The Growing Pains Of Search
Keywords: search engine placement, Search Engine Optimization, SEO Consulting Services, website analysis report
Ahh…our fledgling little industry is growing up.
The little search marketing companies are unfurling their new wings and trying to peer over the edge of the nest. Suddenly, VC firms are looking at search marketing technology with stars in their eyes. It’s beginning to seem that a few people are going to make a lot of money in this industry. And we’ve even got internal politics. All signs of an industry that’s finally ready for a run at the main stage.
All of the signs became more apparent at the recent Search Engine Strategies conference in San Jose this month. This event, for right or wrong, has become the regular group therapy session of search. It doesn’t seem to matter where it’s held, you’ll see all the familiar faces at Search Engine Strategies. “If it’s August, this must be San Jose!” We come, we bitch, we share…and then we go home, just to do it all again in a few months.
With each new show, the latest hot topic spreads from table to table at the networking lunchs and cocktail parties. In Chicago (December) it was Google’s Florida Update. In New York (March) it was Yahoo’s unveiling of SiteMatch. And this time, for a change, it didn’t have anything to do with one of the big engines. This time, it was our own little industry and it’s new professional organization (SEMPO) that stirred up conversation along the hallways of the San Jose Conference Center.
Growing Up is Hard to Do
It’s not easy to gain maturity. Lord knows it’s still a struggle for me. As search tries to claw it’s way onto Fortune 500 marketing budgets, the driving forces of the industry still have to figure out where it is they’re driving too. Is search still a cottage industry, a loose amalgam of hundreds of small shops, or is it starting to become big business?
Will search marketing be overseen by internal departments in the biggest companies and advertising agencies? Will the best of the little guys be gobbled up in the next few years, with the rest left to find a niche to survive in, or wither on the vine?
To make prognosticating even more difficult, we still have to wait for the technology to mature before we can see where the industry could go. Something like providing results targeted to geographic locations can have huge implications for us all.
The biggest thing I saw in San Jose was the beginning of a chasm developing in our industry. A handful of more sophisticated and forward thinking search marketers are beginning to really explore what can be done in search. They’re beginning to think research and strategy, rather than linking tactics and meta tag optimization. They’ve refocused their vision to look at the large and emerging picture of search. In their wake, they’re leaving the more traditional firms, usually quite small, who are using tactics from 4 or 5 years ago.
One of the things that has frustrated many about our industry was the lack of differentiation between search marketing firms. Despite the huge spread in prices, we all pretty much said we offered the same things. The minute we started talking to a potential client, we started spouting works like organic optimization, link building, landing pages, bidding strategies and ROI tracking. All of this is relatively unique to our industry and reflects an exclusively tactical approach.
In San Jose, I noticed a few search marketing companies starting to use a different vocabulary. Not new, different. It’s terminology that comes from marketing and is strategy based. We’re beginning to talk about customer profiling, identifying attitudes, the nature of the buying cycles and the role of brand awareness. It’s a new way of speaking aimed at marketers, not webmasters.
My Impression of San Jose
I believe years from now that the 2004 San Jose show will be a milestone in the industry. I think it will mark the beginning of a year that will dramatically alter the nature of the search marketing industry. We will grow up, and that will mean significant pain for many. Search will become much more sophisticated, and the price of entry to play the game may prove to be too expensive for many smaller providers. Alliances will form and total solutions will begin to emerge. Google and Yahoo will have to address the huge amount of time and effort required to manage a large sponsored search campaign. Real money will start to be invested, and made.
And to think, one day I’ll be able to say I was there.
Find more articles at www.searchengineoptimizationworld.com
Previous Articles Highlighter:
Get Your Business On The Web (1)
A domain name like MyWebSite.com costs about $20 to get and web hosting can be as low as $4.95 per month - or in some cases free. So whether you are a plumber, a shop owner, a chimney sweep or a business coachget yourself a website and get it up and running now!
Delivering Value In An Online Business (2)
But only a few have succeeded while the rest are mere billboards on the internet superhighway. These few have succeeded in overcoming the value hurdles by constant innovation. Constant and never ending innovation is the key to creating value in business more so when your business is totally web based and online.
