Jibber Jabber - You Can Skip This Part

Two weeks ago, I think I wrote approximately 27,000 blog comments.  Of the 27k, I think about 26,974 were on The Van Blog on two posts:

1. SEO Coders are dying a slow and painful death at the hands of their cooler, more sociable, and better looking counterparts - the ’social mediators’
   (I hereby claim the phrase “social mediator”).
2. SEO Coders are alive, well, and watching old episodes of Star Trek. So live long and shut it. 

During this flurry, no, Artic Blizzard of comments, I tried desperately to explain that SEO code was not dead, and that social mediating was not pushing it aside, but rather, we were witnessing the confusion over what an SEO actually does…

SEO’s think that EVERYTHING is SEO

Ask your average SEO on sphinn and they’ll tell you:

1. Writing a Blog?  That’s SEO
2. Networking on Twitter?  That’s SEO
3. Social Bookmarking / Link Baiting?  That’s SEO
4. Visiting Grandma and playing Gin Rummy?  You guessed it.  SEO

Are any of these really SEO?  I submit: no.  But let me explain why…

The Complete History of Link Building (Abridged)

A little more than 3 years ago, things started to shift in our industry.  Whereas once we could place our clients in a few free directories, or exchange links with a bevvy of unrelated websites, Google pulled the carpet out from under us rendering our feet cold and uncushioned, and our old methodologies for gaining links, and ultimately rankings for our clients, useless.

But there was a glimmer of hope shining in the night sky like like a beam of light pouring out of the lighthouse on blog island.   And, a month later, we had ‘link baiting‘.  And herein began the demise of clearly defined SEO.

So, in an effort to keep our clients from running and telling the world that SEO was a scam, and Google was too smart for us, SEOs began to embrace the idea that promoting a site in order to acquire links, however arbitrary that link text might be, was going to be part of our job description.  And that.  Was dumb.

Since that time, every new marketing technique which could be used to acquire links in any way, shape, or form has been tacked on to the ever-expanding SEO job description.

So, Uncle Peppers, if that is your real name (it’s not), What do SEOs Do?

An SEO’s core expertise lies not in promotion, as I opinionated over a year ago in my article ‘why PR and SEO should become best buds‘; it is in advising.  As SEO’s we should be:

• Working with Market Researchers to select keywords with high ROI
• Advising site designers on SEO-necessary site content and organization
• Working with developers/user interface on page content and best practices
• Writing title tags & description tags
• Optimizing link-bait’s internal links, and making sure it maintains search engine traffic well after it ‘goes viral’
• Buying links, or otherwise procuring OPTIMIZED links for specific pages
• Advising where clients can get cheap, easy, yet strong links (associations, partners, friends)
• Getting the most out of Public Relations, RSS, Blogs, Social Media, and Networking where it applies to Search engine visibility.

What’s the harm in calling it SEO?

Nothing really, I just think defining your service offerings and expertise in more diverse terms is better for business. Think of it as if it were a website.  If you sold 10 different, but complimentary great pieces of software, would you want to put each on the same page?  No, you would want to build each its own page so that you could give proper attention to each product.

The same is true for SEO.  Site promotion via link baiting, blogging, networking, and playing a rousing game of Yoker with Granny, all have their positive effects on search engine traffic.  However, they have the same if not better effects on branding, overall traffic, RSS, email and many other pieces of the internet marketing mix.  So why frame it as SEO when you could be marketing all of its value?

Wrap it up already!

It is my belief that…

• SEOs think promotion is part of SEO.  It’s not.
• SEOs should be acquiring optimized links (you know, ones that contain specific keywords and point to specific pages that you have a degree of control over) for their clients.
• Framing promotion as SEO diminishes the value of promotion from the client’s perspective
• Old ladies are card sharks

See you next time!

It’s a scare tactic. True, search engines are constantly changing, but then, so are you. So am I.

For example, tonight I weigh 186 pounds, but tomorrow morning I’ll probably wake up and weigh in at 185. That doesn’t mean when I roll over tomorrow morning my fiancee is going to freak out and hit me in the head with the lamp because she doesn’t know who is sleeping next to her.

It works the same way with search engines. Once in a great while a search engine will make a huge unexpected change, but here’s the thing…

If the SEO company you work with optimized your site correctly in the first place, even a huge shift probably won’t negatively impact you

I have optimized sites up to three years ago that have not been touched in terms of SEO strategy, and yet they still consistently rank for their most competitive keywords.  Why?  Because the site as a whole meets Google’s guidelines.

