Remind me why I’m following you? photo credit: furryscaly

Twitter is a great tool for meeting people, sharing information, and creating connections — but only if you can actually use it to build a community of people who are interested in following you. The question is: what makes you followable?

A good place to start is by knowing what makes people NOT want to follow you. Jenn Lowther’s blog post on 10 things that will make me not follow you on Twitter is a funny overview of what makes someone grotesquely unfollowable — like Jenn, I’m quickly turned off by ugly MySpace-style designs, animated avatars, pointless rambling, and other blatant no-nos.

But what makes you a compelling tweeter? That’s a little harder to answer, at least in a universal way — but if you’re using Twitter and hoping to build a community of followers, you’d better know the answer to this question.

New people are visiting your profile every day and deciding whether to follow you or not. They’re spending somewhere between 5 and 30 seconds making that decision. If you want to get followed, you need to give them a good reason to follow you, and you need to make that reason shine through in your tweets and your profile.

Of course, being followable depends on who you are and who follows you. Being a followable celebrity is different from being a followable dog trainer or web designer or mom. But great tweeters share a few universal characteristics that transcend the specifics of niche, profession, and other details. So in the interest of helping you become a bit more followable, here’s my personal list of 10 things you can do that will make me way more likely to click that little “Follow” button.

1. Impress me. This doesn’t have to happen on Twitter. Impress me in person when we meet, or in your media coverage, or through intelligent, thoughtful action that I somehow learn about. Be impressive. Do something surprising, creative, or kind. Or all three.

   If what you do moves me, I’ll take the initiative, search for you on Twitter Search, and start following your tweets. Or if I’ve never heard of you and you start following me, I’ll come check out your profile. If at least a few of your most recent tweets impress me — if they’re helpful, touching, thought-provoking, funny, beautifully written, or all of the above — I’ll follow you.

   Chris Brogan is a great example of someone who never fails to impress me. The volume and consistency of his tweets are staggering, and he seems to spend most of his time being either a genius or a really nice guy. Followable? I can’t imagine NOT following him.

2. Be someone people talk about. If you do interesting things and tweet about them, people will retweet your words or reply to you. And if your name keeps appearing in the tweets of the people I trust enough to follow, I’ll be checking you out sooner or later.

   If you’re following more than, say, a dozen people on Twitter, at least one of them has probably retweeted or linked to something by Gary Vaynerchuk. He’s possibly the most energetic person on the Internet, and certainly one of the most interesting. Try NOT to hear anything about him and see how long you can keep that up.

3. Promote yourself with restraint. Twitter can be a great tool for self-promotion, or it can serve up a soul-crushing load of 140-character junk mail every day.

   People’s tolerance for promotion varies widely, but if I had to put a number to my personal threshold, I’d say it’s at about 20 percent. That means if one in five of your tweets is a link to your own website, that’s about as much as I’d like to see from you.

   Sure, I discover plenty of new sites and blogs every day through Twitter, so I’m happy to see you promoting your own work and sites on it. But personally, I’d rather you didn’t announce every new blog post, especially if you post daily. Promote your stuff once in a while, and if I like it, I’ll subscribe or buy it or whatever.

   Dosh Dosh is a brilliant and highly successful blog, and I’m a devoted reader. And the fact that Maki doesn’t use Twitter to promote it aggressively just makes me appreciate him and his work that much more.

4. Write like a real person. I love hearing news and discovering new resources through Twitter, but I also use it because it helps me connect with real people in a way that feels meaningful. By all means, keep posting tips and resources you find useful — I love them. But if you’re signing into Twitter daily to share another five resources, then signing back out, you’re being a little robotic for my tastes.

   Tell me the weirdest thing that happened today. Quote the best line of the best song you heard today. Show me a sign that you’re human — there’s more than enough automation on the Internet already.

   Lee from Common Craft uses Twitter to let people know when he and Satchi have created a new video, but he also writes about the weather and his quest to find the best iPhone apps. It’s the little, random stuff that makes me happy I’m following him.

5. Write most of your tweets about things that matter to you. Frankly, if your last ten tweets inform me that you’re “really tired,” or “trying to stay awake at work,” or “eating a sandwich,” I’d rather sign up for a Columbia House promotion than subscribe to your boring stream of consciousness.

