This is a test
An interesting article from the New York Times caught my attention while I was looking at my Twitter feed. It was about the dirty secrets of Search Engine Optimization (SEO). This is the first time I have a seen a major publication write about SEO and reveal from a more technical perspective how it all works. The article was on how a retailer's SEO company manipulated Google’s algorithm to rank #1 in many relevant keyword searches during the critical holiday shopping period. The basic tactic that was being used was building inbound links to their site through other computer generated sites that would link to the retailer's site. This is a big no no in the eyes of the Google, but it can take them awhile to catch on to these “dirty little tactics”.
By Mark Macias
By Mark Macias
When you break down the Internet in simple terms, everyone is trying to sell you something. They might break into different sales pitches – food, clothes, art, love, sex, entertainment, even ideas – but when you take a closer look at each web page, you will discern that everything really boils down to your wallet and mind. Everyone wants a piece of it.
And you don't have to be a business owner to understand this concept. I have friends who promote their blogs on Facebook and Twitter. It's a smart start, but this strategy needs to go a deeper if you want to grow your customer or fan base over the Internet.
Let me break down this idea with a restaurant example.
One of the biggest misconceptions about Twitter I think is that it is a social network like Facebook. The founders have indicated Twitter is not a social network, and is in fact geared toward real-time search. The fact is , Twitter and Facebook are completely different in my mind. Twitter has turned “Search” (and the RSS feed) into a human generated activity with sharing information. More importantly, using Twitter applications like Hoot Suite or Tweet Deck we can search on Twitter on any topic-- even ourselves. From there, we can find valuable links to information that people are tweeting about topics we are interested in.
This past year Wired magazine declared that the Internet was dead. And usually at the end of the year someone declares blogging dead. To be honest I have not see the posts yet, but have seen the chatter on Twitter. For much the same reason the Internet was declared dead, blogging is being declared dead due to the rise of Twitter and Tumblr.
I know it has been a long hiatus since the last post. Rather than say I have been busy, I will just say I have been really busy.
Lately what I have been thinking about is what most people think about in this industry -- what are the latest trends, where is this all going? You would not think that New York City is the epicenter for tech or for creating new concepts, but it has always been the media capital of the world. To say that digital media is not important for any company is an understatement, which is why we are seeing so much activity from start-ups in New York. And I suspect this will grow even larger in the next 24 months as the adjustment to the economy set in.
I could not help put quickly respond the main article in this month's Wired magazine, which proclaims the death of the Web. Wired’s proclamation is based on the rise of applications that now invade our daily lives which use the Internet, but do not require browsers. Most of this being sparked by the rise of the iPhone and its app store. And there is no doubt applications that use Internet technology as a platform have gained serious traction with the increased use of smartphones, social media, the iPad, and web enabled DVD players and TV's that can stream the Internet. But I am not about to bury the Web just yet for various reasons. It seems any new service that bypasses a Google search is considered that new new thing. Sure it might be, but the Web still has a plenty of staying power.
The political season is fast up on us. Over the years there has been a rise in politicians using digital media strategies to get their message across -- and win. What is becoming more of a trend is candidates using search engine marketing (Google Adwords) tactics with campaigns trying to buy up keywords of their opponents names. In fact Advertising Age has an interesting article on this new trend in politics. This gives me a bit of chuckle because these are the same strategies some companies use as well, and I find it somewhat self-defeating because since each company (or opponent) are just driving up each other’s costs.
Since launching our site some of our friends have asked if Barrow means anything other than the fact it is the street I live on here in New York? We thought about a lot of names, but for some reason Barrow kept sticking out at me because it is such a unique and beautiful street in New York -- with townhouses dating back to the 1800’s , original cobble stone streets, and actual remnants of an old village square where it intersects with Commerce Street. It does not get more vintage New York than that.
Engagement is a popular word when talking about websites. There are many goals when you launch a website, but a key goal is to engage visitors to drive conversions (leads, purchases, comments). However isn’t this stating the obvious?