Dear Thursday:

I love you. You are the last day of my work week. Most people give Friday all of the props and push you under the rug as just another day. At DDA though, you are the pinnacle day.

After 3 days of working hard programming websites, animating in 2D with flash, and/or animating and modeling in 3D with lightwave, you bring me a happy feeling. When 5 o’clock rolls around I know there is a beer with my name on it, thanks to you. Before I leave I also know that my paycheck will be given to me as well, thanks to you. When I’m driving home I get an awesome feeling knowing that I can stay up as late as I want, thanks to you. There is also the week’s best lineup of prime time shows on television at night, again, all thanks to you.

So my dear Thursday, I just wanted to let you know my feelings about you and that I appreciate all you do. Keep up the good work.

Your not so secret admirer,

Vinnie

PS: Same time next week. I’ll be waiting for you…

Some projects are clear cut, others are not.

As a full-service company, we see a lot of versatility in the work we do — video production, animation, website development, illustration, brochures, catalogs. I could go on but I think my point is clear.

There’s one constant variable throughout it all — the client steers the project. Our ability to provide any service needed, from programming to copywriting services, means that we can go in any direction a client wants.

If they call about a website and through discussion decide a video would also be appropriate, we can do it.  If they want to add a certification or training component to a CD-ROM, we can do it. Tracking usage, logo design, tradeshow banner, video script — we can do all of that too.

A prime example of our ability to meet just about any need, is a client we are currently working with on a variety of projects. They began wanting marketing and branding, and from there it’s mushroomed. We have gone from logo design to video to website development and back to video again. This client’s business is growing rapidly and as his needs and focus shift, we shift with him, providing exactly what is needed to meet his vision.

Not all projects are like this. Some are straight forward.

But regardless of the size or scope, through our vast ability and focus on customization we are establishing relationships, not just providing services.

Whether it’s a DVD or a little bit of everything, our clients are getting a partner not just a vendor.

In website development, more often than not certain files or directories need access restrictions.  Access can be restricted either through server-side scripting (i.e. Coldfusion, PHP, or ASP) or the web server, like Apache.  To restrict access in Apache, a file named “.htaccess” can be uploaded into the directory of which you want access restricted. The .htacess file is a text file that lets the web server prompt for a username or password, or displays a message that you are not authorized to view the contents of this page.  When restricting users by login name and password, the .htaccess file references a file called .htpasswd.  There is a program in the Apache directory called htpasswd.exe that will create a user and password in an encrypted MD5 format.  There are many options for the htpasswd.exe program that include recreating the file, appending the file, and using different encryption types.  Below is an example of the contents in a .htaccess file.

AuthUserFile c:\security\.htpasswd
AuthName “Please Enter a User and Password”
AuthType Basic
require valid-user

This would be an example of the .htpasswd file.

user1:Nd8VlAyM/Byno
admin:L7L1bBFu6QwEg

Build any house without a solid foundation and you’ll quickly find your walls crumbling. The same goes for website development, corporate and medical video production, graphic designs, and more.  Without the parameters set and the basics confirmed, progress will be slow, shaky, and inefficient.

We set these solid foundations with a kick-off meeting. Conceptual concepts are secured, deadlines are established, and marketing themes confirmed. From here, DDA graphic designers, web developers, and creative and online copywriters have the necessary information needed to lay the first elements of the project.  

To ensure a smooth and efficient production process with little to no surprises, we seek client approval with every completed step. Without this system in place, countless of hours could be spent on an undesirable direction. Our goal is to deliver a website, brochure, corporate or medical training program, or tradeshow display that exceed our client’s expectation and the system we have in place guarantees this.

Over the weekend my fiancee was filling out an online form and needed to fill out my personal information as well. When it came to my employer’s information, question after question was asked — What’s the address? Phone number? How long have you been there? What’s your title?

When it came to tell him my title of SEO specialist (and the repeating it…S E O Specialist) he looked clueless.

Sure he knows that I work on websites all day but he is an electrician and not very computer savvy. Watching him hunt and peck my information into the computer was funny, especially since typing on a keyboard without looking is second nature to me.

Although we each have our own titles here at DDA, the name sometimes isn’t long enough. If you would try to list everything that each one of us does as our titles, the list would be endless.

Being a Search Engine Optimization specialist at DDA, a search engine marketing company in Southampton, PA, means that I am constantly fighting the uphill battle of improving website rankings in major search engines. Working in a world of meta tags and Dreamweaver can be a battle in itself, but I push onward and upward. The results are seen when my client’s rankings on Google climb closer and closer to the coveted #1 position.

You can see DDA’s success in Google with our numerous website rankings.

I am by nature long winded. What takes others four words to say, probably takes me 25, and I will repeat myself. As a writer though, redundancy and wordiness need to be left behind.

At DDA, writing copy, specifically for websites, oftentimes means writing search engine optimized content. As I know my fellow writers have already covered, SEO content requires a lot more than just punching in keywords here and there. We need to create upwards of 30 to 40 professional and knowledgeable pages — and on a few occasions a lot more — of content targeting specific keywords, written specifically to the intended audience, with accompanying paragraphs and additional optimized content.

