Business Issues

I've had the opportunity to work with a variety of businesses through the years – from tiny one-person small businesses to huge international companies. While there are many similarities in working with different sized companies, there are also important differences. Read More >> Related Forum Posts >>

If you had an extra 20 hours a week, what would you do with them? Read More >> Related Forum Posts >>

New Affordable SEO Small-Business Package. Read More >> Related Forum Posts >>

Have Big Companies Taken Over the Internet? Read More >> Related Forum Posts >>

I was wondering what the differences are between SEM and SEO. Read More >> Related Forum Posts >>

What (if anything) will you be doing differently with your SEO strategy this year? Read More >> Related Forum Posts >>

I've been SEO'ing websites long before the 21st century began. Sometimes I feel I've been touting the same SEO processes and procedures for the past 10 years. Read More >> Related Forum Posts >>

What has changed most in Search Marketing since 2000? Read More >> Related Forum Posts >>

You need to address a number of SEO tactics before you get too deep into your website redesign. The reason you need to keep SEO front and center during this time is twofold: so that you do not lose your previous traffic, but also so that you can gain additional targeted search engine visitors when the new site goes live. Read More >> Related Forum Posts >>

How often do you think most websites should be redesigned? Read More >> Related Forum Posts >>

Have you heard about Google's new project called "SideWiki" yet? Read More >> Related Forum Posts >>

Today we have another guest article from SEO copywriter and trainer Karon Thackston. Read More >> Related Forum Posts >>

The Twitter Question for this week was: "What good biz or marketing books have you read recently?" Read More >> Related Forum Posts >>

My plan is to move all the home decor products from the old site to the new one AND change the products of the old one back to selling the jewelry, perfume, wallets, etc. – that is, the "gifty" stuff. What is the best way to make this change? Read More >> Related Forum Posts >>

I have a corporate client that is planning to purchase a company in Switzerland and they are wondering if I can do the SEO. But then it dawned on me, checking their rankings with a U.S.-based IP address might deliver different search results…do you think? Read More >> Related Forum Posts >>

I am new to SEO. I am writing my first website and would like to get a better understanding of building a great website that will attract my target market to my site. Can you suggest any good books that can help me achieve this goal? Read More >> Related Forum Posts >>

The Twitter Question of the Week is: "Do you give 'ballpark' SEO quotes to companies if/when they won't tell you what the website is? It's kinda necessary, no?" Read More >> Related Forum Posts >>

Have you seen "BlindSearch" yet? It's a page with Google, Bing and Yahoo search all together, but with no branding. You make a search, see three sets of results and choose the one you feel provided the best results. Read More >> Related Forum Posts >>

A lot of companies get so confused when attempting to hire an SEO firm that they simply give up altogether and don't hire anyone. Part of the problem is that they simply don't know whom to trust for this service. Read More >> Related Forum Posts >>

I asked my Twitter peeps, "What are you not doing on your own website that you often recommend your clients should do?" Read More >> Related Forum Posts >>

Recently, an individual asked us to solve a problem for him. A member of his family had dealt with a certain company and, he said, was harmed as a result. This individual wanted to know how he could get high rankings for his blog when someone typed in the company's brand name. Read More >> Related Forum Posts >>

Forum member "taterchips" (great name!) is interested in tackling a specific niche within their profession and was looking at the most effective way to play to that niche. Their question has to do with whether they should add a new page or section to their existing website or start a new website for this particular niche. Read More >> Related Forum Posts >>

We are being contacted more and more by companies asking if we will add to our websites and/or clients' websites a short paragraph of text that includes a link to one of their clients' sites – i.e., a text advertisement. Read More >> Related Forum Posts >>

Thought you might be interested in my TalentZoo column from last week entitled: "The Time for SEO Is Before You Need It!" Read More >> Related Forum Posts >>

Do you think a positioning video has value on a website, or does it interfere with the structure and architecture of the website? Read More >> Related Forum Posts >>

We want to put a calendar of events on our website. Google Calendar appears to be a great product but since it is not hosted on our website the long-tail SEO value (which is one of the main reasons we want to do the calendar) is lost. Read More >> Related Forum Posts >>

A couple of weeks ago, I received the following request from an email address in India:

"sir/madam.i want to start SEO(search engine optimization)business.but before that i want to know about SEO.how to intitate this?can u please help me?"

