Trust is not at all earned at once. It takes months, even years, but your SEO campaign should constantly search for long-term investments more willingly than concentrating on shortcuts.

We frequently fall back on links too easy to obtain. But will those help  instil Trust with search engines and regular people?

Actual value seen by both real people and search engines constitutes a good recommendation. A reference where everyone who visits your link is already aware of what your website offers, even before seeing it.

Forget about NoFollow and DoFollow

When you are building Trust You don’t really need to look for nofollow or dofollow link attributes . The main thing is that you build links from highly respectable, quality and  topic pertinent websites. Becoming a reference in your niche requires effort.

Be picky with the websites that you are building links from. Pick out the ones that will increase Trust in you with both search engines and real people. Stay away from carrying out small time off-page SEO methods and just focus on obtaining authentic value from your links.

What about rich keyword phrase anchor texts?

As soon as your website ranks anywhere for your targeted keywords, it means that you are (becoming) relevant for that term.

What might be missing when you're (still) trapped on the second page or lower? Trust! Search engines just do not trust you enough.

You cannot convince search engines long term that you are relevant for a particular search term just by a large amount of spammy anchor text links directing to your website.

Optimal techniques for building trust

Publish a guest post

• Create a list of authority sites relevant to your niche. Sites that have high Page Rank, high Alexa traffic rankings, high keyword ranks, excellent web design, and have an outstanding community.
• Aim to get in touch with them and ask if you can write a guest blog post on their website.
• Write an excellent article in which you can fully show off your proficiency about the niche, with the aim of gaining their reader’s trust and interest.
• Write a strong call-to-action at each end of your blog post.
• Talk about your brand name and ensure that it is included on your resource box as your external link.
• Get in touch with their readers by blog comments as soon as your blog entry is posted on their site.

Link Bait for your great articles

• You can opt to post it on authority blog sites or post it in your own site.
• Write a great article! Talk about your secrets and mention your results so people see how your technique has impacted your site. These types of blog entries are typically around 1,000 words or more. It does not need to be overly provocative, just make sure that the content has usefulness to the readers.
• Promote your blog post. Share it via social media networks, highly regarded forum sites, Q&A sites, high quality RSS feed directories, Facebook and social bookmarking websites.
• Try to get other experts to read your blog post. Send it to them by e-mail if you are certain about your article and state their name to catch their attention. Just be certain that someone experienced in your niche reads it to increase the probability of spreading it to the whole community.
• If the blog entry you have written is truly excellent and that you believe it will be of help to the entire community, then begin getting in touch with .gov and .edu websites to have that blog post included in their references. It would be best to look for a particular page in which your post will really go well with or possibly create an article with the sole intention of getting listed to .gov and .edu resource pages.

There are several different ways to build trust (free Reports and eBooks); the most important is to write great content which offers real value. If you build it and market it properly, they will come!

See also: 10 Effective Credibility and Authenticity Tactics For Your Website

Post from: Search Engine People SEO Blog

Build Trust–Not Just Links

My mother always taught me that it is rude to ask a woman how old she is… so when I first hit the professional scene, I was both confused by this question and offended.

Many times this comes innocently from an older colleague or client who just doesn’t know better. They're not intending to insult you. Other times, it comes from a lack of trust and/or suspicion of your true experience. And yes, sometimes, it is veiled jealousy with intent to knock you off your game.

The best way to combat reverse age discrimination is to develop a professional brand image that precedes you.

Here are five actions you can take:

DRESS PROFESSIONALLY

When meeting a client or colleague for the first time, err on the side of conservative attire, even if you are in a creative profession.

You can incorporate your sense of style and dress professionally at the same time.

KNOW YOUR STRENGTHS

Create a list of your last 10 clients and describe what strengths you used to solve their problems.

This exercise will help you identify experience-based stories you can use to further the conversation along.

CREATE A PERSONAL BRANDING STATEMENT

This is a once sentence introduction that states what you do, who you do it for, and how you do it (what makes you unique).

Memorize this and say it confidently when asked what you do.

FIND LEADERSHIP OPPORTUNITIES

Join your industry association and/or a local chamber of commerce or charity that puts you in front of your target audience.