   Okay, fine, Twitter asked what you’re doing, and you answered the question. But you’re not telling Twitter, you’re telling me. Us. Your followers. Do the details of your moods, your diet, your TV viewing habits, matter to us? Maybe yes, maybe no. But why focus on the boring?

   Sure, everyone is boring sometimes, and I’ll indulge you if your tweets lapse into what I consider the realm of the boring now and then. Mine certainly do. All I ask is that you try to focus your attention away from the mundane and toward the important, the exciting, the wondrous.

   Eric loves travel and tea. I follow his tweets because of our shared interest in travel, but his enthusiasm for tea is infectious. Reading his tweets expands the scope of my interests and makes me glad I’m following him.

6. Ask questions. I love answering questions. It makes me feel like I know what I’m talking about, and like I have something to offer. A lot of your followers probably feel the same way.

   If you could use help, pointers, or a few opinions… ask! Questions make Twitter feel like a platform for dialogue — not just speeches.

   Kulpreet Singh does a great job of using Twitter’s power as a Q&A platform. He’ll often tweet a thought-provoking question, then list his followers’ Twitter responses on his blog. It motivates people to communicate and reinforces Kulpreet’s role as a builder of communities — and it makes me happy I’m following him.

7. Use Twitter to build communities. Twitter has exploded in popularity because it helps people find each other and connect. Help it do that better and you’ll give me one more reason to follow you.

   Learn a bit about your followers, then introduce people with similar interests, professions, and goals to one another. They’ll appreciate it and remember you for doing it — and when I see that you’re actively engaged in bringing people together, I’ll be that much more inclined to join your community myself.

   Rebecca Bollwit is an inspiring and tireless builder of communities in Vancouver: Canucks fans, Wordpress users, history buffs, and more. She uses Twitter to create and bring together communities both online (e.g., Vancouver Twestival) and offline (e.g., Wordcamp Whistler) — and the people in those communities are all happy we’re following her on Twitter.

8. Share your sense of wonder. Even though Twitter’s a powerful business tool, one of the things I love most about it is the way it inspires people to blurt out poetic little haiku-style observations. All my favorite people on Twitter (I just can’t bring myself to say “tweeple”) write at least the occasional tweet that’s poetic, philosophical, religious, or just plain ridiculous.

   There are plenty of places where I can learn about your business. But when I read that your heart fills with sadness every April when the blossoms start to fall off the cherry trees… well, that tells me something about you that I’m not going to find on your resume.

   Meg Fowler could teach a course about how to be filled with wonder. In some ways, that’s just what Meg’s blog does. And she writes a fine haiku too. Every day, she gives me a new reason to be happy I’m following her.

9. Help me. Every so often, I’ll tweet about a problem I’m having just to get it off my chest — and then someone will surprise me by replying with a thoughtful, helpful suggestion or solution. Every time someone does this, I’ve felt surprised and grateful.

   When I check your tweets and see a few helpful suggestions you’ve written to followers, I’ll be way more inclined to follow you myself — and to be available when you have a problem I can solve. Kiss Metrics recently surprised me with an unexpected answer, and now I’m a devoted follower.

10. Have fun. There’s enough work to do without treating Twitter like a job. Even if using Twitter IS your job (you lucky devil!), there’s no excuse for simply feeding useful tip after useful tip into the stream.

    When something genuinely weird or wonderful happens, tweet it. You’ll brighten my day and make me happy I’m following you. I follow Unmarketing for his marketing know-how, but in the end, what connected us was the fact that we’ve both been known to take a break from work and crank the White Zombie.

What makes your favorite people followable?

photo credit: Derek Farr ( DetroitDerek )

If you haven’t been living in a cave for the last twenty years, you probably find the title of this post laughable. I hope you do. I was trying to be funny, or at least a little ironic, when I wrote it.

Simple, you ask? It isn’t, of course. The Internet is about as simple as a map of an elephant’s nervous system, or a set of space shuttle blueprints. Internet marketing? Even more complex.

But here’s the thing with complexity: If you step back far enough away from anything, no matter how complex, complex details become simple pictures.

That nervous system diagram becomes a large mammal with thick skin and a weird nose. That blueprint becomes a plane with undersized wings strapped to a big rocket. And Internet marketing becomes a folding table and a pitcher of lemonade on a hot summer day.

