My friend Taron Hall has traveled extensively during the last few years and he sent me a video today of a crazy road trip he made in Africa to find the Himba Tribes. He made this video as a demo to get himself known as a good host for a travel show which is why I am sharing it around. Taron is a great guy with a big heart and I a confident he would be awesome in such a position. I think you’ll find the video quite entertaining. It’s just 6 minutes long, check it out and send him your comments at tarongoneaway {at} yahoo.ca

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People love tools. It saves you time. Some think it does the job for you. One thing for sure, the best tool of all is your brain. Here is a lowdown of the most important SEO Tools you may want to consider when developing and monitoring a Search Engine Marketing plan. This was taken from a meeting last week regrouping Top SEOs Experts. I find this list very comprehensive.

Last week, the Dallas / Fort Worth Search Engine Marketing Association held its quarterly standing-room-only meet-up. Rob Garner from iCrossing.com presented “51 Essential Tools for Search Engine Marketing,” in which Christine Churchill (Key Relevance), Jeff Martin (CardsDirect.com), Tony Wright (Wright IMC) and himself ran through a list of tools that DFWSEM board member agencies and in-house marketers use to assist their own paid and natural search marketing campaigns. Each slide covered the utility, cost and location of the tool. Here they are:

Jim Gilbert of Key Relevance pointed out the best tool of the night: your brain. This tool should also come in handy as you decide on which of the following (excerpted from the master list) best fits your needs and strategy.

Advanced Link Manager - Performs deep crawl analysis of links for any site by crawling all linking sites and providing analysis of links by domain and gains/losses over time as well as PageRank. Also, fully manages extensive reciprocal linking through one tool.

Advanced Web Ranking - Keeps track of all your rankings and competitor sites at the page level, and maintains historical results for performance analysis. Also, generates numerous reports at the keyword or URL level, and compares the results over time and against competing sites.

Agent Web Ranking - Rankings checker; simulates a browser approach.

Archive.org - Historical Web page archive.

ClickTracks - Search analytics and PPC management.

Combine Words - Free keyword list expansion tool.

Deep Link Ratio checker - Analyzes how the deep link ratio of a site affects its rank in search engines. DLR is the proportion of inbound links into all pages of your Web site, compared to inbound links pointed at the homepage.

Domain Age Checker Tool - It is widely accepted by most SEOs that domain age factors into the trustworthiness of a site. The longer the domain has had a positive history with the engines, the better.

Domain Stats - Quick hit site stats.

Elixir Link Quality Tool - Another nice tool that gives a quick overview of search elements for a given domain.

Firefox add-ons - Too many to list here, they include SEO For Firefox Live HTTP headers and Searchstatus.

Google Analytics - Free in-depth Web Analytics tool

Google Adwords Editor - Allow you to download your AdWords account to your computer, make your changes, and then upload your revised campaigns. Work off line, copy and paste, do bulk changes, then upload all at once.

Google Adwords Keyword Tool - Provides new keyword ideas.

Google Cheat Sheet - Two-page quick reference guide to Google search products and useful operators.

Google Suggests - As you type into the search box, Google guesses what you’re typing and offers suggestions in real time.

Google Toolbar - Checks PageRank, provides shortcuts to various Google properties—though some SEMs choose not to use it, citing the amount of personal data it captures.

Google Traffic Estimator - Tool provides quick traffic estimates of keywords

Google Trends - Shows trends in search popularity.

Google Webmaster Central - One-stop shop for Webmaster resources.

Google Website Optimizer - Google’s free multivariate and A/B testing tool, helps online marketers increase visitor conversion rates and overall visitor satisfaction by continually testing different combinations of site content (text and images).

Hitwise - Provides competitive insights on keywords.

ISAPI Rewrite - Rewrites URLs at the server level for IIS (similar to mod rewrite for Apache).

KW Density/Frequency Analyzer - Most keyword “density” tools don’t really show density or weighted terms - they show frequency.  Still, they can be handy for educating copywriters, or analyzing longer documents.

