For those unfamiliar with the story, Facebook filed their Initial Public Offering of $5 billion last week to become a publicly-traded company. This is huge. Facebook is the world’s largest social network, boasting more than 845 million users. That’s roughly 12 percent of the world’s entire population. But what we don’t think Facebook realizes is what this will mean for company transparency. Facebook has always done things behind closed doors without much noise. This will change once the company goes public in May 2012.

The Guardian’s Michael Wolff doesn’t know if Facebook is quite ready for prime time yet. He writes, “I don’t think that Facebook, with its messianic ambitions and squirrelly zeal, is actually ready for the harsh light of public company life. Even though it comes to market with the weight and hegemonic feel of the biggest brands, it has grown up in such a bubble of cultishness and doctrine, that primetime scrutiny could shortly become very uncomfortable … Public exposure, rather than fictional movie exposure, could be cruel – even though Zuckerberg is said to be practicing up for earnings calls. Indeed, it is hard to overstate how truly public Facebook is about to become, and how much more difficult it will be to contain the controversies – about its provenance, its financing, its privacy polices and its data thirst – that have always dogged it, and which, in the past, it has largely just gone tightlipped about.”

Wolff’s last point is the most crucial. Everything the social giant has done in the past has been done behind a veil, now it must open up and let the public in. We don’t know if Mark Zuckerberg and Co. are prepared for what’s about to come.

Speaking of being ready, 2012 is only a month old, but the amount of change our industry has experienced seems like seven times that. SEO.20 recently published blog post featuring “40 Cutting Edge Social Media & Search Services to Invest in Now.” Of the 40 items on the list, the most important are Online Reputation Management and Mobile SEO. It doesn’t matter if you’re a person, company or brand. It is absolutely crucial that your image and reputation be protected online. And next to having a solid online reputation, it’s also vital that your site be easy to find, especially in a mobile platform. More and more internet surfing is being done via mobile devices, and if your site can’t be found, you’re missing out on a lot of potential customers.

Listen to the podcast below for more about Facebook’s IPO, SEO tips and an update on The @davebing Experiment. Tell us in the comments what you think!

If there’s one thing we’ve learned from President Barack Obama’s 2008 campaign, it’s that social media is just as important, if not more important than all other forms of advertisement. With this in mind, I took it upon myself a few years ago to get into the political game. No, I didn’t run for office, no I didn’t publicly endorse any one candidate. What I did was tweet. And that experiment is one of several topics TM  Social Media Manager Michael L. Hoffman, PR and Communications Expert Dario Chiarini and myself discuss in this week’s TM podcast.

Detroit Mayor Dave Bing

In 2009, after former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick left office in disgrace, there was an election for a new mayor and I decided to do my part. I registered several Twitter accounts for the candidates, on my own volition, such as Dave Bing, Ken Cockrel Jr. and Freeman Hendrix. But the one that took off was Dave Bings (@davebing). Within the course of just a few months, the @davebing account had gathered more than 10,000 followers, all of which thought I was Dave Bing. In fact, this @davebing account was quoted as saying, “We just need new leadership. The city of Detroit had a lot of oysters but no pearls for a long time,” in a May 17, 2009 Detroit Free Press article entitled, “Social site become political tool.”

When I decided to take up the task of operating a Twitter account under the guise of Mayor Bing’s persona, I did so without malice. But this still leads us to proper reputation management. Bing’s team did nothing, literally nothing, to obtain ownership of the @davebing account. And in December 2009, after several attempts to contact his team, I wrote the mayor a letter, which read:

The reason I am contacting you today is because I would like to consult and manage – free of charge – web marketing and social media for you through your term.  My motivation is to raise the profile of small, entrepreneurial companies such as mine that are working to diversify the economy in Southeast Michigan and create new jobs. Being a native Detroiter and DAC member I was happy to finally see a qualified, honest individual step up to turn our city around.

Detroit Free Press: May 17, 2009

Still, I never heard anything back from the Bing camp. No phone call, no email or no letter. But around Christmas of 2009, the @davebing account had been closed and a new one had been registered, which actually has less followers than mine did.  But what should we take away from this? Was it right to operate a Twitter account as another person? Probably not. But it shows how important it is for you, as a company, brand or public figure, to monitor  your online reputation. I could have done a lot of damage has @davebing, which shows how easily it is to get duped online, and why it’s crucial that your image is protected on the Web.

Listen to the podcast below for more on our @davebing experiment as well as Google’s new privacy policy. Do you think what we did was wrong?

We discussed the blackout in detail in a previous blog post, but its importance and effectiveness cannot be understated. The protest of SOPA and PIPA was spearheaded by social news site Reddit and online encyclopedia Wikipedia. The goal was to illustrate what the internet would look like if SOPA and PIPA made it through Congress. The effects of the protest were palpable in Washington as several supporters and co-sponsors of the bills dropped their support, and eventually, both bills were tabled indefinitely.

But perhaps the most interesting week’s most interesting news regarding online piracy was the federal take down of MegaUpload. MegaUpload was a file-sharing website that the US government shut down on Jan. 19, the day after the blackout. In response to MegaUpload’s take down, hacker organization Anonymous, attacked the Department of Justice, Recording Industry Association of America and the Motion Picture Association of America websites, as well as UniversalMusic.com. This isn’t the only issue we discuss in the podcast though, we also discuss more changes from Google.

The search giant announced this week that it will be penalizing websites that have too many ads “above the fold,” which is the part of the website you can see before scrolling down.  As Search Engine Land’s Danny Sullivan points out, Google “heard complaints from users that if they click on a result and it’s difficult to find the actual content, they aren’t happy with the experience. Rather than scrolling down the page past a slew of ads, users want to see content right away.” This, however, isn’t the only big change Google has made recently.

We revisit the topic of Google’s new search format–Search, plus Your World–and how it makes ranking reports nearly obsolete. The reason being is because search results are now different for everyone. If I search “credit cards” here in Michigan, and Michael searches it in Florida and Dario searches it in California, we will all get different results based on location and personalized results. This means that one website could rank much higher in one area than another, thus making SEO much harder in the future. It further emphasizes how important it is for companies and brands to be engaged socially.

We want to know what you think of these issues, let us know in the comments or contact us! For more on these topics, listen to the podcast below:

There were several big news stories in the past week that we discuss in this week’s podcast. Some of the topics we touch on include Google’s “Search, plus Your World,” protecting children on Facebook and the Stop Online Piracy Act.

Perhaps the biggest news this week is the roll out of Google’s new search format, Search, plus Your World. This new format is an integration of social and public search that is unprecedented. Search Engine Land’s Danny Sullivan discusses the new search format in detail saying, “The new system will perhaps make life much easier for some people, allowing them to find both privately shared content from friends and family plus material from across the web through a single search, rather than having to search twice using two different systems.”

What we wonder here at TM is what implications this will have on SEO. If personal results are getting shown before organic results, it will force more companies to get social and engage. We also note that this could really push the competition between Google+ and Facebook to a new level because of Facebook’s search deal with Bing.

One issue that has been gaining traction over the past few months is protecting children on Facebook. According to the New York Times, many parents are actively lying to let their children on Facebook under the age of 13, Facebook’s minimum age requirement. This is a multifaceted problem, and needs to be handled on many levels. First, parents need to stop letting children on Facebook under the age of 13. This is a direct violation of the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act and it also compromises their children’s privacy. One of the things we think needs to happen is either a) an update to COPPA or b) a completely new law that is more relevant to today’s Web. What do you think needs to happen to help solve this problem? It’s something that needs to be tackled, but it’s still unclear what way is best.

Another issue that has been getting a lot of attention online, but not in the mainstream media, is SOPA and the PROTECT IP Act. For months there has been opposition on the Web to these bills, but until now there hasn’t been a lot of action taken against them. That’s all going to change Wednesday Jan. 18 from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. when Reddit and the entire Cheezburger Network go dark in protest of the bills. But will this be enough to sway the US Congress or will more sites like Google and Facebook have to go down too?

We want to know what you think of all of this, so let us know in the comments below or contact us to tell us your thoughts!

In this week’s podcast we discuss a variety of topics including innovative RFID use, Google’s surprising mistake, Rick Santorum’s Google problem and the importance of SEO and content.

It’s not everyday Google messes up, but when it paid bloggers to link to the Chrome browser’s download page, they did just that. In fact, the search giant violated its own terms of service and because of that is penalizing itself. For at least 60 days  Chrome will be lowered in search results due to the violation. What do you think, did Google slap its wrist hard enough?

Great Wolf Resorts is taking RFID technology to the next level. The resort chain’s guests are already using RFID-enabled bracelets as a charge card, room key and guest identification bracelet. But that’s not all. The bracelet can now be used it as a social media tool. Guests can link the wristband to their personal Facebook accounts to upload photos to Facebook throughout their stay. All they have to do is go to one of the park’s “Paw Posts” get their picture taken and the photo is automatically uploaded to their Facebook. This four-in-one wristband not only makes life easier for guests, but allows them to stay connected without their smartphone.

Do you want to know more about these topics? Listen to the podcast below and let us know what you think in the comments! If you have anymore questions, don’t hesitate to drop us a line.

In this week’s podcast I am joined by Dario Chiarini (PR and Communications expert) to discuss tips to help your business overall in the new year. Some of the topics we discussed were SEO tips for 2012, how to improve your content, why social engagement is important, and continuity in your company’s message online and offline.

One of the simplest things you can do to help improve your business’s site is to produce original content on a regular basis. Even if you don’t have the most comprehensive understanding of technical SEO, publishing original content regularly is one of the best ways to bring people to your site. It’s also crucial to spread the word about that content across your social media accounts to further expand your readership.

We also discuss how important it is to interact with people on your social networks, especially if they say something directly to you. One rule of thumb I believe in is to do your best to respond to your followers’ comments within an hour if possible.

Another topic we discuss are the updates to Google Analytics, which we addressed in a previous blog post as well.

Dario primarily focused on keeping your company’s message consistent, both internally and externally, to ensure that everyone is on the same page and that it’s uniform throughout all channels.

Listen to the podcast below – there is a lot of great information in there for SEO & Social Media improvement. We want your feedback and other suggestions as well, so don’t hesitate to contact us!

Onto the last Google news: We wrote an article this week about why Google Places is important for SEO. On the topic of Places, Facebook killed Facebook Check-ins this week (quietly, though) and last but not least we talk about over-saturation of the “deals” and reviews marketplace for small business owners. With a flood of choices (now that Angie’s List is offering premiere profiles to businesses) such as LivingSocial, Groupon, Yelp, and so on… are small business owners lashing out and experiencing “Deal fatigue”?

Lastly Dwight talks about the recent NYT article on Cornell University researches creating a new algorithm to “out fake reviews” that are paid for, well, bullshit reviews.

Join Dwight Zahringer and Brian Ambrozy as they wax poetic about this week’s SEO, social media, and weather news.

This week, Google announced an update to the aesthetics of Sitelinks. While at first it may seem like a minor change, we have a few opinions on some of the deeper meaning behind this. Here’s what the new Sitelinks look like:

As you can see, the new Sitelinks are much bigger and more in-your-face than the old, and will take up a significantly higher portion of your screen real estate in search results. Also, as you can see, my name is the only one that appears on our personal Sitelinks results, which means I’m a pretty big deal.

This is going to affect eyeballs and how they scan a page, and present more information on top search results than ever before. So, what’s the point? Is it simply a user experience choice? Or is there a deeper meaning? Join Dwight and Brian as they discuss this change.

Other topics we discuss: HP’s declaration that WebOS and TouchPad are dead, and they may even be considering spinning off their entire PC business. We also talk about Klout’s continuing quest to add even more social networks to their metrics.

Oh, and one last thing—poor Eric had to compete with Ryan and he ALSO downed a Lockhart’s Quadruple Bypass. Video forthcoming. These crazy kids.

We also bring you our thoughts on the news that Foursquare has just partnered with Groupon. And last, but not least, we bring you breaking news from the world of SCIENCE that INTERNET EXPLORER users are DUMB. Or something like that.

Give a listen, leave a comment, and hey—have a great weekend.

Proudly proclaiming my affiliation with Fiat

I checked out of the hotel and went out to the car, and there was a new sign on it, proudly proclaiming that it was a part of the Detroit to Nashville Fiat Freakout roadtrip. That was sure to get even more eyeballs than I already had.

