Internet Magic

Our client had a section of their large web site with thousands of pages. But they had a problem. None of the page were showing up in Google’s database. We discovered the previous webmaster had set up things wrong with the robots.txt file on their site. As a result none of the pages were getting indexed. By changing just one character in the robots.txt file and doing a few other things there are now 11,000 pages indexed in Google and they went from 465 searches a month to more than 6,300.

A similar situation happened to another client. The client’s webmaster put something on the robots.txt that basically told the search engines not to index any of the pages. Because their sales depended so heavily upon search engine traffic, their sales dropped from $1.3 million per year to $300K. The client found out three months later what had happened, but by that time it was too late.

When we do search engine optimization for a client one of our first priorities is to make sure that Google is indexing all the pages (putting the pages in their database). We can do keyword research and link building until we’re blue in the face, but if Google couldn’t find the pages then the work we would do was for naught.

So, make sure your Internet marketing person is making sure all your pages are in Google database and then move forward with the next steps — keyword set up and link building. If you don’t have a company yet helping you with search engine optimization, give us a call at 720-922-3124.

I watch a video the other day about online conversions. The speaker remarked that a company shouldn’t spend all their development money on the initial site. They should keep some of it back for testing and changes after the site is has been launched.

For example, if they only have $10K to put towards development, they should get a site that’s worth $7,500. And then use the remaining $2,500 in the following months to work out the kinks and add features they hadn’t thought of before.

This is what I’m suggesting for new clients who are having us design and program bigger sites. We try as hard as we can in the Discovery Phase of our development process to think through everything. Invariably they see a feature on another site that they like and want to add it, but don’t have the money to have it added.

With Conversion Testing you have to try out different headlines, graphics and such, to see what causes the most conversions or phone calls. Once you nail down a good conversion rate, then you can start adding your marketing dollars to get visitors to your site.

Raise your hand if you’ve ever received an email promising top 10 placement on the search engines. I get them all the time.

The companies sending them prey on web site owners who know they should be doing search engine marketing (SEM). These companies make promises about increased ranking, but they often leader the web site owner to troubles with the search engines. You might be surprised how quickly a site can get blacklisted by the Google. A gentleman contacted me the other day because he was looking for a local person who was experienced in SEM because he had been burned by one of the phonies and was blacklisted until he corrected the problem.

The things we talk about in the following are done by some genuine search engine companies so these aren’t hard and fast rules. But you should keep your eyes wide open if you’re talking to someone and several of these things come true in their interaction with you.

They Contact You

If they are so good at search engine optimization, why are they contacting you? You should be contacting them. They will have high rankings on the terms people are searching for, especially when the terms you are looking for include local terms, like the name of your city.

Their Site isn’t Highly Ranked or is Blacklisted

One of my clients signed a contract with a company that made promises concerning getting highly ranked on some keywords he was going after. The search engine marketing company had at least two web sites they were marketing under and Google blacklisted both of them. They were blacklisted for using deceptive practices so you can only guess they would try to use the same tactics that got them banned.

Vague About What They Do

When I do a proposal for search engine marketing I spell out the things that I will do for them. I try to be as specific as possible without giving away my trade secrets. A phony SEM firm will give you vague ideas on what they will do, as well as not tell you the nefarious things they will do. Be wary when a company talks too little in specifics and too many vagaries.

They Make Promises of Front Page Placement in a Short Period

I know of a phony SEO company that told their potential client they would put them on the front page on three key phrases in at least three of the top 10 search engines. They’ll let you pick the top 10 key phrases and then work to get you on some of the lower ranked search engines that have a miniscule percentage of the searches, which means they fulfilled the obligation of their contact. But the big three search engines–Google, Yahoo! and MSN–account for approximately 90 percent of the searches done on the Internet. So the bottom seven search engines divvy up the last 10 percent. So the phony SEO company can deliver on their promises but it doesn’t result in a great amount of traffic, especially for the amount of money you’re paying them.

They Bully You When You Question Them or Say “No”

One of my clients talked to a search marketing company and wanted me to check them out, so I gave them a call. They were doing pay per click advertising rather than organic search engine optimization. They wanted $10,000 upfront to deliver traffic to my client’s site. Even in best case scenarios, my client would have had thousands of dollars tied up for more than a year in a marketing strategy that was suspect to begin with. So I said I my client wasn’t interested and he started in with rhetorical questions that presumed I would be an idiot if I didn’t use their services. I calmly said “no” again, and he started up again, so I just hung up on him. I wasn’t going to waste my time on a schemer and bully.

If you’re going to do SEM, I would recommend talking with colleagues or friends that are seeing success with other SEM companies. They should be able to give you an idea of specific results they are seeing and how well they are being treated by their SEM company.

Another idea is to use the search engines to find local companies that are doing well on the search engines. If you live in Dallas, type in “Dallas search engine optimization firms”. Assuming that the people on the front page are local, you can meet with them to find out more about how they work, what they charge, and what results you might expect.

A genuine SEM company will talk about finding the best phrases to market, getting more content on your site, and getting incoming links to your site when talking about search engine optimization. When they talk about Pay Per Click advertising, they will talk about starting slowly and tracking results to make sure your Pay Per Click budget is giving you high Return on Investment. If SEM company doesn’t talk in these terms, then I’d keep searching if I were you.

