Recently Chris Anderson (Editor of Wired Magazine) has been making the rounds in the various news sources - I saw him on the Colbert Report, heard him interviewed on NPR's Marketplace, and then read another interview with him in Spiegel. Most of this press has to do with his new book - 'Free' - that basically says that the price of online content will be (and is being) driven to zero.
That doesn't mean that it'll be completely free - just that there will be free and paid versions. For example, on a streaming video site you could pay a monthly membership to avoid commercial interruptions, or watch the same video for free with a commercial intro (or even breaks at certain points within the show). I agree wholeheartedly with this notion.
However, in his Spiegel interview Anderson mentions that 'media will become a hobby.' This seems a little asinine at first glance because well, the news is the news! Trusted source of journalism, accuracy, hard hitting investigative reporting, etc! In many cases, this will likely still be true (then again, TMZ.com did break the news that Michael Jackson was dead - hours before the news networks would later confirm it). Does this mean that TMZ is as accurate? Well, in this case, yes. In all cases? Doubtful.
In another example is the recent Yahoo-Microsoft deal, which the NY Times wrote about today. However, as early as last Friday, some sources were reporting that the deal was basically done. Yesterday, it became clear that the deal was official and would be announced. Of course, the actual announcement only came today - so is the NYTimes really 'behind the time' or are they just waiting until they can 'officially' report the news (after everyone else is already aware of it?).
Because I follow other search people on Twitter, I found out about this news relatively early in the cycle (and snickered at the people trying to jump on the news bandwagon later - c'mon, if we're all working in search, you should've known about this a little sooner than today people). And Anderson mentions that the people he follows on Twitter (within his industry/interests) are the same type of people who will socially link stories to their friends/followers that he'll also trust as well.
So for announcements like this, I think the news is dead as the go to source. I still think that they'll be a good place for insight and analysis on some issues that very few are qualified to address (ie - international politics, etc.) - but the question is - how many people truly care about that kind of news?
thoughts of a white collar girl next door
- Danielle
- Hi, I'm Danielle (a writer, digital marketer, casual runner, and whatever other labels you want to pick and choose from). I have a sneaking suspicion that it'll be a while until I publish my first best seller, so in the meantime, here are my thoughts on everything.
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
Think Globally, Buy Locally
When I buy stuff off the internet, and I buy things off the net very rarely - well, actually, most of the stuff I buy is groceries and gasoline, the occasional movie ticket, and going out to eat/drink with friends - but I digress.
When I buy stuff off the internet, I'm looking for a good deal - whether it's a DVD box set, renewing my Xbox Live membership, or buying a new lens for my digital camera - on a product I don't need immediately (I haven't even watched all the DVDs I already own).
When I buy something in person, I'm looking for instant gratification. I want it now. I need new running shoes, probably 100 miles ago, so I want them now because I don't want to break my routine.
Of course, having lived in the same area for the past 8-9 years - I'm pretty familiar with where I should go to buy new running shoes. So let's pretend I move somewhere random, like Lemon Grove, California or somewhere a little less random, like Houston. Now I have no idea.
Rather than search for 'running shoes' (where I am going to get a bunch of national results - which would be fine if I knew exactly what pair/size shoe to buy) I'll search for a term like, 'running shoes houston' - which will pull up a list of local stores with the local business results map and some other websites (usually for stores selling running shoes in Houston).
However, let's take this one step further. If I'm a national chain (with at least one store in Houston) I want to be on that list. But I also want to be on the list for Las Vegas as well. Now, depending on the number of stores I have - I may be able to do this on a city by city basis - but that's going to end up becoming a very tedious process if I have say, more than 1,000 stores (which a lot of chains do).
How do I approach the task then? Should I buy 1,000 domains? (eg - houstonstore.com, lasvegasstore.com, chicagostore.com, etc)? Or maybe I should just make sure that each store location has it's own page on my corporate website and is listed in all the pertinent local directories (yellowpages, etc.) so that we should up in the Google LBC?
