Online Business Owners Find Themselves Trapped in the Grips of Obsessive Facebook App

Facebook games are all the rage now. People all over the world are obsessed with games like Farmville, Mafia Wars, and Café World. A local Seattle-based SEO company has decided to jump on the Facebook game bandwagon and create a fun, yet educational Facebook game.

“People spends hours a day playing these Facebook-based games”, said founder of Ranks to Riches, Timothy Bluff. “I figured it would be a great opportunity to show them what SEO techniques can do for their websites, but in a fun and informative way.”

Timothy Bluff, who majored in graphic design and creative writing from the University of Washington, created a Facebook app that puts people in the place of a webmaster who is creating a new website. People must pick out a website name, choose which SEO techniques to use, and create a detailed list of keywords for their website.

“What this app does is places people in the driver’s seat with SEO techniques”, said Bluff. “I can talk to people about how important SEO is for their website till I’m blue in the face, but if they don’t understand it that won’t help anyone.”

The Facebook app titled “Reaching for the Rankings” isn’t just about educating the public; it is also about having a little fun. People who play this game are taken on a journey through Cyberspace, where people can visit websites, look around, interact with each other, and just have fun.

“My goal was to make something that was interactive and fun, yet educational at the same time”, explained Bluff. “Originally this app was just going to be a fun little extra tool I used to encourage prospective clients to use my services, but somehow the beta version was leaked, and others quickly caught on.”

The Facebook app “Reaching for the Rankings” is ranked number 40 out of most downloaded Facebook apps with a total of 10,000 active players, and it is only in its beta stage. Bluff plans on formally releasing it to the public by the end of the year.

“A friend of mine who owns a business online was referred to ‘Reaching for the Rankings’”, said avid gamer Greg Hughes. “I laughed at first because it was such a simple concept, but once I started playing it, I became obsessed. This game definitely has the ‘IT’ factor people look for in games. It will be a hit when released to the public.”