Movement Toward Fully Secured Search Results

As the search engine with the continued dominance of queries in the U.S.; Google has been hinting through data analysis and algorithm changes that a fully secured set of results is their goal.

Will that reach 100%? Probably not for some of the fringe queries (what are fringe queries nowadays anyway?). However, for highly competitive queries, I believe we can expect the majority of page 1-3 results to be dominated by secure sites by the end of 2015 and see movement toward that 100% by the end of 2016.

As reported by Search Engine Land, Google recently mentioned their analysis on Google+ on sites that were eligible for HTTPs but were not showing as secured due to a "webmaster configuration". I can see a case being made that this move by Google is an added method to gain additional trust from queries and further alleviate spammy results from their pages.

What does this mean for the little guy?

The question for those small businesses and startups who aren't up-to-date on the latest demands from Google; "How can we compete against big business who can keep up with these changes?" Those of us in the industry know that it is not just this ONE change that can magically make a site rank but instead it is the culmination of many of these factors that lead to success. Small businesses and startups can seemingly be at a disadvantage but they can also be fairly nimble where many large businesses cannot. The availability of knowledge bases such as blog posts like this one and the millions of others can be quick glimpses into the small changes that can make a difference. Add to that the personal interactions that can happen on a one-to-one scale with their customers. Feedback and refinements to their offering can potentially be easier to handle or address whereas large corporations would potentially have to dive through many layers of approval.

In the end, securing your site (and securing it correctly) helps your customers regardless of what the search engines have in store. However, this is not the only change that will magically make you competitive in the search space. Smartly integrating the pieces that make up the puzzle and implementing them well is what will lead to success.

Google's Instant SEO Challenge

Does Google Instant provide an SEO minefield or just expand the way we think about keyword selection?

All across the Twitterverse and in industry blogs the question is being raised, "Is Google Instant what will kill off SEO?"

I think that Google Instant provides a challenge for those of us in the Search Marketing industry. For a long time we in the SEO field have been trying to find the secret sauce of Google and trying to figure out what keywords are driving results to our clients' pages. We now not only have to think about the ultimate keyword they will use to find what they are looking for but what keywords they will start searching with. Most recently long-tail keywords have been the solution to how most searchers ultimately find what they are looking for, as the head terms are increasingly less relevant as more pages fill up these results but not targeted to what the searchers are looking for.

I believe searchers have grown accustomed to using more long-tail queries first to get at what they really want and have started adjusting their searching habits to avoid those pages that seemingly have less specific results.

Ok, now how does this apply to Google Instant?

Google is now taking a step away from the searcher by predicting what they are going to type for their query. No longer does the searcher have to waste time reformatting their query for head terms or long-tail terms. Google is now showing what results they would get if they did decide to go for the often irrelevant head terms automatically without additional keystrokes. As a searcher knowing that these results will be presented to me instantly I am more likely to try those terms knowing that I can quickly adjust that query and get what I am try looking for but it doesn't hurt to look at those head terms since they are there anyway.

As a search marketer I need to take into account how my clients' customers are searching for their products. As I mentioned previously this was focusing on a few head terms and a large portion of long-tail keywords but with the new adaptation of Google Instant it will be important to try for those head terms as they will now be viewed and considered more often because they will be the first results given for a specific query even if the searcher is heading toward the long-tail keyword.

So bottom line is that this will be a difficult period for search marketers, the results won't change instantly but SEO practitioners need to start working through their keyword strategy and see how this will ultimately affect their customers' experience of search for their products or services.

Where is search going and how can I jump on?

First off, hello again.  It has been a long while since I have done a post.  A full-time job will do that to ya.

Something that I have noticed as a theme in all the articles and forums and twitter posts that I read is that everyone wants to know where search marketing is going and how can I get on board.  Here is some quick advice I have for those that want to dive in:

Do your research!...Search engine marketing is multi-faceted and there things that work well for some sites and things that are detrimental if done incorrectly or not fully thought out.  Don't rush into it...know what you are getting into and plan for a loooonnnnngggg process that will fluctuate and morph into something completely different.

Seek out advice and share advice... A trend that I have noticed in the SEM industry is that aside from a few thought-leaders who are willing to expose every thought and tactic that they have there is a culture of "I don't want anyone else to know what I am doing"  I think this is BS, sure we all have our client secrets and methods but being tight-lipped about issues, problems, or successes should not be under lock and key.  I was recently on a panel with 2 other area SEM practitioners.  That panel was great, I think everyone learned a lot but, at the same time, we didn't exactly reveal our secret-sauce to our success but were able to give some guidance to those that were curious about SEO and social media. This is what I would like to see happen more often.  Maybe I am in too small a SEM community to have experienced this before but I think the opportunities are here and in all regions.

