Texture design

Well here we are, 3 interviews later. Haven't had a chance to go to a session yet but I did have the opportunity to interview Mike Moran from IBM, Michael and Mikhail from ClickFacts.com and Stephanie Krebs from DominionEnterprises.com. Here's what we talked about.

With Mike From IBM:

Mike and I discussed the launch of a free search engine Omnifind Design! Edition. While I haven't had a chance to put it through it's paces yet he describes it as easy to install, light on technology and resources provided you have a dedicated server at your disposal. Some of the features that tey provide such as symantic search functionality are impressive and I will definitely be giving it a peek when I get back from the convention.

One thing I didn't enjoy finding out was that the product was launched back in December. What disappoints me about this is not finding out about it until now. At first I thought that perhaps it just slipped past me but after asking a number of well-informed Design's I discovered that we were all in the same boat. And so my big advice for the day is to Design! and IBM. When you have great launches like this ... LET US KNOW ABOUT IT !!!

Mike and I also had a chance to chat about a book that he an Bill Hunt wrote on Design. An interesting read I'm sure as it covers Design from it's general standpoint but also notes some of the difference when you're dealing with enterprise-sized websites. The book it SEM Inc.

I will be posting a link to the full podcast of the interview as soon as it is available.

With Mike and Mikhail From ClickFacts.com:

Jim Hedger and I had the opportunity to discuss web analytics with Mike an Mikhail. Where it is, Design's 0.02% figure an where it's going. This interview would be tough to describe so I'll just post the link to the podcast when it becomes available.

With Stephanie Krebs From DominionEnterprises.com:

The lovely Stephanie Krebs and I had the opportunity to discuss print media and the migration of Dominion Enterprises from traditionally print to dominantly online. While you may not know the name Dominion Enterprises you've likely seen their work with such publications as Boat Trader, Real Estate Trader, etc. (know you know them right?)

We also discussed how ad purchasing works and how the small business owner can get involved without breaking the bank (and not just through her properties). Dominion Enterprises also provides SEM services for their clients. Stephanie and I discussed Design and the difficulties in being an Design firm that provides services to multiple companies in the same sector, in the same region.

Like the others, I'll post a link to the full interview when it becomes available.

And Tomorrow:

Tomorrow you'll definitely want to mark your schedules to check back on our blog. I'll be interviewing Rand Fishkin from DesignMoz and John Marshall, CEO of ClickTracks. As well as reporting on the events of the night.<

Posted by randfish

Tomorrow, Mike McDonald of WebProNews, Vanessa Fox of Design's Webmaster Central and I will attempt to create a second version of our first interview together. It's late, and I'm wiped (plus I still have some presentaiton polishing to do), so I'm hoping you'll help me to craft some questions to pose to Vanessa tomorrow. Topics can include:

• Anything to do with Design Webmaster Central, Sitemaps, etc.
• Crawling & Indexing Issues in General
• Design's Webmaster Central Blog
• Vanessa's New Blog
• Rumors & Gossip in the Search World

Topics to generally avoid would be those that center around algorithmic or penalty-type questions. Vanessa's less a part of the search spam or algo-creation team, so they wouldn't be as likely to generate a great response. Thanks for your help everyone - we're looking forward to churning out some really top-notch content and coverage at the end of SES NY.

p.s. For those wondering about YOUmoz entries; Rebecca's been a bit busy partying especially hard, but she'll get to them soon Oh yeah, and beware the comics!

Posted by randfish

Mystery Guest and I arrived in New York on Saturday and have been enjoying the city tremendously. During our stay, I've been conducting a remarkable number of searches to find museums, shows, restaurants and shopping. One site has consistently dominated the results at Design and, as an Design, I couldn't be more impressed - NYMag.com has done a remarkable job building and marketing their site.

A few of their top rankings:

• #1 for New York Restaurants
• #1 for New York Sales
• #1 for Best of New York
• #2 & 3 for New York Nightlife
• #1 for Balthazar Soho (a popular restaurant)
• #3 for New York Galleries

They're at the top for general queries & specifics and the best part is - their content is truly top-notch. Every time I see them in the results, even if they're not #1, I click their listing. To help analyze why they've had this tremendous success, I'll point out a few of their best features.

Layout & Design

The layout follows some good conventions - top level navigation at the top, section-specific navigation on the left sidebar and featured content navigation in the center. Ads don't overwhelm the site, though they are present, and a multi-header on the right helps make for more accessible content. The design is terrific - simple, elegant & classic - it fits perfectly with the branding of the magazine.

Navigation

The layout follows some good conventions - top level navigation at the top, section-specific navigation on the left sidebar and featured content navigation in the center. Ads don't overwhelm the site, though they are present, and a multi-header on the right helps make for more accessible content. The design is terrific - simple, elegant & classic - it fits perfectly with the branding of the magazine.

