YEAR 2014, AN SEO OR PPC FOR MARKETERS

In the battle for marketing dollars, many businesses are torn between search engine optimization (SEO) and pay-per-click (PPC) advertising. In 2013, the tide seemed to turn toward PPC as concerns about the death of SEO prompted businesses to slow down their SEO spending. The changes to Google GOOG -2.51%’s algorithms meant marketers must shift their focus from keyword-heavy copy to relevant content linked with Google authorship, many experts said.

2014 Budgets

As businesses plan their 2014 marketing budgets, many are wondering if these death knells mean they should move completely away from SEO. But businesses shouldn’t move so quickly. Google’s changes were designed to stop those who were trying to work the system. For honest businesses, keywords and backlinks can still improve search results, especially when those tools flow naturally throughout a business’s well-crafted, informative copy.

Meanwhile, PPC seems to be just as popular as ever with marketers. In its report, The 2013 State of Paid Search, 72 percent of businesses surveyed reported they plan to spend more on PPC in 2014, up from 70 percent who increased spending in 2013. Google AdWords was by far the area where businesses planned to spend the most money on paid search, followed by Bing Ads, display networks, and Facebook.

SEO vs PPC

Analytics Issues

One force driving businesses toward paid search is Google’s decision to limit analytics. In recent months, marketers have begun noticing the words “not provided” under many areas of their results. Security is a top concern for many search engine providers and as a result, they’re masking keyword referral data.

Paid search customers don’t have this problem. Google gives its AdWords customers access to keywords, helping them learn whether their current SEO efforts are working. But do customers have to pay? Kissmetrics came up with a few ways to get around the “not provided” issue, although the more instances a business has, the less these methods will work.

This alone could serve as an incentive for businesses to move marketing dollars toward PPC advertising in 2014. The lack of feedback on SEO efforts can lead a marketer to feel as though he or she is operating in the dark and with no insight, it will be difficult to plan future campaigns.

Economy Improving

One major difference between SEO and PPC is that PPC requires money. Marketing budgets have been locked down for the past few years, as businesses struggle to survive tough economic times.

Economists predict the financial outlook will improve slightly in 2014, with many marketers stating that they’ll increase their social media and content marketing budgets for the year. This cautious optimism could be a win for PPC as businesses become more comfortable with spending money on marketing.

Along with the benefits of improved analytics, PPC advertising is popular because of its immunity from search engine algorithm changes. Businesses must struggle to keep up with changes affecting their search engine marketing efforts, but when major changes happen, they’re also required to update existing content to ensure it stays visible. Paid search results remain viable for the duration of a business’s paid campaign.

SEO Takes Time

As anyone who has ever deployed an SEO campaign will attest, an SEO campaign requires patience. New content can take weeks, even months, to begin appearing in search engine results and as new content comes along, it may be bumped lower until it disappears from the first page of search results.

With PPC advertising, businesses receive quicker results, which may pay off if it results in bringing in new income. Google’s Keyword Planner can help AdWords customers come up with the best keywords for their campaigns. It can also provide traffic estimates to help marketers create a budget for their campaigns.

Trend Toward Mobile

2014 is the year many experts predicted mobile devices would eclipse PCs in the consumer market, but PC World said the devices have already exceeded desktops. Therefore 2014 will be the year laptops will be outsold, as well, if predictions are correct. This means local search will be more important than ever. Customers are more likely to search for “best restaurants” while on the road, for instance, rather than while at home or the office. Since Google recognizes these search habits, businesses must adjust their marketing efforts to accommodate this new method of search.

In 2014, businesses will also be required to determine whether their PPC campaigns are addressing mobile devices. It’s important that you use the call and location extensions when setting up your campaign, which gives customers the ability to call you or get directions by clicking on a link.

SEO Still Matters

While there are definite incentives to move from SEO to PPC in 2014, businesses can’t neglect SEO altogether. Search engine placement is still very important, especially since many consumers have grown used to scrolling past “featured results” to the beginning of organic results. While past SEO tactics may not work, there are still ways to craft SEO campaigns that work.

