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You may have heard it said that having a search engine friendly site is key to success on the web. That's fine and dandy, but what in the world is a search engine friendly site? Find out how to code your site to make a difference in how well you rank in the search engines. Learn what tags and attributes are essential to gaining those top rankings. Even if you know nothing about HTML, this session will arm you with the knowledge to help your programming team get your site in shape. Stoney deGeyter, President, Pole Position Marketing is the speaker for this session.
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While it's easy to get overwhelmed about going up against big businesses in marketing realms like search engine optimization, blogging, viral marketing, community building and analytics, a good dose of common sense can really level the playing field. This panel aims to set the stage for the rest of the show by helping you change your perspective on competing with the big boys. Speaking on this panel is Matt McGee, Wendy Piersall and Matt Bailey.
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IncrediMail has provided business owners an incredible lesson as to why you should not place all your eggs in one basket. This occurred last week when they discovered that their AdSense privileges had been banned. This resulted in their stock dropping over 45% to a new year low. While IncrediMail does claim to generate revenue by selling software products, offering subscriptions to their content database, and by selling paid advertising on their Web site and e-mail client, they did admit that search revenues powered by Google's AdSense program made a significant contribution to their results in 2006 and 2007. The lesson to be learned here by any business is to not place all of your eggs in one basket.
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I can't believe it has been almost a year since I wrote my first "The Thanksgivings of a Search Marketer" post but no doubt - here we are. Therefore in traditional fashion, seeing that those of us in the United States will celebrate the Thanksgiving holiday this coming Thursday, I thought I'd once again reflect on what I am thankful for as a search marketer. Of course first and foremost I am thankful for my wonderful wife, Irma, my family, my faith and the many blessings that have been bestowed upon me this year. However, seeing that this is a search marketing blog, I thought it would be fun to put together a list of things I am thankful for related to that world. Here we go!
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Kevin Newcomb reveals the results of the latest Search Marketing Benchmark Survey from MarketingSherpa at SearchDay where he reports that search marketing budgets are expected to increase by double-digit percentages next year. This is no surprise as we have seen a continual trend over the years of companies allocating more funds toward search marketing efforts. One reason for this increase is the anticipation of higher prices. That would include increasing PPC prices on keyword buys as well as firms who continue to increase pricing.
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Are garage sales similar to search marketing? I think so. I have just survived another garage sale that my wife has put on in which I started to think how a successful garage sale is a lot like a successful search marketing effort. Likewise a garage sale that performs poorly can be compared to a search marketing effort that delivers a poor ROI. My wife has always had very successful sales which has been the result of a lot of hard work. More than once she has completely surprised me in how she can turn a nice profit out of what I consider junk (stuff we no longer use or need).
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Li Evans has a great post over at Search Engine Gurus where she explains how to not only optimize press releases for search engines, but people as well. Press release submitted online are a good way draw attention to your products and services. They also provide opportunities to increase the amount of inbound links that are pointing to your site. However, as Li explains, "understanding who will find this information intriguing enough to call you to investigate a little more and create a story out of your information is the key to creating successful press releases."
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After putting together an SEO proposal for a small business web site they came back and informed me that they only had $300 to spend. That's not monthly folks, but period! After looking over my proposal which was more to the tune of a few thousand dollars, they wondered what they could do (if anything) with such a small budget.
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This is the second part of a recap of what I spoke on in a session entitled "So You Want To be a Search Marketer" at the recent Search Engine Strategies conference in San Jose. In part 1, I provided some statistics on how much money is pouring into this industry, explained how I happened to "stumble" into search marketing after experiencing success marketing one of my own sites, and talked about how to gain hands-on experience by applying search marketing techniques to a working web site before engaging paying clients. In part 2, we are going to look at how budding search marketers can network with businesses as well as peers, how they can effectively brand themselves, how to stay on the cutting edge of this fast paced industry and some things not to do.
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I recently had the opportunity to speak on a brand new session introduced during the Search Engine Strategies San Jose conference entitled "So You Want To be a Search Marketer." The session explored ways that budding SEMs can educate themselves as well as get started in the industry. I approached this topic from the perspective of one who learned and applied SEM techniques to one of our own sites before ever deciding to take on paying clients. I thought I put together a post on what I spoke on as well as include the actual PowerPoint slides for those who would like to view them. Read on for a link to PowerPoint slides as well as details of what was actually presented.
