Search Engine Marketing: The Value Conundrum

Attorneys are notorious for the high billable hourly rate charged to clients. A number of factors come into play to determine the exact rate, from the size of the firm, to experience, reputation and demand for the lawyer in question. At the elite range, you could easily be paying 4 figures but even at the [...]

The ‘Google Customer Service’ Oxymoron

A recent experience with a Google customer service rep left me appalled at the shockingly poor customer service. Google is not known for its customer service finesse – the number of complaints online abound. The other major search engines do not set much of a standard to overcome and with Google’s virtual monopoly on online [...]

SEMPO Needs to Get Sexy

When I started in the search engine marketing game I put SEMPO on a pedestal because some of the industry’s greats were behind the organisation, from Kevin Lee to Bruce Clay and Gord Hotchkiss, to name a few. To young search marketers these are the rock stars of the industry, they were there in the [...]

SEMPO – From Greatness to Mediocrity?

Did you know that within the search marketing industry, there exists a professional non-profit organization built to provide a foundation for industry growth through fostering awareness, providing education, promoting the industry, generating research and creating a better understanding of search and its role in marketing?
No? Well, there is: SEMPO – Search Engine Marketing Professional Organization.
Maybe [...]

Going Off Track, Hurts You & Your Clients

Sitting at the first Manic Street Preachers concert in Vancouver in 10 years, I began musing about all the people who came to the show so many years on, to show their continuing support of the band. We waited in line for the doors to open, then we waited for another two hours until 10pm [...]

Oh, That’s Right, We Don’t Need SEO Standards

What is SEO?
“Suppose it’s got something to do with when doing a search, getting the most and best hits back, i.e. no crap.”
“A practise that improves performance and relevance of result sets for search engines. Never heard of it as a service.”
“No understanding at all…is it something that makes Google work better?”
“My guess is that [...]

How Accountable is Your SEO Agency?

Most SEO companies still talk about rankings as the first measure of SEO success, but is this really the best measure of their clients’ success?
Surely, clients would rather receive a monthly report that highlights the ROAS (Return on Advertising Spend) of the SEO investment, instead of a ranking report with arrows pointing out whether organic [...]

Guarantees in SEO – 100% Hocus Pocus?

An interesting commenter dialogue discussing ‘SEO guarantees’ took place on my Marketing Pilgrim guest post. An innocent comment supporting the article’s take on the vast array of grandiose guarantees and claims made in the SEO industry, led to a debate on ‘SEO ranking guarantees’ vs. guarantees based on ‘performance based pricing’.
There is a clear difference [...]

Talking Standards at SEM Scholarship Contest 2009

This year I have decided to add my voice to the writers who have come before me and put forward a piece in the SEM Scholarship contest which is now in its 4th year!
On Thursday, the first round of entries were posted so the excitement of the competition begins!
My piece, Oh, That’s Right, We Don’t [...]

Striking Out WITHOUT SEO Standards

A strong prospect calls your Search Engine Marketing agency and as a Business Development Executive, you take the call. The client asks you what the difference is between SEM and SEO. He also enquires what the most important on-page elements of an SEO campaign are. After you have answered, the prospect responds that of the [...]

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