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Web 2.0

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World Wide Web

But on to other things. I read another great blog post from a few months back about “the changing face of search engine optimization.” It’s called, “The Face of SEO is Changing Are You?” and, bad grammar aside, it’s a good read.

You see, historically, the way that SEO companies did business was to pay for links and blog posts; they would pretend to be their client companies and post articles on various “fake” blogs. I say “fake” not because they were not actually created with blog software or anything, but because what makes a “blog” a “blog” is the human(s) behind it who actually have interest in creating community and having two-way conversation with their customer base. That’s an idealistic opinion, but you’ll see that sometimes idealism counts for something later on in this piece.

With regard to the paid links – you may recall that I wrote in an earlier piece that one of the key items that search engines look for in judging a site’s relevance is how many sites link to it. Well, an old-school SEO company will pay companies that create pages that are purely a collection of links. Have you ever accidentally mistyped a web address and ended up at a page that had a bunch of unrelated links on it? These pages are created by SEO companies to increase the number of incoming links to a site. Seems like a dirty trick, and it is.

Google serves almost 70% of all web searches.

But, because this is technology, it evolves. I mentioned idealism, and we’ve all been told at one time or another that idealism has no place in business. Well, maybe, but one exception to that rule is Google. Google is in a unique position in the business world – it is the 800 lb. gorilla in the most important kind of business of the next century: information management. Almost 70% of searching done on the Internet is done through Google outlets. So Google has the power to choose standards that all must follow. It’s a lot of power, and it can be abused, but Google does have certain ideals. Google’s corporate mission statement is to “organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful.” And the truth is, “fake” blogs and “paid links” do nothing to add useful content to the Internet.

So Google is beginning to penalize companies that use these techniques to boost their sites’ relevance. Their goal, of course, is to reduce the number of pages out there that have worthless content on them, which will, naturally, make it easier to find the things people are actually looking for.

The author, Dave Freeman, put it well:

Well in times when businesses are struggling to stay profitable a website is a must for any business trying to attract new customers. If either your in-house SEO or your SEO agency is undertaking a link building strategy that includes buying blatant paid links then not only are they placing your website at risk of a penalty, they are also placing you business at huge risk of losing its biggest revenue generator and in these economic conditions that could spell the end for the business. What you have to ask is, is it worth the risk of using an SEO or a search agency that is stuck in the past?

Once again, poor grammar aside, the point he’s making is valid. Why waste your money on an old strategy that risks your site being banned by they #1 traffic driver on the Internet?

The key to SEO’s future is understanding how to embrace social media, build links based on legitimate content without resorting to “spamming,” and manage your site’s user experience so that when people come to your site, they’re landing on the page that is most relevant to them, and are able to find the information they want. It doesn’t take a lot to do these things, in terms of technical expertise, it just takes knowing how to look at a site critically and interpret the web site’s metrics to determine what people are doing on your site.

The bottom line is this: ask smart questions of the people managing your SEO business, and you will be in a better place to handle whatever the future holds.

Our paths to the outside world are many.

I just read a great post on Dealer Refresh about “Your Future Manager.” Here’s a quick excerpt:

Your future manager is a multi-tasking fiend. She or he will embrace every form of social media and communicate with staff by email or instant messenger. Technology use will be first and foremost on his or her mind, with an understanding that it doesn’t always work perfectly, but incorporating technology into processes is crucial. They will demand it!

It goes on to discuss how the younger generation (about age 30 and younger) has been bred into a multimedia cauldron – you may remember how “multimedia” was such a buzzword in the 90’s.  Now it’s just a fact of life.  Those of us from the “Connectedness Generation” are a breed apart from the past… the information age has infected us to a much greater degree.

Alex Snyder, the author of the article, describes his siblings and cousins and how all of them live lives wired (and now wireless) in so many different ways. It’s an experience that matches my own – as I type, I’m listening to the podcast of last night’s episode of Pardon the Interruption, keeping an eye on my Twitter and Facebook feeds on TweetDeck, and downloading last week’s episode of Lost, which I missed because it conflicts with two other shows I record on my DVR – Lie to Me and Mythbusters.

By my count, there are nine items in my house that are connected to the Internet, and that’s just for me – the dog is only seven months old and hasn’t figured out the Internet yet. And the truth is, to a large degree, Alex Snyder is exactly right. We should be looking for people with a talent and comfort level that makes them able to learn and adapt to new technologies and technological habits as they emerge.

The key is – and the first commenter on his article brought this up – is that many of the people who have this skill use it purely as a means of gratification and distraction. It’s a very, very fine line to walk, because what may look like unproductive behavior in one person may just be part of the creative process for another. Making judgements about someone’s level of productivity based solely on how “connected” they are compared to you is a slippery slope and can alternately lead to a group of people who are all unproductive or all unimaginative and out of touch.

On the other hand, as employees, these younger folks have to handle the distractions out there with aplomb. Yes, I have other things going on in the background and manage to remain productive, but I am smart enough to know that if I really need to concentrate (and it is against human nature to be fully engaged on a constant basis), items of distraction need to be muted or unplugged.

How do we test for these things when hiring? The interview is an inexact tool for gauging the work habits of a potential employee. And it’s easy for someone to sit in front of a computer and look busy while they’re not really doing anything productive.

It’s a fine distinction, but an important one – the difference between leading a horse to water and shooting him with the firehose.

My answer? Results. Managers, most often the folks who are most intimidated by this technology, need to take control of the process and demand real results. In my work with car dealers, they are often inclined to draw a direct line to sales when I say this, but it’s not that simple. Your management team needs to determine real performance metrics and goals on a daily, weekly and monthly basis that lead to sales. It’s a fine distinction, but an important one – the difference between leading a horse to water and shooting him with the firehose.

