Content is Dead.Now Community is King!

By Stoney DeGeyter

I can hardly bring myself to say the old cliche about content being... well, you know. I think it's one of the original cliche's in the SEO industry. And as redundant as it has become, for whatever reason we keep hearing it over and over again. And every now and then a new study pops up seemingly proving, once again, that content is... uh, good.

But much like a TV producer suggesting "video is king" or a radio advertiser demanding that "audio is king", so goes the SEO demanding the same about content. Content has its role--and an important one at that, but it's not the be-all, end-all of online marketing. Not even close.

But the roots of the "content is" movement are important for our industry. The mantra was first heard in the early days of the search engine optimization industry when SEOs were doing nothing more than throwing a bunch of keywords on a page and hoping they ranked well. Little or no thought or consideration was given to the readability of the web page. After all, it's only rankings that matter, right? But those of us who learned to game search engines slowly began to learn something that those in the marketing industry have known for years. Words sell. Or turn people off, depending on what's written and how it's written.

So the movement to developing good content--real content--was an important one for our industry. But to get there we had to have the content mantra beat into our head over and over (and over). We got it. We know.

The King is Losing His Grip on the Kingdom

But like any worthy cause, we've reached a point where the mantra has been used and abused to the point where we use whatever we can find to prove once again that content is... y'know, that. Take a recent study by OPA and Nielsen/ NetRatings that shows that Internet users are spending more time than ever on content based websites.

Share of Time Spent Online

Commerce: 13.8%
Communications: 32.0%
Content: 49.6%
Search: 4.5%

That seems to confirm what many have been saying for years. Content is... uh, great for web marketing. And I've seen a few posts around the blogosphere and forums using this data to make that connection. The problem is, it's not really there.

With the rise in popularity of blogs and social media sites it's no wonder that more people spend their time reading online than anything else. While time reading and gathering information online has increased, time spent shopping has actually decreased, down over 2% from a year before. But does that tell us anything about marketing online? No, not really.

We know people like information and we know they like to communicate. We also know people like to shop and online shopping has continued to íncrease year over year. All this study suggests is what we spend most of our time doing on the web. Well, true enough, I don't spend most of my time shopping.

Since when is it the goal of ecommerce sites to get people to spend a long time on their site? Isn't it more important to drive shoppers to the sale and get the conversion? Step 1: Get traffíc. Step 2: Keep visitors engaged. Step 3: Close the sale. That's not necessarily a process that necessitates long periods of time spent on a site.

In no way do I want to diminish the importance of content on ecommerce websites. Having a database of information that helps visitors make their decision, helpful tutorials, etc. can improve your visitor's overall experience and keep them coming back to your site. But the goal of all of that is to lead people to the sale.

Community Killed Content and Stole the Throne

If I were to interpret this data I wouldn't necessarily come away thinking content is... so very important. What I would conclude, however is that we need to build websites that meet a number of users needs. Adding more content to your ecommerce site is not the magic bullet. What is, however, is creating a great user experience and providing just the right amount of information and customer engagement that shoppers need to get to the conversion goal. That can be done through a number of means.

Many online stores are already paving the way by opening the door to ratings and reviews. Others are doing that by creating blogs to disseminate important and relevant industry information along with tips and tutorials. Still others do that by creating an information database that can visitors frequent to gain additional insights.

I might suggest that the best ecommerce websites are not those that build content around their products but build a community around the product interest. By creating a place where shoppers can come and gain information, learn more about the products and discuss or share information with others and then make purchases as well, will do more for sales than simply creating a shopping website.

By building a community you not only sell more products but you build brand recognition and customer loyalty. And both of those are worth far more than a single one-off sell. So while content may not be dead (not by a long shot, really), there is a new king in the online marketing industry. Long live community. Long live the (new) king.


About The Author
Stoney deGeyter leads a spectacular team of seasoned marketing experts at Pole Position Marketing. Stoney started PPM in 1998 by finding the brightest minds in the industry and nurturing within them an intense desire to become leaders in their respective fields. With this team of professionals, he has built a wildly successful website marketing company that succeeds through both personal and professional integrity.

