Now that Jerry Yang is stepping down as CEO of Yahoo, the big question - even bigger than who might take the CEO position - is whether Microsoft might still be interested in buying Yahoo or even cutting a search deal now that Google is out of the picture. In this video, Sumi Das and […]
by Sage Lewis
Marketing Pilgrim gives us some good information this week regarding mobile phones and Motrin. First, we learn how detrimental all Flash websites are to iPhone users, who only see a blank page when they try and visit a flash site. Second, Sage talks about the mommy blogger outrage over the edgy Motrin YoutTube commercial. Are YouTube and LinkedIn following Facebook’s lead? Now on YouTube, you will now see and can buy PPC ads, and LinkedIn has added demographic-specific Events to user’s profiles in a similar fashion. Lastly, check out WebProNews for a detailed translation of a live chat Q&A with Google.
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Since the world’s economic crisis began in September, SAP AG has adopted a “we do not hire, we do not replace” employment policy.
The early results are in. And when you exclude acquisitions (see Business Objects, January 2008), there is one area of the world where the overall headcount has already been trimmed: the Americas.
Europe […]
Electronic signatures aren’t new. In fact, they’ve been equivalent to written signatures since 2000, under the Federal E-Sign Act. But adoption has been slow. Sure, my tax accountant may be submitting my electronic signature on my tax returns but recently, when it came time to put my out-of-state home on the market, I found myself […]
by Mack Collier
One of the biggest ‘criticisms’ of social media that companies have, is the difficulty in measuring the return on investment for their efforts. Many believe that widespread business adoption of social media won’t happen until a clear benefit to the company’s bottom line can be measured. Of course, these people are totally missing the point of what social media is, and why it works.
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by Stoney deGeyter
When focusing on SEO strategies we often talk about the engines, algorithms, links, page-tweaks and whatnot. We focus on what we can do to improve website architecture, research keywords, or write better copy. All of these are important to successful search engine optimization, but what we often don’t focus on is the internal issues.
Businesses don’t succeed on the basis of a product alone. Those products have to be developed, marketed and sold using sound business principles. Similarly, SEO doesn’t succeed solely by what you do on the technical front, but what you do internally to build a platform that will allow SEO success to happen.
Whether you’re performing SEO for your own site, hiring a consultant or firm to provide SEO services for you, or you are the SEO provider serving various clients, there is the added dynamic of knowledge and communication that factors into building a successful optimization campaign.
Here are 10 questions that you need to ask to make the campaign successful:
Am I open to other people’s thoughts and ideas
If there is one thing I’ve learned performing SEO over the last 10 years is that my solution isn’t always the best solution. Nor is my solution always the most feasible. We often find ourselves making recommendations for changes then working with the development team to figure out how to best implement those recommendations. Sometimes we can get exactly what we want other times we have to figure out workable compromises, which often creates a far better solution for everyone.
On the client side, they too must be willing to compromise–that is if they want to perform well in the search results. Such compromises should not interfere with the integrity of the site or sales process, but will often need to be made to ensure site is properly optimized and search engine friendly.
Both sides must be willing to listen and understand what the goals are and work to find solutions that achieve those goals successfully.
Do I listen more than I talk?
Ok, obviously both the client and SEO cannot listen more than talk, but the point here is to be sure that you’re listening. We often want so badly to get our point across that we fail to hear the points being made on the other side. While the SEO has knowledge of the optimization strategies that work, the client has product and industry knowledge that the SEO cannot come close to.
The only way to learn is to stop and listen. Put aside what you already know, listen to the knowledge presented by either the SEO or client, then integrate that new information into an even more successful campaign.
Am I willing to change my opinion based on new information.
In over 10 years optimizing websites there hasn’t been a week or month that I didn’t learn something new. SEO is a process. Algorithms change, keywords change, customers change, and strategies change. While many of the same principles that worked 10 years ago still work today, there is still a need to keep up with what’s new.
And as that new information is gathered, opinions we had yesterday may need to give way to new opinions today. We often look back at things we’ve done and “update” it, either by making a change or implementing new ideas. This often causes concern from the clients as they think “why didn’t you do this last month?”
The truth is, as new ideas are presented, new tools developed, and new discoveries made, those changes could not have been made last month. But that’s the process of SEO, constant discovery and adapting your thoughts and opinions to build a better solution.
Do I readily admit when I am wrong?
This is hard for anyone, but is especially hard for the SEO who feels they have to justify the client’s continued need for their services. But the truth is, we all make mistakes and sometimes those mistakes are costly. Sometimes they cause usability problems, loss of conversions, or even a temporary rankings disaster. While the SEO tries to avert such things from happening, not all of them can be. As with anything, you have to admit your mistakes, learn from them, adjust course, fix what’s broke, and move on.
The client also must recognize that failure to implement the recommendations of the SEO may also lead to failure. This is often a frustration we have in that the client wants to know why they may not be getting certain results and we continue to point to past recommendations that have never been implemented. The client must recognize that these recommendations are made based on what the SEO believes is necessary for success.
Do I think and observe before acting on a situation?
Both the client and the SEO have responsibility to consider all things carefully. The SEO must fully understand (as much as is possible) any given situation before making any recommendations. The client must then analyze the recommendations to ensure that it’s implementation aligns with the goals of the site.
Every website is different and SEOs often see solutions as one-dimensional, not taking certain site nuances into consideration. Stock solutions must be changed, tweaked and adapted for each individual site. As both the client and the SEO discover any given problem, only through full observation by both parties can the best solution be decided upon. And while every solution may not work exactly as planned, the success rate is higher if the observing, thinking and planning comes before taking action.
Tomorrow we’ll continue with the final five questions that must be asked to ensure SEO success.
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I have to admit that I had never before heard of a certification called EAL6+ High Robustness until the folks at Green Hills Software reached
out to tell me that they were about to get it for their operating system, formally called INTEGRITY 178B.
EAL6+ High Robustness, I’ve since learned, means that the government has put Integrity […]
Hewlett-Packard delivered something as rare as the do-do bird these days: An upside earnings surprise.
HP reassured Wall Street on Tuesday by releasing preliminary fourth quarter earnings and an outlook that was better than expected (statement).
The company said its fourth quarter revenue would be $33.6 billion, compared to Wall Street estimates of $33.1 billion. Earnings will […]