I realize it’s been a while since our last rant on anything. Lucky for us, I happen to have one all ready to go. It’s been stewing for quite awhile (since last Thursday), running around in my head and gathering more fuel for the fire. To be honest, I’m glad I’ve planned the post for today – it gave me the weekend to reread, look it over, (make some changes) and clean up the cuss words. :P
But You Just Can
As the title says, today’s rant, brought to you special from Level343, is about SEO, inbound marketing in general, and critical thinking.
I Was Enjoying a Quiet Thursday Morning When…
This post came across one of my social networks: Using Google+ Ripples to Connect with Influencers. Go ahead; read it. I’ll wait.
“Let the ooh’s and ahh’s begin,” I thought. Everyone is going to flock to the G Plus Ripples to do like the man says and “connect with influencers” (eye roll). How completely fab that the world is finally catching up with our way of doing things – including Google, it seems.
HEY! Did Your Fancy New Tool Just Crap On My Industry?
I know what people are going to think. A lot of people will look at G+ Ripples and think, “Great! I won’t need an inbound marketer anymore. This fancy new tool Google just put out is the answer to all my problems!” How do I know this? It’s the public answer every time. Just for fun here is a ripple in action. Actually, it’s really a funny video, so take the time to share with your readers on G+. While you’re at it add Level343 Google + page if you want. See once again, I digress…
Most people are looking for the fast way to make a quick buck, or, in Internet terms, a fast way to get results. Every new tool that comes out is jumped on like a male dancer at a bachelorette party.
Come on, people! So you want to do things yourself. So you don’t want to strain your budget hiring someone. Okay – fine, fine. But use some common sense! These programs and products can’t provide the one thing you desperately need for any business endeavor; they can’t provide the human element!
Communication is the new currency
A program can’t do your critical thinking for you. If you’re letting programs make business decisions for you rather than taking the time to make those decisions yourself, you’re… well, I can’t think of a nice way to say it.
A little later, I came across another article that helped calm me down (just a little bit): mostly because it went along the lines of the human element. A PubCon write up by David Angotti talks about the presentation Greg Boser (SVP of Search, BlueGlass Interactive) gave. David writes:
“There is an increasing amount of data that shows a shift from “traditional” SEO to social (human engagement) signals. Google recently acquired PostRank, a metric similar to PageRank for social, which indicates how important human engagement is to the Google algorithm. Part of the reason that Google is trying to do a better job of analyzing human engagement is due to people sharing links through social networks instead of blogs or sites.”
No way! Really?? SEO is shifting to human engagement signals? – And did you notice that Google is trying to do a better job? Why are they trying? Because they haven’t managed it yet! In fact, that’s why their Ripples project “is still experimental”. Yeah, I’m going to base a lot of business decisions off of an experimental tool.
I apologize for fuming. Prepare for more to come.
Pepper Is a Seasoning, Not a Method of Action
Pepper SEO... seriously?
I don’t care what you’ve been told; keywords don’t make the conversions. You think you can pepper your site with some keywords, the pearly gates will open while the angels sing the hallelujah chorus and buyers will just flock in? Sure, your numbers may reflect stronger traffic, but your conversion won’t – because your language still sucks. You didn’t think about the readers, and you have to. At the end of the day, they’re the ones who are going to buy, not the search engines.
A site peppered with keywords doesn’t look like anything other than what it is: a site peppered with keywords.
-And blogs. You think you can pepper your blog with any old content and build a readership? You can’t! I came across a blog post (from someone I’m now currently ashamed to say I follow) and the post was full of errors. I don’t mean a little spelling error or a few grammatical errors. I mean big, glaring errors where the apostrophes converted to the diamond question mark!
You know what that shows? It shows you don’t care. It shows you don’t give a crap about your business, your reputation or your readers. The people on the other side of your monitor are going to say the same thing I did. “Wow, they didn’t even take the time to edit the content before hitting the publish button!”
You know the saying that became popular after Forest Gump said it? “Life is like a box of chocolates. You never know what you’re gonna get.” This seems to be the philosophy growing online. It’s a load of crap.
When you buy a box of chocolates, you’re going to look at the packaging first. Yeah, you know what you’re going to get. Once you open the box, you have that package cover that tells you what each piece is. There are no surprises in that box of chocolates unless you didn’t look at the package.
Your site is the package for your business, brand, products and services, people. If that package has crap content, peppered keywords and shows a lack of care, that’s not a box of chocolates I’m going to bother to buy. You don’t care, I don’t care.
I’m Taking a Deep Breath…
Talk to the hand!
