Matrix Group International

Month: July 2008

  • Google Searches Amazon Better Than Amazon

    Google Searches Amazon Better Than Amazon

    Amazon.com is really lucky that Google.com indexes its content and then adds the fabulous Google search algorithms to searches.  In order to find something on Amazon.com, I had to find it on Google.com.

    My son begged me to purchase software based on the Dr. Seuss ABC Book. We had previously seen the program at the Apple Store.  Even though I have a Mac at home, CJ’s computer is a PC and I wanted the PC version for him.

    • So I went to Amazon.com and typed “dr. Seuss alphabet software.”  I got nothing. I tried “dr. seuss alphabet” and didn’t get any software.
    • I should have typed “dr. seuss ABC software” but somehow, I had alphabet on the brain.  It was late and my normally decent searching skills were not kicking in.
    • So I went to Google.com and typed “dr. Seuss alphabet software” and yes, you guessed it, Google found the product I wanted on Amazon.com; it was the second link.
    • Google’s legendary search algorithms did it again.  Alphabet got equated to ABC and I got what I needed.  I bet I’m not the only person who has gone to Google.com to find the content on another site.  If I wanted to, I could have asked Google to search for “dr. Seuss alphabet software” on the Amazon.com site by typing “dr. Seuss alphabet software site:amazon.com.”

    Lesson for all of us who build Web sites: make sure your site is visible to Google and other Internet search engines (more on that topic in another post).

  • I Registered for This Fact Sheet? Why I’m Mad At WebTrends

    While preparing for a Matrix Group seminar on usage reports, I decided to get the latest news about Google Analytics and WebTrends on Demand.  I found all the information about Google Analytics on the Google site with no problems.  The WebTrends site advertised a Fact Sheet that promised more technical details about features and implementation, but I had to register.

    Okay, I figure, I’m already a customer of the server software, why not register to get the Fact Sheet?  The registration process was two screens, then I was directed to the PDF of the Fact Sheet.  Guess what?  The fact sheet was nothing but a page and half of marketing fluff that was absolutely NOT worth me registering for it.  The Fact Sheet had no technical specs, no descriptions of the reports, and no pricing information.  It was totally useless.

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  • Who Needs a Clipping Service When There’s Google Alerts?

    Who Needs a Clipping Service When There’s Google Alerts?

    Google AlertsA while back, I signed up for several Google Alerts. Google Alerts is a free service that alerts you when your choice of keywords or phrases shows up on news pages, the Web, blogs, videos, and Google group searches.

    Google recommends setting up Google Alerts to:

    • monitor a developing news story
    • keep current on a competitor or industry
    • track medical advances
    • get the latest on a celebrity or sports team (yeah, we all need more news about Britney)
    • watch for new videos that match a specific topic

    Me, I set up Google Alerts for my name (Joanna Pineda) and my company name (Matrix Group International, Inc.). I had to experiment with using ” ” to get the right alerts; otherwise, I was getting a lot of false alerts on news items with the word matrix.

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  • I Love Firefox 3!

    I Love Firefox 3!

    Firefox 3 launched June 18 and over 8 million people downloaded the new version. As of July 2, there were 28,340,281 total downloads!

    I procrastinated at first but after a few weeks, I finally clicked on the download link. And boy, am I glad I did! Let me tell you why:

    • Firefox 2.0.0.16 was bogging down my entire laptop (which had 4MB of RAM) when I had 20+ tabs open. 20 tabs?  Some of you may think I deserved a slow browser for having that many tabs open. But I always have my address book, calendar, intranet, to do list, NY Times, Twitter, Facebook, Matrix Group Web site and Google analytics open, so 20 is nothing by the time 10:00am rolls around.
    • I love, love, love how I can simply type a word or two of a site into the URL bar and Firefox presents a list of possible options, including the title and URL.
    • The back button is big and prominent, even bigger than the forward button.
    • If I close a tab by mistake, I can find the site quickly by going to History to Show All History or Recently Closed Tabs.
    • The Password Manager is more graceful, showing up in a bar above the page, allowing me to remember, not now or never on this site.
    • I’m told that Firefox is more secure than ever, protecting me from phishing sites and evil scripts on Web sites.

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  • National Association of Area Agencies on Aging

    National Association of Area Agencies on Aging

    The National Association of Area Agencies on Aging (n4a)’s primary mission is to build the capacity of its members to help older persons and persons with disabilities live with dignity.

