Click here to view the embedded video.

You can read the reviews of SEMPO Institute’s “Insider’s Guide to Search Marketing” formerly known as the “Fundamentals of Search Marketing” and the Advanced SEO Course Review by TopRank’s Dana Larson.

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© Online Marketing Blog, 2008. | SES NY Video: Sara Holoubek on SEMPO | http://www.toprankblog.com

The Advanced SEO Course builds on the basics covered in the Insider’s Guide to Search Marketing, and then expands into research and execution of many SEO tactics including: keyword research, web page construction, link building tactics and writing appropriate website copy.

SEMPO Institute’s Advanced SEO Course is divided up into 5 learning modules:

• Advanced Keyword Research
• SEO Diagnostic & Audit
• Advanced Link Building
• Editing & Optimizing pages
• Reporting & Analytics.

Each module is split up into 3 lessons to cover a different section falling under the module umbrellas.Similar to the Insider’s Guide to SEM course, each lesson provides an online course packet and resources available for more information on the specific topic. There are also mini-quizzes placed in between key topics in each lesson to test the reader’s understanding of the previous materials and to highlight the important facts learned thus far.

There is a 20 question test at the end of each lesson covering the topics learned in the lesson. The questions are in a true or false, multiple choice, fill in the blank and matching format, and a score of 75% or higher is needed in order to pass. The tests can be retaken as many times as necessary to achieve a passing score, and once all tests are passed, a Certificate of Completion is issued for display and recognition of passing the SEMPO Institute course.

The difficulty level of the questions vary to make sure the reader pays attention to even the smallest detail in order to pass the test. In the Advanced Link Building module there are questions such as “Match the link building tactic channel with its category” referring to using del.icio.us as part of your social media marketing mix. There are also questions stating a problem and asking for the best ways to solve the problem, such as using industry-specific directories and blogs to gain appropriate reputable inbound links.

The Advanced Search Engine Optimization Course differs in structure slightly from the Insider’s Guide in that it is a lot more interactive. The Advanced Keyword Research module explains how to create a segmented keyword glossary, and offers 30-day trial memberships to Keyword Discovery and Wordtracker to aid in the development of the keyword glossaries.

There are also many of valuable resources available in the Advanced SEO Course. At the end of the Advanced Link Building module, the readers are provided a list of popular link building blogs, such Debra Mastaler’s The Link Spiel, to continue the linking education. The link building module was clear in that the linking tactics highlighted were some of the current tried and true methods, but that linking tactics change frequently.

Due to the changing nature of the industry, consumer search behaviors and the search engines themselves, SEO professionals must keep up on industry news and spend time experimenting with new tactics in order to stay current with productive linking tactics.

The Advanced course provides up and coming SEO professionals with the resources to take their work to the next level by demonstrating what tools to keep in one’s SEO toolbox. It also can help seasoned SEO professionals brush up on their knowledge of certain research and strategies.

While online training and formalized instruction on SEO and paid search tactics are certainly helpful, there is no substitute for hands on learning through concepting, implementing, measuring and refining your own search marketing campaigns – which is exactly what we do with new employees at TopRank. Formal training, conferences, reading blogs and hands on learning provide the best mix.

If your interests and responsibilities lie more with online advertising, then SEMPO Institute offers an Advanced Search Advertising course focusing on the creation and maintenance of pay per click campaigns. If you are just beginning your SEO career, the Insider’s Guide to Search Engine Marketing course is a good place to start.

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© Online Marketing Blog, 2008. | Advanced SEO Course Review – SEMPO Institute | http://www.toprankblog.com

• Chris Boggs – SEO Manager, eMergent Marketing / Brulant, Inc.
• Jessica Bowman – In-House SEO Expert
• Massimo Burgio – Global Search Expert, Global Search Interactive
• Bruce Clay – President, Bruce Clay, Inc.
• Dave Fall – VP Product Management – Search Technology, DoubleClick, Inc.
• Duane Forrester – Senior Program Manager, Microsoft
• Sara Holoubek Free Agent Consultant
• Gord Hotchkiss – President, Enquiro Search Solutions, Inc.
• Bill Hunt – CEO, Global Strategies International
• Ron Jones – President and CEO, Symetri Internet Marketing
• Kevin Lee – Executive Chairman, Didit
• Jeffrey Pruitt – Executive Vice President, iCrossing
• Dana Todd – Chief Marketing Officer, Newsforce

Congratulations to the 2008 SEMPO Board of Directors!

