Labyrinth: The Web from a "Graphically Speaking" Perspective

When we search Google, investigate job opportunities on craigslist, or read the news on Yahoo! we explore a labyrinth of connectivity. We enter into a vast, unknown technological system that brings the world to our computer screens with a click of a mouse. The web allows people to search for information day or night in an office, by cell phone, or from the comfort of their den at home.

Recently, I sat down with Lionel Matecha, an account manager at Graphically Speaking, (www.graphicallyspeaking.com) to discuss the company and the future of the industry. A leader among Vancouver’s web development companies, Graphically Speaking has worked on projects for Translink, BC Medical Foundation, and the City of Richmond. Framed prints of web projects mounted on its office walls not only advertise the success of Graphically Speaking, but speak to the organization’s creative diversity.

Graphically Speaking began as a software development company two decades ago, designing interactive kiosks and 35mm slide shows. The evolution of laptops and projectors compelled the company to enter the web-development industry.

The industry grapples with how to label itself — web design or web development? Matecha chooses to use the term web development. “There is a bit of confusion out there about what web development is. Web design seems to be the most common moniker. But web development has a more structured and technical sound to it. If you are developing a website you are doing more than just creating a nice design.”

According to Matecha, web development can involve as little as designing, creating templates, organizing information, and editing for small projects to programming and creating interactivity with users for larger projects.

Web development should not be confused with web hosting. “We are really about the communication aspect of a website,” Matecha says. “Hosting is just a straight technology issue, a 24/7 activity.”

Graphically Speaking helps companies achieve their communication goals. In the case of a client who has an existing website that is no longer reaching its target audience effectively, the company will assess the client’s needs and offer solutions.

The web isn’t static, and design companies must adjust their services to meet improvements in technology and changing demographics. Once again, Graphically Speaking is transforming to address the needs of its clients. Now, they create websites for people in the industrial and manufacturing sector who, a few years ago, never thought they needed a website.

Matecha, who has an accomplished marketing background, says companies once looked to corporate newsletters to communicate with stakeholders and target audiences. Now, these same organizations are putting more of their efforts into communicating online, because the web is an efficient mode of communication that cuts organizational costs.

“I’ve been trying to do some work over the last few years to see how the interactive aspects of the web will increase over the next few years in terms of advertising campaigns, targeting a fairly young demographic who want to see some interactivity on a page,” Matecha says.

According to Matecha, older demographic groups are not concerned with interactivity, but a theme that is consistent across all demographics is the need to have up-to-date information on websites. “People expect that the information on websites is current, and they also want the ability to customize their experience a little bit.”

Another trend that Matecha considers quite influential is blogging. The allure of blogs is the interactivity blog writers can have with their readers. Within seconds of posting an entry, someone in cyberworld can reply to the blog entry. With the advent of blogs, Matecha believes there is no reason why everyone shouldn’t have a web presence.

But Matecha also finds that blogs are the best search engine optimizing tool; meaning that blog sites rank higher on search engines like Google and Yahoo! than traditional websites. Why are blogs more recognized by search engines? “There are technical reasons for this, but, essentially, every blog entry and topic is seen as a separate web page,” Matecha says.

Search engines look for websites with plenty of pages that link to other pages within a site. “Since blogs tend to link to other blogs, they move up quickly in the search engine bank,” he says.

Last year, Graphically Speaking introduced some of their smaller clients to blogging. “This enabled the companies to take advantage of the power of blogs to raise the level of search engine ranking,” Matecha says.

As the role of the Internet expands to include more interactivity, the need for skilled communicators will grow accordingly. The decision makers at Graphically Speaking are seeing such a need building within their own organization. “The web is different from other mediums. On a web page, people will accept the text as being quite important, and visual elements do not have to be precisely aligned with the text in a paragraph,” says Matecha.

Clients without the resources to employ writers on staff are looking to Graphically Speaking to meet their communications needs. With only two staff members who have some communications experience, the company needs additional help to meet their clients’ needs. While the World Wide Web is becoming increasingly sophisticated, Graphically Speaking is prepared to adapt to meet the evolving needs of its clients.