Meetup: Pgh SEO & Internet Marketing June 25, 2009

I’m a member of the Pittsburgh SEO (Search Engine Optimization) and Internet Marketing Meetup, which recently joined with SEMPO (Search Engine Marketing Professional Organization).  This is my second meetup with this group.  The first one offered two presentations that were incredibly informative so I was really looking forward to this one.

Offering her expertise this night was Claire Devereaux Thompson from Sterling Advertising, giving a presentation on Best Practices for Selling the Value of SEO to Clients. I found Claire to be very knowledgable.  Her presentation reviewed:

• the important items to include
• who should be present
• how to talk to clients
• how to help clients understand the value of SEO
• how to help clients understand why SEO can be so costly
• the importance of quality over quantity
• how to handle objections
• making a professional impression
• how to talk about money
• how to close the deal

There were several discussions during and after the presentation that were informative and enlightening.  Some people didn’t agree with Claire and I enjoyed listening to various perspectives and experiences. 

At the end of the presentation Claire added a bonus slide and talked about how to handle specific objections from clients, such as explaining how long it takes and why it’s important to use some keywords over others.

The room was opened to questions and we talked about guaranteeing SEO work, which was something I hadn’t thought about but I could see a client asking for.  I agreed that it’s not possible to guarantee that SEO will ensure X number of hits, for example, and anyone who does guarantee that is making sure the hits are happening in other ways, which will not improve a client’s business. 

We also talked about contracts to ensure payments and deliverables, as well as the limitations of our responsibilities.  For example, as an SEO company Sterling Advertising does not redesign web sites.  Claire said that when talking to a client if we recomend something that we don’t offer we need to have reliable references available.  The fact that they don’t create web sites needs to be clearly outlined in the contract. 

We also discussed the ethics of using black hat and white hat techniques.  Black hat techniques are “illegal” in the eyes of search engines such as Google and can get your site banned – which is pretty bad considering about 80% of people will find your web site through a search engine and about 80% of people use Google.  White hat techniques are “legal” and ways to help a search engine find your site.  Obviously, white hat techinques were encouraged and black hat techniques were labeled as too risky to try.

This is a fantastic meetup and I’m looking forward to the next one.  If you’re interested in SEO this is a great place to go and meet local people with varying degrees of experience.  At each of my meetups I’ve meet some great people, always willing to share their knowledge and expertise and help one another out.  Thanks to John LeDonne for organizing this meetup.

Answers Are Only 10 Questions Away with Hunch.com

When I have a problem or a project I start researching, reaching for Google to type in a topic I need resources for.  Finding the information I need is sometimes quick, but often takes a bit of digging, bookmarking and comparing before I get what I need. 

I’m not the only one who finds this process tedious – Hunch.com creators, “a bunch of MIT nerds with backgrounds in computer science and math” according to their web site – have created a new site that takes a collection of information and, asking 10 questions, uses the information to give you an answer. It’s kind of like those old books that let you decide the ending.

I decided to test Hunch out.  I’m in need of a new cell phone so I went to Hunch.com and typed “What cell phone should I get?” Before I hit Enter a drop down box with similar questions appeared and I selected “What’s the best cell phone for me?”

First question: Where in the World do you live?
Answer: North America

Q2: Where in North America do you live?
A: US

Q3: Which US carrier do you use?
A: Verizon (there goes an iPhone!)

Q4: Are you looking for a smartphone (PDA) or a regular phone?
A: Regular Phone (I have an iPod Touch that I LOVE, and I wish I could get an iPhone but I’m not willing to switch to AT&T. Since I already have the Touch I’m going to go for a regular phone).

Q5: How do you feel about the tradeoff of size versus features?
A: I decided to Skip this question because I want to see what both options are.

Q6: How will you be using this phone?
A: Making phone calls, texting, sending photos. browsing web and email.

Q7: Would you prefer to have a touchscreen or a keyboard/buttons?
A: Keyboard/buttons.

Q8: Would you prefer a phone with a full keyboard?
A: Yes, I want all 26 letters.

Q9: How important is the styling of the phone to you?
A: Very important.

Q10: How good should the battery life be?
A: Last for a few days.

I am given three options, plus a wildcard.

Option 1: 

LG Versa VX9600

The LG Versa is a touchscreen phone with a detachable QWERTY keypad; a 2.0-megapixel digital camera; a digital music player (MP3/WMA/AAC/AAC+); and a fully HTML-capable web browser.