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Today's guest article comes to us from Dianna Huff, Principal of DH Communications, Inc. Dianna specializes in B2B marketing communications consulting and copywriting, and is an all-around nice person. Read More >> Related Forum Posts >>

My question is, how should SEO services be evaluated? In other words, what measurable objectives beyond landing above the fold are appropriate? Read More >> Related Forum Posts >>

I would like to ask a question too, please. Our website is geared to sell GPS equipment. Many of the products have a life of about 6 months to a year. Google indexes these very well, and we rank highly. However, some searches display discontinued products (I guess because they have been around the longest). Read More >> Related Forum Posts >>

What do you think about a potential SEO client who asks you to agree not to work with any related company for 2 years after the conclusion of the business relationship? Read More >> Related Forum Posts >>

Are you an in-house search marketer? If so, please take a few minutes to fill out SEMPO's Second Annual In-House Salary. Read More >> Related Forum Posts >>

Forum member "Say Yebo" was putting together an SEO proposal for a potential client who wanted to know if the project would be different because they had already done some SEO stuff. Read More >> Related Forum Posts >>

In 2005, when I originally wrote the article below, I thought by the time 2009 approached, things would have changed. Yet many businesses continue to have unrealistic expectations of what an SEO campaign is all about. We've had a number of calls to our office recently from companies who continue to be hung up over one specific keyword phrase, with no interest in branching out to others. Surprisingly, I changed very little of the content of this article because the message is still as valid as the day I wrote it. Read More >> Related Forum Posts >>

"I'm just about to launch a new site. It should really be 3 sites but the client talked me into making it one or the deal was off. It's for private sales of cars, property and boats. It also has a business directory for each section. The sections are in subdirectories rather than domains for easy maintenance." Read More >> Related Forum Posts >>

I work for a nonprofit that since 2000 has been operating an e-commerce website to provide emerging artists with a web presence. It has earned a toolbar PageRank of 5, thanks to some decent inbound links. Due to a variety of things, the parent company of the website has decided it's time to shut the site down. Read More >> Related Forum Posts >>

I wanted to let you know about a free webinar that I'm doing with MarketingSherpa called "New Research Findings: Search Marketing Tips, Tactics and Trends." Read More >> Related Forum Posts >>

Sales are down for many businesses due to the slow economy. Business owners and CEOs are looking for that one thing that can pull them through the hard times and keep them afloat. When times get tough, many turn to SEO, hoping that it will be the ticket to increased sales. While SEO is almost always a good idea, if you're counting on it to save a failing business, you may want to rethink things. Read More >> Related Forum Posts >>

I admit it. I'm a Google Analytics junkie. I try to stay away, but every now and then I hear it calling my name and I break down and log in. I feel the familiar rush of excitement running through my veins almost instantly. And I know anything else I may have planned to do that day won't get done because I'll be in my own world for hours. My analytics world. Just me and my stats. Ahhhhhhhhhhhh… Read More >> Related Forum Posts >>

I had the pleasure of being interviewed recently by a number of online marketing folks and thought you might enjoy learning more about me and my thoughts on a plethora of search marketing issues.
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Today's guest article comes to us from my friend and long-time HRA subscriber Jim Spencer, founder of JBS Partners  – a website design and marketing firm in Winchester, MA, that serves small business and solo entrepreneurs. I met Jim in person at a SEMNE (Search Engine Marketing New England) event.   Read More >> Related Forum Posts >>

Forum member "doogie88" was looking for a website where he could do a reverse DNS lookup. 

Read More >> Related Forum Posts >>

This is your last chance to save a few hundred bucks on MarketingSherpa's B2B Lead Gen BigBook...erm Handbook ;). Read More >> Related Forum Posts >>

Over the past few weeks, I've had a few run-ins with plagiarism in various forms and thought I'd take the opportunity to have a little rant about it. My hope is that by discussing it, people will become more educated about the issue and perhaps it will become a little less rampant online. Read More >> Related Forum Posts >>

MarketingSherpa has recently come out with an amazing handbook for B2B marketers. While they call it a "handbook" that's really not a good description of it, as it's basically too huge to hold in your hands for very long! 
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Today's article is a bit off-topic as it talks about how the little things you do can make a big difference in obtaining and keeping your search marketing clients. Read More >> Related Forum Posts >>