Last week, I learned about AdWords Scripts and how automation can save you time and effort towards interpreting your activity. This week I wanted to explore another aspect that is available in Adwords called Labels. This is a function that I had seen a lot of chatter on this lately, and wanted to know for myself why this could be useful to me.

Labels allow you to place a label or title on every part of your pay per click campaign, from keywords to ads, to ad groups and even campaign names. The first time I read about this, my thought was that this was another way to spend more time than I wished on a function that I might be able to do without. After I started to implement it myself, I saw the light.

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At its best design delivers both form and function. If you have to choose form OR function, I’d take function any day. Design without function is art, which is lovely in a museum or plaza or Burning Man (below), but for businesses wanting to use technology for a purpose, it had better be design and not art.

It’s no surprise to people familiar with Astek that we enter the design discussion from the function side of the equation. That doesn’t mean we don’t have deep-rooted brand considerations and design aesthetics. Indeed, these factors inform everything we do for our clients and ourselves. But we start every discussion by asking questions about the function. Who is going to use it? How will they use it? Why? What is the brand promise this experience must deliver? Read more »

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Andy Swindler Categories: Gadgets, The Biz, The Web

“Nothing endures but change” -Heraclitus

This is as true of massive Web companies like Google and Facebook as anything. Thousands of engineers are constantly working to make things “better” and often they get it right. Some changes are more noticeable than others.

When it comes to Search Engine Optimization (SEO), there are tried and true “white hat” best practices, which Astek follows, teaches and recommends to our clients. Those of us who have played it safe and not tempted Google’s wrath have enjoyed consistently positive results over the years and not had cause to panic when a major search algorithm change hits.

Those who have tried to trick the almighty Google have endured a lot of pain in the last 18 months. Why? Because the last two major Google updates (Panda and Penguin) were each specifically designed to combat the types of websites Google believes to be gaming the system by emphasizing the importance of unique quality content and overall user experience. These sites arguably cheat people by leading them to content that Google did not deem the best match for their search. I hope it was worth it.

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Andy Swindler Categories: ePiphany, SEO & PPC