By David Bird, founder and principal at Bird’s Eye Marketing
Published on Apr 1, 2019
Your website tells a powerful story about your nonprofit's supporters and donors. Google Analytics (a part of your Google Suite for Nonprofits) is key to unlocking that story and driving action, but you need to ask the right questions.
Today, I received an invitation to join Squarespace Circle. Of course, I joined immediately. Now I get access to unique perks, expert insights, and optimized support. And, the biggest thing is that it comes with a 6 month trial! This is a big deal for my clients as we will now be able to build a new site and not have to pay for it until launch... well, as long as the site is ready for launch by that time. :)
I just can't speak highly enough about how amazing the support is for setting up a Google for Work account. Members of the team are knowledgable, polite, understanding and courteous. After each conversation - during which they seem to have all the time in the world for you - they send an email with the details of your discussion and links to all the relevant information. On top of that, you are assigned an individual who specializes in the area of your concern and all followup conversations are done with them. They treat you as a friend... even calling you if they haven't heard from you before the case is closed. Unbelievable!
I'm working on behalf of a nonprofit (3 actually) so, considering Google is not making a dime here, it is just overwhelming. Now if Google could just simplify the language surrounding their products... Is it Google for Work, Google for Business, Google Apps, Google Drive? It takes awhile to understand the subtleties and reasons for using Apps vs Drive, etc.
Also, when you sign up for a Google for Nonprofits, you first apply for a Google for Work Trial account. When the approval came, I thought I was approved for nonprofit status as well so was surprised about the hoopla that followed. That is another story (not quite as flattering) and maybe best for another time.
All in all, I can't speak highly enough about the Google Support Team. I have had 3 individuals assigned to me and each was remarkably very well trained, thorough and friendly. Go Google.
One of my new clients this fall was Rohl Drones Inc. It has been a great experience learning about their services. What an impressive collection of photos they gave me demonstrating the incredible high definition images of towers, quarries, and agriculture fields which are central to their work. I also had to brush up on my iMovie skills in order to edit 2 videos down to 19 seconds each. I then embedded them into a full size page display. You can check it out at www.rholdrones.com.
Google for Work (formerly Google Apps for Business) is a suite of cloud computing productivity and collaboration software tools and software offered on a subscription basis by Google.
It includes Google’s popular web applications including Gmail, Google Drive, Google Hangouts, Google Calendar, and Google Docs. These products are available to consumers free of charge so why move to the paid version?
Google Apps for Work adds business-specific features such as:
Yes, 24/7 phone support! Imagine a being able to phone a huge company and talk with a smart, or as Apple would say, "genius" to assist you. And, did I need help. Not only does Google Support have a smart person answer the phone in just a few rings, and, that person will stay with you with followup emails and phone calls that you may need. Yes, throughout the 2 weeks of fixing two problems with 3 or 4 one hour long phone calls, I was able to talk with the same person each time. This really helps speed up the process and eliminate frustration by not having to re-explain everything to a new helper. My guy was Eric. He followed my case throughout and even called me when pending information became available .
An interesting project by marketing guru, Seth Godin.
They say the devil is in the details. When it comes to search engine optimization, those details include some important quirks you need to know about.
Conforming to search engine behavior
Keeping-up with changes in search engine behavior
Playing well with other websites to protect your SEO
Avoiding common practices that obstruct SEO
Here are nine examples of what I [Tom Schmitz of Search Engine Land] call SEO quirks. See how many you know about.
WHICH FILE FORMAT IS BEST?
Every type of image format has its own advantages and disadvantages.
JPEG
Great for images when you need to keep the size smallGood option for photographsBad for logos, line art, and wide areas of flat color
GIF
Great for animated effectsNice option for clip art, flat graphics, and images that use minimal colors and precise linesGood option for simple logos with blocks of colors
PNG
LosslessExcellent choice when transparency is a must. Good option for logos and line art. Not supported everywhere.
Google Webmasters YouTube Series
Tonya Hall and Scott Stratten talk about how the Ritz-Carlton went the extra mile in customer service. For the full episode, go to http://twit.tv/mm/24.
Host: Tanya Hall
Guest: Scott Stratten
Recorded on: September 22 2014
Download or subscribe to this show at twit.tv/mm.
Read our show notes at twit.tv/mm/24.
