L&S Unscripted

Today I was searching for a particular event on a very large national site. I searched a 10-day timeframe in July 2009. I understand that it’s only November 2008, but I found the auto response a wee bit passive aggressive …

Perhaps I was being a little optimistic I’d find information this far out, but I didn’t think I was being unreasonable. While I’m sure whoever penned this line meant nothing negative by it, it’s a good reminder to make sure the tonality of your site copy remains consistently positive and helpful.

More importantly, in this instance there was no clear path to move me forward from this page. Offering a link to last year’s event, other relative content or a chance to revise my search dates would have been more proactive than the response alone.

Ask yourself, if a customer asked you for information face-to-face, would you answer the same way your site does?

Well, this is the week of Thanksgiving, a time for me to sit back and remember why I like my life so much. First of all, I am thankful that I live in Sioux Falls. If I listen to all the local and national news, it seems that the outlook is very bleak across the country. But not here in Sioux Falls – the city was selected by CNN and CareerBuilder as the best place to find a job. Click here to see the article.

There is a lot of change happening around the building, which is another reason why I am thankful. People are changing office spaces and sitting with new teams—which means new creative ideas and maybe some new besties in my life. I get to move away from my current cubemates (they’re like cheddar), and my new team is more complicated (more goaty, if you know what I mean). . .

I really have admit that I am truly appreciative to be part of a great company and a great city. Sometime we focus on the wrong things. From my favorite show, “I wanted a Harry Winston choker for my birthday. Instead I got a conscience.” Last week our leadership outlined a 2009 Economic Stimulus package, which is essentially a plan for 2009 goals (and my inspiration for this post). I appreciate the fact that the company is being “prudent” yet looking at rewarding performance in these times of economic uncertainty. I could be working in a different city, or for a different firm, but L&S works for me because the people here care about my future and are focused on moving forward instead of what’s happening today. This agency is like my family, and now I’m ready to get with the program and fast.

Today Google announced the release of a new product (is it a weekday, does the moon revolve around the earth?!) called SearchWiki. It allows searchers to re-rank, comment and delete search results while logged into their personal Google accounts. These customizations are only viewable locally, but it’s hard to believe Google doesn’t have some grand scheme planned using all this data.

L&S web team members weigh in …

	EC: Too many questions come up to even know where to start, but #1 is how/when will this effect clients? (We don’t change the way we optimize pages, but all of a sudden client links can either be promoted really high or removed from the list altogether.) Do they plan on modifying their formula in the future to give higher rankings to links that have been promoted? Is this part of their master plan to know everything about everyone? Honestly, I think it will help them get more paid advertising (Would they do that ) It would be a good way to weed out some of the crap that has accumulated over the years.
	RT: Very interesting – I’m with you, EC. I can’t help but think that Google will build this into their algorithm. If we’re doing our due diligence and optimizing sites for relevant search results, this will help us – people will find our sites useful, rate them and position the real sites above the junky sites out there trying (many times, successfully) to trick Google into believing their content is relevant. Google keeps adding body parts, brain, eyes, ears, what’s next?
	MR: This seems like a slightly uncharacteristic move for Google. Does anyone know if this lived in the labs first? Normally they beta test a feature, until it hits a certain popularity / critical mass, then they integrate it in. This thing seems to be going straight to the people, which either means it’s something very valuable to Google’s customers or it’s something very valuable to Google. Should be interesting…
	RT: It’s such great intelligence for Google – my bet’s on “what’s in this for them” while also improving search engine results, hense a better user experience. Win, win.
	KG: I love the idea of Google eventually building this into their algorithm – consumers replacing robots to determine relevance. Like EC said, it could clear out a lot of the junk pages … as well as render any remaining black hat SEO tactics obsolete. Power to the people!

Lawrence & Schiller received two Sioux Falls Business Journal Readers Choice Awards this week:

Best advertising agency
Best web site developer

http://www.argusleader.com/article/20081119/BJNEWS07/81118064

Thanks to our Clients for allowing us to work on the many great projects that attributed to these awards!

It has been brought to my attention that I needed a title. First of all, I’m flattered because that means I’m official. And you know what comes after a title, that’s right, business cards. Yippee! Just in time to show-off at holiday gatherings. After many sleepless nights, I ended up rejecting:

Blogger-in-chief – too trendy

Manager of Futuring – too made-upy

Brand Champion – too everyday and too implied, I’m ALWAYS that

Creative Functionality Facilitator – didn’t want to make the any “creatives” around here feel even more insecure

For awhile, I was going with Sasquatch because of the fact that everyone talks about me but doesn’t know for sure if I actually exist. (Hello people, these words of insight don’t just magically appear…)

So after much hullabaloo and an episode of “True Blood” – my title will officially be Shapeshifter. It’s because on any given day I get just as excited for award-worthy creative work as I do a spreadsheet that shows amazing ROI. I could be a using Classic Yahoo one minute and signing up to be a Beta Tester on another site the next. I might play the role of agency den mother or high-fivin frat brother. I jump around from being 22 and loving my first job out of college to being 72 and still being amazed at this industry. Not to mention how much fun all the other ages in between are. Each with their own perspectives and challenges I can’t wait to share. Being able to transform into different personas is going to be A.W.E.S.O.M.E. But did you know I can also transform myself into animals? It’s pretty obvious what my fav is going to be….a fly on the wall.