I spend a lot of time using the Internet to learn, to communicate, to do business, and to make money. It’s the medium I work in, and I love it. But there are plenty of times when Internet marketing leaves me feeling confused, ignorant, overwhelmed, or irrelevant. Or all of the above.

So when new clients come to me for help and admit sheepishly that they’re bewildered by the strange universe that is Internet marketing — believe me, I understand. I’ve been there, and in some ways, I’m still there.

All of which got me thinking: What if I had to explain the whole universe of Internet marketing in an hour? Would it even be possible? And could I explain it clearly enough that it would give someone who’s never sold a thing online everything they need to get started?

That’s the challenge I’m giving myself today. It’s the simple story of Internet marketing. Twelve installments, five minutes to read each, for a total of an hour. And if you’re new to online marketing, you’re the person I’m writing it for.

Why should you read this?

Every day, the Internet plays an increasingly vital and central role of the lives of people around the globe. It’s the most revolutionary communications tool since the printing press. We use it to teach, to learn, to broadcast, to listen. To find people who share our interests. To find information and resources that improve our lives and the lives of others.

Top executives, major decision-makers, professionals, parents, kids, retired people — every day, more of them discover and start using the Internet. And the ones who were ALREADY using it find new ways to integrate it into every aspect of their lives. Your clients use it. So does the competition. And your kids. And probably your grandparents.

Internet marketing isn’t spamming people with unsolicited ads for your product. It’s about defining who you are, what you have to offer, and why anyone should care. It’s about finding your place in a rapidly changing world, then using the Internet to educate people, to forge meaningful connections with people, to use your skills and talents to make someone’s life better.

You don’t need a product, a service, or even a business to understand and benefit from Internet marketing. All you need is the desire to connect with people and do something useful. If you’ve got that, you’re ready to start.

Every day, more people are coming online to play, to socialize, to work, and to buy things — billions of dollars worth of things every year. If you have something valuable to offer, people want to buy it online. But to sell it, you’ll have to get online with them.

What is Internet marketing?

If you’re about to begin wrapping your head around an explanation of Internet marketing, it’s important that you and I agree on the definition of the terms we’re discussing. Here they are:

1. The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks.
2. Marketing is the act of creating, communicating, delivering, and exchanging anything that has value.
3. Internet marketing is the marketing of products and services over the Internet.

If any of these terms is likely to cause some confusion, it’s the second one. Many people think of marketing and advertising as the same thing, but they’re quite different.

Advertising is a form of communication designed to get someone’s attention and convince them to consume more of a product or service. It’s a part of the much larger process of marketing.

If marketing was a car, advertising would be the paint. Marketing would be the well-engineered engine, the comfortable seats, the friendly service department, the conveniently located showroom, and everything else that makes that car the right one for you. The paint? That’s just what grabbed your attention.

Good advertising makes you want to buy something. Good marketing makes you happy you bought it.

Good Internet marketing leverages the power of the Internet to fix problems, improve lives, and deliver valuable products, services, and experiences. If you bought it online, and you’re happy you did, you have good Internet marketing to thank for it.

What’s next?

Over the next couple of months, I’m going to continue serving up the simple story of Internet marketing in a series of posts on this blog. When I’m done, you should have a complete resource that takes about an hour to read and leaves you knowing enough to start marketing your own products and services online in a simple, ethical, cost-effective way — and getting results.

I’m planning to skip most of the detailed stuff, but give you enough learning resources and product/service recommendations that you can get educated and get set up without being scammed.

Here’s a brief overview of the topics I’m planning to cover along the way:

1. How we got here: A simple history and overview of Internet marketing
2. You on the web: Your online brand and how to build it well
3. Products and services: How people make money online
4. Content: What everyone’s looking for and how you can provide it
5. Search: How people find you and how you can help them
6. Social networks: How to connect with people in the 21st century
7. Your website: How to use it to give people what they want
8. Blogs and RSS: How to start blogging and why you should
9. Email: How to use it to build a community of subscribers
10. Public relations: You, the Internet, the media, and your market
11. Advertising: Get attention, get traffic, and make money
12. A simple action plan: Start marketing now and keep getting better

This is a work in progress, and you’re part of it. If you have questions, comments, corrections, or anything else to tell me, please get in touch by responding in the comments section below these posts, or send me an email at curtis (at) foreword (dot) ca.