How To Build A Database Driven Web Site (3)
you successfully have built yourself a database driven web site. Herman Drost is the Certified Internet Webmaster (CIW) owner and author of www .iSiteBuild.com Affordable Web Site Design and Web Hosting.
How To Get A Term Life Insurance Quote (4)
Free Term Life Insurance Quotes Once you've found a website you feel comfortable with, find the link to receive your free term life insurance quote. Be sure to look for the word "Free." If the website wants to charge you for this type of service, you should leave and continue your search.
The Google Toolbar And Search Engine Optimization. (5)
This is the Google PageRank indicator. PageRank is one of Google's ways of rating your website and plays a role in the position of your site in their search results.
Are Search Engines Killing Your Business? (6)
Once you have those details captured, you have many opportunities to connect with that prospect over and over again. Denise O'Berry helps small business owners take action to grow their business.
Web Content Strategy 101 (7)
Here's a good starter content strategy: One-quarter free-reprint content. One-quarter content contributed by visitors. One-quarter originally written content you let other sites reprint in exchange for a link to your site.
A Website Is Not Enough (8)
The key thing to remember is that SEO is a long process. You rarely get instant results. It can take 8-12 months to see any significant progress. You have to keep at it.
Internet Marketing Research Of Search Traffic And Social Traffic (9)
Getting links will lead to more traffic from search engines, and search engine traffic is going to be where you make your money. Court writes the help people learn internet marketing.
7 Highly Effective List Building Secrets For Internet Marketers (10)
Inside you will have various links back to your site and your free newsletter. Your eBook does not need to win any prizes for literary content nor does it need to be long; just write solid, useful information.
Article Submissions Better Than SEO? (11)
You will save time and money, while driving more of the traffic that you want to your site. The increase in targeted traffic will also lead to more profit for you as well.
Important Sites Of Social Bookmarking (12)
Visit such blogs and create an account with the profile matching in detail. Subsequently, carefully bookmark some interesting and useful subjects that are of great significance to you on the account.
Social Bookmarking Engine (13)
The internet search options also double as the social bookmarking engine search. Key in the word of the subject that you are looking for in the search option. It will throw hundreds of web pages relating to the subject.
10 Things You Can Do Today To Boost The Effectiveness Of Your Marketing Program (Part 2, 6-10) (14)
Lay them out and review each, and see if there's room for a simple multiple choice question: "How would you like to receive information about this (organization, product, activity, issue)?
Internet Marketing - What Methods Are The Most Effective? (15)
Instead of only reaching out to your own community, internet marketing allows you to have the entire world as your customer base. This field is very competitive and marketers are always trying to find the best methods of internet marketing.
10 Things You Can Do Today To Boost The Effectiveness Of Your Marketing Program (Part 1, 1-5) (16)
Is it unwieldy to use, complex to navigate, cumbersome to work with? Is it structured the way your organization works so that it mirrors your efforts, or does it fight you every step of the way?
Premiums Still An Effective Tool To Spur Publication Subscription Sales (17)
Baseball cards are a prime example this. The cards were intended to help sell the gum, and eventually the cards became the product itself with the gum as a byproduct, eventually being left out altogether.
12 Things Every FSBO Needs And Every Mortgage Professional Can Provide (18)
Indicating "Special Terms" in an ad can get the phone ringing off the hook. Many times, favorable terms can be structured in a way that costs the seller, little or no money.
Improve Your Success: Leverage And Scalability (19)
Also if your product is selling well and many people are talking about the good quality and the great results they have after they purchased it other people will become curious and purchase it.
A Guide To Motivating Affiliates And Exploding Your Infoproduct Sales (20)
Affiliate Coaching Some program managers conduct formal training programs for their affiliates that helps them sell more volume. This is very similar to sales-person training programs that many offline businesses use to boost the efficiency of their sales force.
Newer Articles Highlighter:
Been Banned By Yahoo!? (1)
search is still in its infancy. As time goes on it will get better. Perhaps their filters are over filtering sites which are legitimate, but it should get better with time.