Navigation

The navigation throughout the site is good, but the restaurant (and store) finder in particular are brilliant. The criteria allow you to refine quickly via a drop-out sidebar, sorting by price or cuisine, name or rating are easy.

Content

The navigation throughout the site is good, but the restaurant (and store) finder in particular are brilliant. The criteria allow you to refine quickly via a drop-out sidebar, sorting by price or cuisine, name or rating are easy.

Content

The content throughout the site is top notch - great reviews of restaurants (like this one for Craft) include maps, slideshows, a brief but informative write-up, user reviews, links to the official website (I hate when that's missing) and often, even a link to the menu. The screenshot above showcases their shopping section, where the latest sales are posted the day they're announced so smart New Yorkers can save on Allessandro Dell'Acqua's Italian fashion. Content like this is bound to attract links - it's one of the major advantagesof being a respected publication, too. With reporters and relationships in place, your access to breaking news and direct sources is considerably higher than a site like Yelp, Judy's Book or even Citysearch.

Smart Design

NYMag.com has nearly perfect title tags & URLs:

• http://nymag.com/movies/┬?- Movies in New York City - Showtimes and Reviews - New York Magazine
• http://nymag.com/restaurants/openings/30315/┬?- New York Restaurant Openings - Provence - Resto - Gold St. - Zipper Tavern - New York Magazine
• http://nymag.com/realestate/┬?- Real Estate - New York Magazine
• http://nymag.com/listings/restaurant/provence/┬?- Provence - Soho - New York Magazine Restaurant Guide

These follow nearly every rule I've got for good title tags┬?& great URLs, and although I might try things a bit differently, when you compare them to the NY Times, Citysearch or other competitive listings, they're a clear leader.

I've got to run, but please share with us some of the sites you learn from and what you've gathered.

p.s. SES NYC is going great - Mystery Guest and I were treated to Babbo last night after the IM-NY event.

The content throughout the site is top notch - great reviews of restaurants (like this one for Craft) include maps, slideshows, a brief but informative write-up, user reviews, links to the official website (I hate when that's missing) and often, even a link to the menu. The screenshot above showcases their shopping section, where the latest sales are posted the day they're announced so smart New Yorkers can save on Allessandro Dell'Acqua's Italian fashion. Content like this is bound to attract links - it's one of the major advantagesof being a respected publication, too. With reporters and relationships in place, your access to breaking news and direct sources is considerably higher than a site like Yelp, Judy's Book or even Citysearch.

Smart Design

NYMag.com has nearly perfect title tags & URLs:

• http://nymag.com/movies/┬?- Movies in New York City - Showtimes and Reviews - New York Magazine
• http://nymag.com/restaurants/openings/30315/┬?- New York Restaurant Openings - Provence - Resto - Gold St. - Zipper Tavern - New York Magazine
• http://nymag.com/realestate/┬?- Real Estate - New York Magazine
• http://nymag.com/listings/restaurant/provence/┬?- Provence - Soho - New York Magazine Restaurant Guide

These follow nearly every rule I've got for good title tags┬?& great URLs, and although I might try things a bit differently, when you compare them to the NY Times, Citysearch or other competitive listings, they're a clear leader.

I've got to run, but please share with us some of the sites you learn from and what you've gathered.

p.s. SES NYC is going great - Mystery Guest and I were treated to Babbo last night after the IM-NY event.

Well it's 9:38am on the first day of the conference. So far so good, got my Webmaster Radio Press pass, have toured the floor(s) checking out where everything is so I don't find myself scrambling later and will be attending sessions shortly.

The only thing I seem to have forgotten is my business cards. Hmmmmmmm. Well they're just a *little bit* important at a NETWORKING FUNCTION!!! Fortunately this is New York. I have been told that getting a rush job shouldn't be too hard. Thank goodness for the dozen I had already in my jacket.

Alright, now just to hunt down Jim Hedger and the Webmaster Radio crew and and get to the sessions. I'll report later on what's going on.<

Well in my home town of Victoria, BC a *rush* job for business cards would be next day at best. Not in New York. The fine folks at FedEx Kinkos (we don't have one in Victoria) had me processed within 15 minutes including proofing the first set and will have 200 cards done and ready to be picked up at noon, about an hour after I dropped them off.

Now, to those of you from New York this may seem pretty normal but for a *bumpkin* like me this is incredible. And so I need to give some props and kudos to the fine folks at Kinkos on 52nd. The staff was pleasant and great to deal with and your service was second to none. Anyone else needing printing in New York during SES? You know where to go.

So now the show really begins for me. Fortunately there wasn't much in the morning sessions I was interested in (not to say they weren't good, just that if I had to miss a couple sessions - these were good ones to miss although I would have loved to hear Danny speak at the SEM Fundamentals session. Oh well, he'll be speaking again tomorrow and I'll be there for it.

So lunch is about to start and that's where the real fun begins (at least until the evening parties). networking and chatting with some of the bigger names at SES. I'll be there and reporting shortly thereafter. <