Apologies if you have a crap RSS reader since you may not have been fortuitous enough to have digested the visual pun. In a nutshell it’s an SEO software vendor spelling ‘website’ wrong which has replicated in its Google search results.

As you’ll now understand, it wasn’t that funny, anyway. More… ironic. I think the world needs a little more irony. And copper – have you seen the prices these days? Bandstands the world over are having to content themselves with a rather putrid but eminently more cost-effective concoction of steel and whelks to refit their roofs.

Someone was asking me the other day why we have this problem with roofs and hooves. You see, if you start with a singular of either, said word ends in an f. But when you duplicate the roof or the hoof, you enter into the murkiest of grey areas uncontestable by even the most erudite of English professors. Roofs and hooves.

I feel a book coming on.

Which reminds me of a short monologue from Lifehacker’s Gina Trapani on one of my favourite podcasts about her new book on Google Wave which you can read in chunks for free. She was eulogising about this ‘organic, living’ model for 21st century educational books espoused by her latest. When you publish on dead wood, you have no way to update. Publish an electronic version that lives (probably in the cloud) and it’s an ever-growing, ever-giving thing of beauty beholden.

I quite agree. I’ll be following the Trapani treatment myself in coming months. I have a great idea, an altruistic statement on behalf of Word And Mouth. It’ll benefit you all. And me. Catharsis for a writer, soup for the business soul.

Amen!

PS for those lucky web denizens who have got this far, consider this quote of epiphany, also carved from the majesty that is TWIT.tv’s This Week in Google: Do what you do best, link to the rest.

Historically the bid of most businesses has been to get a website up and running. That’s the sole priority of their eCommerce strategy.

Well folks, it’s not enough. Not by a million miles. In fact, it hasn’t truly been enough since 1994 when we got all excited at underlined links taking us to new corners of this funky new World Wide Web.

How have things changed since online brochures (because that’s effectively what business websites have been since the year dot) were born?

Well, quite aside from the ever-refining tastes of the consumer; the deepening of the client relationship requiring personal attention; and the lowering costs of technology offering up new opportunities to develop more meaningful online propositions, the search engines and their algorithms have become ever more sophisticated.

Which means you need to provide more content – more relevant content, to your business and marketplace – than ever before.

There’s only so much stuff you can say on a static website. You’ve created your home page, about page, FAQs section and contact page. Now what?

Now you need to start blogging your heart out.

The single and most impactful way to generate new and exciting content, to pump your website up the search engine rankings, is to get blogging.

Next week bytestart – one of the best business advice sites on the internet, in my opinion – is publishing one of my articles focusing on how to develop an effective blogging and podcasting strategy. It’s definitely going to be worth a read so head over to their site in a few days time for a great heads-up on how to make it work for you.

What might surprise you is I’m advocating how to blog and podcast for free.

I’m not greedy. I’m not a ‘hard-nosed’ businessman – sure I work for money but I’m equally a philanthropic technologist and content creator, if you need to pigeonhole me. And I don’t want your hard-earned wonga if you don’t want to work with me directly.

In fact I’ll use my expertise and knowledge to help get your project off the ground, gratis. And then if you need me on a regular basis, we’ll work out a deal that’s in the best interests of you and me.

I know how hard it is to make a success of yourself as an SME, which is why I want to share as much information to help you make an informed decision on your blogging and podcasting strategy.

Contact me to find out more.