As with anything else, you need to be as concise as possible. People have short attention spans and regardless if they’re reading a brochure, watching a video, or looking at a tradeshow banner, the message has to be clear and to the point.

This holds true for content development for highly optimized websites that we are designing and developing.  While we target literally hundreds of keywords, the writers go to great pains to guarantee that every single one of those keywords is integrated correctly and concisely just as we would for any other content we are writing.

By keeping it concise and to the point, we are engaging visitors and keeping them interested, while at the same time achieving optimal search engine rankings.

It’s a Thursday, which for me means wrap-up day. All of the tasks that we have been working on for the week, or proposals that need to be sent out, inquiry e-mails that have follow-up questions, or any other general loose ends that need some tying have to be complete, addressed, or otherwise handled.

As a writer at DDA, a large portion of my job is in communicating with clients, prospective or existing, as I know I have mentioned so many times before. This holds true in project coordination, New Business Development, or in my writing tasks. What this ultimately means is that it is my responsibility, as it is for the three other degreed writers on-staff, to make sure that each client is fully aware of what’s going with his or her project or inquiry at all times.

We take this very seriously. We try not to have too much time lapse between an e-mail or phone call sent and our response. This often means running (in my case sometimes literally) around to get the answers I need from those assigned to the project — animators, videographers, graphic designers, programmers, etc. That’s one of the coolest things about this company — the fact that we are full service and do offer everything needed for a marketing and advertising campaign under roof, so oftentimes there are multiple people involved one project, bridging the gap between departments — programming, design, video, websites, search engine marketing and optimization.

It’s not always keeping track of everyone and everything. People make fun of my handwritten list which I tape to my monitor. It might look a little archaic in this age of spreadsheets, software to keep you organized, and Blackberrys. But it works for me.

Like right now I am looking at the list of nearly 20 items, with only four crossed out, and I am thinking it’s time to get a move on on wrapping it all up.

I loved being a college student. In those days, there was no Internet, and by extension no Google. So as an English major, I spent hours in the library and checked out enough books that carrying them from dorm to class and back to the library, and repeating this semester after semester had the added benefit of providing arm exercises! But I digress. Today’s students depend heavily on information gleaned through the web.  Instead of books, most carry laptops. Information is instantaneous and as I am discovering so is the urge to pilfer, copy, and violate copyrights.

Professors now have software to help them weed out the offenders. And in the business world, this is becoming a serious problem for companies that are on the leading edge of innovation, and who like Dynamic Digital Advertising showcase a lot of their work. Anyone can put up a website and call himself or herself a web master, but to make the site viable when that person has few skills, tempts the wannabe to troll and see “what’s out there” and then copy/paste images and content and pretend like it is theirs. Appalling, and Paul, who monitors our site for such thievery, finds that trollers come from as far as the Middle East and as close as Maryland. 

At DDA, we work to give the clients who select us, the best design be it for a trifold brochure or a trade show graphic. If the new client comes to us for a website, that company has the complete assurance that we start with a blank slate and build from there. The proof is in the looking. Check out our portfolio, where numerous samples of websites, trade show graphics, medical illustrations, video presentations for anything from a medical device to jewelry bolster my claim. If you study our website carefully, you’ll see we fit the classic Aristotle observation, “The whole is more than the sum of its parts.”  

At DDA, a graphic design company, we are lucky enough to work a four-day work week. So after today our week is half over. I woke up in a great mood today, maybe it’s the gorgeous weather, hearing my favorite song on the radio on my way in, or the fact that I was able to zipper up with ease pants that didn’t fit me last year!

Whatever it was, I am happy as can be. Coming into work as a Search Engine Optimization specialist means everyday brings something new. Each website in our SureThing Optimization Program, whether designed by DDA or not, is unique and needs its own focused optimization.

From search engine and directory submissions to meta tag enhancement, we cover all bases when optimizing a website. Using our keyword research and content development services, each of our client’s websites have the necessary components to achieve higher rankings in the major search engines. Our own website statistics show that we have 1698 terms with 1st place rankings on Google.

It’s been said before. Ugh.

Funny, how when trying to write a post about not using cliches in writing, the only opener I can come up with is, well a cliche.

But it happens. As a writer, I try to steer clear from those well-worn phrases, the ones that have been around the block a few times. Dang, did it again.

Every time I embark on a writing project, regardless of the medium — video script, website content, brochure, and so on — I really try to go about it from a fresh perspective, look at it from an angle that, possibly, others haven’t before.

It’s easy to churn out canned phrases and wording, to repeat what has been said before, but to do that would be doing our clients a disservice. Myself and the other writers here at DDA, really work hard to create engaging copy that attracts attention and will draw the reader in.

With clients from so many different industries and as a full-service company with projects from programming to graphic design, we need to switch it up a lot, writing to physicians one day writing to the buyers of alloy plate products the next. And naturally it’s tempting to plop down whatever trite phrases, or overused cliches may relate to that particular field. But we don’t.

As professional writers, we know what good writing is, and it’s not a cliche.  Now that you can take to the bank. Dang it.