Web Communities: Why They Are Changing the Face of the Internet
March 18th, 2008Today as I was working on some meta tags for one of our clients, it hit me. It was SEO in its most simple form- but it sparked some thought about what was to come of the internet. What we do as ‘search engine’ optimizers is based on an old system of trying to fool the Googlebot into thinking it likes us and our friends. We study the algorithm. We test. We test more. We do all these things with the search engine in mind because that is the deliverer of our business. This system is due for a shift, and it is happening now (and fast).
Many sites you visit these days require a login, and have the capability for you to personalize your experience and/or make friends. It engages the user and establishes a sense of trust. Because that’s what this is all about, right? Trust. Up until now, the internet was a vessel for information. It has now become selective to many users based on how much information is out there, mainly because how much a lot of it sucks. People who don’t know how to use Google wind up in the wrong place, and they have poor experiences as consumers. I struggle with trying to find what I want sometimes, clicking through to 8 or 9 results. And this is not to be mistaken with paid advertising, which is even more rampant with trust issues. The bottom line is that when a user can become engaged without distrust, good things begin to happen.
The basics of SEO are still effective in today’s world. We wouldn’t be doing it if it didn’t help our clients reach their goals. However, marketing requires trust and companies need communities to belong to. So- keep a close eye on what happens next, because anyone who has an audience on the web will have to adapt to a new school of thought in capturing it. We very well may become, ‘online community’ optimizers.