3 Biggest Law Of Attraction Mistakes

By Dwayne Gilbert

There are a few mistakes that most people make when working with the law of attraction, and most people make them right from the start. Knowing about these mistakes can help you avoid getting little to no results with the law of attraction. Here are the biggest mistakes people make.

1. Testing the water. Many people are skeptical about the law of attraction, and there are plenty of skeptics out there that tell them it doesn't work or that it's fake. Many people just want to try it and see if it works, and of course, for those people it won't.

You must be willing to actually commit to really giving it an effort if you ever wish to get results with it. You can't just want to try it out and hope that you will get everything you want. You can't just half heartedly attempt to use the law of attraction and test the waters. You either do or you don't, no in between.

Besides all of that, what do you really have to lose? Worst case scenario, you begin to be happier and more joyful by practicing to feel good more often than not. If that's the worst that can happen, then why not give it everything you have and really try it out and see what happens.

2. Not writing down what you want and immersing yourself in those things. Most people simply do not write down what they want, and they do not take the time to experience those things as much as possible. I can't stress enough how important it is to write down what you want on a piece of paper, cut out some pictures of those things and hang them up, and visualize having those things on a regular basis.

This is so important that I can't stress it enough. WRITE IT DOWN! It's a wonderful process not to mention an essential step in the law of attraction. I don't know if most people think that they don't have to write it down because they have it in their head or what is going on, but it's essential that you write it down.

This gives you a place to reference those things you want and actually read it over. It begins to move those things you want into the physical world. Seriously, take the time to think about what you want and write them down. It is a great journey of discovery and dreaming.

3. Not learning to speak about what they want properly. Most people talk about what they want "when" they get it. This is a huge mistake. Always, always, always talk about what you want in the present tense.

Some people will feel awkward talking about what they want in the present tense if they don't already have it. Well, get over it. People may look at you strange, but they won't when you actually hold what you want in your hand. It's a small price to pay for the life of your dreams.

There are a few other things you can do in order to speak about those things you want in the present tense. Say that you are grateful to have, or that you love having. You can say having a million dollars in my reality is an amazing experience. Find ways to talk about what you want as though it's already yours.

These are just a few mistakes that people make. Overcoming these obstacles allows you to really move forward and start attracting what you want. Work toward overcoming these mistakes and anything, and everything you want is within your grasp.


About The Author
Dwayne Gilbert is the founder of http://www.wealthylifesecrets.com/ and the Wealthy Life Secrets Program. He has been helping people to Unleash Their Potential for over 10 years. He has helped people from all walks of life to get on a better path and to create the life of their dreams. To learn more about the law of attraction and how to create the life of your dreams, visit http://www.wealthylifesecrets.com/

What the Top Internet Search Engines Are Doing?

by Scott Buresh

The future of search is unclear – what is clear is that change is rapidly happening for all of the top Internet search engines. Google as always is the frontrunner for many of these search trends, but even little guys like Ask.com are making waves. In this article, I will attempt to cover some of the more interesting search trends that are occurring today with the top Internet search engines – but I am by no means being comprehensive about the subject. Things are changing on a weekly, or sometimes even daily, basis, and future articles will cover additional developments in depth.

Universal Search

In May 2007, Google – the leader among top Internet search engines -- got people talking (again) when it rolled out its latest search concept, Universal Search. Universal Search was Google's attempt to create a single page of search results, rather than separate pages for types of results, such as videos, images, maps, and websites. When it was first introduced, many search engine optimization firms raced around exclaiming that this was one of those search trends that would change everything and that new optimization rules should be created and followed immediately.

I published an article in early 2007 in which I noted, "The problem with Universal Search is that it can muddy the results, and it can also introduce irrelevant results that a searcher cannot use."[1] I also wrote, "Clearly, Universal Search will change how an SEO campaign is run if it catches on. But this is a real if - users' search habits are hard to change overnight, even if you are Google and you essentially define what searching is and how it works."[2]

And in fact, Universal Search didn't quite take off the way Google had hoped. A post on MediaPost's Search Insider by Mark Simon boldly states, "Universal Search will probably not be viewed as the greatest Google fiasco since Google Video, but it's clear that it's failed to deliver on the vaunted promises made by Marissa Mayer back in May."[3] So will we see more of Universal Search, or will it be quietly put to the side? Will other top Internet search engines want to use it for themselves? Only time will tell, but it seems like Google needs to do a lot more work before users really warm up to it.