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© Online Marketing Blog, 2008. | SEMPO Announces 2008 Board of Directors | http://www.toprankblog.com

Late in 2007 the SEMPO Institute released several search marketing-focused online training courses. The first course, Fundamentals of Search Marketing, offers 14 different lessons encompassing the basics of SEM and SEO. To get a sense of what was offered, our CEO Lee Odden asked my coworker Jeff Nolan and I to take the Fundamentals course and write up a blog post.

The SEMPO Institute Fundamentals SEM course is designed for people who are new to the search industry and those who have been in traditional marketing and are now opening up to search marketing as a new career.

Composed of 14 lessons that range from “How Search Engines Work” to “SEO Web Design”, the lessons provide useful tips and real-time examples as well as supporting tools such as those used for keyword research or pay per click.

Each lesson provides study materials and an online course packet. The course materials present basic concepts, ideas and examples that are used daily by search engine marketing professionals. Throughout the lessons, the reading is broken up by short mini-quizzes that keep you on your toes and reinforce what you’ve been reading.

At the end of each lesson a 20 question test is given on the course material just read. Questions on the tests are composed of true or false, multiple choice, matching and fill in the blank. A score of 75% or above is necessary in order to pass, but tests can be retaken as many times as necessary in order to receive the passing score. The Certificate of Completion is not issued until all lessons are passed.

Because this course covered a variety of topics, the test questions ranged from simple to difficult, testing how well the section is read and making sure the reader pays attention. There was a lot of in depth information provided on how to set up a successful PPC campaign, and the amount of test questions on this topic and the difficulty of those questions reflected what was learned. In the SEO Web Design section, tags such as <nofollow> and <noarchive> were described, as well as the appropriate situations in which to use these tags.

Also covered in the fundamentals course is directory submissions and how they can benefit any website, basics of good copy writing and the tracking and reporting of an SEM campaign. One of the last sections in the course was called “Current Innovations” where the rise and implementation of universal and personalized search were covered. The course rounds out with an informative section on intellectual rights and which written information available on the web belongs to whom.

While some of the questions seemed unnecessary for performing search marketing consulting services (“What year did Yahoo! officially become a search engine?”), the basics were covered to educate a broad audience of users, and offered tips that can benefit even the most seasoned SEM professional. (The answer is “2004” in case you didn’t know.)

For anyone interested in beginning a search marketing career or for those who need to brush up on their basic knowledge of search marketing, this course is a good foundation. Even for those working in an offline marketing field, this course will help bridge the gap between traditional advertising and search marketing.

If you already have experience working in the search marketing industry, the SEMPO Institute also offers an Advanced SEO Specialist course for more in depth training on SEM and SEO, as well as an Advanced Search Advertising course, focusing on developing and maintaining successful PPC campaigns.

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© Online Marketing Blog, 2008. | Learn the Fundamentals of Search Marketing – SEMPO Institute | http://www.toprankblog.com

Online Marketing Blog has a category on SEMPO including observations from the results of previous surveys including: “Search Marketers to Spend $5.7 Billion – 2005” which seems so small now compared to the $18 billion or so.  There’s also,  “SEO More Popular than Paid Search” which was not so much an indication of budget allocation, but of the percentage of companies using SEO compared to PPC at the time.

In exchange for taking the survey you’ll also get an advanced peak at results plus there are a few giveaways including:

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

SEMPO has an official announcement and you can take the survey here.

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© Online Marketing Blog, 2008. | SEMPO State of the Search Marketing Industry Survey 2008 | http://www.toprankblog.com

The opportunities in the search marketing industry are as good now as they’ve ever been. With a new year many people working for agencies, just getting out of college or the military will be looking for careers and training that fits their need for a technical yet creative job that also doesn’t stagnate.

