Tactical Execution

Last night, at my Lamorinda Toastmasters club, one of the Table Topics questions was, “if you could live in any time in history, what time would you pick?”  My answer to that question is TODAY.  I can’t think of a single period in history that I’d rather live in than today and social media tools are a major reason why.  Actually, social bookmarking is a more specific culprit.

As you probably know, social bookmarking platforms aggregate the bookmarking activity of all their members, allowing users to search for tags and find the most popular websites bookmarked under those subjects.  That sounds a lot like a search engine, doesn’t it?  Well, there’s one big difference.  Search engines deliver search results according to a sophisticated algorithym developed by Google, Yahoo, MSN or whoever.  Social bookmarking platforms deliver results based on the preferences of the peer group.

This is a monumental distinction.  Social bookmarking is the ultimate democracy.  Never before have we had such real-time visibility of our own peer group.  And although some people believe it only fuels the Britney Spears generation, the opposite is true.  You can search for the tag “Mozart” or “fly fishing” and find the top rates sites according to other people who are also interested in those subjects.  But there’s an even bigger implication than that.  Social bookmarking and the internet in general have put the focus back where it belongs: content.

Back in the good old days, people looked at the SOURCE first and the CONTENT second.  Today, the reverse is true.  Today, they look at the CONTENT first and the SOURCE second.  Do you know what that means?  Do you see the implications?  I am willing to bet this one simple change will, over time, create a wholesale shift in our culture.  I believe this one change creates more opportunities for early-stage entrepreneurs than any other shift of the past century.

What’s that change?  Well, it means that people with good quality content can get noticed, even if they doesn’t have fancy titles or extensive experience or some heroic feat under their belt.  Even someone brand new in a particular field can rise to the very top if their content is good enough.  The titles don’t matter anymore.  The experience isn’t so important.  The heroic feat that justifies our status as an “expert” has become largely irrelevant.  If your content is good, your content is good.  Period.  You’re an expert.

The moral of the story is this: figure out what you’re an expert in and then demonstrate that expertise.  Whether you realize it or not, you’re already an expert.  You know more about something than most other people.  If you haven’t already done so, figure out what that something is.  Figure it out.  And then start building your knowledge and demonstrating your expertise on the internet.  If your content is good, it will rise to the top and get recognized accordingly.

Social media tools like social bookmarking are making it easier and easier to sift through the endless piles of content to find exactly what you’re looking for.  Although more content is being produced today than ever before, it’s becoming easier to find the good stuff.  The cream rises to the top.  That’s an opportunity; for me, for you, for everyone.  The real question is, “who will take advantage of it?”  Personally, I intend to.  That’s what I’m doing right here.  And I suggest you do the same.

Whether it’s blogging, micro-blogging, podcasting, social networking or posting videos, the time has come for you to show your stuff.  Speak your truth and show the world where your passion lies.  And then let your peer group spread the word.  It’s an exciting time.  Don’t let the opportunity pass you by!

This is what everybody always asks me.  Well, it’s a process.  It’s a series of things you need to do on a regular basis and the most important part is to produce more and more relevant content on a regular basis.  That’s the first question I ask clients.  Do you have a content generation mechanism?  If you don’t, we have a problem.  If you do, the sky’s the limit.

The problem is that most people want to buy results, not a process.  They don’t want to do anything.  They just want it to happen.  I hate to say it but that just won’t work.  You see, the evolving blogosphere is full of intelligent people generating fresh new relevant unique content on a daily basis.  These blogs have hundreds or even thousands of pages, all about one particular topic.  How can a well-optimized but static website compete?  It can’t.

Having said that, let’s spend a little time talking about the primary SEO factors that do, in fact, help your cause.  Again, keep in mind that a static website with no new fresh content will almost certainly come in second place.  But the following tips will definitely put you in a better position to show up high on a Google search.  And if you do these things AND produce fresh relevant content, you’re in great shape to rise to the top for dozens or even hundreds of relevant keywords and phrases.

Keywords in Title Tags.

This is one of the most important things you can do.  Every page has a title tag and you should limit it to about 65 characters.  Make sure you put a title tag on every page and stack it full of relevant keywords.

Keywords in H1 Tags.

Your H1 tag is the title of your page.  It’s what comes up at the very top.  The search engines look at the words in your title as an indication of what your page is about.  So … get those keywords in there!

Keywords in the Text Copy

If you have a particular keyword or keyword phrase in your title tag and in your H1 tag, make sure you put it into your copy as well.  Keep in mind that Google likes sentences and paragraphs.  So write your content in that format and include the same keywords throughout your copy.

Keywords in Your URLs.

The nice thing about most modern websites is that the title of your page becomes part of the permalink for that post.  That’s good news because it puts the same keywords into the actual URL for that page.  Whenever possible, include keywords into the URL because it’ll help your cause from an SEO perspective.

Keywords in Your Domain.

Yes, it matters.  If Google finds the same string of characters in your search query and the domain for your website, it will give you some additional credit for it.  So if someone searches for “health insurance” and your domain name is health-insurance.com, you’ll benefit as a result.

Last but not least, pick a narrow topic and focus on that.  Don’t try to go too wide.  Pick 3 or 4 keyword phrases and focus your entire website around that.  It will make it easier for Google to understand what your website is all about and present it when people search for that topic.

I’ll finish with the same thing as I started with.  The most important thing is to produce new fresh content on a regular basis.  Google likes fresh content.  And – surprise, surprise – blogs are the best way to do it.  If you want to make a splash on today’s internet, I highly recommend putting a blog together and start feeding it with regular content additions.