My hair was a shaggy mess, so I decided to stop and get a haircut before I left Cincinnati; I wasn’t on any super-tight schedule, so why not? I did what any modern, connected person would do in that situation: Turn to Google and Yelp to find the best barber in Cincinnati. They didn’t let me down; Russ was a character and I got a good haircut for a good price.

It was interesting talking to him because he was excited and bewildered at all the business the internet brought him. Through a combination of SEO (a solid code foundation on his website), social media (Yelp and Myspace, in his case), and excellent follow-through (very good haircuts, and excellent customer service) he achieved success.

Crossing into Tennessee

After the haircut, I got on the road and drove almost straight through to Nashville. When I arrived at the Music City Sheraton, it was like Fiat heaven. They were everywhere.

Here’s the interesting thing about the Fiat Freakout event: It has been going on for almost thirty years. Every year, a small group of Fiat owners and enthusiasts would meet somewhere to trade stories, show off their cars, and celebrate their like-minded community. Now that Chrysler has partnered with Fiat to bring the brand back to the US, the size of the group is sure to explode, as a new generation of American car enthusiasts becomes part of this community.

In the lobby of the hotel, a full-sized Fiat 500 was retrofitted to become what I call the “world’s most elaborate video game controller”. The (real) Fiat is hooked up to a giant screen which displays a driving game. The goal is to not race to the finish and get the fastest time possible; rather it is to get to the goal with the best fuel economy. The game is designed to show off the Fiat 500′s Eco:drive technology. I came in 26th place; clearly I need to work on my efficient driving.

Let’s talk about Eco:drive. It’s insanely cool technology. You download the application, and insert any USB stick into your computer, where the application copies some code to your stick. You then take the USB stick and plug it into the Fiat’s dashboard USB port. As you drive, the car records data and send it to the stick. When you’re done, you take the USB stick and plug it back into your computer. The Eco:drive application then downloads your driving data and goes into great detail about how you can improve your efficiency with smarter shifting and other tips. It’s truly fascinating.

The Fiat Freakout event itself begins today and goes through the weekend. On Monday, I’ll have my thoughts, impressions, and overall experience up on the Trademark blog. Ciao!

Update: Here are photos from the trip!

]

Now that we’ve got a few years of social media as an entrenched lifestyle, and technology platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, and Google Plus with millions of daily users on them, business owners are finally at a point where they can make actionable sales via social media channels. Tools like Klout and Groupon have demonstrated that with the right data, it’s possible to connect products and services with engaged and interested buyers, using nothing more than social media platforms.

We’d love it if you joined us in this latest topical discussion about social media. Also, be sure to join us next week as I call in from the road; I’ll be travelling from Detroit to Nashville in a Fiat 500 for the Fiat Freakout event.

Now, for those poll questions: Brian says three months before Klout adds Google Plus to their metrics. Dwight says six (or maybe never). Who’s right?

We cover circles, circles, and Google’s new instant upload for Android users. We also talk about circles. We then come around full circle and talk about whether or not Google-as-a-platform on Android is a potential threat to iPhone. Circles.

So hang out with Dwight and I as we discuss the new social network that everyone’s buzzing about (lol get it?). Are you signed in to Google+ yet? What do you think about it?

Edit for Monday morning: Check out AllTop’s Facebook / G+ Infographic

Oh, the poll questions:

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

The internet is a marketplace filled with an array of possibilities to potentially make money. Although finding these possibilities and turning them into a successful career is easier said than done. Don’t worry though our most recent guest on the TM Web Radio Show, John Chow, has some helpful tips when it comes to making money online. In fact, he literally makes money online by telling other people how to make money online.

This gentleman has been making his income online since 1998. John Chow is an online internet entrepreneur turned mogul, best known for his blog at JohnChow.com. His blog was first designed for personal use, but it soon turned into a case study to prove you can make a full-time income off a part-time blog. The proof is in the pudding, considering Chow’s blog now generates upwards to $40,000 a month. Chow is a forefather when it comes to monetizing a blog making him very knowledgeable in many areas of internet marketing and advertising. We were lucky enough to sit down with this internet mogul to offer you, our listeners and readers, some very valuable and beneficial information straight from the expert.

“I started the blog because I thought blogging was starting to take traction and starting to take off. I figured, the best way to learn it is just simply, by doing it.”

Chow purchased the domain JohnChow.com in 1998 and prior to it becoming a blog it was mainly used as a starting page. As blogging began to become a popular trend for the internet he then decided to turn JohnChow.com into a personal blog. The main purpose was just to talk about his life. Using it to updates his friends and family members with what he was doing, like many personal blogs out there at this time.

This wasn’t Chow’s first experiment with the internet. He was actually monetizing his content sites, like The TechZone, back in 1998. “Back then, we were monetizing using affiliated marketing. We were promoting, an example would be promoting an Amazon affiliate program,” says Chow. According to Chow, Amazon had the first affiliated program out. Utilizing the affiliate program and advertising networks allowed his site to grow and obtain a monetary value.

“It’s so much easier to get into marketing today than it was when I started because back then, everything we had to do we had to code ourselves.”

Back then there was not any software or advertising plug-ins to help develop a site that could be monetized. An understanding of how to integrate all the components of a website to make them work well was a must back then. Present day, there is no better time than now to really get involved and monetize in different ways because it is so easy to publish. As easy as it is to publish that does not mean you are going to be successful. There are certain elements that you have to consider before you decide to make a career jump into the blogosphere. “My number one piece of advice would be to treat it like a business. Most people don’t take blogging seriously simply because it is so inexpensive to get in,” says Chow. Your attitude towards your blog is going to have an impact on the success of your blog. It becomes a cloudy area because it is so inexpensive to create a blog and get it on the internet. “The easy cost of entry is considered a major advantage for many people. It’s a major disadvantage in the fact that, because it’s so cheap to get in, you don’t take it seriously,” explained Chow. Just because there is not a lot of value or investment dollars into the project doesn’t mean it shouldn’t be taken seriously.

When considering a blog it is imperative you pick a subject that you are passionate about. As Chow says, “If you’re doing it just because this is the hot topic of today or hot topic of the month, but you’re not really interested in it, you’re not going to be able to stick with it long enough to see any traction.” Being passionate and interested in the topic you write about will show through to your readers and increase your credibility. It takes most blogs a year or two before they really start to see some results. If don’t focus on a topic that you are passionate about chances have it you won’t stay around long enough to see any results.

Once you have your topic establish and you are start to build a following and the traffic is coming in your blog will become more established. Okay so it is time to turn this blog into a money generating machine, right? Well, truth be told, a lot of bloggers aren’t exactly sure how to monetize their blog. Chow believes, “The most common way when bloggers first start is just to use a third party network to handle and sell advertising for their blog.” A lot of bloggers use Google AdSense when they are first starting out. However as a beginning blogger it is important to focus on your content. Your content is what is driving the traffic and bringing people back for more. Focus on your content and let someone else handle the ad sales. Google AdSense is the most common, but there are hundreds of other ad networks out there that can be used to help you out. “They take a cut, they handle the ad sales for you, they pay you, and you just concentrate on writing. That’s how most bloggers start or get started,” stated Chow.

“The other thing that I do is affiliate marketing and that’s where I would find companies that offer a product that’s related to what I blog about.”

With affiliate marketing, as a blogger you recommend products to your readers and in return you get a percentage of each sale. There is where Chow really rakes in the cash and for him it works better than advertising. “When done correctly, affiliate marketing is probably your number one income source,” said Chow. As a relevant persona in your niche having your endorsement can be worth a lot. In fact affiliate marketing is Chow’s number one source of income from his blog. Still, none of this is possible unless you have the traffic and following behind your blog.

Sure, SEO plays a role in bringing traffic to your blog, but Chow doesn’t feel it is that important. “Generally for searching optimization, the only thing I actually pay a lot of attention to is my title tag, the title of the blog post itself,” explained Chow. He feels if the information and content is good enough the search engines will find you. A lot of your traffic can come from promotions, value campaigns, and social media. Chow credits a lot of his traffic to come from Facebook and Twitter. Now with Facebook being the most visited site on the web and with 400 million, you can’t ignore the market potential.

“When someone comes to visit my blog, my number one goal is get them to opt into my email list. Generally everything my blog does is geared toward building my email list.”

Most people who visit your blog are there because they found you on Google or you were linked from another blog. They come to your blog, read a few posts, and then the click away from your page most likely not remembering who you are. By forming an e-mail list you establish a customer base and way to stay in contact with them. “When you have a base or email list, you don’t really need a lot of other promotions,” said Chow.

Chow has and is making a career of his blog and utilizing the internet. He calls it the “dot com lifestyle”, which has allowed him to achieve and obtain some great things. “Number one thing is time freedom. I don’t have to punch a time clock,” said Chow referring to what his job as allowed him to do. This gives him the ability to work when he wants to. He is able to spend time with his daughter at the park, while everyone else is at work. Also, Chow says, “There’s also location freedom in addition to time freedom. I can do this from anywhere in the world.” There are no limitations on location with this type of job. As long as you have access to a computer and the internet you are all set to go.

Trademark Productions would like to thank John Chow for sharing an abundance of valuable information with us to share with you. Please check out the TM Web Radio Show, featuring John Chow in it’s entirety to hear more valuable information.

As the term SEO becomes a more prominent force in internet marketing, the TM Web Radio Show got to sit down with one of the industry’s pioneers, Greg Boser. Greg has been a part of the SEM/SEO industry since the beginning. His experience has transformed him into someone who knows all angles of the industry. One of the most honest voices in search, Greg served as the President of Web Guerilla for 10 years and now operates 3 Dog Media.

3 Dog Media provides a fresh new look at how to maximize Web 2.0 in any vertical, while grasping every SEO opportunity. All while specializing in SEO, SMM, reputation management, and WordPress development. Greg is also a former moderator at Web Master World, former host of SEO Rockstar radio show, and frequent speaker at conferences since 1999.

Well, why don’t we let Greg tell you for himself what it is he exactly does? “I consider myself a web marketer whose primary focus is search but that encompasses anything that has to do with getting people to type something into a little white box” explained Greg. The interesting thing is like most SEO’s he sort of stumble upon this career. He originally started out by selling fire protection services and realized if they had a website they could increase their sales. So he built it, but no one was coming, quite the opposite of The Field of Dreams. “Then search became the primary way that initial site got found. And once that started we started getting leads from really all over the world”, said Greg. He then moved on to where he was doing more brokering deals for the company than doing the actual physical work.

“Then it was kind of at that point that I went wow this Internet thing might be pretty cool and I might want to figure out how to do this full-time as a career. So I just kind of stumbled into it.”

He then started to want to make money using the internet in 1995. From there it turned into a job and he started to make a little money around 1998. By 2000 it was a really good job kind of thing and Greg found his calling. From here he became fully engulfed in the SEO world. Even to the point where he admittedly stalked Danny Sullivan. After getting involved with people like Danny and really pushing this idea of internet marketing, the conferences started to come up. It’s safe to say that Greg Boser is a pioneer in the SEM conference world. “Then the first pub-con was actually in a pub and we did one in Irvine called the bar-con and it just kind of grew out of there” said Greg. From there he has been an avid speaker at well known conferences since.

Working with Web Guerilla, Greg handled a lot of corporate clients and shared his views of the corporate SEM/SEO world with us. “In the early 2000′s I did a lot of that kind of stuff and I subcontracted to a lot of large agencies where I was kind of like the Wizard of Oz behind the curtain doing all the strategy. I charged them a ton of money and then they’d mark it up and go out and pretend like they were a genius”, says Greg. The whole corporate world and the long process can be painful. This prompted Greg to strictly remain a consultant. He didn’t want to work to be a Yes-Man. Being a part of the old days of SEO Greg has been through it all and has remained in the industry adapting and utilizing all the changes that have came.

“A lot of us old timers, we feel partially responsibility for Google getting better because we did exploit the holes and you know if we didn’t we’d still look like Alta-Vista 2000.”