To help fulfill the growing demand for training and education in the search marketing industry, SEMPO Insitute has been created to provide structured, peer reviewed educational opportunities. The Institute is led by dean, Terry Plank and Online Marketing Blog is pleased to provide readers with this interview about how SEMPO Institute was created as well as the challenges and opportunities facing the search marketing industry.

How did you get involved with search marketing (and the SEMPO Institute) and where does the intersection of search and education come into play for you?

Thinking about beginnings, it was almost a birth of triplets: Web, search engines, search engine marketers.

I launched a website the first year the Web went commercial. Within that first year I had to run to keep up with developments in the search industry to become successful with my sites and the ones I was developing for others.

Usually in an industry there is a time lag from its inception and the development of training and education. But, the Web is one of those unique industries that necessitated an immediate need for training and education.

There was not much training or education initially, you had to jump in the water and learn to swim or you drowned.

As you well know Lee, the need hasn’t lessened, everyone must keep up on changes in the industry to be successful whether you just having one web site, work for a company with one or many, or are employed in an Agency.

In previous careers I was involved as an educator so it was natural for me to team up in 1999 with Robin Nobles to form one of the first online training companies in SEM. After 4 years I returned to focus on my SEM consulting until the SEMPO Board of Directors hired me in August 2006 to oversee the development and launching of SEMPO Institute. Now with Katie Donovan or Business Development Manager taking on everything else I’m able to just focus on the curriculum and overseeing the professional content authors.

Can you describe how the SEMPO Institute program was built? How did it work with content authors and peer reviews? How will the content stay updated?

I’m glad you asked that Lee because this is one of the major strengths of our education and training; professionals teaching others from their own experience and expertise. With SEMPO Institute training you aren’t getting just one person’s perspective or expertise, you are getting a complete faculty.

4 prominent SEM professionals in SEMPO developed the first lesson outlines: Dana Todd, Paul Bruemmer, Fionn Downhill, and Anthony Mueller. I enlisted a handful of top SEM professionals to add to those outlines what they thought might be missing.

Then with the SEMPO Management Team we selected over 30 working SEM professionals associated with SEMPO. They wrote first drafts in their specific area of SEM expertise. These drafts were sent to a different group of peer SEMPO professionals to edit, evaluate, and make further recommendations for additional content.

We finished with a professional editor editing every lesson to ensure consistency within the lessons before I passed them on to a development person to create each lesson and publish in our robust online Learning Management System.

A final group of SEM professionals went over the finished online product to edit and make any final recommendations for changes.

As for updating, that’s been going on from the first students until now. As students, graduates, and some selected evaluators recommend areas that need attention we make updates when appropriate.

Two times a year we will perform a more formal updating of the lessons to ensure that everything is still correct based on changes made in the industry since the last updating.

Once a year we are going to return to each lesson and determine what new areas have arisen that should be added into the lessons. We will go through the same process as I outlined before when we make those changes. You don’t want to do that too often or too quickly because new things that come up in the industry have to get some “legs” before you want to start teaching people about them.

From the web site, it seems the SEMPO Institute course material is targeted towards people that want to become search marketers. Have you seen any trends in distribution of students in terms of being client side, agency side or independents? Who is the ideal candidate for this program?

The original idea for SEMPO Institute was to meet the need of our general and circle SEMPO members who could not find a big enough pool of trained search professionals for the openings they had and continue to have. So the web site is targeted towards individuals who want to get into the industry.

During this first year we have learned much. One lesson is that agencies, eTailers and corporations have a need to purchase courses for their current employees and interns who are entry level as well as the experienced search marketers. With our three courses, we do have a course that fits all these demographics and the ones you mentioned.

Fundamentals of Search Marketing is a perfect start for someone who plans to become a search marketing practitioner but has little or no experience/knowledge. We have full-time students and career changers who have taken or are taking the courses on their own in preparation to enter the job market.

Others who benefit from this course are people who are not the day-to-day practitioners but whose work is associated with search, i.e. agency sales reps, account managers, client services, and marketing managers who outsource search and search advertising.

Advanced SEO, designed for people who have some understanding of search marketing, is the course search optimization practitioners and the people who want to become practitioners would take. Agencies have purchased this course for employees to bring new employees up-to-speed quickly while establishing a consistent level of knowledge for all search optimization practitioners. Agency personnel, in-house personnel, and independents have taken the course with agencies personnel representing a slight majority.

