If you are a fan of fantasy fiction, you must have read “The Inheritance Triology”.  The characters in the book are extremely anxious that no one guesses their true name. The true name is nowhere defined, but one can infer that the true name is the real essence of the person and it can be figured out by people who know the innermost thoughts of the individual.  If you know the true name of a person, you can have complete control over his thoughts and actions!

Perhaps the characters in the novel would be amazed if they were to encounter the techies and consultants of today who are struggling to guess the “true name” of websites!  Is this a game for better control of business or……… what?

It is clear that the players of the game “Web Presence” begin with a well defined  set of rules. The rules fall into neat categories–Search Engine optimization, Search engine marketing, Keyword optimized content, link building, Page ranks, site scores, Partnering, affiliating and so on.  Each rule based evaluation produces a tally. The tally and subsequent rank, marks the extent of control or lack of control.

The contest–as usual–is with the opponent–your competition (such fierce competition at that!) to grab positions (page ranks, incoming links etc) and seize assets (keywords, traffic) and wage cyber wars for a variety of reasons–sometimes based on rules and sometimes lawlessly (if you consider the hackers, virus producers etc). The “web presence” or “true name” will also be determined by how effectively and efficiently you win the cyber wars and stand terrorizing the attackers.

On the stands are the hordes of spectators who watch the game and influence it. These are the poeople who blog, twitter, forum or socialize and create the traffic to the site and also discuss among themselves about the merits of the site (with or without reference to the tally). These are people who have something to say about what intersts them and what the “true name” should be.

Ultimately, getting at the “true name” may well prove to be too much to “bite off” and chew….

So, what is your take on that?