Archive for January, 2007

There has been a stir in the SEO community; the buzz this past year has been all about social media. Getting your site listed on Digg, StumbleUpon, Netscape, whatever the flavor, it’s all getting to be the same. Grumblings, faint at first, have been rising against the cross-current cheerleading of these social media properties. Social Media Blues There are a number of reasons for discontent. Being de-listed by a few small groups, spam, and ultimately the traffic that these social media sites provide is very much like a sugar high. There is a flurry of traffic that leaves as quickly as it starts, and sometimes there is less of a…

Search seems to be at the top of mind for companies and entrepreneurs that develop sites and expect the world to come, much like the proverbial mousetrap. Unfortunately, the best designed and optimized website will not see the light of a monitor unless there is something that draws users and provides a good experience. While search gets the headlines, there is a lack of the ‘nuts and bolts’ activities that make businesses successful, both online and offline. Most site owners believe that simply building a site, optimizing it for “gold terms” and building a PPC campaign will be enough. Yet, there is a great divide between the goals of the…

The Pew Project’s latest numbers show that 60 million Americans went to the web for political information in the 2006 election. Unfortunately, they didn’t find anything. OK, that last part was a joke, based on my currently jaded view of American politics. I feel that this is one of the unique times in our political history when people on both sides, no matter how extreme, can look at each other, scratch their heads, and agree that everyone needs to go. Neither side is delivering. There is as much criticism within each party as there is towards the other party. Off my soapbox, when are these guys going to figure this…

I had a great time this week speaking to the Lexington, KY Advertising Club. The hospitality was outstanding and the event was a lot of fun. There were over 100 guests to the luncheon, and many stayed afterwards into the afternoon for an extended Q&A time. The questions were very good, and I definitely want to get back to Lexington very soon, as the people were very inquisitive and were genuinely interested in search engine optimization and website marketing. I was impressed with the level of understanding and talent in the room. Many of the attendees had award-winning sites themselves and there was a lot of quality understanding already there,…

Many articles in the past months have left people wondering as to the future of social media sites such as DIGG, Del.icio.us, Reddit, Netscape, and many others. Lee Odden shared his frustration when he saw his site banned from DIGG. Knowing Lee and the great content he provides, I and many others were shocked to see that the DIGG community could easily kick him out. A few dedicated spammers can group together and end any chance of marketing via social media, and it is surprisingly easy to do. The darling of 2006, the social media sites, can provide instant traffic and weighty links to websites. The effects are short,…

It seems like I’ve always been in sales. Even when your background is marketing it sometimes just turns into raw sales. I’ve always been fascinated by the sales process, but just as horrified by it at the same time. Growing up, I always equated sales with Herb Tarlek and gaudy sport coats. Yet somehow, the concept of sales is something that has always come naturally, yet there are always lessons to learn. Unfortunately, some of my sales experiences have been what I would describe as more high-pressure than others. I had to learn the “10 Closing Methods” and “Top Cold Call Lines”. Yuck! In my opinion, there is nothing as…