Welcome to the first of many (possibly controversial) 'mu:kau Keeps it Simple
Seminars. By seminar, I mean a few lines to give you something to think about.
This week, 'categories'.
Categories are a human being's way of sorting a lot of things into some kind of
storage system in such a way that the same kind of human can find those things
again later.
Categories are the only way that Exchange and Mart can organise all its ads
using some sort of logic that a majority of people can understand.
So 'categorisation' is a kind of shared understanding about organising things
that suits magazines, books, warehouses and museums.
To computer processing, a category is an uneccessary and clumsy human
interpretation.
In the real, old-fashioned, material world (books, paper, goods, mechanical
parts etc) things HAD to occupy space. Being physical, those things also could
only be organised in ONE way at a time. (Think of your shed). These kinds of
things here, those kinds of things there. The constraints of real space demands
that you organise things or else you'll never find them. Hence categories.
The digital world is different. For the first time, you can pile EVERYTHING into
one big space and re-organise it in whatever way suits the task at hand -
according to a wide range of different attributes, properties, names, tags,
classifications, dates, contents and so on.
So when you look at an online directory that's inviting you to advertise or buy
into the business opportunity, look at how it works with categories.
Some directories I've researched are clearly stuck in 'print' thinking: they charge
advertisers for an entry buried somewhere at the end of a long and branching
list of business categories and sub-categories. Sure, if you're starting in say,
WhateverTown, and know you're after someone in the Travel industry and are
definately looking for Bus and Coach operators and Stations you might find First
Travel Shop - but even when you found it, you've no idea if they will meet your
needs so you still have to pick up the phone to call them.
That's 'print-thinking' for you.
The problem with print thinking is that it worked for print but its disastrous for
online marketing.
If a directory business doesn't START with online thinking, approach it with
caution. Online thinking begins where the online browsing customer is: in front
of his PC with a Google window open. He's NOT going to a local portal called
'Bristol', then scrolling down a list of categories for 'Heating and plumbing' to a
sub-category called 'Boiler repairs & servicing'.
When looking at online directories, make sure that their primary service is to list
you in Google keyword searches for a particular location. Why? Why not?
Since that's how people are searching for products and services.
Some directories are trying to straddle both print and online ways of thinking.
That makes sense to the extent that some older folks may still approach their
directories with print - or Yellow Pages - thinking.
To summarise - look at any online directory and ask yourself "Is this print or
online thinking here?". One will give you little in the way of online visibility and
the other will make it its priority.