Urban Vancouver

I'm not a web designer, but as a web writer I find it very useful to understand the process and techniques that a web designer might use to do what they do. Here are some great web design tutorials from freelance folder. If you're a writer or a web designer or ...

Check out Silverback usability testing software. It looks like a good and cheap alternative to some of the more expensive options out there (e.g. Morae).  Silverback runs on Mac OSX Tiger and Leopard with a built-in iSight or some alternative. I wish it ran on Windows. Scroll down to the bottom of ...

This partnership brochure for Crystal Decisions featured the company's relationship with IBM. It was written under an extremely tight deadline and completed in only a few days. I worked closely with a graphic designer and product marketing manager to meet IBM's strict style standards. Crystal Decisions is a Vancouver-based software company and ...

This print brochure describes the technology partnership between software-maker Crystal Decisions and Microsoft and outlines the business opportunity for potential new partners. Crystal Decisions is a Vancouver-based software company and the maker of Crystal Reports. View Brochure - PDF (446 KB)

A great brochure can go a long way. This one was prepared for the launch of a software product suite from Crystal Decisions and written in such a way that it could be used by sales reps, partners, and on the corporate website. This document was quite technical and involved approvals from ...

It's always good to work with great people. During the phone interview for this healthcare software case study, so much information was provided that the project seemed to write itself. From interview to final copy, this document was completed in about a week, and in just one draft. Business Objects makes ...

For this software case study I interviewed IT experts at Crystal Decisions and helped tell their story in plain language that would be easy for customers to understand. In the software industry using your own company's products in-house is a big deal and this case study had to prove just ...

This website content about corporate philanthrophy had to be humble yet promotional, and still mesh with this software company's brand. The project started with interviewing individual volunteers at Business Objects and writing about the various contributions they'd made through the Business Objects community program. Business Objects makes software that helps companies ...

I took my laptop out to the garden for this web project. The article I created for this site was written in an easy-to-read style for the web and to appeal to a wide audience. You Grow Girl™ (YGG)  promotes exploration, excitement, and a d.i.y approach to growing plants without restrictive traditional ...

It was a pleasure to provide a web content review for this socially conscious organization. The goals of this project were twofold; find ways to increase search engine traffic and make the site easier for visitors to use. I provided a review of current search engine ranking and an analysis ...

Writing this case study for print gave me a fascinating look behind the scenes of the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation's Run for the Cure. This project was written remotely and started with a phone interview of staff based in Toronto and Vancouver. Business Objects is a global business intelligence (BI) software company, ...

Everyone loves comics, so they're a great way to explain web usability issues or to propose a new information architecture for a web site. Check out these great links for more info: Comics: Not just for laughs! A fascinating discussion of comics and usability from the pros at boxesandarrows.com. Designcomics.org Free usability comics and ...

I've spent quite some time finding the best Canadian .ca domain registrar for a number of projects. In my opinion it's namespro.ca. Here's why: Canadian registrar based in BC Great pricing Super-fast presales responses Polite and professional by email Domain registration is their main business Payment options include Paypal CIRA Whois updates online (rather than by FAX) Lightening-fast ...

Why do you need these sites? Hint: only one of them is about writing. When it comes to creating great web content, there’s so much more to know. Copyblogger Exquisite. Get a big coffee and spend at least an hour on this site. They’ve got the real goods every web copywriter needs. CSS ...

What if your domain registrar went out of business? Due to the demise of Registerfly thousands of domains have been lost. How can you protect your company if the same should happen to your registrar? Here are some tips. 1. Keep hosting and domain registration with separate vendors. This makes it ...

I don't like reading web content from mobile devices. It's slow, it's difficult to navigate, and it looks bad. But then again, most of the sites I'm looking at, just aren't designed for mobile access. There's a lot to keep mind. Check out Blue Flavor's great Mobile Web Developers Guide, ...

Compare your site traffic to up to five competitor sites at once. This handy tool uses Alexa data. No login is required, however your comparisons will show up on the site as recent searches. So if you're keeping things top secret just run individual Alexa searches. Note: There is some debate about ...

It can get messy if the project turns into design/writing by committee. This is especially true if your CEO or CMO likes to roll up his or her sleeves and jump in. Having senior managers from outside your Web team, working on your site, can be a recipe for disaster. Design ...

Web readers usually read English content from left to right in a triangular pattern. An eyetracking study from Jakob Nielsen shows that content is also read in an F-shaped pattern.* What does this mean for your Web content? It's a reminder that these Web writing guidelines still apply: Keep content short and sweet. Put ...

Lately I've had several people contact me who are having problems with domain redirection and search engine optimization. Usually this means their site has disappeared from search engines or won't update properly in search engine results, due to a domain name change. You can avoid these problems by using the ...