyone.

Or, if you own a casino in Vegas you have a mulit level of project managers handling the gaming areas of the hotel.

Even if you're a plumber or painter you have to project mange and generally it's the person doing the actual work. This allows for a clean line of communication between the service provider and the client.

Within FTS when we have a web design or search engine marketing project, we've used a project manager to handle general communication between clients and designers. Their job was to also handle creating To-Do's, Milestones and Q&A. This did cause a problem though. The PM had to speak with the client and then the designer, then the client again. This ends up becoming a difficult game of telephone. Our designers always work hand in hand with our clients through Basecamp. Having the PM work between the designer and the client creates a level of complication we find unnecessary.

How have you handled project management within your company?

No more dropped calls with iphone 2.1 software update

Tue, 16 Sep 2008 06:48:10 CDT

On Friday, September 12, 2008, Apple removed their cone of silence and released the iphone 2.1 software update. Since downloading this software, I have not had one dropped call and I have had full bars with the 3G symbol next to it. I no longer feel like a Vista User. Next time I see Steve Jobs, I am going to "kiss him on the lips".

Site testing on a budget

Mon, 15 Sep 2008 22:11:20 CDT

The problem with most websites is that they have so many pages it's impossible to know where the leaks are. The truth that nobody wants to admit is that they don't know what's happening on their site. For bigger sites this might be something they think they can solve with money. The bad news fro the big guys is that money alone does not solve the problem - it's hard work to fix the leaky bucket.

For the smaller sites trying to break through, this is great news. Having nothing more than hard work between the small impostor and the large incumbent means the playing field is very flat.

Whether you're a big site or a small site the best place to start getting yourself to the top is to test what you have. Testing your website is the easiest way to find improvements that will either prevent bounces or increase conversions to your specific goals.

Here are a few things you can test on your site:

Gather data first before testing the site, you need a baseline to measure from
Test all the way down the funnel, not just the primary pages
Test one or two things at a time so you can see results from changes
Headlines are the most important way to make instant improvements. Match the headlines on all your pages to the link that brought them there
Test the questions in your forms
Look for high bounce rates. First find the average and look for anomalies

Make sure the actions you want visitors to take on your site are supported by the right content, information, instructions and calls to action. You may also want to check our UserTesting.com and Google's Wesite Optimizer.

Quick Harvest Time Tracking Review

Fri, 12 Sep 2008 07:45:27 CDT

We recently started using Harvest as a time tracking tool. For the last few years we have been using QuickBooks Online to track time. It's an easy enough app to use but the fact that it doesn't support Mac's was a real pain. We're a Mac only shop now (we have had a split of PC's and Mac's in the past) so the general frustration levels were now universal. We decided to keep QuickBooks for all our financial reporting and bookkeeping but we needed a better way to understand project profitability and progress.

We researched several similar tools but picked Harvest for a few specific reasons:

It integrates with Basecamp
There is a desktop widget for Mac's and PC's that allows quick time adding
The progress bars show you how far along a project is.

The progress bar was the highlight for me. As the guy who needs to know what projects are at what stage so I can either bill a client or discuss scope creep before it's too late. Although we only charge fees on design and SEO projects we still track time to measure progress, profitability and track billing cycles.

Flowing Data Visualization Winner

Fri, 12 Sep 2008 07:31:53 CDT

Ever wondered what your alcohol consumption looks like over a few weeks?

Flowing Data recently ran a competition to see who could visualize their personal days the best. From the Flowing Data blog...

While I enjoyed all the entries (and I hope you all enjoyed making them), there can only be one winner. The winner is Tim Graham who took manual personal data collection to another level. From email spam, to beverage consumption, to aches and pains, Tim embraced the spirit of self-surveillance. He even made his personal data available in the forums. Congratulations, Tim!

Exclusive Threadsmith promotion

Thu, 11 Sep 2008 15:32:33 CDT

We don't often do this but we're promoting one of our clients. Threadsmith, has just re-launched their website. They are a custom embroidery company specializing in clothing and gear for groups, businesses and gifts. The cool thing is they have no minimums or set-up fees. The site uses real time design tools, which lets you create whatever you want to be embroidered on the clothes or upload your business logo.

The company would like to get the word out to small businesses and also get feedback on the new logo upload technology so they are offering one free item (up to $30) through 9/23/2008. No strings attached. To get your free items simply enter code MFB9JVWJQ3BK at checkout. Feel free to pass this along to other small business owners who you think would be interested.