Option 2:

LG enV2 VX9100 Phone

More compact and lighter in weight, the LG enV2 updates the original enV with a redesign accentuates both sleek style and easy usability. The front of the enV2 now features a numeric keypad with larger keys, and it opens up to reveal a large 2.4-inch LCD and its signature hidden QWERTY keypad–perfect for all your text messaging and email needs. Advanced features like auto text readout, message sort, and the ability to store up to 300 text messages enhance …

Option 3:

Motorola w755 Phone

Svelte and stylish, the Motorola W755 clamshell phone for Verizon is compatible with the V Cast Music Service, which enables you to purchase songs through your phone and download them via Verizon’s fast EV-DO data network. Other Verizon service options include V Cast Video with clips from major networks and GPS turn-by-turn directions via VZ Navigator. The W755 is loaded with features, including Bluetooth stereo music streaming, a 1.3-megapixel camera with video capture, MicroSD memory expansion up to …

Wildcard

Sony Ericsson

Sony Ericsson is a joint venture established on October 3, 2001 by the Japanese consumer electronics company Sony Corporation and the Swedish telecommunications company Ericsson to make mobile phones. The stated reason for this venture is to combine Sony’s consumer electronics expertise with Ericsson’s technological leadership in the communications sector. Both companies have stopped making their own mobile phones.

The company’s global management is based in Hammersmith, London, and it has research & development teams in Sweden, Japan …

It’s nice to be able to narrow down the choices, but I’m wondering what I missed if I would have answered a question differently.  There were a few I was on the fence about. Also there was no price question. It seems that cost is a big factor for a lot of people, including me. 2 of the options cost  $399, which is out of my price range. I was able to view all of the results and narrow them down by a few categories.

I like how Hunch narrows your options in a palatable way and allows you to skip questions.  It was very easy to use and gave clear answers that were easy to read and included photos as well as a link to learn more and/or purchase.

According to Hunch your input is needed to help generate better results.  The results can be embedded or shared using the URL, but cannot be easily posted to Facebook or other social media sites.  I would be surprised if Hunch didn’t add this capability in the near future.

Did I find a phone?  No, I want to change some answers.  If I’m going to have to retake the survey, bookmark and compare, is it better than just doing a Google search? Or, in this case, just going to Verizonwireless.net and looking at options?  I’m not sure. I wonder if Hunch.com can answer that question.

Overcoming Obstacles to Growth – Pittsburgh Small Business Meetup June 18

I went to the Pittsburgh Small Business Meetup yesterday.  I’ve recently started attending a few different Meetups through the web site www.meetup.com.  Check it out if you are interested in meeting with like-minded people about pretty much anything (wine tasting, dog lovers, web designers, you name it, there’s probably a group for it).

This was the first time I was able to attend this group since I joined in April.  I arrived and met organizer Susan Ansell and tonight’s presenter Sandy Horner. Susan is an Accountant and Quickbooks Certified ProAdvisor – check out her site at www.MyQuickBooksAccountant.com.  Sandy owns Horner Consulting and helps business owners achieve their growth goals faster.

After informal networking the 8 of us each gave a 1 minute commercial about our business.   Throughout our “commercials” Sandy asked us questions about our businesses and made suggestions.  Since I am a few months into starting my businesses I found this very helpful.

Sandy’s presentation was Overcoming Obstacles to Growth.  She often gives a 90 minutes workshop on this topic and gave us a 20 minute version. The description:

Failure to execute is the single biggest obstacle to success. If you’re not moving ahead, you wind up falling behind.

Attend the Pittsburgh Small business Meetup and participate in a 20-minute mini workshop designed by Sandy Horner to help you successfully navigate the top challenges to achieving your goals.

• Discuss common obstacles to growth and how to avoid them.
• Discover the three fundamental building blocks that must be in place in order to successfully execute your growth strategies.
• Explore tools and techniques that propel your business in the right direction.

She handed out a pamphlet so we could follow along and fill in steps with our individual needs.  Sandy is very personable and energetic – she truly loves helping businesses grow.  She encouraged us to take steps to regularly evaluate and adust our businesses to keep moving forward, as opposed to running in place.

Sandy made a point to find our individual business needs and offer suggestions for networking and lead opportunities.  She was very open and knowledgable.  You can learn more about Horner Consulting at www.hornerachievesmore.com.

Other attendees:

• Susan Kwadrat, Administrative Support Services
• Michael Lukens, Financial Advisor, New England Financial
• Chris Rondinello, Financial Advisor, Waddell & Reed
• David Park, Inner Smile Success www.innersmilesuccess.com
• Mary (I didn’t get a business card, but she owns an imaging company called Haute)

I really enjoyed meeting everyone and appreciate how welcome I was made to feel.  I look forward to future meetings.