But, in the interest of honest and fairness, the following is what a huge shift could do to a site that has been optimized to Google’s rigid standards:

1. Nothing
2. There is a slight decrease in traffic that may take a few tweaks to get back in line.
3. All of your rankings/traffic go bye-bye (highly unlikely)
4. You get a chance to upgrade your site and take advantage of whatever change Google has made

Remember. Changes to Google’s Algorithm that could cause events to take place such as the ones mentioned above only happen every 6 months to a year … if that.

Also remember. The major changes normally do not affect sites that have been optimized correctly and/or are not in competitive niches.

So if SEOs aren’t “constantly monitoring the major search engines” to safeguard your site from total search engine annihilation…

Why the Heck are You Paying an SEO Consultant Every Month?

Well, if it’s to make sure that your site doesn’t fall off the edge of the Search Engines, you’re paying them to have MarioKart Wii Tournaments in the break room.

Here is what an SEO that isn’t a big fat liar pants would be doing for you:

1. Working with your PR group to secure optimized backlinks
2. Answering your questions regarding the impact that new marketing decisions may have on rankings & traffic
3. Working with IT to make sure that changes to the website are optimized
4. Analyzing search traffic and making recommendations for how you can expand in the engines
5. Monitoring rankings and search engines in the event that a major change should take place, and by act of God or Matt Cutts, your traffic should take a hit. - But only if they’re doing 1 thru 4 as well.

Fin

I hope this dispels the myth.  I hope that you get more out of your monthly fee, and I hope an SEO who tells people this whopper tries to defend the practice in the comments so that I can stalk him on LinkedIn, go to his place of work, and light his pants on fire.

Everyday, I read articles on the front page of sphinn.com describing how the world of SEO is evolving:

• SEO coding is dying
• Twitter will one day have more dedicated users than Exxon-Mobile
• Link bait is King; his loving wife is PageRank Siloing
• Danny Sullivan got a haircut
• Social media is the wave of the future! The wave of the future. The wave of the future…

My question is, when are we going to start hearing more about the most impactful way that SEO is evolving: by moving into mainstream Marketing?

Marketers are Yearning for the Secrets of Search Like Corey Haim Yearns for 1987.

It’s great that we have this tremendous community of search marketers, but as a community, we are short sighted. Traditional marketers are beginning to take notice of the SEO community in a big way. Not too long ago, I sat in a room with 15 marketers from around the world representing multi-national corporations and what topic was passed around more often than the clap at a rich suburban high school? SEO.

That, and how I got past security.

Traditional marketers often see SEO as meta tags & keywords 0’s & 1’s, flux capacitors & IT. Nerd stuff. Traditional marketers, largely, don’t understand the role that links play on search engine rankings nor how their simple PR efforts can drive them up the SERPs for their most sought-after keywords.

Likewise, SEOs don’t work hand in hand with PR firms to make the most of media mentions. We don’t consider branding as often as we do higher conversion rates. No one (ok, not no one, but certainly not the majority) is making the connection that influencing a social network is no different than influencing an editor at a major publication. In short, neither group understands that we are essentially peas in an Marketing flavored pod.

And we are delicious.

Slow-Moving Zombies Want Your Brains!!

Traditional marketers and corporations are beating down the doors of internet marketers like zombies beating down the the doors of their helpless victims in an effort to assimilate and/or devour their non-zombie brains. We’re not talking fast moving, kickass zombies like the ones from 28 Days Later. No. These are slow moving Corporate Zombies that break down your defenses and eventually feast on what flows forth by suffocating you with mounds of cash.

And, just like the world dramatically changes in the movies whenever an outbreak of Zombie-itis occurs, so too will our industry change once traditional marketers saturate it. How dramatically is yet to be determined. (I hope it at least involves some looting and smashing of big glass windows.)

SEO companies will continue to merge with AD/PR, and the highest paid positions will be made available for internet marketers boasting the greatest understanding of how to work in a traditional marketing environment, while maintaining fluency in the language of IT.

That is how SEO is evolving, and that is the wave that every SEO needs to learn to ride.

Cowabunga!

(post inspiration: evolution of the modern seo)

I have wanted to start my own business for a few years now. The thrill of working at home, not having to answer to a boss, and making money beyond my wildest dreams with Google Adwords over night enticed me, as no doubt it has probably enticed you.

