People always look at me funny when I say that I come to work to relax. My weekends are hardly relaxing.

This crazy weekend consisted of completely redecorating my sister’s bedroom for her 13th birthday, celebrating a communion, doing the normal chores, and then on top of it all having to create a 3D model of a piranha for my daughter’s rainforest project… I was actually looking forward to coming into work to have a few hours without having to run around like a chicken with my head cut off. And it is always nice to be able to eat lunch without having to cut up and serve three other lunches first!

This morning at DDA, as soon as I came in I was given the task of researching URLS and listing all contact information, etc. This was not listed in my calendar of events for a Monday, but I held off on all other projects to do so. This isn’t a rare occurrence, being a Search Engine Optimization Specialist at a graphic design company. Aside from my normal tasks of optimizing websites, I will be asked to take on several other tasks on a daily basis.

I may not have been able to relax just yet, but it is a Monday so that’s normal. I honestly don’t think that I am capable of being 100% relaxed. Pretty much the only time I sit at home is to fold laundry or eat dinner. And even then I am usually up and doing something on the in-between.

But it is nice coming to DDA, taking a deep breath and being Jess for a while instead of Mom.

Time rules my life. I seem to do everything at the same time everyday. I am always on time if not early… and on time to me means at least 5 minutes early for any event. So when someone tells me that they will be at my house at 8:15 a.m. to pick up my daughter for “take your daughter to work day,” they get a phone call at 8:14 a.m. seeing if it will take more than one minute to show up.

Ten minutes later, I am mentally stressing and seeing how much time left I have to take my sons to school and race to work. Somehow, time was on my side and I didn’t get a single red light on my way to work.

After arriving at DDA, a graphic design company, I sit at my desk, check the clock (of course) and begin my role as Search Engine Optimization Specialist. I check my calendar to see which websites I will be optimizing on each hour of my glorious Thursday.

With our SureThing optimization program, we take several steps each month, and over time this increases website rankings. It is very interesting to see how the work that I do on a monthly basis helps a website climb higher in the major search engines.

I would continue… but I only have 2 minutes until I need to begin optimizing my first website of the day.

On my way into work this morning, I was next to a truck with a logo displayed on the side and thought, DDA could design a better logo than that one! As a search engine optimization specialist at a graphic design company, I look at things with a critical eye. Whether its ending up proofing a menu when trying to decide what to order for dinner or looking at all of the billboards on my way to the shore, I find myself critiquing other company’s design work. It makes me realize just how talented our designers are at DDA.

Now I am by no means a designer myself, but I can definitely see a big difference in skill, experience, and ability when comparing DDA designs to other company’s logo designs, website designs, billboard designs and catalog designs.

The advancements over the years in technology amaze me. I was thinking about this last night as I took my son into a public restroom and he was just holding his hands under the sink and patiently waiting for it to turn on by itself! It wasn’t an automatic sink so we actually had to turn it on by ourselves. Years ago this wasn’t even an option. I was in Philadelphia over the weekend and saw people riding around the streets on automatic scooters. We live in a world of automatic toilets, sinks, doors and even trashcans!

It makes me also think about the technology that has become normal for websites. When I first started working here, I don’t even think we had a website! Our first site was very basic, with text links and images of completed projects. Over the years, as you can see in our timeline, our website’s design began to transform. Today, our website has grown into a 3,000 page site with interactive flash elements, pages upon pages of keyword-rich content, magic layers and more! DDA is constantly adding to our website to keep things fresh and to keep up with the latest technology.

Remembering lunches, sleeping bags, school projects, permission forms and all other necessities for my children for their school week…. ahhh, it must be Monday!

As I wake up and get ready for another work week I try to keep a positive attitude. As a search engine optimization specialist, I know that I will be optimizing a plethora of websites, each design different from the next. No matter how many times I get stuck at every red light on the way in, or notice that there is something that has rubbed off of my son’s hands onto my pants that will bother me until I can get home and shout it out, once I get to work I try to take a deep breath and put my morning (before walking into DDA) aside. It’s a good thing I don’t drink coffee or I am sure that it would have spilled on my lap by now.

I have set up a calendar for myself, just like the calendar that we use to schedule conference calls about website designs and search engine marketing or client meetings to discuss a logo or business card design. In it I have hour by hour designated which site I will be working on throughout my work week. I am hoping this will help be more organized since we optimize many websites, some of which we have designed as well.