Okay. As you can tell, I’m a bit irked, here. As someone who’s done all this SEO – the research, the audits, the onpage and offpage optimization, the link building, the copywriting and marketing – I know you don’t just pull these ideas out of your nether regions. We research who our client’s readers are. We listen to them talk about their business. We gain information and data before we ever lift a finger in actual implementation. If they don’t have any kind of traffic analytics, we require at least 30 days to get that tracking up and gather data.
The point is we have pride in our work. We pay attention to what we’re doing. We’re careful in the things we recommend. We take the time to think before we act. Sometimes, we miss errors, we’re only human, but we do try.
Now really – is it too much to ask that others do the same?
Gabriella Sannino
I love writing about marketing, social, SEO, ruffling feathers and starting revolutions. What you read on this blog, will hopefully inspire you to continue the conversation. When I'm not multitasking around Level343 I sneak away and go sailing. I'm crazy about pistachios, and of course Nutella.
Follow Me:
{ 13 comments… read them below or add one }
Ha! Love the pepper analogy.
The whole thing comes down to exactly what you said – PRIDE in your work. Stuffing keywords into content, thin content, content that reads like some sort of foreigner wrote it… content with terrible glaring errors.. what does that tell people? That you really don’t give two hoots about what they read, as long as they arrive on site.
Give your head a shake. Conversions happen when people BUY IN. Give people a compelling reason to buy in with your content; not your keywords.
LOL if you only knew how exact the pepper analogy is to real life. One thing is undeniable, our readers including our clients are smart and won’t stand for that sort of shenanigan. The world at large, well that’s another story. ;) Thanks for dropping by Phil.
I would personally like to thank you for your post. It really help me a lot.
I agree. With everything going automated these days, people miss out that the most important factor in marketing is the audience themselves.
I guess the best way is to go down to the community level, where one knows everybody. We had enough of the “mass production” concepts, maybe it is time to g back to the personalized marketing concepts. What do you think?
Tony Scott recently posted.. MSDSonline Offers EH&S Professionals Free Webinar Series on Upcoming Adoption of GHS by OSHA
Twitter: DocSheldon
November 14, 2011 at 5:14 pm
Great rant, Gabs! I got that same email… never even bothered to check it out. ;)
But I’m sure a few million lemmings did!
Unfortunately, there’s never a shortage of eager buyers for anything that’s presented as easy, quick or cheap… everyone seems to still think there’s a silver bullet out there, and whether it’s “makemoniesonline or Ripples, you can bet they’ll be line up around the corner.
Doc Sheldon recently posted.. Over 700 E-mails Harvested in Less than 5 Minutes!
Actually, if your IQ is only 78 or whatever, every time you get a box of chocolates, it’s a surprise. Also, McDonald’s is a surprise every time as well.
Chris Johnson recently posted.. Steps To A Demo Movie: Collaborate And Listen
Twitter: lyena
November 14, 2011 at 10:06 am
Loved the post, Gabriella! I looked at Google+ Ripples and though, “So what?” A lot of reporting tools are cute and pretty, but fail to answer the question, why I should care. The conversions happen on the website. You can have as many ripples as you want, but if your “box of chocolates” is disappointing, the ripples will eventually calm down and you get crickets. I completely agree.
Lyena Solomon recently posted.. Why Nonprofits Fail
heheh indeed. I always want a box of chocolates with almond truffles, and absolute sin. Thanks bella, will be catching up with you soon!
Twitter: idietcola
November 14, 2011 at 9:36 am
mmm interesting read this – but yea its bound to be on the horizon for big g to be rolling in these social signals, and they have been for a while indexing comments and pages etc, and yes there have always been logic in getting your link on a popular website – is twitter anything more than a popular website?
The next big thing – bothered – right now – links still work, so all in all, stick to what you know – building links – the rest – best practice….
You need two things to rank in search engines – content and links – the rest – is pure talk
nice read though – thanks!
iDCx
Glad you enjoyed it – thanks for stopping by!
Bravo, m’dear! And here’s what I’ll add to your well-crafted rant: crap in is crap out. If you want to build an exceptional business, you can’t go buying into every “next big thing” that comes along. You have to develop an understanding of and with your audience. All these Ripples and Waves and (dear god, do I really need to go on?)…they’re tools – nothing more. And you can’t eve begin to use them properly if you have your head so far up a Ripple’s backside that you lose touch with how and IF they can benefit your audience. HUZZAH!
