Moved from Blogger 5/17, more on that later

Its 5:35 on Tuesday. I’m still at work. I don’t have to be. I could leave. I could go home. I could make a sensible meal, maybe grill some chicken and steam organic aspargus. I could hit the gym, improve my cardio and muscle tone. I could watch TV. Of course the Simpsons are on in 53 minues, I’m aware of that. And yes, I have Heros, 24, and Family Guy waiting on the DVR. But I’m here. I’m here to wage war on the urge to play video games, to wander through a few dozen profiles on HotorNot.com, or catch up on personal email. I’m here because I need to learn more.

More on SEO. More on the rammifications of Microsoft’s talks with Yahoo. More about blogging (this is my first post by the way). More ways the world is flat.

So. I’m here.

Write me if you have answers or better questions.

A stab at SEO

I work for a mid-size (500 employee) corporation that has decided that its time to begin a SEO strategy.

Considering that I know just enough about SEO and the workings on the mighty Google to sound intelligent, I figured I’d put my assumptions out for discussion and see how little I really know. Below is the strategy I would recommend (or have been recommended to me by a really bright friend) for a company that is literally starting from scratch.

But first a quick background. The company either owns or manages all marketing aspects of 6 products. Each is a B2C play. Each is sold exclusively through live sales events (meaning there is no distribution through retail, direct sale via phone, mail, or website, no subscription, no B2B, no other way to buy them). Many of the products have been plagued with negative press from both users and competitors with no retort.

OK. Here’s my recommendation:
1. Edit all existing sites around select keywords. Optimally, about 3-5 terms per page. Use both copy and meta elements.
2. Develop internal linking strategies. We have 6 products. Each product has at least 3 URLs and multiple pages. Link um!
3. Develop external linking strategies. Work with clients, partners, bloggers, posting sites, wikkis, and anyone else who’ll play ball to share, sell or buy links to as many pages as possible. I’ve heard links from .edus are a huge.
4. Blog. Each product should have a face (some do, but they’re not doing blogging). That expert/president/owner should be posting educational, informative, or provoking information as often as possible.
5. Prophesy. Call it community management, guerrilla marketing, evangelism, whatever. This is an assigned post for an expert of said product. This person is the activist for the product. He/She should be posting response to questions, comments, concerns, and opinions on every blog, bulletin, and discussion board possible. He/She also attends conventions, social events, and forums to chum up with other experts in the industry. He/She is posting content on wikkis, managing pay-per-post campaigns, and working with on and offline press.

To sum up, there is no single answer on SEO. I’d suggest all of these, as well as being ever vigilant of Google’s next change, be part of a beginning SEO strategy.