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The most unique aspect of the Internet, the very thing that makes it different from every other communications medium is, in many cases, one of its least understood characteristics. Unlike print, audiotape or video recordings, the Net is an interactive medium requiring an ongoing investment of time, knowledge and capital.
Editor's Note: Which do you prefer? SEO or
SEM? Or do you practice both methods? Should advertising and
optimization go hand-in-hand? Discuss at WebProWorld.
 For those who make best use of it, the Net provides such a versatile communications environment; a virtual storefront can easily out-perform a traditional brick-and-mortar storefront.
In reality, most businesses doing commerce over the Web are not yet prepared to use the medium to its fullest potential. While most new and previously established businesses have some form of web presence, many don't have trained staff dedicated to maintaining it, much less enhancing or evolving it. From search marketing opportunities to cost cutting technologies such as VOIP to social and business networking tools, the Internet environment provides a virtually unlimited multi-leveled communications capacity at relatively reduced rates. Unfortunately, realizing the potential is far easier than adapting to take advantage of it.
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That point was proven in a recent survey commissioned by Boston-based SEO firm iProspect that showed approximately 64% of businesses outsourcing search marketing,"... encounter obstacles that prevent them from implementing their vendor's SEO recommendations." (click here for an Adobe Acrobat version of the study)
Conducted by JupiterResearch in August 2005, the study surveyed 626 people involved in search marketing and 224 search marketing firms. Its findings attach tangible numbers to experiences shared by several professional SEOs. In short, SEOs have reason to feel a trifle under-appreciated. Their informed and often pre-paid advice is overlooked or neglected more often than not. At the same time, the survey also shows that the SEO industry itself needs to assume more responsibility around helping clients make informed decisions.
According to the results of the survey, the reasons most cited by search advertisers for not implementing outsourced SEO advice are; a lack of human resources, no budget set aside for outsourced IT services, and timing issues surrounding site or document updates. For many of the respondents, much of the responsibility rests with SEO vendors who seem to shy away from setting achievable goals and articulating realistic expectations.
The initial expectations set by the SEO or SEM vendor set the
tone and thinking for the search advertising client. Quite often,
respondents reported a key obstacle was their SEO vendor establishing
unrealistic expectations as to "...how much time and effort
will be involved in implementing the recommended SEO changes",
based on the vendor's level of experience as opposed to the
resources available to the client. In other words, SEO vendors
often base time and cost estimates on their level of experience,
not the client's.
Search advertising clients are generally less informed about
the search medium than an established SEO is. SEO exists as
an industry because professional search engine optimizers know
how to work with search engines. More importantly, good SEOs
know how to work with any number of websites and are highly
proficient webmasters. Chances are, the person speaking with
the SEO vendor knows less about the fundamental architecture
of their firm's website than the SEO does. That conclusion is
as natural and logical as the one that states the client should
know his or her business sector better than a third-party vendor
does. When SEO vendors set unrealistic expectations for their
clients, a chain of events unfolds.
Read
the Full Article
About
the Author:
Jim Hedger is the SEO Manager of StepForth
Search Engine Placement Inc. Based in Victoria, BC,
Canada, StepForth is the result of the consolidation of
BraveArt Website Management, Promotion Experts, and Phoenix
Creative Works, and has provided professional search engine
placement and management services since 1997. http://www.stepforth.com/
Tel - 250-385-1190 Toll Free - 877-385-5526 Fax - 250-385-1198 |
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Google
Maps, Local Leave Beta
By David Utter
The two projects have left the testing stage hand in hand, as Google has merged the two under the name Google Local.
Many of Google's services still hold a 'beta' designation. That signifies a project is still in the testing phase, requiring a certain level of quality assurance and tweaking before it is ready for full operations. As a public company, Google would also be sheltering projects under the beta tag.
They, like any other company, can do this while deciding how
a project will affect the company's financial outlook; once
a project becomes a product, it's going to be a contributing
part of the business, and shareholders will want to know how
it affects the bottom line.
It's been contended that local search will be the area Google and its search competitors will hit the hardest in the coming months. It offers the most significant opportunity for growth among search properties. With Local and Maps being merged under Google Local, that signals they are ready to start making money with the technology.
Search Engine Watch posted that the newly merged service will be available in the US, Canada, the U.K., and Japan. Brett Taylor, product manager of Google Local, told SEW: "Google maps has always integrated local listings, and I think this takes it to the level we always have seen it from the engineering level."
Read
the Full Article
About
the Author:
David is a staff writer for WebProNews covering technology
and business. |
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Webstats Errors?
In today's WebProWorld spotlight section, one of our posters
is having a problem with some data showing up in their web site
statistics. Apparently, a large number of visitors are being
shown the site's error page and the owners can't figure out
why. Could it be the search engine spiders are causing the amount
of error page views to increase? If you have an idea of what's
causing this, please drop
in and lend a hand.
Thanks,
|| Chris||
Why
so many Error Page hits?
When we check our webstats, they show we are getting lots of visits to our Error page, sometimes more visits than our homepage. However, we've gone through our site carefully and find no bad or outdated pages. Also, in our Pages Not Found section of our webstats, we find no entries under no "Required but not found URLs (HTTP code 404)"
So I guess that just leaves 206 and 304 errors. Is it possible we're getting these "error page" hits from spiders?
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WebPro Question: |
Aren't we overdue for a PR update now? Are they still
updating PR? Does it really matter?
-
greeneagle
Comment
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Meet the Members: |
User: stevealmond
Rating: Poster
Joined:
12.29.03
Location: Barbate, Spain
Website:
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