My friend Hamlet Batista receives his confirmation that his ‘White Hat Cloaking’ presentation speech topic has been accepted by the premiere internet (search) marketing conference, Search Marketing Expo, June 3-4 2008.

He’s going to blow people’s minds. I guarantee it, he’s one of the best, and a truly good person to boot. A quick glimpse at Hamlet’s background. Dominican Republic Computer Science student turned successful affiliate marketer & business owner, turned software developer, entrepreneur to SEO visionary … all with no outside investment capitol.

Hamlet receives the email confirmation that he’s been accepted to speak at SMX.

Me with Hamlet and the RankSense Team while touring their offices in the Dominican Republic. Thanks for your time & product demonstration guys. Keep up the good work.

RankSense is Hamelt’s SEO software division. It could be called a revolutionary product in its class. The Ranksense team has taken a new approach to SEO software automation. More to come on this in a future post.

What do you think about a conference session on White Hat Cloaking? How will SEO automation affect the industry?

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Stephan Spencer, President of Net Concepts, industry speaker & web marketing virtuoso recently wrote a post on his blog titled, “ Who do I Refer Folks to For SEO ” and mentioned us, Momentum LLC, as people he refers SEO work to.

Thanks Stephan, much appreciated. Its these relationship with industry leaders that not only give you a leg up, but add credibility to your services. It is theses folks who you can reach to with questions in a pinch, or when the sh** hits the fan & your Google rankings drop off the face of the planet.

I’ve recently done a brief interview with Aaron Wall, the man behind SEObook, one of the most read SEO blogs on the internet. I have had the pleasure to get to know Todd Malicoat or Stunt Dubl, Detlev Johnson of Search Return, Danny Sullivan of Search Engine Land & Matt Cutts from Google who are all heavy hitters in the search industry.

However; having worked with Stephan Spencer & his professional search optimization crew at Net Concepts recently, I have to say that they are really good at what they do. And they are based in Wisconsin to boot. Granted, they only take on clients who have budgets of $10,000+ per month, but they are leading the industry.

So, if you are at bigger company, and I have not mentioned you on this list, please ping me and I can add you. However, if you are seeking accounts in the $1k to $5k a month range, I’m keeping them for Momentum.

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I spend a lot of time educating people about SEO, so I thought this would be a good opportunity to ask Aaron simple, more broad questions about how SEO can benefit Mom & Pop shops, small to medium size businesses.
Thanks for your time Aaron.

How has SEO changed in the last 3 years? And how does this affect the impact on businesses who choose to implement it as a part of their overall marketing efforts?

I think the web has got a lot more people engaging in conversation. And I think many of the easy and cheap link sources have died off and/or been filtered out by Google. If you want to compete in the most competitive markets you need to be engaged in the conversation of the marketplace.

How do you recommend a small business, which has had a website up for 3 years, but has never updated it, or monitored it, approach search engine optimization?

Do keyword research and consider setting up some test PPC campaigns to find out what keywords are valuable to your business. Install analytics and do a link audit using Yahoo! Site Explorer. From there read up on link building and start building links if they are behind the curve in that department (there is a good chance they are if they never update their site). And also look at what people in your marketplace are talking about…then review your site to ask what you could add to it to make people want to talk about your site or brand. For on site optimization evaluate your internal use of anchor text and page titles to make sure they are descriptive. Verify your pages have some unique content on them as well (especially true if you are a retailer that does not have editorial reviews on your site).

How do you motivate new business to want to get involved with an SEO professional?

I think you can’t just pick one and make them motivated…or I think it is painful and typically presents a low ROI opportunity. A better solution is to try to appeal to a vertical (be it location or industry). Give value away to some of them and hope that some of the better ones actually worth working with decide to work with you.

What do you feel is the best services SEOs can offer businesses? Link building, social media, site audit, competitive analysis etc.

