Online Marketing Blog

Two heads are better than one. How many times have we all heard that in our lives?  When having a brainstorming session, it helps to bounce ideas off of one another to generate the best possible solution. Even when saving the world, is it always important to have a sidekick. Or a team of sidekicks.

The same is true of link building teams. It can be considered a general rule of thumb to say “the more, the merrier” when it comes to the size of a team working on link building, social media and content promotion. An experienced team working together will generate far more inbound links and traffic to the target website than just one person – bent over a desk, Red Bull in hand, click-clacking away on the keyword.

SEMPO Institute released their online training program for SEO and PPC late 2007. TopRank has previously written a review of the “Fundamentals Course” now known as the “Insider’s Guide to Search Marketing”. SEMPO Institute students that complete the Insider’s Guide can then move on to the two advanced training courses, one of which is the Advanced SEO Specialist course. I’ve recently completed that training and have the following review:

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.

The Internet Marketing Ninjas instructional program including videos and tools conceived by Jim Boykin of We Build Pages, has officially launched. I think a lot of people in the search marketing industry will be wowed by the sheer volume of quality information that’s available. Currently there are a series of 12 videos from the likes of Aaron Wall, Shoemoney, Neil Patel and Jim himself. Plus, most of the famous We Build Pages SEO and link building tools have been taken offline and included in the program along with many of the private WBP tools.

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.

Raise your hands if you want to be a Search Marketer! This session I attended on Day 3 of SES San Jose 2007 taught us how to better educate those who want to start in the SEM business, and how the rest of us already in it should continue learning.

First, Pradeep Chodra, co-founder of OMLogic, spoke on the highlights of working in SEM. Some of those highlights include an exciting and adventurous industry, flexibility of where and when you work because the internet is portable and global, the fact that you don’t need a professional degree to be good at SEM and that the salaries can turn out to be very attractive if you work hard and know what you’re doing as a search marketer.

Renowned search engine optimization expert, Jill Whalen of High Rankings is bringing her traveling SEO experts roadshow to Minneapolis this coming March 15th and 16th. I am honored to say that Jill has asked me to participate in the training as well.

The Minneapolis High Rankings Seminar will feature some of the most experienced and talented search marketing trainers, most of which have spoken at major conferences such as Search Engine Strategies:

• Jill Whalen - High Rankings
• Scottie Claiborne - Successful-Sites
• Matt Bailey - Site Logic Marketing
• Christine Churchill - KeyRelevence
• Karon Thackston - Marketing Words

In a recent email newsletter from SEO Research Labs, Dan Thies announces, “As of January 1st, I am closing the doors on my SEO training programs.” That’s a pretty bold statement, but Dan’s not quitting entirely. He’s just moving the show to another venue.

I can’t provide exact details because the others involved in Dan’s new venture have yet to make their announcements. But here’s what I do know. Dan has established his authority as a search marketing expert and has been providing search marketing coaching and training for several years now. Over the years the search marketplace has become more complex and his students often have more issues to deal with than just search marketing.

SEMPO is running their State of the Search Marketing Industry survey again and I would encourage anyone working in the field to take a few minutes and fill it out. The survey provides excellent insight into the direction of search marketing budgets, tactics and trends.�� I know I’m curious to see how it compares to the Marketing Sherpa Benchmark Guide 2007 data.

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.

Spotlight on Search - Interview with Dan Thies of SEO Research Labs

When you think of keyword research services, the name that often comes to mind these days is Dan Thies. In developing his search marketing business, he was able to find a niche in keyword analysis and successfully progress that into search engine marketing and optimization training with SEO Research Labs and also a book, the Search Engine Marketing Kit.

In this interview with Dan, find out how he started out, his take on keyword research tools, common misconceptions about search engine optimization, search engines and SEO training.