1) Digital Dashboards: Strategic & Tactical

A well-created dashboard is a thing of beauty…and a critical element for any company’s path to glory. Dashboards are everywhere, but what is comprehensive yet not too much? Occam’s Razor (blog) explains the “recommended new normal” with five specific rules for revolutionaries looking to create magnificent dashboards:

• Dashboards are not reports. Don’t data puke. Include insights. Include recommendations for actions. Include business impact.
• Never leave data interpretation to the executives (let them opine on your recommendations for actions with benefit of their wisdom and awareness of business strategy).
• When it comes to key performance indicators, segments and your recommendations make sure you cover the end-to-end acquisition, behavior and outcomes.
• Context is everything. Great dashboards leverage targets, benchmarks and competitive intelligence to deliver context.
• The primary purpose of a dashboard is not to inform, and it is not to educate. The primary purpose is to drive action!

The full read is super thorough- check it out over here.

2) 14 Examples of Beautifully Persuasive e-Commerce Design

Sometimes you don’t even need an excuse to spend an entire afternoon losing yourself while looking through hundreds of beautiful looking websites and admiring their handiwork.

Here are some excellent examples of persuasive ecommerce design. Using the five techniques laid out by Peep Laja in his persuasive design techniques manifesto here’s a look at various ecommerce sites that either tick one, or even all of the following persuasive design boxes:

• Clarity above everything else
• Visual appeal
• Strong visual hierarchy
• Keep attention at all costs
• One primary action per screen

Now, go check out those beautiful examples from eConsultancy…

3) Local Keyword Research in 2014 and Beyond

The fundamentals of local keyword research haven’t changed, but here’s a good read on some updated information based on recent changes to Google’s local products and overall change in the local search climate.

While it’s been around for a while, Google’s Keyword Planner is still a good place to start your local keyword research. One great feature for local SEO’s in Google’s Keyword Planner is that you can actually drill down to the country, state, or even city level for your keyword research.

Google Trends is another great data set for understanding how people are searching in a specific region. If Google’s Keyword Planner doesn’t uncover much data, Google Trends may bring insights into broader keywords used in a region and also provide insights into the growth or decline of the use of certain words. Search Engine People has more on local keywords on their blog this week.

4) Thursday Agency Tour in the Minneapolis Egotist

Spyder Trap was proud to be featured in the Egotist’s Thursday Agency Tour this week. The recap talks a bit about us, our space, and our work. Favorite lines?

• Spyder Trap is an intersection point between technology and marketing
• We solely concentrate on the digital landscape, and don’t try to be everything to everyone
• Spyder Trap remains, thrives and grows in the digital space and we love the innovative work we do

Read more and see some client portfolio examples over at the Egotist.

5) Because It’s Friday and We’re Dog-Friendly

Here at Spyder Trap, we’re all about employees bringing in their pups on Fridays. Check out dog Murphy and his owner, Micah. Wait, it’s not Micah…it’s Spyder Man! Happy Friday, everyone.