Sphinn Launches

A new project for Search Engine Land, Sphinn is a social website that is designed specifically for search and internet marketing professionals.

Utilizing a Digg-style voting system, Sphinn allows you to share and discuss news stories and articles specifically dealing with topics like search engine optimization and social media/search marketing.

Self-promotion and submission of your own content is actually encouraged. Here’s an excerpt from their submission guidelines:

Yes, you can submit your own stories. In fact, we’d rather you directly submit your own stories you think are of interest to the community than have someone do it for you.

Yes, you can submit your own blog post about a news story you read. However, we’d prefer you only do this if you’ve added something unique to the general news topic, such as an extended opinion or further clarification.

First Impressions: Design and Features

In terms of design, Sphinn looks rather similar to Search Engine Land (SEL). The same overall color scheme is used and the site appears inviting, particularly if you’re familiar with Search Engine Land’s interface.

While they are neatly aligned to the right, they are still pretty in-your-face and do distract me a little from reading the description for each news item.


Community Building and Networking is Always a Good Thing

Social networks provide excellent branding and can serve as a strong source of defensible traffic, particularly for the host website. Digg-style social voting platforms are also avenues of expression for your site audience.

And what better way to encourage visitor loyalty, then to allow them to get some exposure for their own brand, website and content? The lure of free web traffic and interaction with like-minded individuals is a main draw for all social websites.