I honestly think it depends on the business and what they are lacking. Everything should start with a site audit and competitive analysis though. From there you can add whatever is needed to the mix. I think link building is also something that should be trained. External consultants can influence it to some degree, but it is beneficial if company insiders work on it as well.

What are 5 key benefits businesses experience right away after hiring a knowledgeable and experienced SEO to overhaul their site? & How can businesses take advantage of these benefits to give them a competitive advantage in their marketplace?

They learn how to
- track success (analytics, rankings, etc.)
- trim the fat (duplicate content, poorly targeted PPC ads, etc.)
- get the most out of their page titles
- improve their site structures
- lower their risk profile while maximizing potential gains for the risk level they find comfortable
- build links more aggressively (and typically with lower risk)

What are some pros and cons to SEO for small business?

Pros: great targeting and ROI, sustainable competitive advantage if well thought through, limited waste

Cons: some business owners are lazy and/or cheap and do virtually no research and thus they get ripped off, some products and services require more than rankings to sell well sustainably…SEO is only one piece of an effective marketing strategy

How can businesses make an educated decision about what to spend on SEO? What is an average hourly price to pay?

I did SEO for a one time $100 fee a few years back, and the guy made thousands back the next month. Honestly it would be much harder to do that in the current marketplace though. I also charge $500/hr or more for current projects. The wages can be anywhere from like $20 an hour (content writing) to $1,000 an hour (web strategy consulting).

The best way to make an educated decision is to spend a bit of money on learning before hiring a consultant. There are a number of reputable search engine marketing conferences they may want to attend. And a good number of companies, like mine, sell online training ( http://training.seobook.com/ ) as well.

What is your favorite SEO salad? Most understand that fresh content is great (get a blog) and inbound linking from pertinent sites with specific anchor text, PPC, social media, press releases on-page elements etc. Where do you recommend people start? Spinach, Arugala, Iceberg? Do you like croutons?

Of the options I only eat croutons. No salads.

This question is a bit similar to one of the above ones…I would start with keyword research, analytics, and PPC. From there you work on site structure, content creation, and link building.

My favorite link building tools tend to be ones that are widget based / viral based OR conversational in nature. A read of The Cluetrain Manifesto and The Purple Cow are good starting points. From there subscribe to RSS feeds from top blogs in your industry, participate in communities, and really learn the discussion.

What are some of the best link building techniques today? Does reviewing cached, indexed, modified dates rise among the top?

I think the best link building techniques today are to study the market long and hard and create content that fulfills demand. A lot of the best marketing ideas I think come from combining push marketing, viral marketing, and understanding the psychology of the marketplace.

What are the most overlooked aspects of SEO that businesses should be taking advantage of?

Honestly many people still mess up concepts as simple as page titles and doing a good job with their site structure. Meanwhile another group of people work on their on site SEO hard and never build any links. I would say the most overlooked thing is really thinking of balance…what does your site offer for users and search engines. Why should both of them trust you? What does your site offer that is remarkable?

For more information about about Aaron Wall read his blog at www.SeoBook.com

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Read more about it here:
http://searchengineland.com/080201-132458.php

http://www.techmeme.com/080201/p26%23a080201p26

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Jill Whalen of High Rankings recently had a post on her forum about whether SEO is a skill or a prerequisite for any web designer or developer. This question raised a lot of comments and conversation. The main theme is, who is the responsible party? The Client to know about SEO to ask for it? Or, the Agency to educate the client about SEO?

Read Jill’s full article here. Below I have pulled several quotes from the article & forum post.

Quotes from the article & forum.

