Publishr

Overlapping Blueprints: A multi-layered approach to metadata and SEO

In a recent webinar organized by OCLC, Laura Dawson presented a very simple, yet essential definition of metadata: “Metadata is data about data.” In this equation, the latter ‘data’ refers specifically to the content of a pBook or eBook. The former ‘data’ is a collection of certain pieces of information about the content that we use to categorize, place, shelve, describe, identify, locate, etc. 

Thankfully, there was no limit imposed on how much of this former ‘data’ there could be. And, while many publishers agree on set pieces of metadata, albeit in a de-facto manner, this need not be the case. Expanding on Laura’s definition, let’s look at some examples of items that could be used effectively within the metadata mix, creating a system of layered metadata from within. 

In-line code: Code within the XML structure of content is going to be a very important place to lace strategy into bookselling. The more online discoverability maintains and expands its role in sales of book products, the more publishers are going to have to get smart about the search game. Some publishers have begun to do this already, others are exploring their options, but ultimately, it will become essential for publishers to include advanced SEO techniques in both their content itself as well as the coded wrapper it resides in. From finding hiding places to secret keywords, to tagging content properly and effectively, to refining titles and subtitles outwardly, to changing how things are done on copyright pages and TOCs, in-line code for both pBooks and eBooks is perhaps the new marketing plan. If you are not doing this, start now.  

Descritive copy: While our conception of metadata has expanded to be included in what we consider ‘marketing,’ the reverse movement has happened less so. Descriptive copy, being actual marketing copy, which feeds out to online accounts, via ONIX or other delivery method, is indeed part of a book’s metadata proper. It describes the content in a longer form than tags and codes, provides an inticing snippet to the consumer, and represents the whole of the product. This copy, like in-line metadata, needs to be optimized for search, as it will appear many places across the internet driving up the book’s collective page rank. Descriptive copy, while having a duty of its own, also needs to play a role behind the scenes in improving discoverability through search. The more keywords a publisher can integrate and the more search-friendly a publisher can make this copy the greater the benefitw will be for our products in the long run. 

Website SEO: Any search optimization performed on web properties related to each book should be related and integrated with search optimization perfomed on the content itself. With the ability to load keywords into XML codes, and, eventually, into the text itself, a strong SEO strategy needs to move beyond the content that we have, beyond the descriptive copy, and onto the streets, so to speak. At the very least, the web team that is setting up websites, landing pages, author blogs, and eCommerce pages must converse with teams that are performing keyword development for editorial and marketing purposes.

Social media: Social media outlets are wonderful for interacting with customers and peers alike, but despite the dissemination of huge amounts of information online, few have begun talking about SEO as it realtes to social media. It is important to note that because social media outlets allow for us to talk about our books, they are additional areas for dessimination of metadata. On the various platforms used, user profiles are highly trafficked, bios are read by many, tweets, syndicated blog posts, messages, and answers to questions are spit out by the million every day. It’s time to get smart about these missives and start loading them with keywords, pushing our SEO strategy to the next level. If every book had, say, 50 keywords that must be included in as many places as possible, social media marketing teams would be hardpressed not to use them thus drawing more attention to a book’s presence. It will not be long before we start using ‘heavy tweets’ in our daily marketing activities. 

Paid Search/SEM: If you are engaging in SEM as well as SEO, it remains important to integrate any paid campaigns with the non-paid ones. Good paid search marketers can tell you exactly what people are typing into Google and how many of them are clicking on a link to your books. This information can and should be used by the rest of the team to develop keywords. Here, it is essential to remember that the conversation is two-way. Making sure all of these layers sync up is more important, I believe, than simply performing the tasks of implementing each. To simply make insular teams responsible for each of these items is to miss the point. There is more metadata than we think, beyond the ISBN, and the tags, and the copy, and the pub date, and the format, and the page count, and the price. There is a whole world of metadata out there that we can exploit. The nature of the internet today is that there is no ‘one-stop shop’. There is only multiplicity. 

There is one last piece of metadata that I wanted to mention, something that someone perhaps much smarter than I will figure out: 

User-gen: Perhaps the most difficult area to navigate, because we have little to no control, user generated content, like customer reviews, is also part of a product’s metadata. It is data about the data. Simply because we do not create it, nor what much control over it’s distribution, does not make it any less effective in describing, identifying, and categorizing our content. In fact, even the smallest items can be of important. Let’s say a certain user is highly active at leaving review on a certain site. Other users who may become familiar with these people may, eventually, begin looking for or even SEARCHING for specific user names in order to follow reviews from a trusted source. With sites like Shelfari, GoodReads, and other sharing sites and options being built into eBooks, user generated content and metadata is going to become perhaps more voluminous that publisher generated metadata. How, in the future, are we going to be able to leverage this data?

XML as business model: What if we simply stopped playing by the (archaic) rules?

