Hello readers,

I may not have as much time as I’d like to post articles to this blog.  Instead, however; I’d like to post links to articles I am writing for numerous print publications.  Hopefully you will find these usefull.  As time allows, I will also post new ideas here, for now…

Here is one in the January issue of Auto Glass Magazine:

Moving Your Business Online
If consumers made more than 4 million inquiries specific to your company’s product or service, wouldn’t you want to know? That’s exactly what’s happening on the Internet right now.  Read More about moving your business online at http://www.autoglassmagazine.net/articles.php?id=870

One of the biggest problems faced by businesses today is the inefficient collaboration between marketing and sales teams.  So when it comes to Search Engine Marketing – who owns it?

By the name of the activity itself, most would say the marketing team owns it.  If your company is still living in the dark ages (2005), IT likely owns it.  However, it would also make sense – in fact, it may make more sense - for the sales team to own it.

Of course it depends on your business and what the goals of your SEM efforts are, but I submit – a company’s website and their Search Marketing efforts should be an equal collaboration between each of these departments:

1. IT
2. Marketing
3. Sales

Here’s why:

Unless your entire web-side business (including analytics) is hosted elsewhere, you have to have some IT ownership.  Someone needs to be the superstar that keeps the site running, ensuring analytics is reporting accurately, and guaranteeing appropriate security and backup measures are in place and working.

If you have a marketing department – they, and only they, should ever touch the messaging of your SEM efforts.  You want to be sure the corporate brand is not sacrificed for a sales-pitch or an easy way out IT solution.   You also want to be sure that appropriate audience and market research is conducted before implementing a campaign.
 
And finally, it seems obvious that if the site is build to sell, or drive leads, there should be significant sales department involvement as well.  They should have say in how sales are directed, handled, and reported.  They should also be included in the sales process on the site.  There are specific offline sales strategies that often work online as well – these should be used to increase conversions.

In the end, the executive team should be looking to each department to fill their respective roles in the online market place – just as they do offline.

Happy Friday!

My favorite post this week BY FAR is from Brian at ScoreBoard Media.  The post is all about how SEO consultants should easily pull in $500k a year for consulting - but most aren’t.

I started doing Search Engine Optimization for my own business about seven years ago.  About three years ago I decided to help a web development firm build up their drowning Search Engine Marketing department.  Since then, we’ve spun the department out as its own business (SEM agency), and we’ve grown our client roster (and revenue) significantly.  Then came the brick wall…

I won’t go into details here cause I want my job for now  - but lets just say the sales model is not where it should be, and some decision makers simply won’t listen to good business advice.  Can you imagine someone in your agency saying that Andy Beal’s advice on growing an Search Marketing firm is worthless?  I think the folks at SEOMOZ would disagree - along with all the others that pay him $2k+ a day for consulting.  Hmmm, he might just know something about what he’s saying.

So - I’ve decided to take the high road, do things on my own and build my own brand - hence, finally starting this blog (something I should have done a long time ago), and working to get to know a lot more people.

Brian’s post had a ton of great information - but something that really stuck out to me and has helped me build the agency’s business as well as my own brand - Networking.  Get to know people.  Share your knowledge.

The question becomes, what is your own plan?  Do you want to work for an agency or for yourself?  Here’s a few pro’s and con’s of each:

Agency Pros:

• Steady income
• Incentives
• Health benefits
• Extended contacts through agency sales force

Agency Cons

• Your working for someone else (’nough said there!)
• Restrictions on white/grey/black hat strategies
• Bureaucracy
• Financial ceiling

Working for yourself pros

• Freedom to build the business to your vision
• experimentation (white/grey/black)
• Unlimited income
• Personal satisfaction of success

  Working for yourself cons

• Contacts are harder to come by
• Financial instability (if you’re not getting business)
• Endless work hours
• Need to excel at many disciplines (marketing, business, accounting…)

There’s a ton more that could be said about each category I’m sure - but of the above items, which fits you best? 

If you’re a true entrepreneur, the working for yourself cons won’t scare you at all - in fact, you’ll likely see each as a refreshing challenge.

If this is not the case for you.  Specifically if those cons scare you - think hard before you commit yourself to building your own business.  The stress can kill you, literally - and you can do great things with an agency…if you don’t mind the limitations.