How Are People Making Money Online? (2)
3. Selling your own products is the number one method for making the most money online. You have total control over the product because it is solely yours.
Getting Inbound Links Is As Easy As 1-2-3 (3)
A link exchange coop can give you more backlinks in a few minutes work than you could ever generate by yourself. You are utilizing a network of thousands of other websites.
Dramatically Boost Your Exposure With A Press Release (4)
Remember, driving traffic to your web site isn't easy. With so many different promotional options like search engines, e-zines, banner swaps and bulk email campaigns it's easy to forget the fact that the PRESS RELEASE is the single most important method for generating publicity to your business website.
SEO And New Websites (5)
If you sell widgets, than do research on other companies selling widgets to see how they are placing and what keywords that are using to do so. Second, find some one in your company that has great writing skills outsource the content writing to a contractor.
Your Online Success Depends On Targeted Website Traffic (6)
This is where psychology comes into play. Do they type in -fuzzy dice,- -car dice,- -hanging dice,- -rearview mirror dice,- fuzzy car dice,- or none of the above? What if they can't spell right and type -fuzy dice-?
Earn Money Online With Email Marketing (7)
Types of Email Marketing: Newsletter (Free) - will have a couple of ads, as mentioned above. Information Please Mailer. These will help you close more sales. You place either a link or email capture box on your website for visitors to fill out with their email address.
Make Money From Home By Avoiding Affiliate Marketing RoadBlocks (8)
As you learn what works, building targeted traffic will be more an expectation than a hope. You will plan out new websites and promote and make money from them much easier than when you first started.
Automated EBay EBook Tips To Success (9)
I knew in doing this I would become an authority figure online and not get lost in cyberspace. Compile a business plan. Set up a process that enables you to build a customer base, and also your feedback on eBay, and your customer base will increase.
Making Money With Articles: How Much Can I Make? (10)
If you build your site around a niche subject and are an expert in a special field e.g Gardening then why not write about this passion and make it your baby.
Three Tips On Article Marketing (11)
Your articles should be unique. Rewrite articles and add in your own ideas to make a brand new article. Using your own ideas and rewritten content will help you stay avoid penalty by having duplicate content that will never stay in the search engine index.
Targeted Web Site Traffic Should Be Your Main Focus (12)
No matter what you are selling, that product is going to have a specific audience you want to reach, and by finding them, you are applying targeted web site traffic strategies.
Making Use Of Private Label Content (13)
Directories can work in two great ways for you. Readers may find your content so good that they will click on your back link to your website. On your web site, these visitors might end up buying some products or clicking on your ads.
Earn Money With Dropshipping (14)
If the distributor goes out of business, you will have to find a new distributor or a new product. Book sales vary from year to year depending on the needs of customers, so you will have to choose very carefully which books to sell.
Purchase Chicago Cub Tickets And Event Tickets From Reputable Sellers (15)
When you are looking for premium seating tickets for the next big event, visit Golden Tickets at www.goldentickets.com where good seats are always available! Goldentickets.com gives you access to tickets that are no longer available at the box office!
Principles For Getting Everything You Want In Your Infopreneur Business (16)
Keywords: internet+infopreneur, information+business, internet+marketing, online+marketing, niche+marketing There are 3 drivers of your online infopreneur business - your philosophy, your purpose and your process. Philosophy Philosophy is about mindset. And there are as many different ones as there are business owners.
Energize Your List With Content (17)
This should discuss methods of determining whether or not the environment is a clean hygienic one and to be certain to check for various aspects prior to permitting the artist to work on.
Private Label Rights Products: Your Key To Quick Profits (18)
What Are Private Label Rights? Private label rights, also known as PLR products, are products that you can purchase with complete rights. You can change it in any way you'd like to make it uniquely yours, and sell it as your own product.
How To Put All Marketing Efforts Into List Building (19)
A joint venture method works something like this. For instance, you consult in photography and the other team sells high-end paper or top notch photography printers or laminating machinery.
How To Improve The Quaility Of Your Subscribers (20)
Now, one of the best marketing tools that you can use in your online business is building a list. An opt-in list is the best, most effective and smartest option that you can make to make it big.