Link-building will be more important than ever in 2014, but it’s important businesses create organic links. This has ignited an entire industry of guest-blogging, with sites like MyBlogGuest helping connect businesses with influential sites looking for content. It’s a win-win for both parties—the host site receives keyword-heavy content with a backlink to the guest blogger’s site, while the guest blogger receives extra clicks. By linking to the posted blog on its own blog, the guest blogger can also increase search engine exposure.

One major change businesses will notice in 2014 is that a presence on Google+ will be more important than ever. Google has been gradually shifting preference toward Google+-linked content, and since Google remains by far the most popular search engine. At the end of 2013, Google still claimed 67 percent of the search engine market, so even if Bing improves its 18 percent market share in 2014, Bing and other search engines have a long way to go before they catch up with Google.

SEO and PPC are both crucial elements in today’s marketing campaigns. Chances are, many businesses will incorporate both into their plans for 2014, but attention may be shifted off of SEO in favor of PPC. By experimenting, businesses can work toward finding a formula that works for them.

GUIDE TO SETTING UP YOUR FIRST ONLINE SHOP

E-commerce is the most popular business trend in our futuristic society, as most modern cities have Internet equipped and it’s such a simple process to send payments anywhere in the world via Internet connection. Along with these technologies have risen hundreds of thousands of new digital web stores which sell both physical and digital products to one global marketplace.

Setup yout online shop

Business means trade, and trade means transaction. For Internet buyer, what they really care about is probably the security, as there are overwhelming fraud issues happening all around the world nowadays. So setting up web store is not like your regular Blogger blog, it requires careful planning and guided installation with hardened security in mind.

But hard doesn’t mean that it’s impossible to do it yourself. For any aspiring webmasters hoping to get into the e-commerce game, this post will serve as the guide mentioned above, to ease the transition a bit with full of helpful tips and recommended service, so don’t wonder anymore, let’s get down to business!

The Process Of Building

Before even considering to launch your website it is crucial to spend some time away from the computer and build your idea. What kind of products will you be selling? Are there any competitors in this niche? Ideally how should your website’s user interface look?

Build your idea

These are all very important topics of discussion which you should consider deeply. It will also help a lot to build a brand name in these early stages of development. You can purchase the matching domain name ahead of time to secure your company name and logo.

If you’re a businessman and interested in working online you may also wish to set up some profiles. A new Google account can help on multiple levels for a new corporation. With Google you’ll gain a brand new email account under Gmail and access to each of Google’s apps. This includes Google Docs and Google Analytics for tracking your web page traffic. YouTube accounts also tie into Google via OAuth, so it’s possible to market your store with video media too.

Registering A Domain

Once you have a rough idea of how your shop will work it’s time to make some bold steps. Registering a domain name and finding a web host aren’t very difficult tasks. Yet they are monumentally important steps in the overall launch process.

Register your domain

Spend a lot of time considering your domain before purchase. Once you buy one it’s usually set for 1 year (or more if you choose), so you’re stuck with it! Personally I am a fan of NameSilo for registering new domains. Their user accounts let you set up portfolios and organize your domain names into different structures. Their domain search is also quick and produces to-the-point results.

Choosing The Web Hosting Service

When it comes to hosting things get a bit more difficult. You’ll want to consider the backend language which your online shop will run, and to choose the proper server settings. If you don’t have any preference or just don’t care I recommend sticking with PHP. It’s open source and supported in mostly 99% of server environments. But just ensure that any hosting account you purchase will support PHP and MySQL databases.

Choosing web hosting

Some companies Hostgator and Bluehost offer some incredible solutions for first-time webmasters. The average cost is $100-$150/year for unlimited storage and bandwidth. Now some web hosts do cap their storage and bandwidth limit. But for even the cheapest solutions you’ll generally be using well under their rules.