Personalization and Personalized Search

Personalization on the other hand seems to be one of the search trends working very well for Google and many of the other top Internet search engines. In an article I wrote a few months ago, I said "The basic principle behind personalized search is simple. When you go to Google and type in a search query, Google stores the data. As you return to the engine, a profile of your search habits is built up over time. With this information, Google can understand more about your interests and serve up more relevant search results."[4]

As it works right now, if you use a Google product (Gmail, Google toolbar, AdWords, etc.), Google is keeping track of what you search for and what websites you visit, and it's then tailoring your results appropriately. Search for "bass," and Google will know whether you mean the fish or the instrument. As I pointed out, though, there are major issues with search trends like personalization:

Privacy issues that arise from personalized search are also a big question. The EU recently announced that it is probing into how long Google stores user information (this probe was subsequently extended to include all search engines). AOL recently committed a serious blunder when it released search data from 500,000 of its users, and it was discovered that it was fairly easy to identify many people by the search terms that they use... [5]
Yet if nobody makes a fuss about this, then it's very likely Google – and the other top Internet search engines - will start tracking everyone behind the scenes, whether they use a Google product or not.

It's actually already starting – right now, the cookie Google places on your machine (did you even know they did that?) will expire in two years – but they won't really expire at all. According to the official Google blog:

In the coming months, Google will start issuing our users cookies that will be set to auto-expire after 2 years, while auto-renewing the cookies of active users during this time period. In other words, users who do not return to Google will have their cookies auto-expire after 2 years. Regular Google users will have their cookies auto-renew, so that their preferences are not lost. And, as always, all users will still be able to control their cookies at any time via their browsers.[6]

Seems it won't be long before Google knows what you're searching for before you do.
Expanding "Sneak Peeks"

Ask, one of the smaller of the top Internet search engines, has been using sneak peeks to entice searchers for a while now. Searchers who use Ask.com can mouse over an icon next to many results and see a screen shot of the website. No clicking needed. Google, always watching for search trends, seems to have noticed, because they've filed a patent for expanding their own snippets.[7] Soon searchers on Google may be able to read expanded summaries of pages, or longer clips of page text. This tactic appeals to searchers who are now demanding more and more information faster and faster from the top Internet search engines, and who don't want to waste precious seconds clicking on a link and then on the back button to find just the right site for their needs.

Syntax Queries

When Ask was Ask Jeeves, the butler was supposed to listen to your search queries in the form of questíons and then get answers for you. The problem was, this just didn't work exactly the way it was supposed to. Instead of answering the question based on syntax, the engine still responded to searches in the same way others did, by analyzing the words and returning a líst. Jeeves was retired with a bit of fanfare, and the engine handles queries in the more traditional manner for now. But all of the top Internet search engines have continued to work on this concept, with Google again leading the way since it has the manpower and brainpower to do so. I expect that within the next year, this will be one of the search trends that the engines will want to focus on with a greater push toward answering questíons rather than just returning related results.

Speech Recognition and the Mobile Market

Speech recognition is really going to be one of the huge search trends in the coming months and years for the top Internet search engines. In an interview from this past summer, Peter Norvig, director of Google Research, noted, "[Google] wanted speech technology that could serve as an interface for phones and also index audio text. After looking at the existing technology, we decided to build our own. We thought that, having the data and computational resources that we do, we could help advance the field."[8] With speech recognition in place, one could go to Google (or another of the top Internet search engines) and use a microphone to ask a question aloud, or just say some keyphrases, and get a líst back immediately.

