There are some things in life that you just dread.  When you think about what you have to do, the anxiety kicks in that voice inside your head whines a continuous loop of “but I don’t wanna…”

I’ve noticed a change in how I look at those things lately and am acknowledging a fundamental shift in how I approach my world and my have tos.


Exercise

In my last post I put into words my newfound enthusiasm for my recent fitness adventures.  It’s still there!  New perspective makes all the difference.  Now that it’s become something I do for myself, instead of something I avoid at all costs, I appreciate the practice itself and enjoy the afterglow even more.  

When I am out there running into the sunrise, I smile as the sweat pours down my temples and neck and realize that I am running because I want to, and quite simply because I am able to.  When I come up for air between strokes in the pool, I treasure the sound of nothing but splashing and my own breath.  I’m not thinking about distance or speed, I’m just glad I’m there in the first place.

When I exercise, it’s not because I have to, it’s because I get to.


Career

I often hear about the “Sunday Night Blues” phenomenon …well I have been there and lived to tell about it.  It’s the dark hours at the end of a weekend, when you feel an overwhelming full-body dread when you realize you have to go back to the office on Monday morning and soldier through a bunch of work you don’t even like doing. 

I breathe a huge, grateful sigh when I realize I haven’t experienced those feelings in over 3 years.  It took some soul-searching, some scrappy initiative and some luck but I am thankful that I have created a space for myself with meaningful work in a field that is persistently evolving.  I love what I do, that’s no secret.  But I also love watching other people embrace their expertise and personify their passion; my hair stylist, our daughter’s teachers, the manager of the bagel store, even our insurance agent.  These people love their jobs with complete abandon.

I have arrived at a place where I don’t have to do this work, I get to.

When most businesses create a website to detail their service offerings, they typically create a list of site content that details their business, a list of assets to make the site “pop” and conduct a review of competitor’s websites. They compile all these web elements to identify their needs so they can sell more products and services. Once this step is complete, the website’s wireframes are designed, content is added, the site is coded and the development site is created for functional testing. Finally, the website will go live for the masses to see.

Unfortunately, most web designers stop here. They schedule next year’s website revisions and move on to the next project. Thankfully, some passionate web designers will do more. They understand that a website is an evolving entity, not a static, once-a-year project. They monitor the site’s analytics and think about adding or enhancing content to improve the site’s traffic, page views, conversion and overall site performance. They will review the traffic drivers, conversion statistics and the ever-changing competitive landscape. These dedicated web designers add improved  content to increase traffic and ultimately create the best site experience possible.

In addition, this select group of engaged web designers are search engine optimization (SEO) experts. They understand the value of improving websites by enhancing and creating content tied directly to strategic keyword phrases to sell more. They are aware that over 131 billion searches were conducted worldwide in December of 2009 alone (comScore). That is over 4 billion searches per day. These savvy designers understand that, not only do you need to have a clean, user-inspired design, you need to have web pages that rank highly in search engine result pages to obtain traffic.

When planning your new or revised website, it is imperative to consider SEO savvy web designers who creatively find content solutions to increase your website conversions. These web designers think about content, not just as page filler, but as traffic drivers and conversion aids. They see clean designs inspired by detailed research as a necessity to create powerful, keyword dense content. This enables your site to better compete for strategic keywords, increasing your site traffic and ultimately selling more products and services.