Monday 3 February 2014

The Day the (SEO) Content Penny Dropped



The Day The (SEO) Content Penny Dropped!

Psst. Want to hear something funny? I don't care if anyone ever reads this. Because today, the SEO penny dropped.

I was reading a post on SearchEngineWatch's blog called 'Building a CRAP SEO Content Strategy' and was just thinking how on-message it was for 21st century SEO, when it happened.

There's little point diluting their message, but CRAP is an acronym that pulls together a lot of different, but great, ideas, about SEO and content.

If you're at all interested, I suggest you read it yourself when you've finished here.

Nobody Cares About Your Logo

The last time I set up a blog (TheKeywordCracker.com) I held off launching because I didn't have a logo I was happy with.

Then I hated the layout, so didn't launch.

Then it was the lack of paid member content.

But then it occurred to me that nobody cares about the logo. Visitors don't click through to the site because of the logo. Except under rare circumstances, they'll not see it until they visit the site.

When they get there, they're not going to leave because I don't have a logo. They won't stay because the logo looks pretty.

They're too busy reading the content and deciding if it's crap or CRAP.

So Why Don't I Care?

Okay, I was exaggerating for effect. Of course I care

However, if nobody ever reads this, it's because they're not interested enough in the content. Or that I haven't provided enough content, or that it doesn't engage them. If they don't share it, it's because it is without value.

Search engines can't really rate value. They can infer from Tweets, re-Tweets, social bookmarking and sharing that visitors value it enough to share it, but they can only guess at why.

For those who think that they can tell an image from a textual message; think of an info-graphic. They often have more information than a 600 word blog, so are probably as valuable, if not more. But if search engines apply a strict image/text rule, they'll be classified as 'less' valuable than the text.

Even if they're not.

Is a post with a mix of images and text more 'valuable'? Maybe. Maybe not. Only a human can really answer that question.

How Does This Rant Relate to Start-Up?

I'm glad you asked.

When you start up a business, be it a blog or a lemonade stand, if your product is good, it will succeed despite not having a logo.

Don't let the unimportant details slow you down. Learn what is important, and concentrate on that, and get to launch as fast as is reasonable.

Create value, and you'll be successful. Create a pretty logo, and all you've got is a pretty logo.