However, the shimmering wonderland that is my house is looking bleaker these days as I have come to realize the following:

• I am a social creature and my cats do not offer the intellectual stimulation I require.
• With gas prices rising beyond imagination, even my Dad, a grizzled old fuddy duddy, is contemplating letting his employees telecommute to work.
• If you’re actually really good at SEO, you don’t have to put up with an asshole, micro-managing boss, because SEO / Internet Marketing is so hot right now, you can find a great place to work with great people in a great culture for great money … and if you work in-house… you don’t need to deal with clients. Awesome!
• Owning your own business takes a lot of overhead. Accountants, developers, designers, phone bills, internet bills, auto-mo-bills.

I’m sure there are pleanty of cats out there who would disagree with me on principal, but if you’re down with the 9-5, I’ve got a little somethin’ for ya.

Formatting an SEO Resume that Will Land You a Kickin’ Job.

SEOs know better than anyone, it’s not who has the best information that wins, it who presents that information in the most succinct way to their target audience. Regardless of whether your target audience is a search engine, web surfer, or hiring manager, your need to optimize your resume to deliver the most pertinent information in the most accessible manner.

Here is my suggestion for doing just that…

Presenting the SEO Resume Template for June of 2008:

• The Basics: Name, email address, phone number, home address.
• Summary: Lots of people put objectives here. But to me, describing your objective in a resume is a bit like describing your objective when being chased on foot by a pack of ravenous wolves. Your objective is pretty obvious in both cases. Add a summary instead.

  The summary should consist of some of your top stats directly pertaining to the job to which you’re applying as well as any relevant organizations with which you are affiliated. This is incredibly valuable real estate, and you should fill it with attributes / statistics which speak directly to your qualifications as they regard to the job to which you are applying.

• Rankings (for SEO jobs), ROI (for PPC jobs): This is what really differentiates the SEO resume from any other. Because numbers are so important to what we do, I give 3 - 5 stats / rankings that I am particularly proud of. I use 3 sites that I’ve optimized and format them into columns. Formatting your resume in this manner breaks your top achievements into the resume’s version of sound bytes, allowing you to better frame your expertise in an impactful manner. For example:
  

  Company 1 (Rankings) Stat 1 Stat 2 Stat 3

  Company 2 (Rankings) Stat 1 Stat 2 Stat 3

  Company 3 (ROI / Campaign Budget) Stat 1 Stat 2 Stat 3

• Job Experience: The meat of the Resume. As a hiring manager, let me tell you, if I’m not impressed by what I’ve read prior to this, I won’t read past the first three bullet points of what you have done.This piece is very important from a readability perspective.

  Remember that you are an internet marketer. Your job is more than just 0’s and 1’s. The readability of your resume says a lot about your ability to organize information for users or search engines on the web. So bear in mind…Your resume is there to get your foot in the door, not tell your life’s story. I use 3 - 5 points for each job.

  In many cases, this means you’ll have to weigh content against information overload This problem is particularly amplified in cases where you’ve worked at an agency. You may have worked with dozens of clients where your achievements were notable, and likewise have dozens of bullets to share. Here is how to get around that.

• Agency Job Experience: My twitter buddy Jeffrey Nichols shed some light on this one with his SEO / SEM Developer / Professional Resume.Now, I’m not a big fan of the sheer quantity of bullets that Jeffery places under each job, but I am a big fan of the way he breaks out his experience with an agency into what I’ll call “sub jobs” — in other words: the successes he has achieved for his clients while working at an agency each receive their own sub heading under the agency.This methodology affords you the ability to showcase more of your experience without sacrificing readability.
• Applications / Languages: Think of these as keywords. Use as many as will fit in three columns. Here is a list of some categories which I’ve placed on my resume
  • PPC web apps
  • Bid management tools
  • Keyword research tools
  • HTML editors
  • Graphics Editors
  • Server environments
  • Programming languages
  • Hyper text mark up (HTML, CSS, JavaScript, DHTML Ajax)
  • Blogging software
  • Content management software
  • Social bookmarking sites
  • Sites you’ve designed

  As a side note, remember that this list may not only catch the eye of your potential employer when you submit a resume, but you will pop-up on more resume searches on Job boards when employers are seeking persons that match your skill set.

