MarkWhittaker.com

Last weekend, I enjoyed a fantastic concert by Ian Anderson, the lead singer and flute player for Jethro Tull. I originally planned to write a review of the concert, but this is an online marketing story instead.

I’m a fan of Pandora, the online music service that streams favorite songs and others like them, and one day in early September, a favorite Jethro Tull song (“Broadsword,” I think) began playing. Pandora also displays biographical information for many of the bands, and I stopped what I was doing to read the Tull article. Because I have stream-of-consciousness tendencies, I then wondered whether Tull still performed live.

Next stop: Google. That got me to JethroTull.com, where I learned that, indeed, Tull continues to tour. Not only that, Ian Anderson was preparing a solo tour in the U.S. that would be stopping in York, Pa., — my hometown — and Homestead, Pa., near Pittsburgh. Now my cranial wheels were turning. Even though I’m not particularly a fan of aging rockers, I had a hunch that a concert by Anderson, who is 63, would be a blast. (continue reading…)

In the last couple of months, friends have asked me to review new Internet marketing websites they’ve built and offer advice. I look at design, search optimization and content. Probably because of my journalism experience, I tend to notice language problems first.

I’m always surprised when folks don’t realize their writing is um, murky. Their content is muddied with misspelled words, grammatical errors and awkward sentences. As a result, whatever their message, it’s not getting across to the reader. When your message is muddled, it tarnishes great search optimization, brilliant design and all the other good work that goes into marketing a product on the Internet.

Granted, I can be rightfully accused of being a language curmudgeon, but I don’t mean to be stodgy. The rules of good writing, grammar and spelling are meant to foster good, clear communication. In a way, they’re like the conventions of good Web design, graphic design or filmmaking. Follow certain standards, and it’s likely that more people will clearly and quickly understand your message. Yes, rules can be bent or broken, but only when it improves the communication of the message.

Here’s a sentence I stumbled over while reviewing a site for one of my classmates in a University of San Francisco Internet marketing course: (continue reading…)