Marketleap Search Engine Saturation Tool - Comprehensive backlink and page saturation tool.  One of the first free tools of its kind that was publicly available to anyone who wanted to use it.

MSN adCenter Tools - Toolbox of advertising and keyword research tools including clickstream analysis and more.

Non-Personalized Google Search Plugin - If you are logged in to any Google service - Adwords, Gmail, etc., then Google takes the liberty of showing you personalized results, which are different from the “objective” results that the rest of the world sees.  This tool allows you to remain logged in to Google Services while viewing nonpersonalized search results.

Overture’s Keyword Selector Tool - Provides popularity numbers from Yahoo.  Good for keyword brainstorming.  It’s a little bit like search engine Groundhog Day, because all of the results are stuck in January 2007.

Quintura - Visual search navigation tool that extracts keywords from Yahoo! search results, and builds a word cloud.  Good for keyword brainstorming.

Search Engine Relationship Chart - Visual diagram of search engine distribution relationships.

SEODigger.com - Competitive ranking report tool, shows ranking history in Google.

Server Header Checker - Allows you to check the HTTP status returned by a server.  Useful for checking redirect status (301, 302, etc.).  One example of many other tools that perform a similar function.

Site Explorer - Yahoo!’s back link and indexed page count tool.

TouchGraph.com - Free link node mapping and visualization tool, good for educating clients on how link networks work.

Trellian/KeywordDiscovery.com - Provides keyword ideas and aids in brainstorming.  The group agreed that most SEMs have chosen this tool as a standard for directional keyword search frequency.

VeriClix - A free pay-per-click auditing and click fraud monitoring tool. (Disclosure:  DFWSEM board member Jeff Martin operates VeriClix).

WatchFire WebXact - Site diagnostics tool.  Assesses broken links, checks meta tags, code validation, etc.

We Build Pages’ Toolset - Free SEO Toolset, including back link and anchor text checker, class C back link analyzer, keyword density (frequency) analysis tool, spider viewer and many more.

Web Position Gold - Checks natural search engines rankings.

WordTracker - Provides new keyword ideas; helpful for brainstorming and discovering new keyword ideas.

Certainly there are many more truly great search tools out there, but hopefully you found a few new ones in this list. For a PDF copy of the full presentation and all 51+ tools, click here. 

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Mark your calendar! One of the main events of the year in Search Engine Marketing: Search Engine Strategies (SES) Chicago is coming back again soon on December 3-7 2007. As always, there will be a lot of people representing SEMPO Canada at this conference including Ken Jurina, Co-Chair of SEMPO Canada, Andrew Goodman from Traffick.com, along with many representatives of the Canadian Search Marketing Industry. For those who may not know, Search Engine Strategies is the premier event about Search Marketing (SEM) technologies and tactics. Organized by world’s leading search authorities, SES Chicago Conference Chairman, Kevin Ryan, this show can help you learn:

* How search engines list Web sites for free and through paid placements;
* How to get free “organic” traffic by building a site that pleases search engines and your visitors;
* How to efficiently purchase listings guaranteed to rank your company at the top of search engine results;
* How to calculate the ROI of your search marketing efforts by tracking your visitors from the time they hit your site until they buy? and get tips on improving conversion if they don’t;
* How to build links that generate traffic to your Web site, and how to avoid the penalties of “spamming” the search engines;
* What’s coming next in the constantly evolving world of Web search, and how you can profit from those changes.

Search Engine Strategies (SES) Chicago will be held on December 3-7, 2007 at Chicago Hilton, 720 South Michigan Avenue, Chicago IL.



For more information on SES Chicago, please visit the SES Conference website.