Erika Napoletano recently posted.. The Road to Publication: The Nonfiction Book Proposal
Thanks Red :)
GREAT post! Now, I could stop at that, but I won’t. For far too long, some business owners have spent valuable time and resources looking for shortcuts in their own business, in making a profit, in marketing and certainly in SEO. It is time to realize that shortcuts do not always, nor rarely work! It takes time to develop relationships, friendships, business, a social media presence and an online presence. It also takes the right tools, or the right partners to help with the right tools. As for Google Ripples, to me it is like Google+ and Google+ Brand Pages; too soon to tell what impact it will all have; but I do know this; you cannot short cut doing it the right way. Preach on friend!
Comment Guidelines: The comment form must be filled in with an actual name. This blog is actively moderated, and comments with keyword names will be deleted. We reserve the right to edit or delete any comments using keywords, spam or splog-like URLs, or suspicious information in the comment form.
Linking Guidelines: We welcome links that encourage and continue conversation, such as links to related blog pages. If you've written about (or read elsewhere) the article topic and feel the piece would enhance ours, please, do share. Again, this blog is actively moderated. If we come across a link we don't feel enhances the conversation, we'll simply unlink it.
{ 90 trackbacks }
You Think You Can, But You Just CAN'T, Nemo http://t.co/jKaqQkCr
Historias sobre You Think You Can, But You Just CAN’T, Nemo! http://t.co/wEXsbToO | A Rant...#SEO, #Google #Social en ...
You Think You Can, But You Just CAN’T, Nemo! http://t.co/i1vgCSbA | A Rant...#SEO, #Google #Social
You Think You Can, But You Just CAN’T, Nemo! http://t.co/hiCXFBxO | A Rant...#SEO, #Google #Social
Historias sobre You Think You Can, But You Just CAN’T, Nemo! http://t.co/C7vJBHdH | A Rant...#SEO, #Google #Social en ...
You Think You Can, But You Just CAN’T, Nemo! http://t.co/Ur5inHTx | A Rant... #SEO #Google via @SEOcopy
You Think You Can, But You Just CAN’T, Nemo! http://t.co/09UOQ8Xz | A Rant...#SEO, #Google #Social
RT @SEOcopy You Think You Can, But You Just CAN’T, Nemo! http://t.co/v2Hcgm4p | A Rant...#SEO, #Google #social
You Think You Can, But You Just CAN’T, Nemo! http://t.co/l8pTbNZK | A Rant...#SEO, #Google #Social
You Think You Can, But You Just CAN’T, Nemo! http://t.co/6vTh8rhQ | A Rant...#SEO, #Google #Social
Historias sobre You Think You Can, But You Just CAN’T, Nemo! http://t.co/d9i1dfoe | A Rant...#SEO, #Google #Social en ...
What SHE said >> You Think You Can, But You Just CAN’T, Nemo! http://t.co/FXrThaBK | A Rant...#SEO #Google #Social
You Think You Can, But You Just CAN’T, Nemo! http://t.co/dC9Zg0Q9 | A Rant... #SEO #Google via @SEOcopy RT @arkarthick
You Think You Can, But You Just CAN’T, Nemo! http://t.co/BTSFtmOc | A Rant...#SEO, #Google #Social
You Think You Can, But You Just CAN’T, Nemo! http://t.co/4OsZVfPB | A Rant...#SEO, #Google #Social
You Think You Can, But You Just CAN’T, Nemo! http://t.co/l7BMGOBm | A Rant...#SEO, #Google #Social RT @SEOcopy
You Think You Can, But You Just CAN’T, Nemo! http://t.co/lSBtF5Sq | A Rant by @SEOcopy #SEO, #Google #Social
You Think You Can, But You Just CAN’T, Nemo! http://t.co/gLTQvQnm | A Rant by @SEOcopy #SEO, #Google #Social
RT @Matt_Siltala: You Think You Can, But You Just CAN’T, Nemo! http://t.co/30fbJcn0 | A Rant by @SEOcopy #SEO, #Google #Social