Actively participate and get involved with their committees that interest you, working your way up to the board level.

This will help you get known in your industry and your community.

WRITE

By authoring a blog, white paper, or even your own book, you will gain credibility and a following.

How To Answer

Nonetheless, even if you have the most reputable brand in your industry, you are bound to be asked this question at some point – especially if you have a baby face. I am sure Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg is asked it all the time.

So, how do you actually answer such an inappropriate question? Depending on the context it was asked and by whom, I may say:

• “I am 32. And, you?”
• “Thank you for the compliment. I am 32.”
• “If you are asking about my experience, I have been in the XYZ industry for X years.”

Keep the conversation flowing. How do you answer the question: How old are you?

Post from: Search Engine People SEO Blog

5 Personal Branding Actions Young Professionals Can Take to Stop The Age Question

And how are you trying to change the world?

This post shares some recent observations about how personal stories are becoming increasingly important in driving the success of your marketing.

I mean, we all know who Sergey Brin is and how Google is trying to organize the world’s information.

Tony Hsieh and his mission to change customer service at Zappos.

And we know Mark Zuckerberg is the face of Facebook and what he’s doing trying to accomplish with the social graph. Hell, the story is so good they made a movie out of it.

I think I know more about them and what they’re up to than the people on my street!

Why do we know so much about these people and their missions?

1. We live in a world where collectively we trust corporations less and each other more.

90% of people trust recommendations from people they know. 70% trust opinions of other people they don’t even know. And 14% trust advertising. Years of having their trust broken by big companies and organizations combined with the ability to forge stronger wider personal connections thanks to the social web has shifted trust from large faceless organizations to organizations that powered by real people doing amazing things to change the world.

2. People love to read about other people.

It’s that simple and the proof is as close as the gossip mags in the checkout line and the reality shows on t.v. We’re obsessed with each other! And it’s not only in the checkout line because ‘gossip’ in the world of business and marketing is just as strong. If you share who you are, how you’re trying to change the world and, in the Facebook era, if you can put a face to your faceless corporation we will be interested. And it works just as well – perhaps even better – on a local level than a national one because people are more likely to do business with people they’re friends with.

3. Personal stories make the abstract easier to understand.

Personal stories are easier to remember than vague mission/vision statements because they are told in chronological order and within an emotional context we can relate to. Once upon a time, Microsoft was the underdog and Bill Gates was the rebel geek up against IBM but, sadly, since he left, it’s become faceless and we no longer seem to be on their side. A University of Chicago study last year found that products that had ‘Brand biographies’ that contained a disadvantage vs. an adversary yet passion to overcome the odds were chosen 71% of the time vs. products that contained no such story. And because personal stories are more memorable they are retold. Which, in these days of sharing content, the ability of your story to travel is a key measure of success.

So, whether you’re a big enterprise or a small one, jump out from behind that facade and let’s connect.

We’re more interested than you think.

Post from: Search Engine People SEO Blog

Who Are You? The Power of Personal Stories In A Social World

Being known as a social guru is something a lot of us working on the Internet aspire to in today’s social networks. Right? Well, I’ve noticed that some people – followed by many and well respected – give out information without giving the good, bad and the ugly.

In my opinion, it’s irresponsible. The worst culprits are the ones that won’t admit they’re wrong. Some won’t even admit that another point of view is viable unless it agrees with their own. Especially when discussing another discipline they know nothing about, they should, at the very least, be willing to listen.

Now, this is simply my opinion; everyone has one and we’re all free to give our own. As a professional in the field, it’s important to accept that there will always be differences in opinions. Giving facts based on an opinion, however, is dangerous.

Is there data backing up these statements? If you’re stating something as a fact, you should be able to back the facts up. If there are no facts, it’s an opinion – and that’s okay.

Are You An Omnipotent Guru?

The omnipotent guru is a legend in their own mind. The omnipotent guru always right. Their opinions are facts; what they say is law. To keep their online reputation going, they perpetuate the myth that they know all. After all, if they don’t know everything, people won’t respect them, read them, follow them…

I’d argue that people who respect your blog and follow your social bread crumb don’t mind if you don’t have all the answers. I’d even venture to say inviting experts in that field to give their professional opinion is a great way to start a conversation. Quoting that professional would allow your readers and followers to know you care enough to share your platform and give real value.