And speech recognition has the biggest benefit for top Internet search engines when it comes to users of mobile devices. Let's face it, as advanced as those keyboards may have gotten, they're still a pain to use and it's time-consuming to type in more than a few sentences. (That's y txt msgs r lk ths, u c?). Norvig is on top of that too, noting, "In general, it looks like things are moving more toward the mobile market, and we thought it was important to deal with the market where you might not have access to a keyboard or might not want to type in search queries."[9]

More to Come

As I noted in the beginning, this is just a small sampling of the search trends for the top Internet search engines today. Google, Yahoo, and even Ask are all working tirelessly to get your business and to make search easier, faster, and more accurate. Keep checking back for future articles covering some of the other trends and following up on the ones I've already discussed.

References

1. http://www.mediumblue.com/newsletters/universal-search.html
2. Ibid
3. http://blogs.mediapost.com/search_insider/?p=637
4. http://www.mediumblue.com/newsletters/personalized-search.html
5. Ibid
6. http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2007/07/cookies-expiring-sooner-to-improve.html
7. SEMClhttp://www.semclubhouse.com/on-researching-patents-and-a-new-google-patent-filing-on-expanded-snippets.htmlubhouse.com
8. http://www.technologyreview.com/Biztech/19050/?a=f
9. Ibid


About The Author
Scott Buresh is the CEO of Medium Blue, which was recently named the number one search engine optimization company in the world by PromotionWorld. Scott has contributed content to many publications including Building Your Business with Google For Dummies (Wiley, 2004), MarketingProfs, ZDNet, Organic Rankings, WebProNews, DarwinMag, SiteProNews, ISEDB.com, and Search Engine Guide. Medium Blue serves local and national clients, including Boston Scientific, DS Waters, and Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center. Download Medium Blue's latest exclusive whitepaper, "Adding Search to Your Marketing Mix," for more insight.

Warning Signs Of Investment Frauds

By Dwayne Gilbert

If you want to know how you can protect your invested money, then you must learn to identify the signs of fraud. A potential investment fraud has certain signs and characteristics. If you can check them out, you will definitely save your hard earned money. There are thousands of frauds who use your email or call you on the phone countless times to convince you of the various schemes they have.

The first prominent sign or characteristic of an investment fraudulent act is that the offer will sound too good to be true. You will be promised even what Bill Gates would hesitate to do. Then be sure that you are dealing with a bunch of frauds.

The second warning sign of such offer is the emphasis for 'on spot' acceptance. You will be told that the offer is limited and meant for limited, privileged number of people only. The third sign of warning is that the company would always try to hide their real identity and avoid making serious disclosures about themselves.

You may be approached for investment by anybody. It maybe a broker, a stranger, or any person who is into any investment business. They may fish cleverly for details such as your social security number, credit card number or confidential things. The government has circulated pamphlets and federal documents that you should go through before you invest in securities or stock markets.

There are materials on fraudulent activities that you can ask for from SEC, Federal Trade Commission, or from your State's Securities Regulators. These materials will bring to light the various kinds of investment frauds prevalent in the country and their methods of approachability. If you are approached for any investment by a company, then you will find the offers suitable to your need. You must do the following for a safe investment.

Contact the State Securities Regulators (SSR). You must not stop with the facts from SEC. Instead, you should check the SSR to have more information on the company that has approached you. To access the SSR, you can log on to the website of North American Securities Administrators Association. The local SSR will provide you with all the information from Central Registration Depository (CRD). To know about the brokers, this is all that you need to do.

You can also check in the website of Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) to know more about the firm concerned. The authority has all information about the broker and the firm. If you want to make investment based on the offers over phone or email, here are certain tips to do them wisely.

You must read the facts and offer thoroughly.

Try to understand what every line means.

Never accept an offer that you don't understand.

Never invest in companies that don't report with SEC, as they usually indulge in investment fraud. Verify all claims of the new contracts. It is also essential to see whether the people of the company have ever made money for investors beforehand. With these tips for a little homework, you can save your huge amounts from being wasted.


About The Author:
Gavin Keller owns and operates http://www.investment-fraud-info.com/. Know more about Investment Fraud and scams, and how you can protect yourself against them.