I am as tired as anyone else about the political bullshit that is going on in this country and there’s only so much that Justin Bieber, Lady Gaga and So You Think You Can Lose Weight While You Dance, Cook & Remodel Kitchens can do to distract us. I am particularly cranky about all of this deficit stuff so it irks me when I see news like the fact that the US Postal Service lost $2.5 billion in June of this year while being the 51st most visited site on the planet (thanks to @compete for bringing this out into the light).
Dear Uber Secretary of US Government Efficiency:
Please note the following:
- .gov sites seem to do pretty well SEO-wise
- seems to me that USPS.gov, and any other .gov site, could add some pretty great content to the site and optimize it so that it can get a lot of traffic for high value keywords
- Pop some Adsense on the pages (or some affiliate deals – I bet you can get a great CPA from FedEx)
- Deficit solved
Questions? email me at localseo @ localseoguide.com.
Now go back to reading Techcrunch, golfing with that lobbyist or whatever it was you were doing with taxpayers’ money.
14 Response Comments
What do you think a homepage link would sell for on a PR 9(?) .gov site? I’d love to see Google blacklist the USPS…
Andrew,
Think you hit the proverbial nail on the head with your last comment. Government doesn’t care becuase their is no competition, they are the only game in town. And when another player steps into the arena to compete, ie. UPS, FEDEx with the USPS the Gov get’s crushed in competition. I think the USPS biz model is broke. Ben Franklin had a great idea, but, as Eistien said (paraphrased) you cannot solve a problem at the same level of thinking the problem was created. USPS needs to think outside the box…even more so than sponsoring the US cycling team in Tour De France like they’ve done in the past.
great sentiment, Andrew!
and yup, I’d buy spots for each and every client I’ve got from our own CanadaPost.ca eh! they’re only a PR8 site but hey, every little bit helps, eh!
happy Fri the 13th too, to one and all!
🙂
Jim
Sounds like we need a blue-ribbon commission to study the possibilities.
I hope somebody from USPS reads this, implements your advice, starts running AdSense, and tells their bosses that all their problems are solved! When they get their first $100 check 4 months later they will be dancing in the hallways!
Seriously though… these guys need to monetize their shtuff. They could create an awesome local directory. Wowzer, they have the best data out there on locations.
Also, I’ve never been able to figure out why they don’t have some kind of e-mail marketing offering. They could sell guaranteed inbox delivery for $.01 an e-mail and make their billions.
Pardon the pun(s), but the Post Office doesn’t like to push the envelope or think outside the box. The only thing they have managed to do is increase postal rates while simultaneously increasing their operating deficit. I don’t get it.
I think it’s high time the search industry put its stamp on the government.
i don’t know, 2.5 billion dollars is a lot of money. i’m not sure how far adsense or selling links would go.
there’s got to be a better way for them to monetize their site. (and dropping nown to 3 times a week service would probably be their best way to cut costs)
Perhaps using Mechanical Turk for inefficient routes?
Leave it to the Government to be so far behind the times.
In their defense though, I am sure that email and online bill paying has contributed to their huge loss. However I do agree with you there has got to be some way of monetizing the USPS Site.
2.5 billion is a considerable amount to make up but why not try something at least.
I think they should also offer paid services that people can get from the website. I’m just not sure what. Maybe some sort of newsletter? If it’s the 51st most visited site in the planet, they’re bound to get some people who are willing to pay money for a subscription.
I agree that they’d make a killing with Adsense.
Andrew – you probably noticed this, but the USPS actually does not use its .gov domain They officially use http://www.USPS.com. having 302 redirected their .gov domain (!) They must have heard .com is all the rage.
So let’s say we recommend reversing the above as a first step. Here’s how the Blue Ribbon Commission process would probably play out:
The above 2 points will be expanded on and pored over during 10 committee meetings, over a 10 month period, with 10 members of a blue ribbon panel from 10 states.
Each meeting shall be held in a different state, to assure the convenience and ability of each member to have a meeting in their home state.
The other 9 members not living in the state will be flown in at USPS’ expense to each of the 9 meetings. If more than 4 members can not make the meeting, it will be rescheduled for the following month.
By 2012, after 2.5 years of work, the 10-month commission will agree to switch the domain to a .gov, and make the .com 301 redirect to the .gov.
The commission will not get to do much more, as President Obama’s first term will be over and with it the commission’s mandate.
The USPS will then issue a commemorative stamp bearing the likeness of each committee member.
The set will be called the “301 Commission Commemorative Stamp set”.
Writing the 301 redirect will be a challenge, however, as whoever does the redirect will need to get clearance from the department of homeland security.
If you don’t 301, the terrorists win.
Hi Andrew,
That post was laugh out loud funny to me. What affiliate programs would go well for the USPS, though. Stamps.com?
Maybe they could offer “plain brown wrappers”?
I think it is a great idea. Thanks. Mike