SEOs Don’t Rank Websites. That’s Google’s Job.

The recent news of an SEO getting sued for lack of results got me thinking about the dynamic that SEOs and their clients need to have in order for any web marketing campaign to be successful. Unlike many other industries, the success of SEO relies heavily on the client themselves. The SEO can’t just “optimize” […]

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Pole Position Marketing’s E-Marketing Performance Blog

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Why You Don’t Want to Be the Amazon of Anything

An old boss of mine (well, he wasn’t that old), used to say that if you tried to be “the x of y,” you wouldn’t win. For instance, if you want to be “the Amazon of travel” or “the Apple of the auto industry” or “the Google of education” (and, yes, those are all AGFAM players), you’re putting yourself behind the eight ball . This is very much in line with Elon Musk’s thoughts about reasoning from first principles for innovation.

Why is this so?

Here’s why:

• It depends on what everyone knows, without considering whether “what everyone knows” is wrong. Conventional wisdom is not always wise. When people say, “why didn’t I think of that,” it’s usually because they didn’t take the time to do so. Instead, think about what your customers actually need, then explore ways to serve that need.


• It fails to differentiate you. Amazon isn’t trying to be anything other than the e-commerce platform. Apple isn’t trying to be anything other than the manufacturer of the best consumer devices. Google isn’t trying to be anything other than the advertising platform of choice. Don’t be the “something of something.” Be the leader.


• There already is an “X”. If you think about it, the only thing that prevents Amazon from being “the Amazon of travel,” Apple from being “the Apple of automobiles,” or Google from being “the Google of education” is their (current) lack of attention to that market. They’re already accomplished the hard part: they are the Amazon/Apple/Google of their chosen industries. Shifting to a new market is, usually, the easy bit.

Of course, anyone familiar with Michael Treacy’s fantastic “Discipline of Market Leaders” (also something that old boss turned me on to) knows three generic strategies exist for dominating your industry:

• Product leadership. Think Apple or BMW or Starbucks.


• Operational excellence. Often associated with “low-cost” leaders, think of folks like Amazon, Walmart, or Southwest Airlines.


• Customer intimacy. Think Google (thus, the good ad platform), Four Seasons, or Zappos.

The point here is that you don’t have to focus solely on “the best product” to be the you of your market. You just have to focus on being the best you your business can be.

Interested in learning more about the future of marketing and commerce in a multiscreen world? Register to receive a special report I’ve produced in conjunction with hotel marketing firm Vizergy, “Digital Hotel Marketing in a Multiscreen World.” While it’s targeted specifically at hotel and resort marketers, the lessons apply to just about any business. You can get your free copy of the report here.

And, if all that’s not enough, you might also enjoy some of our past coverage of the social, local, mobile strategy and what it means for your business, including:

• Today and Tomorrow: Mobile and the Changing Customer Journey


• What’s the Future of E-commerce? Look to the Past to Find Out


• How to Get In Your Customers’ Pants… Pocket


• Kiss Your Current Conversion Rate Goodbye (Travel Tuesday)


• What Watson, Xbox, and Google Are Telling You Right Now (Travel Tuesday)


• Thinks Out Loud Episode 28: Say “Hi” to Conversational Search

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Tim Peter Thinks

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Google’s Matt Cutts: I Don’t Add Meta Descriptions To My Site Because…

Last night, I covered at Search Engine Land a video Google’s head of search spam, Matt Cutts, posted about meta descriptions.

Matt said that he doesn’t add meta descriptions to his own blog posts on his own blog.

He said it is better you leave your meta descriptions blank than to have duplicate meta descriptions on your site.

Best case is to have 100% unique meta descriptions on all your pages but if that is not possible, then let Google figure out what to show in the search snippets by leaving your meta descriptions blank.

Here is the video:

It does make sense…

Forum discussion at Google+.

Image credit to BigStockPhoto for HTML tags

Search Engine Roundtable

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Don’t Write Lame Facebook Status Updates

We are in the holiday season, so I wanted to write something lighthearted. Many of us spend too much time on Facebook. Yes, even us professionals get side tracked when we are doing client updates or actual work on Facebook.

We’ve all seen lame status updates, and of course, would never want to be guilty of writing one. Here are a few tips for not writing a lame Facebook status:

The next time you go to post a Facebook status, write it out and then ask yourself what you would think if you read that from a friend. You might even LOL at yourself

The next time you go to post that picture. Ask yourself why? Some people really need affirmation and they think it’s a secret… then they post a “hey guys, look at me and like my picture to make me feel good” photo. You know… you’ve seen them. If you still think you should post it, invite a few friends out for coffee, then pull the picture out and pass it around. Ask people to write their comments on the back of it, along with a plus or minus, you know a like or neutral. Sounds silly, doesn’t it?

Well this was done in fun, but hopefully it saves someone from private humiliation. What is private humiliation? It’s the comments your friends are making outside of Facebook, with each other. They sound like this:

Who does she think she is posting a picture like that?

