For starters, I don’t really use Twitter for anything but business. Having a Twitter account for personal use is rather pointless, considering how often I use Facebook multiple times per day, every single day. For me, Twitter is a good way for me to keep my web visitors engaged on what I’m doing to update a site. That’s it.

The difficult part here is that Twitter has created a culture of “follow back.” People get offended if you don’t follow them back. Well, some do. Others will just delete you if you don’t.

So, you’re somewhat obliged to follow your followers, which in turn transforms your dashboard into an endless stream of worthlessness. Don’t get me wrong, I love my followers, but I don’t care about their lunches, current events or what their family members are doing. However, I have no choice but to see this. I do, however, follow several web developers, template designers and others who affect my business, and it’s important for me to read about their plans and updates. However, they get quickly buried in the pile.

Twitter somewhat addressed this by letting us organize visitors into buckets. This let me drop in the developers I follow into one bucket, the designers into another, and so on…however, it creates an extra step, since I’ll have to visit the bucket, and click a user to read all of their updates. It also defeats the core purpose of Twitter – being able to actually see their live Tweets as they happen.

With that being said, I’m never surprised at all of those statistics talking about how Twitter has an awful retention rate, or how they’re having such a hard time holding on to active users. At least with Facebook – I can simply “hide” someone from my front page live feed if they (or their gaming updates…or their constant selfless promotions) annoy me.

On the topic of “the death of SEO,” keep a few things in mind. In the past couple years, people have been frustrated with search engines’ inability to deliver breaking news results. If you really wanted to know if Michael Jackson was really dead, you probably went to Twitter.com that day and searched for it, or visited CNN.com or even MichaelJackson.com for the fan forums. Every step I’ve just described had nothing to do with search engines, because they were worthless in delivering the answer.

Is SEO Dying because Search Engines are Failing?

As an internet marketer, you can probably throw in your own two cents toward an “SEO is dying” conspiracy theory. Just use your hatred of ridiculous, ancient methods of manipulating (see: scamming, cheating) your way to the top of search engine results by gradually building tons of keyword-loaded backlinks to your site; a practice that has not lost any steam in the past 15 years. Or, how about all of those old, worthless “last updated: 2004″ sites that are glued to the top of Google page 1? You know, sites that kind of answer your question, but have needed major polishing in the past few years. These are all a result of old school search engine functionality that has lost its place in the year 2010. They’ve spawned a whole new business category: SEO “professionals,” of whom have been freelancing themselves to oblivion, manipulating search results and making false promises. Enough is enough.

New speculation says that social media and relationship marketing is going to be the new replacement of SEO. How exactly this will happen is still unknown, as it will require an entirely new search engine platform (unless it replaces search engines, outright).

I think we still have one major search engine phase to go before any major changes take place, which is that of local search. We already know that people have stopped searching for “laundromats” and have already been searching for “laundromats in brooklyn ny” or “laundromats in 11201,” but it still needs a bit more refining in actual search engines, which I am expecting will eventually become “local portals” delivering highly catered results. We’ve already seen huge pushes in geo-targeting in both search and in ads, as even AdWords ads pull information from your IP address and display the closest TGI Fridays or Meineke center in your local area. Getting your local brick-and-mortar business in the “Google 7-pack*” has been the sales pitch of the year (*it’s that local map result with pin points showing local businesses in your area, based on whatever you search for, directly in the SERP).

Google’s inception of Twitter feed results and breaking news entries directly within SERPs has shown the direction that things will be headed toward, and there’s no turning back. Even Google knows that they have to adapt, or die.

People > Machines…Still.

The most important part of social media is that it simply has more influence to people. Anything run “by the people,” including testimonials and advice/reviews given by average citizens are what really matters; not what some SEO has scammed to the top of Google page 1 through cheating the system. Certainly not some website that says “last updated: 6/2004″ on it.

We craved social networking in the early 2000s. We wanted to reach out to the author of a great article, a webmaster, or even a celebrity and just know that they saw our message and had a reaction to it. It’s finally commonplace to do this. It’s also a way to get breaking information that’s available even faster than that of a news agency updating their own front page. Unfortunately, this is also a way to release rumors and misinformation that can throw the world a curve ball if it goes viral. That’s why we look toward reputable Tweeters and influences in the field before we believe anyone else.

The Stagnant Waters of SEO

Looking at SEO industry articles, information and even seminars – there hasn’t been a hell of a lot to say about SEO in the past year or so. Not much has changed. Manipulate your rankings by building keyword-loaded links to your site. Write original content…and a lot of it. Do article marketing. Rinse, repeat. That’s pretty much it, and we’ve already known about this stuff for years. Every time a search engine like Google implemented a revision or penalty, SEOs have adapted to survive it, like a virus.

That’s all SEO has really become in my opinion – adaptation and survival, and looking for the next big manipulative tactic.