If you’d like to make sure you don’t miss an installment, you can click here to subscribe with your favorite RSS reader software.

Next up: A simple history and overview of Internet marketing. A few decades of e-commerce, a few billion dollars changing hands, and a few thousand start-ups flourishing, dying, and getting bought out. How hard can that be to sum up?

Stay tuned!

It goes both ways. photo credit: psd

A guest post I wrote for TravelBlogs late last year has been getting a lot of attention via StumbleUpon lately, which got me wondering: How exactly do you thank people for stumbling your site?

After all, a few stumbles can make a huge difference in the amount of traffic and attention you get. And there are plenty of other benefits — ever since I posted the article, my friend requests on other social networks like Twitter and LinkedIn have jumped dramatically. I’m no Chris Brogan, but hey, I’m getting there.

These are influential web users who have appreciated your content enough to take a second and indicate that they like it. They’re giving you a bit of virtual real estate because they feel you’re worth it.

So how to thank them for all this free attention? Here’s a quick guide to sharing the StumbleUpon love.

1. Get started with StumbleUpon. Jake Marsh’s guide is an excellent place to start. Create your account, download and install the browser toolbar, and create your profile.

It’s worth spending some time on this. Every social profile you create is an extension of your business and personal brand, so amplify — don’t dilute.

2. Know who’s stumbling your sites. If you don’t already have analytics software installed on your site, get set up with a free system like Google Analytics so you can see who’s visiting you and where they’re coming from. When someone arrives via StumbleUpon, see which page on your site they hit, then visit that page in your browser and click the “Reviews of this Page” balloon in your StumbleUpon browser toolbar.

On the Reviews page, you’ll see reviews by anyone who has taken the time to write something about your site. If they’ve simply given you a thumbs-up, you’ll see their picture in the sidebar at the right.

3. Check out people who stumble you. Click their picture. Read their profile and interests. Read the reviews they’ve written, and click the Stumble link over their profile picture to stumble through a few of the sites they’ve liked.

4. Return the favor. They’ve stumbled your site, so to show you appreciate it, why not stumble one or more of theirs? If you find their StumbleUpon blog interesting, stumble that and drive some traffic their way. Or read their profile, visit their personal or business website, and stumble that.

If you find that you share their taste in websites, you can also subscribe to their favorites. This lets you follow future sites they stumble, and is another great way to discover sites you might not find otherwise.

5. Consider getting in touch. I say “consider” because you’re neither obligated nor expected to get in touch with everyone who stumbles your site. If you don’t have much in common, or if you don’t like some of the sites they stumble, it’s fine to keep moving on.

However, if you’d like to say hello, StumbleUpon gives you a few options. In the sidebar under the “Subscribe to Favorites” button, you’ll find a few links you can click to send a message, learn more about a person, or request that they become a friend.

If someone has stumbled content that I worked hard to create, I try to send them a quick message of thanks. Some people have this option turned off, so you’ll be blocked — if this happens, don’t be offended. You tried, so leave it at that.

If you’re able to send a message, make it short and sweet. Say hi, say thanks, remind them what you’re thanking them for, and maybe invite them to get in touch.

If you’ve gotten a good impression of this person and would like to add them as a friend, you can do that too. Having a network of friends on StumbleUpon is a good thing; you can stumble each other’s sites in good conscience, sending them traffic with the confidence that you’re sending all those visitors to a site that’s actually worth visiting.

And that’s what StumbleUpon is there for, right?

If you’re raring to get started, here are a few more resources:

• Getting started: Try the official StumbleUpon Getting Started Guide
• Going pro: Maki from Dosh Dosh has probably the best StumbleUpon how-to guide out there.

How do you spread the StumbleUpon love?

Related posts:

1. Twitter: The 10 Habits of Highly Followable People

The many, many, many faces of Web 2.0. photo credit: luc legay

Vancouver search marketing firm 6s Marketing tweeted this story on CNN proclaiming that “Web 2.0 is so over.”

I’m not going to offer any opinions on whether it’s “so over” or just getting started — but either way, Web 2.0 is (has been?) a social revolution, giving Internet users the power to share and publish content. In that sense, the revolution has been a success: people everywhere are publishing, innovating, and directing attention to achieve goals that would have been unthinkable ten years ago.

(Here’s a recent example of web-driven fundraising I found moving. Chip in if you agree.)

