Ciaran Norris

SEO vs Tynt: Storm In A Tea Cup 2.0?

There's been quite a bit of fuss recently about Tynt, a new web 2.0 site which many accused of scraping content. But how much should anyone worry about a site with no apparent business model?

by Ciaran Norris 18 September 2008 15:57pm 11 comments

Does beta mean anything to the average user?

One of the most common words to be found on sites that might be defined as being Web 2.0 is beta.

But does this mean anything to those who don’t work in the tech space and should there be a time-limit on how long a site can remain in beta?

by Ciaran Norris 12 August 2008 09:15am 6 comments

Is Bebo really worth eight Virgin Radios?

As Drama 2.0 pointed out recently, AOL is starting to think it may have paid too much for Bebo.

The recent sale of Virgin Radio for 'just' £53m seems to confirm that.

by Ciaran Norris 09 June 2008 08:45am 0 comments

Why The Guardian, and I, love Twitter

Micro-blogging service Twitter launched back in March of 2006 and was thought by many to have 'tipped' at last year's SXSW tech conference in Austin, Texas.

But a slew of recent articles, including one in today's Guardian, suggests that it might be about to tip again. And this is why you should care.

by Ciaran Norris 08 May 2008 10:20am 0 comments

Why I travelled halfway round the world to meet my online friends

In a world where I can keep in touch with friends & peers via Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and numerous other online networks, travelling to meet them in person seems rather strange.

And yet, as a trip to Sydney last week showed, there's still nothing to beat physical contact.

by Ciaran Norris 16 April 2008 08:28am 2 comments

Reputation Management? Don't Forget PPC & Universal Search

When talking about reputation management, many companies will explain the importance of utilising SEO to ensure that negative comments do not rank highly for searches against a brand.

But when dealing with negative PR, it's important to consider multimedia & paid search as well.

by Ciaran Norris 28 March 2008 16:45pm 2 comments

If SEO's a hygiene factor, why are so many sites dirty?

Many in the SEO world joke that if an agency or consultant starts talking about title or meta tags to potential clients, they should be ignored as this sort of thing is now considered very basic and suggests that the SEO doesn't know what they're talking about.

But looking at the websites of some pretty major brands, it's clear that for many people, SEO 101 is still pretty advanced.

by Ciaran Norris 18 March 2008 08:30am 0 comments

Why do some sectors simply not get the web?

Barely a day goes past without online commentators complaining about how the music industry is doomed because it doesn't 'get' the web.

Yet recent actions suggest this may be changing, which is more than can be said for the promoters of the national game.

by Ciaran Norris 05 March 2008 15:20pm 4 comments

UGC may be hard work, but it's worth it

A recent study has shown that a lot of traditional publishing companies have struggled to implement and make the most of user-generated content (UGC), with costs and efficiency listed as the main reasons.

But those that worry that enough people aren't submitting UGC may be missing out on the much larger numbers who interact with it.

by Ciaran Norris 26 February 2008 10:00am 1 comment

Don't let Google decide how to describe your site

When scanning search results, the only things that users have to decide which one to click on is its position in the rankings, the text of the link and the snippet of text displayed.

You wouldn't let the Royal Mail decide on the text of a piece of direct marketing so why let Google decide what text to display on these critical three lines?

by Ciaran Norris 13 February 2008 09:00am 4 comments