“It goes without saying that the average small-business owner in 2007 knows that they need a website. But do they know that they need SEO, or do they just assume that once they have a website it will naturally be found in Google for search queries for which it’s relevant? … A site that is invisible in Google may as well not exist, and yet, design agencies of all sizes do not educate their clients about this.”
–Jill Whalen

“I explained that web design and SEO are two different disciplines and sometimes a student of one discipline does not understand or know about all the implications for the other, nor should they be expected to. It transpired that he did not know that SEO and web design were different things, and he had assumed that the web designer should know and take into account these issues.”
–rolf (High Rankings fourm)

” … in a perfect world the designer should probably raise the spector of the search engines when negotiating with a business client, if for no other reason than to make sure both parties are on the same page. Starting out on the same page and knowing expectations certainly has a positive effect on eliminating possible misunderstandings and disappointments down the road”
–Rand (High Rankings Forum)

“What is unfair is to put yourself out as an expert and then fail to exercise that expertise on behalf of your client. At the very least, I believe you are legally required to perform the task contracted for in a manner consistent with the normal and expected standards of your profession.”
–mcanerin (High Rankings Forum)

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Search Engine Optimization is all about making your site and its content easily available to internet users and search engines like Google, Yahoo & Live from MSN. Through good SEO, you can achieve your online marketing objectives, including new sales and lead generation, newsletter subscriptions, quote request form sign ups etc.

The Search Engine Marketing Professional Organization, SEMPO, reports 75 percent of marketers are using search engine optimization to prove their web site visibility.

It’s important to note that a combination of SEO and pay per click advertising is an important recipe to a successful search engine marketing campaign. Google, Yahoo & MSN all have PPC platforms. Each are unique and all display in the right column of the search engine results pages, or SERPS.

Below are 6 reasons to invest in SEO.

Reach your Business Goals
Develop new customers, leads and sales. More than half of internet users search once per day, an average of 6.5 billion search queries a month. You want these users to find you.

Build Brand Awareness
SEO will increase your web site visibility. With your company name, logo, slogan appearing in front of more eyeballs only increases your brand awareness. And you don’t want to pay PPC prices for your brand name. This should be free. With a good SEO approach you will be found for your brand name, and be able to focus on being found for the generic equivalent of your product or service.

Avoid High Pay Per Click Costs
In the long run SEO beats out PPC. If you could be ranked organically for your products or services why pay increasing PPC prices every day, forever? All search engines are increasing PPC costs, it’s just not a cost effective long term approach for a search marketing campaign.

Increase Organic Results
Google, Yahoo and all the big engines report higher clicks on organic listings (main body of results pages) versus PPC sponsored listing in the right column of the page. This is not a secret. Don’t limit yourself with just PPC. Also, experienced users tend to click even less on PPC sponsored listings.

Increase Customer Satisfaction
SEO is about usability for the engines and the human visitor. Intuitive menus and navigation, friendly and informative content, site structure and good internal linking paths all lead to sales and conversions. Those who find your site easy to use will be more likely to buy and come back, increasing customer satisfaction.

Increase Return on Investment
Sixty-nine percent of SEMPO members surveyed said SEO brings the best ROI next to in-house marketing, and paid search. With the addition of web analytics, you can monitor your progress and make educated decisions based on what has worked and what may not.

First 25 Door County Visitor Bureau Members to reply get a basic site report FREE now. Just fill out our contact form with name, phone and web address.

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Dinner ends and I catch a cab to SEOmoz’s Werewolf party. It’s the second day of Pubcon and the first social gathering for me. I’m new to the SEO conference circuit but not the industry. This gathering will be a good chance to rub some elbows with some big names in the biz and get the real scoop.

I arrive at the convention center to catch the end of the “Meet the Google Engineers” soiree. The room is filled with people chatting with engineers while viewing big flat screen monitors with the latest Google products on them. I notice that everyone has cool Google drink cups in their hands, a souvenir, so I make my way to the bar.

The cocktails are free, and I see the tip jar with just a couple singles in it. I toss in a five and tell the bartender to keep up the good work. The bartender lifts his head and smiles brightly at me. He proceeds to pour what seems to be half a bottle of Jack Daniels into my cup, and splashes a bit of Coke on the top. Wow, I thought to myself. I was not expecting that. This is turning out to be quite a night. Anything could happen.