This past week, publishers across the board essentially told their accounts that current contracts would not be honored. Publishers leveraged Apple’s contract for the new iBookstore to strong arm other accounts to fall in line with a new model. Thus begins the Agency Model experiment. Accounts, after panicking, played along, and now everyone is (seemingly) happy. But, what exactly did publishers gain by rewriting the rules of engagement in two days?

Many have voiced the opinion that the consequences of such hasty settlement are going to be felt sharply and for a long time. I tend to agree. In fact, I think the biggest mistake made by publishers quick to push new contracts through was the mistake of near-sightedness. Rapidity beat out thoughtfulness, a little foresight, and strategic planning.

Here’s why: The terms of these contracts were adapted from terms written for print products, with adjusted syntax to accommodate the realities of digital products.

also

Control over pricing is not the only issue to consider.

This makes no sense whatsoever. If publishers want to move beyond putting out sub-par digital products only for the sake of being represented in the marketplace, we are going to have to start running our digital business like a business. We need to build business models that make sense for digital products. This includes new contracts and terms, not offshoots of print contracts and print terms; rather, we need a digital starting point when making the rules that will govern digital products.
Let’s take a step back for a minute. Let’s say print didn’t exist. Let’s say we only had digital publishing as a reference. Then, what would the contracts look like? What would we think of the royalty system versus revenue shares? What would we demand of our accounts? How would we deal with pricing? How would we build a dynamic business?

So much of what our print business is predicated upon simply does not apply to digital products: returns, reprints, sell-in, shelving, warehousing, reorders, section buyers. So, what if we just threw all the rules out the window and started anew?

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A year ago, publishers finally got the message that XML was the way of the future in terms of content. Right now, most publishing houses have reorganized their workflow to reflect this change; although publishers are in various stages of implementation, there has been an industry-wide acceptance to incorporate XML into the language of publishing as a primary factor in how we relate to content we acquire.

Now is the time to start the conversation for a change in digital business model. In a year from now, our digital businesses will look nothing like they do today. The things about XML that make it appropriate for content are also the things that make its principles appropriate for a digital business model: XML is modular, nimble, strategic, and data-rich.

Modular: Sometimes called ‘chunkable’ content, the modularity of XML content is one of its most important features. The ability to move content pieces around effortlessly is one of cornerstones of the argument to adopt XML conversion. The same should be true of a digital business plan. We need to come up with different modules that work together and separately, that let us define the most appropriate set of terms and circumstances under which to operate reflective of the product offering. For example, we could create an ‘eBook’ module, an ‘app’ module, a ‘print book’ module, and a ‘chapter excerpt’ module. Then, when we acquire content, we could say: this will become and eBook, a print book and an app, but we will not be selling a chapter excerpt. Done: three modules are combined and we have a plan to work with. Rev shares, royalties, terms, partners and more would be defined in the separate modules thus providing a roadmap for each iteration conceivable for content.

Nimble: The digital game is inherently nimble. Embracing the quick-paced shifts that take place across the internet can only be done by adopting a business model that has provisions for these changes. This is the exact opposite of what we have now with our physical book products sitting in bricks and mortar retail stores. Yesterday, eBooks didn’t exist, so they were ignored in business models. Today, they are being hastily written in. But, what about tomorrow? What will exist tomorrow that we didn’t write in today?
Again, a modular business model as described above would be, by nature, nimble. Instead of having to rewrite entire contracts and revise entire businesses, we could simply add a module that defines the rules bearing on a new product of which we previously had no conception. New products could be integrated into the larger mix with little or no disruption for publishers or accounts.

Strategic: Right now, business models in this industry are reflective only of that which we are able to see today. This is the earlier mentioned problem of near-sightedness. If we want to be able to adapt to future innovations in our industry, strategy needs to be considered now! Take a look at the cell phone industry. The first cell phone was a clunky grey box that was bigger than a person’s head. Less than 20 years later, we all carry around mini computers with integrated cameras which we call phones because they make calls, too. The grey box phone is where we are at with eBook technology; we’ve only just begun. If you cannot foresee the future, and how quickly it is going to move, you’re already dead.

Data-rich: One of the best aspects about XML is its ability to store useful data along with content that has absolutely nothing to do with face value usage. This metadata is secreted away in tags which, essentially, aggregate themselves through use of content management systems (a pivotal milestone in any successful XML workflow). As each file gets used by those who touch it along its path to publication, tags gather and help make the content searchable and more exploitable in the future. This is equally possible with our business models. We need to start storing data in the modules themselves as to how each one can be applied, when it is appropriate to use, the types of products to which it applies. Terms for each module that not only defines it, but defines how it interacts with the other modules can be carried in each module separately. Pricing matrices, for example, could be stored in each module.

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One thing upon which we can, perhaps, agree: A year from today, the digital landscape will be unrecognizable. We need to address this today, not in a year as we just did with our digital contracts. Scrambling for impossible deadlines, not taking the time to think things through, and making significant changes in our business within less than a week are not ways to move forward in a smart way.