For more precise guidance, follow our post to help you choose the best web hosting service based on 10 essential factors, and consumer guide on understanding the very truth about web hosting and tips to avoid some annoying hosting troubles.

Choosing Your E-Commerce Package

There are two main categories to choose from for building an online shop. Hosted solutions are companies which provide you with everything you need on the backend and host the e-commerce script on their servers. This means you won’t need to perform any programming or file uploads of any kind. You will however still need a domain name to redirect and give your shop a distinct URL.

Choosing your ecommerce package

Now you can also work with licensed scripts, both paid and open source. These kinds of e-commerce systems are easily customized and make up the majority of online web stores. Even if you aren’t a programmer at heart it’s a very simple process to download and re-upload script files onto your hosting server and follow some installation instructions.

But when you are working with money and payments online there are many security risks to consider. If you feel uncomfortable taking on that much responsibility it may be wise to choose a hosted solution. Many times you can talk with company representatives to figure out site security without any stress. The customer’s overall experience and safety should be held in regard to your bottom-line decision.

Hosted E-Commerce Solutions

Many of the hosted solutions can provide an amazing experience to your visitors with very little work on your end. The administration panel is also uniform to all other scripts, which should provide you an easy interface to upload photos and add catalogue entries.

There are so many choices out there it’s hard to pick just one. But I’ve included 3 below which stand out among the rest. They’re viable options for the average webmaster who isn’t interested in messing around with FTP and programming IDE’s. You do lose a lot of opportunity for customizations, but you are gaining added security and personal staff support.

Shopify

You can check out Shopify for yourself to see this amazing service in action. Their website is designed beautifully and contains some wonderful demos. If you are on the edge with choosing any company, Shopify may possibly be the best option. Their features include a personal app store, SSL security, unlimited server bandwidth, a custom mobile template and a whole lot more!

Shopify

This is one script which offers a lot more user customizations than others. In the admin backend panel you may choose between dozens of themes to implement onto your live website. If you understand HTML/CSS it’s possible to edit the raw website design online. The editor is similar to WordPress theme‘s editor and offers a very simple UI for beginners.

Shopify also includes live chat and contacts 24/7 for any support. Check out their huge examples page if you’d like to see a few Shopify-powered stores. By looking at some templates it’s difficult to even tell what script they’re running.

Pricing can range from very cheap to very expensive over the course of their 5 plans. Compare details and see if any would stack up to your credentials. Ideally I would recommend Shopify if you have some standard knowledge of HTML and are looking for a fully-accountable staff to back up your new launch.

Yahoo! Merchant Solution

For small businesses Yahoo! Merchant Solution may also catch your attention. The layout for your standard Y!MS account is fairly straightforward and easy to customize. They provide custom traffic analytics and split testing right from your admin panel. The most popular payment gateways are supported, including PayPal, money orders, checks, and credit cards.

Yahoo! Merchant Soluton

Yahoo! is a great company to partner with if you’re choosing to go the hosted route. They spur large bouts of traffic through organic search and ad clicks, quite honestly only rivalled by Google. You can set up a small marketing account and help spread the word of your new store. Additionally if you’re looking to work with a skilled web designer or developer the small business network includes these features. Yahoo! can practically manage your entire store deployment and launch.

BigCommerce

The BigCommerce shop software could be compared to Shopify with trimmed features. They offer a clean user interface which clears up a lot of confusion in the signup process. It’s a breeze to add in new features, products, users, and take payments online in just a few minutes.

BigCommerce

Granted if you are a developer the team has spent time building an online API. Check out the integration and API settings on their website for details about page plugins. You may include details from many accounts around the web such as Facebook, eBay, 2Checkout, MasterCard, and PayPal. The staffs offer plenty of template customizations to choose from so you’ll never be worried about branding.

To see a few stores in action check out their live stores showcase, updated regularly and spurring some of the finest e-commerce designs in modern Internet layouts. There are a lot of features to go through when you’re first working with BigCommerce. Consider e-mailing the developers or get in touch with somebody at the company to answer questions you may have. I have only heard very positive reviews about their customer service and support for clients.

