aimClear Search Marketing Blog

If you were in the standing-room only crowd for the SEMpdx SearchFest 2010 keynote on March 9, I don’t have to tell you it started off with a bang. And a Bing. If you weren’t there, put it on your docket for next year. Now. In its fifth year, Portland’s SearchFest was all grown up.

Expanded to include three simultaneous tracks, “rock star” search marketers from around the country, and a spiffier venue (the classic Governor Hotel), SearchFest was an impressive event. The content was top-notch and the day was well-organized. But what really struck me was the diversity of the crowd. Many of the attendees were not SEO pros (or planning to be). This was a clear indication SearchFest had expanded beyond a wonky SEO shop talk event into a conference any marketer can learn from. Read the rest of this entry »

Search Engine Strategies New York is an annual conclave of rare depth and importance.  In search marketing, channels evolve at blazing speed and staying relevant is an intense and ongoing process.  As part of our commitment to stay cutting-edge-current, aimClear team members hit the road for about 80 days of training each year. SES New York is on the shortest-list of must-attend seminars we would simply never miss. Here’s why: Read the rest of this entry »

Dear Marketer-folk: You’re missing serious demographic opportunities. The dual income gay & lesbian household, the force-of–nature purchasing power of latino consumers, teens, tweens & African Americans. You’ve probably read the NYT articles or some Adage infographics on these demographics, but if  these recent advertising efforts are any indication, the boat = still missed.

Paid Search Bullseye was the first time an SMX panel focused around staying relevant  & being true when targeting to users in gay, lesbian, youth & ethnic communities.  Understand that everyone is a consumer and that all marketers should strive to dial in the correct awareness, sensitivity and tact with our marketing messages and techniques to these emerging demographic segments. Read the rest of this entry »

<FACEPALM> In the past we’ve attended major industry conference-shindigs as one big live-blogging family. But dude, the aimClear team is expanding. Our 2010 conference agenda and travels to and fro might damn near pull us apart at the seams if we all went. In this quarter alone some of us will be returning from SXSW while others ship off to SES NY, some will fly back from the 140 Character Conference as Marty jet-sets to Sydney to speak at SMX… You get the picture.

Instead of falling prey to exhaustion-induced spontaneous combustion, we decided to send out a few members at a time to cull coverage from different conferences. Why, at this very moment our own Matt Peterson is covering the final day of sessions at SMX West 2010 in sunny Santa Clara, California. Meanwhile, back in Duluth- aimClear (like so many others) is living vicariously through tweets featuring the #SMX hashtag. All this hashtag monitoring really got us thinking: which conference tweets were useful and which… not so much. Read the rest of this entry »

Peter Norvig, you might have heard of him, or felt his presence on stormy mountain tops. Among several other accomplishments, he is the creator of Norvig’s Law, the world record holder for the longest palindrome, former head of computational sciences research at NASA,  ballet dancer, current director of research at Google, & a human being.

SMX West Day 2 kicked off with a keynote from the genial Mr. Norvig, while Search Engine Land’s Chris Sherman & Danny Sullivan picked his behemoth brain. The keynote was split into two parts, first a laundry list of notable Google Research accomplishments, followed by a Q & A session with Danny & Chris. Read the rest of this entry »

Some people think keyword research consists of going to the Google Keyword tool, typing in four of their industry phrases & then just grabbing the keywords with the highest volume. But some people are ultra DumbPants month-punchers & need additional research guidance in order to find the highly targeted keyword permutations, relevant stemming topics & true opportunities for their brand/product/designer puppy-couch site. Where should a  DumbPants month-puncher search marketer begin look for these keyword opportunities?

Starting things off on Tuesday afternoon’s SMX West 2010 Keyword Research: Beyond The Ordinary panel was Christine Churchill, of Key Relevance. Read the rest of this entry »

There’s an old adage – If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it, unless you are carefully able to fix it in ways that helps all parties who use it & also it will make you more money, then you should think about trying to fix it, so good luck with this. Google essentially took this approach when they began testing new Adwords ad formats last year.

While  opportunity with these new formats is apparent and massive, information is limited, compared to the abundance of tutorials & tools available for classic ads. What the heck are these new ad formats, how do I get them, & how do I use them to make mad guap? Welcome to Not Your Father’s Adwords, the first afternoon session on the SMX West advanced track. Read the rest of this entry »

When it was first announced that Microsoft’s Steve Ballmer would be keynoting this year’s SMX West, it was perceived as a nice surprise and unexpected legitimization of the search marketing industry from one of the big guys.  The announcement left many marketers existentially pondering their role in the somewhat dysfunctional search family.

Did Ballmer, Microsoft, & Bing finally release SEOs from their search-kennel to offer them a seat at the dinner table? Or was it a pat on the head… an assurance that were are, indeed, “a good boy?” Read the rest of this entry »

It’s remarkable really. Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer will take the stage for a “Fireside Chat” with Danny Sullivan, editor-in-chief of SearchEngineLand.com and conference co-chair, to kick off SMX West on March 2, 2010 in Santa Clara.  In his inaugural address speaking directly to the inner-search marketing community, Mr. Ballmer will discuss Microsoft’s evolution in search and his vision of the future.

Given the Microsoft/Yahoo search deal, his appearance is a notable gesture. But does this keynote by Microsoft’s highest-ranking officer, arguably one of the most powerful businesspeople in the world, signal a commitment to outperform Google in algorithmic transparency and support for SEOs? Read the rest of this entry »

PubCon is a whirling dervish, a collage of kindred spirits, sites, sounds, intensive learning and hyper-techno-geeks. All of this is hyperbolic stew mashed up with a healthy heaping of Las Vegas kitsch & killer eats.  Here are some snapshots to capture a portion of the frenetic ultra-vibe. Read the rest of this entry »