Killer Keywords: The Tip of the SEO Iceberg

The blogs just keep coming hot and fast these days. It seems there's more in my mind than usual, which of course results in even more content than usual. Today, I'd like to talk about yet another concept I've just started learning about: Search Engine Optimization, better known as SEO. This fascinating process is an excellent example of something that began as a simple technology innovation and has since been leveraged to gain attention for a variety of interests across the web, from businesses to causes to blogs. Now, I preface this article by saying I am a rank beginner in this subject. The intention of this particular blog is not so much showing my expertise, but rather giving others an idea of where they can get started with this daunting analytical practice. There. Now that the tip of the iceberg has been sufficiently mapped, let's begin.

In order to start grasping the philosophy behind SEO, you first need to get the history. The particular echoes from the past informing this technological phenomenon began where many thoughts of its kind do: with engineers. Back when the web was young, it soon became apparent that organization was going to be paramount to its success. What good were all these electronic resources if it was impossible to find them without knowing an exact location? Enter the search engine. Using programs known as crawlers or spiders, engineers gained the ability to map out the giddying peaks and bottomless valleys of the online world. These programs pulled the information into organized indexes, what we now see upon entering a search on sites like Google or Bing.

But what makes it possible to create such an index? Wouldn't you still have to know exact addresses to mount an effective search? Relax, my friends. I present to you the heroes of our time: keywords. By tagging websites with words and phrases related to the content contained within them, we can search in a more general way and receive results from a plethora of sources based on their relevance to our query. This is the beating heart of SEO.

Once businesses realized that it was possible to use keywords in this manner, they took the next step and tried to optimize keywords to get noticed. By using consistent terms, matching the titles and URLs of websites to internal content, and researching the keywords that got the most use, companies became able to predict where their pages would be most successful in shouting their brand to the void. In fact, there is now an entire industry built around creating analytical tools for and performing the functions of SEO. Once again, language at play creates valuable connections.

I've done a simple scratching of SEO's surface here, but if you are interested in more information, I've found SEOmoz to be an unparallelled resource. In addition to creating tools and analytics that help you build a successful SEO strategy, SEOmoz also provides numerous free resources for learning about the subject. I've found their Beginner's Guide to SEO to be quite enlightening. Check it out, and start spreading your echoes to those around you. I hope these resources help you to keep expanding your perspective and to meet many other unique points of contact.

#TweetFiction, Video Marketing, and General Excitement

This week has been one of the most eventful in recent history for me. So much discovery, exploration, and imagination is flooding my mind that I simply have spill such wondrous brain contents here. In terms of authorly-type activities, the ideas have been flowing, and to start I'd like to articulate a concept upon which I've been musing of late: #TweetFiction.

Similar to the flash fiction of luminaries such as Warren Ellis, #TweetFiction further condenses the concept to work within the scant 140-character confines of everyone's favorite social media platform. Thus far, it seems that about two sentences is the average workspace afforded. I've published four or so entries on my Twitter feed as concepts pop into my head. This is a wonderful brainstorming tactic, as it galvanizes the ol' neural connections and, in my case, leads to springboards for longer form fictional endeavors.

Being interested as I am in connection and perspectives, I'd like to extend an invitation. All ye writerly types, flood the Twittersphere with your dazzling creations. Pass it on, share the wealth, and provoke thought in a region of the web so often perceived (unfairly) as a source of irrelevant trivialities. Whether you're a fan of the real, fantastical, or scientific, this format offers a way to send out polished nuggets of verbal excellence to the world. Consider this the beginning of your manifesto: creativity and expansion. After all, isn't life boring if it's all defined for you?

Continuing on the track of creativity, I've recently become acquainted with an industry that has me quite excited: video marketing. Ranging from whimsical to instructional, these pieces of content highlight the importance of the emotional resonance that I spoke of in my last post when it comes to selling products and services. In our Big Data-centric society, the visual content is often of even higher importance than the verbal message. As Eddie Izzard put it, "It's 70 percent how you look, 20 percent how you sound, and only 10 percent what you actually say." Now, this isn't to say that verbal content should go out the window; my point is more that the visuals should match and amplify the message.

One of the best examples I've found of this amplification lately is the work being done by Wistia, a video marketing group out of Somerville, MA. They've managed to push for change in the marketing industry in ways that inspire others and spark conversations about where the industry as whole should head. Most important in my mind, however, is their generosity. Not only do they offer masterful solutions to clients, they also have numerous free resources available to the general public. One of their newer efforts is the Wistia Learning Center, a portal in which the company expounds upon the various aspects of video marketing. Whether it's the nuts and bolts of production techniques, the cerebral process of concept design, or the analytical intricacies of measuring video success, Wistia has it covered. Their easy-to-digest content is enlightening and integral to the building of success in the industry. Additionally, they offer free hosting for three videos to anyone who makes an account so that both the resources and opportunity to learn are within reach. Check them out if you have time.

Well, this brings us to the end of another scintillating installment. I hope to see #TweetFiction and videos popping up across the untamed vastness that is the Internet. Remember, construct your lives one moment at a time, and always broaden your perspective.