Anyone responsible for SEO (Search Engine Optimization) knows that Google plays it close to the vest when it comes to revealing how they rank sites, so when Google does talk about such things, we web administrators listen. In this short video, Google answers the question: “If you were an in-house SEO, what 3 things would you make sure you had included in your 2011 strategy?”
We understand that not all clients have unlimited budgets or the freedom to say to an agency, "Surprise us. Sky's the limit!"
BBDO was one such lucky agency. For their AT&T “Hands” campaign, they hired artist Guido Daniele from Italy to elaborately paint and position human hands to portray iconic images signifying various countries around the world. The results are dazzling posters that pull viewers in, while conveying AT&T’s brand messaging of having the best worldwide coverage.
Following are some of my favorites.
India
Bahamas
Australia
Canada
Egypt
Costa Rica
China
England
Mexico
Because I spend most of my waking life researching and working on the internet, and because I have better things to do than spend time investigating each site's safety beforehand, I let WOT do the heavy lifting for me. While I know that technically this plugin has nothing to do with marketing or advertising or design or even web development, I do consider web safety as part of the work I perform with every website I build. So I wanted to share a tool that will help keep you, your kids, and your computer safe from the nastier side of the internet.
While you can grab the download from CNET.com, I recommend that you download directly from WOT, where you can select from any of these browsers.
Here is CNET's review:
As wonderful as the Internet is, it has its seedy underbelly, too: Web sites that will rip you off, spam your e-mail account, infect your computer with malware, steal your identity, expose your kids to inappropriate content, and all kinds of other bad stuff. Wouldn't it be great if you could somehow know about other people's experiences with particular Web sites? That's the idea behind WOT, or Web of Trust, an online community that lets people share their Web experiences via extensions for a variety of different browsers. We tested the Chrome version of the extension and it did not disappoint.
Using WOT is incredibly easy. Like other extensions, it appears as a small icon to the right of the browser address bar. The icon changes color depending on the quality of each particular Web site you visit, based on other users' ratings. A dark green icon means you're in the clear, while a red one is cause for serious concern; orange, yellow, and light green cover the areas in between. Sites are rated on four metrics: Trustworthiness, Vendor Reliability, Privacy, and Child Safety. Clicking on the icon lets you view a site's rating in each of these categories and enter ratings of your own. WOT doesn't require registration, but if you choose to register you can take advantage of additional features, such as the capability to create a profile and write comments on sites' scorecards. We surfed around to several popular Web sites as well as a few shadier ones with WOT enabled, and its ratings seemed reliable to us. One particularly bad site really set off WOT's alarms, and it displayed a warning message that we had to click through in order to access the site. We especially liked that the WOT icon appears next to site names in search engine results, letting you know whether or not a site is safe before you click on it. The extension is supported by plenty of online documentation and there are lots of options for customizing WOT's behavior. Overall we were quite impressed with WOT and we think it's a great collaborative way to help ensure Internet safety.
WOT installs and uninstalls without issues. We highly recommend this extension to all users.
I couldn't agree more!
Recently, I was doing a website competitive analysis for a new client. During my research, I came upon a site where the developer was clearly very successful in selling his client on the "More is Better" model. I mean this site opened with a Flash intro and Jazz music blaring and too-clever-by-half navigation—and I couldn't get out of there fast enough! Really, the only thing I hate on websites more than suddenly blaring music is a Flash intro that loads about as fast as sludge flowing uphill.
Don’t get me wrong, there are some great uses for Flash—where would gaming, video, and other high media content sites be without it. But for your average business site? Not usually. Too often, designers use splash pages to impress their clients with eye-candy. And, too often, those clients don’t know about site loading times, usability, SEO, or mobile touch screen issues ("iPad" anyone?) to know that generally this is a bad idea.
Rather than “out” the local business website that triggered this post, let me just use Nike as an example. In this case, the Flash loads relatively quickly, and is done very well, but it makes navigation really cumbersome. Give the site a whirl and see how long it takes you to X out. If there are other things you want to get done today, my money's on less than a minute.
From the user's standpoint, here's the problem with Flash intros or any non-text landing page: When people come to your website, they're looking for actual information, and because they're busy, they want instant access to your content. Instead, they find a slow loading, fancy Flash intro with flying text and perhaps booming bass blaring. (Interesting how many Splash pages also play music.) In the midst of this assault to their senses, they have to figure out where the "Skip Intro" link is. I can assure you that unless you're offering a one-of-a-kind, can't-get-it-anywhere-else item or information, you've just lost a potential customer.
Overly used or inappropriate Flash pages aren't just a buzz kill for your visitors; Google hates them too. Here's what comes up in a Google Search for another local agency (with a web department that should know better) with a Flash intro that Google attempted to index.
I've altered the URL and description to protect the guilty, but the point is that since there is no content to index on the home page, Google grabs the Flash loader. Not good.
I'm not saying never use Flash; just think three times before you do. If you care about your visitors, and about SEO—and you should, unless you don't want search engines finding your site—forego the Flash and Splash and Music, and the rest of the whiz-bang stuff. Instead, focus on useful content and keywords, and Google will reward you with appropriate organic searches that will successfully drive visitors to your site. After all, isn't that the reason you've invested in having a presence on the web?
The New York Times recently ran a story about how Ursinus College of Pennsylvania is happy that its number of applicants for admissions is down by about a third.
It was part of a deliberate strategy. For years, Ursinis had been working like crazy to get as many applicants as possible. But, when it was all said and done, they decided it shouldn’t be about the quantity of applications, rather, the quality.
Back in 2005, before the college started getting really aggressive about finding applicants, 1,290 high school seniors were offered admission. About 420 enrolled. In other words, the yield was about 30%.
By last year, the yield figure had plunged to 13.5 percent.
In effect, 87 percent of those offered admission were saying, ‘No thanks.’ When the college computed all the time, energy and money spent to pile up applications, it decided there had to be a better way. One way or another, they were going to weed out those applicants who were applying with little intention of enrolling.
How did they do it?
Along with cutting back on some of its more aggressive marketing techniques, the college reintroduced essay questions to its application, and also required applicants to submit a graded term paper.
Interesting. If you ask prospective college students to demonstrate the ability to write, they go running off.
It makes what is otherwise a positive story a bit of a sad commentary on students’ writing skills.
