MappingTheWeb //

It’s amazing when such a simple application comes along and re-invents the wheel. This was the case earlier this year with Twitter. Now the same can be said for Pownce. Though still in private BETA and inaccessible to most, the features and functionality have amazed thus far. Actually, what is most amazing is the simple concept and implementation. Kevin Rose has struck gold again. His most heralded start-up to date, Digg, was developed from a simple idea. Pownce is no different - and it is poised to take the Internet by storm.

I know I am hyping this pre-launch service without even trying it or giving it any adoption time (although I have seen a demo and some screenshots). But from my point-of-view, I see this as a service people need and will use. The basis is very simple. Pownce operates using the tagline:

“Send stuff to your friends.”

They list four possible items that you can share: messages, links, files, and events. In addition, you have the flexibility to share these items with one person, a group, or your whole list. There is a web-based version, as well as a small, downloadable app.

Primary competitors include IM clients (i.e. AIM, GTalk, Skype), as well as e-mail clients, both desktop- and web-based. These include Outlook, Hotmail, GMail, and Yahoo Mail among others. Secondary competition comes from P2P and private file-sharing programs, include KaZaa, Limewire, Pando, and AllPeers to name a few.

There are many problems when sharing using IM, e-mail, or P2P. Some of the problems that Pownce attempts to solve include:

• Control - Pownce gives you the flexibility to decide who you want to share with.
• Documentation - Pownce provides visual documentation of your sharing history in chronological order.
• Disorder - Pownce provides a centralized area where all discussions, links, file transfers, and events can be managed.

In other words, this product is tailored for sharing things. Unlike IMs, e-mail, and file-sharing programs, Pownce enables an individual to share numerous items using only one service, saving time and hassle. Add to that the fact that Pownce leverages a clean, simple interface with AJAX functionality, creating an intuitive service that is quick and easy to navigate.

Monetization will come in the form of advertising with the web-based version or downloadable app. A premium subscription ($20/year) will eliminate all ads and provide added functionality, including larger file transfer sizes.

I am REALLY looking forward to the launch. I am even more excited to see the response. Sign up for an invitation on the Pownce homepage. I have no doubt in my mind that this ‘little’ app will change the way we share things on the net.

NOTE: Here is a good video review of Pownce by Allen Stern of Center Networks. Here is another favourable Pownce review from Mashable.

Days before the official launch, iPhone euphoria has reached a feverish pitch. It seems that any daily news summary or wrap-up is riddled with numerous iPhone articles. Everything ranging from pricing information, to detailed features, to early reviews have surfaced. The online world is currently being overrun by an iPhone frenzy. You really gotta hand it to Steve Jobs and his ability to create such a stir around a launch. The majority of companies beg for PR folk to show up. Jobs is forced to beat them back with a stick. This is definitely rare in our day and age, but it is a true testament to the culture and loyalty that Apple has created.

Having said that, let’s take a look at some of the online craziness that the iPhone has caused:

Digg: While perusing Digg yesterday, I noticed that nearly half the front page stories were iPhone-related. Talk about hype. Obviously, Apple has a huge presence on Digg due to its loyal following, but this is ridiculous. Today, the frenzy must have died down a bit as I only counted two iPhone-related articles on the front page. In any case, it seems that everyone and their dog is interested in the iPhone in some form or another.

Online searches: Today, Hitwise launched a report containing some striking information with respect to recent iPhone searches. The report claims:

• iPhone searches rose 583% for the four-week period ended June 23; it was also the 131st most frequently searched term for this period as well.
• Queries focused mostly on price, reviews, news, and released date; price queries accounted for almost 5% of total queries.
• The official iPhone website grabbed 54.44% of all “iPhone” related search traffic.

My feed reader: Every time I open my feed reader, I am staring a crop of new iPhone-related articles and posts. Every single time. The relentless onslaught of news and reviews has hit strastospheric levels. My hope is that the launch will dampen some of the euphoria and allow the online media world to move onto other topics.

The iPhone launch certainly ranks among the top in recent memory. I can’t think of an event that has caused such madness and rapture. One thing is for certain: as sweet as the phone may be, people are buying into a culture rather than a feature set.

