One thing graphic designers get very excited about is “white space,” or the empty space on a page around images, in the gutter, on the edges, between lines of type, in the middle of a big letter “O.” Expertly used, white space (or any other solid block of color) acts as a frame, grouping the content on the page into distinct areas that can be more easily digested. Like how a bright blue sky sets of a few fluffy clouds, like the spacious feeling standing in an old building with 10 foot ceilings, or like the ocean reflecting the setting sun’s rays.

White space can make clients nervous.

They look at the half inch of space here and there, add them together, and fear the space may be wasted, underutilized… When we ask for feedback on the design, the client may look at these slices of white and exclaim, “My, what big white space you have!”

The graphic designer grins and says, “The better to see your message with.”

But unlike big bad wolves, DDA’s graphic designers can be trusted. For one thing, our teeth are much smaller, and well-flossed. We don’t want to gobble up all of the important content with our big white space. We want the client’s message to be experienced as if it is an elegant, balanced, seven-course meal, not as an overpriced raisin on a plate, or an overloaded buffet.

I had mentioned previously that some clients choose to use paid search as a method of bringing prospects to their website.

Is paid search right for you? There are many who will debate what is better - organic or paid search results. While organic is free, it takes a good amount of hard work, research, and time to achieve quality results. With paid, your high ranking results can be immediate as long as you are willing to pay the price.

DDA will gladly handle either or both of these tactics for you. We are constantly designing and developing optimized state-of-the-art websites for companies so that they can gain quality rankings on search engines organically. DDA also handles Pay Per Click (PPC) campaigns for clients who wish to pursue that method.

Before you decide which method is best for you, you should know that they each require attention and on-going support.

Below are some terms related to pay per click programs.

Impression - the number of times an ad is displayed.

Click - A click (sometimes called a clickthrough) occurs when a user sees your ad and clicks on the title of your ad, leading them to your website.

Clickthrough Rate (CTR) - the number of clicks your ad receives divided by the number of times your ad is shown (impressions). Your ad and keyword each have their own CTRs, unique to your own campaign performance.

Cost - the amount spent during a selected period of time. For every click, your account is charged an amount to show your ad.

Average Cost Per Click - the amount you pay each time a user clicks on your ad.

Conversion - When a user completes an action on your site, such as buying something or requesting more information.

Conversion Rate - the number of conversions divided by the number of ad clicks.

Cost Per Conversion - The total cost divided by the total number of conversions. This statistic gives you the amount spent per conversion. The cost-per-conversion is adjusted to reflect only the cost of ad clicks on which conversions are tracked.

I can recall in my last days in college, way back when, thanking the stars above that soon I would say adieu to the formidable research paper and all tasks like it, the most hated by me being the position paper.

How naive I was. Within just a few days of my internship at an arts and entertainment newspaper, it became quite clear that I was no where near done with the research — one of the most critical aspects  of good writing.

Now at DDA, those handy research skills are still put to good use. In writing for websites, video scripts, brochures, etc., I am continuously switching topics and audiences.  The only way to make my writing as effective as possible, is to know my topic and my audience.

Big words, flowery descriptions, and lots of professional jargon is not going to impress the real client or consumer. Attention spans are short these days, and if you don’t have the exact information they are looking for written clearly and concisely, regardless if they are reading it on your website or at your tradeshow booth, they are going to move on.

So as a writer, that means a little bit of research and orientation to familiarize myself. Luckily, my reporting skills allow me to do this in the quickest, most efficient way possible.

I am constantly impressed on  a daily basis what the writing department is capable of. After receiving a request mid afternoon for editing and expanding upon copy on a very complicated medical condition and treatment for an interactive CD, Laura, the Head Writer, had the text complete within two hours. Not only complete, but well written, professional, and knowledgeable.

Taking just a small amount of time to take a step back and really think about to whom you are writing and what they would be most interested in hearing, and really knowing what it is you are writing on, is what allows us to switch gears and produce high-quality copy as quickly as we do.

As evidenced by the pollen caked on the back window of my car, spring is officially here. Though with the sloppy weather of the last couple days it feels more like fall.

Regardless, it’s suddenly seems like everything is waking up around us, and in terms of New Business Development, everyone.

After a very brief lull, proposals have kicked backed up again with a vengeance. This means the majority of my days at DDA are now being spent on conference calls, e-mails, preparing proposals, internal meetings and discussions, and returning calls.