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I had the opportunity to speak at the Business Network of Anthem's weekly meeting on the subject of what else - search engine marketing. A small group of around twenty people gathered, all who own small businesses in the Anthem, Arizona area where I also live. The group consisted of bankers, financial advisors, insurance brokers, home improvement service providers, an auto repair facility owner, a flooring company, a swimming pool service provider and the list goes on. What was interesting is how few out of the group are actually doing any search marketing at all.
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"It's the most wonderful time of the year..." - uh oh you caught me singing Christmas melodies. It is that time of the year again - faith for some, the gathering of family as well and of course, gift giving. And with gift giving, there is gift getting (receiving). Have you made your wish list yet? I have, at least from a search marketing perspective. Allow me to share what I would like for Christmas this year.
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Andy Beal has just published an article entitled "Five Secret Strategies to Add $1 Million in Revenue to your Interactive Marketing Agency in 2007" in which he provides some proven strategies that any marketing firm can implement. The five secret strategies Andy lists are tried and trusted as he has used them to help grow one firm to $25+ million in annual revenues and another to an annual run rate of $2+ million in its first year. Read on for a bullet list with some excerpts and link to original article.
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As an owner of a full service SEM (Search Engine Marketing) firm, there are two things I love - word of mouth referrals and partnerships with traditional agencies. How can one not love these two means of acquiring new business? Word of mouth referrals is as old as the dinosaurs. As a consumer, you buy a product or receive a service that you are just absolutely thrilled with and you tell everyone you know. Not quite as old is the process of SEM companies who partner with agencies, whether those agencies specialize in PR, web development, traditional media (print, radio and video), etc. Very similar to word of mouth advertising, partnerships allow you to tap into an existing customer base who has already put their trust in the agency you are partnering with. This post looks at the latter of these - SEM/Agency partnerships.
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This Thursday, those of us in the United States will celebrate the Thanksgiving holiday. While I am thankful for my family, faith and the many blessings that have been bestowed upon me, I thought it would be fun to put together a list of things I am thankful for related to the world of search. These include tools, resources and even influential people. Search marketing has come a long way since I first entered it in 1997. With its evolution, there are many things I'm thankful for that help me to do my job well on a daily basis.
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A new study released by Piper Jaffray shows that search is the most efficient marketing channel for acquiring new customers, more than twice as efficient as yellow pages, which placed second. The cost per acquisition for search is on average $8.50, whereas the Yellow Pages was the second-most efficient channel at $20 per customer acquisition. These two are followed by online display ads at $50, email at $60, and direct mail at $70. The study also found that because of the explosive growth of local search, the number of online advertisers could reach 2-4 million over the next five years from the current number of 700,000.
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In lieu of all the top 10 lists going around, I have created my own with regards to site redesign. It is inevitable that web sites need to be redesigned, upgraded, spruced up, etc. from time to time. If your site is currently enjoying great search engine traffic, then the old adage, "Don't fix it if it ain't broke" will haunt you when considering any major site revisions. How can you have your cake and eat it as well? How can you have a brand new shinny site and retain all the search engine referrals you have come to love and enjoy? Read on to find out.
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Do certain search marketing firms have special partnerships with search engines like Google, Yahoo or MSN? You would think some do in the way they have pages on their sites announcing "special" search partnerships. Sure SEMs can have account reps in regards to PPC of PFI services that the search engines offer. They can even know powerful contacts such as Matt Cutts or Tim Mayer, both of whom are prominent reps of Google and Yahoo. But are there any SEM firms that have formed partnerships with the engines that would give them some kind of advantage or special status? Or are web pages that announce special partnerships between SEMs and engines simply a sales technique?
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A recent study by Outsell shows that online advertising is now being used by 80% of marketers. Key findings include growth in search engine ad spending, keyword ads are more affective then contextual, Google rated more effective than Yahoo! & MSN and more.
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Jennifer Laycock, editor of Search Engine Guide, has authored a new eBook entitled "Small Business Guide to Search Engine Marketing" specifically for small business owners. Jennifer has been involved in Internet marketing since 1995 and with search engine optimization (SEO) since 2001. Although I have not reviewed the eBook yet, I am sure it is packed with valuable information that will help any small business owner understand more about the benefits and "how-to's" of search engine marketing.
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