SEO and Web Analytics Results are not set in Stone

SEO Search Engine Page Ranking results are not always exact or 100% accurate and should not be read as such. Readers of the data should understand this and look at the trends over time and sudden changes in data with changes to campaigns or pages. This also applies to Web Traffic Analytics by the way, regardless of the tool used to track web traffic. Each tool uses different methodologies and algorithms to measure the data. There are millions of factors that play a part in the traffic and SEO results. So, take heart SEO professionals; this does not discount our work, it merely keeps us intellectually honest.

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What should SEO Pro’s be Earning?

Participate now in SEMPO’s first ever Search Agency Salary Survey — the agency version of the In-House Salary Survey released in January 2008.

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=yfTxu61JXbsPxjA2QavzXA_3d_3d

This survey is designed for:

*People who work at an agency that offers search engine marketing in its mix of services
*People who work at an agency with a search engine marketing branch or division
*People who work at an agency devoted solely to search engine marketing.

If you are one of our in-house search engine marketing members, we encourage you to forward this email to your agency friends and colleagues. This survey is not limited to SEMPO members.

Take the survey today - it is less than 30 questions from start to finish, so it should take around 12 minutes to complete.

Remember…this survey is for people working at agencies participating in search engine marketing or agencies totally dedicated to search engine marketing only.

Focus Inward for Greater Growth

There are many sites, blogs, and articles devoted to Search Engine Optimization and Search engine Marketing. Many of these focus on the keywords used by surfers to find your site. ICrossing even provides a great article on the synergy between Natural Search and Paid Search and how the combined effort actually increases quality of leads and higher conversions. That article, titled “Search Synergy Report” is good reading for those who are looking to justify an SEO and SEM campaign.

What I am missing so far from all of the information out there is information on Internal Search Optimization. It’s like everyone has forgotten about this important aspect of site Optimization. You put a lot of effort and resources into optimizing your site, finding the best keywords etc… Once someone finds your site, the search isn’t over for them and neither is your job as the person responsible for the online marketing.

So, Internal Search Optimization is slightly different from external SEO in the fact that visitors are now more specific about their search. You need to look at the terms they use in your search. I can tell you it is rarely what you think it will be. People may not use SKU numbers to find a product or other internal industry identifiers that only your employees recognize. They may not even be searching for products, but for a location or contact information, so why not offer that option?

Bottom line, just like the efforts you put forth for the External SEO/SEM, do the same for your Internal SEO. Look at the site map, the internal structure, check if spiders can access and search those pages and lastly check which internal keywords returned zero results. That is a huge opportunity to improve your site.

SEMPO 2007 State of the Market Survey

SEMPO’s 2007 State of the Market Survey is Now Open!
Go to http://www6.intellisurvey.com/run/sempo2007 to complete the survey. The deadline is February 1, 2008 so don’t delay.

If you reside outside of the U.S., here is the link: http://www.sempo.org/learning_center/research/sempo_research/sempo_2007_state/

This is your chance to have your voice heard. By participating in SEMPO’s 4th annual State of the Market Survey, you have to opportunity to share your opinions and expertise. Whether you are seasoned in SEM or still wet behind the ears, your input is valued and needed!

Why should you take the survey?

Taking the survey will actually stimulate you to think about the resources you devote to SEO and paid search - which is a valuable exercise in itself.
First dibs - you will receive the preliminary survey results before they are released to SEMPO’s membership.
Support the SEM industry - this survey is highly regarded as a valuable resource for the industry.

Free Giveaways! Randomly-drawn participants will receive:

8 Gb iPod Touch
or
One free pass to a North American Search Engine Strategies (SES) Conference

The time that you invest in completing this survey will help show where the industry is, how it has grown, how it is expected to grow, and trends for the future. Not only does this information benefit the individuals and companies involved in SEM, it benefits the industry as a whole. This survey has proven to be a valuable representation of the ever changing, rapidly growing SEM industry.

Please tell all your colleagues and online marketing acquaintances about this survey - participation is NOT limited to SEMPO members. SEM and SEO agencies, online and traditional agencies, in-house marketers… all are welcome.

If you are not a member of SEMPO and are interested in what our memberships have to offer, please visit https://www.sempo.org/join for information. You are also welcome to contact info@sempo.org if you have any questions.