Facebook continues to grow at a staggering rate. Though it can already be considered a mammoth, it still has much upside left. The recent introduction of the Facebook Platform will simply promote further growth. The value proposition for any company looking to integrate is quite obvious - a massive, loyal user base. Just ask iLike. The ability to piggy-back off such a large network is a huge advantage for any early-stage companies.

With all this growth, positive outlook, and momentum, one must ask, “What is going to stop this Facebook train?”

An IPO: Going public isn’t as glorified as it’s hyped up to be. Priority quickly shifts from satisfying users (or consumers) to satisfying shareholders. In other words, less attention is focused on the user. Innovation and feature sets are set aside so that business development and revenue generation can manifest.

Going public isn’t a dream. It’s more of a nightmare - especially for a user-centric, consumer-based web company. This is the scenario faced by Facebook. Rumours and gossip continue to circulate about a pending IPO in late summer or fall. Simply put, the possibility is quite real. Though raising capital does provide the ability to bring on added resources, the dilution of equity and ownership is a strong argument against such a proposition. Anyone whose ever had to deal with numerous stakeholders knows that ensuring the happiness and satisfaction of everyone is near impossible. Financial obligations move to the forefront. This usually means that the user is left to the demise of a fiscally-conscious executive posse and a board of directors, rather than a team focused on the user experience.

Another extremely plausible case is…

Social media collapse: Think back to what happened to Digg. Should Facebook choose to betray users, hide or lie about an issue, or provide non-disclosure around a given policy, and users find out about the blunder, watch out. The very mechanism that spurred viral growth and adoption may work in a counter-productive fashion.

Here are a few other, less likely cases…

A sale: As is the case with many takeovers and acquisitions, the user base of the little guy gets disgruntled. All of a sudden, the policies and corporate culture of the start-up are subject to the red tape and bureaucracy of the over-arching big guy. Many users feel uncomfortable and betrayed in a situation such as this, and defect to a similar product/service where they feel more at ease.

Complacency: Though we have not witnessed this as of yet, a failure to innovate may signal troubles for the company. Having said that, this is probably the least plausible and least likely threat to the company. Time and time again, Facebook has displayed a strong willingness to provide innovative features . For this reason, I have my doubts about the complacency of the company - unless of course, Mark Zuckerberg finds more value in yachting and spending time in the Bahamas rather than company strategy.

What do you think will slow down Facebook’s exceptional growth?

Recent executive turmoil has landed Yahoo in the spotlight many times. This isn’t the kind of PR and publicity that any company wishes for. Obviously, changes and transition are in store for this Internet giant over the next year. But where should the focus be placed? How will short term strategy decisions affect long term goals? To be honest, I really have no idea at this point. I think we need to delve further into the strengths and weaknesses of the company to determine where emphasis needs to placed and where losses need to be cut…

Yahoo started out as a directory, then blossomed into a search engine. Today, most people would still consider Yahoo a search engine by all accounts. I do not believe this to be the case, although search obviously does play a big role in the success or demise of the company. In my mind, Yahoo is a services company. Unlike Google, which derives the majority of its revenue from search and advertising, Yahoo provides a vast array of services which diversify its revenue stream. We do know that Yahoo Search Marketing (i.e. the new Overture) does bring in large revenues. Having said that however, we also know that many other services drive huge revenues that Google (among others) fail to acknowledge. Examples of this include:

• Yahoo HotJobs 
• Yahoo Shopping (i.e. stores)
• Yahoo Dating and Personals
• Yahoo Autos
• Yahoo Travel

All of these areas drive revenues that are NOT advertising-based. This presents a significant opportunity, as well as the possibility cross-marketing and promotion. Evidence is apparent by the willingness of Yahoo users to spend money on services they find value in. Once this trust threshold can be reached, the sale of further services is quite possible. I guess what I’m trying to say is:

“Yahoo is NOT a search company. Search simply provides an entry way into Yahoo’s world of services.”

This does bring up an interesting point however. If Yahoo places less emphasis on search and continues to fall behind, then they are failing to provide that initial entry way or door. Yahoo must continue to allocate a reasonable amount of resources toward search to *at least* remain on par with the rest of the second-tier players (i.e. MSN, Ask, AOL). Failure to do so will not only affect the prospect of future users, but also the loyalty of current ones.

