Soapbox

Update 8/04/2009 They have corrected my name on the web site, so I’m no longer Joan…

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A reporter from the Charlotte Business Journal asked Ewa if we would answer a question for this weeks ‘Expert Advice’ column. I don’t know if they asked fifty ‘experts’ or only two but our quote made it into the column, although it is credited to a ’Joan Boatwright’. Hmmmm, maybe a long lost sister?

Anyway, the question was ‘How can I generate more visits to my small business web site?’ This question made me cringe at first because most people seem to believe there is a quick, easy and guaranteed way to be number one on all search engines - which just isn’t the case. Basically it comes down to best practices and blood, sweat and tears (and sometimes a little luck).

You can read my edited quote, excuse me, Joan’s edited quote here. I have included the relevant portions of my original, unedited response below.

…"There is no one thing that will guarantee a higher Search Engine Ranking, and therefore more clicks. In fact an entire industry has sprung up around Search Engine Optimization (SEO).

With that said there are a few things you can do that will help over time.

• Make sure none of the important text on your web site is in the form of images or Flash Animation because Search Engines won’t be able to read it.

• Update your site often with relevant information. A company blog or news section is a great way to do this.

• Try to work key words into page titles, headings and body copy. Don’t overdue it, keep it natural.

• Links to your site are important, but never pay to have someone link to your site. It is better for the links to occur naturally, with people linking to your site as a useful resource.

• Make sure your web site is using current technologies and practices as outlined by the W3C (http://www.w3.org/). If you don’t know HTML from HBO then ask a web professional about this one.

This actually is a complex subject and I could go on and on"…

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We’re happy to announce the website for Jim Genell is finally live at jimgenell.com. Jim is a highly awarded Art Director currently working at Leo Burnett in Chicago. His portfolio is filled with funny and smart print, TV and ambient work for BIG guys like McDonald’s, Nintendo, Delta, Kraft and many others. In addition, his personal art portfolio is even more amazing once you realize he does his drawings while holding the pen in his mouth.

We began the website by developing the logo. The logo is based on a barcode, since Jim’s job is to make us want to buy things we don’t really need, with the exception of that Cort guitar, I really NEED that guitar.

Image of logo in color and B+W:

We then designed the website based on the logo. The design is very simple to help draw all the attention to Jim’s work. The biggest challenge was probably in programing the galleries to display the work as large as possible to give the viewer a feeling of seeing the work in a magazine. No matter how big we made the ads, Jim wanted them bigger and BIGGER. We had to keep the TV work low res to reduce download times.

The coolest part of working on this site was probably watching TV or opening a magazine and seeing Jim’s work in action, we would scream like little girls. Thanks for the great work Jim!

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This week we officially launched a web site for Leathercraft Furniture. Part of their goal for the new site was to show off their leathers, fabrics and coordinates as well their super sexy made in the USA furniture. So head over and scope out a replacement for that pink recliner you found on the side of the road in college.

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The New York Times has a nifty feature in their online articles, if you double click a word in an article a new browser window pops up with the definition. This isn’t a new feature, I first noticed it back in December completely by accident. I double clicked a word to highlight it for a copy & paste and voilà, instant definition goodness.

Definitions are powered by The American Heritage Dictionary and many come complete with an audio file pronunciation of the word. Along with the definition are results from Wordnet and The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia if applicable. Wordnet is a lexical database of English developed by Princeton University.

I have noticed some weirdness with the feature. For instance if you double click an adjective such as ‘the’, what will appear is the word or phrase it is describing. For instance ‘The Labor Department’ would return results for ‘Labor Department’ not ‘the’. This seems strange to me.

Maybe they reasoned everyone should know words such as the, as, or, etc. so there was no need to look them up. My problem with this is they’ve taught me double clicking on a word brings up information on that word, so when I double click on a word and receive information about the word it is modifying or describing it is a little disorienting. At first I assumed I had made a mistake and clicked on the wrong word.

This doesn’t just apply to adjectives, pronouns and such. I double clicked on the word ‘credit’ in an article on wholesale prices and received information on ‘bond market’. Don’t get me wrong I think it’s an interesting idea and implementation, but I feel it’s wrong from a user interface point of view. If they don’t want to show information on certain words that’s fine, but I would rather receive a ‘no information found’ message as opposed to information on a completely different word or phrase.

Overall I think it is a great feature and a clever idea, although some indication the feature exists would be nice. The only other thing I would note is it does not seem to work on Safari 3.1.2.

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A List Apart is conducting its second annual survey for people who make websites:

“Calling all designers, developers, information architects, project managers, writers, editors, marketers, and everyone else who makes websites. It is time once again to pool our information so as to begin sketching a true picture of the way our profession is practiced worldwide.“

So if you fall into any of those categories, head over and take the survey. It's quick, painless and cures gingivitis. Well, the gingivitis thing is a lie but the other stuff is true.

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