The Power of Freedom

Ever thought Twitter and Facebook were just for 12 year-old with nothing better to do?  These are currently the main sources of news coming from Iran, except for the government run media.  If you haven’t been following the current unrest in Iran you need to.  Not only because democracy and freedom are at stake, but because of the display of the power of social media.

Governments like Iran’s are used to having totality over their citizens.  They run their media, deciding what information gets to the people and out to the rest of the world.  In America we take for granted our ability to speak our minds – I know I do.  I can blog about anything I want.  If I lived in Iran I would go to jail or worse, for simply stating an opinion different from the government’s.

As Iran erupts due to a corrupt election, the world is watching – or trying to.  Foreign reporters have been banned and cell phone text ability has been turned off in efforts to silence the people.  But it is 2009 and technology has been adopted by Iranians that the government can’t monitor – the Internet.  Not that they haven’t tried. 

Reports have been sent constantly through Twitter and Facebook from those in the middle of the rallies and riots in Iran.  The Iranian government has tried “shutting down” Twitter but Americans have come to their aid and changed proxy servers and helped Iranians get this news out to the world.

The Twitterverse has wrapped their arms around these strangers who live around the world in a culture they don’t know to help them achieve what we already enjoy: freedom.  They are adding a green tint to their avatar images to show solidarity and changing their locations to Tehran and timezones to +0330 GMT to make it more difficult for the Iranian government to censor them.  The government is now going to Twitter and claiming others are spammers or trolls and posting erronious information, proving that Twitter is a true threat.  The Iranian government is blaming America for fueling the fire and making things worse, another sign of this threat.

Follow this story on Twitter as it happen by searching #iranelection.  It is currently the top subject on Twitter. What the Hashtag is showing there have been over 160,000 tweets using #iranelection in the past 5 days. 

This is how a country is organizing, motivating each other and keeping the world infomred – 140 characters at a time.  That is power.

Read more:

Fox News: Crisis in Iran Sparks Global Guerrilla Cyberwar

Time: Iran Protests: Twitter, the Medium of the Movement

Washington Post: EDITORIAL: Iran’s Twitter revolution

Making a Team’s Championship a Win for You

I live and work in Pittsburgh, PA, currently in the spotlight after the Pittsburgh Penguin’s Stanley Cup win last week.  The whole city is filled with excitement! How do you transalte a team’s success into your success?  It doesn’t have to be a national team’s win, any local celebration can be used to connect with others on social media sites – in this case Twitter.com.

I recently became – I’ll admit it – a twiddict (an Twitter addict). I started a business account at twitter.com/littlebirdiecom and wanted meaningful followers. I started following a lot of people and organizations that I found interesting but I had only a handful of followers in return - I needed to get involved in a conversation.  How do you have a conversation on Twitter, you might ask.  I use a free application called Tweetdeck (tweetdeck.com) that allows me to search based on a key word or hashtag (a word followed by # that acts like a tag). 

During Game 5 of the last round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs I searched #Pens and used it in all of my tweets (Twitter updates) that related to the game.  A recent blog from What the Hashtag showed 2,681 uses of #pens during game 7.  That’s a good conversation and an opportunity for you to get in front of a group of people with a common goal – in this case, sharing a hockey game.

For about 2 hours during Game 5 of the finals I read tweets and posted my own about the game.  I retweeted (forwarding a tweet) what others wrote and others retweeted mine. I started following some and others started following me.  I saw my followers go from about 10 to the 30′s just from this few hours.  I did the same for Game 7 and by the next morning my following was in the 50′s.  Today Pittsburgh celebrated with a parade and I made continuous updates throughout the day from my cell phone.  Even though I couldn’t listen to the conversation (I choose not to receive updates on my phone, but I could have) I was still participating. After today’s parade my followers number 64.  Not Earth-shattering, but a solid start.

Even though my business is not sports-related, I was able to take the energy generated from a big win and use it to build my business. The reason this worked is because I love my city – and a win by the Pengiuns is good for my city, so it is easy for me to be excited by it.  That excitement is genuine, and it shows.

This concept works for any conversation going on in the Twitterverse.  What’s happening right now?  On your Twitter home page you can see the top 10 topics.  Pick one and join in, or find a popular topic that is local or related to your business.  Go to www.twemes.com to see what the popular topics are.  Click on one, or search your own, to see what people are saying and start joining in.

