One way to succeed in your online business is to learn from others who have been there and done that. What kind of homepage design gets the best results? What colors and images does your target audience respond best to? Archive.org’s WayBack Machine a great way to learn from your successful competitors who have been at the game for a while.

Just type in a URL and see how various websites have changed over the years. Let’s take a peek at MSN’s past…

1996 – LOVE the text under the cloud image that reads: “oh… and if you are new to the Internet…click here for our internet tutorial”(<< This is what’s so great about the WayBack Machine – this link will really take you to this internet tutorial frozen in time from 1996!)

2000 – Data between 1996 and 2000 is scrambled, but by the year 2000, you can see that MSN has moved full swing into the search game. The design stayed relatively similar for the next several year. These were the days when Microsoft dominated search…

2002 – A color scheme change and now displaying current stock prices (with a 20 minute delay) on the homepage.

2003 – A slight color variation, but otherwise the design has remained pretty consistent.

2006 – Pretty much holding steady with the design with slight variations

2007 – MSN Today

Who do you want to check out?

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Some of the most popular websites online offer videos and photos – does yours?  Now that Google has announced the Universal Search Model, you SEO job just got a lot broader.  With the Universal search model, Google will search through all types of media – not just text – to find related entries.  But how do you search engine optimize video?

Blinkx has created a whitepaper that discusses the ins and outs of video optimization.  The whitepaper covers:

• Cleaning and conversion of metadata
• Optimizing titles, description and filenames
• Leveraging sitemaps
• Utilizing Media RSS
• Content Management
• Where to submit
• What to Avoid

Something to think about over the weekend…. What types of video do you have and how can you use them to leverage your SEO strategy?  If you don’t have video, what can you create? 

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Many people have never heard of Google Base – and if they have, aren’t really sure what it does.  This tool, found by logging into your Google profile and clicking on “Base”, allows you to upload all of your content directly into a Google information database. 

Google Base gives you full control over your content with its WYSIWYG editor.  Unlike many other places where you can distribute content, Google Base allows for unlimited use of anchor text, images, formatting, and even offers stats. 

Still, the impact of Google Base is elusive… I’m experimenting with it by posting some articles and press releases on it – mostly for the anchor text, but also to see if Base drives any traffic.  There have been a few hits on the content, but nothing to get excited about. 

I think where Base will really shine is for home shopping or car shopping or types of shopping where products have lots of attributes.  For example, you could use Google to find all 4 bedroom houses with a pool and a 3 car garage in San Diego – rather than going just to one site’s MLS listing.  Same with cars – search for all 2004 blue BMW 325i’s within 100 miles of your house instead of going to one site and viewing their listings. 

This is a hunch – anyone else have any personal experiences or theories about the direction of Base?  Leave a comment and share!

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Have you ever wondered how phenomenally fantastic most of online companies are: #1!, leading!, premiere!, fastest!, greatest!, smartest!, most dynamic!… simply the best :). Are you one of those companies? Or is this a mega trend that promotes self-centered approach and exaggeration? No matter how you call it, it’s about to extinct.

Today’s customers demand greater transparency and authenticity. It’s the new standard you have to live with. They want to know how your business can bring them satisfaction in one or another way.

Web users got bored with dubious words of praise. They seek the REAL deal. “What is in it for me?” they ask. Pronouns such as “I,” “we,” “our,”  and your company name  as well as  customer-focused words such as “you” and “your” are key indicators of your focus.

There’s a handy free online analysis tool which tells how customer centered your web copy is. It’s called We-We Calculator developed by Futurenowinc.

You simply type in the url of your website. The tool calculates the instances of customer centered  and self-centered words. Then It gives you the percentage including  original length of Page (including all HTML) , content length after stripping HTML, and a total word count. It is nothing more than a handy, but rough guide that will help you focus on something important. There are lots of variables and also remember there are no shortcuts to writing great copy.

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Using other people’s post content as a springboard for ideas is a proven way to get more traffic and provide tons of valuable info. However, if you’re just copying someone else’s content sentence for sentence, it’ll be useless to your visitors and it will also infringe on copyrights. Here are 3 successful methods to re-use someone else’s text.

1) Add your perspective: Define your own perspective on the subject matter of the topic some else wrote. If someone writes about efficient ways to lose weight and you realize that this could benefit your customers, then rewrite the concept from your own perspective. You may disagree or agree on the statements made in the original content and it’s your opinion that will make your content stand out from other texts. You can also reference an original author.

2) Elaborate upon it: Day in and day out, people are discussing issues with written texts online.  They are using blogs, bulletin boards, and comments to propose new ways of dealing with daily problems in life such as marketing an online business, removing stains from clothing, or making a making a homemade tree fort.  Freeform discussions are great places to discover the questions that your audience has and create blog posts and articles that elaborate upon those ideas.  When elaborating on somebody else’s post, provide details, descriptions, and explanations as you proceed. Simpler posts will have a wider audience reach and prove more valuable for customers.

3) Provide a brief synopsis: Matt Cutts wrote a “quick post” the other day with a word count of 800.  In this fast paced, world hardly any one can afford to spend their precious time reading an 800 word essay. What is said in 800 words can be easily said in 200 and still make a perfect sense.

You are not inventing the wheel. Instead, you can filter and redevelop current information in new ways. You can observe the opinions of others and expand on their questions and observations. Draw from your own perspective and deliver a message to your audience based on your own experiences.

Re-posting is a valuable way to drive traffic and keep your website and your blogs stocked with relevant content.  But these three ways can only help improve your website in terms of driving website traffic and earning visitor interest if your content is unique, you give credit to the original author, and don’t abuse the practice.

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