Get Informed. Get Traffic. Get Paid!

David Snyder posted a very good article today on his blog that asks the question, what should come first (SEO or Site Usability)? David then goes on to try and answer this question or at least provide his opinion on the subject. It is a lengthy post, Dave please go give your wife and kids a visit before they forget who you are, but definitely worth a read as well as a plug on any social site you may belong to.

My opinion on the matter is that in general I would give the slight edge to SEO. If you can get people to your site, unless usability is really atrocious, you will succeed. Now you may have both good SEO and good usability and still fail, your offering may just not be good enough to put it nicely. SEO will help get first timers to your site, usability will keep them coming back.

Here is an excerpt from Dave’s post:

It is the chicken before the egg of the online industry.

Which comes first usability or SEO?

Designers and developers often take one stance on the issue, and SEOs another. I am not sure there is a right or wrong answer. Despite how many in our industry present information the only way we can quantify any degree of success in what we do is by measuring how profitable a web property is (I know not all websites operate for revenue, but who cares about them?).

Profitable sites have been built without sound search engine optimization.

Profitable sites have been built with poor usability.

Neither of these points can be argued.

If you thought the domain world was a little over complicated as it was with all the various extensions already available, you are not going to like latest news to come out of ICANN meetings taking place in Paris. It appears as early as next year, anyone with a little financial backing will be able to apply to have their own extension created. I am sure some will go to good use, but I lay more on the side of skepticism here. Not only do I think some bad ideas will come out of this, I think this will just cause a nightmare for organizations looking to protect their brand names online.

Here is the story courtesy of CTV.ca:

Web regulator opens door to infinite domain names

Updated Thu. Jun. 26 2008 1:11 PM ET

CTV.ca News Staff

“Dot-com”, the ubiquitous term that has come to serve as a description for all things Internet-related, could be in the sunset of its heyday following a key decision Thursday on domain names.

The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, or Icann — the body that regulates the Internet, voted unanimously to ease up restrictions on domain names such as .com or .net.

The decision, made on the final day of week-long meetings in Paris, could trigger a frenzy of bidding as companies rush to claim domains like .investment or .travel.

In fact almost anything could become a web address under the new rules — from personal names to trademarked brands for major corporations.

Individuals could get domains named after themselves so long as they could prove they have a business plan and “technical capacity” according to the plans for the system.

However, companies with intellectual property linked to a specific name will have first dibs on their own domain, like .ctv, for example.

The new rules would mark a historic change from the current system where only .com, .net, .edu or .org are permitted, in addition to country domains like .ca or .au.

The new system could be in place as early as next year, but many details have to be worked out first.

As it is proposed now, applicants would go through a review phase, where others would have the opportunity to object to a requested domain over racism, trademark issues or similarity to an already existing domain.

If the application isn’t challenged, it would be ushered through.

But even some members who voted for the plan had concerns about its implementation.

“If this is broadly implemented, this recommendation would allow for any government to effectively veto a string that makes it uncomfortable,” Susan Crawford, a Yale law professor on the board told The Associated Press. She called for more clarity prior to implementation of the changes.

Icann also voted to open for public comment a proposal to allow domain names that are written with non-Latin characters, such as Arabic.

Today I joined The Visa Business Network on Facebook, to my surprise doing so gave me a no strings attached credit of $100 towards a targeted Facebook ad campaign! Immediately after joining the group I received an email with my promo code and instructions on how to apply it.

If you have been looking at testing out the Facebook ad Network, now is the time to do so. Or if you already use it  (as I do) you have an extra $100 cash to play with.