Advanced Search Advertising is comparable to the Advanced SEO course. It is designed for the practitioners or soon-to-be practitioners in paid search. Once again, people employed at agencies, corporations, and independents have taken the course, but agency personnel have taken the vast majority of this course.

What are the goals for SEMPO Institute for 2008 in terms of content offered and students?

First, keep the current three courses, Fundamentals of Search Marketing, Advanced SEO, and Advanced Search Advertising updated and current. As for additional courses, we decided to get the first three offerings firmly established before extending our reach too far. The final decision for new course offerings has not been made as of yet.

There’s a huge demand for search marketers within pure play SEM agencies, other types of agencies expanding their services into search marketing and also companies that are building out their in-house search teams. Is SEMPO Institute designed to address the training needs of all those scenarios or just a segment?

SEMPO Institute’s courses do not focus on where you work but on the goals of search and search advertising. Our courses cover everything necessary to understand the elements of SEO or search advertising that a professional needs to work individually or within an agency or an in-house corporate team. The specific strategies of SEM agencies and in-house teams are going to be unique to them and our graduates will be equipped to understand the specific strategies and techniques used. So, yes our training allows the search professional to be successful in whichever venue best fits his/her career goals.

What mix of training experience would you say is ideal for someone brand new to search marketing? Conferences, online courses, blogs, books, forums, networking groups, associations, personal experimentation, on the job training, etc?

The first thing someone new to search marketing needs is a base of understanding. Of course the industry has many means to get indoctrinated, conferences, courses, blogs, etc. Yet, there is no one size fits all in any industry for gaining knowledge. If you survey 100 search professionals about how they got started and where they learned the answers will vary slightly.

A combination of formal and informal learning experiences is important for anyone new to search marketing. I recommend beginning with formal (SEMPO Institute specifically) because the industry is established enough that certain basic knowledge is not going to change.

Learning on one’s own from resources like those I mentioned earlier and just jumping into experimenting with a site does not help with the core knowledge but is a great means to broaden and deepen understanding.

I am a huge fan of networking as well. It helps learning as well as finding out more about the careers options available. How else can someone new to the industry find out about the differences between working at an agency or in-house unless through networking with the people who actually work in these settings? This is why SEMPO Institute established a SEMPO Institute Group on LinkedIn for our students and alumni.

The question I’m often asked is how to get the hands-on experience that hiring managers prefer. One recommendation I make is to provide search marketing to one or two non-profit organizations that the student supports. It helps a cause you believe in while establishing hands-on experience.

As a $10 billion + industry, you’d think there would be more SEM courses offered at universities. Do you think that will change and if so, how fast and in what way?

It may take another five years for such courses to become commonplace but the changes will occur. I think we will see search marketing taught as a subset of other courses first, then established as a full course, and finally multiple offerings in various aspects of search such as SEO, PPC, and mobile search.

SEMPO Institute’s Fundamentals of Search Marketing was used as a required resource in one college for a search marketing course this Fall and will be required at another this Spring for an eCommerce course. College and universities have not been the main focus in our business development but we are excited to work with them and welcome working with others.

The fact that one school, Fanshawe College in Canada, actually has a course entitled Search Marketing and used Fundamentals of Search Marketing is very exciting. I believe we will see more and more schools establishing such courses whether part of their marketing curriculum, advertising curriculum, IT curriculum, or other curriculum.

It’s a pretty big accomplishment to put together the program that’s currently offered through SEMPO Institute. So many people were involved, volunteering their time and have helped promote it. Do you have any “shout outs” you’d like to make? (sorry to put you on the spot

You are so right Lee, until this last updating of lessons where we pay authors everyone volunteered their time except for me, a development person and our editor. I’d encourage everyone to go to www.sempoinstitute.com and see all the people who should be honored but the list is too long to go over here.

To single out just a few I think I have to say that Dana Todd, Fionn Downhill, and Jeff Pruitt should receive golden crowns for following the original vision with hundreds of hours working with me to get SEMPO Institute to the place of prominence we now have as one of the foremost SEM distance learning educational institutions.