The “old timers” can be credited for transforming search to what it is today. They are the ones picking at Google trying to manipulate the logarithm, which then prompts Google to go back and fix what they missed. It used to be easy to exploit something in search for a large volume of money, but that takes a lot longer now. This is where the black hat SEO VS. white hat SEO battle started to begin. According to Greg, “My personal take is the term ‘white hat SEO’ is a code name for an SEO with no game.” Greg believes by regularly doing R and D and pushing the envelope ultimately makes a better SEO. By knowing what works and what doesn’t you are available to provide your clients with better results. This isn’t seen much in the SEO industry because of the Google Webmaster Central, which is regulating what goes on. This instills fear in people, because they don’t want to get in the wrong side of Google and ultimately lose any clients. “The tough thing is basically what I’ve already said is that 99% of Google’s quality is handled not by the algorithm but by fear”, explained Greg. The webmaster guideline is the core mechanism behind Google that keeps things clean.

Google continues to grow both in size and influence. Recently Google rolled out Caffeine to its search engine. There are notions that this could come with some pretty big changes when it comes to ranking. Still there is speculation over whether it is good for search or not. “Whether it’s good for search depends on whether my stuff goes up or down,” said Greg. There is still some confusion surrounding Caffeine as not too many people know where exactly Google is at in the rollout process. Perhaps it isn’t totally implemented yet, but there still has been some shake up. “We saw a couple spaces where we had stuff in the top 4 but it’s now sitting at 12. Now once it fits in, gets stable, it stays that way for a while, and we’re confident that that’s what it’s going to be. Then we can take the time to kind of dissect why those sites replaced us and what factors are different,” explained Greg. People are still going to see some changes from Google in the next 3 to 6 months. A few particularly are the integration of real time search and social media into search results.

“Google’s gotten to where they just throw crap out and it’s never quite what we expected. Really the big picture, if you guys remember back 2001, 2002, you know they had the fresh spot.”

Fresh spot was a separate component that interjected content in the search results that wasn’t being analyzed by all the data points everything else was. It was like on page factors that shot in real quick because it was fresh and new. “Now with Twitter and all these new kind of signals they’re going to see that, but on a much bigger scale,” stated Greg. The testing with distributing tweets and re-tweets can already be seen in packing a blog post and then seeing where Google ranks it based on the signals found in Twitter.

It is no secret that Google dominates the search industry, but is that really a good thing for search? Greg doesn’t seem to think so, “We’re best off as an industry having three equal players with a third market share each.” Back when there were multiple search engines to rank in your projects are really spread around between four or five places. You could mess up in one and still be OK. Now if you hit the bottom with Google, it is a code-red emergency. Still Google continues to grow and it doesn’t look like it is stopping anytime soon. Now making it is way to mobile software, mobile search, Google Chrome OS, Google Buzz, and there are even rumors now they are providing SEO services.

“Our big focus right now is I’ve never been a big fan of local search just because that’s not been the area that I’ve competed in. We’ve always preferred clients that had global kind of terms that generate a ton of traffic.”

It is helpful to spend some time doing global things at a local level. Google is now returning a lot of local results for generic terms that don’t have geo-qualified areas tied to them. These are terms that in the past that were money terms that if you got ranked for you would show up everywhere. “Paying attention to how that’s evolving and what kind of phrases Google is deciding, should show local results I think is real important.” This opens up the path for a lot of lead generating by building localized sites and getting them listed in that market.

With the internet always evolving it is important to stay on top of the latest trends and new applications. Greg has been doing this since the beginning and continues to strive in the SEM/SEO industry. We would like to send a big thanks to Greg Boser of 3 Dog Media for taking time out of his day and sharing a great amount of information with us.

In a world where Google has become synonymous with search, businesses will need to learn how to use this in their marketing strategies. More and more consumers are finding their way to the web in hope of finding what they are looking for. Whether it is a new digital camera or the latest news stories, the internet has become the gatekeeper of information. As businesses start to catch on to the ways their consumers are finding their and their competitive services. The more they must realize the value of having a presence on the web and getting the consumer to their site.

This sounds easier than it really is, but luckily Trademark Productions was fortunate enough to sit down with Vanessa Fox. She is not only a former Google employee, where she created Webmaster Central, but she is also an on-line marketing extraordinaire. She has her hands in just about everything she’s with Ignition Partners, contributing editor at Search Engine Land, and hosts the webmaster radio show called Office Hours. She is also a frequent speaker on the on-line marketing circuit and has a book coming out called Marketing In the Age of Google. As you can tell Vanessa has a full plate but was still willing to sit down and share a lot of very helpful and useful tips, all search and internet related.

Vanessa started her career in marketing back in 1995. She spent a lot of her time looking at user experience which allowed her to better understand audiences and putting together user interaction. “I sort of always was approaching projects sort of with that user-centric focus. I did a lot of working with developers and that kind of thing. I also at the same time started getting into Web development” explained Vanessa. From here she became the webmaster of the company she worked for. She added that to her understanding of user experiences and began building websites. Soon enough she landed a gig with Google and things really started to take off.

“I did end up at Google and started working in search and I put together Webmaster Central. Then we started working on getting the alliance between Google and Microsoft and Yahoo!. As I was working on that project, I really started to realize that there was a lot more that could be done with that relationship in terms of everyone in the world that has a Website and what they care about in terms of organic search with Google”

This is where the idea of Webmaster Central came about. As she realized this was really important and there hasn’t been much done like this before, there was still an issue of scalability. There were a lot of site owners, “We realized that site maps was a great start in terms of communication with site owners, but there was a lot more that was possible.” Even though she may not be with Google anymore, Vanessa still uses these ideas. She still has the user-centric mindset and tries her best to think like the users because if you want to rank well in the search results you are obviously trying to get visitors for a reason.

“I feel like sometimes we get focused on the ranking aspect of SEO, because that kind of seems like the most important. We can accidentally sometimes lose sight of sort of what the purpose of the ranking is.”

This is where keeping a user-centric approach in mind because this is the content that search engines are looking to rank. This will also help you endure algorithm shifts too as they are continually changing. You should think more along the line of what the algorithm is trying to accomplish versus what a specific algorithm is doing today. Once you understand how search engines work your site can be built to accommodate what they are looking for. Vanessa explains, “Build sites that allow them to both do well in search engines and really have a good experience for users, so that they can meet their own goals.” There is definitely a mutual relationship between websites and search engines. The search engines couldn’t exist without the content on websites, but websites wouldn’t get the audiences they needed without the search engines. It creates a nice balance.

“There are a lot of intersections with search and social media. I think social media certainly has a lot of benefits on its own. It’s very similar to the evolution of search.”

Much like search social media presents companies the potential to reach a lot more consumers. Thinking before search, companies would put an 800 number on the back of product incase a consumer had an inquiry. That’s not the case anymore. Consumer behavior is changing as technology changes. Now all someone has to do is type a few words in, click a button, and the majority of the information they are looking for is in front of them. Social media goes beyond that, where they can become friends/follows of the company right on Facebook or Twitter. It has come to the point where social media will be integrated with search. Vanessa explained there are two ways of approaching search. “One is, what are the evergreen or long-term types of searches that people do, which you can build on that content? Then you also have topical stuff, which is just maybe someone’s searching for it this week. They’re not going to be searching for it next month.” You want to be in front of both searchers and you can do this by having a website and a blog of your own. However, social media goes beyond that and allows you to get your message out there in various ways.

“I feel like we’re getting to the point where search is being more built into organizations as a regular part of the business and marketing processes.”

While a lot of organizations and company are attempting to merge search into the marketing plans, many might not know how to do this. That is exactly why Vanessa wrote Marketing In the Age of Google: Your Online Strategy is Your Business Strategy. “This book isn’t necessarily written for SEOs, for people that already understand how search works. It’s more written for people who are running a business or run marketing or products for an organization, and they just never really thought of search as part of that.” Most people are now using the internet and search to obtain the information they are looking for. If a business doesn’t look at search as a possible marketing strategy then they might be missing where their customers are going. It is important for business to evolve at the same pace with their customers. Businesses need to understand that their customers have moved on to new things and if they want to still actively engage them, they should do the same.

“A lot of times what will make a site better for search engines are also what are going to make it better for people. Certainly it’s generally always the case that what makes it better for search engines are going to make it better for screen readers and mobile devices.”

There is a chance that you can even go beyond the idea that what will make a site better for search will also make things better for anyone interacting with the site. It’s not all thinking about rankings and trying to rank first. Think about that, but try to capture the user experience at the same time. If you rank high that is great, but once you get the user there it is vital for them to have a good experience so they will come back, pass the word on, etcetera. It is the life cycle that really matters. Otherwise all the work you did for ranking will turn to be a wasted effort.

We would like to thank Vanessa Fox for taking out some time from her busy schedule and sharing some of her immense amount of knowledge. If you are interested in more information from Vanessa, please check out here book, Marketing in the Age of Google.

Check out the transcript of TM’s conversation with Eric Enge.

Welcome back for another installment of Trademark Productions’ SEO podcast. Hope everyone had a great holiday season and is ready for all the great things 2010 has in stored. However, here at Trademark Productions, we are still slightly in the holiday spirit and have a gift for our listeners. That gift is our latest podcast guest, internet marketing extraordinaire Eric Enge.

Eric is the president of Stone Temple Consulting, a six-person SEO firm with offices in Massachusetts and California. He is also vice president of marketing and handles all of the SEO for Moving Traffic Inc., a web publishing company that publishes its own websites. Eric also offers his immense amount of knowledge in internet marketing as he is a frequent speaker at many search engine industry expos and conferences. Eric is particularly known for his in-depth interviews of major players in the search industry, including dozens of people who work in senior capacities at the search engines.

Eric Enge has a lot of knowledge to offer to TM listeners. He is well known around the SEO realm, both for his Websites and understanding of SEO. He offers our listeners a lot of insight about what works and doesn’t based on his experience. We were lucky enough to sit down and talk with Eric about all the latest happening in search engine marketing and his opinion on various topics and trends that are happening in the industry.

As you may know by now, there is no definite path to a career in the online marketing industry. Eric is proof of that considering he never planned out a career as the internet marketer he is today. Eric explained his story for us, “Well actually, I fell into the career by accident. I had a consulting business and was doing a different kind of marketing consulting. There was a friend of mine who had a business and asked me to come in and help him. I realized what he really needed was more traffic from search engines.” Currently there are many solutions to solve this problem, but keep in mind this was 7 to 8 years ago. “So I went and figured it out. Ah, well, here’s what you got to do. He ended up getting tons of additional traffic to his site, and I should say that’s really what search engine optimization or SEO is really about.” Eric then realized the potential the internet had in gaining new customers that you didn’t have the day off from search engines and turned it into an SEO career.

“Initially when I was doing search engine optimization consulting, it was just me. It was that way for two or three years, but at a certain point in time, we made the decision to expand Stone Temple Consulting and brought in somebody to be my partner in running the business. Then we just started to proactively add clients and grow the business.” This is another example of how someone started off small in the industry and has grown to a much larger scale. As stated earlier there is no definite path to a career in the internet marketing industry, but that does not mean there isn’t one at all.

Someone as experienced as Eric has endured the challenges that may present themselves in the internet marketing industry. He has seen the industry grow throughout his career and is excited for what the future may bring.

“Well, I mean back in the beginning, the search engine algorithms were not very sophisticated. So the things that you needed to do to get traffic were actually quite simple.”

Search engines back then would allow you to just put a lot of keywords in your keyword meta tag and that would work itself. “If you had this keyword which was a high-volume search term, and if it appeared 100 times on your page, then you ranked very high.” However, that is not the case anymore. Search engines have become more sophisticated and are much better at figuring out what websites are going to be most useful to a user entering a search term. According to Eric,” One of the ways we like to talk about this now is that it’s a situation where you want to really learn what the search engines want you to do from a strategic perspective.” This could pose as a problem considering search engines are making changes to improve their algorithms.

In fact Google is expected to make a major change in their algorithm which will have an impact in the industry in various ways.

“One of the big impacts is they do a better job at filtering out poor quality sites and placing more emphasis on good quality sites. Also, one is that Google has a much greater emphasis on the speed of a website as being an important factor in what makes a good site to show an end user.”

This means if someone clicks on a link from the search results and that webpage takes several seconds to load, then Google considers it a poor quality experience. Google is now using this as a ranking factor, which means if your site loads slowly they will lower your ranking in their results. This is all done so that Google and other search engines can offer the best material to their users. Another change that will impact the industry is with Google and how they have recently implemented real time search results.

