In doing some recent research regarding the effectiveness of
internet marketing sites, specifically, their tactics and strategies
for getting traffic to their website, I've come up with one inescapable
conclusions. Let me illustrate it by this joke:
Father walks in
to the bathroom and finds his young son in the bathtub playing with
himself. He says, "Son, if you keep doing that, you'll go blind." The
young boy looks up and replies, "Dad, I'm over here."
My point is,
all the supposed optimization gurus tell you to do the same dang thing.
It tells you that to effectively optimize your site, that you must use
key-word rich text.
What the heck does that mean? Well, in a nutshell, it's telling you
to use words when writing your article that best represent the product
or service you're trying to sell. If you are peddling a product that is
going to cure the common cold, then use words like "flu" or "miracle
cure", basically key words or phrases that are tied very closely to your
website's theme. Sounds easy enough, right? Well, it is except that
when taking a closer look at your overall layout, design, and flow of
your website, you come to realize that there is an incredible amount of
repetitive text! After awhile, even the dullest of minds out there will
start to notice that you've just found 10 different ways to say the
same thing and that you've wasted 10 minutes of their time that they'll
never get back.
Does this sound familiar?
"Read further
about a great on-line business opportunity". "Secure a new path to
financial freedom by trying this amazing new turnkey program."
It
has now become so telegraphed that I can now anticipate what they're
going to say next. Their formulaic idea is to tug at the reader's
different emotional compartments with the chance that you compel action
from them by hitting on just one of them. Things like fear, anger,
frustration, hope, curiosity, ambition, and greed, are the birthplace of
millions of "clicks" that drive the internet marketplace.
I
honestly thought that the net was supposed to have a nobler calling than
this. Instead, it turns out to be just a big playground with a bunch
of small kids following a bunch of big kids. Whoever comes up with a
crafty new way to optimize their site subsequently publishes an e-book
for $49.95, sells the idea, then everyone else dives in, not realizing
that they are playing the role of the "sucker" (i.e. paying the fee).
Yep, I was even caught up in this as well, diving in with a couple of
purchases.
Yes, I am also looking for my share of the pie, the
financial freedom that has eluded me for most of my life. However, it
pains me to see that the internet's power to help individuals achieve
financial security comes down to schlepping some website in the hopes
that you'll get someone to click on a link.
If some pioneer can
come up with a more interactive, more revolutionary method for
individuals to commercialize their communication, I think it will go a
long way towards making the internet more appealing to the layman and
creating more diversified true global bartering system where both sides
of the transaction benefit.
How bout this? Every 10th sale is
complimentary to any individual who can show that they are money
challenged. Better yet, lets have an on-site training program where
internet gurus can show those who are less fortunate the ins and outs of
the biz, and show them how to participate in the advent of the on-line
economy.
We need voice activation, video, and web access all
converged onto simple to use portable devices that gets us all the
information we want at our fingertips. For instance, I can dictate my
thoughts verbally into my PDA, which in turn stores it in a document
format, attaches it to my e-mail and, when I'm ready, sends it off to a
group address list, which of course, I can activate via voice access.
See?
Revolutionary. These are the kind of killer apps I'd like to see,
because it's COOL. Oh yeah, and if you're boss is listening, it'll make
you more productive, too.