I guess the second group to get a big thanks is the 2006 and 2007 SEMPO Board of Directors you’ll find at www.sempo.org. These forward thinking leaders authorized a significant investment of capital to facilitate training the next generation of SEM professionals.

There is one final group to thank. SEMPO has 19 committees who lead our professional organization. One of the committee’s is the SEMPO Institute Committee co-chaired by Fionn Downhill and Jon Schepke. There are 16 members in this Committee who are active in decision making on the Courses and their promotion. Your readers can see a list of those SEMPO Committees and the Members of our Institute Committee at www.sempo.org.

What are some of the top online resources for search marketing would you recommend?

A Well, let’s start with the search engines themselves. They have excellent and important information, even Microsoft. Our lessons refer directly to them repeatedly because we teach best practices acceptable to search engines. Just as importantly, the way they work must be integrated into our broader training in SEM because the search engines are the foundation of the industry.

Next let me recommend that your readers go to www.sempo.org for some important resources we supply in our lessons that the SEMPO Education Committee added to the SEMPO site.

First, there is an excellent Glossary from our Lessons and links to other Glossaries that are important.

Second, if you follow Resources and Links you’ll find many of the resources we refer to in our SEMPO Institute Lessons; Blogs (like your excellent toprankblog.com blog), Discussion Forums, Newsletters, Tools and Software. This great resource area spins your head around as you realize how much is out there. One would have to read through much more if you didn’t take a set of courses like ours to orient yourself and be prepared for using these resources effectively.

Thanks Terry!Â

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© Online Marketing Blog, 2008. | Interview With Terry Plank SEMPO Institute | http://www.toprankblog.com

There’s been a bit of buzz over the past year, very slight at first, and recently it’s been picking up around the idea that the midwest or Minnesota at least, needs a dedicated search marketing association. I know there are many, many super talented, experienced SEOs as well as paid search pros that have either kept their networking and collaboration to very small, tight circles or rely on national events and the connections that technology has brought through IM, social network sites and the ever unproductive microblogging formats like Twitter, to stay connected, collaborate, network and share.

At the same time, there are also plenty of people that are new (less than 2 years) to the field that are looking for more professional collaboration opportunities that are local. Add all the related industry professionals in advertising, PR, web development and interactive that can influence, benefit from or affect a client’s search marketing success and it would seem there may be good reason to have a geographically located and operated entity that can support the needs of furthering SEM interests.

The local interactive marketing association (MIMA) does a great job and has hit record numbers of members and quality of educational programming the past few years, but there are so many interest areas within interactive it would be difficult to drill down deeply into something like search when there are numerous other disciplines in need of attention such as web design, email, advertising, user experience and many others.

Let’s face it, the budgets allocated to search are more than significant enough to pay attention to. SEMPO reported in their “State of Search Marketing” survey results that $9.6 billion was spent on search marketing in 2006 and that figure is estimated to hit $18.6 billion in the next 5 years.

“Wow” is right.

Speaking of SEMPO, I know they’re doing some testing at the regional level and if that pans out, they might start to launch more in other regions. I think that rather than starting something from scratch as the successful SEM groups in Dallas/Ft Worth, New England and Portland have done, it might be a very desirable option to hook up with a search marketing organization that already has the infrastructure and processes down, not to mention national exposure.

But that’s jumping ahead a bit because I am first curious about opinions on whether a regional organization is needed. It would be interesting to know if the needs of upper Midwest search marketers are being met with current organizations and national associations.

Note: There is a poll embedded within this post, please visit the site to participate in this post's poll.

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© Online Marketing Blog, 2007. | Minnesota Search Marketing Association | http://www.toprankblog.com

The winds of change are blowing in the search marketing conference scene this year with more offerings than ever. The big conferences persist, while new challengers as well as smaller and more practical seminars emerging.

SEO and Paid Search education is not limited to conferences with the DMA Search Engine Marketing Certification and the SEMPO Institute launching recently. However, conferences and seminars offer the added benefit of networking, prospecting and the kind of after hours education on topics that simply are not publicly available.

Which leads me to this week’s Reader Poll on conferences or seminars that offer search engine optimization and/or paid search marketing content.

There are many regional and industry specific conferences I may have not listed, so be sure to mention them in the comments.

