Lee Stacey - Musician / Geek / Thinker

February 8, 2010

SEO Is Dead!

Oooh, that's a controversial title, isn't it? I suppose I'd better substantiate this wild claim...

What is SEO?

From Wikipedia: "Search engine optimization (SEO) is the process of improving the volume or quality of traffic to a web sitefrom search engines via "natural" or un-paid ("organic" or "algorithmic") search results as opposed to search engine marketing (SEM) which deals with paid inclusion. Typically, the earlier (or higher) a site appears in the search results list, the more visitors it will receive from the search engine. SEO may target different kinds of search, including image search, local search, video search and industry-specific vertical search engines. This gives a web site web presence."

Surely search is still important?

It is. Saying "SEO is dead" is a bit of an overstatement really. It's still important as people still use search engines but it's not as important as it used to be because the realtime web and and viral propagation are taking over. This means that when you do search for something on Google (or whatever) the realtime search results will come up before those with high page ranks. Also, which is better: A search engine listing or a recommendation from a friend or trusted source?

So what is more important than SEO?

Anyone that regularly reads my my posts will probably already know that my answer for this question is social media! I've said it before and I'll say it again, this does not mean banging your press releases out over Twitter and leaving it at that. It's much more than that. You've got to engage and above all else, you have to listen! Only with real engagement will you be able to build a community of evangelists. You need to build a relationship with your target demographic. Engagement leads to trust, trust leads to evangelism, evangelism leads to virality, virality leads to WIN.

So should we forget about SEO?

Definitely not. You still need it because there are always those special deep searches for finding out the stuff that not a lot of people know. Also there are always niche applications where you may not easily build a community (although I'm yet to find one). There is also the added bonus that someone might find you via Google and enter your community via the back door.

The back door

So SEO isn't dead, it's just that since building the extension, what was your front door has now become your back door. Social media is the new front door!

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Filed under // marketing search seo social media techforce twitter viral virality web

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February 4, 2010

I Still Need A Job - Here's My CV - USE ME!

What with this being the digital age and all that, I've decided to stick my CV up on the interwebs. I'm here, use me, abuse me... Actually, refrain from abuse please...

You must have flash to see this embedded document.

(download)

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Filed under // cv leeneedsajob resume

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January 30, 2010

3 Steps To Generate Traffic To Your Blog By Doing Very Little

1) Create a blog post about generating traffic by doing very little.

2) Share the link on Twitter.

3) Sit back and watch.

I know, it's genius.

I'll get my coat...

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Filed under // blog seo traffic twitter web

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January 28, 2010

The iPad = The Perfect Home Computer?

Once again the world has gone crazy about another Apple product but is it really that useful? To the average geek it probably isn't because it's not really very practical for hardcore computing, we have better devices. Portability wise, everything we need to do on the move is taken care of by our smartphones and it's just too damn big to cart about.

Let's take it out of the hands of the geek for a second and put it in your average domestic situation. It's perfect for sofa or bed based browsing, ebook (or iBook) reading and with the keyboard dock it will even sit on your desk and work quite well for basic correspondence needs. The base model is perfectly suited for this role at a very attractive price.

OK so it can't multitask. It's a leisure time thing. Who really needs multitasking when they are sitting down at home casually browsing, reading a book or playing a game?

It doesn't do Flash... Big deal. Content providers are already creating iPhone apps so TV on demand and the likes will no doubt come to the iPad in a very nice slick format soon enough and without any negative impact on the user experience.

So at first I was like "meh."

But then I was like "OH I SEE!"

So there might even be a place for one in my home too.

Image source and further info:

engadget.com

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Filed under // apple flash home computing ipad iphone multitasking

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January 21, 2010

Niggers And Pakis

I'm a little confused about racism and what is or isn't offensive.

Let's start with the word "Nigger". This word should be offensive considering it's roots and the years of hatred that are associated with it yet some black people band the word around like a term of endearment. It doesn't even seem to be about the context in which the word is used, it purely seems to be that if a white person uses the word it's bad and if a black person uses the word it's good. Black or white, some find it offensive in all senses, some don't. Perhaps it's about assumed context. If I'm white it is assumed I am using the word in a racist context whether I am or not, therefore it is deemed offensive because I'm white? Isn't that racial prejudice in action right there?