Yeah, right… that outfit works for you…

Wait, is that the same guy from her last timeline photo?

The statuses I am most guilty of are the non status statuses. They look like this

I was going to post something, but I decided not to.

You would be amazed at how many people actually respond to that. And I don’t do it for a response, I do it because I have been known to be controversial on Facebook and that equals lots of time responding to comments, which I don’t always have.

That all for me, but do look for my next blog post “Why We Aren’t Friends on Facebook.” You can subscribe to my blog via email or RSS to get notified of updates.

OldSchoolSEO – Internet Marketing News by Anthony Kirlew

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Don’t Blame Facebook (or Any Other Social Media Site)

Have you ever heard phrases like “Facebook broke up another marriage.” I have, and although Facebook has its issues, it doesn’t have the power many give it. The bottom line is that we make choices, and not always good choices. That marriage that was on the rocks, was destined to find its interruption, and Facebook happened to be the convenient tool of choice. It could have just as easily been a phone call or an alleged business trip. So what’s my point?

When posting on social media channels – whether personal or professional – we need to use wisdom and discretion. None of us are perfect, and we’ve all seen “those dialogues” on Facebook. They can be awkward, uncomfortable and make us cringe. One of my personal rules is that I don’t judge people or say things like “man, I can’t believe they did that” because those kinds of things can come back to bite you. And yes, it happened to me recently. I made a foolish decision to share a post which was off color. It wasn’t pornographic, it did not have swearing in it, but it was intended to poke at political and media leaders (who are very often the subject of poor humor.) We all make mistakes, but sadly for me, I offended a family member and that’s just something I never want to do.

Here are three great questions to ask yourself before posting to any social media profile:

1. Why am I posting this? We often post things that are humorous, but we need to ask why we care enough to share what we are sharing.

2. Who will see the post? If you are connected with your coworkers, colleagues, or clients, be careful not to reveal any information that might come back to haunt you. And if you are thinking about this too often, you might want to decide if they need to be Facebook friends (see my prior post on good reasons to unfriend people.)

3. Who (if anyone) will be offended? If the answer is “anyone at all” the response should be to not share it – end of story.

I hope this helps someone not experience the frustration – and damage control – of making a mistake as I did. And if you have an issue, don’t blame Facebook Take ownership of your actions, clear the air, and move on with life. Life is too short and too precious.

OldSchoolSEO – Internet Marketing News by Anthony Kirlew

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One More Moving Part To Ad Rank – Don’t Get Left Behind!

This past month we saw the big release of Google’s new approach to your ad position: the Ad Rank Algorithm. This algorithm now looks at an additional factor, expected positive impact of an ad, when determining which ad will show …

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PPC Hero

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Why I Don’t Follow You Back on Twitter

Do you ever wonder why people don’t follow you back on Twitter? As I was perusing my Twitter accounts a few days ago, I saw some Twitter followers that I know personally, but do not follow back. And before you judge me, know that I am not one of those people who think they are too important to follow back (they do exist.)

Social media is about engagement, so if I know you, but see that you have a profile with no picture, no bio, and you’ve never Tweeted, I am going to assume you aren’t really there to engage, so I won’t follow you back. And a big part of this is because there are limitations on the number of people you can follow, so each connection should be with someone who is engaged in Twitter.

If I don’t know you, but I like what you’re about (based on your bio and/or tweets) I will very likely follow you. If I see that you like to rant and use profanity, there is a good likelihood that I will soon unfollow you. As I engage in social media, I like to connect with those who share my core values which doesn’t include publicly using profanity… unless it’s warranted.

What about you? Do you have rules for following or unfollowing people on Twitter? Let me know in the comments below.

P.S. – Feel free to follow me at @AnthonyKirlew or @oldschoolseo. I look forward to connecting.

OldSchoolSEO – Internet Marketing News by Anthony Kirlew

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Why I Don’t Follow You Back on Twitter

Do you ever wonder why people don’t follow you back on Twitter? As I was perusing my Twitter accounts a few days ago, I saw some Twitter followers that I know personally, but do not follow back. And before you judge me, know that I am not one of those people who think they are too important to follow back (they do exist.)

Social media is about engagement, so if I know you, but see that you have a profile with no picture, no bio, and you’ve never Tweeted, I am going to assume you aren’t really there to engage, so I won’t follow you back. And a big part of this is because there are limitations on the number of people you can follow, so each connection should be with someone who is engaged in Twitter.

If I don’t know you, but I like what you’re about (based on your bio and/or tweets) I will very likely follow you. If I see that you like to rant and use profanity, there is a good likelihood that I will soon unfollow you. As I engage in social media, I like to connect with those who share my core values which doesn’t include publicly using profanity… unless it’s warranted.

What about you? Do you have rules for following or unfollowing people on Twitter? Let me know in the comments below.

P.S. – Feel free to follow me at @AnthonyKirlew or @oldschoolseo. I look forward to connecting.

OldSchoolSEO – Internet Marketing News by Anthony Kirlew

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