To Promote or Not to Promote

Most of us in the industry know a few things about using tools and widgets for spam, etc. Why? Because many of us manage a heavy load of sites and blogs. I have my favorites, other industry people have their favorites, John Doe blogger has his favorites and the list goes on. Therefore, when I see some guru’s post about “the best blogging tools and widgets”, it’d be nice to see a “in my opinion” somewhere in the post.

What reason do they have for promoting their personal list? Maybe they use the tools, or are being paid to promote them. Either way, it’s irresponsible (again, in my opinion) to lay down the law and say, “This… THIS TOOL RIGHT HERE… out of the MILLIONS… is the best one to use.”

How do you know? Did you test the other 556 tools that offer the same thing? Do you have a case study to share? Do you have a valid reason for believing the tools you’re promoting are the BEST?

When you unequivocally promote something, remember you’re saying, “My company backs this product.” In other words, you’re staking your company reputation – your online reputation – on XYZ product. Unless you’re willing to do that, don’t get caught up in the omnipotent guru attitude. Be willing to admit the title “best” is your opinion – unless you have the case study and facts to back it up.

Let me give you an example of the omnipotent guru in terms of comment management tools. We used Disqus a while back as a comment manager. We discovered that Disqus weighed down our site. We also discovered that we were unable to give link love; all Disqus links are nofollow. In short, this wasn’t a tool we wanted to keep using.

However, I noticed people promoting it as “the end all, be all” of commenting tools. In the same breath, they’d talk about how Akismet is a great spam management tool. Does Akismet work? Sort of: some spam ends up in the comments, and some comments end up in spam. The truth of the matter is whether a tool is “the best” or not depends on what you want it to do.

A Comment on Comment Management and Moderation

Comments seem to be the lifeline of any blog. For some reason, people are drawn to the posts bringing more comments. Maybe we (readers) believe that the more comments a post gets, the more interesting it must be. Of course, the question is always, “Interesting to whom?”

Once you have readers coming to your blog and commenting, you soon find out you need some way to manage them. One reason, you see, is because spammers like high traffic blogs. If you allow all comments to go through, you could end up with tons of spam comments – and most spam comments look exactly like what they are

Now, you can use tools like Disqus; it just didn’t work for us. Another option is giving a commenter the ability to comment freely once you’ve allowed their first one to go through. Personally, I think people who comment on a regular basis know there might be a short waiting period and aren’t expecting an immediate response.

So How Do You Keep the Conversation Going?

You know, I actually jumped in the fray of a comment conversation to defend someone I know, read and respect. Maybe I shouldn’t have, but some very good points were being discussed.

However, after a few comments back and forth, I realized it was more a matter of flexing guru muscles rather than sharing great information. It’s still mind boggling to me. You don’t keep a conversation going by being unbendable and full of yourself.

Blogging, commenting, networking – it all makes the conversation go ‘round. As well, how you contribute to a conversation and what you contribute helps build your online reputation.

If you find the conversation stopping, think over your past responses, comments, and posts. Have you become the omnipotent guru? Have you decided your opinions are all fact? Do you use words like, “in my opinion” or “in my experience”?

Remember, your readers have the right to their own opinion. They have the right to make up their own mind. Giving your readers, followers and industry peers a level of respect will give back a mutual respect that lasts a lot longer than one post.

Find out how your online conversation is doing:

Check out Klout. Klout gives you an overview of how you’re doing in the social world. I’ve been using it for quite some time. Don’t read the numbers as law, but it does give a virtual view of your conversation. Along with my other secret weapons , I can pretty much figure out how my campaign is going.

You can get an idea of your Tweet Rank – gasp – Although it’s written in Portuguese, the translation isn’t bad and it’s a pretty popular tool.

Peerindex is also a popular tool. If you’re networking and have a certain target niche, this tool can give you a visual of how well you’re staying on track / topic. What do you talk about most? PeerIndex just might be able to tell you.