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Sergey Brin, Co-Founder of Google, was invited to be a guest lecturer at UC Berkeley on Search Engines and Technology as part of the course SIMS 141. His session is called: Search, Google, and Life:

UC Berkeley have started to post all of their lectures on YouTube. Other topics in the course include search advertising and auctions, search and privacy, search ranking, internationalization, anti-spam efforts, local search, peer-to-peer search, and search of blogs and online communities. The rest of the SIMS 141 lecture videos are here. 

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Just in time for Halloween Lee Lefever from Common Craft gives us Zombies in Plain English in the same format as his other cool introduction clips from the Common Craft show.

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Here we go again. I think I should start an employment section on my site anytime soon. A lot of people in Vancouver (BC) are calling me to direct their quests in the right direction, anyone I would know who would be a good fit for these Search Engine Optimization (SEO), Search Engine Marketing (SEM) & Paid Search (PPC) Management positions in Vancouver (BC). Like I wrote a few weeks ago on the scarcity of talent in the Search Engine Marketing job Market in Canada, I don’t know much people who would fit for these high-expectation positions. But, if I do know anybody, I suspect that would be one of you, the readers of my blog, who are making their way up in their learning curve in the fascinating world of Search Marketing. So, for the benefits of you all, here are the jobs. Not sure how much they pay, I suspect not enough (like most jobs I guess), but here they are anyway:

Are you a True Pay-Per-Click Marketing Expert looking for an Industry Leading Organization?

Are you a hands-on, experienced PPC Marketer who is well versed and interested in conversion optimization on sites, for maximum total ROI on campaigns?  Do you want to be working with leading PPC spend in over 20 local markets and using advanced “sanitized” techniques? Are you driven, creative and a shrewd marketer? If so, this may be the ideal role for you. 

Our client is a young and expanding lead generation company in the online finance and gaming industries.  With corporate offices in Europe and international operations, this position is located in Vancouver, British Columbia.

This dynamic organization is searching for an experienced PPC Specialist Lead our client’s PPC efforts, with multiple sites/product for each keyword (guides, tools, software, email, eBooks, bridge sites, etc.) You will be in change of the highest monthly spend among lead generators in the online gambling industry. 

With a corporate office in Europe and worldwide operations this position is located in beautiful and lively Vancouver, British Columbia.  As the motivated and multi-talented PPC Specialist you are a vital component of the North American operation team.  You will work closely with a solid and productive team.

Tasks include:

* Focusing on hands-on work of optimal ad copy, bidding rules and conversion landing pages.
* Working very closely with the Senior Marketing Manager and production team to have optimized products, landing pages, localization for our 15-20 sites/products used in PPC listings.
* Work with translation resources and do PPC on all +20 key online gambling markets.
* Manage and optimize the existing PPC campaign components including keyword strategy, ad copy, bid prices, cost per conversion, cost per click, etc.
* Help create and implement PPC strategies including extensive keyword research and analysis.
* Create and manage PPC campaigns across multiple search engines.
* Extensive work on conversion optimization of PPC campaigns with our conversion specialists.
* Extensive collaboration with Content Managers/Site Managers to create optimal landing pages per product/site.

Professional requirements:

* Experience with Pay Per Click and pay for placement techniques (1000+ keywords)
* Direct Contacts with the Search Engines a plus
* Understand and create copy optimized for search engines
* Candidate must have 4+ years of SEO / paid search experience mandatory
* Proficiency in SEO/PPC reporting and analytical tools
* Great written and verbal communication skills
* Good organizational skills, detail oriented, and the ability to handle multiple priorities at once
* Ability to take initiative, to be resourceful and to adapt to change
* Knowledge of conversion analysis and landing page analysis

Formal requirements:

* Strong command of the English language - written and oral
* 4 years online media experience
* University degree

Personal characteristics:

* Fresh Thinker
* A proactive approach and able to anticipate fast-changing circumstances
* Thrive in multi-project environment with high tempo and tight deadlines
* Self-starter
* High attention to detail

Where are you likely working today?

