The Sassy Lawyer, popular Philippine political and cuisine blogger, assesses her participation in a contest promoting SEO as a marketing tool to improve search engine rankings, and documents her reservations.Having previously scanned through the several articles linked to this brewing issue, I agree with her reservations/ observations.
SEO (search engine optimization) was initially devised as a marketing tool for commercial websites, but since blogs now are either hawking merchandise or at the very least, carrying commercial ads on their pages which can potentially earn some money for the hosts, one can understand the interest in pursuing SEO.
But at what costs and through what means?
Reminds me of those pernicious chain letters still popular among email groups, or even many of those on-line petitions with their expanding name lists, or those perpetually circulating urban legend items.
They may pale in comparison with the fast-spreading viruses that virtually everybody disdains, but as she observed, the result is still - mess and clutter.
In the process, Sassy also reveals her preference for a MacBook which she purchased over the PC laptops at about 100k pesos. While I concede that if one is heavy on graphics and media, i.e., video production and editing (or terribly afraid of infection from viruses in the Internet) that would be one’s choice, still the price differentials are quite gaping.
Here in the US, starting at $400, one could own a PC laptop (Gateway or Dell), which would be a little over 20K pesos. And typically are women-friendly weighing as light as 3.5lbs.
In trying to break into the PC’s markets, Apple’s thrust continues to be that their products may also run Windows. And their current use of Intel chips (and I suppose chipsets) makes the transition even easier. Still, one needs to remember that MacBooks were not technically designed to run on Windows.
Visitors who stumble upon my blog through a search engine are usually not repeat readers - so I'm not sure how useful SEO is for me.
ReplyDeleteYes, laptops are quite inexpensive now. I just got a refurbished Gateway laptop that weighs a little over 5 pounds for $600. It's refurbished, but it looks and performs just like new! Also, Best Buy offered a $600 Toshiba laptop with a dual-core processor this week.
Aurea:
ReplyDeleteWhen I was back in the old homeland last year, one could purchase a desktop, with monitor and I believe including a basic printer, for about 18k pesos.
My rationale?
Over there, it is still very possible to own many technology products at very affordable prices. As long as one is willing to take the time to canvass.