“The main question you have to ask yourself is what kind of things users are searching for where a real-time answer would be the desired result.”

If someone is searching digital cameras because they are interested in buying one they don’t need up to the minute news. People just want to know what models they can buy now, where they can buy them at, the price range, and read reviews things like that. However news searches where you are searching for a specific story or topic is excellent. Another thing Google is doing though, is integrating search results from Twitter. Twitter has become very popular on the internet but according to Eric it has yet to reach “mainstream”. “In fact, it’s still a relatively small percentage of the population knows about and the integration of Twitter in the Google search results. It’s also happening with Bing and it is going to create a tremendous amount of visibility that the company hasn’t had previously.” says Eric about the Twitter and Google integration.

“Yeah, so I think the whole real-time search thing that’s going on now with Google, Yahoo!, and Bing, in different manners, is actually quite a big event for Twitter.”

Twitter’s audience is still blooming and with the integration into search results there is potential for it to become much more mainstream. This could lead to a more solidified partnership between Google and Twitter. “I think that the integration into the search results may cause Twitter to become mainstream, and that’s definitely a really big event.” said Eric. There is a fear here though that real-time and social search could potentially damage some components in the search results. Search engines are becoming more reliable by offering users the best content available. With real-time and social search there is a possibility that they could junk up the results. Eric stated though, “In terms of making it less relevant? If it does make it less relevant, then it won’t be in there for very long.” Considering relevance is the main way for search engines to bring in revenue and establish credibility. This will obviously affect businesses of all sizes, but Eric has offered up some advice for the smaller businesses in terms of Googles algorithm change.

First thing first, “I think one thing you want to do is make sure you’re not skimping on your hosting environment, the place where you would host your Website” stated Eric. You want to make sure you are getting the most for your dollar when it comes to a hosting environment. Sure there are decent options ten dollars a month, maybe even less. However, chances have it you are probable on a shared server and performance may be uneven. “Another thing you want look at is content management systems out there. They have been used by many well-meaning businesses. They just offer a really slow performance. I think you want to test and evaluate the speed which your Web pages load.” Some content management systems out there are Joombla, Drupal, and if you want to use a blog based format, WordPress. Another topic that Eric Enge touched on was the value of a web publisher.

“Your two main jobs as a publisher are to create great content and promote it well. It sounds very trite, but Google and the other search engines are just pressing continually towards forcing you into that goal.”

This doesn’t mean if you just have these two areas covered you will rank well. There are a lot of things that determine a search friendly site. You have to start to market your website from a search engine perspective. This pretty much means getting people linked to your site. However, the better the content on your page the more likely people will link to it. Like Eric said, “You have to understand the importance of implementing quality, non-commercial content as a basic component of marketing any Website today.”

Eric offered a couple tips for consumers, for smaller independent owners, affiliates, and people out there managing sites. SEO is a very complicated area, and you can get completely lost in it and spends hundreds of hours and get led down all kinds of different paths. “One is that you do want try to figure it out. Perhaps get advice if you need it on how to use a search engine-friendly tool to build your site. It can be a content management system or something somewhat simpler.” It is worth seeking out the advice, just make sure it is the right advice because if you start with the wrong platform its game over right from the start. “Fixing it later will be extremely expensive, because you may have to throw out your Website and start over. You don’t want to do that. You want to address that upfront, and that’s very important.”

We want to thank Eric Enge for his time and all of the valuable information he has shared with us today. Eric can be found attending a majority of the internet marketing industry conferences in the future and in the mean time check out his company Stone Temple Consulting.

Check out the transcript of TM’s conversation with Debra Mastaler.

Businesses are constantly looking for new ways to market their name, brand, and products.  But, online-based companies are finding that link building, paid links, and utilizing social media websites, like Twitter, are some of the most effective ways to market themselves.  Even though all businesses are in competition with one another, there are different avenues that can be taken to be one of the best.  Trademark Productions’, Dwight Zahringer, had the opportunity to welcome Debra Mastaler from Alliance-Link to the Trademark Productions Podcast Radio Show.

Mastaler knows a thing or two about link building.  After spending over 15 years with a Fortune 500 company, she unknowingly created her own link building business, Organic Way Market.  With Organic Way Market a thing of the past, she is currently President of Alliance-Link, an interactive marketing company that provides their clients with custom link-building campaigns and link training. Mastaler’s original link building business, Organic Way Market, was receiving more than its fair share of popularity, even though she had no idea what she was doing.  Even though she no longer owns the domain, Organic Way Market provided her with a foundation in the world of link building.

“I used the Internet to look for things.  And as I used it I began to understand that there was not a lot of resources online in one particular place for organic information.  So I developed a directory called the Organic Way Market. I didn’t really know what I was doing at that point; I didn’t realize that I was making a directory.  There was no Google yet.”

In order to gain a following, a strong customer base, link building is very important.  But, there are many different ways to go about link building effectively.  Using Mastaler’s basic tactics is critical to achieve success, and anyone, regardless of what demographic or geographic location the business is trying to attract, can boost their visibility online.

“Go to your Chamber of Commerce, and buy a membership so that you have the visibility there.  You would join your association.  When you join the association online, you get a link from your association.  You would do all of the major directories.  Directories are real important.  They are people like Yahoo.com, Business.com, BestOfTheWeb.  And while it’s hard to say you should do exactly the same thing for everybody, those types of things are foundational and everybody can do it.”

Unfortunately, many companies and businesses manipulate the link building process in order to get link popularity and higher rankings within the search engines.  While search engines, like Yahoo! and Google have made it very clear that they frown upon such an act, it can’t be stopped.  Even though there are individuals and groups who effectively manipulate the system, gaining link popularity is all about relevancy.

“I think part of the issue with link popularity, there are four components; one of them is link quantity, the number of links.  Link quality.  Some people equate this with page rank; it’s the quality of the pages that link to you.  Link anchor text is the third one, and the fourth one is relevancy.  Sites that are similar or complementary have a tendency to link out and to reference each other.”

There are many ways that companies try to attract link popularity and traffic to their websites.  While some are more creative than others, some tactics are not effective.  For Mastaler and Alliance Link, the start of any of their relationships between company and client is through surveys, which they have found is the number one and most effective way to link build.

“We send a survey to their customer base, and we’ll ask them some very basic questions, which is something any business should be doing occasionally anyway, just to keep a pulse on what their client base wants.  All the demographics that go behind your products, all of the people, all of what they do, you need to know that so you can produce content or create content that they will be attracted to.”

In the most recent of years, social media and social networking websites have been one of the most effective ways that a company or business has been able build their brand.  The company gains a following, and is able to reach out to a wide demographic of individuals, who may not necessarily be from the same geographic location.  Twitter, one of the leading social networking websites, has been a great tool for research and identity purposes.

“Twitter is probably one of the best research tools now that we have out there.  Your link-building is only as good as the research provides, so you have to find sites and you have to find partners and you have to find opportunities, and that takes a lot of time; it takes a ton of time when you’re online trying to figure out who you can approach or where’s your demographic or what can you create on your site that’s going to draw eyeballs.”

There are numerous businesses and companies who want to use link building and search engine optimization in the coming of months.  In order to effectively add these techniques to their marketing strategies, Mastaler shares some tools and ideas to get these companies off to the right start.

“My number one tool that I use that I cannot live without are my alert services – Google Alerts.  But if you sit down and go on the computer and just search for ‘alert services,’ many, many, many different types of them will come back. The other thing I can’t live without are my press release submission tools.  PR Web is the one that I like the best, although I use several different companies.  And if we’re doing content, if you’re creating content on your site, you need to let the world know it’s there, and the press release submission programs are the best way to get that out initially.”

Even though there are many ways that companies and businesses can link build, each technique and tool needs to be utilized accordingly.  Not every tool will work as well for one company over another, but it is also dependent upon how it is used.  Mastaler, who was a self-starter, shares some of her tips on how to get the most out of link building, and what can come out of it when it is used properly.  Mastaler, frequently writes on Link Spiel, her personal blog where she shares advice about link building.

Check out the transcript of our conversation with Dixon Jones.

Two weeks ago our owner and CEO, Dwight Zahringer headed to Las Vegas to attend one of the premier internet marketing conferences of the year, Pubcon. Las Vegas becomes an internet marketing utopia with many of the SEO heavyweights hosting sessions that are very informational for anyone that is trying to garnish an online presence. The topics are endless along with the amount of useful information that is delivered at each of these seminars.

TM was lucky enough to sit down with one of the presenters, Dixon Jones, and give you your very own peek into some of the topics that were discussed at Pubcon. Dixon Jones is the managing director of the UK Internet Marketing Consultancy: Receptional LTD and has a decade of experience marketing online, primarily above the line. Dixon built Receptional up from a start-up in 1999 and has retained credibility as a search engine focused marketing company throughout the highs and lows in the industry to date. He is also the current marketing director for Majestic-SEO.

This is definitely not Dixon’s first appearance at an internet marketing conference. He has been on the circuit making appearances since 2002, primarily speaking on topics such as link building, pay-per click (PPC) management, and web analytics.

“Way before the Internet started I used to write and run murder mystery evenings. I’ve spent night after night being dead body and Inspector Cluedo and stuff. You get burnout doing that, and so the internet came along and I got a copy of Front Page ’92, and built a little website. I think the only thing that I did right with that was not to host it on the cheapest hosting company I could find.”

Dixon did not take the traditional route, if such one exists, into the SEO profession. He originally started running murder mystery games for company gatherings. Once his website was built, he wasn’t sure what was going to happen next. Not hosting it on the cheapest hosting company he could find allowed him to pick a company that had web trends, which was way ahead of its time. Soon he saw people were visiting his site from Ohio and all over the world and realized he would not be able to get his murder mystery actors our there.

He decided to build a site where anyone cold go and download the game and run it yourself, turning his murder mystery game into a web product. He then turned it into a company called Murder Mystery Games, Limited and hosted it on a site called murdermysterygames.co.uk.

“I think that Twitter is probably reaching its peak.  It’s going be, hasn’t it?  I mean, you sit there and look at it, and in our industry it’s turned into complete spam, I’m guilty as well. We just put our link out there.”

There has been a growing connection between SEO and social media and the two have in some ways become combined. We wanted to see what Dixon thought about social media and what is the next big thing to happen. Dealing with Twitter specifically the concern of sponsored tweets is something that has been making a buzz. It becomes a problem when people are posting information that they are paid for. There is no set way on how to monetize this action and it seems to becoming a trend. It has become so convoluted with Google picking up Twitter feeds and tweets and ranking them to the point where they show up in search results.

This could lead to Twitter being flooded with spam and anchor text to make sure results come back. Twitter has taken off fast and continues to become a major trend with the Internet and Internet marketing. Dixon believes, “Twitter, pure Twitter, will become pretty irrelevant. The real time search within other platforms I think could be a much more interesting and long-lasting situation.” This could potentially push Twitter as its own form of SEO where it is just a word and it talks about doing the searching. This also has the potential to jump over to Facebook. Facebook has recently updated their search preferences and that allow the user to cut out the stuff they don’t want. With modifications like these to limit the unwanted Facebook would appear to have much more longevity than any of its predecessors.

Dixon could go on for days with the amount of knowledge he has on Internet Marketing and SEO. He has been here since the beginning and continues to grow with the innovations that come upon within SEO. We would like to thank Dixon Jones, of Receptional, Majestic-SEO, and Murder Mystery Game, for taking time out of his busy trip at Pubcon to speak with us.

“The Majestic system, what Alex, the founder did was around about five years ago, is he went out and found people that were willing to download a program onto their PCs to start crawling the web. We’ve been collecting the data for five years or so, and we’re using web crawlers.”

By allowing people to download the program, Majestic-SEO started as a small server firm that was set up all by volunteers. This was downloaded and offered to thousands across the world. The way it worked was every time a user’s bandwitdth wasn’t in use the program would cut in and start using it for crawling the web. After all of that data was collected Majestic-SEO was launched about this time last year and has turned into a web product. Majestic SEO is set up to track links. Working strictly with external links users can know what links are going into a website. While you can use Yahoo’s data and say there is 300 links going back, or even 3,000 links, Majestic SEO tends to come back with ten times that number.

