With the swell of different forms of chat media will search engine positioning and optimisation of websites become superseded?

Posted by Online Reputation Handbook

November 4, 2009

Recent developments in the way we communicate through the net have been less about customary broadcast media and more about interactive, two way contact. As this type of communication alters it will undoubtedly affect the way search engines work and by default the process of Online Marketing.

Traditional media “broadcasts” a message to the anticipated audience, whether it is in the form of a newspaper or an commercial (physical or digital) which exposes the reader, listener or watcher to a point. The communication is one way and the proposed audience is advised of something, in fact “talked at”.

Usual methods of Online Marketing carried out by the marketing fraternity and more recently the relatively new idea of Search Engine Optimisation companies (SEO Company) are targeted at the way that Google (largely) accesses web pages. This is a variety of broadcast media not too dissimilar to a newspaper albeit with digital trickery to make the occurance more attractive.

Is this all about to change? Are the accepted Search Engine Placement services about to become less valuable? Assuming the internet continues to expand along the same lines as it has for the last ten years, we can expect to see the use of the net becoming more rooted in our day to day real time lives. It will become more of a delivery platform as opposed to an information provider, a concierge as opposed to a librarian. If we are using the net in real time that association will become two way and transactional, broadcast methods will offer a superficial experience and become obsolete.

Once a buyer can connect with the seller of the product or service through two way communication just reading a website will be less than satisfying. At this point conventional Search Engine Placement services become obsolete and Online Marketing becomes about making connections not recognising content.

The smart SEO Company will be looking at how that interaction can take place in an atmosphere that is so crowded with information. Ideally, a buyer is exposed to a seller (or a number of sellers) in an atmosphere where he can actively interrogate and compare their offering, ask for detail and maybe even tailor the product or service to his needs before he makes the conclusion to buy.

Instead of offering website optimisation for a fixed broadcast, online marketing may be about promoting links and may take place on Twitter, chatrooms, forums even within games where product placement is already starting to occur.

Marketing and Advertising