And just for giggles and grins, you can try ePenis, brought to you by the sex country of the world. Not only is this thing hilarious… well, test it out. You might be surprised by the results.

Whether you think your opinion matters or not to people, keep in mind Google is watching everything now. As well, more people are watching than you think. That should give everyone a clue that ORM should become part of your day-to-day strategy and conversation.

Post from: Search Engine People SEO Blog

Keeping the Conversation Going is ORM

The old adage is that you can’t judge a book by its cover. But you do it anyway, so it’s useless to pretend that others don’t, as well. Content may be King, but Appearance is the horse it rides in on, be it a magnificent steed or a gimpy nag.

Every detail within your website is an important element that helps convey your unique Message—not just to Humans, but to Spiders, too—so it’s important to get it right. And we aren’t speaking of simple, shallow, outward show. The things people don’t see are of equal importance to the things they do see.

A Sharply Dressed Website

We all realize that each one of these subjects could easily fill a long article by itself, or even an entire book. But we will touch upon each one briefly.

• Pleasing Colour & Design scheme that produces your desired emotional response
• Distinctive Logo that clearly identifies your Brand
• Intuitive Layout that requires no explanation or instruction
• Content that leaves your readers wanting more
• Targeted SEO underneath the hood that doesn’t intrude on the user experience
• Quick Page Load and responsive handling – No sluggish scripts or plugins

Emotional Psychology of Colour & Design

In his classic bestselling book, Dress for Success, even though he primarily taught how to achieve the upper-class business look, John Mallow stressed the importance of dressing appropriately for the job you want. A painter should apply for a painter's job looking like a painter.

A website for children should not look like CNN, and you will never see a News site covered in Pastel with a bright Flower wallpaper in the background.

For better or worse, Expectation and Cliche are the tools we use to create an instant recognition in the mind of the visitor about what kind of website they are looking at. If you want to be creative and step outside the Box, you mustn't stray too far from the unwritten confines of the Box already created by others. Otherwise, removing yourself from established orthodoxy for your niche will prevent visitors from taking you seriously.

The caveat, of course, is that Rules are made to be broken, and Rules that are broken very well can create a unique perspective that attracts visitors and drives Traffic.

Branding with a Hot Logo

Although overall colour scheme plays a part in Branding, your Logo is that one little symbol that says it all. A logo must be simple enough to be recognized and distinctive enough to be memorable.

The best placement is at the left side of your Header, if for no other reason than that is where your visitors expect to see it. If you were Coca-Cola you could place your logo almost anywhere. But you're not—so don't.

We have all seen many, many bland, forgettable Logos that all fight for top honours in the Me Too competition. If bland and forgettable is the Image you want your visitors to, uhm, forget, then knock yourself out. Otherwise, your time is well-invested when carefully testing and choosing your Logo.

A Layout Well-Traveled

There seems to be some perverse Rule that the more important the website, the more convoluted the Navigation must be. I have certain expectations when I visit your site, and playing Hide & Seek is not one of them. Keep your Road Signs simple enough to prevent me from driving right past your watering hole.

And even if your Navigation is straight-forward and intuitive, it won't matter if the landscape is a minefield of advertisements and clutter.

Media Mogul Rupert Murdoch says he can't make a profit from the Advertising on his websites. If your ads are not making you money, get rid of them. Focus on your Core Offer and find unobtrusive methods for presenting it.

Not Just a Pretty Face

So here we are, back to Content. Your Content should be relevant to the subject of your website. It should be well-written, informative, and interesting. If it's entertaining as well, even better.

Good Content tells me what I want to know about:

• You
• Your Topic
• Your Abilities
• Your Reliability
• Your Product

If you can present this information in a way that holds my interest, I will return for more when I need to. If you entertain or evoke positive emotions in the process, I will return because I want to.

Optimize and Organize

My view of Search Engine Optimization is one of Order. Simply ensure that your message is Consistent. In this article, I am not pounding the same Keyword over and over. But all through the article there is a consistency of word usage surrounding the Keyword. I have written for People all the way through. But the algorithm is certain to pick up all the words that associate with each other.