The answer is, there is no single strategy that's best. You have to consider what you're trying to rank for, how strong your brand (and website) is nationally, and how tough the competition is locally. Good luck ranking for 'coffee shop' in New York City - but ranking for 'coffee shop' in Rural, Ohio should be a bit easier.
When I buy stuff off the internet, I'm looking for a good deal - whether it's a DVD box set, renewing my Xbox Live membership, or buying a new lens for my digital camera - on a product I don't need immediately (I haven't even watched all the DVDs I already own).
When I buy something in person, I'm looking for instant gratification. I want it now. I need new running shoes, probably 100 miles ago, so I want them now because I don't want to break my routine.
Of course, having lived in the same area for the past 8-9 years - I'm pretty familiar with where I should go to buy new running shoes. So let's pretend I move somewhere random, like Lemon Grove, California or somewhere a little less random, like Houston. Now I have no idea.
Rather than search for 'running shoes' (where I am going to get a bunch of national results - which would be fine if I knew exactly what pair/size shoe to buy) I'll search for a term like, 'running shoes houston' - which will pull up a list of local stores with the local business results map and some other websites (usually for stores selling running shoes in Houston).
However, let's take this one step further. If I'm a national chain (with at least one store in Houston) I want to be on that list. But I also want to be on the list for Las Vegas as well. Now, depending on the number of stores I have - I may be able to do this on a city by city basis - but that's going to end up becoming a very tedious process if I have say, more than 1,000 stores (which a lot of chains do).
How do I approach the task then? Should I buy 1,000 domains? (eg - houstonstore.com, lasvegasstore.com, chicagostore.com, etc)? Or maybe I should just make sure that each store location has it's own page on my corporate website and is listed in all the pertinent local directories (yellowpages, etc.) so that we should up in the Google LBC?
The answer is, there is no single strategy that's best. You have to consider what you're trying to rank for, how strong your brand (and website) is nationally, and how tough the competition is locally. Good luck ranking for 'coffee shop' in New York City - but ranking for 'coffee shop' in Rural, Ohio should be a bit easier.
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
Interactive Marketing, or, BOOM goes the dynamite
These days, I get a bit of my information/analysis about marketing, and interactive marketing in particular, via my Twitter account (twitter.com/loosebricks) and today I received an update that the new Forrester Research 5-year interactive marketing forecast is available.
Long story short, it looks as though "advertising is going to change forever" (of course, people have been saying for the last 20-30 years that soccer will catch on in the United States, and that has yet to happen). But I do believe that a lot more interaction and customer engagement is going to take place online.
The full report can be read here but if you don't have $1,999 to plunk down on it, try reading an introduction to the report by Forrest Research VP Josh Bernoff. The big idea is that "overall advertising budgets will decline. Yep. With dollars moving out of traditional media toward less expensive and more efficient interactive tools, marketers will actually need less money to accomplish their current advertising goals."
Look at the auto industry for example. They've pulled out of (or severely reduced) their spends on just about every form of advertising. And their brilliant new idea? Sell the cars on eBay. I just can't wait to take my first virtual test drive!
Long story short, it looks as though "advertising is going to change forever" (of course, people have been saying for the last 20-30 years that soccer will catch on in the United States, and that has yet to happen). But I do believe that a lot more interaction and customer engagement is going to take place online.
The full report can be read here but if you don't have $1,999 to plunk down on it, try reading an introduction to the report by Forrest Research VP Josh Bernoff. The big idea is that "overall advertising budgets will decline. Yep. With dollars moving out of traditional media toward less expensive and more efficient interactive tools, marketers will actually need less money to accomplish their current advertising goals."
Look at the auto industry for example. They've pulled out of (or severely reduced) their spends on just about every form of advertising. And their brilliant new idea? Sell the cars on eBay. I just can't wait to take my first virtual test drive!