But the “2.0″ in Web 2.0 was also supposed to signal a relaunch of the Internet after the first dot-com bust as a financially viable platform for launching new businesses. And in that sense, the CNN piece points out, the top-tier successes have been underwhelming thus far. Sites like MySpace, Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube may get millions of visitors and billions of pageviews — but attempts to monetize them with old-school banner ads just aren’t turning them into the financial juggernauts they were once forecast to become.

While the first dot-com boom was based on hype, Web 2.0 focused on the market for user attention. Putting that many eyeballs on any website, the thinking went, was bound to result in major wins for advertisers. Get a billion pageviews, then either fill your pages with ads or sell the site to a bigger company who will start putting ads on it.

(Insert your own Google joke here.)

But those major wins just aren’t taking shape — at least not in the wheelbarrows of cash that major media properties are in the habit of running off with. People are using the Internet and social media more every day, but banners and other interruption-style ads on the sites they use are underperforming. Twitter still doesn’t have a business model. Ads on Facebook sell for next to nothing because that’s what they’re worth.

Maybe advertisers are missing the opportunity here. Maybe sites like Twitter can still aim for something other than the option of simply sticking a banner over your homepage. I hope so. That was what those free web hosting companies and ISPs (remember them?) were doing ten years ago, and I sincerely hope things have changed this time around.

Maybe the value of Web 2.0 doesn’t lie in the wallets of those millions of users whose eyeballs happen to be aimed at your website. (Show me two Facebook users and I’ll show you two people who may have absolutely nothing in common besides their ability and inclination to use the Internet to communicate. Or maybe they’re almost exactly alike. Whichever it is, they probably aren’t interested in your lame old “find your classmates” ad.)

Maybe instead of trying to interrupt Internet users and talk them into buying stuff, social media sites should be trying to engage them and encourage them to take other actions that create value.

If a company I respect asked me to contribute a small but significant amount of my time and attention to something that helps them, I’d probably do it. Answering a customer survey is the traditional request, but I think a creative company can go way beyond that. How about asking people to write a paragraph for your FAQ page, or test a web application, or do any of a million other things they’re really good at?

More creative minds than mine could come up with a million answers to that question. And those creative minds would probably appreciate an invitation to help build your company more than they appreciate a blinking banner urging them to play a game of whack-a-mole.

How much value could a billion pageviews worth of attention add to your company if you had to ask viewers for something besides money? Could their attention be worth more than a banner ad?

The joy of reading. photo credit: pedrosimoes7

Like pretty much anyone working in communications, I use a feed reader (in my case, Google) to keep tabs on a large number of publications by subscribing to their RSS feeds. This lets me take a few minutes out of a busy day and flip through stories as I wish, enjoying them a bit like the guy in this post’s picture is doing.

But even though I’m diligent about eliminating “stale” feeds, I’ve got 99 blogs dumping content into the pipe for me to read — many of which publish so much it makes me wonder how fast these people can type. I’d love to read them all, but if I did, well, I wouldn’t get anything else done.

That’s why I keep an A-list folder. This is the gold — the stuff I’ll make time to read no matter what comes up. Many of these are blogs I’ve been reading for years. They’re not plain old news like BBC and CNN headlines, which I do follow (if sporadically). This is the stuff that’s a little outside the box - the content that keeps me entertained, informed, well-rounded, and growing as a professional and a person.

Here’s what’s in my A-list right now, in no particular order. I’ve listed RSS feed links too, in case you love my descriptions so much that you want to subscribe right away.

1. Seth’s Blog (site/feed): Seth Godin IS online marketing. He wrote the book on it — eleven of them, to be exact — and everything he writes is a blend of idea, manifesto, and common sense that makes you wonder, “Why didn’t I think of that?” If you’re wondering where the Internet and everything on it is headed next, Seth can tell you.

2. Copyblogger (site/feed): Founded in 2006 by Brian Clark, Copyblogger already ranks #5 on AdAge’s Power 150. Together with Jonathan Morrow and Sonia Simone, Posts are thoughtful, educational, and always focused on how to craft powerful, simple online copy that generates response. And there’s a brilliant resources section on the site with free information on SEO copywriting, keyword research, and many other online writing essentials.

