Posted by Darrell Long on May 29th, 2007 — Posted in Social Media, Interviews
I had a chance to sit down and talk with two individuals by the names of Josh Manuel and Justin Oswald, who are the brains behind StateofBrain.com. The website takes the same approach as Digg.com does, by allowing users the ability to approve or deny a post. This would allow the more likeable stories to rise through the ranks. However, this is where the two differ. State of Brain is a user run news site with voting based on emotions. Here you can discover what is important, new, and popular on the internet. Users control the site with link submissions and the power to vote.
I asked Josh how he came up with such an innovative idea and this is what he had to say. “ I was a regular digg, del.icio.us, and reddit user but had a really tough time digging a story on the death of Steve Irwin. I didn’t like only voting up or down on the story as I felt it was important to get out. That’s when the idea of developing a site where users could vote based on how the story made them feel came to mind. ”
From that point the both of them got together to develop the idea of voting based on emotion. Josh and Justin were going to college full time and working part time jobs, but any other time they had was towards developing StateofBrain.com
The website officially launched March 1st 2007 and has since picked up steam. The first week Stateofbrain.com reach over 3000 unique visitors and sitting on over 200 registered users. The website is growing at an alarming rate, and if you haven’t been over there yet I would suggest you check it out.
No Comments »
Posted by Darrell Long on April 12th, 2007 — Posted in Web 2.0
The amount of user generated content on the web these days is breath taking. With each passing day there is becoming more and more compelling copy on the web. This consumer-generated content that is being tagged for its relevancy by website users is being dubbed as “Web 2.0”. The question to ask yourself is, does this “Web 2.0” phenomena mean we have to change the way in which we work? How big of an impact does the social media scene have and will it require us to think, plan and execute our marketing strategy differently?
The answer to this question is Yes
With the introduction of web sites such as Digg.com and Del.icio.us users have the power to now classify content they feel is relevant by using a technique called tagging. You may be asking yourself. What is tagging and how can it possibly impact me? A tag is a key phrase which is associated with a relevant piece of information such as a Web page, article, etc. The tag is implemented by users to provide a simple description. This will allow for keyword-based classification of the information. The process of tagging offers another way of finding information on the Web. The Web 2.0 phenomena, is providing online marketers with another avenue for building awareness and driving customers to their products or services.
How do I possibly get involved?
To be able to become involved you must first understand that visitors will need to find the information you are providing interesting enough to tag. The best way to ensure this take place is to get involved in “Link-Baiting”. I know what you are thinking, the term “Link-baiting” doesn’t seem ethical but on the contrary it actual is. Link Baiting is the process of developing content with a high potential of catching the visitors’ attention, such as useful tools, up-to-date news and information or a great recourse of information on a given subject. This should persuade visitors to place links to your page from other websites, which should also drive more traffic to the site. As the page builds in popularity, and acquires more traffic, it has the opportunity to become more prominent to searchers because social search sites place more value on pages that have gained more “votes” or tags from visitors.
On Page Factors
There are also factors on the page the content is housed on that makes a big difference. You want to ensure the key phrases being tagged are used sufficiently within the copy of the information. There are also other areas which should be consistent with the theme of the copy. These areas would include:
• Page Title
• Descriptions Meta Tag
• Keywords Meta Tag
The most important Meta data in your site’s source code are the title and description Meta tags. When a page is indexed within a social search site, the listing description is often pulled directly from the source code. Therefore, make sure the title and description tags associated with the page are relevant and on topic and the tags are unique to each URL.
Look At the Big Picture
Remember that the social media aspect is not the only place to optimize for. Don’t forget the importance of implementing traditional search engine optimization techniques for building visibility on key pages of your website. Google and other search engines place very high importance on inbound linking. The amount of high quality relevant linking pointing to your website is going to be a major factoring in determining your placement within the search engines.
In the end developing compelling keyword rich content is going to benefit you from a social media “web 2.0” point, as well as traditional Search engine Optimization point of view.
No Comments »
Posted by Darrell Long on February 15th, 2007 — Posted in Web Design & Usability, Technical Issues, On-Page Issues
When talking to business owners or anyone who wishes to build a website, the first thing they ask me is “Can you build it in flash?” and that this point I want to run for the hills. The problem is that even though flash can be a great tool to enhance your website it should by no means be your primary authoring tool. At this point the search engines cannot index anything embedded in flash. This can cause many problems when you develop key parts of your website in flash. These key items would include but are not limited to Main body copy and primary navigation.
If the search engines cannot follow the links to other pages of your website or can’t see any the content you provide on your website how can they effectively understand what keywords and key phrases you’re targeting? The answer is they can’t, which will ultimately hurt your visibility within search engines. I am not one of those people who will protest any use of flash and believe me I know a couple people who would love to start a protest about the use of flash. I will not mention any names but you know who you are.
What I am suggesting is be smart about the use of flash and you will go far. Remember the search engines can’t see flash so keep key elements out to ensure maximum crawl ability and index ability. If you find yourself questioning if something should be put in flash just follow this saying, When in doubt, take it out!
No Comments »