“I think it’s important for the publishers to start thinking about how they’re writing their content, because, these we’re already established. Bruce Clay said today that, a link in the main body of the text is much more valuable than a link in the menu structure of a website.”

With various audiences it is important to think about links form a traffic perspective. This way you are building a customer up point of view. This forces your content as a publisher to become much more important. People have to want to read the copy on your site to influence them to click those links. Also, your audience as a publisher becomes more important and so does that link to a person that wants to benefit out of using the link. Dixon believes, “ If your content is crap, then actually that’s not good for me at all. I think everybody’s got to pay attention to that link and the quality of it in some different ways.” It is key for publishers to look at the whole online marketing business to try to monetize their website in many different ways.

“Is it SEO?  Is it SEM?  Is it Internet marketing?  I think that it’s going to be harder and harder for somebody to say, “I am an SEO.”  It already is.  You’re not an SEO because you’re social media and your Twittering.”

One thing obvious is that the SEO industry as a whole is traveling down many different paths. It is hard to clearly classify someone as an SEO professional with the ever-growing aspects that brand from it. People begin to recognize these new trends with Twitter and Facebook and don’t want to be left out. Small and local businesses are in this group too trying to figure out the best way to gain presences on the Internet. It is hard to know exactly who can do what for your business when the titles are so convoluted. For smaller businesses it would be best to narrow their focus. “You need to listen to people you trust,” is what Dixon believes is the best way to ensure you get what you want from an SEO.

“I think a core question for any small company is the content management system or the web system that you use, when you host that website, in the very first place, you don’t have to use anything expensive.”

There are all sorts of systems, WordPress is one recommended by Dixon. The important thing here is that you pay close attention to those basics in the very early stages. You have to make sure you have a system that has URLs that mean something to the people using your site. If you don’t have something that makes sure that there’s some kind of taxonomy on the website then you will always be playing catch up. “This is a real problem. Some of the most expensive sites in the world have missed the basics of the start, and we have it all the time,” explains Dixon. People generally decide to build websites off of impulse and launch the website to soon. For small businesses or even some bigger ones, the resources are out there and they are not always as expensive as you would think.

“Yeah, well, Receptional and Majestic, and my murder mystery games. Also Receptional is breaking into new ground as well.  We’re looking at developing a few new technologies that we think will be good in the industry.  We’re looking, for example, at a system that is for mom and pop sites.”

The idea is that most mom and pop sites are using a content management system. This system could be WordPress or any other system offered but this causes a problem because mom and pops have no idea how to back this up. The just assume their hosting company is saving this and all of the changes they may make to their content. What Dixon plans to do is, “set up a system that says you’re hosting on Company A.  You want to backup on a company that is anything but Company A. So you get another hosting plan with another company, and we’re going to backup from Company A to Company B, and it’ll backup your database and files as well. It’ll do it at midnight every night or every week or whatever.” Dixon plans on trying to get some of the hosting companies involved as well. It is not as easy as it sounds because people are hosting with different sources. However, if the big hosting companies buy into it than it would be good for the hosting industry because it will raise the volume of hosting.

“There’s a lot less on page content stuff now than there was.  It’s a lot more about links and a lot more with social media. It has just taken off in the last 18 months big time.  Universal search used to be really big 12 months ago. I mean it’s still really big, but it’s kind of like being absorbed into our psyche now.”

As a veteran in the SEO speaking circuit, the topics over the years have seen changes with the continuing development of SEO and Internet Marketing. Dixon has seen these changes and continues to speak on the relevant topics in the SEO industry at these events. Things that aren’t getting talked about are any other search engines besides Google. Dixon believes, “That’s the biggest threat to our industry. It’s like having only one Telephone Company that you’ve got to use, or only one utility, because it’s essentially a utility now. If you’ve, only got one utility and they’re charging somebody, then it’s dangerous.” Now Google may not be charging user to use their utility, but because of the market share they can charge somebody completely different.

Dixon could go on for days with the amount of knowledge he has on Internet Marketing and SEO. He has been here since the beginning and continues to grow with the innovations that come upon within SEO. We would like to thank Dixon Jones, of Receptional, Majestic-SEO, and Murder Mystery Game, for taking time out of his busy trip at Pubcon to speak with us.

Check out the transcript of our conversation with David Mihm.

Small businesses are typically a locally or regionally-based company.  They are unique to the area, and one-of-a-kind.  That being said, many need to rely on local Search Engine Optimization (SEO), in order to get their businesses well represented on Google, Bing, and Yahoo!.  Trademark Productions had the wonderful opportunity to welcome David Mihm, an individual who has a rather long resume, but knows a thing or two about local SEO and the search ranking factors that go along with it, to the SEO Web Talk Radio Show.

Mihm, an online marketing consultant, writer, columnist, and speaker at a number of SEO industry events, promotes search friendly web sites for his clients throughout the United States.  He’s on the board of directors for SEMPDX, Portland’s Search Engine Marketing Trade Organization, and Vice President of Partnerships.  Mihm currently writes for Search Engine Land, Danny Sullivan’s site, all the while working on his local search ranking factors project. You can also find him on his own blog, Mihmorandum, sharing excellent advice on local SEO to others .

Thousands of businessmen and businesswomen have all taken a unique route to get where they are today.  Some network, others find their calling through talents.  But, many, like Mihm, fall into the “I just fell into it” route.  Regardless of how individuals get to where they are, they are all very knowledgeable and well-regarded in their field of choice.

“So I kind of got into local search kind of by necessity.  I have worked with small businesses on their websites and their online marketing for five or six years and just kind of stumbled into local SEO because most of my clients were getting traffic from their particular geographic areas… I just really started as I said by necessity, and started writing blog posts, and figuring out who the other thought leaders in the space were.”

In order for a small, local business to survive, how you market your company online can be done either with the help of a professional or simply by doing it yourself.  Whether it is through website design, SEO, or local search, marketing projects are flexible with how you go about getting things done.  No matter which avenue your company decides to take, success is more than possible.

“I think any business can get traffic coming largely from geographically-targeted  searches.  There are plenty of things that you can do on your own, and if you’ve got time and not money, just ask the consultant for a document with recommendations for things that you can implement yourself.  And if it’s something where you don’t feel comfortable sort of taking that on, then you engage in more of a project basis or a retainer basis with that agency.”

There are always good and bad firms in any business realm.  Some will do what you ask of them, and others are unable to fulfill your desires and wishes.  SEO, while a very successful Internet industry, can also be run by firms who don’t necessarily use the best business skills, which in turn, raises red flags for those who are looking into hiring them as their agency of choice to promote their business.

“I think most of the good SEO firms out there work on a word of mouth type of basis, and their work will speak for itself, rather than having to go out and actually sell what they’re doing.”

In business, numbers need to match.  With SEO, numbers mean everything to a business trying to market and promote itself to a certain demographic.  In saying so, if your numbers are lacking, compare yours with a fellow competitors, and try to figure out what they are doing right.  Everything needs to be tested with a little trial and error.

“[To] make sure that your site is indexed properly, do a search in Google for site:yourdomainname.  See how many pages Google has in its index for you.  Does that match sort of what your IT department is telling you as far as how many pages you actually have on your site?  I think for larger companies, there tend to be many more technical concerns as well as process concerns… I think it’s much easier to assess what you need.  Look at your competitors.  Are they doing certain things with social media?  Do they have a great Facebook presence?  Are they on Twitter with 10,000 followers?  Look at how successful people in your space are doing, and try to get a sense for, if you are in the same ballpark with them, or do we need someone to come in and really help us maximize our presence?”

Small, local businesses, to no fault of their own, are already behind the eight-ball as they struggle to survive in their particular market and geographical area against the bigger, more well-known companies.  For small businesses, local search can become one of their best friends, as well as the one thing that may separate them from an operational to a closed business.

“In local search, reviews are really important; not only for ranking, but also for conversion.  So when people come across your business on Yelp or on City Search or insider pages – depending if you’re in Travel and Trip Advisor and those kinds of sites.  What other people are saying about you not only helps you rank better, but also gets them to call you.  And so being very active at monitoring – what  people are saying about you, encouraging people who have had a good experience at your business to leave a review for you on one of these major portals.”

With many websites and companies on the Internet, users always have their own individual opinions about them.  Some may think that what they have to offer is top notch, and others may not be as impressed.  The same can be said for search engine ranking listings, as some companies may be able to provide the results that a business needs to get to the top of a search.

“I think that the value of Dmoz has certainly dropped in the last several years.  I think it’s the type of thing where you try to submit once there and if you get in, great, if you don’t, you know spending your time on something that’s going to be a little bit more fruitful for you.”

As more and more users need information on a certain topic, Wikipedia is the go-to source for just about anything and everything.  While its credibility may be questioned, due to editing of facts that can be done by any user visiting the website, Wikipedia is a great avenue for small businesses to explore through linking.  Getting the word out about your company and brand now can go much further than a Google, Bing, or Yahoo! search engine listing.

“I think a link is a link and whether or not it’s passing juice, if it’s on a site where people who are interested in my service or my product are going to be interested in it, I think it’s an important link to have.  If there’s a particular topic page on Wikipedia that’s incredibly germane to what it is you do, write a piece of content that’s not salesy, that’s informative to people that can be used as a reference, and I think that that content is going to hold value and hopefully accrue links from prominent sources.”

While there are many opportunities for a small, local business to survive using the multiple ways that local search can be utilized, David Mihm has shared with us his insight and knowledge the do’s and dont’s of the SEO realm, on a much more personal scale.  As he attends and speaks at more SEO-related conferences, his knowledge and learning more about the craft of his trade grows, which provides listeners with a voice that they can trust.

Check out the transcript of our conversation with Aaron Wall.

Aaron Wall, one of the forefathers of the SEO industry, sat down with Trademark Productions and our own, Dwight Zahringer, where Wall shared invaluable tips on how to make your website survive and be successful when using SEO to market your company, business, or brand.  Wall, the CEO and Owner of SEOBook.com, offers training, search engine news, tool reviews, and even an e-book to those who want to learn more about the industry in the easiest way possible.

Anyone who is trying to build their website to receive the traffic and business it needs to stay afloat, needs to look into Search Engine Optimization (SEO).  Within the last decade, SEO has become an avenue for businesses to look into as it continues to grow and has been an asset to companies who want to be a mainstay in Internet-run businesses.  While agencies and knowledgeable firms can help businesses get the exposure they need to SEO, there are also individuals who have played a large role in why SEO is as successful as it is.

Regardless of what industry your business falls under, there is a right and wrong way to go about marketing and using SEO as a way to promote your company.  While there are many techniques that can be used, Wall and his website, SEOBook.com, became an instant hit once he did some research.

“What you can do is take a list of 10 or 20 competitors or so, put them into a tool, find out which common back links they have, then look at those pages, see if there’s a way you can contact those webmasters, and get on them.  If you know someone else’s website moved locations, then you can look for people that are linking at that site, plus other sites in the industry, and you can email some of those other webmasters, and say, ‘Hey, just like Fred’s site moved, here’s a couple other decent SEO sites you might consider listing.’”

Wall wrote a book for his website, SEOBook.com, and our own Dwight Zahringer just so happened to get the publication for free through his non-profit organization.  While it was relatively inexpensive, Wall wanted people to read what he had to say about SEO whether or not they got it for a fee or not.

“Since it’s kind of long and complex, and includes a lot of intro, I thought that if I gave away that much information in one chunk, a lot of people go, ‘Oh, this is overwhelming,’ because they don’t want to get into it.”

Many businesses do not want to get involved in the online or SEO industry out of fear.  But, Wall says that companies should not be worried about anything of the sort.  Online marketing and SEO is all about growing your brand, your name, which can be beneficial if done the right way.

“Some people are worried about when they’re brand new and obscure.  They’re worried about people stealing their stuff.  And when you’re new, if people do steal your stuff, it’s actually beneficial because retail only matters if you have an audience and it is costing you to sell it.”

With anything in life, there is always a white, black, and gray area.  This is very true for those in SEO, where individuals try to get a leg up on the competition through spamming.  The industry is very competitive, and individuals in SEO are always trying to find new ways to come out on top.

“In general with SEO, when you’re new, you just got to try to get momentum any way you can.  I wouldn’t suggest doing the spamming of 5,000 blogs, or submit your site to 5,000 web directories.  Nothing like that.  But some of the other techniques, submitting to some of the better directories or trying to interview people.”