:) RT @Matt_Siltala: You Think You Can, But You Just CAN’T, Nemo! http://t.co/uw532e3W | A Rant by @SEOcopy #SEO, #Google #Social
You Think You Can, But You Just CAN’T, Nemo! http://t.co/Nke4KBX3 via @SEOCopy
You Think You Can, But You Just CAN’T, Nemo! http://t.co/R7QosaId | A Rant...#SEO, #Google #Social
http://level343.com/article_archive/2011/11/14/you-think-you-can-but-you-just-cant-nemo/
You Think You Can, But You Just CAN’T, Nemo! http://t.co/R7QosaId | A Rant...#SEO, #Google #Social
You Think You Can, But You Just CAN’T, Nemo! http://t.co/gLTQvQnm | A Rant by @SEOcopy #SEO, #Google #Social
You Think You Can, But You Just CAN’T, Nemo! http://t.co/JdOycbFh | A Rant...#SEO, #Google #Social
You Think You Can, But You Just CAN’T, Nemo! http://t.co/qRGzEXla | A Rant...#SEO, #Google #Social
You Think You Can, But You Just CAN’T, Nemo! http://t.co/R7QosaId | A Rant...#SEO, #Google #Social
You Think You Can, But You Just CAN’T, Nemo! http://t.co/aTp79QZM | A Rant...#SEO, #Google #Social
RT @SEOcopy You Think You Can, But You Just CAN’T, Nemo! http://t.co/3DBueJjL
You Think You Can, But You Just CAN’T, Nemo!: I realize it’s been a while since our last rant on a... http://t.co/ibIxK1l4 via @level343
You Think You Can, But You Just CAN’T, Nemo! - http://t.co/2T7IYPfW @level343
RT @netmeg: You Think You Can, But You Just CAN’T, Nemo! - http://t.co/oHipAxju @level343
RT @SEOcopy You Think You Can, But You Just CAN’T, Nemo! http://t.co/I6cEr5qg
RT @SEOCopy You Think You Can, But You Just CAN’T, Nemo! http://t.co/jTXIRf9b | A Rant...#SEO, #Google #Social
You Think You Can, But You Just CAN’T, Nemo! http://t.co/drrd3oUJ | A Rant...#SEO, #Google #Social
Nice Monday morning rant... RT @netmeg: You Think You Can, But You Just CAN’T, Nemo! - http://t.co/bZxgzzz0 @level343
You Think You Can, But You Just CAN’T, Nemo! http://t.co/eSF3o8qC | A Rant by @SEOcopy #SEO, #Google #Social
You Think You Can, But You Just CAN’T, Nemo! http://t.co/9L6oZR8h | A Rant...#SEO, #Google #Social
You Think You Can, But You Just CAN’T, Nemo! http://t.co/QyE3dkS6 | A Rant...#SEO, #Google #Social
Historias sobre You Think You Can, But You Just CAN’T, Nemo! http://t.co/wEXsbToO | A Rant...#SEO, #Google #Social en ...
You Think You Can, But You Just CAN’T, Nemo! http://t.co/Q6KpTQ1f | A Rant...#SEO, #Google #Social
You Think You Can, But You Just CAN’T, Nemo! http://t.co/60R55q7Y | Yes, it's a rant by @SEOcopy, go figure ;) Night...
Right on, @SEOcopy!! RT @level343: You Think You Can, But You Just CAN'T, Nemo! #Rant http://t.co/byTZJUZ2 #Google #Ripples #meh
You Think You Can, But You Just CAN’T, Nemo! http://t.co/Eb4k0y0b #in #fb
HEY! Did Your Fancy New Tool Just Crap On My Industry? http://t.co/qW3KIlSB | My rant for the week...enjoy & buona notte sweet twiteratties
You Think You Can, But You Just CAN’T, Nemo! http://t.co/PJm9Pnh1 | A Rant...#SEO, #Google #Social
You Think You Can, But You Just CAN’T, Nemo! - I realize it’s been a while since our last rant on anything. Lucky fo... http://t.co/pi5AL3wR
Sweet ;) RT @seocopy: HEY! Did Your Fancy New Tool Just Crap On My Industry? http://t.co/xVO06H3o | My rant for the week
You Think You Can, But You Just CAN’T, Nemo! http://t.co/Uk5FYCsF | A Rant...#SEO, #Google #Social
You Think You Can, But You Just CAN’T, Nemo! http://t.co/1Ipv8SsL | A Rant by @SEOcopy #SEO, #Google #Social
RT @ShellyKramer @level343 You Think You Can, But You Just CAN’T, Nemo! http://t.co/uqIlhBoO | A Rant...#SEO <~Entertaining. Good read.