I do a lap around the room, exit, and arrive next door at the SEOmoz Werewolf party. The room is filled with big rectangular tables, each with about 12 chairs, and black and white M&Ms scatted about the tabletops. People fill in, are seated and Rand Fishkin begins to tell us how to play the game.

How Werewolf, the SEO game is played
Werewolf is a card game. This is the concept. Each deck of cards has faces of search engine optimization professionals on it. Some are white hats, those that are good and can do no wrong according to the search engines. And a few are labeled as black hats, the term given to someone who regularly bends the rules of the search engines and may receive penalties for their bad intensions.

Once everyone gets a card the game begins. Each player puts their head down (as not to see anyone) and beats their hands on the table. The designated moderator of the game then chimes in. “Black hats, wake up.” If you where given a black hat card you team up with the other black hats and pick a innocent victim to eject from the game. Heads down again.

The moderator then asks for the player with the Danny Sullivan card to awake. This player can absolve anyone that was accused of being black hat. A get out of jail free card, so to speak. Then the player with the Matt Cutts card awakes. Matt Cutts can ask about anyone’s loyalty. He knows who is white hat and who is black hat.Once all is said and done, everyone awakes. Now is the chance for the accused to rebuttal and convince everyone that they should not leave the game. And it goes from there until either the black or white hats are left.

The party begins to get interesting
The game is a hoot. Everyone is getting into it, so much that there is a tournament of champions. I find myself at the champion’s table. By this time my cocktail is long gone, and people are cutting loose. I’m at the who’s who table of SEOs playing a loud obnoxious game of cards and I love it.

To my left is the one and only Matt Cutts of Google, a pretty big elbow to rub in the search space. I plan to play it cool, but before I know it the cards are dealt and I get the Matt Cutts card. That’s funny, I thought to myself, what are the odds?

As the game continues, I am able to ask if anyone at the table is a black or white hat. After all, the holder of the Matt Cutts card has this power. I signal Rand, who is moderating the game, and ask if Matt is a black hat. He replies with a big nod, yes. Oh, the irony is tickling me and I can feel the Google cocktail rumble in my stomach. What kind of sign is this?

All heads come up and a player three chairs down is accused of being a black hat. I’m safe, but not for long. Out of the blue the real Matt Cutts begins telling the table he is Danny Sullivan, and that he should not go out? It starts to get a little blurry here, because I know that Matt Cutts can’t be Danny Sullivan (very white hat) because I was dealt the Matt Cutts card and found out he was really and black hat, and thus was lying.

This is when I learned a big lesson.
Nobody will ever believe Matt Cutts is a black hat. (Game or no game) Or could do any wrong, for that matter. He’s too pure. He does not drink; he is Google’s anti-spam guy, and he like cats. I should have trusted to my intuition, but it was that Google drink bomb that had me blurting out, “He’s a black hat, He can’t be Danny Sullivan, I’m the real Matt Cutts.”

As everyone turned to me with faces of disbelief, I began to wonder if this was all a set up? Did Matt know the bartender that poured me the stiff drink? Do all the Googlers roll together? Did he somehow plan to give me his card? Does he really know all that happens, everywhere, not just with Google?

Needless to say, nobody believed me when I tried to plead that I was the real Matt Cutts. They all just pointed and threw me out of the game, while Matt just sat beside me and smiled.

Was this a set up? Does Matt Cutts really have that much power? Is he some sort of super hero? I guess I’ll never know, but at least I have this story. Cheers Matt, thanks for being a good sport and signing the card for proof. Until we play again, I’ll be sleeping with one eye open.

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I see now how Hunter S. Thompson was so easily and effortlessly swept into a melting world of wonder and fancy when he wrote Fear and Loathing. In the spirit of Hunter, I too was on a job, researching everything, keeping my ear to the road, eye to the sky moving forward, never straight.

