Scientific Ink

Tag: marketing

  • Simplify for Ease and Clarity

    On a whim, yesterday I changed the theme of this website. I did it for my own ease of use, but the simplified layout now makes fewer points more clearly. Everyone wins!

    Reasons I Switched – Simplicity, Ease, and Cost

    My Fancy Design Was Too Busy

    complex homepage screenshot
    Here’s the top half of the old homepage with a slider with a call-to-action button.

    Previously, I had been using a theme that had lots of bells and whistles (sliders, images that changed size on mouseovers, featured pages, lots of color and typography settings). The front page was fancy…and because the theme had so many fun widgets and things to customize, I had an awful lot of stuff on the homepage. I had so much stuff on the homepage that I suppressed the sidebar that had my calls-to-action (newest book, newsletter signup).

    I am embarrassed to admit that the visual clutter was not the motivating factor for my abrupt switch.

    The theme got harder to use

    I had been struggling with customizing the theme. Some of the things that I wanted to change were not available within the customization panel inside the WordPress dashboard. When I wanted to adjust how the buttons looked, I tried editing a child theme’s CSS, I tried inserting custom CSS in the panel…I had to surf the theme’s support boards and found out that I had to add that the change I wanted was “important!” in the CSS, and even then the change only “took” some of the time. The theme was as complex inside as it was on the outside.

    Then, in the last few weeks, the customization panel would blink out. I noticed this when I went to fix an editing error on a page—yikes a typo!. The error was in the featured pages on the homepage, and the only way to edit it was to use the customization panel…and the panel wouldn’t stay on the screen!

    To troubleshoot, I

    • turned off the other plugins in case there was a conflict.
    • changed browsers.
    • tried to click really fast before it blinked away (I tried this more times that I should admit).
    • searched for the featured page snippet in the theme files, including the database. Likely it was there, just poorly labeled.

    None of this worked.

    Through trial and error, I discovered that I could trick the customization panel to stay on screen when the theme was in “live preview” mode. So I had to change my site’s theme to a different one and then I could make changes. Ugh. I put up with this oddness, because for me customizing a new theme was enough of a pain that I could tolerate temporary workarounds. Then, yesterday, I had enough.

    They asked for more money

    I got a friendly letter from the theme vendor (I had started with the free theme and upgraded to a paid theme with an annual fee). They wanted me to know that my premium support would run out at the end of February. I should make sure to reup!

    It really didn’t seem like they had been maintaining the theme enough to deserve another payment. When I had tried to monkey with the theme by customizing it, I realized that the theme was doing a whole bunch of fancy stuff in its files that made it really hard for me, a mostly non-coder, to make changes to a child theme. Worst of all, when I went into the admin panel, the theme customization panel still blinked out. I would not repay for defective software. Bad timing on the theme developer’s part.

    Simplify to See

    Here’s the new homepage (as of February 2017). Simpler layout, fewer things.

    I gradually fell out of love with my old theme, and then I suddenly jumped to a new one. I made the commitment yesterday afternoon and republished the site last night. This new theme has way fewer things to customize in its WYSIWYG editor/customization panel. This new theme does not have featured pages, sliders, or resize-on-hover image fun.

    After removing sliders and featured pages from the homepage, I realized that the homepage copy was….weak, and I rewrote it. I had not noticed that before.

    Too much stuff cluttered the sidebar on interior pages, so I simplified the sidebar. The new layout and retouched copy, although less fancy and photo-filled, better emphasize what I am seeking now – new book projects.

    Under the hood, I was able to deploy Google Tag Manager directly (the old theme resisted my efforts). So now analytics tagging will also be simplified. Hooray!

    The more minimal layout fits my personal style better. It’s also better suited to visitors on mobile devices. I loved the photo of the snow monkeys in the hot spring, but as cute as they are they were irrelevant to the real message. The one thing that I miss is the orange line at the very top of the page. You might see the orange line return….

    What do You Think?

    How do you like the new look? Clean and tidy? Or too simple/generic? Anything seem missing?

  • Learn Google Analytics via its Demo Account

    Learn Google Analytics via its Demo Account

    How do you learn Google Analytics without practice? How can we train new people when analytics accounts are held private – like trade secrets.

    Reading vs. Learning Google Analytics

    You can find lots of resources to teach yourself Google Analytics. One of the very, very best is the informative, insightful, and thought-provoking writing of Avinash Kaushik. If you don’t already follow his blog – Occam’s Razor, do it! You should also subscribe to his email newsletter, The Marketing < > Analytics Intersect.