Social marketing tactical plan

Wed, 10 Sep 2008 14:34:27 CDT

Step 1: Identify your ideal customer profile (be very specific, this is not just a list of demographics)

Step 2: Make connection with top blog authors (this is about relationship building and can be the hardest and longest part of any social marketing project. Sending an email with a press release does not count)

Step 3: Arrange a brainstorming meeting with 2 or 3 of the top bloggers. This deepens the relationship and allows you to come up with a promotion where everyone is in tune and excited. Do not try and force your ideas on blog authors, they are not big on being bullied.

Step 4: Ensure the promotion benefits all of the blog authors. Stay deeply involved by monitoring the promotions. Ideally the promotion will be scheduled to run over a period of time where each blogger gets traffic from the others by cross promoting.

Step 5: Capture email addresses and develop an online community related to the topic. I'm making this sound easy but each project will be so different that community development will look different for each.

Turning back the clock with my iphone 3G

Wed, 10 Sep 2008 08:25:56 CDT

Early this summer, I was eagerly anticipating the July release of the new iphone 3G from Apple. Having an iphone already, I was very impressed and extremely happy with all of the features that were currently available on my phone. I was quickly accessing email, the web, and I had the best reception I’ve ever had with a cell phone. I was excited about the new features they were adding. However, I did not realize that I was trading new features and losing a feature like “making a phone call”. Since I purchased the new iphone 3G, I have experienced a drop on every call. Very frustrating to lose reception when you have full bars and the call drops.

I have contacted Apple and they have had me update my software for the phone and are slow and almost unresponsive in telling me when I can get this problem fixed. I am feeling as frustrated with Apple as a long-tail cat in a room full of rocking chairs.

Above the Scroll

Wed, 10 Sep 2008 08:01:25 CDT

Being a web designer, one of the comments I hear very often is: can we move all the content “above the fold”. Usually, I try to educate my customers to use the term “above the scroll”. ”Above the scroll”, in web design, referrers to locating an item near the top of a web page so it can be viewed in a browser without scrolling.

In August the screen resolution market share was listed at

1024px X 768px | 40%
1280px X 800px | 18%
1280px X 1024px | 13%
1440px X 900px | 7%
800px X 600px | 5%
Other | 17%

So this means as a web designer, if you want to keep all content “ above the scroll” then your maximum height for the website needs to be no grater then 768 pixles or 48em.

Abedeen Chief Marketing Officer Conference 2008

Tue, 09 Sep 2008 09:24:25 CDT

Last week I was at the Abedeen Chief Marketing Officer Conference. Some of the speakers included the CMO's of Walmart.com and Wells Fargo, VP's of Marketing from Levi's and HP's personal computing division and the Chief Business Development Officer from Kodak. If you want to know what CMO's are worried about in 2008 it's social media, web analytics and making CRM simpler.

For the majority of CMO's social media is a black hole and their attempts to leverage it have been problematic. As one speaker pointed out, the analog is that many of these marketing organizations are trying to do the same thing they have done for years - be the one's in control of the conversation. It's similar to early websites. Before we really understood web interaction early websites just looked like brochures that had been scanned and hosted online. Most social media attempts are trying to put the website tactics to work in a place that's far more dynamic and fluid.

The question we should be asking ourselves is Peter Drucker's favorite, "If we were not already doing it this way, is this the way we would do it?" Walmart.com's Cathy Halligan was refreshingly honest when she admitted that they are not sure what social media means to their 130,000,000 weekly customers yet. What she does know is that the reviews and comments on the product sections are slowly creating conversations between customers. This 'conversation-in-the-aisle' is the Holy Grail for Halligan because it drives loyalty and community.

For companies like Walmart.com, Best Buy and Levis there is a direct, and fast growing, correlation between online research and buying behavior. In 2007 all retailers saw a massive spike in purchases directly influenced by online research. According to Halligan's presentation data some $603 billion in purchases were first researched online.

What's really interesting is that this researching behavior is moving away from friends and family sources to online options like blogs, product review sites, and user generated product and service reports.

The good news for web designers and marketers like us is that web marketing is definitely the most important area of spending and development for all companies. That said, the hard part is knowing how to position yourself on the web. If you're Levi's you combine reality TV and online design competitions to create a community. Patrice Varni, Levi's CMO, partnered with Bravo's Project Runway to create an innovative campaign. Even then, Levi has failed to see beyond the initial campaign and their follow up has been simply to gather email addresses. What they do with those email addresses remains to be see. More spam? Let's hope not.