Many may argue that Yahoo should push the limits and throw huge amounts of resources into search in an attempt to thwart Google and create the next-generation search engine. My thought for those people is this: Yahoo has already established an image in the minds of consumer. The company has not positioned itself to be the best search engine, providing cutting-edge, relevant results. Their search technology is ‘good enough’ - it is the status quo. The company and brand would have to re-invent themselves to do so, and spend a ridiculous sum of money in the process. Even then, I still don’t think Yahoo could compete at a higher level. Google, on the other hand, is known as the leader is search. The company is globally recognized for its PageRank algorithm and relevant results. Positioning of the brand has already been established. Lastly, further evidence against the re-invention of Yahoo: the recent attempt at re-invention by Ask.

Whether Yahoo continues to focus on search or put more resources into other services is yet to be known. One thing is for certain - a strong action plan is need, and it is needed soon. The fate of the company will be strongly influenced by decisions to be made in the next year. Good luck to whatever management is left.

An execellent way to drive free, qualified traffic to your blog is via search engines. Search engine optimization (SEO) has become known as one of the most effective, economical ways to generate prospective traffic. As a blog owner, I undertook an endeavour to optimize my blog for search engines to reap the benefits listed above. After some careful research and due diligence, I came up with a all-encompassing SEO strategy.

Having said that, I have to give many props to Neil Patel and his crew at Pronet Advertising. His post on blog optimization is second-to-none. I am simply hoping to add on a few bits and provide an analysis in my own words.

Title - For simplicity sake, ensure that the title of your homepage is the same as your blog name. This works well for branding purposes. A tagline or catch-phrase can be used, but I would argue against doing so, as it decreases the prominence and importance of the blog name.

With respect to post title, I would completely eliminate branding and focus on the content at hand. Unless you are a big gun in the blogosphere, no-one knows who you are or cares for that matter. Focus on the content. In other words, the post title should be the same as the page title, thus ensuring consistent keyword theming throughout the page.

Neil has posted both Wordpress and Movable Type hacks for this in the article above.

URL - Make certain that individual posts follow a specific format:

www.domain/post-title

By default, many blog platform number individual posts or provide IDs. These options can be changed in options section, at least for Wordpress. Another tip is to provide a descriptive “post slug” if the post title does not contain any keywords relating to the article or provides a poor description of the material. Post slug customization is easy in Wordpress, but I am not unfamiliar of the process with respect to other platforms.

As a side note, it is recommended to use dashes in the URL to separate keywords, rather than underscores.

META Tags - META keywords are lame. No-one cares. Leave them alone.

META descriptions, on the other hand, are very important. By default, Wordpress simply grabs the homepage META description and inserts it into every given post. This does not provide a very good description of the content. Furthermore, search engines index each post as having the same META description, which shouldn’t be the case.

Once again, Neil has provided hacks for Wordpress and Movable Type to ensure that each individual post has its own META description. These hacks pull the first 25 words of the given post and automatically generate a META description via this content. Very useful and much more effective.

Headings - Post titles are very important, on-page aspects of SEO. The content should in theory be tailored to the material contained within the post. In addition, the use of H1 tags, as well as h2, h3, etc… is highly recommended to put it mildly.

Categories or “Tags” - As is the case with most blog platform, one is able to categorize a post or “tag” it. These descriptive markers not only make your content easier for readers to find (if necessary), but also provide a much needed internal linking structure to ensure that all posts get crawled and indexed by the search engines.

ALT and Title tags - In this case, ‘title’ tag refers to the description given to a link. An ALT provides a description of a photo or image. These are both essential to any basic SEO strategy.

General Rules and Guidelines

• Ensure that keywords and content themes remain consistent through a post (i.e. in the page title, URL, META description, heading, paragraph content, ALT tags, etc…)
• External linking is a huge part of SEO. Network with other bloggers and trade blogroll links. These external links not only provide valuable SEO juice, but also direct traffic.
• A blog will get crawled more often if content is dynamic (i.e. the fresher the content, the more often the blog gets crawled). So, post often if possible.

Follow these tips and do your own research. Let’s hope that we can all increase our search engine traffic and provide quality content to those looking for it. Let me know how your conquest goes and if, indeed, you are able to climb the search engine ranks. 

As you can see, I am very biased to Wordpress as it is my blog platform of choice. I apologize for any confusion or ambiguity created for anyone using Movable Type, TypePad, or any other blogging platform.