By Alli Summerford
April 15, 2008
UPDATE May 1, 2012 – Google has discontinued their Knol project as of yesterday.
Watch out Wikipedia, here comes Google Knol.
Now in Beta version, Google Knol is one of the latest offerings by Google. The term “Knol” is defined as a single unit of knowledge. Like Wikipedia, it serves as a collection of knowledge -an online encyclopedia to use when researching a particular subject. For site owners, it offers a new place to post articles and information pieces related to your area of expertise. Unlike Wikipedia, Google Knol is an open authorship environment where the contributor of the piece is given credit. Google Knol presents a great opportunity to site owners for several reasons. First, Knol allows you to link from areas of the article to other web pages that support the information. This is a great way to get new inbound links to your site while sharing valuable information with others. Inbound links are a critical piece of online marketing both for the traffic they drive to your site as well as the boost you get in your organic rankings for having good link popularity. Additionally, there is antidotal evidence that having articles posted in Knol is helping speed the process of having your site listed in the regular organic listings for Google. Finally, you get the opportunity to establish yourself as an authority on your subject material.
There is only upside here. At a minimum, you share valuable information with others on a topic about which you know a thing or two, and you get some good inbound links to your site. Additional benefits may include better organic rankings for your site. What do you have to lose?
In developing your online marketing plan, it is import to keep the tenants of Dandelion Marketing in mind. That is, the more seeds you spread to the wind, the more flowers will grow. Google Knol fits perfectly into the Dandelion Marketing approach as a great way to spread the word by sharing your knowledge and influence beyond the scope of your site and its domain.
To get started, simply go to Google Knol (http://knol.google.com) and click the button on the right-hand side that reads “Share what you know – Write a Knol.” It will walk you through the process from start to finish. Don’t forget to fill in your profile information. If you need help with this process, you can always contact us to help.
