The party is about to end, however, as Google will be changing their algorithm to compensate for “over optimized sites”. This penalty for overly SEO’ed sites will level the playing field, giving sites with great content a better shot at ranking above sites with not as good content but great SEO.

It’s a constant fight between Google and those that seek to artificially manipulate results. Google’s job is to help customers find what the are looking for in the most pure sense possible. It’s always been about the content and this new change is going to make that even more true than ever. Rather than paying thousands of dollars a month for SEO wizardry, companies will be forced to focus on the content. Real, honest, authentic content. It’s about time.

Connected World Media has always been more interested in content and the strategy that surrounds that content than SEO tricks. Please give us a call at 503-208-6426 if you would like help getting your content strategy in order. In the meantime I would recommend  reading Content Rules by C.C. Chapman and Ann Handley. This is one of the few new marketing books that focus on content and content strategy exclusively.

Social media is all about content. Creating and publishing great content is the primary factor in social media success. Fortunately that content already lives right inside of your company. The trick is getting it out. Great content might not even be where you think it is and I’m sorry to say it’s most likely not going to come out of your marketing department. Your best content is more likely found down the org chart with the girls and guys grinding it out everyday on front lines. These people have stories to tell and valuable insights about how the product really works and what customers think. Your road warriors, the sales team also can give you great case studies and interesting new ways your customers are getting value from your product.

It’s also important not to stifle content. Legal departments will wring their hands about the risks of uncontrolled content creation and corporate marketing will gripe about not being able to control the message. There may be a good deal of pressure, especially in larger companies, to retain the status quo. This will make everyone feel more comfortable but will get you nowhere in your social media marketing efforts. It’s not to say there are not valid concerns from the legal department and content creation does need guidelines. Most larger companies have adopted a social media or blogging policy which, when written well, balances security and legal concerns with enough openness and trust in employees as to not completely neuter the message.

By leveraging your internal knowledge, you will put yourself a big step ahead of your competition. One of the best differentiating factors between you and your competition is your employees and their knowledge. Don’t be afraid to show what you know and let certain key people step out and be a star. People inherently don’t trust companies but they do trust other people. Building trust in social media is key and it can only be done with real, authentic individuals. You have lots of these authentic people in your company and they have an important part to play in your social media business strategy.

First of all, every “F” sound on the site is replaced with a “ph” which is incredibly annoying and amateurish. I’m sure it was as cute idea in some board room or living room or where ever this thing was conceived but in practice it just doesn’t fly. Second of all, I don’t know why it was built on a Twitter-like platform. Twitter is the hot technology of the moment but that doesn’t mean it’s the answer for everything. The site wants to be about community, but there are actually very few real community features on it. Twitter, in and of itself, is not a community. If they wanted more of a real community a much better choice would have been Ning, which allows you to build real community based sites easily. Ning sites can have message boards, video, audio and chat.

Another odd thing is the prominent message in the top logo that says the site is “A gift from Kirstie Alley”. Well, thank you Kirstie for your generosity.  Usually it’s classier to be more humble about such things. She didn’t exactly cure cancer or anything.

People are so infatuated with Twitter, microblogging and 140 characters but you must realize, there is nothing magical about 140 characters. It is not the path to enlightenment nor the key to the fountain of youth. It’s just another technology, good for some things, not good for others. I am hearing a little too much Twitter is everything, Twitter is all I need. Blogging and RSS are dead. Please, stop it already. Twitter is great, I love it and use it daily, but some things cannot be expressed in 140 characters. Some things deserve a longer, more thoughtful treatment. If you are not blogging as much because you’re Twittering so much, I would say you have it backward. Blogging should be the main course, Twitter the appetizer. Keep things in perspective and remember when you Twitter your Tweets go into the Twittersphere. When you blog, your posts live on your site, forever. It’s content that helps your SEO and brings perspective customers, partners and employees to you. Never forget, the sale is always made on your site, not on a social network. Your primary objective is to drive traffic to your site and blogging is the most effective way to do that. Twitter, yes, but dont’ forget to blog.

Listen To The Show!

But we haven’t come very far yet as every blog/podcast ad network still works under the presumption of numbers. Lots of raw numbers. They do this because this is what the advertisers demand. As an “old school” podcaster, I belived we were going to change the world. We were supposed to change the very face of advertising, forcing them out of their relentless chance for raw numbers and getting them to understand the power of who and the return on influence. But were trying to change an industry that has done what it does for many many years and change never comes easily. Until then, the fight goes on.