Custom-Owned Scripts

On the flip side to pre-hosted solutions it may be easier for developers to work within their own boundaries. Of the many scripts online to choose from there are only a handful worthy of testing. Although I’ve included 4 of my personal favorites here, check Google and do a bit of research if nothing suits you, alternatively check out our featured open source e-commerce shopping carts.

Magento

Each website launch is unique and will require unique conditions which another e-commerce solution may provide. In popularity these 4 scripts rank very high, so I’m sure you’ll find most things you need.

Zen Cart

Possibly one of the best known brands for e-commerce scripts on the web, Zen Cart is written in PHP and supports mostly all hosting environments. It’s free to download and install on as many websites as you’d like. The only retributions which they require is leaving the “Powered by Zen Cart” link open in the footer area.

Zen Cart Engine Installation

Working with Zen Cart provides connections into other services. Some of these are included as modules and it’s possible to download them from their website. Others are simply companies which have tied into the Zen Cart software. Check out their personal recommended services list to see if anything jumps out.

If you know API development yourself there’s a simple XHTML templating system applied onto each website. It is incredibly easy for your standard web developer to create a custom theme.

Additionally the support community is alive and constantly buzzing. Zen Cart has personally sponsored an entire wiki devoted to the script and common topics. Their support forums are also often active with helpful members. You can ask questions ranging from setup and installation all the way to custom module controls.

Magento

Magento has developed a very fine script for e-commerce websites. Their whole script is written on PHP and includes plenty of details for getting started. If you’re familiar with active development and FTP deployments check out the current SVN. It’s updated frequently and gives you a great way to access raw PHP files.

Certainly it’s possible for non-programmers to work with the Magento suite. But I would recommend checking out another option if you aren’t at least well-versed in HTML/CSS. Truly those looking to customize an amazing store with brilliant functionality should check out their product features and weigh the options. It won’t be a simple task to learn the Magento backend, however if you are familiar with PHP or a similar programming language you should be very comfortable within 2-3 weeks.

This is one company which provides a lot of support for users. Aside from the free edition there are many alternative options which you can pay per licence. Enterprise and Professional edition stand out as the two best-featured scripts. If you’re torn check their charts on the comparison page and choose what you think is best suited for your business need.

To get started with your learning spend a bit of time learning about their system, which includes screencast videos and some technical documentation. One area the Magento system isn’t lacking is in documentation.

WordPress EShop

Classic WordPress CMS has stood among many challengers in its day. Yet today there are millions of websites powered by WordPress, both static content and live blogs. So it only makes sense that over time a team of developers would create one spectacular e-commerce solution tied into WordPress. I believe WordPress eShop provides everything an e-commerce site would need, from orders to shipping to discount codes, all running within the WordPress admin.

Wordpress eSHop

If you’re a bit confused browse through a few of their tabs. The developer has provided amazing documentation and examples. Their installation process is also very simple, yet an elegant way of handling such a complex task. They have included a brief FAQ tab demonstrating some of their finer features.

With this method you will have to concern yourself with security and updates. It is of the utmost importance that your website stays secure and hack-free. SQL injections are all too common, and in this day personal user information and credit card numbers are much too important to lose. If you’re looking for a place to start on this, WordPress hosts support forums with many related topics. Try out their search feature to see if anybody has asked similar questions before.

Interspire Shopping Cart

Interspire is an Australia-based web development company. They create custom scripts with administrator backend support and CSS3 templates. These products include a general CMS, email marketing software, and a powerful shopping cart featured here. They do charge a hefty fee for their software out of the box ($295 per license), but you’re given amazing possibilities for customization.

Intespire Shopping Chart

Interesting enough the software which powers Interspire Shopping Cart is the same which powers BigCommerce discussed earlier. The only difference with them is a paid hosting account and you don’t have any access to editing the server files. But Interspire is such a complex system it may be a lot easier this way. For developers, Interspire is a goldmine of creativity.

