Update, or wither February 21, 2011
Posted by Ron Warnick in Route 66 Associations, Web sites.7 comments
The Internet isn’t just a valuable tool for businesses and organizations. Nowadays, the Internet can actually become a make-or-break situation.
Case in point is the National Historic Route 66 Federation. It played a role in the passage of the National Route 66 Corridor Preservation Act in 1999. It sells maps, guidebooks and collectibles of the Mother Road. Until a few years ago, it organized an annual Route 66 festival. The Federation exists as one of Route 66′s most-crucial organizations.
However, Federation Executive Director David Knudson explained in a recent letter to members that its quarterly Federation News magazine would go on hiatus for several issues. Knudson said the Federation has seen a “significant” drop in income over the past year. Part of the reason, he said, is “people aren’t purchasing like they used to” on its website.
Another reason for the income drop, Knudson said, was the website’s “antiquated technology” has caused it to lose “first-page” ranking on Google searches of “Route 66.” So he is hiring a top website designer in an effort to rectify the situation — “a gentleman who will design it to capture significantly more sales from all of those visitors and reposition it on search engines.” That “very expensive” outlay is why publication of the Federation News is suspended.
In an e-mail, Knudson explained that the Federation’s Google ranking ebbed in the past year. He said the site once received 80,000 to 100,000 page views a month. It’s down to 20,000. That has to hurt the bottom line.
I’ve surfed Route 66 sites for well over a decade. Ten years ago, the National Historic Route 66 Federation consistently ranked in the top three for “Route 66″ queries of any search engine you can name, including Google’s.
I typed “Route 66″ into a Google search over the weekend, and was shocked to find the Federation’s website had dropped to the second page of the rankings and into the 20s overall.
The situation didn’t prove to be any better at Bing, where the Federation’s website wasn’t listed until the fourth page. It was far worse at Yahoo!, where I couldn’t find the Federation even after 20 pages.
Google commands two-thirds of Internet searches. Google, Yahoo!, and Microsoft searches make up nearly 95 percent of the market. So, if you have a website and you’re doing poorly in search engine rankings, you’ve got problems.
As a person who’s in the Internet retail and marketing business, here in my opinion is what happened to the Federation:
- Route 66 has become a lot more competitive as a search term. Ten years ago, a “Route 66″ search in Google brought up 110,000 results. Today, the total is more than 16 million. It’s tougher to rank near the top.
- The National Historic Route 66 Federation website hasn’t been substantially updated in years. Google and the other search engines value freshness (how often the site is updated) and relevance (i.e., the number of sites that link to a site). If a site isn’t updated often, its rankings in both criteria will invariably suffer.
- One way to boost relevance with Google is to set up social-media sites bringing in links, such as Facebook, Twitter and a blog. The Federation owns a Facebook account, but no new posts have been written there since August. The Federation isn’t on Twitter, and it doesn’t have a blog.
I hope the Federation’s new webmaster straightens out its problems. Once a site drops in the Google rankings, it’s a tough slog to get back near the top. The Federation serves a valuable function for Route 66; we want it to prosper.
This grave situation serves as a cautionary tale for anyone who has a presence on the World Wide Web: You must update your content, or Google can make an already-stagnant website literally wither away.
Praise the Lord, and pass the ammunition February 20, 2011
Posted by Ron Warnick in Religion.1 comment so far
I didn’t know “self-serving intellectualism” was so hazardous.
This is the latest chapter of “Route 66: A Road Trip through the Bible.”
The woman behind Chicken Boy February 20, 2011
Posted by Ron Warnick in Art, Attractions, Businesses, Radio.1 comment so far
Southern California Public Radio produced a feature about Amy Inouye, who saved a fiberglass Chicken Boy figure from the top of a closed downtown Los Angeles restaurant and re-erected it on her studio on 5558 N. Figueroa St. (aka Route 66) in the Highland Park neighborhood of L.A.
From the article:
[S]he reached out to a small group of supporters, selling Chicken Boy t-shirts, lapel pins, and watches to an expanding network of curiosity hunters by mail. Slowly, a broad base of interest began to grow as the statue made appearances in columns in The San Francisco Chronicle, Esquire, on radio programs, and most frequently, in the Los Angeles Times’ “Only in L.A.” column.