Search Engine marketing is no longer about showing up in the top ten results. Well okay, that is still important, but it’s only one piece of the overall puzzle.As sophisticated businesses and marketing agencies embrace the world of Internet Marketing, Search Engine Marketers are being asked to deliver a level of strategy and value never before expected. With the bar raised, we must now focus on targeted business goals to prove ROI.When I’m discussing a million-dollar engagement with an enterprise client, I’d have to have more than the luck of the Irish to land the deal with simple promises of first page Google listings and increased traffic through Pay-per-click. Okay, I’m only part Irish – but luck shouldn’t be the deciding factor anyway.

In today’s market, it has become important to prove how SEM will increase sales, lower customer acquisition costs, decrease customer service expenditures, and achieve or exceed overall, pre-set, business goals. I’ve even been asked to provide accurately projected and guaranteed ROI ratios from one enterprise client. That can be a dangerous corner to stand in when your success relies on Search Engine response.

You might ask ‘do business goals really fit in with SEM? Shouldn’t a business strategist or traditional marketer be focused on that instead?’ Short answer…No!

Though someone within your client’s organization is likely accountable for broad planning, budget creation, and ROI development, they will most likely not have the expertise to understand how various search patterns, landing pages, and targeted conversion paths will affect their bottom line.

That said, it’s time for a much-needed reality check. If you’re a Search Engine Optimizer who knows how to get top organic rankings on the Search Engine Results Page through ethical, white-hat methods, great! If you’re a Pay-per-Click expert who understands how to drive traffic through thousands of word variations, geo-targeting, and broad/exact phrase settings, excellent! But if that’s all you know, then your future in this industry is limited.

Here are the facts (or at least my humble assessment of them): if your skills do not include business analysis and strategic consulting, even though they may be well developed and important, you’re missing the big-picture. Right now, Directors, VP’s, and C-level executives all tell me the same thing, “If you expect us to transfer 10 – 20% of our traditional marketing budgets to the Internet, you must be able to substantiate the broad and granular successes - both in the short-term, as well as through on-going trends.”

I could just say, “Sure, we can do that.” – But how do I know what I’m promising, unless I truly understand what “success” means for the client?

Let’s dig a little deeper…

When you engage a new client for Search Engine Marketing, what’s the first step in your campaign? Is it…Keywords? Wrong! It should be an analysis of the client’s business. The list of items to investigate can be long, but should start with the following:

• Marketing plan

• Branding initiatives

• Sales channels

• Prior successes/failures

• Past goal patterns

• Current goals (broken down by variables)

• Obstacles to these goals

• Current audience segmentation

• Internal structure

• External image

• Site metrics (usability, trends, baseline)

Keywords now, you ask? Almost, but not yet.

The thorough business analysis you perform will allow you to build a targeted list of Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) based on the type of site, conversion points, branding, and several factors specific to the site in question. The assigned KPIs will then be used to track the success of the campaign and your work.

Finally, once you and your client are in agreement on the KPIs and the broad and granular goals of the campaign, then, and only then, should you begin working on key term development.

I understand many will say that’s way too much work to go into a campaign before even starting search term development. If that’s your stance, that’s okay, but realize that the rest of the industry is developing sophisticated ROI processes and demanding 10 to 20 times the professional service fees of those stuck in the old, simple-ways of SEM.

So, to review, what is the overall goal of an SEM campaign?

1. Drive traffic to the site
2. Create exposure on the search engines (branding)
3. Improve online sales (e-commerce)
4. Improve offline sales (leads to phone, form, or other contact)
5. Elicit downloads (indirect conversion)
6. All of the above
7. None of the above

If you answered 1, you may be right. Although, if you answered 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, or 7 you may be right as well…or you may be wrong. My point is, the goals of the campaign may differ for each client. If you don’t develop KPIs and business goals with your clients in the beginning, you’ll have no idea what successes to strive for; nor will you know whether or not your clients agree with your assessment of success.

SEM is more sophisticated than it was 2-years ago. The days of simply driving traffic and getting paid for it are over. I know, I know – I’ve shed a few tears myself.

If you want to survive in today’s SEM market, you need to bring a higher level of business intelligence and strategy to the table. Know your client’s business, and understand their goals. Most importantly, get the client’s sign-off on the goals of your campaign and stick to them. If the direction changes mid-stream, get new sign-off; ensuring that you are always on the same page as your client.

Oh yeah, and it doesn’t hurt if you deliver a few first page search results as well!