    N4a asked Matrix Group to turn its Web site into the premier destination for issues and resources on aging.  Matrix Group worked closely with n4a to showcase its many broad-reaching programs, clearly outline member benefits, and call on members to participate in research, workshops, training, and ongoing collaboration.   Our solutions included targeted user surveys, intuitive site navigation, a design to enhance their brand, a customized Content Management System (CMS) to make it easy for staff to keep content fresh, and integration with legacy applications.

  • Can the Web and Twitter Help Find Jeddah?

    Can the Web and Twitter Help Find Jeddah?

    Last Thursday, John and Ronia Weisner were at Dulles Airport, on their way to Saudi Arabia for a year-long assignment.  Accompanying them was their beloved dog, Jeddah.  Somehow, something went terribly wrong, Jeddah’s crate was damaged, and the dog escaped.  Now, there is a Web site – http://www.HelpFindJeddah.com –  devoted to finding Jeddah, as well as a Twitter account to keep people abreast of any news related to Jeddah’s whereabouts.

    Just think about it.  In the past, if a dog or cat went missing, we put up flyers in the neighborhood and told all our friends.  Today, we use the Web, especially social networking sites, to tell the story, spread the word, and ask others to spread the word.  If a cause or issue takes hold, thousands of people catch wind of the story within minutes, hours, days, without the involvement of any government or news outlet.

    In Jeddah’s case, WJLA reported the story, which reached the ears of Kate Bland, who asked Matrix Group to put up a Web page and Twitter account.  In between, dozens of people have e-mailed and actually joined the hunt for Jeddah at Dulles Airport and in Reston.  Today, thousands of people have heard about Jeddah.

    Can the Web, e-mail and Twitter help save Jeddah?  Let’s hope so.
     

  • Break From the Pack

    Break From the Pack

    Oren Harari does a masterful job of teaching execs how to compete in a copycat economy.

  • Barack Obama is Following Me on Twitter

    Barack Obama is Following Me on Twitter

    A friend of mine boasted that she is following Barack Obama on Twitter and he is following her back.  Curious, I logged on to my Twitter account and started following Barack Obama. Lo and behold, within a few minutes, I got an e-mail from Twitter saying that Barack Obama was following me back on Twitter.

    Why on earth would a presidential candidate follow every Tom, Dick and Harry who wants to follow him on Twitter?  And is some poor soul on his staff really assigned to monitor the Twitter posts?

    And then it hit me.  Looking at Obama’s Twitter page, you’ll note that as of midnight on July 14, 2008, there are 46,535 people following him.  It’s not about the Twitter posts, it’s about showing how many people care about what Obama is doing, about showing the huge diversity of his supporters, and allowing his supporters to get connected.

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  • Where Did All My Traffic Go?

    In recent months, several clients reported declines in their Web site traffic.  “Where did all my traffic go?” they asked anxiously.  Turns out, the traffic is still there, but it’s dispersed and these clients have to look at usage reports from different sources to learn their true usage patterns and volume.

    The number one reason for the seeming decline is splitting up Web traffic over multiple domains.  For example, many clients are moving to Web-based membership databases hosted by their providers.  Which means they now have usage at www.association.org and www2.association.org. Their Web traffic is now on two different servers, in different log files.  So, if a lot of your functionality (e.g., member directory, events calendar, meeting registration, manage profile) moved to another server, your traffic on the main Web site could take a nosedive.  The solution?  Get usage reports from your providers, arrange to download log files and run reports yourself, or add Google analytics or Webtrends on Demand to your header files to get consolidated reports.
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  • Full vs. Partial RSS Feeds & E-Mail Updates – That is the Question

    There is a raging debate in the office re: full vs. partial RSS feeds and e-mail updates.
    The question is which option drives more traffic to the Web site?

    This blog publishes partial RSS feeds and e-mail updates. You get the title and the first 60+ words and a link to the full article. The thinking is that you would get the gist of the article, then click through to read the rest of the article. While viewing the full article on the site, you might be enticed to click on past postings, the favorites on the right, or perhaps the related projects at the bottom.

    Sounds logical right? But wait, there are many some views:

    According to Rick Klau, VP of Publishing Services at FeedBurner, there appears to be no
    significant difference in click through rates between full and partial RSS feeds.
    http://thewrongadvices.com/2007/04/20/full-vs-partial-rss-feeds/

    Jonathan Christopher of Monday by Noon, defends partial feeds because of the scraper sites that publish full articles on their sites and possible negative penalty that search engines associate with duplicate content.  Klau agrees with Christopher on the issue of scraper sites. http://mondaybynoon.com/2006/09/04/partial-versus-full-rss-feeds/

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