Note: this post is authored by Mig (Mihaela Lica) of Pamil Visions. Mig’s About Page reads: ” I am a freelance writer, have some SEO expertize and I am an online public relations and media consultant. I used to be a military journalist, worked six years as a freelance reporter for the Romanian National Radio Station (ROR) and four years in the Public Relations Direcorate of the Romanian Ministry of Defense. Since 2002 I live in Germany.”
Check out Mig’s MyBlogLog community to get an update on all of her blogs!
What do successful bloggers have in common?
Why are they so popular?
Is it search engine optimization?
Is it networking? Communication?
Or is it a combination of all of the above plus a special extra something?
I’ve been into SEO since 2002, and if there is something I learned from
all this years of optimizing websites for the search engines is that the algorithms of the search engines change because people change.
The way we search for information online has changed considerably in the past six months. We do still use Google and other search engines to search, but these are not the only resources.
We turn to MyBlogLob, to Blog Catalog, to digg and StumbleUpon, to Facebook and MySpace and the list could go on and on. The search engines still send great deal of traffic to properly indexed pages, but let’s face it, they are not alone. As a blogger, if you check the number of referring sites reported to the number of search engine traffic, if you
were always cautious and saved your analytics reports from six months ago, you would see a change of powers, a shift in the balance. And you will know: search engines change their algorithms to follow people, because people follow people. Besides, the search bots are made, programmed, conceived by people. Sure Google will change again its ways in three four months – because Google is smart enough to understand how the Web ticks.
YOU are changing Google’s algorithm right now, as you read this article. As you Stumble it and bookmark it, as you add your tags to it, those little words that bear your understanding, and the SE will mimic your choices next time when you search online.
So here is a good tip about SEO – the modern SEO, what I like to call Web 2.0 SEO: optimization means achieving the best form to present an idea to the public. It is like editing: strive to deliver an end product that reads fluently, is error free, is useful or at least entertains.
Of course meta titles matter, as much as titles of a chapter matter, as much as each article in a magazine has a title. Of course meta descriptions matter: as much as the summary of a book. You read that first, before making a purchase, because, isn’t it, you do want to have a tiny idea about what you are going to buy. Sure SEO will focus on creating good metas, but there is more to SEO than that.
As I said, the search has changed; the users have changed their ways of accessing information. What you need to do is to focus on delivering what the users need.
Don’t be afraid to share what you know with the world! You are not the one and only. You cannot reinvent the wheel and whatever you describe as original stays under the shadow of a cruel fact: everything you’ll ever write was already written: in another form, in a different style, but it is there. You cannot really create 100% original work. There is always a source of inspiration.
What matters though is how you pass that information on to other people. Don’t be afraid to give, share your knowledge, and be true to what you are. The more information you give away, the more you win: traffic, leads… respect (you choose the order!).
The Web 2.0 SEO is about sharing, connecting, and being genuine. It is not about repeating the same things over and over again, to exasperation. It is about opening your heart and being there for the people who need you.
Make them follow your lead, because the search engines follow theirs.
Reasonable Robinson
excellent and informed as usual Mig!