Time to get started! Please go to http://www6.intellisurvey.com/run/sempo2007 to complete the survey. As a reminder, the deadline is February 1, 2008 and if you reside outside of the U.S., here is the link: http://www.sempo.org/learning_center/research/sempo_research/sempo_2007_state/.

Thank you so much for your participation.

The Superbowl of Advertising

Are you ready for the Superbowl? I know I am as well as many other fans as well as all of the people who work so hard to bring it all together including Iology, the Scottsdale based Interactive agency who is handling the internet marketing for the Superbowl. Another big component of the Superbowl besides the actual game is of course the commercials. Yes, those very expensive and sometimes entertaining 30 second spots that are the hopes and dreams of many companies to be a good investment or put their new product, service or company brand on the map. But what do these spots do besides give the viewer time to refill their chip bowl or bottle of cold beverage? Will we see a repeat of last year’s disappointing turn out, or something new and refreshing? Was last year’s dissapointment the beginning of the end for the Superbowl Commercial popularity? Whether these commercials will be able to maintain the high premiums or the popularity with fans remains to be seen. My question however is:

Will the marketers be smart enough to direct traffic to their websites and then optimize their websites for content from these 30 second gems so the real value can be tracked? Try this on for size. Not only should these companies optimize their webites for the commercials but they should also make sure to purchase the keywords used in these spots so after consumers see the ads (after the game of course) and then do a search for the company, the product, or the service; Your Adwords will appear on the right of the results page as well as the Natural Search Results on the left. I urge you not to recreate this scenario. Do not create a wildly creative commercial with funny characters and so on and then not even optimize your site with that content. When viewers search for the characters or the commercial, they will not find you. Worse yet, you will not know how much revenue was gained or lost because you did not perform any SEO or SEM. You know who did? Your direct competitors. That’s right; your direct competitors performed SEM on keywords surrounding that commercial and gained revenue from Your Commercial. Touch Down!

The Case for Web Standards and SEO is Still Alive and Well

The Case for Web Standards is still alive and well and more important than ever. For those who know me, know I am a follower of Jeffrey Zeldman. When I was a web page developer, back in the early days of CSS, database connectivity, and when Flash was still a Macromedia product and on version MX and Actionscript was on version 2, I was a champion of Web Standards.

Today, I haven’t coded a web page in some time. Static has given way to Dynamic, Rich Media Data Driven websites. AJAX, is no longer just a kitchen cleaner. Some developers I have worked with suggest it can replace Flash in some respects, creating animated navigations etc. They are now finding ways for it to work more smoothly with SEO practices. What is AJAX?

ASP.NET AJAX is a free framework for quickly creating efficient and interactive Web applications that work across all popular browsers.
With ASP.NET AJAX you can:

• Create next-generation interfaces with reusable AJAX components.
• Enhance existing pages using powerful AJAX controls with support for all modern browsers.
• Access remote services and data from the browser without tons of complicated script.
• Serve as an alternative to Flash
• Take advantage of the improved efficiency and ease of use in Visual Studio 2008, with its built-in support for ASP.NET AJAX, improved JavaScript support, and a new Web page designer interface.

Back to the topic at hand - Web Standards.
Web Standards and SEO are as important and relevant today as when they were introduced. We are still talking about putting relevant content on your site to drive traffic. That has not changed. Using recognized Web Standards and W3C complience is an important practice that all developers should be utilizing and marketers should be aware of.

It is not extra work to the developer; it will save work in the long run and deliver ROI, just as adding the Analytics code on every page. If pages are created this way from the get go, it just becomes part of the workflow. After all, Developers still need to create pages that are compatible with different browsers and versions and show the layout and design as it was intended as well as being able to be read by search engines, and browser readers for seeing impaired (read Designing the Obvious, and Don’t Make Me Think).

This all ties together. Creating sites that utilize Web Standards, Usability Standards, and relevant content all work together to assure your site is Optimized for your audience, the Web and the Search Engines.

The one member of every target market that many companies and agencies overlook is the Search Engines. If a page is not optimized, it will not show up when the other members of your target market search for it. If you don’t care about traffic to your site and online conversions etc. then shut down the website.

So tell me again, how Web Standards and SEO are not important.
To learn more about Web Standards check out this related article on Better Living Through XHTML