3. ProBlogger (site/feed): Focused on strategies for growing blog readership, building relationships with readers, and of course, making money, Darren Rowse’s blog is a powerhouse of blogging tips that spill over into marketing advice, copywriting techniques, creativity tools, and much more. I subscribe to his job board too, just in case.

4. Fast Company (site/feed): Hard as it is to pick one tech-related feed to keep you in the loop, Fast Company is mine. I like the mix of breaking news, analysis, and forward-thinking editorials. And with sections spanning innovation, work/life, technology, social responsibility, and more, their content falls pretty neatly into the categories I’m personally interested in.

5. Dosh Dosh (site/feed): I love reading Maki’s posts for the simple reason that every single one is well researched, well written, and crafted for the purpose of helping readers write well and make money online.

6. Freelance Switch (site/feed): If you’re a freelancer, this site is a great one to have on tap. The articles are a blend of thought-provoking, practical, and cheeky (today’s comic relief is The Six People You Meet in Freelance Internet Writing Hell). If you visit the site, there’s a freelancer forum, a resources section with tools like rate calculators, and plenty more.

7. TechCrunch (site/feed): If you have a pulse and you’re interested in the Internet, it’s impossible to get off TechCrunch once you’ve had a taste of it. For good or ill, Mike Arrington can be strongly opinionated about the value (or lack thereof) of the Web 2.0 companies covered in TechCrunch, but the steady stream of innovation is at once overwhelming and delighting. If you want to spot the next social network to become a hub for your clients and customers (Twitter, anyone?), this site’s a must.

8. Signal vs. Noise (site/feed): SVN is the blog of 37signals, a web software company that’s one of Web 2.0’s most inspiring successes. The team follows a philosophy of ruthless minimalism, paring web applications down to their most essential features — but in the process, these designers have become copywriters, marketers, and even philosophers. A great blog for the well rounded.

9. SEOBook (site/feed): Aaron Wall literally wrote the book on search engine optimization, though in 2008 he stopped selling the eBook in favor of delivering online training. His site is a massive resource center filled with the latest in actionable SEO information and tools, and is a must-read for anyone who wants to get found on the Internet.

10. Smashing Magazine (site/feed): You’re probably already subscribed to Smashing Magazine, but if not, one visit will give you so many design ideas (and so many gorgeous textured reflective icons!) that you’ll be hooked for life. Plus they feature tons of creative tutorials for software like Wordpress and Adobe’s Creative Suite, so you’ll get mad skills.

11. Mike Davidson’s Blog (site/feed): Mike Davidson started this delightful blog years before he became president and CEO of Newsvine, and it’s still going strong today, though with the number of things the guy does, I’m surprised he has any time to write a word. Maybe it’s the gentle pace of the posts (he tends to do a few a month) or just his wide-ranging interests in everything from design to Web 2.0 — but whatever the reason, I’m hooked for as long as Mike keeps writing.

12. Common Craft - In Plain English (site/feed): Lee and Sachi are the masters of simple. Their elegant, creative, refreshingly clear hand-animated videos are essential viewing for anyone trying to explain a complex concept to a general audience. Like, say, a communications firm would do. (Check out their explanations of RSS and compound interest for proof that this husband/wife team can make anything look simple.)

What’s in your A-list?

How identical is too identical? photo credit: The Iglesia`s

Sergey asks: “I have an article posted on my website - can I post it on my blog either and/or submit it to some PR resources without violation of Google duplicate content policy?”

This is a question that worries a lot of people when they’re starting out online. If you publish one thing in two places, do you have to worry about getting nailed because of some mysterious Google policy.

No, you don’t.

Here’s the key sentence from Google’s webmaster guidelines on duplicate content that should guide you in making your decisions on duplicate content:

Duplicate content on a site is not grounds for action on that site unless it appears that the intent of the duplicate content is to be deceptive and manipulate search engine results.

In other words, it’s up to Google to decide whether they’ll punish you, and they do it on a case-by-case basis. I haven’t heard yet of a site being penalized for duplicating the content of a single article.

(And in the case of blogs, it’s perfectly acceptable to publish identical content on your homepage and archive pages. In fact, most bloggers wouldn’t know how to stop doing this even if they wanted to.)

But if you’re publishing dozens or hundreds of articles on your site, then submitting them to multiple directories with backlinks… well, you’ll be asking for it.