The new Great Western Bank (http://www.greatwesternbank.com) does not want to be called a “redesign”, so we’ve dubbed it a “refresh”.  The jargon in web development can get pretty complicated, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t room for more.  We called this a refresh, because our strategy was about more than just updating the look; we knew that a website like Great Western Bank’s deserved comprehensive polish and care.

We utilized valuable analytics, client feedback, and an assortment of other metrics to help us work with the bank to direct their web presence into the future.  While the refresh certainly boasts a refreshingly lighter look and feel, the functionality behind the scenes has gotten a tune-up as well.  You can search for bank locations using the improved Location Finder, explore how GWB is working hard at Making Life Great, securely access your online banking straight from the homepage, and much more.

Now, that’s a website that makes you say, “Ahhhh…”

Today is Friday and typically not alot of “meetings” so . . .I have some time. Interesting that today was the unofficial day of the scarf. In South Dakota, we have fully embraced the scarf as our winter necklace. Its too bad because I really like “the scarf” as a fashion accessory but now since its became standard L&S wear, I obviously will not be wearing my faves as frequently. Don’t believe me? I had a few helpers in the agency take these pics. So – what’s your take on the next item to make it on the L&S hot list?

Yesterday, I observed someone who I won’t name falling down the big stairway in our lobby area (okay, she works on Team Synergy and has long blond hair J– but I give her props for being a really cute dresser). I have also seen people in the past fall down the short stair that lead to our conference rooms – these “accidents” are karma for bad meetings. People also use the stairs to gossip and catch-up between the hundreds of “meetings” that everyone is busy using the stairs to attend. Seriously, there are so many “meetings” in the agency – I think it would be great if people would just use IM to say “lets catch up on XXX project on the stairs” instead of using Outlook Exchange to schedule time. When I attend meetings as the scribe, half the time people show up late or they say, “we’ll just catch up later. . .” My solution to our agency’s Exchange abuse?Use the stairs (Plus it’s a great way for everyone to maintain their “hottie” status. . .)

Today, Google released a new Search Engine Optimization starter guide and list of best practices: http://googlewebmastercentral.blogspot.com/2008/11/googles-seo-starter-guide.html

This step-by-step guide provides user-friendly instructions for optimizing the following on-site components of your web site:

• Page titles & section headings
• Description META tags
• URL structure
• Simple navigation
• Quality content
• Link anchor text
• Image tags
• Robots.txt files
• “nofollow” links

See – Google isn’t really that scary. Get in the game.

Robin

Acts of Nature (http://www.actsofnature.com) is not just another website for L&S; it’s more like a brother. Acts of Nature (or Acts, as we call it) is Paul Schiller’s fine art and photography website. If that name sounds familiar, it’s because he’s one of our Agency’s founders.

This redesign and restructure of the Acts website has been a long time in coming; some design files date back to 2005! But don’t call the website old; it uses some of the newest features in ColdFusion, Flash, and JavaScript, all of which combine to produce a breath-taking web portal featuring some amazing photography.

Take a look around. Peruse the Photo Gallery. Read up on The Artist and The Installations, or recommend the website to a friend. As always, feel free to contact Acts of Nature with questions or comments.

Good work, team!

Today is the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November, making it Election Day.  If ever there was a day to make time to get home before seven, today is it.  The South Dakota Secretary of State website has a number of great election resources, including this gem: Unofficial General Election Results.

This web application will automatically update itself when new election results are in.  The site allows you to view election results for Statewide Elections, Ballot Questions, and Legislative Results to name a few.  It’s the perfect web companion.

A bowl of popcorn, a warm blanket, a loved one, and election results.  Who could ask for more?

The question over whether or not you need an online component in your marketing program isn’t really a question. A recent benefit event proved once again that consumers are online and want to interact with you there.

When a former co-worker and long-time friend of L&S was diagnosed with cancer we helped lead a community-wide fundraising effort. We used traditional and new media tactics to drive visitors to www.WeDigDoug.com.

At the web site people could purchase event and raffle tickets and donate directly online. When all was said and done we hit our attendance goals for the banquet and surpassed our fundraising expectations. Our post-event analysis revealed that HALF of the funds raised came in through the web site.

You’ve heard the old saying, “I’m sure that half of my advertising budget is wasted. The problem is I just don’t know which half.”

It’s not the online half.