I’m messing around with the new Twitter widget that allows you to embed Twitter feeds, I realise there are other ways of doing thing, but this is the official Twitter version which should make it more stable.
From Twitter:
Today we’re bringing Twitter and the web closer together by launching new real-time tools for website developers. With our new embedded timelines you can place any public timeline on your website, connecting your readers with the Tweets that you and others create on Twitter.
You know that seo article that seems to pop up every month, usually under the guise of “seo is dead”?
Well, what if you could no longer manipulate the search engine results pages?
What if Google decided to serve up different but relevant results on a seven day cycle?
There would be chaos in the seo World (again).
If you are in the seo industry step back for one moment and ask yourself a question. Do you think it’s sensible to build your business dependent on the whims of another company? A company who does not rely on you for it’s bread, and in many ways thinks you are scum?
But the thing is, as I write this, seo works. Even with Panda, Penguin and the not often talked about, Polar Bear – crappy links work, paid links work, even Xrummer blasts still works.
And whilst they work they will still be used.
It would be nuts not to take advantage of that.
Such practices are regarded by some as snake oil, but with snake oil there are zero results.
However, the positive effect that these practices give could be gone tomorrow. But you always knew that didn’t you.
Surely you have a back up plan?
Surely you didn’t think it would be the same forever?
Ed Dale thinks that Winter is coming.
Usually I take little notice of articles on this theme as it is overused and sensationalised. Most people who do the “seo is dead” article tend to be those who don’t get linkbait.
But Ed gets linkbait.
And he has announced winter is coming more than once.
When someone like Ed says stuff like this, I listen.
Don’t bother looking for this stuff on seo blogs, you really think they are going to pronounce the death of their business?
Own your traffic source
This website has ironically never really bothered much about Google rankings, this is because people who buy my services tend to connect over Twitter or chat to me after a conference presentation or hear about me on the grapevine.
Social media brings in the bread, so why bother with Google?
Linkbait interests me because linkbait is fundamentally about attracting people, engaging them and causing reaction, the fact is we slap a label on it and call it linkbait and use it to get links. But the skills and techniques you learn as a linkbaiter can easily be used for other purposes.
- Sales pages
- Branding
- Pre sell
- Advertising
- Email marketing
- Blogging
etc.
You don’t have to rely on Google if:
- If you are into creating apps for the iPhone
- You have an email list
- You are a market leader
- If you have a membership site
- If when you Tweet enough people listen
- If you pwn Facebook
- You make the best donuts on the block
etc.
I have no idea when things will change. But they will.
Prepare! For winter is about to fall and the dead will roam the land.
Some very interesting things have been happening in my coaching group. Although it is focussed on linkbait, it seems to becoming more of a PR coaching group. Lots of back and forth about how to contact journalists and get them to write nice things about us and a real thirst for helping build a social media following.
In fact, I would say that getting a following on social media is the next biggest thing after help creating killer headlines.
I have difficulty with this though, because I find it so easy to navigate the rapids of social media I kinda expect everyone else to. But we all have our skill set, and sharing killer techniques and methods between people with other killer skill sets is the best way to learn.
My social media networking skills were being honed long before social media existed or even the World Wide Web. Writing poetry gave me the skill to be able to crack off a rich, terse, to the point Tweet. Cracking sarcastic one liners at the back of the class gave me the snarky humour that sometimes can get you noticed in crowded places and being an avid fan of Encyclopedia Britannica when I was a kid gave me obscure references to the seemingly unrelated allowed me to appear a lot more intellectual than I actually am.
But I would say that the most important thing I learned about success in social media is from sex.
Not actual sex, but the part of the brain that drives us. (Apologies if you were expecting some 50 Shades of Grey Action)
I figured out at the right age that getting girls was not really about being the best looking or the richest. But being able to simply ask a girl out. The more you asked the more you succeeded. Sure you fall flat on your face often. But the burning shame of being told “No” to, was worth it for the ones who said yes.
I had no shame, because I was focussed on the positive results, not the failure rate.
I realised that other guys who never seemed to get the girls simply couldn’t deal with the pain of being told no to. So they just didn’t ask, which to me seemed bonkers. They seemed to expect a 100% conversion rate.
