Archive of Search Engine Optimization Posts

I am a self-admitted fan of celebrity gossip. I don’t know how it happened or when it happened but I have been sucked in and I can’t get out. Needless to say on Monday I was skimming through the various ‘entertainment’ blogs and I came across a few stories on how John Mayer Googles himself every morning and how he responded to the accusation. A lot of the authors were making fun of him but I don’t blame the guy one bit.

We have been running a Google AdWords campaign for some time promoting KoMarketing Associates’ focus on B2B SEO.

I thought it would be interesting to share a small portion of the data we have collected.

The table below highlights search impressions for some of the keywords we have been advertising (but not all of course!).  The data was gathered from May 2007 through February 2008.  The data set is by no means complete. 

Andy and I are excited to be a part of SEMPO’s hybrid training concept, which blends the material from their online course “Insider’s Guide to Search Marketing” with a one day class at Bentley College’s Center for Marketing Technology in Waltham, MA.

Our goal is to provide a complementary experience to the material found in the SEMPO course through the use of real world examples, applications and an overview of core concepts. In addition, hands-on exercises have been created to give beginners practical recommendations for applying ideas found in the course into their own search marketing campaigns.

Utah Web Services has a post entitled ‘A CEO’s Perspective On SEO, SEM, SMM, PPC, and ROI‘ that really hit home for me.

So often we as a company have to answer to CEOs, Presidents and executives who do not have a clear understanding of search marketing and more importantly a clear understanding of what they are paying us to do.

One of my biggest weaknesses (and thankfully Andy’s biggest strengths) is explaining search marketing in a way that everyone can understand it. With improved analytics and tracking it is certainly much easier to show ROI but it isn’t always easy to explain the SEO processes themselves.

I am looking forward to participating on the panel next Thursday, March 13th, for Social Media Club Boston’s event titled “The Search for Results: Social Media and Search Marketing.”

Networking starts at 6pm and the panel kicks off at 6:30pm at 800 West Cummings Park in Woburn (MA).  Directions and registration are online at http://socialmediaclub.pbwiki.com/BostonMarch2008. 
 

The following is an excerpt from the announcement of the event:

This event will explore the following:

• Why SEO is an important component of a social media marketing strategy

• What are SEOs doing with social media on behalf of their clients

Shaun Anderson just published his post interviewing 25 well known SEO people on the topic of Keyword Density (KD). In addition to some well thought out responses, there are a series of valuable resources for those interested in digging deeper into concepts like information retrieval and term - keyword weight.

While discussing these interviews with a colleague and recollecting a previous post I wrote on strategic keyword placement, it’s important to realize the following 3 points:

Brad Kenney, from IndustryWeek, just published an article today titled How Strong is Your Brand Online?

Brad interviewed me for the article and he generously provided readers with some of my thoughts on how manufacturers can benefit from search marketing (both SEO and PPC).

The three main sections of the article are:

• Use SEO (or Lose SEO)
• Content is King
• Pay-Per-Click Pays Off
   

The premise of the article is that “manufacturing companies have a growing opportunity to leverage their Web sites to generate more business, build customer loyalty, create brand awareness and gather market intelligence.”
 

I recently commented on an article written in Media Post’s Search Insider blog titled “What Does A Recession Mean For Your Search Program?”

My commentary took the perspective that search marketing is somewhat recession-proof (obviously I have a vested interest in this).  My plan was to write a blog post adding to that perspective. 

But, as I sat here thinking about what to write, I posed the question to myself - What are some factors that would PREVENT a company from using search marketing (as a tool) in a recession?

4 Reasons To Cut Back Your Search Marketing Budget

As I have noted in previous posts, the majority of my friends and family don’t really have what I like to call a “firm grasp” of what I actually do for a living. I usually end up trying to explain it and when I am done, despite the “Oh yeah’s” and “I see’s”, they still really don’t understand.

So, for my New Year’s resolution I decided I would just start lying. No more explanations resulting in blank stares, I am just going to lie. I think it’ll be a fun experiment. In fact, I am pretty sure I will get much more positive responses.

Last Friday, Techcrunch posted an announcement that Yahoo would be testing and integrating del.icio.us social bookmarking numbers directly into certain search results.

In addition to the traditional information users see (titles, search descriptions, URL etc), searchers may also see the number of people that bookmarked any given page and what tags they used to “describe” that page.

I’ve been a strong proponent of del.icio.us for quite a while but often neglected the “social” aspects of the tool in favor of other social news and bookmarking services (Digg, StumbleUpon, etc). If this move proves successful, it could become a major reason to use del.icio.us for more than just a personal bookmarking tool.