Some things are just better on paper

I'm not one of those web zealots who insists that the shiny new technology is better than the older, darker ways.

In fact, I reckon some things are better on paper. Novels for example. And greetings cards.

Whenever I get sent an e-card (even a brilliant one from people like Realise, MMI or Chunk), I still feel a little unloved.

Heck - maybe I'm just too needy.

That's why I'm going to send out a good, old-fashioned Christmas card to my clients and suppliers. Admittedly, the card will point them back to my website, where they can enter a competition. (We'll make a charity donation on behalf of the winner.)

Admittedly I've also commissioned some new festive animations for my homepage. So maybe I'm an unreconstructed web saddo after all.

50 per cent of you hate this blog

Well, you might do.

I've just finished a quick survey for one of my web copywriting seminars. I posted it online and got the attendees to tell me how much they know about the subject and what causes them the most pain.

The results are in, and proving mightily useful. So much so, that I'll soon be publishing a thirty second survey for you to air your views on this blog. The same goes for the Blackad website.

What's more, I'm going to publish the general trends right here. Look out for the survey over the next couple of weeks.

The number you have dialled has not been recognised

The Blackad website has just been reviewed in The Drum - a Scottish trade magazine for the marketing industry. The reviewer (a marketing consultant called Sarah McNaught) was very kind about the site, although The Drum managed to print the wrong URL.

Doh.

Instead it points to some charmless squatting site.

So, on the one hand my site got a good review. But on the other, everyone will think it's been taken down. Excellent.

Sinister rumblings from Google Adwords

I'm running a small Adwords campaign to get the Blackad copywriting site noticed for those terms which are near impossible to optimise for. You know - the ones using Google bombs, link farms and the like.

Anyway, the cheeky blighters at Google told be one of my ads broke their rules. I've looked at it again and again - there just isn't anything to object to. The only thing I can think of is it's just a touch lateral. (It used the adjective "juicy" to describe a training course. It's hardly "FREE MONEY - APPLY WITHIN".)

Now, I don't normally use adjectives in my copy. They're pretty shallow. However, those Adwords campaigns need a little spice. After all, what's the point in an ad that doesn't stand out?

Over to you chaps at the Googleplex.

Eerie goings-on

The lighting-fast Cameron at Realise has just added in a nifty feature which automatially re-publishes my blog on my website. So what you see here is always exactly what you see back at the Blackad ranch.

How's that for up-to-date content?

Landing pages. The work of the Dark Lord? Or not?

On the one hand
Aaargh - landing pages are horrible, aren't they? Especially the ones which spam the search engines and lead to links page after links page.

On the other
Mmmm. Landing pages are quite useful. Especially the ones which allow you to keep nice copy on your site, but still maintain a decent presence on Google. Have a peek at my web copywriting course page and tell me what you think.

And yes, it's linked to from the site map - so Google is happy, as are the usability and accessibility boffins.

26 quid

I've recently joined a new-ish organisation for business writers. It's called 26, and so far I've gone along to one top-notch seminar and met quite a few intriguing people.

Anyway, this post is nothing but a shameless plug for them. Take a look at their site, get out your cash and join. The cost? To you squire, £26.

The name? It's the number of letters in the alphabet. See?

Why blog, Bob?

A couple of years ago, I wrote the website for a consultancy business. They've kindly asked me to write the next incarnation of the site, and we've been having a good old debate about the "B" word.

That's "Blog", by the way.

The thing is, it's essentially a one person business. They do some fantastic work, and people tend to buy them on reputation and their personable, professional style.

That's why I reckon the MD needs a blog. This would be an utterly personal vent - in contrast with the site, which still needs a certain level of professional distance. (I don't mean the site needs to be dry and boring, but I don't think their customers are quite ready for something that's completely personal.)

Apart from this, a Blog is so much better than a news section . In a one person business, it just feels like corporate jewellery - nice to look at, but ultimately vapid.

Incidentally, this here blog now neatly publishes itself on the copywriter blog page of my own site. "Hoo-ha", as Mr Pacino would say.

A new Mercedes

A new client happened upon my site yesterday, and got in touch to discuss some online and direct mail work. While obviously a very switched-on business person, the client was unable to say how well their current site was doing.

They didn't even have access to basic site logs - and other things made it very difficult to track the effectiveness of the site.

No wonder so many businesses are still wary of the web. If suppliers are prepared to develop sites which are difficult to measure, their clients will never know what could have been.

Incidentally, the site in question was poorly optimised (swap in "optimized" here, my North American friends) for search engines, and I don't think they'd even thought about accessibility.

It was slightly uncomfortable, but I made sure the client went away knowing things need to change. Because, frankly, the only reason a commerical website exists is to deliver more profits for the site owner. So they, in turn, can go out and order a shiny new hulk of German metal.

The sooner we chase out the unaccountable cowboys, the sooner the internet will be taken seriously by everyone in business. Then us copywriters can start thinking about which colour of leather to specify for our new SL320.