• Education: Don’t get me wrong, I love Dear Old State, and I hope to see JoePa pacing the sidelines followed by a tank of oxygen one day, but it has little bearing on my qualifications for any position in this industry. If anything, its more of a kicker. “Wow, he has a degree in advertising from a good school. Bonus”

  Ultimately however, in this industry, it doesn’t matter what you went to school for, because no one teaches internet marketing. Employers know, a good job in this market is all about experience.I would argue that even if I were fresh out of school, I would showcase my knowledge of blogging and social media, learned on my own time, before my education.

Fin

And that’s that. Haven’t thought of a clever ending yet or hilarious sub title. So, I’ll just open the floor up?

Any suggestions?

Ever walk into a Frankenstein site? One that has been hacked to pieces and sewn back together eleventy billion times, yet somehow manages to drive traffic? Where every black hat, grey hat, and white hat trick is tangled up in a mix of blood, sweat, and HTML? I have!

Being hired to optimize a site that is more tangled than a box full of Christmas lights can be tricky, especially if wiping the slate clean isn’t an option. So how do you do it? Carefully.

Try Not to Stare, Point AND Laugh at the Man in the Muʻumuʻu.

When informing your client that their site looks like a Jackson Pollock painting to a search engine, tread lightly, because just like the real fake Frankenstein, there is usually a good deal of time, investment, &, disturbingly, pride built into these monstrosities of online marketing.

Be courteous, but make sure they know that the site is in a state of disrepair, and needs to be reundisrepaired. Cite examples where you see problems, but no matter what you do, don’t draw any conclusions!

From a cursory standpoint, you may conclude that Frankenstein killed people because he was insane and ugly, or just insanely ugly, when this is only partially true. Imagine paying all that money on plastic surgery and anti-psychotic medication to rehabilitate Frankenstein, only to have him murder another hapless villager because you were too quick to judge and failed to understand that he also ruthlessly murdered bright-eyed children because he was mad at his Daddy.

This isn’t Pictionary - Quit Drawing those Conclusions!

Everyone wants to be the hero in situations like these and find the silver bullet that fixes the site’s problems from the get-go. A Van Helsing if you will. But when you draw a conclusion pertaining to how a search engine’s secret algorithm is interpreting a client’s site, you run a high risk of taking something that was working and driving traffic and turning it into something that no one sees, and ultimately sucks. A Van Helsing if you will.

This brings me to my point (at last). When you come across a Frankenstein SEO site, you need to be honest. You may not know exactly what the problem is, and without the option of making major changes or wiping the slate clean, the process will need to be one of trial and error where small changes are made to the site until the desired outcome can be achieved.

Think of it like a game of grown up blocks, or as I like to call it: Jenga. You need to carefully add and remove elements of the site so as not to cause it’s untimely collapse.

Everyone is talking about how amazing twitter is as a marketing tool, so, I decided I needed to check it out… And golly gee willikers - Did I ever!

Twitter is Like Crack … on Crack!

From the blogs I have read, Twitter:

• Will mark the end of normal blogging forever
• Will allow you to grow your network like the magic beans grew Jack’s Beanstalk
• Has inspired more top 10 lists than Monica Lewinsky did on the Late Show in 1998
• Makes you a million dollars in adwords over night
• Gets you top ranking in Google in just 10 days!!!!
• Is a wonderful organic substitute for Viagra & Cialis.

So of course, you can imagine my disappointment when I got there 4 days ago. I thought, like you have already or will inevitably think when you get there:

• How the hell am I supposed to do anything with this?
• Why is everything a brightly colored rectangle?
• I’m itching my crotch. … Am I supposed to update my twitter with that now?

That was my take anyway.

Sphinn to the Rescue!

Luckily, I was 25% prepared for this confusion based upon all of the ‘Top X ways to use twitter to conquer the internet’ posts I found on Sphinn. So I began searching for people to connect with on Twitter.

Basically, what I wanted to get out of twitter was the ability to network with my fellow SEOs in Atlanta. See, I’ve been in Atlanta doing SEO for various companies for over 3 years and the only people I know are John Waddy & Teresa Caro. And I don’t even really know those cats.

So I thought. Hey, why not give those baby blue bubble letters a shot and sign up for twitter. Surprisingly, it didn’t suck.

Twitter is Like Crack on a Nice Cup of Earl Grey Tea

I’m on day four now, and I’m happy with the progress. I am being followed by four people, I had a conversation today with Eric Werner, and I’m going to an Atlanta SEO event for the first time in 3 years - which I found out about on twitter.

If you don’t see the value in networking with other local SEOs, then Twitter may not be the ideal social media outlet you thought it would be. For yo