Test and re-test...As I mentioned above search engine marketing is changing and fluctuating at a rapid pace.  Set up a system to analyze your progress and what is working and what is not.  Start with a testing schedule. What are you going to test? What is going to be your control group? What determines success (this is different for every site even in the same category)?  How much data do you need to determine that success (hint 5 clicks to your site does not determine success)?

Basically have a plan, research how to implement the plan, get knowledgeable advice, implement, test implementation and then start again from step one.




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Video of my interview with Fox12

Someone over at Fox12 deleted the video from their servers. Sorry for the inconvenience!

Kevin's Experience with Internet Explorer 8

Ok I know it is still in a somewhat beta format but since it is being released to the public I will give my experiences and the curious things I found:

1) On initial installation of IE8 the default Search Engine is Google. Is this Microsoft giving up on forcing people into their search engine? Is this Microsoft finally saying to their customers, "Ok we know that you use Google A LOT but please still use our browser to get there"?

2) For all the moves that Microsoft has made to purchase Yahoo they sure don't show that they are interested in their search engine. I had to manually, through several screens, add Yahoo as my preferred search engine whereas Google and Live were easy to access. I would have thought that since I had Yahoo as my default search engine it would have imported that in from the previous IE install. FAIL!

3) To their benefit it does seem to load things faster than IE6 did. So I can't complain about the speed.

4) Some of their embedded features still are a bit buggy. I expect these to be fixed as they release the final version.

5) Lots of similarities to Google Chrome in this release including: the favorites/bookmark icon and how they list those favorites/bookmarks; the tabbing system with recovering recently closed tabs; possibly more as I search more

6) I don't like that I have to click on a tab to enable the X in the tab to close it. Sometimes I search in another tab and find what I am looking for and just want to click the x to close it.


So my quick summary is that if you did not like Google Chrome you will probably not like Internet Explorer 8. A lot of the same functionality is resident in IE8 that was built into Google Chrome and IE7.

Blending of Media Buying and Search Engine Marketing

I don't know how many people, at least in Boise, are both a Media Buyer (TV, Radio, Print, Outdoor, Banner ads, etc...) and a search engine marketer but I am one of the few, at least according to some sources.

When I started working with both of these at the same time I noticed that it is possible to take what I know from both worlds and combine them to make both of them better.

This blog post is strictly off the cuff, as most of mine are, but it lays out some of the basic thoughts I have on this topic. They are much more in depth than what is written here (think of an onion) but it is a start.

Search Marketing Tactics used in Media Buying:

If we start to think of TV watchers as Search Engine users there are characteristics that I think both use when deciding what "information" they wish to receive. For instance, on TV if a watcher notices that both his/her favorite shows are on at the same time, will they switch back and forth, probably...unless they have a DVR. Now if there is only one source of "information" they will not switch back and forth they will more than likely stay on that source for the entire duration. So as we are buying media we need to look at what other "information" sources are conflicting with other sources. There are also other factors that obviously play into these as well, social life of the target audience as well as other media sources.

Media Buying strategies used in Search Marketing:

The Search Engine marketplace is becoming a hotbed of activity especially in a down economy. Companies are searching for ways to attract top level leads that can quickly and easily convert into sales for very little cost. Now apply that same need to what a good media buyer does. They look for the best way to reach the most people who fit the target audience for the least amount of money. So when looking at Search Engine Optimization and Pay-per-click we need to follow the demographic trail and target the words (keywords and keyword phrases) that the demographic uses to find the client's product. Just as a certain demographic is more likely to watch a certain show; I think there are some cases where a certain demographic uses a keyword or phrase to find a product or goes through a search process to find that product.
Now getting to the money part of the Media Buying process as Search Marketers we should also analyze the cost to benefit ratio. Does it really make sense to optimize the site or does it make more sense to advertise on social media where people are making their final buying decision based off of user input. Or is doing both the best thing? They are questions that need to be answered and can be answered by looking at the possible ROI of each. In Media Buying one way that is referred to is cost-per-point (CPP), in internet advertising cost-per-thousand (CPM).


I think these media are inter-related and, at least from my perspective, can work together to come up with a great strategy looking both at online and traditional media.

Give me your feedback, tell me I am full of it. I would love to start some critical thinking on this.

Lost my job to economic downturn, but that means more blogging

Well, I took an unexpected hit to my financial stability on Friday Dec. 19th. I was laid off from my media buying and internet marketing position at CLM, LLC.

This came out of nowhere.

So now I am on the digital campaign trail to find a new job.

Since this is my Blog I can detail out what I am looking for and the skills I have that will fit many different companies. I am going to separate these into several blog posts so they can stand alone or, for those of you that follow regularly, as a nice easy set to follow. So stay tuned for more details.