What Keywords have I used throughout this article?

All of these words, together, paint a picture of Relevance to the core Topic/KeyPhrase, which is "Web Design," right there in the Title. And as you see right here in this section, I was able to re-emphasis all of these words in a very people-friendly way that not only did no harm to the flow of the article, but added to the value of the Instruction itself. 

Another piece that is gaining attention is Speed. I hate websites that are so filled with scripts and plugins that they become sluggish and unresponsive.

OK, I get it, you want me to Tweet your post. But if I have difficulty getting through the page I won't bother to read your post, let alone recommend you.

And don't even get me started about Pop-ups!

Some plugins are better than others, and some scripts bring more problems than solutions. User Experience is paramount. A cluttered page and sluggish movement make you look amateur, and can ruin all the hard work you put into wonderful Content and beautiful Artwork.

Google thinks so, too, and will penalize you for it.

Don't Put All Your Eggs in Google's Basket

An aspect of SEO that is rarely is discussed is Quality. Your site must be attractive enough to your core demographic to be able to drive Traffic independently of Google.

You never know what Google will do or change next, so the safest course of action is to rely on your own efforts to bring visitors.

Having said that, I believe Google respects Traffic. Think of the process as a bank loan. You won't get the loan unless you can prove you don't really need it. If a significant amount of your Traffic comes from a variety of other sources, Google sees that as an indicator and endorsement of your Quality.

And never forget, a high Page Rank Backlink that no one clicks is not as valuable to you as a lower PR Link that drives Traffic to your site.

An attractive website—from top to bottom to deep inside—will retain visitors, and more importantly, bring them back for more. And, they will spread the Word about you, too.

The Mantra with Google is Relevance, and nothing says Relevance more than a Traffic flow that makes Google, well, Irrelevant.

Your Website is Your Message

It's been said, that to make a million dollars, you should look like a million dollars. How you say it is just as important as what you say—if not more so.

If your website looks like it has value, people will believe your Content has value. There is much more to good SEO than Keywords. Well-crafted Content goes hand-in-hand with attractive design for an overall professional and believable presentation.

When people see a consistent Message within your Website, your Content, your Style, and your Attitude, they will trust you far more than they would if these elements are in disagreement with each other. Consistency spells Competence.

And speaking of disagreement, now is the time to offer your Opinion in the Comment Box below. Tell me, what is YOUR Message?

Post from: Search Engine People SEO Blog

Dress for Success: Web Design for Lasting Impression

Click here for article

So will your own social media program face a similar burnout down the road?

This is important as marketers face challenges in 2010 like:

• How do I get people in my company to adopt social media?
• How do I prove to management it's worth the time?
• How do I integrate it with other marketing programs?

The answer is to make sure your social media is on a mission.  It's important to establish this at the planning stage for two reasons:

One, like any other relationship, customer relationships built through Social Media take time.

And in the business world, time is money.

Second, passion is contagious.  And the key performance indicator of any social media program is how wide it spreads.

So here's 3 simple questions to ask when trying to develop a social media program that doesn't burnout:

1. What is it that your company is really passionate about?

You should be able to find this in your company's mission statement.   No, not that mission.  I'm talking about that thing that truly drives your company.  The thing people are obsessed about.  That they would talk about all day if you let them.  Google's is to organize all the world's information.  Wal-Mart's is to deliver every day low prices.  Here, at Search Engine People it's to help businesses get found online.  What's the obsession your company has?

2. Who in your company is really passionate about it?

Here's the shocker.  It may not be you.  

The better you can find the passionate voices in your company the more you'll position your company as a credible authority,  the more effective it will be and therefore the more sustainable it will be.  Caution: they may be social media wallflowers you have to drag kicking and screaming online.  Rick Short built a small army of bloggers for Indium tapping into the experts inside the company that were already creating white papers.  Dell has a platoon of over 100 subject matter experts with Twitter accounts.  And we're working with a major food marketer that will bring their farmers from the field and onto Facebook.  These marketers are building a competitive advantage by creating a strong team of social listeners and sharers.

3. Is there a natural audience of people who are also passionate about this topic?

You better make sure that what the community is interested in matches the content you create.