While there is a clear white, black, and gray area in the SEO industry, Wall believes that people can certainly operate in the gray area, even though the outcome may not be ideal.  The end result may not necessarily possible while working in the gray area.  But, by the same token, your view of how marketing operates may be altered.

“I’m not saying that a person has to spam me, but they can certainly operate in the gray region somewhere.  And there’s a lot of stuff where if you listen to the advice that’s given – I think if you listen to the search engine guidelines too strictly, you can have a view of marketing that’s so puritanical, it never gains any momentum.”

When an individual or a group of people want to run a business, sacrifice is heavily involved.  Whether it is with family or monetary, businesses, regardless of whether or not they are online-based, operating a business venture is risky.  Everyone wants to make a profit; otherwise, they would not go into the business world.  Wall puts the operating of a business in perspective.

“Yeah, if you think about any sort of business, rarely do you get any sort of sustained momentum, unless you really put effort in for awhile, and the easiest way – if you ever have a lot of money, you can leverage capital to buy a nice domain name or buy an existing site, but if you don’t have a lot of capital, then how you catch up is putting in more time than the next guy.”

With any and all businesses, whether online or not, each want to have a long-lasting impression through their reputation.  The Internet, however, can work against a company if their website is viewed as spammy.  Not surprisingly, many companies try to take advantage of SEO through keywords and domain names that are already in use, and therefore, look suspiciously spammy.

“Let’s say you buy a bunch of high-paid links that all say credit cards and point them at your site.  That will probably seem pretty easy, be deemed as pretty spammy; especially if you have a new site, and it’s an affiliate site.”

The bankruptcy of Circuit City has been one of the largest liquidations in the most recent of years.  Even though the stores may no longer be in operation, the website still exists like it did before filing for bankruptcy, as CircuitCity.com.  Because the website was bought, ran just how it was when the company still reached actual stores, it has been able to thrive simply because nothing changed.  It goes all back to the domain name – CircuitCity.com.

“Circuit City went bankrupt, and then the website was bought for something like 14 million.  All you’d have to do is slap any old website on there.  After you get the website up, you would probably produce that much sales per month at least, just based on the old links and the authority of the website.”

Not only can individuals and businesses receive help from developers and SEO elitists, but there are tools and toolbars that can provide them with the necessities to make their SEO and marketing campaign successful.  In order for a business or company to have success with SEO, the main component to receiving a higher search engine ranking is the usage of keywords.  Even though there are numerous amounts of tools and toolbars out there for anyone who is involved in any form of online marketing or SEO, Wall informs listeners of his favorite keyword tool.  And even though he has a toolbar himself at his website, SEOBook.com, he prefers to use the one from Internet powerhouse, Google.

“The Google toolset is my favorite keyword tool.  One is called the search-based keyword – the search-based keyword tool, the traffic estimator, and then there is the basic keyword tool.  The only issue with them is that sometimes Google selectively filters some stuff.  I like to use the Google tools as my first step, and then I also like using Wordtracker, and cross compare and cross reference back and forth a few times.   If I have a really big keyword list, I might run it through the Google AdWords ATI, and have it grab the data as far as estimated search volume, estimated keyword value, and then from there, sort it by value, and look at what keywords fit well in your business.”

In order for a website and its business to survive online, there needs to be a plan in place.  In the realm of SEO, Wall shares three tips that every small business should abide by if they want to get the results and numbers they need and want.  After all, without customers, without profit, without any marketing, businesses do not survive.  Unfortunately, this happens to many companies, but in the matter of SEO, Wall shares three key components that any small business needs to survive in this day and age of the Internet.

“A domain name is important.  Then, if you can encourage your customers to give reviews to your site, on Google Local or other services, if you get a bunch of positive reviews, that’ll help you rank better.  So that’s two.  Three is the physical location of the business.  The location, the more central you are to the city, the better it’ll be.”

Social media has become a force to be reckoned with as more and more businesses are finding websites, like Twitter, Facebook, and MySpace, useful to market their company and brand.  Like many websites, their features, how they operate, and the demographic that they are trying to attract are constantly changing.  As social media websites continue to evolve with real-time search being one of the newest features on the likes Twitter, Wall does not think it’s the answer to many small businesses’ SEO ventures.

“The impact is mostly going to be on the personal.  There’s not a lot of signal with social media, so promoting it quickly, it doesn’t have a lot of signal.  Like most areas where it would have a lot of signal because there are supposed to be a lot of traditional weblinks as well, going around those areas.  I think it can be helpful for some, but for most small business it’s typically a mismanaged amount of resources, that they put too much effort directly into Twitter or Facebook because most of them would be better off spending that time to write how-to blog posts on their own website.”

With any company in business, there will always be ones that are better than others with regards to the work that they do, the effort that they put forth, and how much they charge for their services.  While some businesses want the best of the best when it comes to the look and feel of their website, some could care less, which is more than unfortunate.  Always do everything and anything to keep customers on your website.

“I think there will always be shoddy providers.  I think it’ll just be some amount of people will care, some won’t.  Different people will talk about improvements using different language.  Some will call it usability.  Some will call it SEO.  Some people will call it design. But I think there will be winners and losers in every market, and there’s always going to be way more losers than winners.”

In order to survive in the online marketplace, the company needs to pay close attention to all of the details that will help it stay in business.  From audience to the market that you are trying to attract, Wall shares some helpful tips in how those ingredients can help in designing and developing a successful website.

“If you know what a market wants, then you can out-provide for what it wants.  If you know your market well, you can see, hopefully, some of the halls in the marketing strategies that might work in it, but if you don’t know much about a market, then the person that knows a lot about that market has a huge advantage over you.”

There are many facets to online marketing and SEO.  Wall, given his vast expertise in the industry, specializes in link building, which is one of the many topics he covers in his training modules through his website, SEOBook.com.  While Wall’s training sessions are through a private forum for members, he shared tips and ideas that usually he would charge $500 for.  And as we later found out, Wall has a great sense of humor.

“Do a site search on our website for the exact match domain, and read up on that.  Search for your topic, and then look for sites that aren’t quite breaking the top, and see if you can buy them.  One more.  You will rank better on Google if you link to my site.”

While it may be our longest podcast interview to-date, Wall provides listeners with the simplest and easiest of tools and tips they need to be successful in the SEO realm.  To have someone of his caliber and expertise join the Trademark Productions’ SEO WebTalk Radio Show is more than impressive, and we were delighted to have him as our guest.  Listen to one of the SEO forefathers discuss what he did to be successful, and what you can do to earn the results you and your business’ website deserve.

Check out the transcript of our conversation with Michael Caruso.

The world known as the internet has the potential for an infinite amount of possibilities. These possibilities aren’t limited to who you are or what you do. Anyone and everyone can tap into the internet and leave their footprint. One of the major pushes the internet is seeing is the dominance of social media sites like Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn. These social media websites can be utilized both by individuals and companies in various effective ways.

One individual, who has shifted his gears to mastering internet and social media marketing, is Michael Angelo Caruso. He is a professional speaker, who has made a career out of public speaking, sales training, and now internet and social media marketing. Caruso is the President of Edison House LLC, which is a communications consulting service based out of Detroit, Michigan. He has delivered thousands and thousands of speeches all that deal with a topic in communications.

We had a chance to sit down with Caruso for our Trademark Productions podcast to discuss his current endeavors and to gain some of his insight on social media. Caruso will also be speaking with our own, Dwight Zahringer at the Internet Marketing Conference, October 22nd in Beverly Hills, Michigan. This conference will be an all day seminar that is designed for anyone and everyone that wants to learn about how to utilize the internet and internet marketing.

“This conference was developed to open the door for people to see all of the potential and possibilities that internet has. I think about 10 or 12 years ago I read a statistic that said the average person only uses about 19 percent of his computer’s capacity. Maybe 80 percent of the computer’s capability goes unused,” said Caruso.

People are only using their computer for basic stuff such as; surfing the internet, writing an e-mail, creating a word document, and etc. Caruso believes the same statement can be made about the internet. Sure people use Mapquest, Google, and Wikipedia as resources, but the internet has a lot more to off to the average person. There is not just financial benefit here, although that’s what internet marketing is all about, but there is also a whole lot more. The internet has the ability to connect people and allow us to learn a lot more than we already do.

“I think internet marketing is just a place that someone can not only supplement their income; they could create a whole new career from applications online,” stated Caruso.

With all those possibilities surely people are going to have questions on how they can bring this idea to fruition.  The Internet Marketing Conference is designed to do just that. Answer all of these questions and open up the minds of individuals to utilize the internet as a tool, a resource, and a form of income.

Caruso has become a master of communication consulting under his company Edison House. “The idea is that under this umbrella, Edison House, I have three revenue streams. They are speaking, publishing and consulting,” stated Caruso. Being able to fully understand and teach others how to understand these three aspects of communication has allowed Caruso to dive into the depths of internet and social media marketing.

“The hottest, freshest, newest and most exciting form of marketing is social media marketing such as Facebook and Twitter. Surprisingly a lot of people still don’t know what that’s about, but they should because it’s not going to go away.”

Caruso is right the Facebook and Twitter databases continue to grow daily. More and more people are getting connected and making these social media sites ritualistic to their day. These social media sites allow users to help create an internet presence which is one of the things people don’t usually use the computer for. The internet gives you the ability to lay down your own internet footprint. This footprint represents some sort of internet presence that allows you to be recognized by the click of a mouse. People can just Google your name and if you are using the internet correctly something will come up.

“They better see more than just a birth certificate if they search your name online.  What have you been doing with your time?” says Caruso.

People want to see what you are doing, how you are using the internet, and if nothing is there you are not visible. The simple name search is turning into an addition of that one-page resume you submit to companies. This explains why it is important and beneficial to have an internet footprint.

“That’s not a good thing.  In today’s world you don’t want to be average,” stated Caruso.

Caruso believes that everyone has something they are good at. Everybody has a talent and that talent can allow them to stick out and be anything, but average if utilized correctly. The problem is, not everyone knows how to assess their talent or in some cases talents. Everybody has intellectual property value. What it is they are missing is the delivery system needed to capitalize and to start earning money. The analogy used by Caruso was becoming an author. You use to have to go to a major city, get the deal, and get a distributor in order to get something published. Now you don’t have to have any of those things. Caruso explains, “All you have to do is have an internet presence and a delivery system online like a blog.”

“One of the things that a lot of people don’t know is the search engines like blogs better than websites.  I could say for some time, blogs are the new websites,” stated Caruso.

Search engines love new content and blogs are always being updated. Blogs can find themselves up there on the first page of Google searches. Websites take longer to update and can be considered more general or static than blogs. This makes blogs a great place to start when you are trying to lay your internet footprint down. This is evident according to Caruso, but companies should both have a blog and website. Knowing the importance of blogs in social internet marketing, along with Facebook and Twitter, there has to be the next big idea brewing somewhere.

“One of the things that I know that a lot of people are feverishly working on is merging Facebook with legitimate business tools,” stated Caruso.

It is hard to get people to divert their attention or even time on Facebook to any businesses’ personal websites. Lets face it people are not on Facebook to be bombarded by companies with attention seeking missiles. They are on there to have fun and enjoy themselves. However, if businesses can utilize an opt-in box on their Facebook page causal visitors would be able to interact with the business right on Facebook.

Facebook is just one of the social internet giants. Two other vehicles of social internet marketing that are becoming very popular in their own right, is Twitter and LinkedIn. To use these websites effectively you have to develop a relationship.

According to Caruso the key to doing this is, “On all three of the social media platforms, you must first be interested, and then second you should be interesting.  If you’re interested, that means you’re asking questions.” Instead of posting just close ended statements for example, “I had fun at the zoo.” Try posting statements that will create dialogue for example, “I had fun at the zoo. What’s your favorite animal?”

Twitter has become very prolific and is used by numerous individuals as a social media outlet. The problem with Twitter is that it is complicated to monetize all the work being done.  Twitter gives you the ability to share links with people which can put you in a position of authority. If someone is posting a few times a day on a specific topic such as fishing, they will begin to be recognized as someone who knows something about fishing. Eventually their internet presence or footprint will grow.

“Over time, what happens as you build your internet profile, your internet presence, your internet footprint, people will start to perceive you as somebody who actually knows what they’re talking about,” stated Caruso.