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© Online Marketing Blog, 2007. | Reader Poll: Best SEO SEM Conferences | http://www.toprankblog.com

Chris Boggs – Search Strategist, Avenue A/Razorfish
Massimo Burgio – Global Search Expert, Global Search Interactive
Fionn Downhill – President/CEO, Elixir Systems
Dave Fall – VP Product Management – Search Technology, DoubleClick, Inc.
Duane Forrester – Manger – Search Marketing, Sports Direct
Sara Holoubek – Free Agent
Gord Hotchkiss – CEO/President, Enquiro Search Solutions, Inc.
Bill Hunt – CEO, Global Strategies International
Kevin Lee – Executive Chairman/Co-Founder, Did-it.com, LLC
Jeffrey Pruitt – President of Search Operations, iCrossing
Tanya Rietze – Global SEO Program Manager, Hewlett Packard
Dana Todd – Co-Founder/Principal, SiteLab
Dave Williams – Chief Strategist/Co-Founder, 360i, LLC

It’s great to see some client side marketers in there. To be honest, it would be great if there were more. Hopefully with the in-house marketer initiatives SEMPO has successfully been building, there will be more in-house representation on the board next year.

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© Online Marketing Blog, 2007. | New SEMPO Board Named | http://www.toprankblog.com

• David Adress  Р  Bitochon Technologies, LLC
• Chris Boggs  Р  Avenue A/Razorfish
• Alan Boughen  Р  NeoSearch@Ogilvy
• Paul Bruemmer  Р  Red Door Interactive
• Massimo Burgio  Р  Global Search Interactive
• BJ Cook  Р  Digital-Telepathy
• Tim Daly  Р  SendTec
• Paul Denhup  Р  SearchRevenues.com
• Fionn Downhill  Р  Elixir Systems
• Kevin Embree  Р  Click Forensics
• Dave Fall  Р  DoubleClick Inc.
• Duane Forrester  Р  Sports Direct
• Darcy Foster  Р  VKI Studios
• Bill Fowle  Р  TMP Directional Marketing
• Rob Griffin  Р  Media Contacts
• Sara Holoubek  Р  Free Agent
• Gord Hotchkiss  Р  Enquiro Search Solutions Inc.
• Bill Hunt  Р  Global Strategies International
• Ron Jones  Р  Symetri Internet Marketing
• Thad Kahlow  Р  BusinessOnLine
• Anton E. Konikoff  Р  Acronym Media
• Frank Lee  Р  The Search Agency
• Kevin Lee  Р  Did-it.com LLC
• Matt McMahon  Р  Fathom Online
• Dana Melick  Р  Beyond Ink
• Stephen Noton  Р  Adverted Internet Advertising Agency
• Dan Perry  Р  Cars.com
• Jeffrey Pruitt  Р  iCrossing
• Tanya Rietze  Р  Hewlett Packard
• Farukh Shroff  Р  Solid Cactus, Inc.
• Matt Spiegel  Р  Resolution Media
• David Szetela  Р  Clix Marketing
• Dana Todd  Р  SiteLab
• David Viney  Р  Alchemy eBusiness Consulting Limited
• Dave Williams  Р  360i LLC
• Tony Wright  Р  Kinetic Results
• Dema Zlotin  Р  SEMDirector, Inc.

Voting begins Tuesday, February 6, 2007 and closes Friday, February 16, 2007.

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© Online Marketing Blog, 2007. | SEMPO Board of Directors Nominees | http://www.toprankblog.com

If you want a venue to make a difference and/or an impact on the search marketing industry, a SEMPO board membership might just be the ticket.

All current SEMPO members are eligible to nominate members or themselves for a board position. Nominations are open through Thursday, January 18, 5:00 PM Eastern Time.

To make a nomination, login to sempo.org, click on the “2007 Board of Directors Election” link and you will be presented with an email address you can use to nominate board candidates.

Key dates:
• January 8th Р18th, nominations
• January 25th Рnominees announced
• February 6 Р16, voting
• Late February Рresults announced
• March Рthe new board starts and elects officers

Dana Todd is the current SEMPO President and has served on the board for 3 years. Gord Hotchkiss is the current Chairperson. In the past year SEMPO has made a lot of progress, which is an interesting contrast to some of the drama surrounding the first year or so. SEMPO is without question a formidable entity in the search marketing industry and has launched a formal search marketing education program and an expansion of their market research efforts.