    Yet, reading gets us only halfway. I learn best when I can apply my new knowledge directly and immediately. Don’t you?

    When we wrote Internet Marketing Start to Finish, I sought an open Google Analytics account for students (see my post on the Pure Visibility website). For its instructors’ resource guide, I offered access to the analytics on this site. While better than nothing, it remained incomplete and unsatisfying. For instance, this site has no AdWords or e-commerce.

    Demo Account to Learn Google Analytics!

    Earlier this month, Google opened up a great resource for learning – a demo e-commerce account. From Google’s Official Announcement:

    It can be difficult to gain practical experience since not everyone has access to a fully-implemented Google Analytics account. To fix this we’re introducing a fully functional Google Analytics Demo Account, available to everyone (get access here).

    This account has AdWords data, e-commerce functionality, and more. Hip Hip Hooray!

    Learn Google Analytics in the Google Merchandise Store Demo Account
    Learn Google Analytics in the Demo Account. Shown: revenue by medium for the Google Merchandise Store

    I love this. Very cool. Have you taken a look? What do you think?

    Learn More

    Avinash Kaushik shared more info on the Demo account and how you might use it available via Occam’s Razor post “Be Real World Smart: A Beginner’s Advanced Google Analytics Guide.”

  • Just Good Enough Websites

    Just Good Enough Websites

    The tools we use to create websites have changed during my marketing career. In the beginning, you had to know a little about coding. Today’s services allow the non-coder to create a more than just good enough website.

    Web Dev back in the Day

    In the early 2000s, my employer had a small site designed by a professional. The designer handed off images to our team that one of the software developers turned into HTML. Our homepage was a cut-apart image, its pieces reassembled and held in an invisible table. Different parts of that image were hyperlinked to different pages on the site. I edited that website’s content by editing individual HTML pages in a text editor.

    Today's tools and services help businesses make just good enough websites

    Just Good Enough Websites 2016

    We have come a long way since then.

    Services like WordPress, Wix, Weebly, and Squarespace offer simple ways for non-programmers and non-designers to have lovely and functional websites, beyond just good enough. If you subscribe to any podcasts, you’ll hear persistent ads for drag and drop website-making platforms.

    I have opinions on platforms (this site is in WordPress and has been since 2006).  Yet all these content management systems make things pretty easy for the non-technical user.

    I still use my HTML and jump into the text pane of these platforms if the WYSIWYG editor refuses to format things as I want, but generally these platforms work just fine.

    I’ve consulted on several homegrown websites created and operated by entrepreneurs and small businesses. Here’s how to make sure the website is good enough:

    Content Optimization Tips

    • Do keyword research, use the words that other people use often, and write to topics in demand that are relevant to your business
    • Before you publish, use a tool to review your content for keyword optimization. On WordPress, Yoast SEO is my go-to, and its free version is very full-featured

    Technical Optimization Tips

    Cultivate your Connections

    • Interconnect all of your business social profiles with your website. You should be able to move easily between all of your web properties. Make sure there’s a link from every social profile back to your website and be sure to link to all of your relevant, active profiles from your website.
    • Add social sharing to your website. Yes, people can copy any link from your site and share to any of their chosen social sites. Yet, a visual prompt to Pin it, Share it, Tweet it, whatever it helps remind them and makes it easy. In WordPress, plugins like AddtoAny Share buttons automate social sharing.

    Any basics I have missed? OR How can I answer your questions?

  • What’s in a name? Industry groups differ on life science and biotech terms

    What’s in a name? Industry groups differ on life science and biotech terms

    Last week, I attended the Michigan Bio-Industry Growth Summit. The event bag included reports from sponsoring organizations MichBio, Business Leaders for Michigan, and the University Research Corridor. Attendees also received a report from the national Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO). In these reports, I noticed some variation in names for the life science or biotech industry.

    Life science industry leaders use different names

    Handouts from the Bio-industry growth summit - showing different terms for life science or biotech
    Handouts from the Michigan Bio-industry Growth Summit – showing different terms for life science or biotech

    I imagine that in each report’s editorial meeting, a fair bit of time was spent selecting each noun and verb for the title and section headings. Perhaps MichBio went with Bio-Industry to be more inclusive of activities that broaden the definition of biotech, or to differentiate commercial activities from primary research, I’m not sure. They are the domain experts, so I trust their choice was for a good reason.