They have released some brand new features in version 6 which will blow you away. They have hundreds of modules and templates to choose from. And their list of accepted payment gateways is enormous in comparison to many other scripts.

If possible try out their demo install, both frontend and administrator panel. You’ll fall in love with the features immediately and recognize if this is truly the best option for you. Your ideas will change depending on the needs of your shop, but for the average web developer the Interspire Cart is easily the best solution.

Taking Merchant Payments Online

Credit card payments are possibly the largest out of any other style. Many digital sources like Google and PayPal have started to corner the market, but credit card companies are still raking in the profits. And it’s obvious as credit cards provide a simple solution for your customers and you to pay online.

Network Solution Payment Gateway

You’ll probably want to sign up for two different accounts and include your new business name on file. An Internet merchant account is used to receive funds over the web for goods or services. Similarly a payment gateway or payment provider is a service which connects your store with your merchant account. This means you’ll be able to accept instant payments via credit card whenever your customers buy something.

To sign up for a merchant account you may try checking your local bank. Banks offer a signup process to credit your website and create an Internet-based merchant account. But if this isn’t an option try a merchant account provider. These 3rd parties work as the middle man transferring payments from your site to the bank of your choice. 

After you have successfully created a merchant account you’ll have to choose a gateway. These are companies which securely transfer the data your customers input into your merchant account.

Sometimes banks will provide you with the gateway, although there are plenty of options to choose from otherwise. The most credible company for those based in the United States is Authorize. Their website includes some standard information and forms which should help clear up any questions you have regarding their services. Additionally eWAY is a new launch targeting the international audience.

Alternative Payment Methods

If you won’t be taking such direct payments from clients, it may be easier to work in the short term. Digital payment methods have become a lot easier to work within the past decade. PayPal is the obvious leader among the pack and can be featured on almost all of the most popular e-commerce empires, with strong assisting guides laying everywhere, even from Hongkiat. Amazon and eBay are another two best known for this feature.

Paypal

Many of the runner-up services work just as well as PayPal but haven’t gained enough attention. Specifically Google Checkout offers a very secure and speedy transaction process. If you’re already using Gmail or have a Google Account it’s simple to tie into a new Google Checkout account. Their backend supports widgets which you can add onto your page for a nicer design.

Both PayPal and Google Checkout support solutions for invoicing. This can be useful if you’re planning on purchasing modules or further domains. Try staying with a single account and use this for all your business transactions online. It’s a lot quicker than waiting for payments or working through shady non-secured payment pages.

Add Content And Products

After you’ve got a domain, hosting, and you can view your script live online then you’ve really made it far! Moving past this process you’re merely required to perform some maintenance and building of website structures. Not too bad for a first e-commerce setup.

Add content and products

Familiarize yourself with the administrator panel and how to work with product pages. It’s important for your viewers to receive the best user experience on your website and hopefully land the sale. If you notice any image size limits or set proportions consider spending some time pre-cropping your product images. Or at the very least standardize the image size so your products will display evenly in rows/columns.

Along with product listings you’ll want to begin working on your page copy. Written content on your website is vitally important to get your message across and land sales. Visitors will be interested to hear about your company and many will hope to get in contact with you. These are just a few base pages to consider building, but you may focus on a few more as time goes on. For example a privacy policy page is very important concerning how you’ll handle user information.

Marketing And Beyond

After this point your first shop should be online and full of new content. Congratulations! It’s a difficult process to build and launch a full-scale e-commerce solution. But now the fun really picks up as you start taking orders and marketing.

Google Analytics

Nobody is going to find your website without some form of marketing. If you haven’t signed up for a Google account yet I highly recommend creating one for Google Analytics. They provide completely free tracking software which boasts some incredible features you can’t find anywhere else! With their tools you can find your most trafficked pages and biggest referring websites. Alternatively you can also try out some worthy analytic tools to find the one which best suits you.