Wednesday, July 8, 2009
SEO v. Marketing
So not too long ago I ran into a couple of former marketing guys who now run a marketing/branding consulting company. I started talking to them about SEO and they joked about whether or not I was a black hat SEO guy (I'm not). But essentially what they came to say, and what I agreed with, is that SEO for the sake of manipulating rankings is worthless because it doesn't really form a connection with the users. Engaging content, awesome products, and authentic experiences do (iPods/iPhones/Blackberry, GI Joes/Transformers/LEGO, Nintendo, GooseBumps/HardyBoys/Nancy Drew/Harry Potter, etc.).
Here's a good blog post by some marketing whiz that says this a lot better than I could.
I found that link from the blog of another digital marketing whiz, Dave Churbuck (who does the digital marketing for LENOVO). He has some great stuff, but I'll let you find it yourself.
The moral of the story is, one shouldn't be thinking of SEO only in terms of ranks & traffic - but what it actually does for the user, which is help them connect with something that they want/need/will come to love.
Here's a good blog post by some marketing whiz that says this a lot better than I could.
I found that link from the blog of another digital marketing whiz, Dave Churbuck (who does the digital marketing for LENOVO). He has some great stuff, but I'll let you find it yourself.
The moral of the story is, one shouldn't be thinking of SEO only in terms of ranks & traffic - but what it actually does for the user, which is help them connect with something that they want/need/will come to love.
Sunday, July 5, 2009
SEO Campaigns
So my last post was about the basics of SEO - and now this post will cover how to create an SEO campaign:
Read this: http://www.best-seo-blog.com/2009/06/seo-strategy-document-how-to-write-an-seo-strategy/
'Nuff said.
Read this: http://www.best-seo-blog.com/2009/06/seo-strategy-document-how-to-write-an-seo-strategy/
'Nuff said.
SEO
The first work related post of ... the blog.
The basics of SEO are:
Accessibility (or site architecture) - can search engines crawl the site well, is everything as close to the first page as possible, is everything on the site unique. Good site architecture is a good first step in SEO as it makes the site easier for the search engines and users.
Quality content - Does the content provide some sort of value to the user? Does new content provide additional value? Does it attract links naturally? How can I improve upon the content? What differentiates my content from that of my competitors? This is basically marketing/branding/product development for those of you business minded individuals.
Link Building - What pages need links to rank better? Where can I find good quality, authority links? Can I optimize these links? Can I create additional link bait?
Those are the three main points of SEO - coupled with keyword research and targeting (that's basically knowing your audience and targeting your site to those people). What keywords can you target (and actually achieve rankings for)? If someone clicks on your site, are they going to have an authentic experience or are you just trying to capitalize on the traffic and leave them wanting?
Then of course, you need to track and report all this data. How is your linkage growing? Is your content working? How well? What can you improve upon? How is your site architecture holding up (is it getting your entire site indexed?). Etc.
This is my job. Joy.
The basics of SEO are:
Accessibility (or site architecture) - can search engines crawl the site well, is everything as close to the first page as possible, is everything on the site unique. Good site architecture is a good first step in SEO as it makes the site easier for the search engines and users.
Quality content - Does the content provide some sort of value to the user? Does new content provide additional value? Does it attract links naturally? How can I improve upon the content? What differentiates my content from that of my competitors? This is basically marketing/branding/product development for those of you business minded individuals.
Link Building - What pages need links to rank better? Where can I find good quality, authority links? Can I optimize these links? Can I create additional link bait?
Those are the three main points of SEO - coupled with keyword research and targeting (that's basically knowing your audience and targeting your site to those people). What keywords can you target (and actually achieve rankings for)? If someone clicks on your site, are they going to have an authentic experience or are you just trying to capitalize on the traffic and leave them wanting?
Then of course, you need to track and report all this data. How is your linkage growing? Is your content working? How well? What can you improve upon? How is your site architecture holding up (is it getting your entire site indexed?). Etc.
This is my job. Joy.
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