One of the outstanding campaigns we heard about was HP's "31 Days of the Dragon", which combined the blog business develop skills of Buzz Corps with some unsold inventory to come up with a blog author driven promotion. The campaign succeeded in driving serious traffic, comments and sales of the laptop in question.

Others are also seeing increases in revenue directly related to web analytics learnings. Stephan Chase, from Marriott International, says that a deep understanding and application of their web analytics data has been so influential on bottom line improvements that he calls data "the next big creative".

My illustrated (partial) notes from the conference are here if you'd like to check them out.

Carry on airline food

Tue, 09 Sep 2008 09:05:33 CDT

Can somebody please create some good carry-on airline food? Is it really that hard?

Simple explanations make money

Sat, 30 Aug 2008 08:28:26 CDT

We have been surveying our clients with short informal phone calls that ask questions like "what's the one thing you'd like us to do more of?" or "what made you want to work with us in the first place?" For me the surprise has been that our clients often work with us because we make the complex things seem more simple. Now what do you do with information like that? How can you package that? Can you even package simple explanations in a way that they become both valuable and viral?

Lee Lefever at Common Craft has done exactly that. Check out how they have made the difficult easy...

The only sad thing is that they are no longer accepting custom work. Opportunity knocks?

Re-Branding at What Cost

Fri, 29 Aug 2008 15:40:13 CDT

The other day I saw a Stop & Shop commercial suggesting a full re-branding of the popular supermarket's logo. So naturally I got to thinking about how this was going to affect their web presence, print collateral and physical signage at all of their locations. I wondered how much better might it be for the brand (and the environment) if instead of physically changing their interior and exterior signage, they instead started a campaign informing users that though their logo & branding would be updated in places like the web, shopping bags, flyers, etc., they would keep their physical signage the same in an effort to be more environmentally conscious. After all, enormous fiberglass / neon signs are not exactly easy to recycle. Would this message resonate more with their customers than a shiny neon sign donning the new logo? Would consumers really stop to think about the impact a change like this would cause? Would they care? What do you think?

Hofstadters law

Wed, 27 Aug 2008 19:55:37 CDT

“Hofstadter’s law, conceived by the cognitive scientist Douglas Hofstadter, goes like this: any task you’re planning to complete will always take longer than expected - even when Hofstadter’s law is taken into account. Even if you know a project will overrun, and build that knowledge into your planning, it’ll simply overrun your new estimated finish time, too, Hofstadter says. We chronically underestimate the time things take: that’s why Sydney Opera House opened 10 years later than scheduled, and why the new Wembley stadium opened last year, not in 2003, 2005 or 2006, each of which had been, at various points, the predicted completion date. It’s also why the list-makers among us get up each day and make to-do lists that by the same evening will seem laughable, even insane.”

UX designer vs. Salesman

Wed, 27 Aug 2008 07:42:17 CDT

My job is to sell design. It's made easier by the fact that almost all of our clients come to us looking for a design solution. We're not selling design as much as selling the value of the specific solutions we'll be implementing with each client. It's very unusual these days to find a client that doesn't understand the value of a well designed web experience.

Here's the weird thing. Even though there is an almost universal acceptance that design is as important to business success as a comprehensive business strategy some designers fail to see themselves as part of the sales process. I still come across so many designers that think of themselves as designers and not as salespeople. Apparently sales and marketing are still considered swear words in most designer's heads. Sales is not only necessary for designers to understand but they have to embrace it to be find the channels for their creativity. I came across this posting by Christopher Fahey at Behavior which explains my frustration so much more eloquently:

A designer who neglects marketing concerns and designs a product that the target audience sees as undesirable (because, for example, it lacks a sexy list of features or a glossy interface) is just as bad as a designer who neglects production concerns and creates something that is prohibitively expensive and time-consuming to build (to manufacture, program, whatever).

Some thoughts on working from home

Tue, 26 Aug 2008 09:28:21 CDT

As you might guess, working from home is pretty great. I work when I want, how I want. I have little need for office attire like slacks and blouses and I can get a few house chores done in between work sessions. When the weather's nice, I work with the windows open and under natural light. Best of all, I enjoy a natural progression to my day, free of unnecessary stresses (like hitting traffic at the wrong time or freezing my butt off in an overly air conditioned office).