If you feel that a professional marketing strategy would provide some prosperous results I recommend joining with a few publishing agencies. Google, Microsoft, and Yahoo! are the top 3 contextual ad publishers in the whole Internet. Google AdWords is obviously very well known and trusted amongst hundreds of marketers – and for good reason! Google AdWords provides large traffic numbers and laser-targeted click results for whatever products you’re selling.

Additionally Microsoft’s AdCenter and Google Advertising Solutions have really taken off the ground in recent months. These are viable options for smaller online stores with a much smaller marketing budget. You’ll be able to afford a lot more ad clicks and garner attention from a wide audience. Once you’ve run a few successful marketing campaigns your traffic numbers will slowly raise and you are sure to grow success in your online e-commerce shop.

Others related articles:

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- Is SEO Dead? An Interview to Sam McRoberts
- 7 Key Benefits To Blog Marketing For Your Business
- The Difference Between SEO And PPC

- New Technology IBeacons

- How IBeacons Change In-Store Marketing?

- Reason WHY you need Online Marketing?

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- 6 SMM Strategies To Drastically Improve Your Effort In 2015  
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IS SEO DEAD? AN INTERVIEW TO SAM MCROBERTS

AN INTERVIEW BETWEEN JAYSON DEMERS AND SAM MCROBERTS.

A common question that gets asked often, and it’s a very heated topic to boot. There are plenty of folks in the industry who say it’s alive and well, and plenty of others who think it’s on the way out. Long-time SEO Jill Whalen recently announced she’s ending her SEO career because “Google now works. The tricks to beat and spam Google no longer work as well… This means, my friends, that my work here is done.”

SEO is Dead?!

For more evidence of the changing times in the SEO industry, look at the SEO industry’s poster company, Moz, which recently changed its name from SEOMoz, by which it had been known since it was founded in 2004. Are we witnessing the beginning of an exodus from professional association with SEO?

I caught up with Sam McRoberts, CEO of VUDU Marketing and a widely published expert in the SEO field, for an interview to assess the state of the SEO industry and answer the question: Is SEO dead?

Jayson Demers: So, as an SEO myself, I’m not sure there’s ever been a more loaded question…but seriously, is SEO dead?

Sam McRoberts: Honestly, the answer really depends on how you define SEO. If, when you say SEO, what you really mean is manipulating search engines to place sites that don’t really deserve to rank well at the top of the SERPs…then yes, I’d say that’s dead (or dying at least, as some manipulative tactics still work quite well).

However, even though some SEOs work to game the system, I’ve never really felt like that was the correct definition of SEO.

Because we so often use the SEO acronym, we forget sometimes that it stands for Search Engine Optimization. SEO, at its heart, is the process of making websites more accessible and understandable to search engines. It shouldn’t be, and really doesn’t need to be, manipulative.

Demers: So SEO isn’t about manipulating rankings?

McRoberts: To be fair, SEOs have always been split into two (often overlapping) camps; those who work to actually make sites better, and those who work to game the system to get crappy sites (that don’t deserve to rank better) ranking better.

And again, in all fairness, most SEOs do (or have done) a bit of both.

Demers: Would that be the difference between white hats and black hats?

McRoberts: White hats and gray hats really, since true black hats are exceedingly rare, the outliers of the SEO industry. I actually think that gray hats make up the bulk of active SEO practitioners, something that Google is fully aware of.

Black Hats SEO VS White Hats SEO

Demers: What do you mean by that?

McRoberts: Well, if you look at the major algorithm updates that Google has released over the last few years, there have been a number that were very clearly aimed at gray hat SEO tactics. Panda and Penguin, in particular, are the most stand out examples, though there have been others.

Panda was targeted at sites with thin or duplicate content, or sites with too many ads on-page. Penguin hit over-optimized anchor text in link profiles. There were also updates that hit keyword rich domain names. All of these represent tactics used heavily by gray hat SEOs.

Demers: Why now? Google has been around for 15 years, why are they just now going after SEOs in such an overt way?

