Social media has so often been connected with Linkbait in our industry that it’s almost become a truism that social media drives low quality traffic.

This isn’t the case. Social media CAN drive quality traffic.

But before we can ascertain that social media can drive quality traffic we must first define:

What is Quality Traffic?

A) Every website is going to have deferring definitions of what quality is for them. Because the Bar varies from individual to individual; talking in absolutes just doesn’t make any sense. I.e 30% bounce rate or 5 minutes spent on the site.

Google will stumble in 2006

"…what goes up must come down–especially in technology, the most volatile industry the world has ever seen. Yes, I love Google, but my first prediction is that a year from now we won’t think that the search company is the invincible behemoth that we do now."

David Kirkpatrick (Senior Editor at Fortune), Dec. 2005

Google to develop iTunes competitor

"We believe that Google is in the midst of creating its own iTunes competitor, which we’ve dubbed ‘Google Tunes’," the analyst wrote in a client note issued today. "We think this is a logical step, now that the nascent Google Video product has been introduced."

Credit: Nike & Yusef Hadi

Don’t Take ‘Search’ Too Literally

SEO’s, here’s my call to you - Don’t take the “search” in Search Engine Optimization too seriously. As SEO’s (novice, intermediate, or advanced) we have a tendency to be deeply involved in our industry happenings, which can sometimes take away focus from the real reason our industry exists. Bringing visibility to clients or self-owned sites requires much diligence and talent, so the majority of your time is better employed at implementing what you already know than reading about new information.

All around good guy and internet marketing guru Matt McGee today announced the launch of the SEMMYs … the search industry’s equivalent of the EMMY’s.

The EMMYs are described as; an annual awards event honoring some of the best articles and blog posts from the search marketing industry, as voted by the industry. We have 127 authors nominated, representing 111 blogs/sites.

There are 15 categories for awards:

• SEO
• PPC
• Small Business
• Local Search
• Google
• Blogs & Blogging
• Link Building
• Social Media
• Analytics
• Search Tech
• Rants

The Scenario:

What will ultimately replace search engines?

This is a question I am asked frequently, and therefore have given considerable thought to. Ultimately, whatever it is, it has to compensate for the weaknesses of search though right? So, what are the weaknesses of search relative to the ideal search solution (he says knowing that we’ll never stop searching for things we need, so search itself will never die, only transform into something more efficient)?

At its core, Delicious is simply a bookmarking system. It’s a place to store all those links that are too much to be in your “Favorites” folder. What makes it so useful is its one of those technologies that has a simple interface. What makes it so compelling is it’s ability to do so much more; keep, discover, share, research and collaborate from any computer.

This week I take a look at Delicious, by the numbers.

The Beginning:

It’s been a while now that I’ve wanted to write about search from scratch. Seeing the enthusiasm and openness with which Kimberly Bock (aka SpostareDuro) learns and writes about learning SEO basics inspires me to make that "someday" a "today".

In its simplest form a computer can be taught to search by giving it two sets of information: a series of documents to be indexed and a list of irrelevant words.

The list of irrelevant words includes common words (a, an, the, etc.) but can also include stop words; words you don’t want to have in your index.

Coupons are BIG BUSINESS on the internet today, and understandably so with more and more merchants trying to drive traffic to their websites.  Not only does it provide a nice incentive for shoppers to ”shop from home”, but it also gives the merchant a way of tracking and measuring the success of their efforts.  Just one more online marketing tool to increase qualified traffic?  Maybe…

At some level, I’m sure we can all relate to this!

Credit: PsychoFish

Of all the social networks I participate in, Linkedin is perhaps one of the most versatile in returning a tangible benefit to its users. Like the old adage ‘its know what you know, it’s who you know’, one’s level of engagement as a Linkedin user is a clear indication of their networking skills.

In my humble opinion, every established and up and coming professional ought to have a Linkedin profile and actively try to build it up for establishing their own brand equity of sorts. What better way to form an impression on current or future employers than to show active engagement with industry mavens, participation in questions and answers, and endorsements from professionals from all walks of life?