aimClear Search Marketing Blog

Securing SEO, PPC, social media and analytics advice can be risky, like buying diamonds from a jeweler you don’t know. The premise of the purchase is sometimes a customer’s (enthusiastic) lack of understanding of criteria by which to judge the actual value of products offered, a dynamic dangerous for both parties.

I personally gravitate towards buying bling from a trusted friend who’s family has owned a classic jewelry store for 3 generations. My personal friendship with the proprietor helps me feel safe about purchases. Most SEM shoppers don’t have the same luxury. Read the rest of this entry »

This morning, in a post over @ SearchEngineWatch Blog, you’ll find my set-up coining the phrase “IT fiedom.” Here’s the frightening back-story.

1: The It Manager handles hundreds of thousands of PPC dollars, is in charge of SEO (organic optimization) and has a three person staff who don’t have job titles, can’t explain what they do, and double as Microsoft Word Install-artists on 347 company computers that break. They do whatever they do between stints on the help desk and make paper brochures in Microsoft Publisher and PhotoShop.Read the rest of this entry »

This is a time of year when everyone comes out with their “best of this” or “most influential of that” sort of posts. This is our contribution to the end-of-year sharing of personal favorites.

If I were marooned on a Caribbean island and could only read 6 search marketing blogs, Online Marketing Blog would be nourishment.

Lee Odden makes a professional statement with every iota of every communication, coming from a solid, respectable, inventoried, optimized, ethical foundation and front.Read the rest of this entry »

This incredibly relevant session featured the generous tutelage of Patricia Hall, Investment Banker, Hallmark Capital. She walked the audience, comprised primarily of search related business owners, through a brilliant real-world overview of how the financial community looks at the SEM industry and evaluates companies for potential investment or sale.

Even if you’re not thinking about selling your company at this time, it’s important to always track it’s value. Knowing what it could fetch on the market helps keep your firm agile should opportunity arise.Read the rest of this entry »

Much has been written about the inevitable evolution of Search Engine Strategies which, though destined to occur eventually, happened cold turkey this week with the overlapping of PubCon. We’ll I’m here in Chicago and I’ve got feedback for you straight from the source.Read the rest of this entry »

Over the last 10 months the number of PPC accounts aimClear handles has multiplied by more than 20X, which has been seismic to say the least. At the same time the ever-evolving PPC landscape continually undergoes its own “global warming crises,” as heated paradigm shifts pile upon chilling conceptual overhauls at the advertising platform level.

Any search marketing agency handling small, let alone voluminous, PPC accounts knows the serious challenges. Reporting, billing, conducting multivariate ad message/landing page testing, conversion tracking, making analytics actionable, communicating with the client, and dealing with monthly cash flow makes any PPC intense- if not daunting.

Obstacles the small SEM shop encounters, when scaling to big PPC management operations at the portfolio level, can make for stormy afternoons.Read the rest of this entry »

TopRank’s Big List, The AdAge Power 150, and the Search Engine Land right hand sidebar are among 50 or so of the most coveted blogRolls on which a blog can appear. For our part we created the dailyCrawl to view 400+ respected SEM blogs as a slide show.

Rand Fishkin has shared a select list of search marketing tools, blogs, forums, news sources and other writers he reads to stay in touch with the ever-evolving SEM world. Check it out to discover established and even some younger blogs you may not have heard of.

When it comes to search, there are SO many channels requiring an SEM shop’s expertise. While targeting channels with optimized content is far from a “one size fits all deal,” it’s essential for any SEM team to have all necessary arrows in quiver. Here are some talking points we use to raise the level of discussion internally and with our clients. Share this post with your search marketing team and challenge the entire process to excellence. Read the rest of this entry »

Todd Malicoat, AKA StuntDubl, has created a legendary brand among search marketing insiders and needs little introduction. I first had the pleasure of watching him present “Digg pointers” along with Neil Patel at SES Chicago 2006 and was immediately engaged by his no-shit high-integrity approach to content, link building, making friends, sharing, and building his own brand. This guy is a true search marketing artist.

StuntDubl was an early SEM blogger, linkbaiter and foundational search marketing practitioner. With recent posts like “The SEO Playbook - Welcome to the Rabbit Hole Alice,” Todd is still quietly active in the blogging community as he builds companies, speaks at search marketing shows, and selectively services clients.

Recently I interviewed him by phone. We talked about linking, search marketing, StumbleUpon, his early Digg days, vetting SEM firms, starting an SEO career, and other practical topics. You’re invited to listen to the MP3 and read the full transcript. This is a must-listen for anyone considering a career in search marketing and seasoned veterans alike.

Marty: Todd, you’re one of the most respected link baiters in the world. I’m curious as to how you got your start in social network link building and if you have any anecdotes regarding your background and early viral successes.

Todd: The first time I did that vanity search for my own name and went out and found my own resume out there online, you know my resume had my name, phone number, home address, everything else, and I went, “Oh well, I guess that’s so much for privacy,” and so I kind of took the proactive approach to it. Read the rest of this entry »

As aimClearBlog grows not much makes our day more than a shiny new late-in-the-day-link from Sphinn. By way of background Sphinn is the latest Search Engine Land social community brain-child of Danny Sullivan and his ubiquitous comrades. Yeah some say Sphinn’s a popularity contest and others vote only based on great headlines. Whatever…links from the Sphinn homepage are among the most satisfying because Sphinn is an amalgamate of consummate link baiting artists competing for white space.

Also we’ve noticed Spinn’s propensity to drive noticeable traffic. That said the “Sphinn Effect” seems to be the extreme focus of traffic arriving on our doorstep. Visitors sent are the exact demographic we seek…search marketing folks like us.Read the rest of this entry »