Eating my own dog food - and getting a facelift

• Wed, April 06 2011
• Filed under: Websites and web usability

There’s an expression we use a lot around my office—eating our own dog food.  Since we do so much training and advice-giving at Network for Good, we’re always trying to make sure that we’re living that counsel.  It’s always easier said than done.  Talking is so much simpler than doing.

As for me, I haven’t been eating my own dog food lately.  I dole out a lot of advice about online outreach.  I tell other people to make it easy for people to find what they need when they visit your website.  Keep your site simple and uncluttered, I say.  Think portable and ensure that sharing content is a click away!  What great advice.  Too bad I wasn’t following it in my own blog.  I started this blog five years ago, and it’s been showing its age.  It has been getting crowded with badges and sidebars.  Since the blog started before social media became part of our everyday work, there were few social media links, and Tweeting content didn’t work so well.  And Facebook?  Nowhere to be seen.  LinkedIn?  Nope.  Yikes. 

Embarrassed by my own hypocrisy (Purina Dog Chow, anyone?) and in dire need of a blog facelift, I enlisted my original blog designer and had her usher the blog into the year 2011.  Thanks, Taughnee Stone of Endeavor Creative for your work.  Here is the dog food I consumed and the work I had “done,” thanks to her.  I tried to live up to the following principles:

1. Simplicity: We tried to get rid of everything extraneous.  The blog design should not get in the way of the content.

2. Relationship-based: We made it easier for people to react to posts, and we put the email sign-up above the fold.

3. Portable:  We added links to my social media presences right at the top, big.

4. Easy to share: It’s now easy to share articles on all main social media with a click.

Tell me what’s missing.  I’m sure there is still room for improvement!

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