So, don’t be quick to sign contracts with SEO firms. If red flags keep popping up, move on. Start talking with others and do your research. Ask about what specifics things they’ll be doing and what results you might expect. Then you will be able to weed out the phonies.

I was asked by a college student to answer some questions about life in the design world. You might be interested to hear some of my responses.

Designer Interview Questions:

1. Have you specialized in any particular area of Graphic Design?
I specialize in web site design. We do some logo design, business cards and stationery but mostly do web sites and web graphics.

2. If so, did you choose this area or did it sort of develop over time?
I started out doing print design. I took classes in Illustrator and Photoshop, as well as DreamWeaver (for web site design). It wasn’t until about nine years ago that I started doing web sites. I’ve been trying to keep myself narrow in focusing just on web design but I find that logo design can be a good door opener for doing web sites, too.

3. What advice do you have for a graduating Graphic Designer?
I would tell a graduating graphic designer to do as many real life projects as possible, even if they are low paying or non-paying. This will start building your portfolio and give you experience. As someone who hires designers, I don’t really look at someone seriously if they don’t have a serious body of work for me to see their style and abilities. I think it’s also important to have a web site to put the portfolio onto. This can be a simple thing but it should show your abilities. You can have a friend develop it for you if you don’t have the ability right now.

I would also tell a designer to get varied experience, both in print and web sites. The more well rounded you are, the higher the likelihood of getting hired. As you gain experience and opportunities, you can start concentrating on the areas that you like the most and are better at.

4. What do you think is the most important asset of a fantastic designer?
I think the ability to look at multiply ideas and keep an open mind is one of the best features of fantastic designer. I’ve taken some training in improv and one of the things we learned was to say “Yes, and…” rather than “No, it’s really…” You take what someone has to say and then go with it. There comes a time later in the process when you evaluate ideas but the exploration stage is not when you do it. You should read the book “A Whack on the Side of the Head” for ideas on brainstorming. Or “A Kick in the Seat of the Pants” has information on the four stages of the creative process. They are both written by Roger von Oech.

I have a web site called www.ezcreativity.com that has some good information brainstorming and the creative process.

5. Some people say, “You don’t really start learning until after you graduate”. How do you feel about this?
I think this is semi-true. If a person can mix real world experience with their training, then they are way ahead of their classmates, such as getting internships and side jobs during college that incorporate design work, even if it’s just in a sign shop.

6. How much value do you place on Mentor-ship? Are you a good mentor?
I’ve never had a formal mentor in my days. I’ve had bosses who were good friends and taught me some things. But often they were more administrators than creative people. The one creative person I had was too involved in his own projects to be a good mentor. I kind of mentor the contractors I have working for me. I think I’m patient and instructive but there is nothing formal there.

7. Do you think Graphic Design and Visual Communication can be a lifelong and profitable career from a Virtual Office atmosphere?
I know people who do have a profitable career in a virtual office atmosphere. I think it takes several years of working with a team before you get to this point because you’d be too narrow in your abilities otherwise. When you have a good reputation as a great designer, easy to work with and a quick producer, than you’d have a lot of opportunities to work in a virtual workplace. I have a guy who just flew to Thailand yesterday and will be there training in martial arts. He will continue to do work for me because he’s good at what he does and is easy to work with.

8. Which do you think has served you best your formal education or your experience?
My formal education served me better because it allowed me to work on projects I wouldn’t have otherwise. I would have been reduced to just supervising designers rather than doing it myself. Now that I’m doing more supervision of design that actual design, I can understand things better and give good suggestions.

9. Do you think it a necessity to return periodically, for formal training throughout your career?
I think it’s really important to keep learning software especially. This helps you do things faster and better than struggling along with software you don’t understand well. I think having continuing training is also important with such things as drawing and photography.

10. If you could change the past, what’s the main thing you would change about the path you walked in becoming a designer?
I would have taken more design classes when I was younger and learned more about perspective. I did some of that self taught. I would have also learned more about color theory and learned how to draw better.

11. Are there additional comments you would like to add to this interview?
I have work with many designers over the years. The ones I’ve enjoyed the most are the ones who are easy to get along with and are flexible. There is something to be said about being talented but there is also something to be said about being easy to work with. I had a woman who I supervised who was a talented designer but you never knew when she was going to bit your head off or freak out. There was another woman in the group who was less talented but was so much more approachable.

Also, the great designers I’ve worked with had a good understanding of color theory and fonts. They didn’t fall in love with a certain color scheme or a certain font type.

My daughter was seven years old when she wrote a note for my wife, “I need sum help.” We have the Post-It up next to our phone to remind ourselves to ask for help when we need it.

Often people are reluctant to say they need sum help. We could all use sum help. If you need help with your search engine marketing, give us a call. If you need sum help with a web site, give us a call or fill out our contact form.

At Green Chair, we often need sum help. We rely on advice from people who’ve been around the block. This past week we got together for lunch with a friend named Greg. Greg has owned a successful business here in Denver for the last two decades. We asked many questions and got great advice on our to grow our business and be of better service to our clients.

So, don’t be afraid to ask for sum help. We certainly haven’t arrived at knowing everything, but we’re learning. We’d love to hel