McRoberts: I have a theory here. During Google’s first decade of life, they had a really challenging time dialing up the sophistication of their algorithm. To really understand websites from a human perspective, and to match those websites with search queries and searcher intent in a way that made searchers happy, is one hell of a machine learning challenge.

The foundational areas that SEOs tend to focus on, on-site keyword usage, indexation issues, etc. have all helped Google to get a better grasp of what’s out there and how it all fits together.

In a sense, SEOs helped Google to index and understand the web, and in the process to make their algorithm better, more human-esque. Google’s most recent major algorithm change, Hummingbird, was specifically designed around an improved ability to understand natural language and searcher intent.

But at the same time, while SEOs have helped Google with one hand, they’ve been hurting it with the other.

Demers: Hurting it how?

McRoberts: SEOs were (and many still are) helping sites to rank better that don’t really deserve to rank better. In many cases, SEOs bought or worked with keyword-rich domains, loaded them with poor-quality content and ads/affiliate links, and manipulated their link profiles.

While plenty of SEOs were helping legitimate sites to improve their presence, to the benefit of searchers, far too many were making Google’s search results poorer in quality.

Google relies on having excellent search results so that people will continue to use them when they perform searches. SEOs were muddying up the search results with crappy sites, causing a degradation of overall search result quality.

Lower quality SERPs = a poor experience for searchers, so Google needed to make drastic changes to clean things up and restore/improve the quality of search results.

Demers: So Google made some changes.

McRoberts: Exactly, and continues to make those changes. And this is where all the “SEO is dead” talk stems from. Google has made so many changes that directly impact SEO tactics that the message is crystal clear: “SEOs: Stop messing with our search results”.

Google Ranking Factor

When one of the largest and most powerful companies on the planet decides to aggressively go after a specific group of people, that changes the game.

In essence, Google has really polarized the SEO space. There are now white hats, and black hats…there are very few gray tactics that still work, and the ones that do aren’t going to last much longer.

Demers: So, manipulative SEO is dead or dying, except for the really extreme players, the black hats. What does that mean for the SEO industry?

McRoberts: Honestly, it’s a game changer. Engaging in SEO tactics that worked 5 years ago (even 2 years ago) now poses a big risk, not to mention rapidly diminishing returns.

SEOs will need to adapt or die. Luckily, SEOs are really good at adapting to change.

Demers: So you think SEO will survive? It’s not dead or dying?

McRoberts: SEO, the art of making content more accessible and understandable to search engines, will exist and thrive for as long as search engines exist.

That said, SEO is no longer a silo. It has massive dependencies in other departments, from social and content to PR and advertising.

If anything, I’d say that the role of SEO has changed from specialist/technician to more of a project manager/strategist role. SEOs are exceptional at understanding how all the pieces of the online marketing puzzle fit together.

Demers: So what’s next for SEO? With all that’s changed, would you recommend the SEO field to anyone as a career?

McRoberts: Current SEOs, the smart ones, are already shifting into roles like creative director, marketing manager, digital marketing strategist, etc. They’re escaping the SEO silo because they know full well that SEO is no longer an independent discipline.

For people looking to get into SEO, I’d probably recommend against it. I mean, learn SEO, by all means, but you’d better also learn PPC, CRO, design, social, copywriting, basic coding skills, and numerous other disciplines on top of that. The days of being a plain old SEO, a specialist, are pretty much done.

Demers: Thanks Sam, this has been really informative. Any parting advice?

McRoberts: I’d really encourage people to think of SEO differently. SEO is far from dead, but it’s changed so drastically that people really need to learn to think of it as less of a marketing tactic, and more of a branding play. 

Others related articles:

- Peter Anderson
- Guide To Setting Up Your First Online Shop
- 7 Key Benefits To Blog Marketing For Your Business
- The Difference Between SEO And PPC

- New Technology IBeacons

- How IBeacons Change In-Store Marketing?

- Reason WHY you need Online Marketing?

