SEO Voices, Communities and the Dawn Patrol
05 January 2006 11:41 AM | SEO and Marketing
Kim had a great post that took me down SEO
memory lane last night. Of course Kim is
responding to other posts by: Andy, Danny, stuntduble, Rand and Graywolf.
I think I share a lot of Kim's feelings for SEO in the old days in that there were so many engines and directories that it was endlessly facinating to learn how each one worked and then measure traffic from them. Even small general search engines and directories provided some traffic back in those days because most people still explored the web by surfing instead of searching.
Anyway, in the midst of this conversation something Danny Sullivan said got me thinking:
Now the interesting thing is that there are certain people - voices - that I have found in the SEO community and I have pretty much kept reading their posts even though the communities where they hang their hat have changed over the years. I mean a lot of finding the good advice at SEO forums is about filtering out those that know nothing and finding those that are worth listening to even when all they have is a hunch or a theory. Not all these SEO and designers are famous, many like to fly under the radar, but these are the people whos opinions I have come to respect over the years. SEO forums rise and fall, but I find myself reading more at those communites where these folks congregate even though that has changed over the years. Of course it's all fluid - new people get added to my list and some people drop off, I have never met any of them and I have only had real conversations with a few, but as I look back there is a group of names that when I spot one I still stop and read.
Reminds me of the retirees my Grandfather used to meet for morning coffee most weekdays, over the years the cafes in the little twon would change, new faces would join and others disappear but there was always a group of duffers getting together somewhere for breakfast and coffee and some good gossip. heheh.
I think I share a lot of Kim's feelings for SEO in the old days in that there were so many engines and directories that it was endlessly facinating to learn how each one worked and then measure traffic from them. Even small general search engines and directories provided some traffic back in those days because most people still explored the web by surfing instead of searching.
Anyway, in the midst of this conversation something Danny Sullivan said got me thinking:
But it's also important to remember that if we do have A-Lists, B-Lists or whatever, no one's really going to completely agree on them. There are people at WebmasterWorld who simply live in that space look up only to those in the community there. Pick another forum, and you'll find the same.
Now the interesting thing is that there are certain people - voices - that I have found in the SEO community and I have pretty much kept reading their posts even though the communities where they hang their hat have changed over the years. I mean a lot of finding the good advice at SEO forums is about filtering out those that know nothing and finding those that are worth listening to even when all they have is a hunch or a theory. Not all these SEO and designers are famous, many like to fly under the radar, but these are the people whos opinions I have come to respect over the years. SEO forums rise and fall, but I find myself reading more at those communites where these folks congregate even though that has changed over the years. Of course it's all fluid - new people get added to my list and some people drop off, I have never met any of them and I have only had real conversations with a few, but as I look back there is a group of names that when I spot one I still stop and read.
Reminds me of the retirees my Grandfather used to meet for morning coffee most weekdays, over the years the cafes in the little twon would change, new faces would join and others disappear but there was always a group of duffers getting together somewhere for breakfast and coffee and some good gossip. heheh.
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