SEO Hell Yeah! | Search Engine Optimization, Online Marketing & Beyond

I have to pimp out my company’s blog - Amplify Interactive has comprehensive coverage of many sessions for SMX Advanced Seattle 2008.  There were written by Ben, the Amplify head-honcho & Julian, Amplify’s Super-Ambassador.

Good stuff guys!

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As you can tell, I am a video game connoisseur. If I’m not doing some fun activity (watching Dr. Phil, cycling, etc.) with my fiancée I’m probably playing video games with my family or friends (I can hook anyone up with my Playstation Network ID or my Wii Friend Code if anyone wants it…).

That being said, I do visit Gamestop’s website from time to time.  I sift through upcoming releases, reserve games online and also check out their Gamestop Blog.  I think Gamestop has the right idea: individuals who game love interacting online about their hobby, participating in communities and sharing info amongst one another.  But the Gamestop Blog has a long way to go if they truly want to capitalize the opportunity of having a blog and immediately becoming an authority figure in the video game world.  Here are some easy ways the Gamestop.com Blog can improve and take its content & viewership to a whole other level:

1. Where are the RSS feeds?  Give your readers the chance to subscribe to your feed on their chosen RSS reader or through email subscriptions.  Setting one up will take you literally minutes by using Feedburner.
2. Throw some social media calls-to-action on the bottom of your posts.  If I like your content, give me a two-click way to email my friends that particular blog post.  Or give me the chance to Digg your post if I find that it’s something a lot of people would enjoy.
3. Why can I view single blog posts?  The title of each blog post should be clickable and should take you to that post.  That way, it’s also easier for people to send individual posts to friends, etc.
4. Make that title tag ‘pop’ a bit more by including some keyword phrases (GameStop Blog featuring Playstation 3, Xbox 360, Wii & handheld gaming news).
5. Use Wordpress.  Seriously.  Using Wordpress will allow you to easy implement all of these aforementioned ‘fixes’ and give you even more visibility for your awesome blog.  Skinning it up to look just like what it looks right now wouldn’t be too hard either.

So there you have it.  Five easy ways Gamestop can improve their gaming blog and really increase its online visibility.  I hope they do too, because they have some really good & unique content on there.  Implementing these fixes will only foster a growing community and encourage reader participation.

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Saw this @ Digg (friend me - I need some Digg friends!) and thought it was quite interesting.   It’s an article from Wired.com about how Google got its colorful logo.

Do you know how I got my beautiful SEO Hell Yeah! logo?  Growing up and using Photoshop on a not-so-regular basis.  I bet you couldn’t tell I’m not that proficient at it 

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So I have a Stumbleupon account.  I’ve used it the past.  I use it sometimes for client work and for my own use.

But damnit if it doesn’t have the worst interface of any “social media site” out there.  My bugaboos:

1. Why can’t I edit my password?
2. Does fan = friend?  No.  A fan is someone who has friended you but you haven’t friended back.  You can then be someone’s fan and not be a friend and yadda yadda what the heck let’s just say you’re someone’s “friend” when you say you want to be their friend.
3. Profiles look like a Myspace or Facebook’s red-headed stepchild (no offense to red headed stepchildren everywhere - my fiancee is a redhead).
4. When I’m stumbling while using Firefox’s Stumbleupon plugin, I’m always confused - am I stumbled content a friend has stumbled?  Am I stumbling content that’s entirely fresh?  I don’t understand.

Am I just a Stumbleupon newb?  Are these things actually not as bad as I think they are?  I really do think Stumbleupon can become a “Myspace” or “Facebook”… but it has a lot of work to do in terms of interface and creating communities.

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I noticed a store in Sphinn about how Facebook might be losing some if its initial appeal. Looking at the “history” of social sites, there have been two extremely popular “Web 2.0″ ones: first it was Myspace, then it was Facebook. What’s next in line? And what will make it stand out amongst the other competitors out there?

Well, from what I’ve seen, I haven’t located that “next greatest thing” yet. But I do know of some valuable features this Web 2.0 social site will need in order for it to be the next big thing:

1. Convergence. Individuals have data located all across the web. We have profiles at Myspace, professional profiles at LinkedIn, photos at Flickr and maintain a Twitter account. The next greatest social site will need to have the capabilities to gather all of this data and repurpose it in an attractive and organized way
2. Ease-of-use. Folks of all ages need to be able to navigate the site. I’m talking Grandmas who want to keep up with their granddaughters or grandsons.
3. Lack of in-your-face advertising. Facebook does this 1,000,000x better than Myspace. Keep those blinking and obtrusive ads out of it.

While lots of smaller social sites do employ these features, they need to do something to kick-start them into being known and popular. Why not set up advertising on Myspace or Facebook and, for instance, on a Myspace ad say something like, “Does this blinking annoy you? Yeah, it annoys us too. Come join a rising social site that does not have any annoying ads or banners”? Along with a clever marketing scheme, the “next big thing” needs to have massive word-of-mouth, which eventually drove users to Myspace & Facebook in the first place.

If your social media site helps converge and consolidate all of someone’s data into a clean, organized & easy-to-use interface along with ads that aren’t in your face or littered throughout the site, let me know. I’ll give it a shot

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