Credit: Joey Ganoza

As a follow-up to my previous post about the Just Do It Philosophy in Search Marketing, I will devote today’s article on how I go about planning and executing on my SEO goals. By following a theory of GOPST, or Goals, Objectives, Plans, Strategies, and Tactics, I am able to have a clear path in my mind towards achieving my short term and long term goals. Let’s begin my an overall look at this methodology:

Goals

The Scenario:

What will ultimately replace search engines?

This is a question I am asked frequently, and therefore have given considerable thought to. Ultimately, whatever it is, it has to compensate for the weaknesses of search though right? So, what are the weaknesses of search relative to the ideal search solution (he says knowing that we’ll never stop searching for things we need, so search itself will never die, only transform into something more efficient)?

Coupons are BIG BUSINESS on the internet today, and understandably so with more and more merchants trying to drive traffic to their websites.  Not only does it provide a nice incentive for shoppers to ”shop from home”, but it also gives the merchant a way of tracking and measuring the success of their efforts.  Just one more online marketing tool to increase qualified traffic?  Maybe…

As search engine marketers, we all know that content is king and that content is more than just text. Images, video and audio each represent a fantastic opportunity to drive traffic to our client’s sites. As such, the latest Horowitz Associates report caught my attention.

According to the report, six out of ten high speed Internet users watch or download online video content at least once a week and 86% do so on a monthly basis. Leading the way is news, user-generated and non-professional content, followed by movie previews, music videos, sports events and podcasts.

This post is Part II of a III part series on How to Improve Your Digg Profile. The first post in the series focused on ‘How to Make Yourself More Attractive’ from a Digg perspective, to improve your chances of being accepted as a trusted friend on Digg. So, now that you’ve absorbed all that advice, and incorporated the necessary changes, you’re ready to go ‘friending’.

This post will focus specifically on ‘friending’; meaning finding and approaching the ‘Right’ Friends on Digg since its about quality not quantity. Much as you want the right tools for a job, you also want the right people for a job.

Look, we all feel the change, right?

Google isn’t Google anymore. Something has shifted from hip and happening to stale, dull and corporate.

Larry and Sergey’s brand is increasingly performing a "one of us" act that’s harder to pull off than members of the Blue Collar Comedy Tour pretending to be as poor as you and I are.

I Can’t Be Wrong

If you think I’m just dumping on a company for no apparent reason — think again.

The "umph" is gone, the "wow!" is out of the door now that the big bucks are streaming in.

It was just my birthday, so I get to make a wish. And I’m going to…

I’m going to make a wish for Google, a wish for Yahoo and a wish for MSN/Live/Sympatico.

My wish for Google for 2008.

My biggest wish for Google for 2008 is a “negative” geotargeting capability. As odd as that may sound, in my 2007 travels I came across a need/desire for it more than once. To wit: I want all of Ontario EXCEPT Toronto… ergo, negative option Toronto for me. In the Google world, I can set an all Ontario Campaign and a Toronto campaign. Wouldn’t it simply be easier to do the reverse?

According to Borrell Associates, estimated local advertisers spent $7.5 billion on the Web in 2007, up 31 percent from 2006. This year’s outlook is even brighter with a projected increase of 48 percent to $12.6 billion. Local search is the key driver of that spending.

“About a year ago, we were thinking 2008 would see 20 to 25 percent growth,” said Borrell Associates CEO Gordon Borrell. “Now we are saying this thing is not slowing down. It’s erupting again. Something very dramatic is happening that has gone beyond anything anybody expected in terms of Internet advertising.”

Credit: TechRepublic

2008: The Year Of More SERP Massacre?

The 950, 30 and more recently the -6. No I’m not talking about the latest Tony Hawk skating manouevre, but rather the ominious penalties Google has smited webmasters with in 2007. Now even the Sith have a heart (albeit a very cold one), but seemingly, Google did not refrain from massacring the SERPs for ‘quality’ and ‘relevant’ websites even in the heart of the holiday season.

In the world of search and social media, Digg has become the 900 pound gorilla. Digg can drive tremendous volumes of traffic to a web site if you’re so fortunate to have a piece go “hot” and hit the front page. Contrary to popular belief though, hitting the front page almost never occurs due to content alone … it takes friends! In fact a study by SEOmoz (from 1 1/2 years ago) revealed that the top 100 Diggers control in excess of 56% of Digg’s homepage content. Once again, the 20/80 rule at its best.