Managing your companies content using DITA is one thing- managing your brand communications and responding to customers is another. When customers are looking to solve problems- the first thing they use is Google- and this presentation introduces how to use an Open Source CMS to deliver answers fast- while you are working on DITA compliant data which takes a little longer

1. Welcome
BLOGZILLA
www.thenextwave.biz
Friday, October 31, 2008

2. Friday, October 31, 2008

3. Welcome
YOU JUST CLICKED INTO AN HOUR LONG
PRESENTATION ALL ABOUT ME, MY COMPANY,
MY SERVICES, AND MY OVER-INFLATED SELF-
WORTH. I’M SURE YOU WILL COME BACK
AGAIN AND AGAIN TO HEAR ME TALK ALL
ABOUT MYSELF (ALWAYS IN THE THIRD
PERSON) AND HOW GREAT I AM. AND THIS
INTRO WILL NEVER CHANGE.
Friday, October 31, 2008

4. RULE # 1
IT’S NOT ABOUT YOU, YOUR
COMPANY, OR ABOUT HOW
GREAT YOU ARE.
Friday, October 31, 2008

5. RULE # 2
CUSTOMERS ARE NOW IN CONTROL.
DO NOT MAKE THEM MAD
[THEY CAN HURT YOU]
Friday, October 31, 2008

6. First there was Dell Hell...
Friday, October 31, 2008

7. Comcast is getting religion
Friday, October 31, 2008

8. THERE ARE ONLY 4 WAYS
PEOPLE COME TO YOUR SITE
• You spend awww.sony.com
your url. i.e.
lot of money promoting
• Someone links to you.
• Search
• RSS
Friday, October 31, 2008

9. Search is critical
• 80% of internet traffic begins at a
search engine. source: Harris Interactive
• 41% of web users use search for simple
navigation, even when they know the url
source: DoubleClick
Friday, October 31, 2008

10. Friday, October 31, 2008

11. GOOGLE IS ALL THAT 93.2%
MATTERS
NOTE: THESE STATS ARE BIASED BY:
TYPE OF SITE, TYPE OF VIEWER,
TECHNOLOGY USED.
GOOGLE IS CURRENTLY GROWING FASTER
THAN ANY OTHER SEARCH ENGINE.
Friday, October 31, 2008

12. • Originally called “BackRub”
• “Page Rank” = Larry Page’s algorithm
• Bill Gross had the big revenue idea
• Customer experience is paramount
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13. It’s not a search engine!
• Google is a results engine
• Results come from Cache
• Algorithms predict what they think you want
• Page rank changes often
• 2 types of results: paid and organic
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14. Paid Placement vs. Organic
20% of clicks
Remaining 10% go
to the other links,
abandonment,clicks a
70% of or
new query
Friday, October 31, 2008

15. Search = Use = Commerce
• “Search Engine optimization”= voodoo
• “Sites” and front doors are now history
• Google isn’t a beauty contest
I Google, therefore I am.
Friday, October 31, 2008

16. How to evaluate your current site:
• Go to google, type in: site:yourdomain.tld
• Evaluate results- compare to your competition
• Can you bookmark every single page?
• Is there an RSS feed?
• Is there a place for your customers to contribute?
• Do you have webstats? Do you check them?
• Is there a search box
Friday, October 31, 2008

17. What you have to do:
• Build a site that everyone can use
• Understand and optimize for search
• Create community with your customers
• Maintain and update it yourself
• Outsmart your competition
• Save a ton of money
Friday, October 31, 2008

18. What is a Blog?
weB LOG
Friday, October 31, 2008

19. I hate the word blog
and wish it would DIE.
It is a website.
Utilizing a sophisticated Content
Management System (CMS)
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20. • Makes making posts easy: Press This
• Easy to categorize (Table of Contents)
• Easy to tag (index)
• Allows multiple authors- and privileges
• Creates legal code automatically (no code to learn)
• Easy trackbacks
• Pingomatic
Friday, October 31, 2008

21. 10 tips to get to the first page:
• Categories as search terms
• Search your terms- then write about top pages
• Google Alerts on terms
• Directory of your competition
• Describe every jpg, mov, mp3 for a blind person
• Watch your stats for keyword trends- react fast
• Comment, and follow incoming links backwards
• Stay on topic, in character
• Interact with customers
• Solve customer’s problems
Friday, October 31, 2008

22. Writing for an audience
according to Seth Godin:
•
Candor
• Urgency
• Timeliness
• Pithiness
• Controversy
• Utility
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23. Common no-no’s
• Static entry page, static content
• Flash- a language that adds motion and
sound never gets updated
• Removing content (or moving it)
• Not updating often
• Censorship instead of rectification
Friday, October 31, 2008

24. Web 2.0 concepts
• Content is separate from presentation
• Community is key
• Your customers control your brand
• Long tail
Friday, October 31, 2008

25. Cluetrain Manifesto Thesis #12:
quot;There are no secrets. The networked
market knows more than companies do
about their own products. And whether
the news is good or bad, they tell
everyone.quot;
Friday, October 31, 2008

26. How is your online health?
• Is the content customer focused?
• Is your content updated often?
• Is your brand message consistent?
• Are you checking your stats daily?
• What are people saying about you?
• Are all your ads available online?
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27. Is your site the first
place people look to
learn about your
company?
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28. If it’s not,
you’re not
doing your job.
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29. Thank you.
David Esrati
937.228.4433
TheNextWave.biz
www.websitetology.com
Friday, October 31, 2008