Web firms work in different ways and, since I’ve only worked at one, I don’t profess to know what’s best. That’s why I’m writing this post! At some web firms, clients have a direct line to their developer. This means that developers have to talk to clients, manage their projects and field all those incoming phone calls. At other firms, an account manager does all the liasing and the developer just does the work. I’ve always wondered which way is best, so here are some reasons for and against.

Pros!

• The developer knows their subject best. They can answer any questions the client has throughout the build of the website, giving expert advice that you couldn’t get anywhere else.
• If the client wants some minor changes they can ask the developer direct. It’s often quicker than going through an account manager.
• The developer gets a great understanding of the project – there’s literally nothing they don’t know about the client’s business.
• A lot of the project management is taken away from the account manager, so they have more time to do other things like winning new business.

Cons!

• Things get done without the account manager’s knowledge. The account manager is out of the loop.
• One minor change turns into several. Before you know it the project’s overrun because no-one told the client ‘no’. A developer doesn’t have that sort of responsibility.
• A lot of work doesn’t get billed because it never got specced up. The developer works for free.
• The client prefers talking to the developer because they know it gets results, and this ties up the developer’s time when they could be working.
• If the client is unhappy a developer has to field that call. They don’t have an account manager’s experience with that sort of thing and it can all end badly.
• Lines of responsibility blur – it becomes unclear who should contact the client and things start to slip through the cracks.

Conclusion

I tentatively conclude that it’s best for developers to stay in the shadows, or at least have a well-defined roll and level of responsibility when it comes to client management. I’ve probably missed loads of reasons out, so feel free to add your opinion

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More fractal goodness.

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The Telegraph reports that a young girl owes her safety to the power of Google.

When the girl was kidnapped American police, instead of scouting the area themselves, used Google Street View to find places she might be hidden. After identifying a likely motel, they then sat in their offices and used Google to find out its name. After making sure through Google that the motel was indeed in the right location, they finally send someone round to make a bust.

Is this is end of police as we know them? Wait a minute, when was the last time the police set foot in the street anyway?

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The more attentive among you (assuming I have any readers!) will have noticed that Piggynap underwent a redesign this weekend. I liked the old design – I really dig rounded corners and green h2′s – but it was on a bit of a crappy customised WordPress theme that didn’t have a lot of features. Not much room for awesomeness.

The new theme is a lot better – note the fancy tabs and how you can actually read things without squinting. It also remains true to the design brief, which was “I want animals with massive eyes!”

So many thanks to Frog, and everyone who’s given feedback over the weekend

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Frog is quite good with photoshop and sometimes he even does stuff with people in it. I’m happy to say however that he doesn’t work on a magazine or anything that involves ‘lifestyle’. Such designers run the risk of the following:

This looks pretty normal until you start counting the legs. And then counting them again. It makes no sense! The thighs aren’t even in the right place – I don’t think these three women were sat near each other at all. Cheats.

Just take a look at her hand. That’s right – three fingers.

Oh my god there’s a hand! If that happened in real life there’d be screaming and heebie jeebies. Then an exorcism.

Hahahaha! Seriously, I could look at this every time I need a giggle.

This man has no bottom! They photoshop women to have pneumatic boobs but they photoshop out a man’s no-no?. No fair!

Forget what I just said. Women suffer too

Images courtesy of Photoshop Disasters. Go and take a look for more photoshop hilarity

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I’m in a state of shock so intense I’ve been forced to eat half a box of Cadbury’s Fingers just to calm down.

Yahoo!, in a way reminiscent of a sinister clown saying you’ll enjoy what he’s about to do to you with a rusty knife, has sent out upbeat emails to some of its customers detailing their new powers to mess about with your search ads account without your knowledge.

They will “(i) create ads, (ii) add and/or remove keywords, and/or (iii) optimize your account(s)“.

Not only that, but “Notwithstanding the foregoing, you remain responsible for all changes made to your account(s), including all click charges incurred prior to any reversions being made“.

What?! So some Yahoo! employee can go into my account, mess about with it and then blame me for the consequences? No offence Yahoo! but some of us had to pass a test to play with advertising and if you think that account is going anywhere outside my control you can bugger off.

I’d like Yahoo! to answer a few questions. What happens when the account manager, i.e. me, doesn’t know that a change has been made (I don’t pick up my emails every second of the day). If the client rings, what do I tell them? I can’t explain anything or even pretend to know the status of their account. Even if the changes Yahoo! makes have a positive effect, how am I meant to know why? What I mean is, online ads are often a case of trial and error – you start with your best guess and monitor, improve, monitor, improve and so on. If some Yahoo! goes in and “does stuff” then I won’t know for next time what was the right thing to do.

This really annoys me because I like Yahoo! It has better results than Google and it’s not their fault that no-one uses them. If Yahoo! ever, EVER goes near one of my accounts I’ll bring the wrath of Piggynap down upon them which, I can assure you, is cute but it hurts.

Whilst I’m shaking my head in disbelief, let’s take a look at Google. If you’re an agency person you’ll probably have an account manager at Google who you can email or ring if you’ve got problems or whatever. Adwords also has an Adgroup optimiser and a website optimiser option so you can get suggested improvements (from a crappy programme, not a person, but still). It’s a hands-off approach that lets the agency deal with stuff and doesn’t step on their toes.

Yahoo!…those idiots…are stepping on toes.

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I work with Adwords quite a lot so I see a good amount of Adwords Fails. Like when someone has competitor’s ads on their website – still my favourite Fail to date.

Recently I’ve noticed Thomson Local showing up in the search results – much like eBay they seem to be bidding on random goods and services. At first I thought ‘oh that’s good, they’re providing some clicks for their advertisers’. Then I realised that they haven’t quite got the ‘local’ thing worked out yet.

In case you’re wondering, I’m in Harrogate.

Traditional directories like Thomson Local must be struggling at the moment. On the one hand I applaud them for embracing Pay Per Click – it’s something they can offer to keep themselves afloat. On the other hand, their inability to do it properly could be just another nail in the coffin.

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