Will Marlow - Filed under 'Search'

"Discoverable" Blog Posts

There's a difference between a "discoverable" blog post and a "popular" blog post. For example, my most popular recent blog post was about how my car was unfairly towed while I was eating dinner at one of my favorite restaurants, and how the owner stopped preparing food to personally drive to the towing lot. My most "discovered" blog post, however, was about a little-known Facebook application that let's you keep track of how many friends have unfollowed you on Facebook.

My most popular posts are viewed by lots of people all at once virally, but "discoverable" posts are viewed by a few people every day, Monday through Sunday, by people who have never heard of me before, but who ask Google a question, and who are given my blog as one of the potential answers.

In other words, one important way to "introduce" yourself to people through a blog is by answering questions that persist over time among the people you're interested in knowing. (Quick hint: It's most helpful to answer questions that no one else is answering.)

PS - As a quick update to my blog post on how to find out who has "unfriended" you on Facebook, follow this link to find a very helpful program that Facebook can't remove that can help you keep track of who has unfollowed, if you're interested in knowing that.

Will Marlow co-founded AlumniFidelity to help his clients reposition their fundraising to benefit from Web2.0 technology and marketing techniques. He’s working with clients such as UVA, the College of William & Mary, the University of Oklahoma, Bowling Green State University, Randolph Macon College, and he loves nothing better than a thorny marketing challenge. Email him at will@alumnifidelity.com.

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Filed under // Blog blogging content optimization Google Search Popular blogging Search SEO

The Fall of Search Engine Optimization (Or How Bing Actually Did Something Useful)

Every so often, I do some quick keyword searches for my company, my clients, and my own name, to see how everyone is doing regarding search engine optimization.

Two things are notable.

Number one, it looks like the black art of search engine optimization (SEO) is rapidly losing relevance, and it's being replaced by the much simpler art of social media optimization. Which means, essentially, that search engines will now be able to find you largely by your own social media conversations on Twitter, Facebook, and on your blog. You still need to make your content "search engine friendly" so that you don't make it hard for Google to find you, but the complicated voodoo is being replaced by activities that you do.

Number two, much to my surprise, when I entered the same search criteria in both Google and Bing, Bing told me something useful that Google did not. Bing told me that someone had linked to my blog from Twitter without letting me know. I was happy to find out so that I could thank the person, but the point is, Google didn't tell me about this and Bing did. Now, it'll take A LOT more than this to win even 1% of my search loyalty, but I was surprised that given the same search criteria, Bing scored a point on Google on my scorecard.

PS - If you ever find yourself in a conversation with someone who tells you that Twitter or Facebook is a fad that could disappear because they don't do anything useful, and you don't know what to say to them, remember that people still pay big money for "search engine optimization." Twitter and Facebook displace this costly marketing activity with a non-cash alternative. In other words, rather than paying for SEO, smart businesses are using social media. That's the opposite of useless.

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Filed under // Bing Google Search Search Engine Optimization SEO Social Media Optimization

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