Otherwise, like a website that doesn't match the searcher's intent, your content will 'bounce' and and not get clicked on and shared.  If you're not a major retail brand it will be more difficult to find those communities but take heart as the revolutionary part of Social Media is how it is allowing niche businesses extend their reach.  Louis E. Page put their 116 year old passion for fencing online and increased sales leads by 850%.  And the average b2b marketer has 200 Facebook fans; only 100 less than the average b2c company.  There are literally dozens of social media tools that can help you find your community from more elaborate ones like Radian6 to do-it-yourself tools like WeFollow.

Final Note: While you're spending time on missions and passion, don't forget to lay one down for your own Social Media program.  It should be tied to your company's business goals and measurable on the basis of ROI in a 'we're-going-to-take-that-hill-achieve-X-by-Y' sort of way.  That way management knows that those passionate people you found are spending time on something that moves the needle.

In short, unlike Mr. Mayer, don't make your tweets just about your life.  Make them about your passion.

That way your Social Media program won't end up like a New Year's resolution in June.

Photo credit for shock image to ramzi hashisho

Post from: Search Engine People SEO Blog

Is Your Social Media On A Mission? 3 Questions To Ask

Very controversial stuff. Many NFL Clubs have banned Twitter from the Clubhouse and have threatened to fine any athletes who use it before, during or after games. They have also requested that management and administrative staff stay away from using Twitter as well. ESPN, the popular all-sports TV, Online and Radio Network in the USA, no longer wants breaking news to be broadcast or broken on their Twitter pages because they are non-revenue generating and want them only on ESPN websites so that the traffic is monetized accordingly.

Should a pro athlete have the right to Tweet during a game? Should he or she be able to sit on the sidelines while off for a shift or set of downs with his iPhone typing away on why he dropped the last pass thrown to him or engage in discussion with fans on what the team is going to do to win the game? In this world of 'real time' anything is possible and all is available – question is…what should be made available and where does one cross the line? Some people think pro athletes should be focused on the game when they are playing it and trying to win as opposed to being distracted from the on-goings on the field and not focusing on the task at hand. Pro athletes are paid to win games after all and are not paid to Tweet.

As for the mainstream sports media – they do have a point… if Twitter pages cannot be monetized as well as their own, then why would they want to use Twitter to break stories about a player trade or a new player signing or anything else that is newsworthy? Maybe, Twitter is best used to drive people back to a site, but not to give out the full story right then and there?

What are your thoughts? Should pro athletes or team management have Twitter pages? If so, when should they use them and when should they not be permitted to use them? How should Sports Media properties leverage Twitter for breaking news stories? Interested in hearing from you…

Ron Kunitzky, an expert in strategic business affiliations and partnerships and founder of Geyser Marketing Group – the Partnership Marketing Firm, and has successfully brokered partnership marketing programs for companies as varied as Coastal Contacts, Dell Computer, NASDAQ, and 1-800-GOT-JUNK?.

Post from: Search Engine People SEO Blog

Pro Sports – To Tweet or Not to Tweet?

As an expert in building strategic affiliations and marketing partnerships, I am often asked about content in the context of whether or not to build it in house or license / leverage content from others.

It's not an easy question to answer, but I will say that if you are thinking about it; these are the Top 7 things that you should think about before deciding either way:

1. What kind of content are you looking to build and what is your overall content strategy for your site?

2. How will your users interact with your content? Is it static or interactive? Are some parts different from others? Is there a social media element (blogs, podcasts, etc…)

3. How often will you be updating portions of your content and what needs updating and revising?

4. Do you have the resources in house to meet the demands of your content strategy and the need to update your content as it may be or do you need help in this area?

5. Are there authorities that are already in place on the subject matter(s) of your website and can they contribute to what you are doing?

6. Can you afford to license or leverage content from others (publishers, etc…) and do you have reliable prospective licensing partners to choose from?

7. Does licensing content from others make sense from an SEO perspective? Is the content that has been already written (which you will be featuring on your site) well optimized?

So much to think about. If you run through the aforementioned questions and find that you are ultimately looking to license content from other sources and leverage their expertise to support and supplement your proposition, please be sure to….