- How SEO For Florist Increase Revenue?
- 6 SMM Strategies To Drastically Improve Your Effort In 2015  
- PPC? SEO? Which Is Right For Us?
- Why Do We Need Social Media Marketing?
- No Doubt! PPC Is The Best Ever Promotional Channel

Other related articles (Chinese):
- 关于PPC
- 为什么需要网站优化(SEO)呢？
- 简介iBeacons

Related website:
- ClickPro Media Solution
- OurPPC Inc.

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- Look into My Eye

- Know About Security Systems

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7 KEY BENEFTIS TO BLOG MARKETING FOR YOUR BUSINESS

Many business owners may have uncertainties or misconceptions as to the value of business blogging. Some believe that too much time and effort will be required to effectively implement a blog marketing platform into their existing promotional efforts, with little return on investment.

Those business owners who use blogs regularly will concur that they are simple to create and relatively easy to maintain once you gain an initial comfort level and identify your blogging persona. It typically will only take 10-30 minutes out of the day to properly submit a blog post. The results, however, are far-reaching and surprisingly effective.

So,

What are the major advantages of blog marketing?

1. Low Cost Marketing Channel

Blogs are cheap - even free. Blogs are easily built into an existing website. Blogs can also be maintained at dedicated hosting sites all over the web for low or no cost. Typically it would be recommended that a web business create their own blog domain for brand awareness purposes. It also looks that much more professional in my opinion.

2. Excellent Avenue to Build a Network

Every business needs a network; an internal network between divisions and an external network with other companies and customers. Staying in contact with so many individuals, however, takes large investments of time. A regular blog on the other hand is quickly written (particularly when you are close to and well versed in your subject matter). Blogs can reach thousands of targeted readers at any time in any place.

3. Enhanced Company Visibility

Closely related to networking, Blog marketing benefits a company by keeping it visible. The next time a customer or collaborating company is in need of your product or services, your business will be foremost on their minds.

Part of the benefits of blogging visibility has to do with links. On-site blogs can link to other areas within your site, but off-site blogs can link directly back to it. As you build your blog presence, you may eventually swap links with other high-traffic blogs further adding to your traffic and search engine results.

4. Increased Product Exposure

Blog marketing is extremely useful for gaining mainstream visibility for your products. Your product line may be the focal subject of your company blog - a place where you educate consumers or prospective customers on product features and use, or a place to debut new additions to your line.

Product advertising is of course not limited to company blogs. Blogs on every imaginable subject span the net. Paying high quality bloggers to speak about your products or review your company is another effective blog marketing technique. There are Blog networks like Loudlaunch.com or Sponsoredreviews.com where you can tap into a network of bloggers that work on a pay per post model. This can be a low cost and effective way to grow your product awareness.

5. Enhanced Company Persona

Blog marketing is one way to come down to a more personal level with customers. The voice and style of the blog lets customers get a feel for who you are as a company and whether you are the kind of person they would like to be involved with.

When one individual regularly maintains the blog, customers get to know that person, and feel they have built a relationship with them. The result from this aspect of blog marketing is a more trustworthy, lasting relationship.

6. Improved Customer Interaction

Comment features on blogs are ideal ways to get to know your customer base. An engaging business blog is a place to hear kudos and complaints, as well as conduct informal focus groups, determining how else customers needs might be fulfilled. In this new Web 2.0 frontier, healthy customer dialogue is a key ingredient for successful web endeavors.

7. SEO Optimized Content

We have all heard it said, "Content is King" on the Internet. Adding a blog to your site adds to your featured content, providing yet another indexable content source. It is essential to employ tools like Wordtracker.com and Hittail.com to identify targeted keywords that you want to write some blog posts on. The key is to include the keyword in the blog title as well as in the post and technorati tags.

Blog marketing is quickly becoming known as one essential wave in a progressive web company's future. The minimal cost, both financially and time-wise, coupled with unlimited potential for exposure and connection make business blogging a no-lose proposition.