Be sure you are contributing to the conversation in a meaningful way.  Pick something you know about or are passionate about.  Although I don’t know a lot about hockey I can be excited by a goal and give a first-hand account of what is happening around me, which I did at the parade today.  Be genuine and let your personality show. Follow others and retweet when something catches your eye.  Do all of this in a balanced way, also sending tweets about you business, and you’ll build your followers.

Happy Tweeting!

Creating a Web Site – Part 1

Answer 2 Questions

In the web site classes I have taught my students are always surprised that they don’t even get to touch a web design program until the third class.  That’s because web sites don’t start in a design program, but in a blank word document.  The first step in creating a web site is organization.   You need a plan or your site will be disjointed and difficult to use.  Since the average user spends only seconds on a site before decided whether to stay or go, you need to use those seconds to the max.

To start, answer two questions about your site:

1. What is your site about?
2. Who is your audience?

Knowing who you are and who you are trying to reach helps you focus on what is important. For this example we’re going to create a church web site. 

What is you site about? The church and it’s activities.
Who is your audience? Current members, potential members and the surrounding community.

The site is intended to communicate the church’s happenings to it’s members, as well as people “church shopping” and the community.  Keeping these three groups in mind will ensure the site will answer any questions these groups might have, which will be different.  For example, if you are planning to get married and don’t belong to a church, the most important information to you is about wedding services.  Members of the church want to know what events are going on or have happened and important announcements.  Potential members want to know where the church is, what the worship hours are and what educational opportunities are available.  Having information for all of these groups ensures your web site is useful to everyone, since information primarily useful to one group will ultimatly benefit all.

Get started here and you’ll be on your way to a reliable source of information. 

In my next blog I’ll talk about the information that needs to go on a site.

Adobe Webinar – The New Wave of Marketing Technologies (May 6, 2009)

Adobe Webinar – The New Wave of Marketing Technologies (May 6, 2009)

I attended a webinar presented by Adobe about using new technologies to promote a company’s brand.  This webinar was intended for Marketing professionals who have a brand to sell.  I tend to be wary of webinars because they often turn into sales pitches, followed by calls and emails, but I have always enjoyed Adobe’s webinars.  This one was no exception.

The webinar was presented by the American Marketing Association.  The slides are available here: www.slideshare.net/mingchan/adobeemergingtechfinal3.  The speakers were The 1^st Movement’s CEO & CTO Ming Change and Creative Director David Schnell. The 1^st Movement is a “full service digital agency that helps clients tell stories and solve problems.”  They’ve worked with a lot of companies including Disney, Adobe, Nike and E! Entertainment Television.

They covered a lot of material so it was very high level – sort of a brief overview of what’s available and examples of successful campaigns that have used it.  They started with the difference between traditional and new media.  Basically traditional media is a passive experience, with information going one way: from the company to the viewer.  New media is an interactive experience, engaging the user in an online conversation.  Current marketing trends show companies are committing more money towards new marketing strategies. 

“Technology enables storytelling to be more interactive and engaging, and created an emotional and memorable user experience.”

I really like this summary of social media.  It explains to someone who is unfamiliar with social media or is skeptical about its usefulness why it is effective. 

Today marketing campaigns are using multiple channels for a larger digital footprint.  Each channel can be customized to a target audience.  I found this to be an important point – what you put out on a social networking site might be different than a blog dedicated to a niche topic.

Social Media Technologies

Blogs

They started with social media technologies, with the trusty Blog up first.  Southwest Airlines were offered as an example of a good blog.  Overall, blogs are more honest and offer a personal view.  While some people question the validity of a blog, it helps create “thought leadership” and credibility in your area of expertise.  In addition to text, blogs can now include photos and videos (including video blogs – vlogs), basically as an aggregator of content.

Twitter

Twitter, a micro-blogging site, has become very popular with companies to use for customer service.  Zappos CEO Tony Hsieh Twitters and has over 450,000 followers.  They receive inside information, coupons and free products.  Tony also uses Twitter to promote local events when he’s in an area for a promotion.  This approach is customer-centric, which is why it works.

Skittles also uses Twitter in a different way.  Their web site shows every tweet (a Twitter post) that mentions Skittles, whether it is good or bad.  This lack of filtering can have negative results, although I find it refreshing that they’re willing to let every tweet about them be included instead of only showing the happy sunshine and rainbow side that most companies do.

