Fionn Downhill – Digital Shenanigans

As more and more organizations recognize the value of search marketing, many are choosing to bring their search engine marketing in-house. The primary goal may be to realize cost saving opportunities and improve their return on investment (ROI). However, a strong secondary goal is usually one of control: the need to implement and manage the function using people with a deep understanding of the organization, its industry, and its culture. Additionally, there is the benefit of having a passionate internal representative championing the cause and transferring knowledge to other departments. Now that search engine optimization (SEO) owns a larger part of the marketing budget, it makes plain sense to have someone on board who really understands it. There are many moving parts in a search campaign requiring alignment of multiple departments and it is important that the search specialist is familiar with the internal workings and politics of the different departments. Marketing, IT, product development, finance, sales etc.

As search marketing becomes more established as an industry, the pool of job seekers with some knowledge of the field increases accordingly. Therefore, organizations no longer have to rely on a handful of SEOs who know the special ‘tricks’ to get a site ranked. They can hire knowledgeable staff and pay for additional training to get them up to speed to do a job for them. That’s the theory, anyway.

This development fails to take into account the vital role of experience in shaping a search marketing campaign. SEO changes at a dramatic rate. What works today is not necessarily going to work tomorrow. Having the knowledge of what happened yesterday and what changed yesterday is an immeasurable advantage. This type of knowledge is not usually conveyed in training courses or conferences. It comes only as a result of experience. So, how do you ensure your search marketing staff acquires this experience? One answer is to hire a consultant specializing in strategy, and implementation to come into your organization to help with the set up of the department, and the training of your SEO staff.

Setting Up an In-House SEO Department

If you are bringing SEO in-house after using an agency, a consultant can be an invaluable asset. As well as helping with the actual campaign implementation and staff training, consultants can guide you in identifying and obtaining the resources you will need to get your department up and running. These resources can include the processes and procedures, workflow management, manpower planning, and systems implementation.

SEO consultants can also provide guidance in handling search in relation to company politics. How will the department fit into the organization? What budget will be allocated to search marketing? Who will take executive responsibility for the department? How will the department interact with the IT function? Who will audit the department? And perhaps most importantly – how will you communicate with and help educate other functions of the organization?

Occasionally a consultant will be brought on to help with setting up the team itself. This can include consulting on job descriptions, optimizing job ads, interviewing the applicants, and helping to select the employee(s). When a search marketing team is already in place – technical, copywriters, project managers, account reps etc., a consultant may be used to participate in employee evaluations and reviews.

The Campaign Implementation

The majority of outside consultants are brought in to aid with the building of the search marketing plan. Such plans usually take the form of:

• Determining the campaign goals – both on a micro and macro level,
• Setting up processes,
• Determining who will be responsible for processes, and,
• Setting up a structure to track, monitor and report on the campaigns.

It can also be beneficial to have the consultant regularly audit the campaign results with a view to improving them. They can help identify opportunities that are being missed and problems with the current setup. They can help define strategies that work and can offer advice on strategies that may be out of line with search engine guidelines. They are also usually aware of all the tools and analytic packages out there and can guide the organization towards the one that will work best for their special needs.

SEO Training

Experienced consultants can provide SEO training within the department. Additionally, they may be available to participate in cross functional training, so that staff in other areas will understand the role of search marketing, enabling them to contribute to the overall success of the campaign. A qualified consultant will draw on their expertise to tailor the training to the needs of the individual company. During the process, they may undertake a skills audit to assess which proficiencies are in place and which are missing. Once this is determined, a customized training plan can be constructed and implemented.

One of the biggest challenges of bringing SEO in-house is the need for advanced SEO knowledge. Even after training is complete, it is prudent to have access to an experienced consultant who can advise on tricky situations as needed. Having access to the latest knowledge or access to experience can be invaluable. Ongoing education for your in house team is essential and can be guided or provided directly by an experienced consultant.

Special Projects

An SEO consultant can also be used to manage special one-off projects. This is a very cost effective strategy as you only utilize them when a need arises. It is also useful to have access to them so that you can brainstorm with them. The advantage is that they are not too close to the project and they tend to look at it from a big picture point of view. They are also less likely to be influenced by internal politics which may interfere with doing the right thing for the project. And they are ideal if speed and immediate results are a priority. Easy access to immediate advice and consultation is advisable. If they do not have the immediate knowledge, they will usually have the resources to obtain that knowledge quickly.

An experienced consultant is a useful resource for an in house search engine marketing department. They can be on hand to help with a multitude of challenges that a department faces on a day to day basis. They can also be available when a special project comes along or a challenging situation develops.

I have finally taken the plunge and entered the blogosphere. I have been planning to do this for some time but work always seems to get in the way of the fun stuff. I will be writing on matters related to search and may even write the occasional post which has nothing to do with search. I will try to stay away from stories about my cat (which will be easy since I don’t have one — but our new little puppy, well that’s a different story!).

I have been in this industry for 5 years and it has been a very interesting and fun journey. I do not know of any other industry where 5 years after you started,you are still learning many new things every day (unless you are Britney Spears Attorney, he gets quite a few surprises daily).

Today our big discussion was on social media. James and Dylan attended SMX New York and came back sounding more knowledgeable than before they left — or maybe it was the 4 days away form the office that gave them a new lease of life.