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© Online Marketing Blog, 2007. | SEMPO Board Nominations Open | http://www.toprankblog.com

Laura has been a speaker at SES for many years and will be teaching a college level course at a University Business School in Ohio next year. In this short video interview, I asked Laura about the need for consistent information and education on search marketing as well as her thoughts on gender distribution in the industry.

Click here to view the embedded video.

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© Online Marketing Blog, 2006. | SES Chicago SEO Videos – Laura Thieme | http://www.toprankblog.com

Also, there’s a giveaway for those of you that need that kind of incentive.¬† “As a thank you to everyone who participates in the survey, each respondent will be eligible to win one free full-conference pass to any Search Engine Strategies (SES) event in 2007.” SES conferences passes are in the range of $1200-$1500 so that is a nice prize.

SEMPO is also promoting a new Webinar, “Starting a Career in Search Marketing” which I have no doubt is a primer for SEMPO’s new initiative at SEM/SEM training, “SEMPO Institute“.¬† Here are the webinar details:

When: Thursday, November 30
Time: 12 PM EST (9 AM PST)
Where: Online web conference
How: Register online
Registration Deadline: Wednesday, November 29
Cost: Free
Who Should Attend: Executives, in-house marketers, SEMPO clients and prospects

Are you interested in a career in search marketing? What kinds of skills does it take, and how can you get started in the business? Join us for an overview of the wide range of opportunities in SEM, and how you can join this exciting field.

Discover everything you wanted to know about careers in SEM:

• Why Search is hot right now and long-term
• Skills you already have that are easily transferable to SEM
• Learning resources and job entry points

SEMPO is definitley catering to the agency side of the search marketing world and I think that’s good. There needs to be an organization for in-house marketers and agency types. The independent webmasters and site owners are still an underserved market from an industry association standpoint.

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© Online Marketing Blog, 2006. | SEMPO Survey and Webinar | http://www.toprankblog.com

• SEM was a $5.75 billion industry in North America in 2005, and will grow to $11.1 billion in 2010
• Brand awareness is advertisers’ top objective for SEM programs, particularly large firms
• Organic SEO is the most popular form of SEM, with 4 out of 5 advertisers using this method, with paid placement a close second at 76%
• ROI is in line with inflation: Four out of five advertisers say they could afford to pay a mild increase in the price of paid placement, while of advertisers and all agencies report moderate price hikes this year.
• SEM is poaching budget from other marketing channels for the vast majority of advertisers – especially from affiliate marketing and web site development.
• Senior executives consider SEM a high business priority with almost half of advertiser respondents (47%) saying that senior management at their companies were "very involved" in SEM programs, especially among companies with fewer than 500 employees
• Most advertisers plan to manage the majority of their SEM spending in-house in 2006. SEM agencies may see a decline in business as a result.

The full report will become available early 2006, first to SEMPO members and then the general public.  Here are results from the 2004 State of Search Marketing survey.

Tags: SEMPO Survey, SEM Spending, SEO Spending, Search Marketing Budgets, SEM, SEO, SEMPO

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© Online Marketing Blog, 2005. | SEMPO Survey: SEO More Popular than Paid Search | http://www.toprankblog.com

The SEMPO state of the industry survey run last year provided some very interesting and insightful statistics about how marketers are using search marketing as well as future expectations.

The 2004 SEMPO survey indicated search marketers planned to spend about $4 billion on paid search, organnic and paid inclusion. The 2005 SEMPO survey reports that number to rise to $5.7 billion as announced by Kevin Lee of SEMPO’s Research Committee. Confetti flew at the SEMPO reception as Kevin announced more statistics out of the survey.

A press release about more details of the survey are forthcoming.

Tags: SEMPO, SEMPO survey, 2005 survey, search marketing, SEM Statistics

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© Online Marketing Blog, 2005. | Search Marketers to Spend $5.7 Billion – 2005 SEMPO Survey | http://www.toprankblog.com