The Wine Library is an example of how a free Twitter campaign compared to traditional marketing.  They spent $15,000 dollars on a direct mail campaign offering free shipping and received 200 new customers. A billboard campaign that cost $7,500 garnered 300 new customers.  Twitter, which was free, brought them 1,800 new customers.  That’s a HUGE difference!  Of course, they had to have had an established following to achieve this, and those followers must have re-tweeted (forwarded their posts).  Regardless, these numbers speak volumes.

Widgets

Widgets are small applications, or programs, that can be added to social networking sites, mobile devises and desktops.  They can do anything you want – just check out iPhone applications (www.itunes.com) for some examples.

Airwalk used a widget to gather votes for Unsigned Hero.  This widget allowed users to listen to 10 new bands and vote for their favorites.  The top vote getter received a contract and a tour sponsored by Airwalk.  Users were able to interact with this widget, making them part of the process.  It spread virally – when a person post a widget to a social networking site and it is picked up by someone else, who shares it with someone else, and so one.  This is one time when “viral” is positive. 

Putting it All Together

Ideally a marketing campaign will combine traditional and new marketing strategies.  Everything needs to be consistent with all ‘signs’ pointing to the online content, whether it be a widget, blog or web site (or a web site with all of these things in one place).

3D Explosion on the Web

Flash (an Adobe product) can be used to create in “3D.”  This is useful for virtual interaction with a product such as a car, show or home.  It allows the viewer to see the product literally from all angles.  It can also be used for games.

Going Beyond the Web

This is a very futuristic way for people to use technology that is not necessarily online.

Interactive Exhibition

I have seen this type of technology sued in museums and it has trade show applications as well.  This uses things like motion detection to combine a person with a digital interface.  It’s hard to explain – it sort of reminded me of green screen technology, where a person see a digital output where their action effects what they see.  It offers a fresh and memorable experience.

3D Immersion

If you have ever seen Star Trek: The Next Generation you’ll understand this technology.  It’s basically a “holodeck,” but not as sophisticated.  A user wears goggles, similar to virtual reality technology but not as bulky, to interact with a space.  This has applications in real estate – imagine allowing a potential buy to walk through a house from the other side of the country.

Multi-Touch Interactive Display

Another pop culture reference: the movie Minority Report used this technology, which is now becoming mainstream.  A user can manipulate content without use a mouse or keyboard, but his/her hands instead.  It reminds me of my iPod touch – I can grab and drag to get to content.  This is more advanced and is the future of digital interaction.

Mobile Technologies

China has this technology completely integrated into its society but it’s just now becoming popular in the US.  More people are using their mobile devices, such as PDAs, phone and gaming devices, to do everything their PCs do.  The iPhone is the most popular adoption of this technology.

iPhone

in 2010 there will be a 164% growth in the use of the iPhone, while the Blackberry will drop by 7%.  67% of cell phone users access the internet by phone and there are over 37,000 applications for the iPhone.  Currently Action Script and Objective C are the languages being used to create these applications.  36% of household heads use their cell phone for gaming and over 800 million users have Flash installed.  In other words, the iPhone is BIG.

Blurring the Line of Online/Offline

Interactive TV/Web Synchronizations

If you want to get people really invested, offer a way for them to participate in by combining traditional and new media.  A TV show can only be watched on TV, but a simultaneous online chat can be occurring online.  Now a passive activity has become an interactive activity and increases user time with the brand.

The Future of Desktop Marketing

Users don’t even need to open a browser to get information anymore.  Desktop applications are even closer and can be used for marketing.

Adobe AIR

I didn’t pay a lot of attention to this, but it allows a user to download an application from the web directly to their desktop.  It is great for customization and personalization.  They suggested it can be used by a sales and marketing team for internal communication.

Integrated Campaign

Combine everything mentioned above into a single campaign like 9 Inch Nails did for their latest album.  The “Art is Resistance” campaign created an imaginary future and encouraged their audience to join their resistance movement.  They started traditionally – with flyers and ads – and them merged into online components including widgets, Twitter and blogs.  The campaign built an interesting viral quality both online and offline.

Q&A

Q: How do you apply Twitter to a B2B environment?

A: B2B (business to business) is basically B2C (business to consumer) – you’re still selling a product or service.  Using this type of technology allows you to be a thought leader and increases your credibility.

Q: What are widgets and are they custom created for your brand?  How do you market it?

A: Widgets are small applications.  They are created specifically for a brand and/or campaign.  Most serve as a mini application or site for the brand.  They are marketing through holistic and integrated campaigns allowing users to download from a site.  I didn’t find this explanation particularly useful but they didn’t get into any real details.