All of these little conveniences aside, I think the most profound thing about working from home is the self reflection and examination it seems to cause. If I'm not in the mood for work, what do I need to change? my routine? my location? my attitude? All are posibilities and areas for experimentation. What does it take to keep me focused and productive? I've tried many strategies: very strictly block scheduling all of the time in my day, to do lists on paper and in various programs on the computer, using a timer and setting time limits to my tasks. Currently, my most powerful trick is simply waiting until 10 a.m. to check my email (its amazing how derailing all those messages can be to my equilibrium). Sometimes simply packing up my laptop and going to a coffee shop for the morning can make a world of difference.

It is important, too, not to be your own source of stress. There was a period when I was really obsessing about getting a predetermined number of chargeable hours in each day, I may as well have been back in the corporate environment with the department director scolding me for being 5 minutes late again. I had to remind myself that I work from home, and I have to take advantage of that. Take the dog for a walk, end the day a little early, whatever it takes to remind myself how great this situation is and renew my gratitude for having found myself here. That alone is some powerful motivation!

Is strategy better when replaced by experience?

Mon, 25 Aug 2008 15:25:40 CDT

Just like a brand, the experience is what counts, not the strategy. If you're a web designer you might have encountered strategy that doesn't match up with the design goals. Strategy, and designing strategies, is a linear process. Experience is a non-linear process. Can you design a non-linear experience in a linear way? What if you let the customer experience define the strategy? Instead of spending the next 6 months creating a big strategy, launch with a good-enough product or service and create valuable experience. That way you can iterate and tweak on the move and let the experience design the strategy.

CDIA's Speaker Series kicks off with Ethan Marcotte

Mon, 25 Aug 2008 12:31:44 CDT

The Center For Digital Imaging Arts (CDIA) is kicking off a cool new series of speakers this fall. First up is Ethan Marcotte who is a senior designer at the acclaimed Airbag Industries.

The topic of Ethan's talk will be "Comps vs. Code: Couples Therapy". High-end design and standards compliant code don't sound like a match made in heaven but Ethan will prove it is. Ethan will discuss top-notch design and art-direction, as well as how to bullet proof their templates.

The event will be held at the CDIA's campus in Waltham, MA at 274 Moody Street, Studio C on Tuesday, September 30th, at 6:30pm. The fee is $5 for students and $10 for the rest of us. CDIA alumni and students are free. Please RSVP by September 29th to speakerseries@cdiabu.com

Web design plans and myths

Sun, 24 Aug 2008 20:26:38 CDT

I'm not a huge fan of over-planning things. One my all time favorite quote is Mike Tyson's "everyone has a plan until they get hit". Tyson's own stupidity aside he makes a good point. There is a perpetual myth in business that planning something to the finest detail will avoid problems. The truth is nobody can predict what will happen 6 weeks out, never-mind 6 months out.

In any project or plan there is the tendency to underestimate the time it'll take to get things done. Humans are tainted with a general laziness that tends to leave everything till the last minute. Especially tasks that are not very interesting.

This quote from Wikipedia sums it up...

In one study, 37 students were asked to estimate the completion times for their senior theses. The average estimate was 33.9 days. Only about 30% of the students were able to complete their thesis in the amount of time they predicted, and the average actual completion time was 55.5 days

In web design it's better to plan in short spurts. Plan for a week or two ahead and then review the plan at the end of each period. In Agile methodology those periods are called sprints. In our office we call them common sense. Setting realistic attainable goals keeps everyone both focused and in a mild state of urgency.

It's still possible to plan far ahead but don't get married to those milestones. Rather be prepared to adjust quickly and decisively when things don't do as planned. It's better to have an A+ team with a good-enough-B-plan that's well trained to deal with obstacles than a team of B players with a A+ plan.

JetPack is coming!

Sat, 23 Aug 2008 15:43:21 CDT

We've been hard at work on a new search marketing service that creates affordable packages for clients looking for something slightly less than a full-agency experience and a little more than just an automated software service. It's perfect for small companies who need a dedicated search marketing program but are more budget sensitive. The service, called JetPack, has already been running beta trials with several clients and partners. The packages will range from $1,500/month to $3,000/month and require no long-term contracts. These packages will combine PPC, SEO, landing pages with a simple to use dashboard that will highlight your visitors, leads, calls, and downloads in a single screen. For small to medium businesses looking for a search marketing package JetPack will be a simple and risk-free solution. We're still looking for beta users so please visit our splash page and sign up.

Energy (not fuel, enthusiasm)

Fri, 22 Aug 2008 13:31:11 CDT

Where does the energy come from to create a successful business, blog or project? I think it comes from the people that are joined together in the endeavor.