Danny Sullivan, (Godfather of Search, Search Engine Land) and me (Matt Joswick)

The Pubcon Webmaster Conference Sessions.
The show was four days long. Each day started with a keynote speaker followed by four different tracks of 1.5 hour long sessions. Each session was lead by a moderator and had a panel of 3 to 5 industry experts. Session topics included Search, Web 2.0, Net Marketing, SEO/SEM, Affiliates, Domainers, Video, Multimedia : aka: Webmastery.All the sessions where very informative. However, as informative as they were, the juicy tid bits I came to find were only passed on through confidence in face-to-face chats after sessions or at the nightly parties held most days. Sessions I attended covered Organic SEO, Link Building, Brand Management, Hosting Industry, E-Commerce, Writing for Engines, and much more.

Google booth on showroom floor.

It’s all about the People

A good conference but a great networking event. I went into the conference with the intention of meeting all the great search engine optimizers and marketers of whom I have learned from for the last several years. In any industry there are always people that are known for who they are, or the great work they have done. I thought they would be the ones to drop the best advice. And they did, but I realized quickly so many of the people I met during the conference were very clever, had great ideas, success stories and very cool. I am so excited to network with everyone I met.

Search Engine Guru Detlev Johnson (of Search Return) and me.

Special thanks to Danny Sullivan of Search Engine Land and Detlev Johnson of Search Return who were so great to stand in for a photo. Big props to my new link building guru bud Jim Boykin, I have some vintage Bob Marley recordings for you. A Salute Todd Malicoat for being so cool, and looking exactly like my grade school buddy Brian Dimmer. Rand Fishkin and Gillian for putting on the Werewolf Party, and Matt Cutts for not letting anyone believe me when I said I was Matt Cutts. And to Stephan Spencer for representing Wisconsin and nice WP plugins.

And everyone else I had the pleasure of getting to know, here is some link love, Paul Bradish, Nick Wilson, Amad Ebrahimi, Glen Reeves, Manfred Trienbacher, Jan Gehrke, Wesley Cox, Derrick Wheeler, Christopher Kata, Adam Green, Keith Goode, Bruce Clay, Sarah Bird, Jan Becker-Fochler, Michele Smith, Jason Glaspey, Tony Aly, Monte Baumgartner, Paul Bruemmer, Amanda Stewart, Mike Blarowski, Ian Cowley, Vanessa Fox and everyone else.

More Webmaster Session Details.
I plan to cover more session topics in more detail once I get my notes together. Each session covered enough information to write for days about. Stay tuned for more post of this sort.

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This is great. A good start, but now we get into actually writing the copy for the site, including titles of pages, and headlines, anchor text, etc. We want to know what keywords and keyword phrases people will use to find us, and our product or service, or better yet the generic equivalent of our product or service.

Once you know what phrases users are typing into Google, Yahoo and MSN’s search field, you can target these phrases and have the best chance of someone finding your site.

Paid services such as Word Tracker, and Keyword Discovery are some of the most comprehensive tools that tell you what phrases users are searching for on the web. I use both. Some free options are also a good place to start like, Google’s keyword suggest tool, and Digital Points Keyword tool, along with Yahoo’s (Overture) Search tool.

There are many more tools for keyword research, and I will have to revisit this topic soon to include them all. However, the thing to understand here, is that you want to find phrases that people type into the search engine’s ’search box’ but that don’t have a ton of competition. The less web pages that are seen as being relevant for your chosen phrase, the easier it will be to get that traffic.

You will begin to see patterns of what’s called the long tail of search. That’s the idea that you can target more phrases that consist of 3 or more words (longtail) and get more traffic from them, than spending your time targeting what may be more-searched-for terms, but also have more competition, and the competition can be tough – producing less results.

In summary, it is very important to know what users of Google, Yahoo, and MSN are typing into the search boxes. Only when you know this, will you be able to most effectively target the proper phrases for your site headlines, titles and text. Ultimately making your site relevant for what people are searching for.

If you have any more questions whether your site is targeting the proper phrases for your product or services, contact me through the contact form on this site.

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