Caruso is very passionate about teaching and sharing personal advice to help someone out. To learn more about Caruso and his ideas visit Edison House LLC. If you are interested in hearing him speak along with our own Dwight Zahringer, check out the Internet Marketing Conference on October 22nd in Beverly Hills, Michigan.

Check out the transcript of our conversation with Neil Patel.

One of the many luring topics in the online marketing world is the fate of SEO. Search Engine Optimization in the past 5 to 10 years has been a growing business that has allowed companies  to maintain and increase traffic to their website.  SEO conferences  are designed to help businesses educate themselves on SEO strategies and current trends happening in the industry. One of the all-stars on the SEO circuit is Neil Patel, a 24 year old who has achieved tremendous success in this  industry at such a young age.

TM recently sat  down with Neil Patel and discussed several topics pertaining to the SEO industry. One of the most important issues discussed was the fate of SEO and the direction the industry is heading in.

Neil Patel is an entrepreneur at heart, but is more widely known for his extensive work with SEO, as he is an avid speaker at many of the SEO conferences. Patel is also the co-founder of two different internet companies, most recently Crazy Egg and KISSmetrics. Prior to that Patel owned a SEO company, Advantage Consulting Services, which he sold to concur future endeavors.  Patel has worked with major corporations that include AOL, General Motors, Hewlett Packard and Viacom.  By the age of 21 Patel was considered one of the top 100 bloggers by Technorati and one of the top web influencers of the web according to the The Wall Street Journal.

KISSmetrics is run by a team of designers, developers, and entrepreneurs that basically help online businesses measure, grow, and monetize their online presence. The mission of KISSmetrics is to give all businesses the tools and technology so that they can grow and measure and see what’s happening, and tune into the users’ experience, and keep it really simple. Crazy Egg is also an internet company that is helping businesses supplement their analytics with visuals and actionable date.

A relatively recent blog post written by Jeremy “ShoeMoney” Schoemaker discusses how SEO’s  Need to Adapt or Die in order to survive in this industry.  We invited Patel to come on our show, since he was mentioned in the blog as someone who believes there is no future for SEO.

“The problem with SEO, is it’s a industry in which it’s getting saturated. If you were in SEO five years ago or, or ten years, or even a few years ago, it was much easier to get clients at a higher price point,” stated Patel.

That’s not to say it isn’t doable today, but with the recession many companies are making cutbacks. These companies are losing money and money is getting tight which results in SEO being cutback from the budget. People can still make money off of it, but when it is a dying industry it makes it’s not that get rich quick scheme. That’s not say it ever was, but professionals could make a great business lifestyle working with SEO. It still has the potential to let people create great lifestyles and businesses ,mbut it’s just not as easy these days to create a SEO company that makes a million dollars a year.

“What people don’t realize in the SEO space is there’s the rock starslike Oil Man, Bozer, Ramfishkin, and, Aaron Wall that are all great at what they do, however the people that are really making the money off of SEO aren’t any of these guys. The people that are making the money off SEO are the iCrossings and iProspects.”

Even though these “rock stars” may be the best in the SEO business it is hard for them to compete against the sales-driven companies. The bigger companies are obtaining the bigger contacts, where exactly all the money is in SEO. You have the contract, you have the money. This makes it a lot hard for these “rock stars” in the industry to be making millions and millions of dollars when the ad agencies are the ones in control of the budget. These agencies are going to end up with the bigger companies because when it comes down to it they know how to pitch themselves to other large companies. Companies want to make sure that the process is laid out for them, ensuring that the quantity and volume makes up their margins is in front of them.

“The way we ended up getting them was doing the whole ad agency route package pitches….So we would go in there, look at their numbers, look at their average price per product, profit margin and so forth,  Everything’s out there…It would be a cut and dried pitch. SEO is usually not pitched that way, but if you want the money in SEO, which most of these SEO’s out there aren’t doing, that’s how you really get the big fish,” stated Patel.

The big companies are not concerned with the ins and outs of SEO or even exactly how it functions. When it comes down to it they just want to know what you can do and how is it going to bring in more money for their cause. When it comes to rankings in SEO it comes from a lot of blogs which are more small SEO shops. Business executives are not out there reading these blogs and they are the ones that sign off on the decision. They are not too concern with the rankings whether they are number one or number two, these businesses are more concern with how much money they are making.

” I do think there’s a future for a lot of the bigger players, like the ad agencies.  I don’t think there is much of a future for the small mom and pops.  Yeah, they can make a decent living, but they’re nowhere near many of these guys are who are going to become millionaires doing it, ” stated Patel.

The SEO business is becoming more convoluted and quite frankly if you are not one of the major players there isn’t any long term dollars to be made. Despite the fact the SEO has a lot of educational points that businesses could use. Even if SEO allows you to think out of the box, and not just utilizing mathematical process or off the shelf software to evaluate rankings. Companies aren’t interested in that, they are the ones who write the check and all they care about is how much money you are going to make them, how to reduce cost, and how to increase profit.

“I think the SEO industry will be around for a very long time.  It’s just in my perspective for SEOs to make quick money from it, or build a business that’s going to be able to help them buy that $5 million house,”stated Patel.

Patel still believes you can make a great living off of SEO for the next 5 to 10 years, but it is not going to be easy to climb up the ladder within the industry to get those big dollars. Those days in most cases are going to be gone unless you are one of the big ad agencies.

After our discussion on SEO and its future, we decided to change gears and see what kind of insight Patel had on social media and its effects on SERP (search engines result page).

“I think it’s going to actually be very similar to how it is now.  It’s when you get on some of these social sites.  You get an immense amount of links, and you rank better in Google,” stated Patel

According to Patel, there is going to be a way to devalue links. They’re probably is already something, but it is going to take a long time until they can finally get down to it. It is hard to say exactly where all the links came from based on what one person is doing in social media. A lot of times people were linking before from an algorithm perspective and although it may be doable it’s going to take some work to figure out the links and backlinks of each user.

We asked Patel what he thought the importance of backlinks was from a 1 to 10 scale and if they will be influential for the next couple of years. “I  think backlinks are where it’s at. I think it’s a ten and that’s why I still do some, but that’s what I specialized in,”stated Patel. According to him  there is still a place for them and hopefully social media will find a way to utilize them.

“I think social media is changed to be more custom-tailored towards people’s interests,” stated Patel.

The popularity of social media outlets like Twitter has changed the internet industry. Now businesses are utilizing Twitter to reach specific audiences to help expand their business.  Social Media takes away from the community aspect where everyone votes, and allows the user to be autonomous and follow who he/she wants. This could lead to a combination of social news and social networking. On one side you have sites like Digg that allow everyone to vote and then you have Facebook to connect with your friends. Twitter takes angles from both of these concepts and is sparking ideas making it hard for people to not love it.

After hearing what Patel had to say about social media and how it will be utilized in the future, we decided to discuss the FTC initiative against payola. Which is basically the FTC coming out in hopes to implement regulations upon bloggers like they do on commercial TV and radio, where you have to state that it is a paid advertisement.

“So the first thing that always comes to mind is the government wants their cut, their money. Right? Nothing wrong with it, everyone wants a piece of the pie.  It also provides a better user experience for most users,” stated Patel.

It’s not totally out of this world to promote or develop a more transparent outline of what is being talked about online especially when it comes to the value of back links and subliminally promoting products or services. This is easier said than done. It is going to be hard to catch everyone and determine what is paid and not paid, which will allow a lot of people to still get away with it.

Overall, Patel feels that SEO is a dying, but says it is too soon to tell. Even if SEO is considered a possible dying industry, that does not mean it cannot and should not be utilized. The big ad agencies will continue to market SEO  to gain those big contracts with the big companies. With the emergence of social media and the possible FTC regulations there will be a lot of changes in the SEO world some which could rejuvenate it, other which could hinder it. Nonetheless SEO still has it place, it may get lost along the way but it just has to be found and utilized correctly.;

Check out the transcript of our conversation with Debra Northart.

Earlier this year Microsoft sought out to tackle their latest endeavor in the search engine industry and introduced “Bing”. Looking to take a stand against the powerhouse that Google has become, Bing hopes to make an effective impact on the search engine industry. The introduction of Bing has raised the eyebrows of many in the search engine community, which is why TM felt it was necessary to retrieve some professional insight on the topic.

TM recently sat down with someone very knowledgeable, in the search engine industry, Debra Northart to discuss what she thinks about the advent of Bing and how it will fit in the search engine culture.

Debra is Director of Media Operations for the company WebVisible. They provide software solutions to help small companies develop their interactive advertising online. WebVisible has received numerous awards, in 2007/2008 they received engineering software company of the year, and internet product of the year. She has also done extensive work for the New York Times, AT&T, and local insight media representing more than 85,000 small businesses to medium enterprise initiatives.

Debra is also a writer for Search Engine Land, where she wrote an article that was titled “Can Bing change the culture of online search?” which tackles issues of how Microsoft is trying to find its way in the search industry.

Debra started out by discussing her experience at SMX Advanced, which was held in Seattle at the beginning of June. SMX Advanced directly corresponded with the release of Bing. At the conference Microsoft set up displays that demonstrated how Bing worked on big screens. While standing next to a woman Debra asked her, “What do you think?” The woman seemed intrigued gazing at the demonstration and replied, “It’s pretty neat, but it’s Microsoft so it probably isn’t going anywhere.” She then paused turned her head toward Debra and said, “Now if it were Google,” and left it hanging in the air.

“It made me think how I’ve encountered a lot of people who, while they love using Google as a search engine, also ran into concerns or various issues about the tremendous attention that’s paid to Google almost exclusively,” stated Northart.

Northart stated that when trying to buy media, if all of her customers only know about Google than this makes it tough for her to buy cost efficiently, cost effectively, across a variety of different platforms, such as, Bing. If it were not for change in the industry we wouldn’t have things like Google. How do you begin to shake up the mindset so that people are more receptive to new opportunities, new ideas, new innovations, and something that is so concrete?

“Well I think that if Bing is really going to be successful it’s got a couple of pretty significant tasks before it. It’s got to persuade people that using Bing is going to provide them something that’s different and better than what Google can currently provide,” stated Northart.

Right now may not be the most opportune time for Bing to dive into the search engine world, depending on different perspectives. However, one has to look at Bing the way their searches are produced and the differences between using it as an everyday search engine opposed to how a publisher might use it for a website, based on performance. The differences their have to be significant enough to cancel out the misconceptions and intrigue users to come back to use it again.

“I think anything is a potential threat. But I think that anything that Bing has to offer is a potential threat. The operative word there is potential because if they cannot get users to go to Bing and to discover what is there, all of the wonderful features in the world are going to be unimportant,” stated Northart.

The big obstacle that stands in the way of Bing, is getting people to pay attention to it. Microsoft is promoting Bing as something more than a search engine despite the buzz Google has in the consumer market. Everyone wants to Google; the search engine has turned itself into a direct synonym for search. Instead of someone saying, “Can you search for a restaurant?” You might here them say, “Can you Google a restaurant?” People just aren’t Yahooing and Binging as much as they are Googling.

“I think that Microsoft needs to consistently promote the usage and the benefits of Bing as a really basic service before they can truly expect people to look at the more enhanced features that they may be able to provide. Because if nobody’s going there it won’t matter,” stated Northart.

Bing is referring to itself more as the decision engine than a search engine. This could cause problems for people who might get confused on what exactly a decision engine is. However, everyone knows what a search engine is and that is where Google hits the spot. It is going to be very hard for Bing to educate consumers and help them relearn, when they already know Google.

“It’s differentiated, or should be differentiated from people who work in online advertising, such as the company I work for. We’re trying to put ad placements on Google and Yahoo and Bing and other providers in order to generate traffic to merchant websites so that they get business. And so you have sort of a twofold component, two different constituencies that are interested in using and talking about Google and Bing, for example,” stated Northart.

While one market attack with Bing is to reach out and get to the consumers, the other one may need to take a look at people like Debra Northart and TM. The people who are asking, “How much does it cost for an ad here? And how much advertising is going to be generated for a client?” If the traffic is not being generated then a client is not going to want their advertisement placed there. Clients want their advertisements to be where they know consumers are going to see them and if all the consumers are looking at Google, then the ads have to be placed there.