I hope to stay on track with my projects for the day, but I am sure that shortly someone will be asking me for software from our large inventory, or ask for a website analysis of a potential client’s website.

When I returned to work on Tuesday (my son was sick on Monday), I was asked by several co-workers, “How’s your son feeling?”. At DDA, it’s like having a second family, a home away from home. Instead of brothers and sisters, we have SEO specialists, programmers and copywriters. We celebrate birthdays, have baby showers, bridal showers and support fund raising efforts for each other. We even have a dog running around! When lunchtime comes around, if someone is ordering takeout, they always ask if anyone would like to order as well. We even have a beer night. (I am out of the office when this time comes, but I imagine it’s a nice way to end a Thursday)

Like sisters share clothes, our website designers share projects. If one designer is overwhelmed and a deadline is near, another designer can help out finishing a project. We all try to help one another out if possible. Everyone appreciates the talents that our staff members possess. Looking through any of our portfolios including 3d animation, website design, virtual reality and more, you will see how talented this (at times) dysfunctional family really is. A fellow employee once said, “It takes a rare breed to work at DDA.” I think this is true. You have to be able to keep up in a fast-paced environment, manage your time properly, be able multi-task, and the hardest thing to remember in the beginning: logging in and out of our TRAC, our online tracking system that keeps our time accounted down to the minute for clients’ projects. And each improvement that is made on the TRAC, whether big or small, it is appreciated. (Thanks Amy!)

So to all of my fellow project coordinators, animators, programmers and designers…

Have a great weekend!

Like most kids, I grew up loving cartoons. Back then it was The Smurfs, Alvin and the Chipmunks, Rainbow Brite, The Transformers, Ninja Turtles (I could go one and on) that were on the television in my house. Growing up with an older sister that was very artistic and could draw anything you put in front of her, I wanted to be just like her and started to draw myself. And cartoons were my all time favorite!

The talented illustrators at DDA, a graphic design company, have created some of the most amazing hand drawn illustrations, technical illustrations and digital illustrations around. Illustrations were created of the DDA programmers, designers, search engine optimization specialists for our website.

At the Meet DDA section on our website that also displays our website design capabilities, photography services, 3d modeling and animation projects and much more, you can see a cartoon version of each of us. You can also read our daily blogs.

As I watch some of the cartoons that my kids watch today I find myself thinking, The Smurfs were still better than this!

One of the great things about working at DDA, the pioneer and leader in digital advertising, is the capability to access everything you need even if you are at home. I was working from home yesterday and was able to have all of my necessary information at hand. From website optimization to updating website ranking reports, I was able to complete my usual tasks while sitting behind a different desk, in a different location. The advancements in technology over the years are amazing. I remember when working from home meant printing out papers and labels, and anything that I forgot would have to wait until the next day. Nowadays with email, networking and any other technical terms that I am unaware of… everything I need to complete tasks while at home is available to me. I have set up everything that I use in office to be so organized that when I am accessing files from home it is not a game of finding a needle in a haystack. Being organized is very important. From search engine optimization and forwarding potential clients’ requests for website design, to setting up the optimization schedule for the many websites that we optimize, keeping it all organized is task #1!

There is something about seeing the flowers begin to bloom and putting those bulky sweaters and jackets away that makes me smile. I just love opening the windows and feeling the fresh air!

What better way to start the new season than with a new website. DDA has several talented website designers on staff. Whether you need content development and keyword research or interactive flash segments and 3d animation, DDA can handle it all.

We have clients that come to us for website redesigns that also include pre-launch search engine optimization. After the site launches they are entered into our SureThing Program, and their website receives additional optimization to achieve higher rankings in the search engines.

When looking for a website design company that can provide all of these services under one roof, be sure to check out DDA!

I was at a wedding recently and asked the chair cover company for their business card, as I am planning my own wedding. She searched her pockets and then presented me with her business card. She then told me that she didn’t have a website yet. My immediate thought was “What do you mean you don’t have a website?!?”

It’s so funny to think about the days before we could just go online and find what we were looking for. I remember one time my daughter asked me a question about some history fact and I had no idea what the answer was. And what was my response? “Google it!” The days of encyclopedias and looking through the phone book to find a fact or company are long gone in my household.

At DDA, we have some of the most talented graphic designers (I may be a little biased) to create custom websites for topics ranging from medical procedures to window manufacturers to clock manufacturers. Our website design and development services cover all bases. From pre-launch website optimization, keyword research, content development, website hosting and metrics to post-launch optimization, DDA can do it all!