I was recently speaking at the 2009 PubCon in Las Vegas on both an Organic Site Review Clinic & an SEO Site Design Panel.

The Organic Site Clinic on Wednesday November 11th was only myself & Alan K’necht of K’nechtology where we were aligned on foundational & canonical SEO for the sites we reviewed as we are both sticklers for proper back-end coding.

We even came across a site that was using a MORE link to hide content at the bottom of each of their pages – the site will remain unnamed

Later that Wednesday after lunch I was on an SEO Design & Organic Site Structure panel with Ted Ulle of Converseon, Lyndsay Walker of Canada’s Web Shop, Scott Polk of Search & Social Media.

Moderating this motley crew was Christine Churchill of KeyRelevance with QA moderator Taylor Pratt of nFusion.

We all agreed we would keep our presentations to under 5 minutes so people could ask plenty of questions and get some great takeaways rather than just simply hearing us talk on and on, on stage.

I spoke on foundational SEO concentrating on what I term the big 3 of the .htaccess, robots.txt, & Webmaster Tools – I included my presentation below:

Ted went over some great foundational design information while Lyndsay went into coding advice and Scott provided some great tips, but where I disagreed with Scott is on using file extensions over directories.

I like & respect Scott Polk as he is great speaker with a wealth of knowledge & experience coming from Bruce Clay thus I didn’t want to undermine him publicly so I simply nodded in agreement with Ted on stage with him stating he prefers directories.

All things being equal a page at abc.com/xyz.html has just a good chance to rank as abc.com/xyz/ but with the directory page you have the added benefit of not having to change reference links if you go to another web page format such as php, asp, cfm, etc plus I feel its better organizationally since you can place related pages & files in this directory giving them added keyword weight.

Scott stuck to his guns on extensions over directories while also being correct that you can simply resolve the new web page format issue in the .htaccess, but I still contend directories are better long term both organizationally &  for SEO.

What do you think?

Oh Google, how you never cease to amaze…

Until just a few days ago, Lala was a fairly unknown online music streaming site.  Since its 2006 launch, the site has experienced growth rates far inferior to other music sites like Myspace and Pandora.  That is, until a partnership with Google suddenly moved their company into the everyday internet vocabulary.

Try this: type in a band or song name into the Google search box, and check out the first results that come up.  Rather than directing you to Myspace or the band’s official website,  you can now listen to the entire song, for free, with one click.  For example, if you were to type in the up-and-coming band The xx into the box, your results would look like this:

The first time you listen, the service costs you nothing; for every time after that, it’s a nominal fee of $.10.  Add this to the laundry list of Google’s cutting-edge innovations like Google Voice, Google Wave, and the Android phone, that have all recently been released.

Also, keep a lookout for a new Lala iPhone application, which will allow music streaming similar to the online model: free for the first listen, $.10 per every future listen .  Rumor has it the app will be available mid-November, and likely with a very high demand.

…let’s just say we’re in la-la-love.

Internet Marketing Inc will be represented at the Search Engine Strategies Conference in Chicago on December 9th, 2009.

Search Engine Strategies or SES for short, is a leading global conference and training series focused on search engine optimization and search engine marketing put on by Incisive Media which includes ClickZ & Search Engine Watch.

I will be hosting a site clinic at SES Chicago from 4pm to 5:15pm on December 9th, 2009 at the Chicago Hilton.

In this session I will provide feedback to improve the sites provided from the audience mostly from an SEO point of view.

I will speaking as well at the upcoming PubCon in Las Vegas on several sessions including a Site Clinic at 10am on Wednesday November 11th and then at 1:30 I will present on SEO Design & Organic Site Structure at the Las Vegas Convention Center.

If you are going to PubCon in November or SES Chicago in December please let me know so we can make time to meet each other.

,Michael Martin

Last Thursday, on 10/15, Internet Marketing Inc.’s New York City office hosted a “Cocktails and Conversations” event for industry insiders, clients and friends.  More than 60 attendees enjoyed wine, hors d’oeuvres, and a quirky presentation by seasoned sales expert, Lisbeth Calandrino, who recently released a new book called “Red Hot Customer Service.”  The event was scheduled to end around 8 p.m., but the last slew of guests didn’t actually leave until after 10 p.m.  If that isn’t a metric of a success, I’m not sure what is!

For those who missed out, check out our video presentation below AND stayed tuned in for next time!

Many thanks to our fabulous speaker and generous sponsor, Select Office Suites.

For more information, please view Lisbeth Calandrino’s blog.

A week after speaking at SMX East in New York City these are my reflections on the conference:

• There were a lot of the same faces from other Internet Marketing conferences such as PubCon & SMX Advanced.

• I thought there would be more corporations and neophytes to Internet Marketing at the conference than there were.

• Weather was extremely warm the first couple days in New York City as it was similar to that in San Diego.

• Less than half the attendees were at the last day of sessions on Wednesday which I felt were the best to attend.