* Responsible for or senior PPC manager at leading international web company
* Senior PPC manager at leading online web agency in charge of PPC buy for clients

Opportunities for Your Personal development:

* Will compete globally in the fast paced online poker industry for the market leader, with high level of independence and responsibility
* Will get extensive business development exposure, demanding project management and negotiating skills
* Frequent contact with CEO and highly qualified colleagues (online media buyers, business development executives and programmers)

The company offers an extremely competitive base salary and benefits package, plus an opportunity to join a stable but growing company.

Please email your resumes to:

============================================
Here is the second one:

Are you a Skilled and Experienced Website Conversion Specialist looking for an Industry Leading Organization?

Our client is a vibrant, young and energetic company in the online gaming industry.  This dynamic organization is searching for the very best Website Conversion Specialist to work with a group who is leading the world in search engine optimization, lead generation and site optimization.  Working in various verticals with over 100 employees globally, this Conversion Specialist position is very demanding and yet very rewarding.

Your responsibilities include optimizing a large number of our client’s gambling guides, with poker and casinos in 23 local markets.  You will participate in site re-designs and enhancements as a measurements expert, identifying reporting requirements, monitoring the reporting implementation and evaluating post-launch metrics.  Sharing research findings and best practices with your team and company including customer insight, benchmarking, and industry updates as well as tactical analysis - using Site Catalyst to review click-through, key paths, most popular pages etc… and optimize content / offers in response with be a large part of your role. 

You will report on A / B test results, and perform ad-hoc analysis; proactively working to meet the reporting/analysis needs.  Base lining key metrics (i.e., conversion, abandonment %, etc.) of current web site will be used to measure improvement progress over time.  You will also work with web analytics, user experience, and development teams to prioritize initiatives and resolve issues in a timely manner. 

With a corporate office in Europe and worldwide operations this position is located in beautiful and lively Vancouver, British Columbia.  As the motivated and multi-talented Website Conversion Specialist you are a vital component of the North American operation team.  You will report to the CEO as well as collaborate extensively with the CMO, COO and highly qualified colleagues (online media buyers, business development executives and programmers). 

Tasks include:

* Analyzing web analytics data to determine where site conversion breakdowns are occurring. Then, working with the development team, you will identify ways to improve visitor interactions with the site so that conversion is enhanced.
* Creating business cases to size opportunities for conversion improvement.
* Presenting business cases to executives for approval.
* Measuring progress to determine success of changes.
* Ensuring campaigns are being optimized from the following sources: pay per click advertising, search engine optimization, outbound marketing campaigns, e-mail communications, organic traffic, affiliate traffic, emerging markets (RSS/blog/podcasting)

Professional requirements:

* BA or advanced degree in Economics, Business or closely related study. A Graduate Degree is desired.
* 3-5 years industry experience, experience in lead generation portals/guides or consumer e-commerce is preferred.
* Proven track record of successfully defining and delivering complex projects with superior ROI, from business case through deployment.
* Poker/Gambling industry experience is highly valued.
* Understands the complex web ecosystems and best practices and applies this knowledge to your work.
* An understanding of web strategy and design as well as competitive and consumer research principles.
* Experience with leading web analytics packages.
* Understand business objectives and drive design and online usability enhancements to meet goals.
* Mid-level expertise in the SEM (Search Engine Marketing) / PPC (Pay Per Click) and SEO (Search Engine Optimization) strategies and a minimum one year experience measure success of SEM/PPC and SEO campaigns / efforts.
* Thorough understanding of website metrics, data analysis, behavioural analysis and reporting tools.
* Good understanding of organic and paid search engine positioning and strategies.

Formal requirements:

* Strong command of the English language - written and oral.
* 4 years online optimization experience.

Personal characteristics:

* Fresh thinker
* A proactive approach that is intuitive and able to anticipate fast-changing circumstances
* Thrive in multi-project environment with high tempo and tight deadlines
* Team player
* Self-starter
* Creative problem solver
* High attention to detail

Where are you likely working today?