    I asked Google which name was “better”

    Yet, for Twitter and for my first post about the event, I opted for biotech. For Twitter, “biotech” was shorter than “bio-industry”, and short and sweet is better in that medium.

    When I got back to the office, I did more research. Google Trends gave me the popularity of these terms in searches. Google Trends aggregates all searches, and therefore emphasizes what the general public calls the industry.

    Worldwide and regional life science searches

    Since I published this post, the embeds no longer work well, so here’s a link to the Google Trends graphs of

    As you can see in the graphs, the terms “biotech” and “biotechnology” are more popular worldwide than life science, bio-industry, or biosciences. When we look only in the United States, life science searches are similarly popular to those for biotechnology, but biotech is consistently higher (except for September in each year when life sciences jumps up to or above biotech’s level). The Michigan data is noisier but appears similar to the US as a whole. In all regions, bio-industry and bioscience lag the other terms. If I keep playing with the terms, plurals matter for life science and biosciences, so I chose the most popular variant for these graphs – life science and biosciences.

    Closing Thoughts – specific vs. popular phrases

    The cross-industry groups, Business Leaders for Michigan and the University Research Corridor, used the more general and more popular term for the industry (life sciences) than did either of the associations with “bio” in their name. Over time, the bio-groups may teach the general population the new terms, search popularity is volatile. Yet, more commonly-used terms (e.g. biotech or life science) should go farther in the near term. Sometimes experts know and use too many words for our own good.

    By using “bio-industry”, MichBio might be limiting the reach of its Roadmap. MichBio’s Roadmap is a call-to-action to its members, it is speaking to other experts. Fine distinctions matter to experts, but they might muddy the communication to regular folks. The association and the Roadmap also needs to speak to non-experts—such as legislators and educators. If I were at that editorial meeting, I would have brought search data like this to the table and argued for the more commonly-used terms in the report title.

    When I tweeted about the event, I picked #biotech, but within Michigan, life science would have been just as popular and I chose that as the focus keyword for this post.

  • Michigan Biotech: MichBio Growth Summit – February 2016

    Michigan Biotech: MichBio Growth Summit – February 2016

    Industry association MichBio organized yesterday’s bio-industry growth summit in Lansing. This Michigan biotech event featured national and regional leaders, including legislators (agenda here).

    Michigan Biotech Roadmap for Success

    Table of Contents - Michigan Biotech Roadmap for Success
    Table of Contents – Michigan Bio-Industry Roadmap for Success

    MichBio also launched their Michigan Bio-Industry Roadmap for Success. This roadmap was developed through interviews, focus group, surveys, and comparison to peer states.

    Event attendees received a print copy of the executive summary for the roadmap (~40 pages), still fragrant from the printer. Director Stephen Rapundalo, Ph.D., presented the highlights to the attendees. The Roadmap provided competitive benchmarking of Michigan in total bio-industry employment, expenditures, grants, patents, and venture capital. For employment, the roadmap breaks the bio-industry category into subcategories, specifically:

    • agri-biosciences,
    • drugs & pharmaceuticals,
    • medical devices & equipment,
    • research, testing & medical laboratories, and
    • bioscience-related distribution (logistics).

    The roadmap evaluated Michigan’s rank and then provided specific recommendations for industry growth, business climate, innovation, education & talent, and access to capital. Rapundalo announced that a full version of the Roadmap should be released this month. I will post a link to any online documents here if/when they become available.

    Recurring Themes – Michigan Biotech Education and Talent

    A recurring theme from the panel and from attendees was talent. Panelists called for biotech-oriented education for entry-level positions. Panelists discussed having to recruit talent back to Michigan from the coasts for senior/specialized biotech leadership positions.

    Being a digitally-focused person, I did some live-tweeting of the event and made sure to connect in person with others who were tweeting. Here are a few example tweets from my own and others takeaways from the event.

  • Gone Back to School

    Gone Back to School

    I’ve gone back to school, college actually.

    [066/365] Back to School
    Back to School, made available via Creative Commons by Leland Francisco on Flickr
    I’m pulling down the shingle here at Scientific Ink for the next several months. I’ve taken a position at Washtenaw Community College – I will be Interim Executive Director of Marketing & Web Services through January 2016. This new position will keep me busy enough that I will not be taking on client projects.

    Thanks and keep in touch!