Archive for the 'SEO Research' Category

Online custom publishing is a crucial part of marketing strategy.

Also, We Build Pages is working on time travel.

Hello folks, I’m Robin, the new Content Services Coordinator (former Link Ninja) here at We Build Pages. I’m making a guest appearance on Jim’s blog because he’s busy driving the DeLorean around the block a few times. (We plan to offer time machine services in addition to SEO quite soon. Once Jim figures out how to go Back to the Future, you’ll be able to check out your rankings in 1, 5, 10, and 20 years, and then plan to adjust your SEO strategy in the present in order to achieve maximum ROI down the road).

Yesterday, I went to a lunchtime conference in Albany offered by the New York Capital Region AMA. The topic (which Jim has already discussed in an earlier post) was the rise of custom publishing as a marketing tool. The speaker was Michael Winkleman, the president and CCO of Leverage Media, which offers a variety of custom publishing services (including corporate histories, white papers, newsletters, and magazines). His presentation was very informative and included some great data on the attitude of consumers toward custom publishing.

Michael focused mainly on print media, although he did mention online media including blogs, podcasts, and web magazines. Many of his points about print media are applicable to web content as well. Some salient facts:

Custom publishing is currently one of the fastest growing media segments.

85% of consumers said that they would rather get information about a company from a collection of articles than an ad. (Roper Public Affairs/Custom Publishing Council 2005 survey)

93% said that they understood that the underlying purpose of custom publications was marketing-driven, but they like getting them anyway. (Roper Public Affairs/Custom Publishing Council 2005 survey)

And, perhaps most tellingly:

74% took at least one action from reading or looking at a publication.
(Readex/Custom Publishing Council 2005-2007 Custom Magazine Study)

It appears that most consumers view custom publishing as a goodwill gesture by the sponsoring company, and that the consumer response to it is quite positive. Moreover, custom publishing has become a standard part of marketing strategy in many industries, and companies are increasingly finding that it’s a necessary component of doing business.

Michael pointed out that a key difference between print and online custom publishing is that you have to seek out online content, but print media finds its way to you. We’ve all been there—it’s impossible not to pick it up at the doctor’s office, find it in the snail mail, or pull it out of the seat pocket in front of you on a plane.

However, there are a few reasons why custom web publishing is just as crucial:

Content is a driving force behind search engine results.

If you offer useful web content and an easy way for readers to alert each other about it, you’ve just increased your word-of-mouse.

Web and print media can form a great symbiotic relationship; you can use print media to send visitors to your website, where it will be easy for them to take action.

Web content can be less costly; custom print publications can run from 10-50K.

Web content can live on your site as long as you want it to; print publishing turns over monthly or quarterly.

Users expect to find desired information on the web. Online custom publishing can help them find this information and make the most of it.

Check out our custom content services for more information. My favorite thing about this job is the process of discussing a website with a client and envisioning creative, high-quality content that will add value for site users. I can be reached at Robin -at- webuildpages dot com for further information.

Also, if anybody out there has an extra flux capacitor lying around, please contact Jim.

I’m asking for some community help.

Yahoo! Publisher Network Or Google Adsense?

If you’ve used them both, Which do you prefer? Why?

Thank you for your input.

Local Marketing SES Conference Coverage from Mike Belasco

Mike the Marketing Guy has some coverage of the Sept 28 SES converence in Denver that covered Local Marketing.

Mike covered:

• Meet the Search Engines - Local
• Local Search Ads
• Local Search Marketing Tactics

and here’s the Official info from SES Local Denver Sept 28

Technorati Tags: local internet marketing

Catchy headline eh?

I found this neat tool via Digg that shows how much you should be getting paid….but before my employees get all excited and start asking for raises, read the funny digg comments…and yes, Sperm Donors can make more than SEO’s according to this tool….and yes, I must be a cheap bastard because I don’t pay $140,000/year….but again…when I saw the huge local rates for SEO’s and click on the results, there were strangely no ads for those high paying jobs…..maybe this is the tool some of the "SEO Pay Rates" papers were based on that have come out the past few years.

Donna at SEO Scoop catches a post on Earnersforum where they used the recently released AOL Search Data to figure out click through rates for the the top 10 positions in search results.