aimClear Search Marketing Blog

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 »

Companies seriously reliant on Internet marketing often reach a daunting crossroad, whether to grow a more substantial in-house SEM team or bolster internal marketing efforts by outsourcing. As a rule it’s difficult for small and mid-size companies to commit sufficient resources to keep up with voluminous daily research required to keep current. However as in all outsourcing vs. in-house-building decisions, there can be advantages to traversing the corporate learning curve towards nurturing indigenous capabilities.

Here are 6 surefire signs that it’s time to consider outsourcing your Internet marketing to a professional search marketing firm (actual examples):

1 Last month the pay per click expense ballooned from $3,300 to $6,100 while sales remained flat compared to the same month last year. The solution was to implement daily budgets in AdWords which resulted in ads not running after 7:30PM each night. The top 3 ads in Panama, including yours, all have headlines reading “Literal Keyword, Free Shipping.”

1.5 The only in-house keyword research tools are those available in AdWords and Panama. The PPC account manager doubles as the one-man IT department, never uses negative keywords, and doesn’t track the difference between exact, phrase, and broad match. He really doesn’t understand what content match or site targeted display ads are. Read the rest of this entry »

Our clients are awesome. The products they sell, services they offer, and charismatic vision-personalities at the marketing table amaze me. A number of of aimClear’s clients could easily commit to and become accomplished SEMs in their own right. We’re grateful they hire us to be their SEM research eyes and ears. We love the KPIs we are tasked with.

Still search marketing is not an exact science and amounts to very hard work. In the early days of a blog it can feel like you’re writing for nobody. PPC requires constant creativity and vigilance, organic SEO based on keyword research is only for those fastidious few.

Late last week a well respected UK linkbait blogger posted a “response” to linkbaiting we sent his way. I questioned whether to publish this graphic but it’s SO DARN FUN. What we love about his post is that Lyndon speaks to the real issue at hand-keeping promises made by attention grabbing headlines. At the risk of perceived self-indulgence, here you go:

Fighting for raw traffic and link meat, Linkbaiters bait each other on Sphinn, Chicken/Egg, Egg/Chicken…trying to make history.

The challenge lies in marketing to the only professional crowd on earth which actually understands how the linkbaiting mind lock works, plugged-in SEM professionals. Writing worthy content (which is actually useful, funny, or hip) for other linkbaiters is the phunnest challenge ever and very humbling. The KPIs for investing time in Sphinn are reputation, satisfaction, and links.

You Can’t Fool a LinkBaiter
Oh no you can’t fool a linkbaiter, at least not for long. You can only fool yourself. Get a linkbaiter to click on fake-junk-content and you’ve converted a potential evangelist friend to a detractor. You can’t break promises made to linkbaiters with bogus hyperbolic headlines. The meat must be there.

Sphinn Works
This much we know. Sphinn’s “Hot Today” page rewards valuable content with tons of traffic resulting in high quality links and new friends. Sphinn is an extraordinary opportunity for young blogs with fledgling authority to leave the nest. Thank you for the opportunity to meet your 1000 most engaged friends Danny. We’ll try not to become lion food . Read the rest of this entry »

As background for any SEM firms living in a cave for the last few days (oh no not another cave man joke) Sphinn is a brand-spanking new social media community founded by Danny Sullivan (of Search Engine Land fame). The site caters to search marketing professionals and Bloggers who submit their own content or recommend others’ material.

There’s been quite a bit of dialog within Sphinn-threads regarding the SEM community’s feelings about the site. Andy Beard just asked Danny Sullivan to step outside to discuss things further.

Vote For Your Favorite Search Marketing News.
The “news” is voted to the top and gains prominence. For instance, if you feel so inclined, please go give this story a Sphinn (vote) here. Whether you like Sphinn or not over a thousand members joined in the first couple of days. That’s a lot of users for a niche’ social community targeted to a relatively small professional trade group. It’s yet another way to research SEM topics which you should certainly check out. Read the rest of this entry »

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 »

Here are few SEM links from blog land to read over Lean Cuisine
Measuring Pay Per Click Performance
Search Marketing Standard Magazine

Handing Over the Keys to Your Google AdWords Account
What is the safest way to delegate those responsibilities to a third-party company?

Yahoo Being Sued For Faulty Ad Platform
Search Engine Watch Blog by Danny Sullivan

Surviving The “Google Shuffle” SEOs Claim Digg

Making Link Bait and Viral Marketing Work - Part Six by Jennifer Laycock

Last week Google announced a number of changes, initiatives, and features that impact webmaster and marketers’ thinking for both paid and organic search. The world of search moves at dizzying speed. Here’s a summary of Google’s announcements, some of which already are having a significant impact on SERPs (search engine results pages) this morning.

Paid: Google’s New Preferred Bidding Option
Google AdWords announced a new bidding option enabling advertisers to an to stipulate an average  CPC or CPM bid. Previously the only option was to specify a maximum CPC or CPM campaign bid, requiring third party software to manage bid-to-placement through the API.

Google does not guarantee the exact placement or cost of ads. However selecting the new CPC/CPM option means your bids will likely fall around the price-point you chose. Now advertisers have more control of campaigns within the Google AdWords platform and manual adjustment of maximum bid may be less necessary.  The announcement of Google’s new AdWords Preferred Cost Bidding may signal impending obsolescence for paid search bid management software packages like Atlas, Dynamic Software, Omniture, KeyWordMax.

Organic: Google Search History is Now Web History
Google switched on search “history” for many account holders in February triggering an intense debate over the pros and cons of personalized search and privacy. Now in a provocative move Google has expanded search history to “web history.” Tracking user behavior has expanded to archive where Google users go and what they do as while surfing the web. In making this gigantic move Google has again sparked important concerns over privacy. While previously personalized search was impacted only by a user’s search history, now the SERPs are impacted by web surfing history. 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 »