* In charge of optimization at leading international web company; portal, eCommerce, niche site
* Senior web consultant at top agency in charge of web site optimization for clients

Opportunities for Your Personal development:

* Will compete globally in the fast paced online poker and casino guide industry for the market leader, with high level of independence and responsibility
* Will get extensive business development exposure, demanding project management
* Will become key figure in organization, highly requested by managers to improve performance with expertise

The company offers an extremely competitive base salary and benefits package, plus an opportunity to join a stable but growing company.

Please email your resumes to

============================================

Check back here anytime soon, I might add a job section, most likely not my own, but rather a section where I will post all the jobs from everyone else looking to hire Search Engine Marketing specialists of all kinds. Guess who will have all that traffic in the end for all these targeted search terms? Oups.

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You may have heard the news last month about Facebook opening profiles to search engine indexing. It may be a good time to take a second look at your profile and polish it to make sure it won’t offend anyone.

Now, since I saw my Facebook profile indexed in Google as well as in Yahoo over the weekend, I can confirm that it is likely that your Facebook profile may have been indexed as well. Don’t wait a second and Google yourself right now and see if it is there. It should appear on the first page of search results.

What does this mean to you?
Since your Facebook profile is now indexed, anyone can Google your name and access it. Because of Facebook popularity, it is likely that your Facebook profile may appear on the first page of search results and thus get a fair share of the traffic from Search Engine Result Pages (SERPs). But, unlike your LinkedIn profile, which is generally speaking more professional & polished, your Facebook profile contains a wider variety of content that is prone to interpretation. There are elements in most Facebook profiles that I would not want prospective clients to know for instance. Therefore, it would be helpful for you to review it carefully and remove any controversial items that may have been posted by you and/or your friends or any information that may be wrongfully interpreted. Tell your friends to be careful when they post content on your wall as well as pictures of you in different contexts or settings that you do not appear at your best (!) or for a business-type audience.

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Emanuel Krebs from ToughtPatterns.ca made an impactful post 2 days ago for the international day for the eradication of poverty, which included an easy-to-understand video on web 2.0 opportunities.

Emanuel Krebs, Blogger, ThoughtPatterns.ca

Emanuel pinpointed embarrassing stats in our humanitarian effort and what would be needed to solve major challenges in the developing world. As part of his well documented article, he mentions that whereas technology will not solve the problem, it can greatly help. As an example, GiveMeaning.com, an online fundraising site emphasizing creative fundraising ideas and other unique forms of charity donation has gained a lot of momentum in the last year. If you are not aware of GiveMeaning.com and how start ups like this one can help solve our biggest challenges, please check it out and step in.

Here is the clip on the power of Web 2.0 Applications:

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My friend YB from The Dizzy Racers is in town and for the next few days, we will be heading to the Island. I will most likely not answer emails but I will be reachable by phone in case of emergency: 778-371-9988. I will be back on Friday, October 19.

Lorenzo Pistone, aka. YB

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Every Monday morning, I get a newsletter that I truly look forward to receive: The Monday Morning Memo from the Wizards of Ads. Unlike everything else I receive through various sources, The Monday Morning Memo from the Wizard of Ads offers a unique experience in our customers’ brain where Roy Williams dissects the human nature needs, behaviors and give us ways to better connect with our customers with an increased understanding of what they really want to satisfy. In most cases, customers’ needs go way beyond what they would say to define it. You need that extra layer of understanding in order to adjust your offer accordingly. This newsletter is awesome and I heartedly recommend it. 

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comScore, a leader in measuring the digital world, today released the first comprehensive study of worldwide search activity, based on data from its qSearch 2.0 service. comScore qSearch 2.0 offers the first panoramic worldwide view of online search activity, providing granular, in-depth analysis of the search universe reported from the top 50 worldwide Internet properties where search activity is observed. The study found that more than 750 million people age 15 and older - or 95 percent of the worldwide Internet audience - conducted 61 billion searches worldwide in August, an average of more than 80 searches per searcher.