Social media, on the other hand, is adapting like crazy. Everyone needs it these days: especially big corporations of whom have missed the boat on it for the past 5 or so years. The common everyday folk you talk to on a casual basis are now able to identify what “social networking” means in their own words. Twitter is a household name; even though most lay-people don’t “get it,” they at least know what it is. Corporations have gotten over their fear of non-moderated, consumer-run content, and have been able to harness it either on their own, or through hiring one of the hundreds of creative marketing agencies that have sprouted all around the world. It’s like the social networking plane that has just taken off…just wait until it finally reaches 30,000 feet!

Social Media’s SEO Revolution

Social media also keeps companies in check. If your business or service sucks, everyone is going to call you out for it on the internet and it will appear like a big, glaring marquee sign for all to see. Therefore, it’s in your best interest to treat your customers well and listen to what they say…for your own good. Anyone who doesn’t adapt to this mentality is going to get chewed up during this decade. This is the dawning of the reputation management era, where public relations will take on a whole new importance. No SEO practice will hide bad publicity!

I’m certainly getting more involved with social media than ever in my career. It’s not just a case of being up-to-date with my field, but it’s also a matter of job security. If you think that being an SEO professional will get you places in the next ten years (let alone the next year), you’ll be in for a rude re-awakening!

Do I think SEO is dying? Yes. It’s not dead yet, but it sure has one foot in the grave.

It’s important to note that Twitter has no tolerance of people who claim usernames for the sake of hoarding them, never using them, using them to spam others, claiming them for blackmail, or claiming them to eventually sell them off on a private market. There’s a whole sub-section of their terms of service in regard to Twitter username socialsquatting. If you’ve wanted a Twitter account badly and intend to really make it great but some scum has already taken the account name and has obviously done nothing with it, then you’ve got a prime candidate for sending a complaint to Twitter over.

Reporting a Twitter Squatter

If the Twitter account you’re wanting has nothing but spam links (such as “check this out!” with a Bit.ly link, it’s most likely affiliate marketing spam), report the account as spam. You might not be able to nail the guy for cybersquatting, even though he’s probably being active on a regular basis just to hold on to the name, but you can at least get him suspended for spamming.

If anyone has ever tried to blackmail you by registering your company name as a Twitter address, be sure to report it, and they will get a perma-ban by Twitter. Nice.

Now that all of the scenarios are out of the way, here’s how you can actually submit the complaint. Twitter doesn’t make the process very straightforward, and it can be a real pain to figure out how to report someone for squatting. If you need to do so, visit the “Submit a Request” form. The options for the form are rather ridiculous – you should select “I have a bone to pick with you” and “inactive username” or “trademark/brand cybersquatting.” Then, state the @username that is being squatted, and mention how there is no activity on the account. Twitter should be able to handle the request.

Suspended Twitter accounts go into limbo...sometimes forever!

There are three possible scenarios that may come from this: 1) Nothing happens (doubtful, since Twitter is more aggressive than ever with socialsquatters), 2) The username gets deleted and locked (bummer…now nobody can use it), 3), The user is deleted, and the username goes back up for dibs (be sure to check every day so that you can be the one to snag it!)

Twitter usernames that are suspended go back up for grabs in 60 days, or so they say.

Even if you find names that you don’t care about claiming, be sure to report them anyway. Do it for your fellow community. Don’t let these jerks get away with it!

Forums (it all should start here!)

Forums reside on your website, and are always run by the community. It’s a contact point for visitors between you (or your company) and the rest of your community. They make the content, they post the questions, answers, and participate in debates. All you have to do is moderate all of this stuff, be the “cornerstone,” be helpful, and keep it a democracy (gee, that’s it?)

However, it all starts off with well-chosen sub forums. It’s up to you do first define what the purpose of your forum is, and sculpt that purpose by creating relevantly titled sub forums that people will post in. Most forums have a “General Discussion” and “Off Topic,” but it’s the stuff in between that really counts. What do you want your community to be able to talk about? What don’t you want them to talk about? These are the two questions that will help you decide what sub forums to create.

Twitter (relationship marketing)

Twitter is pretty much run by you, and is a contact point between the visitors and you. There isn’t much of a “community” on Twitter per-se, since messages are sent directly to you (others can see them, though).

Twitter is a relationship maintenance tool that lets your audience know that you’re alive and out there, constantly adding great new features to your business, listening to their suggestions, and responding to their questions. It’s not a great place to “poll the audience,” but rather, let them know what’s new, and what’s going on with the company. Announce events and new features here, as well as helpful tips and tricks related to your industry or business.

Facebook Pages (the online cork board)

Facebook Pages are run by you, and they’re all about you. There is community interaction, but for the most part, the page is what YOU make of it (otherwise, create a Facebook Group instead). Here, you post a mix of the following things: company updates, new features, limited time offers/coupons, polls (“how many of you like…”, “what do you think about…”, “have you ever…”, etc.), and fun/offbeat/off-topic things that relate to your industry (cartoons, YouTube videos, jokes).

Note that I never mentioned “sales,” “affiliate links” or “pull tactics” for any of the three? These are community tools, not sales tools. Let them make the decision as to whether they should buy your stuff or not. Your website links are easy enough for them to find. This is all about being “one of the guys” and showing that you’re not a corporate asshole. Converse with the locals — they just might make you be cool like one of them!

