In fact, when interaction is cheap, the very economic rationale for orthodox brands actually begins to implode: information about expected costs and benefits doesn’t have to be compressed into logos, slogans, ad-spots or column-inches – instead, consumers can debate and discuss expected costs and benefits in incredibly rich detail.
Do you provide a place in your Local Listings, Video Sharing, and Blog where your customers can review, comment on, and validate your Brand?
The short head will be human, the fat middle social and the long tail algorithmic.
My understanding of this is that we will find out about the blockbuster hits through personal human contacts, find out about most things through social networks like Google Maps and YouTube, and find out about microniche things through Google or Yahoo Search.
A week ago we met with a new client about some minor revisions to his existing website. Inevitably, the matter of how to get higher listings on search engines came up. A search of his company name came up one, two, three on Google, but the third listing was for an out-of-date Yahoo Local listing. A search on Google Maps for his company name gave the correct result, but a search for his business in his category had nothing in the first fifty results. The client’s name did not show up in the first twenty pages because, unfortunately, he has the same name as a New York Times critic.
In contrast, for the terms bill olen, misty olen, design ninjas, auburn computer magic, microchunk.tv we are all page one for web, image, video, maps/local, and blog search. For business search in Google Maps, we are page one for Internet Marketing, Website Design, and Computer Networking in Auburn, CA. How did this happen?
In the past 2 and 1/2 years we have created 2 websites, 3 blogs, and 4 social networking profiles. We have posted over 1200 texts, 300 photos, and 275 videos online that have been viewed over 65,000 times. So the answer is quantity, quality, and luck. And someone once said that the harder they worked, the luckier they got.
