Eric Staggs: Writer

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(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.

It’s no secret that How-To books are the most written, most published books out there. It’s got something to do with our desire to share our knowledge, the fact that none of us truly knows it all and the further specialization of our modern-day workforce. Knowing this, I am always amazed at myself when I find I’m in the market for a How-To book. I guess I figure while I’ve been To-ing, they’ve been learning How-To better and I should update my knowledge of Hows and Tos.

I’m also always a little surprised when “they,” in fact, haven’t updated their knowledge. They’re just re-hashing something we all already know. But, as I tell my accountant, the purchase of books and reference material is an investment in the future.

My latest forward investment was a book called “The Ultimate SEO Strategy Guide.” A quick disclaimer, I’ve been a web content person for nearly a decade, and watched, albeit through occasionally photon-burned eyes, as these technologies developed from their infancy into the super-sleek high-tech versions of themselves that we all play with today. I was looking for a refresher again thinking while I’d been Doing, the How-Toers were researching, when I came across this book.

One of the factors that I always question, the primary reason I tend to seek out new information on SEO (Search Engine Optimization), is that I can’t quite get my head around Google’s search secret. I’ve read about links (exchanges, reciprocal, back, deep and otherwise), tags, meta content, indexing, robots.txt and spam. I’ve worked with dozens of companies, some with long-term websites, others just jumping into the Big Bit Bucket. Some with aggressive and active online marketing initiatives, others with (my personal favorite) the “we’re known worldwide, so no, we don’t do PPC” attitude.

The only thing that really seems to make a difference in traffic, aside from how interesting or timely your content is, would be how much your content resonates with users. I like the idea that a person can influence how traffic visits their website, but experience tells me otherwise. If your content is good enough, people will come.

And therein lies the dilemma. Your content may well be good enough. It may well be a head-and-shoulders above  most of what’s out there. But not all of it. Keyword research can give you an idea of how bad the odds are for your website, how brutal the competition really is. I once read there were six web pages for every person on the planet as of 2003 (that makes the counted pages somewhere around 36-billion plus). Research indicates that 42% of all traffic goes to the first website that appears on the list. The rest is split up among the next nine. So why bother?

Because if you do have worthwhile content and take the time invest in some SEO planning, you can in subtle ways affect your website’s traffic.

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.

Previously, I’ve written about the special skills one needs to employ for website development, and how those skills are changing daily. Now, let’s look at what exactly is changing.

The technology one uses to implement their online presence, brilliant flash-driven database apps, rusty-gear cranking CGI or smooth DHTML layers is really irrelevant when compared to the content being delivered.

Consider some of the most popular, or at least, oft visited websites: Youtube.com and Amazon.com. Youtube.com specializes in delivering video content. That’s all. Sure, there’s built in methods for sharing videos amongst your Facebook and MySpace buddies, but for the most part, Youtube.com just delivers videos. Nothing too complex about the layout, nothing too magical about the interface. Just videos.

Amazon.com on the other hand uses a rather old school display layout, plugged with little media apps here and there. Amazon’s magic, however, still lies in content delivery – its ability to parse through previous customer purchases and selections enabling it to display content that you are interested in.

Of course, the average small business doesn’t have the ad power or the draw that super-shopping sites or the delicate art of the human spectacle might have. But well planned, well thought out content is still the biggest draw available. Not only does well planned content have meaning for the audience, but it helps build long term SEO.

Social Networking sites promise the future to users. From quick contacts and slip-dash deals, nearly instant gossip transfer and insider information, “adding a friend” is considered a prerequisite to business success in the ultra-speed digital world.

But realistically, how many people trust a faceless icon floating out there in the bit-bucket somewhere? I could be anybody, writing to you about anything. And I think you know that. Yet, optimists we are, we click that “add to contacts.”

I was once contacted through Facebook for a position in Madison WI. I thought it was a joke at first. Isn’t that what LinkedIn.com is for? Turns out it was a legit offer for a pretty good gig. The lesson here is that the boundaries between social networking sites are melting away.  While I personally would rather keep business on LinkedIn and Mafia Wars on Facebook (some folks get it, some don’t), I’m the only one. It seems that LinkedIn.com simply lacks many of the facilities for contact that Facebook has. That is to say the built-in professionalism (formality) of LinkedIn in working against it as far as social networking communications are concerned.

Watching the evolution of the two sites offers some interesting insight into how people use the internet. LinkedIn’s addition of “apps” mimics Facebook and MySpace, furthers the common theory of the internet: people want to play with other people. These “apps,” most of which are games,  allow people to post fictional or real accomplishments and share them with others. Much like Twitter, the idea that one single person’s activities could be so interesting to demand the instant notification of thousands is amusing to say the least.

So how can small businesses take advantage of thee so called social networking websites? They seem to be just toys for office workers with too much time on their hands. That would be a correct assessment. However, a major appeal of the internet is VOICE. The web allows Joe Public to give their opinion. This high-tech sort of grassroots support shows carries a lot of weight in the digital world, even though it’s the easiest thing in the world to simply click that “like” button.

In fact, the support one sees for causes and products, bands and movements, via the internet are mostly based on “my friends are doing it” and “it seems cool enough” and “that’s a buddy of mine, so I’ll show support.” Besides, what does it cost anyone to “add as a friend” anything?

The benefits are of course subtle, but can’t be beat. When compared to traditional advertising, pound for pound, web ads, bulk email, social networking and fan-pages get triple the impressions for the same (less) dollars.

Communication, the Internet and personal telecom devices in particular are changing how we interact with one another, how we share knowledge and market our businesses and products almost daily. Text messages, wireless web-enabled devices such as the iPhone or similar gadgets allow near instant sharing of information with customers, clients and friends anytime, anywhere.

One would think this is a good thing – a great leap forward for marketing and advertising, allowing the small and mid-sized business owner a chance to compete with the corporate leviathans of the world. While it’s true, these new and ever evolving technologies allow us the average Joe to reach out to customers and clients, to expand their business networks and improve brand awareness, it’s also true that these new tools (toys) allow business owners a dozen and a half new venues to alienate and irritate their customers.

So what’s the solution? Knowledge of your technology and how the end user utilizes it is key, and with everything, research (vast amounts) goes a long way towards improving that knowledge. The internet has for the last two decades, and likely for the next two at least should be your first stop when trying to learn about these new methods of telecommunication.

There’s a catch, however. This caveat is subtle, and simple and for small business owners, logical. No website, blog, newsgroup or wiki is going to give you all the answers for free. If every master SEO writer gave away his secrets, he’d have no business. If every master web designer could step you through creating the most magnificent website ever, he’d have no clients.

This goes back to what grandpa always said “You get what you pay for.” This is especially true with technical knowledge. That’s not to say one shouldn’t do their own research, but unless you’re planning a career change from business owner to SEO Specialist or Web Content Specialist or Web (insert flavor here) Guru, you’ll need to hire a professional.