So many posts recently are about Google profiteering and how they are buying up lots of companies to further their market power.

 Let’s just stop and think for a minute of the benefits that Google has brought to us over the years and in reality that’s why a lot of us are in business today. Without Google the world would be a much duller place.

 
The future looks bright for search engines and ongoing development processes will I am sure make the net even more functional and accessible to all.

 Microsoft is sure to raise the stakes for the future of the web too and we watch with anticipation at how things will pan out.

 So Google we like you really.

Dan 

PS

 
Matt please send the signed T-shirt for my attention only. ;)

OK it’s not a term that is familiar to all people believe it or not. SEO - When family ask “What do you do?” - SEO that usually gets a dazed look and wry smile as if the person is on some kind of rare narcotic.

What Should a Client Expect from SEO Services??

More importantly though, what should a customer expect from SEO Services? Recently, I have been looking at a few sites where the clients have asked us to look at their marketing approach and conversion rates to see how effective they have really been and if maybe things could be improved.
It’s surprising then when you encounter pages previously constructed with no titles, insufficient content with keywords mentioned rarely and no Meta descriptions. The call to action is below the fold and in some cases it’s totally unclear where you want the prospect to go on the site.The navigational structure is more muddled than a Russian translator trying to teach Chinese on a runway.

SEO Scandal

Yet this site has had “Search Engine Optimisation” and the client has already paid heftily for this. They are often left confused, thinking that the website would speak for itself and disappointed months down the line that few sales have arrived at their door.

What’s the score here then? Some SEO companies seem to charge the clients a high fee for setting up processes which reap relatively little benefit and effectively waste time leading the client on into spending more and more potential profits.
Initially the client was phased by snazzy PowerPoint displays with graphs charting unlimited success.

This breed of SEO is not one I would choose to follow; OK they can make a fast killing on an unsuspecting client. But what about the long term prospects of their clients business, don’t they care? SHAME ON YOU
Working together you can establish a firm foundation of trust with the client and with them see their business develop and both benefit from your efforts.

SEO Business Plan
Personally I think SEO goes beyond just the technical aspects of getting the site right for the spider, the overall business model needs careful examination to make sure the client reaches their target audience in an effective manner. As with any business a plan is essential and the aim with SEO is to guide the client into making the right decisions for their website.
A very important aspect of this process which is often overlooked is getting the client to understand why certain things have been done to their site; face to face talking seems to work best in this area and definitely not promoting unrealistic expectation levels.

SEO Pride

Another thing to consider is what level of SEO will you work on? Pride comes in here, your planning to charge a one man business the same price as a high flying corporate for building and optimising a website? You want to charge huge prices for a website and think you can just keep adding more and more services on? You refuse to do the work because the job is beneath you? Hmm get over yourself!
There is no one-way approach to SEO as each business model is very different and needs unique attention.

Honesty then is a valued approach and keeping the client informed speaks volumes. Work with each other.

Not wanting to put it’s viewers off Google haven’t been itching to fill YouTube up with adverts. Now though the pressure is on to try and claw back the large price paid for the well established online video machine.

Video overlay is the answer!

After loads of tests the new video ads will be launched in an entirely non-intrusive format of course. Will we notice them ? Well, yep I would have thought so.. taking up the bottom fifth of the screen and there for 10 seconds, but I guess you can close it. Don’t click on the Ad though or you’ll loose the video you were watching and the ad will play.

Content partners get the Google ad treatment first but with an expected $20 charge to advertisers for every 1,000 times the ad shows Google should be able to afford to buy yet more online giant’s soon.

Could this be the end of banner advertising?

Paid Links… how to make your website rank with paid links with a brand New Tag from Matt Cutts, see what Greg Boser, Aaron Wall, Danny Sullivan and Me had to say

enjoy DaveN

I went for dinner last night at Mortens Steakhouse in San Jose with Mike Grehan and JenStar, and to my surprise they had a Faustino V Reserva, which is a really smooth wine with a mix of Temperanillo and Mazuelo. But when it turned up it was a Faustino I Gran Reserva… now we are in trouble! This is a beautifully smooth red wine and with the added Graciano Grape, it doesn’t take much to get you rocking a little. So I told the waiter of his mistake and the response was it’s a mistake in house, they are selling the Gran Reserva instead of the 2001 Faustino 5.. Awesome two bottles later I was rocking..

So if you are going to SES San Jose, check out Mortens and their Faustino I Gran Reserva, if you like a wine thats really fruity and with that lovely Vanillary Oak flavour then you won’t be disappointed, the frosted bottle is a little gay thou..

DaveN