Q: a recent Nielsen poll showed that 50% of Twitter users leave after one month.  Is it worth it?

A: Yes!  It’s a free platform and an easy way to promote, so it’s worth the time involved. Users self select so they are already interested. I suggest using an application like Tweet Deck that allows you to update Facebook and Twitter at the same time, which really saves time.

Q: Where should marketers start to learn about social media tools?

A: Research and start using.  This is what I did, and I found the best way to learn was to jump in.  Start using the applications for personal use and get familiar with them.  Read blogs (like this one), books and web sites about the topic. 

Overall I found this webinar to be informative and it introduced me to some new technologies I didn’t know about.  They mentioned a few Adobe products but they were appropriate and not obnoxious about it.  You can go to www.Adobe.com to learn more about webinars and self-paced online courses.

Usability Week 2009 Day 3

Usability Week Day 3

Intranet Usability 2

I realized 5 minutes into today’s session that I made the mistake of picking Writing for the Web 2 instead of Intranet Usability 1 yesterday. With each moment I was seriously wishing I had been here for yesterday’s.

Intranet Usability 1 & 2 were taught by Kara Pernice, Managing Director at NN/g.  Kara also ran the focus group on webinars I attended on the first day.  I found Kara to be very intelligent, personable and knowledgable.

Yesterday they went into detail about the research background so it was only briefly reviewed today.  They studied 27 intranets with employees from the companies.  They watched the employees complete tasks during their normal work routine.  They weren’t able to show us videos today because companies don’t feel comfortable allowing them to she shown.

The top tasks employees need on an intranet:

• find an employee’s phone number or email
• find information about a group
• find information about a high-level manager
• find information about a policy
• make a request or order
• apply for another job (within the company)
• sign up for a training course
• find information for a training course
• find information via search
• update some personal information (HR or status)
• find past news
• login (additional applications)

Kara explained how important it is to understand your users, which is different from web users.  Your intranet users are trying to accomplish a task related to their job.    Often they are interrupted often or have to share a workstation.  A good way to determine their needs is to hold usability studies.

Things to keep intranet use easy, and therefore ensure it is used, include a good web address, a single login and timeouts that are at least 20 minutes.  Personalize the intranet whenever possible by having the user’s name and information automatically populated and by showing only the areas accessible by the employee.  Allowing staff to customize with a frequently used section that allows them to save pages the use often can be very helpful. 

Creating a single forms repository is important because staff don’t often know which department has which form.  Enabling this page to be sortable by name and department is important as well.  A description should also be included, especially for forms named in a uncommon way, such as a number, that an employee might not remember.  It is also important to offer forms in HTML and not PDF, Word or Excel.  This can also allow for online submission, creating a faster business process.  Instructions should be included in an easy to understand way with a help option.

Text should be written without jargon or company lingo because new employees don’t understand it and it makes it harder to change company culture in the future.  Content should be written succuntly and respectfully without chastizing staff.  Avoid things like red text and exclamation marks.  If the content is written in an easy to understand way this shouldn’t be needed.

Dictionaries should be searchable and offer both commonly used acronymns and definitions.  Another good solution is allowing staff to use a wiki to create the dictionary.  This both gives them ownership and creates an easy way for staff to keep the information updated. 

We reviewed some of the key points of Writing for the Web 1, including scanning, bolding important words, headlines, succinct paragraphs and bulleted lists.  All of the information offered in those sessions is applicable to intranets.

Navigation and terminology should be clear, organized by the tasks staff need to accomplish and avoiding branding, catchey phrases and unclear icons.  Top-level navigation should be accessible from anywhere on the intranet and users should always know which section they are in.  While it is important to have departmental sections, they should be used for the deparment’s staff and common tasks should be available on top-level navigation.  For example, HR documents should be easily accessible by everyone.  Information should be cross referenced when possible.

The Intranet design should be consistent across all departments, including all applications.  Employees should always know they are on the company’s intranet and not suddenly feel as though they’ve been redirected somewhere else.  This brings more credibility to the intranet.

Search results should repeat the query and allow users to easily access the results after they’ve selected an option.  They should also include a description of the result.  A new search field should be included on the results page as well.  When there are no results a statement should appear so the users knows the search is complete.

Staff directories should be searchable and should include title, phone number (and extention), email and location.  A short bio is also nice to include, as well as accomplishments, repsonsibilities, photo, hours, supervisor and administrative assitant.

News is important to feature on the site and should be available on the home page.  It must be accurate, new and valuable.  It’s nice for employees to see updates about projects they may have heard of but are not a part of. 