Two decades later, Inouye, now a successful graphic designer, moved her studio to Figueroa Street in Highland Park, along historic Route 66. The historic setting and the flat roof of the building which houses her studio, she says, attracted her to the neighborhood.
Many meetings, permits, and bureaucratic hurdles later, Chicken Boy found a new home atop Future Studio in Highland Park. Towering above the historic neighborhood alongside a slew of iconic signage, Chicken Boy peers down on a new generation of curious passersby, living up to the motto Inouye coined for him decades ago: “Too tall to live, too weird to die.”
Appropriately enough, her studio can be found online at ChickenBoy.com.
The man behind Stater Bros. February 20, 2011
Posted by Ron Warnick in Businesses, Events, People.1 comment so far
Here’s a good profile by the San Bernardino County Sun about of Jack Brown, the CEO of Stater Bros. Markets in Southern California.
Stater Bros. also is the chief sponsor of the annual and massively popular Route 66 Rendezvous in San Bernardino.
Some excerpts about Brown and his leadership:
But if Brown has a signature phrase, it’s “hometown company,” as in, “We’re a hometown company and we’re very proud of that.” [...]
“First and foremost, he’s an excellent businessman. He’s one of the giants of the Inland Empire,” said Randall Lewis, executive vice president of the Rancho Cucamonga-based Lewis Group of Cos.
“He and the company do so much for the community,” Lewis added. [...]
At 13, Brown took his first job as a boxboy at Berk’s Market Spot in San Bernardino. He went on to spend most of his professional life in the grocery business. [...]
At the time of Brown’s arrival, Stater Bros. had 69 stores and 3,300 employees, he said. The firm now has 167 stores and more than 18,000 workers.
Even with the poor economy, Brown and Stater Bros. executives are considering the purchase of some rivals’ stores.
If Brown is considering retirement, he is not talking about it.
“People ask me if I should retire, and I say, `Why should I? I have a very good parking space,”‘ Brown said.
I remember reading an article in early 2009, during the beginnings of the recession, when Brown vowed to keep his grocery prices low as low as possible to help financially struggling families.
I bet a lot of communities would love to have a Stater Bros. grocery in their midst.
Song written for upcoming Route 66 festival February 20, 2011
Posted by Ron Warnick in Events, Music.1 comment so far
Joe Loesch and singer Don King, who front a musical group called The Road Crew, have written and recorded a song “The Road to Amarillo,” specifically for the upcoming International Route 66 Festival in Amarillo, Texas.
You can hear the song here:
A few years ago, The Road Crew recorded an album specifically about Route 66, “Songs of the Mother Road,” and have performed at several Route 66 events. And, yes, it will perform from 2 to 3 p.m. June 11 in downtown Amarillo during the 2011 festival. But this is the first time the group has recorded a song for one event.
The Road Crew also plans to produce a video for “The Road to Amarillo,” and want Route 66 fans to help provide footage and images for it. Loesch says he can accept video footage in a 16×9 format on chips or a miniDV, and he can take still photos for the project as well. Loesch can be reached at roadcrew66(at)me(dot)com.
Photo-op building in Kingman is demolished February 19, 2011
Posted by Ron Warnick in Art, Motorcycles.1 comment so far
A building in Kingman, Ariz., that was decorated in a Harley-Davidson motorcycle theme and often used as a photo opportunity by Route 66 travelers was torn down Thursday, reported the Kingman Daily Miner.
The building was owned by the Burlington Northern-Santa Fe railroad. The structure had fallen into disrepair, including part of its roof being torn off by the wind.
Records from the Mohave Museum of History and Arts indicate that the building was previously owned by Flying K Realty as far back as 1963. Prior to that, museum librarian Kay Ellermann remembers the building being used as an assay office for local mining operations.
The building’s Harley-Davidson theme was added at the same time that local business owner Scott Dunton had the neighboring Kingman Cab Company building repainted in 2002. That building was destroyed in a hit-and-run accident.
Photos of the building can be found here.
Motel time again February 19, 2011
Posted by Ron Warnick in Motels, Music.add a comment
I’m positive they shot much of this video at the Route 66 Motel in Barstow, Calif.
Check out the motel sign at the 1:14 mark and compare it to this.
Appropriately enough, the name of the band is The Western States Motel.