aimClear Search Marketing Blog

It’s possible to learn a lot about how to do business as a search marketing firm from other SEM firms around the world by their blog posts, articles, and conference talks. We read luminaries like Rand Fishkin, Danny Sullivan, SEO Roundtable, Search Engine Guide, and SEOBook. SES has offered both small and large SEM company professional learning tracks in which SEM contracts and different ideas for SEM/advertising agency relationships were explored.

Tell but Don’t Tell too Much
The good natured sharing between SEM firms tends to stop with the revealing of business model information including SEM contracts, sample quote-for-services, and correspondences with clients. The dance can take a while to figure out, from both the SEM firm and client points of view. Read the rest of this entry »

Agencies Need Search.
We live in a world where organic and paid search marketing outperforms many other channels. If an advertising agency does not have a dedicated search department or a serious strategic relationship, it’s not always possible to do a 100% job for their clients. This post continues a series of articles aimed directly at advertising and PR agencies with the intent of demystifying the SEM process.

Managing Expectations
In the search marketing business keeping clients’ expectations real requires a good deal of clarifying communication. In fact this blog was born out of our need to consolidate myth-busting information in a centralized publication for our clients. Complicating the matter further is the reality that changes occur literally every day in the paid and organic search worlds. When we service advertising agency clients, as a third party subcontractor, managing the extra layer of communication between our SEM work and the client is a process which must be clarified and managed. Read the rest of this entry »

If you pay attention to seminar speakers (and anecdotal chatter) it’s quite obvious that many advertising agencies are grappling with (and feeling threatened by) the ubiquitous evolution of search marketing.  The new Internet marketing is about a constant stream of recurrent content published on SEO savvy platforms. The days of set it and forget it static pages are over…gone the way of meta keywords, and other antiquated SEO attributes.

Making the situation more confusing for agencies is the reality that advertising agency clients have heard about search marketing, they know they need it, and they ask agencies directly about it. This puts (formally full service) agencies in an awkward position including but not limited to the possibility of missed revenue opportunities. Agencies in our area seem to give their clients the stock answer: “we don’t offer those services and recommend working with a firm that specializes in SEM.”

This post begins a series of articles aimed squarely at advertising and PR agencies with the intent of demystifying the SEM process.

Old Information is Cheaper
This is especially true in second and third tier markets where engaging an “SEM firm” often means paying too much for second or third tier misinformation or web 1.0 advice (in a web 2.0 world). Unfortunately the current environment of great demand and fast profit for SEM wanna-be-companies breeds “SEM firms” that are actually last-generation website building shops. Hiring a design/build firm to market a website costs less in the short tem and you get what you pay for-less traffic and sales over time.

Read the rest of this entry »