OK, so we have the word "Paki" which is short for Pakistani. A Pakistani finding this word offensive would be the same as me finding the word "Brit" offensive. I don't find it offensive, I'm proud to be called a Brit. If you're Indian and get called a paki, I can understand you being a little annoyed. That's like calling me Irish or French. Is it about being a minority, perhaps? I don't think so. Ask a Brit living in America if they mind being called a Brit...

So racism confuses me. From where I'm standing a racist remark is only racist if the person on the receiving end assumes based on their own racial prejudices (and I'm not saying they are wrong) that it is being used in a racist context. Perhaps the way to end racism is to stop assuming these things. The best way to beat a bully is to not let them get to you. Racism is essentially a form of bullying so surely the same rules apply.

If a white person calls a black person a nigger out of hatred and the black person isn't hurt by it, there would be no point in the white person using that as a form of attack ever again. Problem solved, right?

Or not...

Jozi from NBT reminded me about this in the comments so I thought I'd add it:

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Filed under // bully bullying nigger paki racism racist

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January 19, 2010

1 Corinthians 10:12 (This Too Shall Pass)

Amongst all the stuff I don't really believe, there is a lot of wisdom in the bible:

And so finally after many more months of work, all the sages came back to him, and they had come to a unanimous conclusion that the wisdom of the world could be put into a four-word sentence. They told the king that this sentence expresses much. It is chastening in the hour of pride and consoling in the depths of afflictions. And I've reflected on this sentence this week. The sentence of their wisdom was:

"This too shall pass."

(Unfortuntely this vid wont embed so you have to click it)

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Filed under // bible corinthians king solemon this too shall pass wisdom

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January 13, 2010

On My Own - Glee - Lip Synced By Me

Probably the most camp thing I've ever done.

In case you can't see the vid (copyright restrictions) you can download the original .mov file from here:

http://bit.ly/LipSyncLee

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Filed under // glee lee stacey les miserables lip sync lloyd webber music musical on my own theatre video

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December 25, 2009

A Christmas Poem

Guess I've been naughty, not nice this year

That bloke with the beard failed to appear

I hoped for the best and hung up my stocking

Woke up this morning, it's empty how shocking

We're finally here, Christmas day

Thankfully soon it'll be out of the way

It's almost time to lift my beer

Toast to the end of another shit year

Merry Christmas to one and all!

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Filed under // christmas merry poem poetry

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December 22, 2009

The Art Of Brevity

Keep it short.

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Filed under // brevity short twitter

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December 21, 2009

Why I Made A Facebook "Fan Page" - And Why You Should Too

People see the words "fan page" and instantly think you have delusions of grandeur when you create one; unless you're a superstar, that is. In my case, there are some very simple reasons behind doing so.

Privacy

The new Facebook privacy settings are a total pain in the arse but surprisingly they are actually better than they ever were, just a damn sight more complicated. The good thing is that you can lock things down and only let people see what you want them to see. You can organise people into lists and exclude them from certain content and it all works pretty well (I think). Rather than exclude my extended network from things and have to add people to lists every time I get a new friend request, I've decided to only have my "inner circle" as Facebook friends. My extended network don't need or even want to know what I'm saying to my Mum.

Content

I create a lot of content that my extended network are interested in (because that's more than likely how they came to be in my extended network in the first place) but my friends and family are probably not. In fact, they probably get pretty peeved with me flooding them out all the time. I can publish content to a Facebook fan page and only those wo want to see it will see it.

Connecting

A fan page allows you to grow a larger extended network. Anyone can join in and get social. It's a good way to increase your reach and influence without compromising your personal life.

Sharing

Pages allow you to share with more people and allow more people to share with you. Whether that be photos, links, or whatever content. Sharing is good!

The House Vs. The Pub

Your Facebook profile is like an online version of your house. Your friends and family may come and go as they please but you don't just want to let anyone in. They may pee on the carpet and that's never a good thing! Your Facebook page is more like your local pub. You can go and chat to anyone you like and meet new people if you wish to do so. Anyone can come in, anyone can leave. Anyone can choose to interact with anyone else or not. Entirely up to them.

The Spammy Bit :p

Now I've given you the whys and wherefores, please allow me to spam you with a link to my Facebook fan page:

http://bit.ly/LStacey_FB

You don't have to join if you don't want to but I do like to be social and if you do too, it probably wouldn't hurt. :)

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Filed under // facebook fan house lee stacey lstacey page pages privacy pub social media

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