• The best part of conferences is not necessarily the sessions themselves but the networking after and talks during such as the extensive conversations I had with Stephan Spencer of NetConcepts.

I was also appreciative of all the live bloggers covering my session on Google Android Monday October 9th such as Bruce Clay, Outspoken Media, 10e20, &  SEO Roundtable, as well WebProNews for the interview below:

Interested in taking your social media marketing capaign to the next level?  You can gain a vast amount of momentum through traditional social media marketing methods and frankly it is best to start with the basics anyway.  However, once you have an engaged audience, what is the next step?  With a great foundation set and a loyal and engaged audience behind you, you can execute a wide variety of marketing, promotional, and brand building strategies.   So how do you do this?

There are a wide variety of open source applications for promotions, events, fundraising, non-profit causes, etc.  But if you really want to personalize your brand’s social engagement, it should be done using customized social media technology such as Facebook applications and widgets for mobile devices.

Promotional FaceBook applications are designed to engage users, create a fun and “viral” tool that can be shared, and increase the fan base (i.e. you must become a fan to enter the “Video Contest”.  Here is an example of a FaceBook application we built for Hilton Hotels’ Video Vacation Contest where contestants must become a fan and then may upload videos nominating themsleves or friends/family to win a Mexico vacation.  It creats a fun way to involve the fan base and encourage them to “share” the contest opportunity with others.

And then there is mobile marketing and widgets for mobile devices.  Providing your audience with apps and widgets to download is a great added value to any social media campaign.  The audience that accesses their social networks via their mobile device is growing exponentially.  eMarketer projects that mobile social network users worldwide will climb from 243 million in 2009 to 803 million in 2012!  Internet marketing takes on many different forms but unless your brand is at least aware of the opportunities for social and mobile engagement, you are leaving money on the table!

Marketing is a very important and specialized element to growing a business and differentiating yourself from the competition.  I didn’t used to think so.  My background is originally in finance.  I used to think marketing was just some common sense piece of the puzzle that any intern could handle.  Boy was I wrong.  Much of the “wisdom” I now have comes from making mistakes and following the wrong instincts. 

Being in the Internet Marketing business, I have also spent time analyzing other companies and reviewing their internal strategies from the outside looking in.  This exercise has lead me to gain a more keen understanding of how some of the seemingly “best” mid to large size companies out there completely miss the mark when it comes to marketing.  Here are some basic things that business owners should avoid:

The Good Old Marketing Fallback:  Maybe you used a specific marketing strategy 5 to 10 years ago and it worked very well to drive leads and sales.  Maybe you haven’t even really used “marketing” in years because times have been great and all your business comes to you.  But now times are tough and you realize you need to reach out to your customers more.  Their behavior seems different.  They are price comparing and actually seeking opportunties outside of your brand.  Looks like its time to turn on the marketing again, right? 

In this situation, business owners often revert back to the same strategy they used years ago.  Just because direct mail and billboards did wonders 10 years ago does not mean that you should use the same marketing plan.  Design a plan that will define and address immediate business goals.  If you do not have the in-house expertise to put this together, seek advice from colleagues that have a more current marketing plan to see whats working.  Doing a competitive analysis will also give you great insight into what others are doing to drive new business.  Don’t however make the mistake of assuming your competition is getting it right either.

Branding and Creating “Awareness”:  I have seen some business owners who seem satisfied with their marketing plan because THEY see their ads and assume everyone else is seeing them too.  Not only do they assume that others take notice but they assume that others are responsive to the message.  This can be referred to as “ego” driven marketing.  A business owner should never assume their big billboard ads and fancy print ads are channeling new business.  This was easier to get away with in a good economy.  Owners did not scrutinize marketing dollars as much and therefore assumed their expensive print ads had something to do with their sales.  Maybe they did, but maybe not…how would they know.  How can you truly measure an ad campaign like that? 

As business owners wise up and move away from startegies that are not measurable, they seek more cost effective methods that can be supported by true analytics.  Enter Internet marketing and online media.  Marketing is much more that creative brand awareness.  Your loyal customers are most likely aware of your competition, but something called them to choose you and something is keeping them loyal to your brand.  Do you know what that is?  You are doing something right, just make sure you know what it is and how to translate that into a marketing plan.

Push Advertising:  Push advertising and messaging is alright as long as it is combined with true inbound marketing.  Inbound marketing, or better yet, inbound Internet marketing, is about getting your prospective customers to come to you.  Consumers are constantly expsoed to media of all kinds and therefore we must stay on top of the methods that are curently working to engage people and build trust. 

Consumer behavior has changed in large part to the economic conditions.  People want to trust the brands they surround themsleves with.  They want transparency and honesty.  They don’t want to just hear your pitch anymore.  They will seek out the truth by asking their peers, going to their online social networks, or looking at rating and review sites.  Great online inbound marketing starts with SEO, blogging and social media.  These elements build online visibility and better yet trust among your audience.