I look forward to sharing my search experience and my knowledge through the blog and hope that you will find my insights useful and informative.

It’s been nearly a month since I attended the PPC Summit (www.ppcsummit.com) in Los Angeles, but I wanted to write about it since the early bird deadline for the San Francisco conference is only two weeks away. This was my first industry conference and I’m extremely grateful that I had the opportunity to attend.

The two-day conference discusses paid search only and promises that attendees will “Make More Money with Pay Per Click.” This focus provides a clear directive for presenters and attendees alike: come ready to explore the capabilities and practicalities of paid search. In addition to knowledge gleaned from the workshops and panels, I came home with two thick manuals of presenter-provided slides and additional notes (so I can learn from the sessions I didn’t get to attend!) and an enthusiasm for the possibilities of the paid side of SEM.

One of the best elements was the mix of attendees: it was a fairly even split between in house advertisers and agencies. This made the agency presenters much more willing to share the secrets of their own successes. I’m told that at agency-only events, it’s nearly impossible to get attendees to share tricks and tips. Having access to case study examples that back up the effectiveness of the tips made it much easier to sell once I was back in the office.

Most of the sessions were workshops and the panels I attended were light on the presentation and heavy on audience participation. Being able to hear practical applications and discussions of actual problems and solutions was well worth the expense associated with the conference and having to be away from my family for several days. Not that the event was perfect. I would like to see some more intermediate and advanced discussion of a few topics that were only featured on the beginner track. I’d also like a more detailed look into subjects like reporting which were only touched on as part of other subjects. With an expanded schedule already in the works for 2008, I’m sure some of those topics will be addressed eventually.

Ultimately what matters is that I learned a lot, I came home eager to test the new tactics and strategies, and I got excited about paid search in a way I didn’t expect. As for the testing, while still too early to tell in some instances, most of the things that can be tested have improved the campaign performance for our clients.

The SEMPO AZ group welcomed Kevin Wilk, the senior agency development manager at Yahoo!, for its second get together at the AZ Club in downtown Phoenix. Wilk gave a presentation entitled Paid and Display Integration – Closing the Loop with Search, to an audience made up of over 50 attendees.

The newly formed SEMPO AZ group was created with the purpose to provide a foundation for industry growth by creating awareness, forming strong relationships, promoting the industry, offering education, driving research, and creating a better understanding of search and its role in the marketing industry.

As in the inaugural SEMPO AZ get together, and the many more to come, there was a raffle for a high tech related prize. At the first meeting it was a SEMPO Institute fundamentals learning course, valued at about $400, which was won by an employee of iCrossing. iCrossing kept its winning streak alive last night when Rebecca Brown won the coveted iPhone, provided by Sitewire.

The main message of Wilk’s presentation was that companies need to ensure that their offline advertising and brand building needs to be integrated with the same message online, both organic and paid. Focusing just on the online section, Wilk stressed the importance of taking advantage of both search and display advertising. One case study he shared was that of Adidas and Kevin Garnett, Adidas’ NBA endorsee. On days when Adidas showed the ad on Yahoo!’s home page, searches for Adidas and Kevin Garnett, skyrocketed. People didn’t necessarily click on the home page ad, but the ad drove people to search for the two topics, thus supporting the need to correlate your display and search advertising, as well as your online and offline advertising.

Wikipedia is a powerful tool for learning and researching information. It is an online encyclopedia that features community-contributed-content. The articles get added to and improved on continually. The goal of Wikipedia is to include articles that are both accurate and neutral; however, because it is open to public involvement there can be inaccurate and biased information.

Because of the authority of much of the content, Wikipedia entries are often very highly ranked by the search engines. Also, people are using social search – community based sites to do their searching. Type a brand into Wikipedia and it returns a wealth of objective information as well as links to the official and related sites. Social search (based on human information and recommendations) is taking over the old algorithmic search engines such as Google. Some major brands receive a large percentage of visitors from Wikipedia.

Many companies and business entrepreneurs, CEOs etc., are featured in the site, thus allowing you to use it to communicate with your target audience. If you have a Wikipedia entry, it is in your best interest to monitor the information. Be aware that competitors will often use it to try to discredit your company and products. Also, be aware that any attempts to sell your company or products, alter opinions in your favor, or change accurate information may have repercussions within the community and your brand reputation may be discredited.

Although anyone can edit Wikipedia articles, more weight is given to members of the community that contribute regularly. Wikipedia has editors that monitor the activity of users. Therefore, if you want to contribute to your own listing it is advisable to find out all about the site and become a regular and valued participant.

So, what do you do? First of all read the Wikipedia policies and guidelines. Then you should become a regular active contributor that adds value to Wikipedia. When you want to edit an article make sure you communicate with article editors when you are making edits. Include only verifiable information, (that you have written and is not plagiarized from other sites), and cite references. Contribute to the talk page of articles to which you wish to contribute. Stay within the Wikipedia code of conduct and respect other contributors.

There are over 2 million articles on Wikipedia. Have a look around, contribute, and help grow your brand.

The local group of the Search Engine Marketing Professional Organization, Arizona (SEMPO AZ) will host a cutting edge online marketing presentation given by Yahoo!, a leading search engine in the industry. (PRWeb Sep 30, 2007)

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