The other main point is that your website forums, Twitter account and Facebook Page should have a distinct and individual purpose. Don’t mimic your Twitter and Facebook with each other, it defeats the purpose of anyone joining both. Make one serve one purpose, and the other serve another purpose…but make those purposes meaningful! Define your goals ahead of time.

Know which demographic uses which service. If teens are using Facebook, have one strategy for them. If parents are using Twitter, make your Twitter account parent-relevant.

It’s not as hard as it looks once you’ve gotten your objective, strategty and tactics written down on paper!

Here are some preliminary screenshots of the Twitter Lists beta program: the process speaks for itself…simply follow them from left to right. In a nutshell, Twitter Lists lets you create a list, find people to add to it, save, and the list will appear as a new hyperlink on your right-hand bar. When clicked, you’ll only see tweets from whomever that List includes…nice!

It’s not just me, though – who the hell wants to receive a direct message from a new Twitter follower (aka., stranger who you know nothing about/knows nothing about you), pushing some kind of sales talk and shortened URL that’s probably affiliate-loaded?

Here are just a few new ones I’ve gotten in the past few days:

“Check this NEW amazing WordPress plugin! http://tiny.cc/whatever” – Great, thanks – let me guess, the instant I click that, it will drop an affiliate cookie and point to a premium WordPress plugin site? Gotcha. Delete. NEXT!

“Businesses are run by numbers. If you don’t know what yours are or what they mean you’re flying blind. Do you know how to get insight?” – I don’t really know what the point of this was, but it sounds like some generic sentence that is sent to everyone that’s hinting at how he’s a business tip blogger. It’s not personal, so I don’t connect with it. At least he didn’t throw some kind of wacky link in there.

“Thanks for following — thought we might share a common passion for LinkedIn? Watch my free video here: http://2we.it/whatever” – Once again, here’s someone who doesn’t know me, who is shilling a link. Instead of stopping after “…LinkedIn?” and prompting me to (maybe) send a reply back to her, she ruined it by shilling a video. I don’t like that, so, I didn’t click it. I do happen to be on LinkedIn and enjoy the site, but I could have not been interested at all…she didn’t know that.

Here’s a message that was done right:

“Hey, thanks for the follow. I’d love to learn more about you – send me a DM anytime.” – This COULD have potentially been a generic line he throws out at everyone, but it’s a good effort. It’s non-threatening and friendly. I wound up clicking on to his profile, and found out that he’s also an internet marketer with a well-done Twitter account and a very healthy number of followers.

Twitter can be as annoying as spam email. If you’re looking to get new followers, don’t be a spammer. Nobody cares about your home business, your products or your affiliate links. They don’t even care about your opinions…yet. Give them a reason to. Be friendly and personal, not generic and salesy. Otherwise, you’ll lose what could have been another follower and networking contact.

Twitter is a word-of-mouth marketing (that is, if you’re using it for marketing purposes at all) and relationship-building tool. Think about when you bought something, like a new digital remote control. Then, a few months later, your friend emails you: “I’d really love to get one of those digital-style remotes.” So, you send over a link to Amazon.com pointing to the one you bought, and he buys it because he trusts your judgment. This is the magic of referrals. If you had sent that same link to some stranger, there’s no doubt that they would question your authority on the subject. Point in case!

Some things to think about – why do you have to be on Twitter? What value does it add to your company or business in general? (please don’t say “for the sake of being there, ’cause everyone else is on it,” which will prompt a swift kick in the ass from any proper internet marketer). Know that Twitter is not a sales tool, it’s a relationship building tool, and a way to let people know of a face behind the company or service. It lets people know that you’re doing something, instead of sitting back and collecting revenue. When people get to know you, they trust you – hence, they promote you. If you’re throwing in affiliate links and other worthless garbage, you’ll lose your reader base faster than the split second it takes for me to close one of those mile-long one page sales websites.

On the topic of Facebook Pages, I’ve seen some *really* shitty ones in my day, and they’re usually created by the “how do I get high page rank?” crowd. Facebook Pages, like Twitter accounts or anything else that goes public to the internet community, will require constant effort on your part. Post something of substance. The instant you start being self promotional is the instant people will lose faith in you and your ability to be “one of the crowd.” Make your Facebook Page be all about other people’s opinions. Post something, ask them for their feelings or opinions, and participate. Do something fun or interesting – post a funny video related to your business, or branch off a new thread about a discussion that had just been started to get some more visitor participation. Do this every couple days. If you let a Facebook Page sit stagnant, nobody will want to “fan” it…especially when the post at the very top of the page has been sitting there since 2008.

The moral of this rant is that social networking has the word “work” in it. It’s not a ‘set it and forget it’ solution – have a full plan of action written down that specifies your objective (why am I doing this?), strategy (how will I initiate it?) and tactics (what tools and methods will I use?). Don’t be one of those dummies who create social networks for the sake of “being there,” or to obtain yet another worthless backlink from a blank page. Make something special out of it, and you’ll be greatly rewarded for reaching out to your audience and letting them know that you can effectively use 21st century tools :)