Eric Staggs: Writer

(Slightly off my usual topic… but it relates to writing web content…)

It’s the Holy Grail of Website ownership: high traffic. Since its inception, the Internet has promised us instant gratification and ROI fantasies unimagined in human experience. High traffic, of course translates roughly into more conversions, that is, customers who purchase services and or products, which in tune equals more revenue. However, real life has shown again and again that the fantasy is hard to make a reality.

Back in the beginning, those primordial moments of the internet’s existence, meta-tags and few well thought search engine submissions were enough to get you going full speed on the information super highway. We all knew that couldn’t last. By 2003, there were six web pages for every person on the planet – more than 36,000,000,000. That, of course, was before dynamically generated pages, which can increase a website’s size exponentially (I’m currently working on SEO for a project that has more than 1,000,000 pages – sites of this size are common place in 2010).

The rules, like the Internet, were always evolving. Fast-forward a decade, virtual millennia by Internet standards and we find ourselves with a whole new idea: Link Juice.

The technical term is “website authority” or as Google terms it, “Page Rank.” Link Juice is one of the myriad factors that Google (and let’s face it, no one else matter – not Yahoo, not Bing) uses to determine the top, non-paid slots for organic search. Link Juice is a metric of how many people link to any given website. Back links are unsolicited and therefore of more value when determining authority. The logic is sound – if enough people link to your site, you must know something of value and in turn, should receive a higher “page rank” when people perform searches. Most of the time this works quite well.

Upon further consideration, it seems as if this model could easily be manipulated. However, the ever-clever minds at Google have taken precautions to prevent what would be otherwise an inevitable exploitation. Google’s indexing spiders and bots assign different value to links based on where they appear within a web page as well. The ever popular “blog roll” link widget has significantly less potency than a direct link within body copy. Just another one of the many means by which Google prevents exploitation of it’s indexing model. This, coupled with the naturally Darwinian nature of online content makes a solid model for determining page rank.

The next question obviously, is “how can I take advantage of that?” Many enterprising SEO expert have some with elaborate models o “link wheels,” fake sites set up to point to specific URLs, which in turn point to others, which theoretically accumulate Link Juice like an avalanche. Google however, can see right through these no-so-complex schemes. Research indicates than only back links from juices sites add to your own juice. The solution is simply to get popular, authoritative sites to review your product, service, or whatever, and then post about it – giving you a back link in the copy.

The blog has become the most often overlooked and perhaps the single most powerful online method for sharing your message with a larger audience. While social networking like LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter can have a huge impact on your message delivery strategy, they assume the monitoring of your stream by the audience. Whereas a blog , like wine, can age and even increase in value (if not taste). Google factors “longevity” into its search pattern. A long established blog with well planned and accurate content will help push your online presence to the forefront of the digital mob.

In the past, I’ve seen businesses of all sizes ponder and waffle over the idea of a blog. The concerns are valid of course. You’re better off not having a blog if you’re not comfortable with writing, or if you can’t afford to hire a specialist. A poorly written blog will not only hinder your SEO opportunities, but will affect the credibility of your online presence and even damage your brand. Further, with larger organizations, timing becomes a factor. Most large corporations, even those with finely honed communications teams (ahem)are simply not agile enough to make good use of daily blogging efforts (let alone real-time feeds like Twitter of Facebook). Since corporate communications are ultimately beholden to the “brand image” that a battery of nameless executive want to create/project/manage, the timeliness and impact of real-time communications is blunted significantly.

The small business has an advantage when it comes to communications with clients and customers. The layers of bureaucracy are removed and the blog author can look the owner in the eye and help prepare the message.

That said, blogs must be used wisely. The internet grants the power of communication to all who dare take up the pen (or keyboard). The power must be used concisely and honestly. But refrain from bashing your opponents or competition out right. Comparisons and analyses are obviously the more mature and effective method to employ if you feel compelled to fence with your opponent.

Libel is the written defamation of a person or entity (oddly, corporations have the same rights as a human being in the United States – who’da thunk?). In my humble opinion, a good juicy blog rides the line of libel and slander, like a surfer stuck in the tube of truth knowing that he’s going to have to “jump the shark” before the episode is over.

Of course, that’s got nothing to do with any sort of professional or corporate/product blog. Remember, blogging is a straight dialogue between you and your customers and clients. It’s a chance to build your brand, but don’t get hung up on those BS marketing terms. Your blog is essentially a calling card, a first impression, a reference point and a lifeline for you and your customers. Think out your blog updates. Take the time make them consistent and relevant. Don’t just cut and paste your brochure garbage. Give it some personality – make it real, make the human connection.

One last tip – answer all the comments you get. It’s worth your time to show your customers and clients that you care about their thoughts and opinions. Your blog generates goodwill by being entertaining and useful.