The best way to get focused is to get passionate about your idea. Of course the people you work with are the primary reason you remain passionate. If you're working with people that support you and encourage you, then it's easy to start excited and energetic.

Another way to make sure you stay energized is to work on an idea that's natural for you. Don't force it. Set yourself up for success by listening to what your market is telling you and align that with what you're good at.

SEO and design resources for agencies and studios

Wed, 13 Aug 2008 10:15:47 CDT

AgencyTool has launched and it's included a very comprehensive list of web and search resources. It's a little overwhelming but very useful.

Online marketing for beginners article gets it right

Sun, 10 Aug 2008 21:16:59 CDT

I came across this article after writing my previous post. It's an excellent summary of the things that are important in SEO and web design. The article is written from the often frustrating point of a client-agency conversation and outlines how important a long-term view is for search marketing success.

Here's a snippet...

The problem is that the way most people look at SEO (and they are thinking SEO, not marketing - it's up to you to show them the difference) is that they're going to pay a certain amount of money for the top spots for certain keywords. You can guarantee they've been told another company will guarantee 10 number 1 positions for $50.

This is where ROI comes into play. ROI stands for "Return on Investment". Paying $50 for a $0 return is a bad idea - but people do it all the time, because it's cheap. Paying $5,000 for a $50,000 return is a great idea - but people gasp at the very idea they could spend that much in the beginning, despite the potential.

Which metrics to track for SEM?

Sun, 10 Aug 2008 21:05:20 CDT

Tracking keyword ranking is mostly a waste of time yet almost every site owners obsesses over them. So if keyword ranking has little or no value, what does?

There has been much debate in the search marketing world about Google's decision to prevent automated tools like Web Position Gold and WebCEO from using ranking data in their reports. It's not surprising but it is disappointing if you are trying to track your target keyword's performance on Google's SERPs. In truth there are several more important stats to be watching. There are performance indicators that offer much more value to the website owner than keyword ranking. Here are the indicators we watch on our own sites and recommend to our clients:

Incoming links: The quantity and quality of the incoming links to any given website or page will be as close as you are going to get to knowing your PageRank success potential. Bearing in mind that PageRank is itself not an indicator of success, incoming links will increase the opportunity of being highly ranked by all search engines. Another way links can help is to suggest future content themes and topics that correlate to audience interests. By looking at the links source and content we can see what type of sites and audiences are linking to our sites.

Indexed Pages: The amount of pages on my site as compared to the amount of pages indexed by a search engine tells me where there might be problems. If Google has 100 pages indexed but my site has 1000 then there could be several things wrong with my site. The easiest way to solve this problem is to submit a XML site map to Google and set up a Google Webmaster account to ensure they are indexing my site frequently. The more pages that are indexed the more likely one of them will be found in a search.

Conversions: At the end of the day we're all looking for conversions. Even sites making money from advertising are still shooting for email newsletter signups, form submissions, subscriptions and registrations for alerts. For ecommerce sites the conversion rate is the lifeblood of the site. If you need to be obsessed with a statistic then this is the one to get crazy about. Constantly doing A-B testing on offers, page layouts, user interface improvements and keyword choices should be the guiding direction of all your analytics.

Title Tags: One other measurement we trust is how long does it take for a new page with new title tags to be indexed. Understanding the gestation period of a new page or a recently reworked page in terms of first page is critical to knowing when and how you can launch new offers or optimize an existing page.

Organic traffic vs. paid traffic: Any site worth it's mettle should be trying to replace aid traffic with organic traffic. My goal with any new site is to quickly move the traffic from the instant-gratification paid advertising to the long-term optimized organic traffic. Some sites can benefit from having both paid and organic but only one is sustainable. There is also a direct relationship between organic traffic and conversions. A site's ROI is much higher for organic traffic so will always be my first choice for any future investment.

Is there a de-cluttering trend in the social networking sites?

Fri, 08 Aug 2008 13:56:32 CDT

The two social network sites I use most, Facebook and Last.fm have both rolled out slick new interfaces recently. I'm happy to see that both sites have managed to tame the clutter and keep the experience focused on the true purpose of the sites. The power of tab-style navigation is reaffirmed as both sites are using it to achieve better organization and intuitive browsing. You can compare the designs for yourself here (sorry, no examples of the old last.fm design. but if do a search, you might find some examples).

Who's next ... MySpace?! (ha!)