What would happen if you were named in a frivolous lawsuit? And what then if you lost, and a criminal plea bargain saved your business, your home, or perhaps even your freedom? You’d have a record. Just like that. What if you were accused of something, and the arguments were drawn out and ugly, even if you “win.”?

Depending on your state and your industry, the Attorney General, circuit court, city government, or other websites (usually high authority) could post every decision (or even accusation) for Google to crawl. If your name was even slightly unique, you’re hosed as these would almost always come up on page 1 (if not position 1) for searches under your name, even if the event occurred 10 years ago. I’m no expert on this stuff, but found my lightweight journey into this world enlightening - ps: I encourage you to grab a copy of Radically Transparent, a new book by Andy Beal  and Dr. Judy Strauss - and possibly to attend their webinar. I encourage you to help me correct any errors here - I am not a lawyer.

So… let’s dig in just a tad….

(more…)

The majority creating new websites:
I will create a georgous bucket, with sparkles and a golden handle.
IÂ will find an empty patch of flat ground to put my bucket.
I will watch the sky, and admire my bucket.
I hope it rains soon.

A few who understand:
I will plan an aqueduct and dig a reservoir.
I will test the water sources in the hills.
I will gather the lumber and pipe.
And route the flow to my basin.
While I work on my georgous new bucket.

Jakob Nielson’s latest Alertbox is the longest-read enewsletter in my list. The writeups are focused and brilliant. I only wish I were skilled enough to translate them into convincing arguments when talking to clients. That’s me, not Jakob, who’s needing refinement I know.

In the latest Alertbox (June 25) He writes, in the Pros/Cons of Whether Designers and Developers Should Do Usability this, as a “Con”…the Lack of Objectivity:

“If you test your own design, however, you might be less willing to admit its deficiencies. Designers can be too willing to dismiss user complaints or problems as minor or unrepresentative, when in fact the test indicates the need for a deep redesign. Also, designers can get so caught up in their own theories about how users ought to behave that they forget to test for cases in which people behave differently. “

Here, my interjection for multivariate testing data serving as the myth-buster for such activity. When a designer or developer gets a particular idea in their head about how something should be done, well developed testing that polls users’ behaviors via well-designed software systems and test suites should be able to close the gap and remove this “Con” from the table.

But as Nielson Points out, who’s writing the tests, and are those tests focused on the particular pet-peeves of the designer or developer? In my examples, are the variables we’re testing too focused on that designers favored bits?

I’ve found the rather mechanical process of creating on-line multivariate tests tends to remove some of the favoritism. It makes you think in segmented parts, and while you might still have a bit of ego invested in a design, you become more objective in the whole thing once you start taking it apart for testing. Could it be that such testing neutralizes this “worry” when it comes to designers testing their own designs? Should variable definition be more of a part of the web design process?

I find myself thinking hard about the variables I’m going to have to test when I’m brain-mapping a layout. Headlines, navigation, visual elements, flow, buildup, call-to-action, and so forth. But “pure designers” do not seem to do this. Flow might be on their mind, but it’s more a concern about “general fluidity” than tilting the entire thing towards a specific action. I’m usually in the game to make money with my clients, not to impress visitors as much - and I’m sure this changes the entire thought process. I’ll bet a middle ground would be ideal here.

It seems that Yahoo is in a Predicament in the PPC share.

So as I work on some Yahoo Search Marketing campaigns this weekend I was thinking about Yahoo!’s woes and come to think of some features that might help Panama for advanced PPC campaign managers, ground level. Others have come up with some excellent big-picture ideas, but mine are more nitty gritty, from the trenches stuff. While I’m kinda nervous about making the comments, I do have some faith in the folks at Y!, and have had great results on their system once I get a campaign going. So with dirty fingernails and weary fingers…here goes.

1. Make it easier to split adgroups, selecting which keywords go with which split. Advanced PPC marketers know that in order to succeed on PPC, especially in a new campaign, you must first fire up a large-ish group to determine the impression data and then begin the process of splitting thematic searches into buckets (adgroups) with their own targeted ads and keyword groupings. Trouble is, the PPC engines do not support this mechanism very well. It’s too many steps, and for a busy Search Marketer, I’m sure that some campaigns operate less-than-optimally because of simple “hours-in-the-day” issues. Since Yahoo wants to report improved performance, this is one way to get that done!

2. Offer the ability to auto-insert analytics tags of your own, account-level definition. Allow a search marketer to define analytics tags when they set up their account. Campaign, adgroup, keyword, etc. are all consistent during marketing. Once set up, these could then be auto-filled by the engine so that analytics information from YSM flows into whatever tool we use easily. Google doesn’t do it, even though they have their own analytics tool, so this could be a small, but big leap forward.