If I can now turn your attention away from sex and to social media, just for a minute.
It’s the same thing when building a social media network. People hate being told no, they hate the defollow, they hate not being noticed and not being retweeted and bewail the fact that nobody seems listen. When the reality is, they never really asked anyone to listen to them or took chances on revealing the good stuff.
It’s not that it takes balls to put it all out there, it’s more about not caring if people don’t give a toss. Because for everyone who things your are a jumped up little turd, with pretentions of grandeur. There are going to be others who think the sun shines out of your assiduously crafted Tweets.
The point is, get out there do stuff, and ignore the rejections. Action is the key to effective social media networking.
Remove or keep digg in your FB timeline?
Digg.com has been rebooted, as they say.
They’ve done a few odd things, like deleting 14 million indexed links which have caused sharp intakes of breathes from seo people.
You have to understand that whilst it seems that some actually care about digg as a website and business, what they are really objecting to is that digg may not worth bothering about when it comes to manipulating helping stories that benefit themselves.
Gaming digg became a rather profitable cottage industry in its day. And we are looking to see if it’s going to be worth investing resources to start gaming it again. I’m thinking no, but that could change.
Whilst I think the site as a business is going to achieve a decent ROI for its owners, I don’t think it has that radical edge that uber social media geeks need to get passionate about.
Sites like this need passion, as the reality is without it they are just lumps of crafted digital data with an advertising banner on top. It needs rabid fans.
Right now it feels a little plastic and has certainly not get the crowd raving on their swivel chairs.
Also, the Facebook curse has fallen upon it, causing you to only be able log in whilst letting your mates know exactly what you are up to.
Makes you thankful for fake Facebook accounts, of which Facebook has plenty of. This may end when Facebook insists on entering our genetic code to open an account.
As a place to find interesting stuff, it’s mildly interesting. Led me to a story about illegal Olympic WiFi detection, which is useful as there is a potential to create linkbait for a client out of that story.
I say, don’t ditch digg just yet. Keep one eye on it, but with a fake FB account.
People talk about “quality” all the time. Quality links, quality content etc., without really defining what they actually mean when they talk about quality content.
Mostly it’s just blather.
My definition of quality content, is that it contains the specific elements which together, creates something that is magnetic to a viewers attention. It’s not about how the piece looks, it’s about the positive reaction of the viewer.
I’ve seen companies stacked to the rafters with seemingly intelligent people spend over £10k for a piece of content that is nice and shiny, only to attract 15 people. The content usually put together by a trendy young thing from Hoxton who rides a single geared bike and spends over £50 a month on hair products.
The rules of great content is still old school, human interest does not change because it lives online. The primal brain still sits in the driving seat.
So if you sell plumbing supplies online and get into content marketing, you become a publisher. You need to think like a publisher, you cannot think like someone who sells plumbing supplies.
It’s the main thrust of what I teach over at Linkbait Coaching, the trick is mostly about getting the mind set. Some are already in the mode, others have the claw their way to it. But it can be taught.
Everyone can learn how to linkbait.
Look at this great piece of content, David Cameron with Pasties. The idea is simple, the execution without fuss and yet it’s pulled in some great links with very little input. This is because the creator gets it, and I have to say that they are indeed a member of Linkbait Coaching and killing it.
It may seem simple to come up with these ideas, but only if you are in the right frame of mind And I have to say that being in the right frame of mind means you sometimes have to act in a counter intuitive way when it comes to e-commerce.
You can have commercial messages to be alongside a piece of linkbait but it does not help and often hinders the progress of a piece of content.
It’s not just about publishing something shocking or scandalous, it must be carefully crafted and go through a set of processes that lead you to linkbaiting success.
Topical, news focussed content can get a lot of links relative to the amount of effort. Right now we are going deep with the Olympics and ramping up the US Election, which looks to be a good one linkbaiting wise. If only Michelle Bachmann becomes Mitts’ running mate. Heaven!
If you can’t afford the huge fees of Linkbait Coaching membership, follow the Twitter feed, usually one or two ideas are published each day.
May your links be many and aged.
Using the news hook to create a link attracting piece of content is a great way to marketing your website. It’s difficult to constantly come up with content ideas that work.
