Archives for January 2008

Bridging the Gap: Old and New SEO @ SMX West

Golden Gate Bridge

As part of our media sponsorship of the SMX series of conferences, I’ve been picked as the TopRank blogger to visit the Bay Area next month for SMX West – Feb 26-28, 2008 in Santa Clara, CA.

Looking at the agenda for the 3 day conference, one can tell that there are big shifts taking place in the search industry, specifically the transition from ‘old SEO’ (i.e. the optimize and wait approach) to ‘new SEO’ (i.e. optimize, then promote promote promote approach). Validating this transition, many session titles include topics such as ‘Search 3.0’, ‘Search 4.0’ and the ‘Blended Search Revolution’.

Co-chaired by industry legends Danny Sullivan and Chris Sherman, SMX West will be full of SEO industry leaders providing attendees with ideas about how to bridge the gap between the banks of the old and the opportunities of the new.


Bridging the Gap: Old and New SEO @ SMX West

Social Media Marketing Tips

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Not too long ago I queried a number of online marketing and public relations peers ranging from Aaron Wall, Matt McGee and Neil Patel to Todd Defren, Triss Hussey and Peter Himler about sharing a few of their social media marketing tips. Out of that informal survey in combination with community specific solicitations came posts about marketing with MyBlogLog and Twitter.

However, there are many more social media communities and channels besides MBL and Twitter that I received tips on and from very reputable sources which you’ll find below. Enjoy!

Todd Defren from SHIFT Communications shared two of his own posts from a series on social media: Tips on using Twitter for finding and developing relationships and another post on using Del.icio.us for PR “edgework” or direct interactions with consumers.


Social Media Marketing Tips

SEO Tools: Firefox Addons for Search Engine Optimization

SEO Tool Firefox[Note from Lee: We tend to get a bit heavy on the industry observations and strategy, so a nice tactics/tools post is in order. ]

There are many different tools out there for SEO’s to use on a website. Each one has different features and benefits depending on how you use them. That’s why TopRank provides SEO Tool Reviews from time to time. We showcase different tools that you may or may not know about. Some free, some paid, all good.

The basis of this SEO tool review is Firefox. “Firefox a SEO tool”, you say? Alone, Firefox is not an SEO tool, but there are many extensions and toolbars that can be added to Firefox to extend it’s possibilities past basic web browsing.

What makes Firefox so great?


SEO Tools: Firefox Addons for Search Engine Optimization

Learn the Fundamentals of Search Marketing – SEMPO Institute

SEMPO Institute Logo

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.


Learn the Fundamentals of Search Marketing – SEMPO Institute

The Fox, Social Whirl, Cutts Smackdown, UGV, B2B and PRSA Webinar

Sometimes a Monday blog post deserves a good collection of links:

  • The Fox on viral link building and listening to your audience
  • Smackdown on Matt Cutts re: spanking SEO blogs
  • Jeff Jarvis @TheGuardian and the social whirl driving the development of search
  • eMarketer says B2B’s are buzzing over Marketing 2.0
  • Vox on Video: Measuring engagement of user generated video
  • SEO Lowdown on the LED: “You’re doing the SEM industry a dis-service by characterizing the level or complexity of SEO work according to the size of a company.”
  • Grehan Clickz’s the SEO and Public Relations connection. Mike, what took you so long? 🙂
  • Speaking of PR and Search, be sure to check out Himler, Bradfield, Miele and Odden @PRSA Webinar on PR and Social Media Feb 26

The Fox, Social Whirl, Cutts Smackdown, UGV, B2B and PRSA Webinar

BIGLIST SEO Blogs Update 012708

SEO Blogs

Keeping up with the BIGLIST while traveling is usually not an issue. When the hotel I’m in offers nothing better than voodoo psycho internet Miami-style, that’s another matter. But, better late than never. Starting with 15 blogs in this week’s queue, only the 5 below made the cut.

The original blog post that announced the BIGLIST has been nominated for the “SEMMYS“.  Judges have now made that post a finalist in the “Blogs” category. Please be sure to vote for “Must Read Search Marketing Blogs” by Jan 30th.

And now what you’ve been waiting for, here is this week’s collection of blogs added to the BIGLIST:

  • Virtual Marketing Blog – Big brand interactive marketing veterans Nial McFadyen and Luke Knowles share internet marketing news, reviews and insights ranging from Facebook to WordPress SEO.