Training sessions are important to offer to staff and should include the title, a description, instructor, who can/should take the class, date, time and location. Allowing staff to sign up online, with a notice going to the staff’s supervisor for approval, speeds up the process.

Help Desks can use the intranet to lessen the number of calls by offering commonly requested problems and solutions.  These should be offered in clear, common language and not in technological jargon.  Manuals can be posted online and wiki’s can be set up for self-help.

Kara finished by offering tips on conducting an intranet usability study.  She suggested holding regular evaluations and recruiting users from various departments.  She said to allow an employee to work as they normally would and stay for the entire day, if possible, or ask when they usually use the intranet and visit then.  She said you should observe without offering tips or solutions and sit behind the person so they won’t talk to you.  Do not allow their supervisor to watch and make it clear it is not a test – in fact, if possible, don’t even tell the person you are coming so they won’t “study” beforehand.  You want as natural a setting as possible.  Watch users in their own environment, noticing interupptions and other workflow stoppages as they normally occur.  Finally, be very respectful of employees and their time.

Overall, I found today to be very useful.  I was able to purchase the book from Intranet Usability 1 and I hope to gain some good information from it.  Kara was wonderfully articulate and engaging as she offered many opportunities for us to participate.  It was very educational and I regreat missing the first session.

I enjoyed the entire experience at Usability Week 2009 immensley.  I had lunch with the group of friends I met at the social networking event last night and I feel like I left with a better understanding of my industry and where it is going.  I am armed with some wonderful tools that will serve me well.  Thanks to the Nielsen Norman Group for putting on a this event.

Usability Week 2009 – Day 2

Writing for the Web 2

 

I crawled out of bed still full from last night and ready for a second day of Writing for the Web.  Yesterday was very informative and today we were promised more in-depth information about writing for different audiences.

 

Writing for the Web 2 was presented by Hoa Loranger and Janelle Estes.  I was disappointed Chris wouldn’t be back, but he was teaching a different session.  I sat between Paul, who I had met the day before in the lunchtime focus group from Ottawa, and Patrick, a French Canadian from Quebec (that’s right, so far everyone I’ve been has been from Canada).  Patrick and I later met up with Robyn and some new friends for lunch.

 

Hoa started the session with statistics on Usability, based on the studies completed by NN/g.  Every aspect of a site is quickly taken in by the user, who determines if the site is trustworthy or not.  High marks were received by Level of Detail, Layout, Visual Design, Branding and Writing Style.  Reasons people find web sites hard to use are Findability (unable to find what they need because of bad navigation, organization and links), Page Design, Content and Search. 

 

Writing for your Target Audience focused on decided who they are, what they care about, and how your web site wants to communicate with them.  Bottom line: your site should benefit the user, so you better get to know your user.  You can do this through usability testing, such as surveys and focus groups.  Use this data to anticipate how users will use your site and anticipate their questions.

 

Another point that was emphasized from yesterday: people don’t read web sites.  Save yourself the time and cut the fluff from the site.  What may work in print simply doesn’t work on a screen.

 

Structuring content is really important.  Homepages should be updated often and be easy to understand – most users spend between 25 and 30 seconds.  Welcome them quickly (10 to 20 words) and get to the point! Who are you, what do you do?  This is so important, but so many companies forget.  Unless you’re Pepsi or Nike, people don’t already know who you are.  This is your chance to tell them.

 

Other key points: minimize scrolling, keep the information relevant, include links, and explain jargon.  Also users have developed “banner blindness” and will ignore anything that resembles an ad.  Don’t put important content in this format or users won’t be able to find it.

 

Hoa and Janelle took turns, each teaching a portion of the session between breaks.  By lunchtime I was feeling a bit disappointed.  I was hoping for very specific information, similar to what was presented yesterday, but instead we received very general information, most of it more about content than writing.  They briefly covered Corporate Areas (About Us, Bios, etc.) areas, FAQ’s, Product Descriptions and Web 2.0. 

 

The most interesting parts were the usability videos.  They showed a user navigating a task while they talked through their thought process.  The web site was large on the screen with the user in a small screen on the bottom right.  Seeing a user become frustrated and give up is really powerful. 

 

Next we learned about Special Audiences: Kids, Teens, Seniors, Blind or Visually Impaired, English as a Second Language and Low Literacy Users.  The videos of someone using a screen reader was very interesting and brought home the point of how important it is to make a site accessible.  Teens emphasized that they read all day long in school and want to read as little as possible online.  The senior citizen we saw had a hard time with the language used on a site where he was looking for a bundled phone service.  He didn’t understand what “bundled” was and was trying to find a “package.”