The problem, though, is that many managers are uncomfortable with technology and don’t know the capabilities of what they have in their arsenal, so they don’t know what to ask of their people. Too many just want to have someone to “handle it” for them.

So, when we think about hiring, think about this: a good manager (or consultant), will have a plan for how to utilize the items in his toolkit to motivate and maintain productivity from his staff, while providing relevant and timely reporting of his department’s results to his bosses. It should involve technology, to be certain, but a good manager will make those technological tactics serve the business, not drive it.

No matter the industry, online reviews matter.

It’s one of the axioms of branding that the best kind of advertising is word-of-mouth advertising. One person telling another about their experience, positive or negative, is more powerful that fifty TV commercials. The problem has always been, “How do we generate word-of-mouth advertising?”

Before the Internet and “Web 2.0,” this was a very difficult thing to do, requiring grassroots events, surveys, testimonials and other expensive and difficult-to-execute programs. Now, in the age of connectedness, it’s not at all. Because of the proliferation of online review sites, and the way Google and other search engines have started aggregating; these reviews from all over the web, word of mouth is simply a part of your online presence, whether or not you sought it out.

That’s a powerful thought – every single person that seeks you and your products out now has a forum to view others’ experiences and results. And if you think back to your own experiences in buying on the web – a book at Amazon, a pair of shoes from Zappos, etc. – you have almost certainly looked through the reviews on the product before you bought it.

Two of the top three sources are word-of-mouth!

That’s the new word-of-mouth. Are you going to buy a product with one star? Are you going to buy the one that has only been reviewed once? The answer to both questions is probably “no,” and for good reason. So think about your own business. Google it and look at the accumulated reviews in the local business listings.

If you’ve never looked there before, you may be surprised. Because, and this may just be common sense, most people who go online to review a business or product, if they have not been prompted to do so, are the people who are disgruntled and need a place to vent their frustration. This is especially common with car dealers. So most of the reviews that you may find are going to be negative, and reflect poorly on your business.

How do you combat that?

Many clients that I have worked with want to ask, “How do I get rid of those bad reviews?” The truth is you can’t, in most cases. You might file a grievance with the site hosting the review, but unless it is outlandish and egregious, you’re not likely to get them to remove it. So what’s the solution to combat it?

Simple:  Ask all of your customers to review their experience online.

I know what you may be asking. “Shouldn’t I only ask the ones I know are happy?”  The answer is no, and I’ll tell you why:  the great power of the Internet is not in being able to reach people with your products and services.  That’s the Internet of the 1990’s and early 2000’s.  The great power of the Internet today, and into the future, lies in the fact that people can reach back to you, and share their experiences with you. 

Why do you care?  Three reasons:

1. It gives you the opportunity to get honest assessments of your practices and your personnel.  If you have a salesperson who is driving customers away, it’s good to know that.  Likewise the reverse – if you have a salesperson who is consistently getting great reviews, then you have a better idea of their value to your team.
2. It gives you a forum to respond to negative word-of-mouth.  Most sites will offer the opportunity to respond to reviews as the business owner.  So, when you see a review in which someone describes a negative experience, you can respond with an apology and offer to rectify the situation.  This is a good move for two reasons.  First, you may be able to satisfy that customer and turn their experience from a negative to a positive.  Second, and I believe this is the more powerful, everyone sees that you care enough about your customers to make the effort.  The key factor you need to remember here is that you have to come strong – you cannot appear to be sniping or fighting back.  If you don’t think you can be contrite, for whatever reason, do not respond publicly.
3. It gives you an opportunity to brag.  If you’re doing the right things and your reviews are positive, you have the opportunity to share that with the world. 

Here is an example of a car dealer that took this advice and ran with it: Gene Reed Toyota (website), Gene Reed Toyota on DealerRater.com.  Notice that they have a person dedicated to responding to every review personally, and investigating every negative review.  And on their website, they feature their relationship with DealerRater.com.  In their store, they have brochures on every table, and they request that every person visit their DealerRater.com page.

Going back to a point I made earlier, the new power of the Internet in the age of Web 2.0 is that your customers can reach back to you and share their experiences.  And if you’re doing the right things, their responses will be generally positive.  And if you’re not, you’ll have the tools and feedback necessary to take corrective action.  The deeper implication of all of this is that taking these opportunities to have personal, one-on-one communication with your customers is the best way to guarantee your success online.

All You Need to Know to Twitter

No kidding.  But here we are – poised to begin exploring this new world.  We could start with a dissertation on why I love the Internet, but, really, no one wants or needs that.  The Internet is all things to all people, and in the end, that’s all that needs to be said.  What we need to concern ourselves with is connectedness.

What we have to learn, in order to make the Internet work for us, is how to harness that connectedness, because if we don’t, we’re either going to get burned, or we’re going to get left behind. 

So what does “connectedness” mean, and why is such an awkward word so important?

“Connectedness” means that the traditional boundaries that we have used to delineate different types of behavior and experience are eroding.  It means that, to paraphrase a song, “the Earth is moving under our feet.”  It’s an exciting new world, filled with new ways to talk to people.  New ways to learn about the world.  And of course, new ways to sell to people.  What companies need to learn is that in a world where people are connected to information and each other in an exponentially growing number of ways, you cannot rely on old methods to reach them.

This is a website about exploring the things that are necessary to win those battles for attention that are at the heart of Internet marketing and the whole “Web 2.0″ phenomenon.