Monthly Archives: September 2008
RSS Overload?
I cracked up when I opened up this blog post from Common Craft on Monday morning.
I took last Friday off from work and sure enough returned to an overflowing inbox (I have yet to join the Blackberry, iPhone, Mobile email world…if I did, I would be the guy on the train with his head buried and hand glued…instead I find it to be my only chance to read during the day).
I’ve also been guilty of oversubscribing. Newsletters, blogs, tweets, videos, you name it, I subscribe. It’s always been my take that there is too much good info out there and I want to consume it all. The good news is that I’ve gotten better.
Similar to the action taken by the Common Craft author, I too have begun honing in on what I really pay attention to and trying to limit the clutter (I mean that in a good way. In an ideal world, I’d love to have enough time to consume everything I’m initially interested in. It’s just not practical.)
I’ve only been on Twitter a few months, but after using the site for a bit, I was blown away by the number of users that A) post over 10 tweets a day B) follow over 1,000 people. If you’re on Twitter, you know that it’s simply impossible to keep tabs on what 1,000 people are tweeting about. Similarly, when you begin subscribing to an absurd amount of blogs, it gets out of control (unless of course social media monitoring happens to be your primary task at work).
There are tools like FriendFeedand others to help us aggregate and keep tabs on what are close contacts are posting to various sites. I’ve also found that I tend to always pay close attention to the blogs which I subscribe to via email whereas I tend to check my Google Reader once a week or so. Consequently, I also find that it’s more manageable and that I spend more time commenting and engaging in the larger community with a more specific focus.
Got a case of RSS overload yourself? I highly recommend taking a look at all you’ve subscribed to and trimming down the feeds. Unless it’s this blog of course.
Cheers,
Scott
Time to Grade Your Website
School is back in session and it’s time for your first report card!
Been awhile, eh?
I don’t promise a good grade, but I do promise a great learning experience on the crucial importance of search engine optimization (SEO). We chatted briefly about SEO here but I’ll be the first to admit that it’s a tough area to navigate for the average communications pro. One thing is for certain – your website has to be up to par and fully optimized to compete online in today’s world.
But, what does that really mean?
SEO can be a big scary thing for a lot of people and a tough “formula” to figure out. Am I linking too much? Providing too many meta tags or images? Not listing my site in key locations?
Don’t worry! I recently discovered www.websitegrader.com. What a great site and it’s free! You simply type in your website along with any competing websites and within minutes it generates a SEO scorecard that identifies problem areas and recommends easy solutions.
The site even reports back on del.icio.us and Digg to let you know how submissions are effecting your website’s searchability.
My homework challenge to you (I know, I know, it’s a Monday) - be the kid in the back of the room that raises his or her hand and takes the Challenge. Go grade your website (or pick a random website to practice on if you’re concerned with confidentiality) and report back in the comments below with:
A) Your score
B) What first step you plan to take to improve your site’s SEO status
Again, don’t worry, if need be, there are pros like Kevin out there to help guide your SEO needs.
Good luck!
-Scott