It is a very time consuming and involved part of my job. A large reason for this is the way DDA handles inquiries and every job it does — whether it’s web development, video, animation, graphic design, etc. — as I know I’ve written about before, in a very customized way.

There’s a process to determining what the best strategy for any project is — and it almost always begins with a conference call. This is where we connect with the client and really flush out what it is he or she is looking for.

From that, one of the department heads — website, video, graphic design, or programming — will prepare a time estimate. As we pride ourselves on being as cost efficient as possible and always staying as close to possible within the perimeters of the estimate, this can be tricky, and often requires several revisions and changes.

As one of four professional writers on staff, it is my job, as well as that of the other writers, to take the time estimate and turn it into a quote.

As you can imagine, with so many inquires flooding in as of late, this little process takes up quite a deal of time. But it’s a critical piece to retaining the customized and detail-oriented approach that makes us DDA.

Over the weekend the weather snapped and it is now quite chilly outside. The clouds and rain are here too. It makes for a rainy Monday, a day where I would much rather have stayed in bed wrapped in my warm blanket. But it is still Monday which means I must return to work at DDA.

My day begins by checking my email, which seems to be never-ending, from the weekend. After that I must remind myself to write my blog - hopefully I will come up with something interesting. After that the day is vaguely sketched out. I know I must run SEO reports and check on the status of our Pay Per Click campaigns to see how they did over the weekend.

I have various website update requests from one of our clients, and inbetween all of this I will no doubtedly receive phone calls from others here at DDA with questions or answers about projects.

A day without that though would be very uncomfortable, I expected it!

“My site doesn’t need to be search-engine friendly” and “I don’t need any SEO done on it,” are the oddest notions to us here at DDA, and yet we still hear it time and time again.

If you have a business that is off-line normally, you wouldn’t open it, hidden away down some poorly-lit back alley with no sign and blacked-out windows, which is exactly what you are doing if you choose to ignore Search Engine Marketing and in fact any type of on-line marketing.

In 2008, people still just want a 6-page “about us” brochure website that serves no real purpose at all, as most likely the only way people find it is by seeing the website address on the bottom of the brochure you just gave them.

I don’t even want to think about the amount of time we have used up trying to convince people of the benefit of having a site that brings you thousands of fresh viewers each month, all discovering your company for the first time.

What’s more, it’s so totally baffling that even after sitting down and thoroughly explaining the benefits of SEO and the traffic you get and how controllable it is, they will smile and say “Oh no thanks. I’m happy with my site. I just want it to look prettier.”

My younger cousin e-mailed the other day to ask if I ever had to do public speaking. It was for a college class project. She was referring primarily to my days in journalism, but after mulling over the question, I realized how important verbal communication is in my position as a writer — nearly just as vital as my writing skills.

A large part of what I do is interacting with existing and prospective clients. This runs the spectrum from phone calls to check up on progress, to troubleshooting any technical issues, to conference calls to discuss new projects.

I am always conscious that how I present myself is directly representative of Dynamic Digital Advertising (DDA).

We do great work. From the programmers, to the designers, to web developers,  videographers and everyone in between, we have a very talented group who can get things done well and on time. But there’s another aspect to what we do as well, which is client relations.

That genuine concern for a client’s project, their feedback, and the end product, is like adding just the right topping to a project that already combines some of the most innovative and cutting-edge technologies.

Tax day! I know I am not the worst when it comes to filing taxes, but I know that waiting until 7 a.m. on April 15th is not the best way to handle it either, considering I could have easily filed everything over two months ago. Perhaps taxes are the reason behind our week being slightly slower than others.

Sure, I still have plenty to focus on — our PPC clients, Surething SEO reports, requested website updates, and production coordination. Perhaps we should consider this a week to play catch up, so that when taxes are behind us and companies are ready to tackle their marketing efforts we will be more ready than ever.

The weather this weekend was perfect! If the temperature could stay in the 70s all the time I would be thrilled. Now, it is back down in the 50s, which made it that much easier to come to work this Monday, after such a beautiful weekend. Plus, this upcoming weekend is supposed to be warm and sunny again - a little something to look forward to all week!!

A typical Monday for me is usually focused on tying up any loose ends from the previous week. Making sure that projects are still on schedule, reviewing Pay Per Click results for the past four days, and adjusting task lists as needed.

Mondays are a day to reorganize everything to make it work with the week ahead.