Recently I have read StuntDubl’s post about MySpace SEO (highly recommended, he provides a good sum up on all pros and cons there). Seems like this topic doesn’t fade away like some expected but only gets people more interested in it. Even those who at first grumbled about MySpace’s ugly design and screwed up usability now try to catch up with MySpace marketing. So what is the real value of MySpace?
Traditional SEO always looks at a link value from the point of view of search engines (and when most SEOs say “search engines†they of course mean Google most of the time). People created a lot of MYSpace-style dorway pages for their main sites recently in hopes of getting indexed fast like it used to be with blogs or in hopes of gaining another link that might be appreciated by Google that’s so picky about links nowadays. This begs a question: does Google think MySpace is an authority domain (and consequently, places value on links from it)? Considering I still rank #1 for MySpace Media Kit, I somehow seriously doubt it. So if MySpace is no good for link building, why use it then?
The whole point of MySpace is in its commuity building opportunities. Those who prefer not to drag behind using the same old tired techniques everybody has spammed to death but tend to come up with something innovative for their own sites’ promotion do not want to depend on search engines alone any more. A great example of these innovative strategies would be Earners Forum. It got itself a ton of members before it even got noticed by the search engines – all due to the viral marketing skills of its founder, Lee Dodd.
Well, there is nothing really new in this world, as usual. It’s been said long time ago by many people that you should build your web site like there are no search engines out there – in this case, this old advice acquires a new flavour. As a result, you may laugh at MYSpace, you may grumble about its poor design and unusable navigation all you want but there is no way you can ignore it if you care for your own good. For building a community of (hopefully) loyal (potential) customers, MySpace comes very handy. Building communities will probably be where we all go once SEO is completely dead.