Week 744
This past week was a blur, during which I found myself burning the candle from both ends and generally stressed out. Don't try this at home. I did keep notes for each day, which, this time around, I'll simplify to topics instead...
How a Website is Built, Part 2
The web--the entire web, including every individual website in it, even yours--is a work in progress. Once the initial planning, design, development and testing of a website is complete, there's actually plenty more to be done. So before you schedule that vacation, make sure you've taken into account the content entry and go-live process, as well as the schedule you plan to follow moving forward with your website content strategy. Content entry? Go live? Content Strategy? If you're hearing this for the first time, then stick around. This article is for you...
The Risks of Passive Communication
This morning Nolan shared a video, in which Jason Fried from 37Signals.com talks about communication and interruption in the workplace. Some key points he mentions are using "passive" communication tools such as email and IM to replace the constant interruption of direct interaction, what he calls "active" communication. I've been thinking a bit about communication in the workplace, and this video reminded me of some issues that concern me.
What to think about when Prototyping a Mobile Website
Smart phones are becoming the tool of choice as technology rapidly advances. As people begin to rely on these mobile devices more and more, Newfangled needs to prepare its own website to cater to mobile users.
That being said, Katie Jamison and I have been tasked with the prototype for this mobile site. We brainstormed and researched how other websites were currently handling their mobile version of the site. In this blog post, you
Bringing the Right Visitors to Your Site
"It's up to you as a website administrator to carefully craft your meta description, meta title, and the content on the page so that they match the intentions of the users visiting your site."
This line, from a recent screencast in which I discussed keywords and "user intent" with Brian Chiou, really stood out for me. It hits the nail on the head in terms of basic things you can do to improve website traffic and user engagement. Accurate keywords in meta data and site content are some of the easiest and most effective tools available to our clients - yet so many overlook them!
Screencast: What are Keywords & Why are They Important?
This is the first in a three-part series about search keywords and how they
relate to your website. Today we will discuss the basics of keywords:
what they are, and why they are important to you.
This is the first (of many) collaborative screencasts by Brian Chiou and Jillian Kuhn. We will be hosting a screencast once every two weeks about topics that are important to you and your website.
Week 743
I think I'm starting to get the hang of this Weeknotes thing. So far, my system has been to keep notes throughout the week in a text file on my desktop, then refer back to them and other sources--like my Google calendar and email--on Monday to reconstruct the highlights of the previous week and match them up with my reflections. It's interesting how little I actually need to remember on my own. In fact, maybe next week I'll try to write this up without any notes or help at all. In the meantime, week 743 was a busy one...
Mapping Your Network
I often encourage our team members to put energy into developing their professional network. Meeting and developing semi-professional relationships with people that you don't work directly with will enable networking and learning opportunities that strengthen your career. So with this in mind, I thought about what my professional network might look like if I mapped it visually. I tried a few different configurations, but was interested in what happened to the way I thought about my network when I mapped it in terms of how often I speak with the people in it...
The Art of Letterpress
Know from whence you came. If you know whence you came, there are absolutely no limitations to where you can go. — James Arthur Baldwin
If you've ever run your fingers over the pages of a 100 year-old book and felt the indentations of the text on the paper you're familiar with the feel of letterpress printing. Letterpress is the antiquated technology of applying ink to metal slugs stamped with letterforms and then pressing a sheet of paper against those letterforms to create a printed page.
Work Hard, Play Hard
I've been thinking a lot lately about perseverance. Energy is about give and take, and I believe we do have enough energy to be professionally inspired and effective for decades--but only on the condition that it is diversified. Great work and service doesn't come from tired people. This is a post about staying fresh....