I don’t think Twitter will harm the traditional methods of SEO.

I (and possibly many others) would be ever so grateful….!

Keep being creative, write attractive content, use the advantages of technology to promote it and always anticipate changes in the behavior and habits of your audience.

Problem is, as soon as they mention it, they always follow it up with their explanation of why they don’t understand it (and why they think it’s stupid). Just this morning, I was listening to a popular national sports radio show and they actually referred to it as “Tweetering.”

It is just amazing to me that so many people can’t yet see the value gained with Twitter. The name of the game is exposure, and Twitter helps you get it.

All the technical stuff seems like a tremendous barrier to entry for people who may have something valuable to say but lack the skills, or budget, to have the latest and greatest tricked-out website. Whether I am one of those adding value remains to be seen…

I will say, even as a newbie, twitter has been a big help. I can’t imagine bloggers today NOT using twitter.

The site owners will still receive the initial burst in traffic when their content spreads virally on Twitter, but unlike when people blog about it, there is virtually no long term traffic in this situation.

The search engines face the problem of having fewer quality links to work from since Twitter nofollows external links. Even if they didn’t, most people use URL shorteners, so there are few direct links anyway.

It will be interesting to see how both sides work around the challenges.

My own habits have changed with the use of Twitter – I read loads more blogs, comment on loads more – at the moment have stopped running my own blog while I assess how I can present my own thoughts, information and muses in an intelligent yet readily accessible way that is valuable for both readers and my business. That takes some thinking!

I think this is a really interesting time and don’t think anyone has the answer for it will evolve….

It will take time for more of the market to catch up and with that the relationships between the tools, the information and how they are used will change again and again and again.

Those who understand what is happening will make great progress but there will be casualties – just as ever

The name of the game has certainly changed.

Let’s see who learns to play it best.

The technical aspect of blogging counts for maybe 10% at most – the 90% is having a good idea, a functional site, and producing stuff people want to read.

Many high traffic sites are un-optimized, out-the-box installations, or bare-bones outfits. But they’re written and run by intelligent people who have something interesting to say. (Think kottke.org as a classic blogger, or in the design world, the original version of swissmiss.)

A site run by someone who is an expert on adwords techniques and keyword targeting and tags v categories and monetizing twitter is unlikely to be interesting.

It only appeals to other bloggers who are also hoping to make a buck and want to read up on the same stuff. Unfortunately for them, the time and effort it takes to create something financially profitable in this realm means a ROI is going to be harder and harder to get.

To use a crude analogy, look at computers. Steve Jobs and Jonathan Ive can’t strip a computer down and rebuild it. They don’t know the intricate technicalities of what’s going on under the hood. They just know what their audience likes.

And that, not 200-page PDFs (”e-books”!) or free SEO trials or SEM workshops, is the secret of success.

There’s only room for a handful of people who can be successful doing that, and Darren, to your immense credit, you’re one of them.

The rest of us will just need to focus on creating something people want to read, and maybe have a couple of Problogger-type sites in the RSS feed – no more.