What exactly is Twitter? It’s universally recognized as a “micro-blogging platform”, but its functionality extends beyond that. Twitter’s versatility is what makes it so useful and effective. It is also a major driver behind the success of the company. Serendipitously, Twitter has uncovered an unknown niche nestled between instant messaging and e-mail.
A little while back, I stopped reading TechCrunch and Mashable. This shouldn’t really come as a surprise. I’m sure others have done the same. Degradation in the quality of content is my main reasoning. A combination of thoughtless articles and copycat posts just isn’t compelling to me. The same can be said for numerous other top tech blogs. I may peek in from time to time, but overall, they just aren’t worth my time and attention.
Wikipedia has revolutionized the concept of user-generated content and brought wikis to the forefront of technology trends. It is the poster child of web 2.0. Even so, the site still gets bombarded with criticism on a daily basis. Some social media critics, most notably Andrew Keen, cite two major flaws centered around ownership.
Evolution is a funny thing. It is the gradual process of improvement, whereby every cycle leads to a more superior result - whether it be an organism or a product. Having said that, evolution is not an exact science. Quantitative analysis cannot be employed and qualitative analysis may vary depending on the views of the observer. Over time, external factors and changes in the surrounding environment may skew the ultimate path of the original design. This leads us back to humanity and, well, the Internet. As we continue to push forward, the future begins to look eerily similar to the past. Evolution has come full circle.
[The Fundamentals of SEO] - Forget about META tags and complicated back-linking campaigns for a second. The fundamentals of SEO revolve around two ingredients that lack sex appeal: proper page structure and well-written content. The successful combination of these elements will benefit your search rank more than any outsourced SEO campaign ever will.
Let’s start at the beginning…
Search engine algorithms incorporate both on-page and off-page elements. On-page elements include both page structure and content. Wait a second… if both fundamental ingredients of SEO are included in the on-page elements, then what about the off-page side of the equation (i.e. back-links)?
Well, theoretically, back-links should be a byproduct of well-written content. In other words, there shouldn’t be a need to proactively poach external links. This is of course theoretical. It is probably a good idea to scout external links from relevant sites to increase your PageRank and drive traffic.
Moving along…
Proper page structure basically means mandatory:
Well-written content is a bit more vague, but encompasses some of the following: keyword consistency, proper grammar, and logical article development.
If these two areas can be targeted, SEO success is inevitable. It has to start with the web design (i.e. proper page structure), followed by the site copy (i.e. page content). So, instead of looking at SEO from a micro point-of-view, the macro perspective may provide a better overall picture of the situation.
Aidan Henry is an Internet strategy consultant, designer, and web entrepreneur.
aidanhenry (@) hotmail.com