Hiring a Consultant too Soon:  It is common for large brands to have a full inhouce marketing team.  But is the team really on the same page and using the same strategy?  Big companies will sometimes have an Internet marketing team, a PR team, and content team, and a general marketing team.  It is quite common for the PR team to have no idea what the Internet marketing team is doing.  When things are disjointed like this, it is best to put an internal communication plan together before bringing in an outside consultant.  This will ensure that there is a team working towards the same goal when new marketing plans are put in place. 

Planning without Analyzing:  There is no point in putting a plan together that will most likely cost you a lot of money if you haven’t really analyzed the problems.  Business owners need to define the true goals behind what they are trying to accomplish because it will affect how a great Internet marketing strategy is built.  For example, search engine optimization isn’t just about going after keywords you think are relevant to your industry or terms you see your competition showing up for.  It takes many factors into account that include basic marketing, customer behavior, competition, business goals, financial goals, conversions, etc.  Spend the appropriate time analyzing the situation before design the marketing plan.  It will save you money in the long run.

Internet Marketing Inc. is gearing up for the Search Marketing Expo in New York next week!  Our very own SEO Director Michael Martin will be speaking on the panel covering “Mobile Search Apps and Opportunities”.  Michael will be on a panel with Scott Dunlap, Rachel Pasqua, and Matt Siltala.  This session will look at popular search apps and different devices, how they gather data, and the Internet marketing opportunities they offer. 

The team from the New York office will also be in attendance all week.  We are looking forward to learning new things and meeting new people.

Blogging is not social media in itself, but it is a perfect avenue for providing great value to your audience and social media strategy. When I speak about Internet marketing and social media to CEO’s and business owners, one of the biggest hurdles is blogging. Why? Because it takes time, understanding, and a general committment to provide a consistent knowledge transfer to for your readers.

Business owners simply need to embrace the importance of blogging as a tool for communicating your knowledge and experiences in your particular field. To do so, they must understand what its all about, why it is indeed important, and in what capacity. Once they have a clear vision, it is easier to make the committment.

HERE ARE SOME TIPS FOR GETTING STARTED:

Be An Expert in Your Field >>We can use the term “expert” losely but it does help if you know what you are talking about.  If you are a business owner, chances are you have a lot of knowledge and experience you can share with your readers. 

Start Be Reading Other Blogs >> Blogging is different than traditional writing and usually takes on a more casual tone.  The best way to gain a clear understanding of how bloggers in your industry do it is of course to read their blogs.  Simply run some Google searches or use Technorati (great tool for searching the blogoshpere) to find top blogs related to your business industry.

Messaging >>  After reading other top blogs you should have a good understanding of how people write.  You may also notice that good blogs are vary rarely self serving.  As a businss owner, the most value you will bring to the table (and therefore gain positive feedback) is through thoughtful educational topics such “How to..” guides or “10 Great Ways to…”.  Blog readers want it simple, well written, casual, and valuable.  They want to be able to lear something quickly and easily.

Be Consistent >>  The worst thing we can do as business owners is to start something and then not follow through.  That is why you must make the time committment.  Will you always be able to stick to your “blogging schedule”?  Of course not.  But that is why you have to make other sacrifices.  Why do you think I am multitasking on a Sunday (watching football while blogging)??  Contributing to your blog three to five times each week is good enough.  Don’t stress out about it.  Once you get into the groove it can be an enjoyable activity.

UNDERSTANDING THE MARKETING VALUE:

We already touched on the fact that good blogging allows you to show what you know.  The more free knowledge you provide your audience, the greater value it will bring your business.  Blogging also brings a certain amount of trust to a company.  That is why I always recommend that companies (large and small) have a corporate blog.  It is also great if the owners and/or top executives are the key contributors.  This goes back to the “transparency” part of social media.  Consumers want to see the CEO’s and owners out in front leading by example and taking responsibility for their brand.  But there is a more technical marketing value behind blogging and that is search engine optimization. 

Blogging is one of the best ways to add great content to your site as often as you like.  Great content of course leads to more pages for your website that can potentially get indexed and ranked by the search engines. 

Here are some tips:

1. The best way to accomplish this is to use a SEO friendly blog platform such as Wordpress (this blog is a Wordpress platform) and integrate it with your website (i.e. www.yourdomainname.com/blog). 
2. Have your keyword strategy in mind when writing.  Use blog titles and phrases relevant to your topic and industry.  For example, if you run a financial consulting firm you might write a blog about “How to Maintain Financial Liquidity”.  In that blog you would want to include keywords related to your topic as it relates to your keyword strategy.  I don’t want to get too far into SEO because that is a whole other topic.  As long as you write well and at least keep these tips in mind, it will add value to your website.
3. Promote your blog on your website in the header or footer so people know you have one.  I also recommend having a link to your blog in your email signature.  If you are engaged in social media, provide links to your blog through Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter.  After each blog you write, post it on Facebook with a note about the topic.  The more you write and promote the blog, the more successful you will be in increasing links and website traffic.