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

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