Here is the breakdown by search engine:

The press release is also available at: http://www.comscore.com/press/release.asp?press=1802

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The Search Engine Marketing Professional Organization (SEMPO) and members of SEMPO Canada, announced today it is launching its first ever salary survey of in-house search engine marketing professionals. The survey is open to all in-house SEM professionals whether or not they are currently SEMPO members. Organic and/or Paid-Search, in-house professionals are all invited to take the survey.

The 20-question survey can be accessed here: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=DZCiIcuGHhZtJqv7NrjTrQ_3d_3d

Respondents have anonymity when taking the survey. SEMPO is running the survey through October and possibly will continue it into November. Results of the survey will be published in November.

Among the data trends SEMPO hopes to gauge are the overall salary range of SEM jobs, from entry level to executive; salary variations by geographic markets, the total compensation package beyond salaries, such as bonuses, benefits and perks; SEM staffing levels within enterprises, and SEM budget levels. 

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One of the fascinating concepts in search marketing is how quickly online users scan a typical Search Engine Results Page (SERP def.). A few years go, British Columbia Search Marketing Company Enquiro made an eye-tracking research to show how people behave with a search results page. The study watched eye movements of fifty users on the Google search engine result pages. It revealed a “Golden Triangle” that confirms nothing beats organic search results—sponsored sites that appear above results do very well though. Enquiro called it the “Golden Triangle” and here you can find examples of their eye-tracking studies.

If you are not familiar with the Golden Triangle and how online users are using search results and where they look for listings, I strongly suggest you to take a look at this graphic which shows in vibrant colors where eyes are going in a search results page:

Now, take a look at which positions you hold in search results and if you are not in the prime spot as shown above, feel free to contact me to improve the situation.

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I just got another search marketing study today. This one was coming from SEMPO Institute which presents Piper Jaffray’s latest search study. It shows how search is the second most commonly used application on the Web with 550 million searches daily in the United States. They have identified key trends in the search industry which you might be interested in:

Search is the new portal

Search is becoming a branding tool

Google’s dominance is increasing

Local search remains a looming opportunity

New search technologies are likely to expand the field

As far as this study suggests, search reach surpasses any other form of web applications as presented in the graph below:

On the other hand, people spend very little time on search pages, which explains why time spent is so low. The fastest you find what you are looking for, the fastest you leave a common SERP (Search Engine Results Page). If you think about it, this means 2 things. Online users are getting more savvy at searching and spend less time doing it. They use more words to further define their search queries. This is consistent with the trend from the last few years. It also means that Search Engines are getting better at providing relevant search results for a wider range of search queries.

Also, as part of this research, it shows the Online Advertising forecast in the upcoming years:

What does this mean if you are an advertiser?
Since users are using more words to define any given query in a search engine, it means that advertisers would need to build a Search Marketing plan around a wider variety of search terms. Targeting the tail (of search queries) is the term that has been used to describe this concept. It is both a burden and an opportunity since it involves more work from the advertiser (and/or their Search Marketing supplier) but allows them to reach their entire audience on very targeted (niche) search terms. It also means advertisers need to allocate more funds into their Search Marketing plan in order to cover both paid search and organic listings. 

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Last week, I had a little chat with Brian Hauk, the publisher of BC Contacts Directory. BC Contacts Directory is an easy to use, regularly updated British Columbia, Canada business directory and marketing software package which can save you time and money finding clients, distributors, business partners, suppliers and investors. It can also help you create mutually beneficial relationships with other organizations offering complementary services or products.

BC Contacts Directory Screenshot

As part of this conversation, Brian was kind enough to give me access to the trial version of his software. I must say that I was quite impressed by the ease of use of his BC Contacts software and I seriously consider purchasing it in the near future. It would definitely help me contact a variety of businesses to work with in Vancouver and BC. Check it out when you have a minute and feel fee to contact Brian Hauk for more information: brian at BCContacts.Net or 778-834-9424.

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