“Now for volume of searches for the month of August, Google is sitting at just over 70%. And Bing is just under 10%. Yahoo falls in there at just about 17%. So there’s an enormous disparity between the kind of search volume that each of those engines are generating,” stated Northart who got these percentages from Hitwise.

The merger between Microsoft and Yahoo hopes to raise their search volume somewhere in the vicinity of 26-30% in attempt to compete with Google. If those numbers can be reached than it will require a little bit more attention in terms of media buying. If the consumers are strictly just paying attention to Google than that is where most media dollars are going to be spent unless there is path to buying media elsewhere that will be beneficial to them. But it is going to have to be something that is demonstrated and shown to work before businesses and consumers can be convinced Bing is a viable alternative to Google.

Overall, Debra Northart believes it is too soon to say exactly how much impact Bing is going to have on the search engine culture. The variables are overwhelming, but that does not mean they cannot be conquered. It is all tied together and at this point is going to be very difficult to untangle the threads of what will happen, based on speculation. In the end it is going to come down to the proven results whether Bing has a chance with Google. These results will rely on a variety of information such as, analytics, who is going where to get what they want, and how cost effective it is. At this point all we can do is wait and see if Bing can find their niche to compete with Google.

Check out the transcript of TM’s conversation with Matt McGee.

Social media has become a hot topic in the search industry over the past year. Several businesses are experimenting with social media, yet there are still reservations about diving into this unknown territory. Will social media really produce results? To answer this question, we asked Matt McGee, an independent online marketing consultant, to share his thoughts about social media and its affects on small businesses.

Matt McGee became involved with SEO and social media to meet the demands of his clients. He explained how during the 90′s he was involved in website design and development, when Yahoo!, Excite and Lycos were very popular and his clients became interested in knowing how people could actually visit their sites.

“It’s nice to have a professionally done website, but it doesn’t serve any purpose if people aren’t coming to visit it,” states McGee.

Recently, McGee has also developed Hyperlocalblogger, which is a blog targeted to help small businesses do some marketing online and is also Assignment Editor at Search Engine Land.

Why has Social Media become such a HOT topic in the search industry?

McGee sates that the reason people are discussing social media right now is because “it is what people are doing.” A recent Forrester survey claims that more than 4 out of 5 adults are active in social media in some way at least once a month. That is a hard number to ignore, which is why businesses began asking themselves how they could get involved in this.

Companies may be interested in developing a social media campaign, but are concerned about whether it can actually produce results and be an affective marketing tool. So how should a small business get involved in social media? There is not a template or secret formula to follow, that guarantees success for all types of business, however, Matt McGee does help shed some light on this issue and offers his advice for small businesses who are considering a social media marketing campaign.

Definition of a Small Business

Since the term small business is pretty broad it becomes difficult to generalize what social media strategies work for all types. A small business can range from someone that works out of their home to someone that might have 10, 15, 20 or 100 employees. The more localized companies seem to have the greatest success with social media since they are connecting with local customers in their area. The larger businesses have a more difficult time achieving that personal connection with their consumers.

“What works for a one-man band may not work for larger small business,” states McGee.

Where are your customers?

Find out where your customers and how you can best reach them. If you do not think your customers are using social media on a regular basis, then this might not be something worth investing in. However, if you know your customers are active in social media then it is essential for your business to determine which social media channels they are using to try and capture that audience.

“If your customers are on Facebook, then that’s where you need to be. If your customers are on Twitter then that’s where you need to be,” states McGee.

Social Media Plan & Goals

The most common mistake businesses make when experimenting with social media for the first time is not establishing a specific plan and goals that should be achieved by using social media.

It is essential for businesses to establish a plan before they launch a social media campaign to make sure they are reaching out to the right people and sending the right message. The problem with not setting up a plan is that most businesses tend to use it as more of a sales channel or they only use it as merely a social tool to connect with friends and family. In order to enhance your businesses’ chance of success with social media, it is important to create a balance between being social and trying to promote your business.

“Knowing how to balance the personal side verses the business side can make a big difference in your success,” states McGee, “There needs to be more education on what the right balance is.”

Social Media Benefits for Small Business

As stated previously McGee created HyperlocalBlogger to help local businesses connect with their consumers. The intent of Hyperlocalblogger is to allow businesses “to write about stuff that traditional media usually ignores.”

“Hyperlocal blogging is a great way to show off your knowledge of your area,” states McGee. “There are a lot of benefits for a local business to get involved in social media because you can have these conversations with people that are directly in your area, which is a great opportunity to gain visibility, name recognition and brand recognition,” states McGee.

McGee gave an example of how social media results can create an impact. His wife is a real estate that uses Facebook to make local connections with other real estate agents and potential clients. He’s advised her to take down the Facebook quizzes  because he thinks she is actually going to turn away potential clients, however, it seems to be working for her. McGee believes that her method of utilizing Facebook has allowed people to see her personality and connect with her on personal level.

“There is a lot of value in having an open mind and being somewhat experimental in seeing what is going to work for the situation you are in,” states McGee.

Investing in the way you use social media is your own personal preference. It depends on how you want others to perceive you on the social media channels. If you feel like showing more of your personality can benefit your business, then maybe this is the direction you should go. There are not any set guidelines as to how achieve the best results.

McGee believes Twitter offers the best opportunity for small businesses because Twitter seemed to  immediately recognize the business potential for their product. McGee believes Twitter is the way of the future and that businesses should take advantage of it.

“It provides an opportunity, like all social media channels, to create a personal connection and a human element that will resonate with people and help your business improve its visibility,” states McGee.

What does this mean for your business?

When it comes down to determining whether a social media campaign is right for your business, it is necessary, just like any other marketing strategy, to develop a plan and a set of goals you wish to achieve. Find out where your target consumers are and determine if they actually use social media on a regular basis and which social media outlet(s) they utilize the most.

The main objective with social media is to create a personal connection with people in your network and create visibility for your company. It is important to remember that fact so that your business does not come across as “selling” information.

Since there is not a template on how all businesses should use social media, the best advice Matt could offer was to learn and research as much as you can about social media before you dive head first into the unknown.

Earlier this year news about how the FTC (Federal Trade Commission) will start to regulate web blogs began surfacing. This announcement has stirred up some controversy in the blogging community, which is why TM felt it was necessary to provide some professional insight on the topic.

A blog by definition is a personal journal that is written online. Blogs were originally intended for people to write about anything they felt compelled to say. The main responsibility of the FTC is to protect consumers against false claims presented in advertisements. So what does it mean if the FTC regulates blogs? If the FTC regulates blogs then bloggers will need to disclose any information they present to the public, in regards to products or anything where they mention specific information and receive particular benefits for blogging about it.

Up until now there have not been regulations for the blogging community. Web blogs, sponsored links, were designed to be self-regulated, however, some web bloggers took advantage of that freedom and wrote about fancy trips they went on to certain resorts or new products that were about to be launched while receiving benefits from the companies, without disclosing. The FTC is concerned because they feel that this is false advertising and delivering inaccurate information to the public. They have stepped in to protect online consumers & regulate blogs that are making these outrageous claims.

TM recently sat down with two leaders in the sponsored conversation industry online, Ted Murphy and Michael Gray, to discuss what they think about the FTC regulations that are planned to be enforced on bloggers and how they see these regulations impacting the blogging community.

Ted Murphy is largely recognized as the father of paid blogging and the catalyst behind the sponsored conversation industry. He is currently the CEO of a large social media company, IZEA. To learn more about IZEA’s newest innovation, Sponsored Tweets, continue reading.

Michael Gray runs his own company, Atlas Web Services, where he helps private clients with their web strategies that include development, SEO and social media. Michael’s blog, Graywolf, discusses events going on in these industries. TM brought these two together to discuss this topic because of their backgrounds in social media, SEO, and blogging in general, in hopes of shedding some light on this issue.

Gray and Murphy both agree that some kind of universal disclosure policy will be welcomed in the blogging community. A universal disclosure policy would level the playing field for everyone involved and create a more honest business environment online. People will be able to make decisions easier, if they can trust bloggers when they are discussing a particular product, event or whatever it is they are blogging about.

Murphy discussed how IZEA has been very cautious about disclosing information on their web blogs. SocialSpark, an IZEA Innovation, is a blog marketing network that connects advertisers with bloggers through an online marketplace, where they enforce their universal disclosure policy. Interestingly enough, Murphy recently met with the FTC to discuss the regulations that are intended to be enforced on blogs and he believes that they are taking the “right approach.” How people will be penalized and what the guidelines actually are, is undecided for now, but Murphy discussed how the FTC regulations for blogs are more like guidelines for people to follow, and says the bloggers who will be penalized are the ones who do not follow those guidelines and who are trying to be deceptive.

“If all bloggers were forced to disclose then it would level the playing field,” stated Murphy.

Gray stated how the FTC regulations for blogs are an “overreaction”, but said he feels universal disclosure is a good idea. He gave an example about a particular situation with Guy Kawasaki, a venture capitalist and well-known blogger, who has blogged about sports cars that have been loaned to him for an extended period of time. Guy Kawasaki is a popular online blogger, but is not a car expert. The only reason he was loaned these cars was to blog about it.

“Is he (Guy Kawasaki) the right guy to be reviewing a sports car? I necessarily don’t think so, but the people who are doing it, they’re doing it for public relations to try and get people aware of their cars,” stated Gray about this issue.

This is when it becomes a gray area for the FTC to regulate. Should Kawasaki be penalized for putting this on his blog? He does state that it was loaned to him in his blog and even mentions how a sports car is not for him since he is a family man. Does that mean Kawasaki is following the regulations?

“Google chooses not to go after him because he’s someone high profile,”stated Gray.

“I don’t think we are going to see that type of special treatment moving forward. Based on the conversations I’ve had (with the FTC) I think that you are going to see a more level playing field,” stated Murphy. “What does it mean to be celebrity? Is it someone that has a huge following on Twitter or U-Tube? Or are movie and TV stars the only celebrities? They all need to be all in the same bucket and treated the same way.”

Gray believes the bloggers that will be targeted will be the bloggers who make outrageous claims verses the ones who occasionally blog. It depends on the volume of blogs that the person produces. If they are everyday bloggers then they need to establish a disclosure policy.

“They’re just trying to get rid of the people who are making unsubstantiated, completely made up claims just so that they can turn a buck,” stated Gray.

The debate over what constitutes a paid link has been widely discussed by both Murphy and Gray in regards to Matt Cutts. What constitutes a paid link is a bit of a gray area because it seems that certain people are being penalized while others are not. Michael Gray discusses this issue on Graywolf saying that if Matt Cutts is going to go after paid links, then he should be fair about it. In our conversation he stated how,

“People like Robert Scoble and Sarah Lacey. They come out and they’re very big advocates of full disclosure, yet I know they all just have gone on several all-expense-paid trips to Israel. And yet you know, Google sort of turns a blind eye to them because they’re saying oh, okay, what they’re doing is okay. We’ve decided that it’s for public relations and not for links. But yet everybody who they went and saw on that trip or who sponsored that trip definitely got links out of that. So how does that not constitute a paid link?”

Gray’s suggestion is to apply the same rules they enforce on marketers to A-list bloggers to level the playing field. Gray believes that Google should start employing nofollow on all the links you see on Google pages, to demonstrate how they follow their own regulations.

Google takes the weaknesses of their own algorithm and forces everyone else to do things differently because their algorithm isn’t smart enough to figure things out.

Murphy mentioned how he feels about the nofollow concept saying it is “ridiculous” and how requiring certain bloggers to include nofollow and others not to is unfair.

We asked Murphy how he felt about Twitter and how it will be impacted by the FTC regulations. He told us that IZEA is actually launching a new “innovation” called Sponsored Tweets that will be open to the public later this year. “We’ve actually done quite a few sponsored tweets, and some of those actually we’re going to have celebrities in the platform,” said Murphy. He sees this as a big opportunity, since Twitter has become such a major social media tool that reaches a variety of audiences.

Overall both Ted Murphy and Michael Gray agreed the universal disclosure is a good idea, since up to this point self regulating has not worked. They do not see how the FTC regulations can do any harm to the blogging community, but if anything they hope that it will force everyone to “play by the same rules” and create a stronger and more trustworthy blogging community. At this point all we can do is just to see how this all plays out.