June 13th, 2010
I wanted to talk a bit about a new project we’re working on: LocalMowing.com. This isn’t a new idea, but a better executed one. Lawn mowers post free profiles and choose the service area they offer.
This creates a SEO friendly url that showcases their work – great for people without a website. There’s some competition in this market, but the execution is so poor, I wonder how they dominate so much.
The other side to the equation is home owners. Home owners can enter their address to get lawn mowing quotes.
Using Google’s geolocation service, I’m able to grab a satellite image of the property and send straight through to the providers in the area. With a sharp eye, they can estimate cost right there on the screen. Next up is some even more creative ways to reach targeted audiences like this one!
I think that’s what so great with the web these days. There are still very fragmented markets you can reach and provide something better than anyone else. Stay tuned for the launch of LocalMowing.com!
Posted in Web design | No Comments »
May 5th, 2010
Somehow I managed to get the new Google search results UI randomly. As soon as it was there, it was gone. I can’t seem to get it again, not sure why they would give it to me for a few searches, then take it away. I’m sure we’ll be seeing much more of it soon. Here’s a screenshot:
First thing: COLOR! Ignore the green circles – that is an addon I use. The left (mine is collapsed) is a really nice set of filters. You can see a better screen shot on CNET here. You can search just blogs, shopping, news, and lots of other stuff. I’m really excited about this because it gets the annoying shopping results off my listings (hopefully it will remember what you had selected last time). I wish you could select what you want, sort of like tags instead of having to choose just one. Also, why not just have it expanded all the time??
Here is a good picture of the filters:
Second thing: TIME! Finally an easier way to find searches that are recent – this adds a whole new element to blogging and to content development. It pretty much forces companies to develop content weekly, if you aren’t already then get on the boat.
Third thing: SEE ALSO. Not happy for this. Basically our competitors are going to be right up there with us. Good for the little guy, bad for the big guys. So all those keywords you work so hard to gain – your competitors will get them too it looks like.
Overall, for the brief period I got to use it, I really like it. I’m glad Google is coming out with new UI’s instead of the dull one they used for so long. With this new version it brings up some challenges for us SEO’ers but also helps Googlers out too. I can’t wait for more!
Posted in Web design | No Comments »
May 3rd, 2010
This is old news, but they recently put a Ford Taurus billboard up on my road (or I haven’t noticed it until this week). I’m not a baby boomer, X, or Y – I’m somewhere in the middle (let’s say “U” but that doesn’t sound good). Needless to say, the Ford Taurus was not a car I dreamed of owning. It wasn’t innovative, it wasn’t pretty. It was one of those cars that was just always there. Recently, Ford has relaunched the Taurus brand. I’m getting mixed messages.
Their print material is clean, polished and screams upscale. This tells me they are going for the older crowd who want luxury on a smaller budget. The websites and billboards, however, paint a different picture. They tell me its innovative, fast, and sporty. So which is it? I don’t know if I want to buy it or my parents should want to buy it. I’m confused Ford!
The website: After a long loading time for what appears to me a lightweight Flash app, I’m taken to an all black with white/gray trimmed boring use of Flash. The menus and video could have well been done in html – they are crisp tho. At least they could have made the main message area animate. The techno feel just doesn’t do it for me and it reminds me of the old Flash movies you used to download. Either they are cutting costs on development or trying to be trending 10 years ago.
All in all, I’m not sold and I’m not sure who will be.
Posted in Marketing | No Comments »
May 2nd, 2010
Smashing Magazine has a good post on Wordpress custom fields. Wordpress is becoming so powerful as a mini-CMS these days. Custom fields allow you to enter whatever data you want for each post. They give many examples of how this can be used. I prefer to code the php myself, but for a novice PHP or even web user these fields extend functionality ten-fold.
Basically, I used these to implement custom meta keywords on this blog. I put keywords in the custom field, then I simply echoed that into the header with the meta information. You could get even simpler with it and actually put the entire meta tag as html in the custom field, but I wanted some keywords to remain the same and be site-wide. This way I won’t have to copy/paste them into every post I make.
Tags: blog, php, wordpress
Posted in Web design | No Comments »
April 30th, 2010
I thought I would mention this gem of a UI. CNN’s NewsPulse is the fastest way to see all the top stories and videos on one page. Just click a story and watch the video. I’m very impressed with the design, execution, and especially performance. It is fast, quick and easy to use.
I’m a little less excited by the ad placement, it feels like it takes away from the experience and is obtrusive.
Posted in Web design | No Comments »
