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Google offers grants for non-profit organizations. Dr. Gibson was creative enough to use this opportunity for our class to work on a real life project. And since we were doing something important, for many of us, a good grade was not our main goal.

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Filed under: Information Technology | Innovation | Web Development

It was a great idea for Dr. Gibson to connect Google Adwords grants with his Web Development class. This is what made it possible for us to engage out in the real world on a real project, while still in the classroom. By combining this real life experience with lectures, advice, collaborative learning and information sharing, we were able to learn more and useful information in a short period of time.

Google offers Adwords grant applications to 501(c)3 non-profit organizations. Once a grant is awarded, the organization has a generous daily budget to manage their Google Adwords accounts.  It is through these accounts that Google Ads are created. These ads appear on the right side of the screen when people do Google searches. For most of us, this was our first advertising experience and it was exciting to see our ads on the Internet.

In addition, we were able to help non-profit organizations in our area to bring in more customers, volunteers, and resources.

After the semester was over, we were invited to Google in Ann Arbor for lunch and to give our final presentations. This was a great opportunity for us, and since we had been giving presentations about our Adwords accounts all semester, all of us gave excellent presentations.

And in conclusion, since we were doing something important, for many of us, a good grade was not our main goal. We learned a great deal and acquired enough experience to continue working in online marketing.

I explain how this Web Development is so valuable for creating Web-sites, and why it is important to focus on search engine optimization. By managing Google Adwords accounts we were able to understand a variety of issues when creating Web pages.

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Filed under: Industries | Information Technology | Innovation | Web Development

Furthermore, since this class was a Web Development class, it was especially important to learn how Web site development was related to search engine optimization. So we had to think of keywords people would use who were interested in the services and products our non-profits would offer, and create ads relevant to these keywords, as well as landing pages that would lead to conversions. Conversions refer to actions we  want the Web-site visitors to take, such as donating money. This combination of concepts is the latest emerging business trend online.

Why have a Web site if no one is going to read it?

With a strong focus on search engine optimization, we were able to lure people to the Web site by creating landing pages for our Google Ads. We learned which strategies and keywords worked and which ones didn’t through Dr. Gibson's lectures, group presentations, and trial and error.

In the next part, I will write about the Google Adwords Grants program that helped make this class possible.

In this part, I explain how Dr. Gibson's Web Development class was so successful. By using group presentations and blogging, we were able to share information about our struggles and successes to learn more faster.

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Filed under: Information Technology | Innovation | Web Development

The main reason I recommend this class is because of expert advice throughout the semester from Dr. Gibson, as well as collaborative learning in the classroom. Students were divided up into five assigned groups. We had weekly presentations where each group showed the class what they had accomplished and we learned from each other. So we had inner-group and outer-group insight, we shared struggles and successes, and even helped each other whether we were in the same group or not. I had never been in a class like this, where so many students were involved.
 

At first, I thought the weekly presentations would be useless, but they proved to be extremely worthwhile since every group had different types of non-profit organizations to manage Google Adwords accounts for. We were able to use the shared information to solve problems in our own groups as well, and information that was not relevant would be in the future when we would be managing Google Adwords accounts for other organizations. 

In addition to the weekly presentations, we were required to write at least 3 blogs per week regarding subjects covered in class, including problems we were having and strategies that worked for us. So when we had a question, we found that many other people had the same question and were able to look up the solution or advice online. I still refer to the blogs for managing my Google Adwords accounts now.

In the next part, I will explain why this class was so valuable...
 

Stone Interactive Group, a web development company based in Ann Arbor, Michigan, has taken the art of web page graphics to a whole new level. Stone's website is what I would call visual symmetry.

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Filed under: Ann Arbor, MI | Stone Interactive Group | Web Development

What is it about the internet that fascinates me so much?  I spend countless hours moving from website to website, looking for things to buy, information about the latest technology, various tidbits on the glamorous lives of celebrities.  Of course the internet provides me with a multitude of information, readily available with just a point and click.   But what attracts me to certain websites over others?  What catches my attention?  Emphatically the answer is good graphics. 

As I prepare to pursue a career in pay per click advertising, I become more and more aware of the importance effective graphics have on the overall impact of a company's website.  Developing webpages is a fairly easy process.  Even I was able to develop some basic web pages in my Web Development course at Eastern Michigan University, using basic HTML and CSS.  However, creating effective webpages is truly an art.  Developing webpage graphics that are professional, aesthetically pleasing, user friendly, and don't detract  from the website's purpose is not an easy proposition.  

Stone Interactive Group, a web development company based in Ann Arbor, Michigan, has taken the art of web page graphic design to a whole new level.  Stone's website is what I would call visual symmetry.  The graphics throughout their website are clean and purposeful.  The graphics do not overpower the website's content and they do not take too long to download.  Stone's website is well-organized and user friendly.  Stone's website caught my attention and made me want to find out more about what they have to offer.     

Stone Interactive Group has an impressive list of clients.  They have created websites for Mitsubishi, Kelly Services,  and Asahi to name a few.   As I look at Stone Interactive Group's portfolio, I notice that all of the websites they have developed for other organizations are unique in many ways but still have that same visual symmetry in common.   One of my  favorite examples is the website they created for the Law Offices of Sam Berntein.  Stone Interactive Group also provides other services such as pay per click management, search engine optimization, web analytics, blogs, and e-newsletters.  In today's world of information overload, finding a way to make your company stand out is key.  Stone Interactive Group has discovered the formula for giving websites the look and usefulness necessary in order to compete on the internet.