I Still Hate Twitter

I admit it. Good optimization tool or not, I can't stand Twitter. Just as I can't stand direct mail and robo-calling. Sure, they may be effective, but they're a pain in the butt.

I don't care how many times people tell me about how relevant it is, how timely it is. About the only good use I've seen of it is its use in the Middle East to mobilize ordinary citizens to actually do something. Here in the USA, it's still mainly about ego. Sure, sharing links is good. Aren't you clever? Aren't you informed? Don't you need to make sure everyone knows it?

I'm sure I'll get some haters hating this. But that's okay. I also hate haters.

Branding? Important to SEO?

While social optimization is going to continue being a huge trend in SEO in 2011, one of the more interesting things is that a traditional, tried and true way to build business is making a BIG comeback - branding. Yep, branding.
As search becomes ever more personalized, better known sites (that usually means better known names) are going to get even more traffic. That can be a problem for smaller, breakthrough marketers, but it can be an opportunity, too. If you take a structured approach to building your brand and your visibility at the same time, you can outpace your peer competitors.
Making sure that you are optimized for mobile devices is key, too, as well as making sure that you're optimized in your area (for small, local businesses). It's all kind of like a puzzle, but one where you can move the pieces around.