1. Find out where else the content that you are going to feature on your site will appear.

2. Ensure that you are dealing with reliable sources for licensing content and work with experts and proven authors in related fields.

3. Ensure that the content is well optimized for each topic if it's in fact meant to drive SEO for your website.

4. Ensure that if the content must be branded to the other party or co-branded that you are OK with their brand and exposing it to your users.

5. Ensure that the content is in line with the key messages that you are communicating to users of your website and ensure that it doesn't conflict or contradict anything that you are currently or already have put out there.

6. If you are licensing content, be sure to have a formal agreement with the company that you are licensing from to ensure that all costs, rights, usage and ownership of the content remains clear and is not up for debate should disagreement concerning such matters occur in the future.

7. Finally; ask your users/readers if they like the new content that you are featuring and track articles, etc…to ensure that they are enjoyed by those who read it (for the most part).

Post from: Search Engine People SEO Blog

Licensed Content: 7 Questions, 7 Considerations

I'm not speaking of medium or large corporate companies who want a permanent destination on the web, but more so of the small practicionar who might not have the budget to fork over $5-$10K to have a professional looking site done up for them.

There are advantages in having a website and it certainly lends itself to more opportunities to create brand awareness, authority building and more opportunities for SEO and SEM tactics and strategies, yet I am wondering if those who have a traditional website where key messaging, contact details, blogs, podcats etc… sit within is really worth it?

It's an interesting thought. How has your website played out for you? Would you be where you are today without it? Would having profile pages on social networking sites and linking up your blogs to them be enough? Does having your own website enhance your business as a one-man or one-woman show? Is it necessary? What do you think?

Post from: Search Engine People SEO Blog

Do you need a traditional website?

I think it's fair to say that what once made a Newspaper dramatically different can no longer be considered a point of differentiation. Newspapers deliver the news, and with so many sources for obtaining news these days, we really don't need to wait to get a Newspaper to find out what our politicians, business leaders, and favorite athletes are up to. Obama uses Twitter, Mergers & Acquisitions can be read about online within minutes of their stories being broken and many popular pro-athletes have their own blogs and are keeping their fans up to date and engaging in direct conversations with them.

So, what value does the good ole Newspaper have today? It's in printed format – ready to read and easy to read if you don't have a access to a personal computer, blackberry or access to TV or Radio. I guess one can argue that. It's written by trusted sources – those that work for the Newspapers are considered to be professional journalists who are paid to write compelling and accurate content and not to be pegged in with a group of 'bloggers' who write for the fun of it or to state their claim over what is happening in the world. It might have something exclusive – a story that you can't pick up anywhere else, perhaps an interview or some local 'feel good' article that occurred in your city that you would have otherwise never heard about.

All of the above are good reasons to keep Newspapers going, but at the end of the day, the Newspaper is a business and based on sliding numbers of subscribers and advertisers (the two factors that generate revenues for the Newspaper), the good ole Newspaper is on the verge of extinction. The New York Times, Boston Globe and others have all reported on their struggles, especially in this downturn economy. Young people don't read newspapers, so what does that say about their future? I believe you need to offer true value to sustain your business over time, so what is the value that the good ole Newspaper is going to offer?

Some say they need to take it online. Some say they need to reduce the frequency of papers and have them only 3 times a week instead of everyday, because they don't break the news anymore and we don't need it everyday. I don't know what the answer is, but I do know that continuing to rely on subscription revenues for a printed format that is furthermore supported by Advertising is likely not the way forward. With household internet penetration at an all-time high throughout most of the world, it's fair to say that people are now getting used to getting their news for free. With the auto, housing and banking sectors in a downturn, the advertising revenues that those major categories typically provide are disappearing and whatever is left is moving to online channels. The emergence of Social Media Sites, Portals and Classified and Shopping Sites and Job Sites has eaten in to their content share and has taken most of it away from them as well.

I've never been a big Newspaper guy myself, so I can't say that if they do move to a fully online model and change the focus of their content offering, that it will make much of a difference to me. What do you think?

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Newspapers: What does the future look like?