While everyone is still scrambling trying to figure out what the “new” way to rank is OR arguing whether things have changed or not, I think that it should be pointed out that ranking isn’t everything and that there are ways to build an online business without ranking for a single thing.
In fact, with the right strategy, a new company can easily sit behind a walled domain where google has absolutely no way of even indexing their stuff.
Obviously, the link above is an exaggerated example ; chances are good that none of us will ever get to the point where we are running a multi-million dollar a year business. But if you want more practical example, here’s one. Chris Howard could have gone into designing paid plug-ins for WordPress’ general public. Instead, he chose the much smaller Headway community. And, with the help of headway itself, he has been able to sell his plug-ins.
Here’s another example. David could have written a book that dealt with “everything” WordPress. Instead, he chose Catalyst, found a niche market and has built a very nice list for himself over time.
Of course, if you can find a way to serve a larger market with a valuable resource, the payoff is even larger. I doubt that Brett thought that he was going to make as big of a splash as he did with his evernote book, Evernote Essentials, but he did.
The point of this is that a lot of the online marketing world gets it wrong in terms of how to make money. Rather than look at serving a community with something of value, they would rather serve an ad medium like search and hope for the best.
Instead of getting really specific…serving a relatively small community, they get greedy.
The irony is that if you serve the community first, the rankings will come regardless of whether you want them or not. One hand washes the other. The synergy of actually being useful to the community pays off in spades.
image attribution- http://www.flickr.com/photos/shiznotty/3664390498/
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Just got done reading Tribes and couldn’t agree more. Instead of looking at ways to optimize or subvert rankings, just build a community that provides value to a group. Over time if you continue to iterate and service the changing needs of the tribe, you’ll naturally gain prominence across the web regardless of algorithm changes.
Keith recently posted..India Blackout 2012: 10 Amazing Photos from the Massive Power Outtages in India
Keith, and the amazing thing is that it is incredibly easier to do this than it is to rely on the more “traditional” options to build an online business. The key is that you can provide the community with a solution to their need.
On a side note, the headway plug-in designer up above has built a pretty good slider for the wordpress community but is still leveraging the headway community first. Which means that he is able to generate income as he attempts to expand his business out.