BIGLIST SEO Blogs Update 012708

Optimizing the Fortune 100 – Enterprise SEO

[Note from Lee: While Susan, Jolina and I are in Miami at a private client conference for one of the largest companies in the world, it seemed particularly relevant for Jolina to write a quick post about enterprise SEO. Jolina’s presentation today to roughly 30 different business units as well as corporate communications, PR and IT simply kicked ass.]

While the vast majority of search engine optimization projects performed by search marketing agencies are for small and medium sized businesses, SEO for large and complex organizations takes a unique combination of finesse and consideration.

For example, small and medium sized companies are typically much more nimble, make changes quicker and are often more open to leveraging new online marketing channels. Within large corporations such as the Fortune 100, this is not usually the case. Sometimes the pace of change with multiple stakeholders, layers of approval and strict messaging guidelines can seem counter productive.


Optimizing the Fortune 100 – Enterprise SEO

Have it Your Way at SMX West

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One of the (if not THE) fastest growing conferences over the past year has been Search Marketing Expo. A real world compliment to the successful Search Engine Land blog, the Sphinn community and Search Marketing Now webinars, the SMX shows have brought both a familiar (Danny and crew) and unique flavor to the search marketing conference circuit.

SMX West is coming up fast on February 26-28, 2008 in Santa Clara, CA and offers:

  • 50 different sessions
  • 13 different tracks
  • 3 different ways to attend (All Access, Networking or Exhibits-Only)
  • 1 big satisfaction guarantee. If you register now, you’ll save $200.

There appears to be something for everyone with the 3 different show attendance options and a variety of topical and level of expertise tracks ranging from SEO Bootcamp to SEO 3.0 and 4.0.


Have it Your Way at SMX West

FORE! A Golfer’s Guide to Social Media Marketing

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[SEO and social media marketing TopRank team member Jeff Nolan has stepped up to the plate, or in this case, onto the green and submitted the following post about marketing within social media communities using golf as a metaphor. Enjoy!]

Many regular readers of Online Marketing Blog are well aware of our location amidst the cold and frozen land of Minnesota. This gets me thinking about many hobbies this time of year, most notably how I wish there were boats on the lake across from the office rather than ice houses, and that instead of building links daily, I was hitting the links daily.

Yes, you guessed it, there is no place I would rather be right now than on a golf course, which has led me to compare the disturbingly similar synergies between golf and social media.


FORE! A Golfer’s Guide to Social Media Marketing

Reader Poll: Is Facebook Losing it’s Luster?

reader poll

A recent report from Hitwise cited Facebook as having grown by 51% yet MySpace is still King of the online social networking world with 76% of US social network traffic. According to Nielsen Online, MySpace attracted 60.1 million visitors in December 2007 compared to 22.6 million visitors for Facebook.

While that growth news is all fine a good, from a personal observation standpoint, I’ve noticed I’m not logging into Facebook much anymore. Many of the updates I get are irrelevant to my interests as more and more people try to boost their friend counts and I mistakenly (in hindsight) accept those requests.

I posted a question to Twitter about not using Facebook lately and several others acknowledged the same trend which leads us to a Reader Poll question:


Reader Poll: Is Facebook Losing it’s Luster?

BIGLIST SEM Blogs Update 011808

SEO Blogs

Another freezing week here in Minnesota means less time outside and more time checking out new search marketing blogs. I present to you dear readers, this week’s additions to the BIGLIST of SEO and Search Marketing Blogs.

  • B(abble)log – A.C. (Anne Charlotte) Riley is a tenured online marketer and copywriter that blogs about all manner of marketing topics.
  • Inside Facebook – Justin Smith, Jonathan Lipps and Collin Smillie blog about Facebook inside and out.
  • NowSourcing – With Brian Wallace social media is the name of the game.
  • Kolbrener BLOG! – I appreciated this advertising/interactive agency blog’s self description enough to use it as is here: “Our thoughts on branding, advertising, marketing, design, interactivity and whatever we want.” They also blog about marketing and search engine optimization.

BIGLIST SEM Blogs Update 011808

Recession Proof Search Engine Optimization Tips

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In this month’s Target Marketing Magazine, a TopRank authored article on how small businesses can gain a competitive marketing advantage by leveraging content promotion, blogs, social media and universal search was featured. Recently there has been some dialog and commentary on certain SEM channels about upcoming harder economic times calling for SEO to be taken back to the basics: “Textbook SEO” as Mike Grehan would put it. I disagree with the premise that companies should stop experimenting with new tactics and stick with the fundamentals. Effective SEO in any economic environment means getting more creative, not mundane.

“As search engines evolve with features such as personalized, social and unified search, so must marketers evolve — especially those on a budget.”


Recession Proof Search Engine Optimization Tips