In This Issue:
1. The Dreaded RFP
2. In the News
3. More News Headlines
4. This Week's Q&A
5. Wrapping It Up
_________________
The Dreaded RFP
A lot of work in our industry only gets done after an RFP (Request
for Proposal) gets sent out. Design shops respond with their best
proposal, and then a winner is chosen. I understand the reason
companies issue RFPs -- it's a lot easier than calling a dozen
design shops to get information and prices. And when we receive
one, we'll respond if it's a project that interests us and that
we think
we
can successfully help the client.
But I just don't like them. Part of it is this image I have of
design shops scrambling to reply like pigeons scurrying to bread
crumbs. We're all better than that, aren't we!? But the real
issue is that the RFP is often written without a good understanding
of
the best ways to develop a web project, and the requirements
of the RFP are often far too restrictive. I saw one not long ago
that
demanded the web site be developed with a certain HTML editor.
I've seen RFPs that require us to do a new site design for the
company as part of our proposal. (Sorry, but we don't do free
mock-ups.) And I've seen RFPs that propose methods that will doom
the project
to failure.
All of that is okay if the RFP comes from a company that's willing
to discuss different ideas and possibilities. But that's not
always the case. In many cases, the RFP becomes the company's
development
plan "bible" and they shall not stray from it. I don't
have a better solution to eliminate RFPs from the web development
industry, but I sure do prefer when a prospect brings us a set
of goals, lets us ask a bunch of questions about those goals, and
listens to us when we can suggest a better way to skin the proverbial
cat.
_________________
In The News
If you tried that "Toggle Google's new look" tool that
I wrote about in this space last week, you may have noticed that
it didn't work for very long. The reason? Google actually launched
its new look late Sunday night. Haven't seen it? Go to Google's
home page and take a look around. The old "tabs" are
gone -- the ones that offered links to Google Groups, News search,
Image search, etc. And when you do a search, the results page has
a different look, too. The sponsored ads on the right no longer
have colored backgrounds, so they look more consistent with the
main search results.
But the big news is that this is much more than a new look for
Google. Their shopping search engine, Froogle, is now front and
center on the web site. A Froogle link has been added in with
the other text links for News search, Image search, etc., while
the
old Google Directory link (which took data from the Open Directory
Project) has been demoted from the home page and is now only
shown if you click the "MORE" link above the Google search
bar.
If you run a business that sells widgets through your web site,
the addition of Froogle to the Google home page is a big development.
The obvious question is, What impact will it have on Joe Q. Public's
search habits? Will more people start to use Froogle for shopping
or product-related searches? It's only one little link, but this
is a major change in what Google offers to the millions that
use it every hour, every day. They've formally separated shopping
search
from regular search. Will users follow the carrot and support
the separation by making Froogle searches as common as Google
searches?
I'm sure we'll be talking about these questions and issues in
the coming weeks and months.
Other Google news this week includes the announcement of Google
Web Alerts. With this service, you give Google a search query
(such as "blue widgets") and Google will email you whenever
a new site enters the Top 20 results for that search. This can
be a handy way to keep track of any changes to the SERPs that impact
your business the most. But it would be a better tool if they tracked
changes beyond the top 20 results. In some industries, changes
in the Top 20 listings are very rare. (Wouldn't it be great, though,
if you could supply Google with your web site address and a search
query and be notified when your site moves up or down in the rankings
for that query? Maybe someday....)
And lastly, Google also announced a "Personalized Search" tool
that's now available in the testing grounds of Google Labs. The
idea is to get search results that are more tailored to your interests,
but from the limited testing I've done, this is a long, long way
from being ready for prime time.
Search Engine Watch has an excellent
overview of all of Google's changes and announcements the past few days.
Google News Release about recent changes and new features
Froogle Home Page
Google Web Alerts
Google Personalized Search
_________________
More News Headlines
Here are a few news headlines worth your time to read.
These are just some of the headlines we've posted
to OWTweb.com in recent
days.
Google gets the glory in search referrals
March 30, 2004 - News.com
A new ranking shows that Google continues to be on top of the search
charts, ahead of rivals Yahoo and MSN.
Choosing the Right Keywords
March 26, 2004 - OWT
You must target the best words and phrases for your site and
your customers. Your ultimate goal is to get targeted traffic
visiting
your web site.
Microsoft set to launch web search engine
March 25, 2004 - Reuters
Microsoft made a strategic mistake when it chose to use outside
companies for Web search rather than making its own
investment in the up-and-coming technology.
More headlines: http://www.owtweb.com/news/
_________________
This Week's Q&A
Matt,
Our company name has a unique spelling that many people get wrong
when they write it or search for it on the web. Is there a way
we can take this into account on our web site so people can find
us if they spell the name wrong? We obviously don't want to show
the misspelled name on our web site and have people think we
can't even get our own name right!
Gayle
Hi Gayle -- We faced a similar situation not long ago with one
of our clients whose name is also often misspelled. Yes, you
can take this into account on your web site to try to get those
searchers
who misspell the name to still find your site. Here's what I'd
suggest:
1. In the <TITLE> element of your pages, you probably already
have your company name spelled correctly (preferably after a couple
key words that describe the page -- don't ever put your company
name first in the TITLE). Add the misspelling of the name at the
end of the TITLE element, after the correct spelling of the name.
2. In the DESCRIPTION meta tag, include a sentence such as "The
correct spelling of our name is ______, not ______."
Search engines read the TITLE and DESCRIPTION and by putting
the misspelled name in those places, you have a chance to get
some
visibility on that misspelling. If you really want to go a little
further, a 3rd step I'd suggest would be to put something on
your "About
Us" page, or maybe even your home page if it's that important,
that briefly informs visitors (and search engines) about the correct
spelling of your name. If the search engines find the misspelling
out in the actual public content of your site, you'll be helping
yourself even more.
Hope this helps.
(Have a question? Email questions@owtweb.com)
_________________
Wrapping it Up
You've heard of "mirroring" a web site that gets a
lot of traffic so that people can access the mirror if the main
site is swamped? Here's a Google mirror ... literally. Elgoog.
(Google spelled backwards.)
You have to type your search terms in backwards. Because, well,
it's a mirror. Oh, the fun you can have with CGI scripts!
See you next week!
Thanks for reading,
Matt McGee
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