Think G+ walks on water? please read & share - Pensi che puoi ma non puoi, Nemo! http://t.co/xzx46Kx4 @dbtrade @enrico_sestyle @alebrandcare
You Think You Can, But You Just CAN’T, Nemo! http://t.co/O5TeWAAn | A Rant by @SEOcopy #SEO, #Google #Social
Think G+ walks on water? please read & share - Pensi che puoi ma non puoi, Nemo! http://t.co/xzx46Kx4 @dbtrade @enrico_sestyle @alebrandcare
RT @SEOcopy: You Think You Can, But You Just CAN'T, Nemo! http://t.co/HBSy9bkx | A Rant...#SEO, #Google #Social
You Think You Can, But You Just CAN’T, Nemo! http://t.co/mkcOngvB | A Rant...#SEO, #Google #Social
#SMM #Ripples Uno strumento può sostituire un professionista? Ti sbagli! http://t.co/MUzluFvY via @SEOcopy
You Think You Can But You Just CAN’T Nemo! - http://t.co/2YXsw0Bj
You Think You Can, But You Just CAN’T, Nemo! http://t.co/mkcOngvB | A Rant...#SEO, #Google #Social
HEY! Did Your Fancy New Tool Just Crap On My Industry? http://t.co/qW3KIlSB | My rant for the week...enjoy & buona notte sweet twiteratties
You Think You Can, But You Just CAN’T, Nemo! http://t.co/GhSHj6cI | A Rant by @SEOcopy #SEO, #Google #Social
You Think You Can, But You Just CAN’T, Nemo! http://t.co/tmyLjfiI | A Rant...#SEO, #Google #Social via @SEOCopy
You Think You Can, But You Just CAN’T, Nemo! http://t.co/SqXBK9nh | A Rant...#SEO, #Google #Social via @SEOCopy
Thoroughly enjoying this! True and funny! "You Think You Can, But You Just CAN’T, Nemo!"http://vsb.li/aBxrC1 | #SEO #Google via @SEOCopy
You Think You Can, But You Just CAN'T, Nemo! #Rant RT @level343: http://t.co/6bfRcLQI
RT @ljcrest: You Think You Can, But You Just CAN'T, Nemo! #Rant http://t.co/IKQYIWGX #Google #Ripples #meh #talktothehand| Night :)
RT @level343 You Think You Can, But You Just CAN'T, Nemo! #Rant http://t.co/dsDtkQJI #Google #Ripples #meh #talktothehand | #adomani :P
@enrico_sestyle Wow Grazie caro #sharingiscaring #Ripples Uno strumento può sostituire un professionista? Ti sbagli! http://t.co/zb9gnRL4
You Think You Can, But You Just CAN’T, Nemo! http://t.co/Ijmz0Ocr | A Rant by @SEOcopy #SEO, #Google #Social
RT @Jason__Ramsey: You Think You Can, But You Just CAN’T, Nemo! http://t.co/MFriprPD via @SEOcopy
RT @DanielleSmithTV: RT @Jason__Ramsey: You Think You Can, But You Just CAN’T, Nemo! http://t.co/eqW5hiZj via @SEOcopy
You Think You Can, But You Just CAN’T, Nemo! via @SEOcopy http://t.co/SOZeNADK
You Think You Can But You Just CAN’T Nemo! - http://t.co/eEhf8aAQ
You Think You Can, But You Just CAN’T, Nemo! >> http://t.co/uc0v545D << hehe, missed this one! @SEOcopy cc: @mumblingdork
You Think You Can, But You Just CAN’T, Nemo! http://t.co/V27OVqt9 | fun rant...
RT @level343: You Think You Can, But You Just CAN'T, Nemo! #Rant http://t.co/fV0m37ED | Night :-) #adomani
You Think You Can But You Just CAN’T Nemo! - http://t.co/CG9tvP76
You Think You Can, But You Just CAN’T, Nemo! http://t.co/1sXXNes0 via @level343 (Gaby reads my mind on G+R!)
You Think You Can, But You Just CAN’T, Nemo! http://t.co/F2fIBoly via @level343 | On that note sogni doro...
Proud to be in the business of SEO, smart marketing & critical thinking, too! RT @level343: You Think You Can ... #Rant http://t.co/VnTH6c4E
You Think You Can, But You Just CAN'T, Nemo! http://t.co/IKQYIWGX | #Ripple #G+ Mo. Basta!
You Think You Can, But You Just CAN'T, Nemo! http://t.co/fV0m37ED I know you don’t just pull these ideas out of your nether regions.
You Think You Can, But You Just CAN'T, Nemo! http://t.co/IKQYIWGX
Nice... Excellent post. I was checking continuously this blog and I'm impressed! Extremely helpful information specifically the last part :) I care for such info much. I was looking for this particular info for a very long time. Thank you and best of luck....
[...] Internet presence, businesses are now rushing to have a social media presence. And of course the shiny-new-object-syndrome plays a part in this, dangerous because what you do is quickly becoming a distraction from what [...]
[...] Internet presence, businesses are now rushing to have a social media presence. And of course the shiny-new-object-syndrome plays a part in this, dangerous because what you do is quickly becoming a distraction from what [...]
RT @level343: You Think You Can, But You Just CAN'T, Nemo! #Rant http://t.co/dsDtkQJI | Still one of my favorite rants...Goodnight :)
You Think You Can, But You Just CAN’T, Nemo! http://t.co/2nwqQbR0 | HEY! Did Your Fancy New Tool Just Crap On My Industry?