3. Create a robust, lightweight desktop campaign editing tool that helps people not go postal. It just took me an HOUR to get a spreadsheet of campaigns uploaded into Yahoo! - 14 tries, each one frustratingly time consuming.  Make something that doesn’t require endless repetitions and downloads of zip files with errors. Yes, I know you have an API, but for many who don’t use it, simplify the process of uploading campaigns, adgroups and so forth via files. Report on import errors on the screen, not in a file, and possibly even let us make tiny fixes mid-upload. How about a simple desktop application? And please don’t make it as fat and slow as Google’s version.

Having a focused, promise-keeping landing page is a concept that experienced Pay Per Click advertisers know well. Often learning this truism happens the hard way - after spending thousands of wasted dollars. One of the most important design lessons that I’ve learned when it comes to any sort of web page is this:

The Landing Page Must Meet The Customer Where They Are.

Use whatever technology or methodology that’s necessary. Never make the customer come to you - and with landing pages this means that your page content should seem like an extension of the conversation already in their mind before they ever visited your site.

Create content that engages them at speed. Think of the way the fighter jets have to line up to the airborne tankers for refueling. They must match speed, altitude and discharge static electricity. There is a net airspeed difference of zero as they exchange the payload. The same is true on a Landing Pag - if you require them to change direction you will not connect.

 

Assure the Visitor of Safety and Security

If your conversation with the customer is weighted by their worry of future spam, pressure, or added costs, you need to find ways of setting them at ease. This often happens by putting yourself in their shoes. But you must also turn their shoes over and see where they’ve been. Think back to the keywords, and the ads they clicked on. Remember who they are, and what their intent was. What were their alternatives, should they leave your site? What is your leverage? How tentative are they?

If your site and company are unfamiliar to them, display third party reliability indicators which underscore your commitment to their security and demonstrate your technical competence to conduct secured commerce.

Maintain a Positive Balance in Your Time & Goodwill Bucket

Internet searching is work. It’s an investment of time that is competing against other things in a persons’ life. To find a result through a search, click on it, and begin consuming content is an additional investment of their time. Quickly and early in the content the visitor must feel like they are being given relevant information at a rate faster than they could have acquired it through their own efforts.

Be sure the Call to Action is a Natural, if not Anticipated, Next Step

No jarring “Go Here Now” buttons. The next step should be something the reader is almost seeking out. If the landing page text is well written, the reader should be almost anticipating moving forward to the next step. If it’s a sign up, or a lead form - the anticipation should be for that form.

Maintain Low Friction When Asking for Their Information

Put off as much information gathering as you can for your business scenario. Much can be gathered at later stages. The longer the form, the lower your conversion rate will be. Remember the game “Don’t Break The Ice”? It’s like this. You want to get as much as you can without breaking the threshold. If you lose a customer you’ve just paid $1.20 for in PPC, that money is gone forever.

Use Search Text (or topically related text) in the Page Headlines/Captions When Possible.

If you can, use the search text (or text that represents it) inside the landing page text. This is available from most modern Pay-per-click engines as parameters. Make sure it reads well. This gives the page a tightly relevant feeling. But be careful, it can also look unnatural if used improperly.

Show them the Light at the End of the Tunnel

Don’t make visitors wonder how long the process of interacting with your page will take. Make the pages have a definite end, and make it clear. I like “signatures” or “PS.” blocks. These are a natural language for “closure” in the minds of readers. This closure tells people that the investment they’re making is limited, and helps with the economic decision of time we all make when viewing a website. “Yes, it’s worth it to stick around long enough to read it… it’s not that long.”

 

Wouldn’t Google Street View be more interesting if Immersive told us when and where they were doing the photos? We could spruce up our businesses, pull up our pants, and line the streets with voluntary interestingness. Right now, people are just freaking over privacy concerns (good move on the removal system.) Let us wave! It’s wierding people out that we aren’t really sure when/if you’re coming by.

But please don’t sneak around like an imperial probe droid.

People already get nervous as hell when I used to carry around my camera with a right-angle lens for human interest shots, like this Opteka Voyeur Right Angle Spy Lens. I ended up stopping after using it only a couple of times despite the awesomely funny pictures you can get. People would stop me even when the camera was hanging from my shoulder, even though it was really hard to tell it was on there. Paranoia is pretty powerful.

Oh yeah…If you have a dark colored VW bug, you can have great fun right now by mounting a little tripod on top and putting something that looks like the camera (above) on top. You may get people acting nutty around you all day long, making your commute just a little less boring.

I guess it remains to be seen how many actually use the system. For tourism and relocation, this has to be one of the biggest leaps forward I’ve yet seen.

I’m certain it will shortly be integrated into auto navigation, hand-held systems, and even phones. I am sure people will find ways to use it in art, literature, and other socially fascinating modes.