 

Overall I was disappointed with this session.  The instructors were OK – Hoa was good but Janelle seemed a little… off.  I did enjoy the statistics and the usability videos, but the day was more general than WFTW1, when I was expecting more specifics.  I wasn’t alone in this as everyone I talked to agreed.  Hopefully they’ll make the session more informative for the rest of the series (they’ll be in New York, San Francisco, London and Sydney over the next few months).

 

So, I was 50/50 for sessions and hoping the next day would be more informative.  I headed for the networking social and met up with Robyn and some new people.  We had a great time talking about social media and its applications.  I left after about an hour to meet up with some old high school friends at Murphy’s of D.C., right near my hotel.  I caught up with Jim and Brian, and after dinner Brian took me on a walking tour of Dupont Circle, which I would have never experienced on my own.  We hit a great little Mexican shop where we got amazing empanadas.  It was a great end to the day. 

Usability Week 2009 Day 0 and 1

I don’t know which I was more excited about – meeting a group of like-minded people, catching up with some old friends or seeing the cherry blossoms. 

 

I flew into DC for the Nielson Norman Group’s Usability Week on Tuesday. NN/g conducts usability studies and were holding this conference to share the best practices based on the data they’ve collected.

 

I checked into my hotel and was off on the Metro to the National Mall to see the Cherry Blossoms.  I missed the peak by three days but was still granted a beautiful view of pink cherry trees lining the basin around the Jefferson Memorial.  I journaled my trip on Facebook – here’s some photos:

 

Me and a Cherry TreeWWII Memorial

 

Wednesday morning I headed to breakfast and found a table with Robyn, a graphic designer from Ottawa.  Then off to Writing for the Web 1 by Chris Nodder, a Director with NN/g. 

Chris is very, shall we say, passionate about the topic.  Very energetic, to the point of hysterical at times (I should add he was very knowledgeable).  He does NOT like PDFs, that is clear.  We spent the morning covering the Understanding People and Understanding Writing, then the afternoon on Understanding Formatting and Understanding Organizational Politics.  The highlights:

 

Understanding People

• Readers quickly scan.
• Screens are harder to read.
• Readers look for headings, bold text, links and bulleted lists (so use them as often as possible).
• Readers don’t read long paragraphs of text.
• Readers are task-oriented and trying to accomplish a specific goal.

 

Understanding Writing

• Write for comprehension – if readers don’t comprehend, what’s the point?
• Write in chucks – a paragraph or two on one topic.
• Use a less formal tone – writing conversationally is easier to comprehend.
• Increase credibility by linking to independent references (news articles, for example).

Understanding Formatting

• Help readers by using cues and signposts, telling them where they are, what it is, and where to go next.
• Organize content by grouping like topics.
• Use every part of the page well.

Understanding Organizational Politics

• Create a style guide showing good and bad examples.
• Start with existing content and adjust for web use.
• Justify results with reasons listed above.
• Be nice and explain to co-workers the reason – they don’t know, and why would they?

I enjoyed this session and had a few Aha moments.  In particular I have shied away from using images because of accessibility reasons (I manage a government web site).  Chris explained that low literacy users (1 in 4 adults read at or below the 5^th grade level) find images helpful in understanding the content.  In fact, all readers will find images helpful, but low literacy users are especially motivated to read as little as possible.  Images can also help give visual directions, such as tying a bow, that is much easier to understand through pictures than words alone.

 

Kudos to Chris and the Norman Nielsen Group for a great first day.  Anxiously awaiting Writing for the Web 2 tomorrow.

 

I had the good fortune of being selected for a lunchtime focus group on webinars, which included a free lunch and a free NN/g report.  To better my good day Robyn, my breakfast friend, was also in the focus group.  After lunch we chatted about the cherry trees and I offered to take her that evening.  We met up and hit the Mall, visiting the basin, WWII Memorial, Lincoln Monument, Vietnam Memorial (where Robyn found her last name on the wall) and finally the White House. 

 

We were hungry and tired and were rescued by my good friends John and Carrie who took us to dinner at Clyde’s in Chinatown.  I highly recommend the place – I enjoyed pasta with Italian sausage, a raspberry cheesecake cocktail and pound cake drenched in an orange and pineapple sauce.  I swear pasta and pound cake have never tasted so delicious!  The cocktail tasted exactly like raspberry cheesecake. 

 

 

Chinatown

 

 

Read about my Day 2 adventures next!