By looking at the news and creating content around what everyone is talking about helps your content get noticed, passed around on social media and also get links. Most people are hungry for more information regarding the current news, but most news agencies simply repeat the same information. If you could put a spin on the current news story and fold the theme of your niche within the content, you can creating high quality content.
On linkbait coaching we have a special section where we discuss the news, knock around ideas for content around the news, come up with headlines for specific niches etc. Basically we provide a constant stream of content ideas and headline ideas. It’s relatively easy to then take these building blocks and create your own content, saving a lot of cash by not having to hire that linkbait consultant.
Right now we have an offer, you can check out the service for £50 for 5 days, if you have sucked all the info you are able to, cancel the account and on your way. However for those wishing to continue to get a stream of edgy, hot topic content advice the fee is £200 a month. This of course comes with all the other coaching help that Linkbait Coaching provides.
Below is a list of a sample of the threads in the “News on Crack”, forum. For those with Linkbait Coaching membership you can click on the link and get access to the thread, for those who are not, sorry, you need to sign up.
Higgs discovery – Biggest Scientific moment since DNA
Fake cigarette caused M6 police Megabus coach swoop
Mad Mitts Jet Bike Fondue
In Volvo News
Go to Florida and Drown
Barclays Bonkers Bob
LIBOR – London Inter Bank
We know a massive disruption is occurring right now in publishing. Not only are old media like Newspapers under attack from the likes of blogs, but brands themselves are taking to online publishing or what some call content marketing.
Before, these brands would advertise in the old media, taking out adverts and buying advertorials. Now the brands themselves are creating content in which to build their brand, attract new customers, increase customer attention etc.
Although technology is allowing a brand or small business to become a publisher of web content and little cost, it is the story or the narrative of the message that is the true King.
Because, it’s not that content is king, most are wrong about this. Content is not King, it’s actually worthless. What is King is The Story. Unless the narrative grabs you emotionally and pulls you in, the content may as well be a pile of grey dust, stepped over on the way to buy a donut.
A lot of online properties have built themselves on foundations of waste pits of garbage content, churned out with no love and a couple of dollars thrown the writers way. Google with it’s not too recent updates put paid to that.
You can no longer build empires of online real estate using the Pyramid method, where the lowest level is garbage and links up to the next level which gets better and better in quality, till at the summit you actually get to the point where you have something you actually want to read.
Efficiencies in scale are always important when it comes to publishing. But if the content you produce does not resonate, does not connect, what’s the point.
Teaching content marketing on Linkbait Coaching daily means I come into contact with people who get this, along with:
- An understanding you have to think before you create
- Knowledge that real people need to desire the content
- Time and resources will be needed to create quality content
- We should be in the publishing mindset and not the seo mindset
- We create for people, not search engines
- Links are a natural effect of our work
Talking to a lot of SEO agencies, I get a feeling that some do not yet get the fact they are in publishing, rather than busting algos.
The story and a deep understanding on the pyschological needs of other humans are now the key weapons in the fight for eyeballs and sales in the World of online marketing.
Getting The Story right is the most important thing an online business can be doing right now in terms of internet marketing.
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A methodology should underpin the tactic which supports the content strategy.
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The tactic I use is the tactic of the story, and of seeking a deep understanding of how narrative psychology works can give you the edge
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Ultimately the best way to get links is on merit, and in as natural as fashion as possible.
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Passion can create a lot of content.
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Its how Google wants to do things
Its how we would all like search engines to organise information.
And so sometimes we do have to reach for a bag of tricks.
But in my experience, getting links on merit by building content that is worthy of sharing is still the most effective way to achieve a ranking in the search engine ranking pages.
But its not enough to simply have fantastic content, quality is subjective and a client and a linker may disagree what quality is.
Content also needs to be promoted, marketed. If you are not passionate about the content you will not be passionate about the promotion.
So, a web pages with a collection of dead kittens in wine glasses? Is that quality? And yet it gets links.
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Passionate, creative, single themed websites gets links
Thingsappleisworthmorethan.tumblr.com
Creative content that connects and engages with specific audiences will get links.
Simple ideas done with passion and love will win over engineered fakeness. Real communication is the best tactic you can deploy.