The Web Uncovered

The name “Content Farm” kind of describes it perfectly. What a strange concept, isn’t it? Or maybe not. Spammers and BlackHat SEOs have been auto generating low quality content for long tail search engine rankings for a while now. The content farm technique arguably takes this a few steps further by creating better quality (note – still questionable quality), user friendly content for the exact same reason.

Essentially certain companies have hired thousands of writers and video content producers to churn out content that is determined algorithmically:

The system starts with an automated process, crunching data and running it through an algorithm to identify story ideas that have the best chance of success. The algorithm factors in audience type, ability to attract advertising and potential for traffic. Source

The whole “Why” of the situation is pretty much easy to decipher. After all, there are over tens of billions of searches every month. That traffic has some serious value, especially for Informational Queries.  After all, more than 80% of searches fall within this category.

Continue reading via Explicitly – Includes how to create your own content as well as what other professionals think…

While online marketing speaks a lot about online location, if your business has a physical location, they you should consider your target audience as those in your community.  While targeting by location can range from mildly difficult to damn near impossible, there are some tools and tactics that should be implemented.

Firstly, age old outlets like a local business associations and Better Business Bureau have made the transition into the digital world.  Getting placement on their websites could do more for your business any many of the large-scale social networks that don’t have a locality focus.

Even bigger for your business could be map placement.  Googlemaps had become the standard by which people find businesses they need around them.  Luckily for you, Google offers free listings for local businesses on their maps.  You can register for this at Google’s Local Business Center.  Beyond giving local businesses free listings, they also update you on your listing, and even offer analytical insight on how often your listing is viewed and clicked.

While creating duplicate content intentionally as a means to bolster search engine rankings has long been punished by google, some people are being penalized for duplicate content would did not know they were commiting the offense.  This happens when you use the same web  content on multiple or sub-domains.   If this doesn’t make sense, essentially, if you have www.website.com, www.subdomain.website.com, and subdomain.website.com, you could (not always) unknowingly be penalized in google, and other search engine, ranking.  

Google has come up with a nifty way to avoid this.  In their webmaster tools, you can submit a preferred URL by which your site will be indexed.  This means that rather than going through all your (repeated) content, they will index your preferred version, which will keep search results consistent, and save you from getting penalized.  Google spells this out and more details on their Webmaster Blog.

For those of you who missed it, there is a new website called WolframAlpha, which was prophesized to be the Google killer, launched last Thursday.  While the hype is mostly hot air, there are some important reasons why we should take note to this new service.

WolframAlpha is a computational engine.  What this means is that it is a database of billions of pieces of information, along with thousands of formulas and models to analyze this data.  Rather than having preprogrammed answers to quiries, it can actually create answers to unposed questions on the spot.  For instance, you can type in “the weather in Bogotá on Obama’s date of birth.”  Low and behold, it was 53 degrees and overcast.  Similarly, it can complete complex calculations for engineering, physics, calculus, genetics, and more, all in less than a second.  

What it’s not:    This is not a Google Killer, it has a different business model and it is a completely different technology.  While Google helps users to find websites based on content, WolframAlpha is completely in-house, as all the computations and information is done on their super-computer clusters.  Furthermore, WolframAlpha is probably not useful to 80% of computer users, as most of use don’t have a need for indepth computation at a moment’s notice.

What it is:   WolframAlpha is the beginning of a new technology that may revolution information dissemination in the coming years.  As the technology becomes more concise with more data and better language-to-command, this is nothing short of revolutionary.  Once adapted to include information regarding items of popular culture, it would become a tool of daily use for everyone with a computer and an internet connection.

Creating fake websites is a means towards several ends.  While some implementations are funny or catchy, some can be unethical and even illegal.   A Fake website is a website whole sole purpose is something other than what would seem to be the obvious.  One such example is the ever famous petsORfood.com, a website that pretends to sell unwanted pets for food, including species on the endangered species list.  It’s totally believable with its extensive online content, complete with order forms and checkout.

Why create fake websites?  There are two main reasons why you might consider this.  Firstly, by creating content that has virality potential, you could set up PPC ads and then just sit on the ad revenue.  While it may not turn into a cash cow, it could give you a nice side income.  Another reason why some people create fake websites is to create a reputable link to their site.  Not only could it bolster traffic, but it has positive SEO effects as well.   Find a list of such websites here.

The Takeaway:  

While creating a funny or unbelievable fake website may advantageous, make sure you are complying with FTC regulations regarding misrepresenting yourself.  Furthermore, avoid lawsuits from refraining from lying about medical matters.  Finally, consider the use of these fake websites as jokes, if yours isn’t in good humor or obviously a hoax once scrutinized, you may need to reconsider your own ethical limits.

So for those of you who have a content-based website that you are marketing, you know that search technologies are important.  Not only are these technologies important to understand, but media consumers are increasingly looking at keyword searches and trends to determine legitimacy.  Showcasing your own searches, or searches for keywords related to your product or service, has been impossible.

Until Now.  Google has released Google Trends Gadget, which is available for free.  Still not sure how cool this is?  Imagine you are selling an over-the-counter flu remedy from your website.  When people visit your website, they can see how the search results have increased for the word “flu” at the beginning of the flu season.  Also, it allows for comparables.  The customizable aspect of the tool makes it easy to implement and use.  

The Takeaway:   In the new epoch of microblogging, the term “now” means less “this year” and more “the next fifteen minutes.”  Harness developing technologies to exploit this trend, especially those involved in search technology.