Google doesn’t do this to be nasty — they do it to keep their search results useful. Think of it from a user’s perspective: If you search for “copywriting tips” and the first ten results are ten copies of the same article on different sites, you’ll be confused and frustrated, and you won’t be able to choose from the same variety of results as you would if each result was truly unique.

That’s why Google searches for duplicate content, then selects the one version it deems to be the best suited for ranking in results. They’re not doing it to penalize the average web publisher; they’re doing it to provide the single most usable result for their user base.

So what should you do? A good guideline is to write for one site at a time; unless you’re a syndicated columnist or something, you should strive to publish original content in as few places as possible. A unique article adds value to a site, whereas publishing something they can find anywhere is best left up to the major news aggregators.

If you’re writing content to be syndicated on other people’s websites (i.e., not your own), it’s a good idea to either (a) simply submit an original article without posting it on your own site, or (b) submit an article that includes a backlink to the original on your site. The backlink will help Google determine that the article on your site is the original, and may also send a few visitors your way.

In the end, don’t worry about sharing a few articles around. Just make sure you’re doing it to spread the word about your articles and ideas — not to manipulate search results.

Related posts:

1. Google Chrome Mac version: What to do while you’re waiting for it

Who can resist a little chrome? photo credit: mikebaird

In the traditional cloud of online fanfare we’ve come to expect when Google releases anything new — Google Chrome is now available.

For PC only.

This comes as little comfort to those of us who are traveling the world armed solely with a Macbook. After half a year on this equipment, I’m as much a Mac fanboy as anyone currently tickling the white keys or fondling some touchscreen… but it’s sad that we’re always second-tier in the big-time releases.

And I don’t double-boot.

For my surfing needs, I’m currently using Flock’s browser with a lot of positive results — I *love* clicking little tabs to open those always-logged-in sidebars for Flickr, Twitter, Facebook, and the rest of the social stuff.

But frankly, Flock bogs down a fair bit. So I’m really keen on trying a stripped-down new browser that places top importance on trimming the fat… er, chrome.

So what to do if you’re waiting to download Google Chrome browser for Mac?

1. Get on the Google Chrome for Mac mailing list to be alerted when it’s released.
2. Head over to Cool OSX Apps and gloat about all the cool stuff your (relatively speaking) glitch-free operating system can do.
3. Fondle the touchscreen on your expensive Apple device and check your email obsessively.

Or, if you have something better to do, do that.

Related posts:

1. Lashing things together in the browser

We are the flock. photo credit: The Pack

Flock is really, really cool.

Especially if you’re geeky like me and are always logging in to, oh, Gmail, Facebook, flickr, Twitter, a few self-hosted Wordpress blogs, YouTube, and any of a billion other Web 2.0 properties.

Lashing together your identity online? Amazing opportunity of the 21st century.

Doing it all from your sidebar? Priceless.

(Unless you like logging into a dozen accounts a day.)

Tags: flock browser web 2.0 online services

After two days of attending sessions and wandering the tradeshow and hanging out with all these new media types, I’m sold. The enthusiasm is irresistable… and I’ve learned about a lot of great tools for content creation, distribution, and all that fun stuff.

So I just pitched a podcasting project to my favorite client — my wife Lindsie.

I’ll tell you all about it when it’s underway. Promise. And I’ll write up some of the notes I’ve taken on what’s new and exciting in the world of, well, new media. Stay tuned.

Among editorial and other consulting work, I really dug into the search engine optimization on this one. Things are going really well — the site’s already up to the first page of Google results for terms like “how to lose your virginity” and “guide to losing your virginity.”

How did we do it? Well, picking a good niche was a great start — there’s no direct competition. After identifying some lucrative possible keywords, I created a Google-compliant sitemap, then a homepage with solid title tags, meta tags, and a decent keyword density for the page content.

The real kicker has been the addition of a blog on virginity and other sexual topics. The mix of random and SEO-driven content here really add up, and we’ve watched traffic climb to 30-40 unique visits per day already.

Next up, I’ll be working on some linking strategies and article submission to continue growing site traffic, and exploring some different content strategies. Marketing to teens and youth is fairly new to me, something I haven’t really looked at since I tried to sell Grade Eight students on the merits of Shakespeare. (In another life as a high school English teacher…)

What else are we going to start seeing instruction manuals for? I wonder.