Organic SEO - The Industry

Why Google Shouldn't Discriminate Against Paid Links

21 Apr 2008 at 14:58 by Joshua J. Steimle

Because it can't accurately identify them. Frankly, I don't have much against Google having something against paid links. It's their search engine, they can do whatever they want with it. Of course I'd prefer they live and let live when it comes to paid links, for my own self-interest as someone who occasionally uses paid links as a way to build incoming links for my SEO clients.

But the problem is there's no way for Google--I should say "no effective way"--to differentiate between a paid link and one that isn't paid for.

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The SEO Con Artists

17 Apr 2008 at 09:31 by Joshua J. Steimle

A real description of an SEO firm on an SEO directory:

Full service 1-on-1 SEO marketing since 1996. Check out comprised month-to-month packages at SEOgame.com (Eg. $375 package will start out at 2,220 manual directories and 550 manual article directory submissions) Manual submission services will provide permanent 1-way links and include 3 project managers and 17 site submitters to get the job done right with lots of worrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrk! Get to the top of the in less than a month for your top keywords today.

If you're shopping for SEO services and you hear this type of pitch, you might figure "Hey, it's only $375 and maybe I'll get something out of it even though it sounds too good to be true." But what you should be thinking is "For $375 I could take my wife out for a really, really nice night on the town, and the ROI would be higher to boot."

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Utah SEO Specialist Salary Survey

3 Jan 2008 at 09:15 by Joshua J. Steimle

I would assume that most search engine optimization professionals in Utah are earning somewhere between $60-80K. But that's all it is, an assumption based on limited factual information. So, let's all find out what we make, shall we? That way if you're not making very much relative to other SEO types you can know to ask for a raise, and if you are making a lot, you can find comfort in the fact you're making more than most, and hopefully the others will soon get raises which will eventually raise the salary ceiling for everyone.

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Is Utah SEO the New Utah Web Design?

29 Nov 2007 at 13:54 by Joshua J. Steimle

I started my SEO firm in Utah in 1999. Except back then we weren't an SEO firm, we were a web design firm, and we were at the tail end of the time when it was easy to start a web design firm, as we soon found out after the stock market crashed in March of 2000. With SEO we were slightly ahead of the curve in that we got into it several years ago, and only now in 2007 has the market started to become saturated.

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Who Are You Marketing to Anyway?

12 Nov 2007 at 13:48 by Joshua J. Steimle

It's funny how you can have a thought and then see it enacted in the larger world. The last few months I've been thinking about how the majority of SEO sites seem to market themselves towards other SEO professionals, rather than people buying SEO services, and I don't know about you, but if I have to put my limited time somewhere, I'm going to invest it in picking up new customers rather than new friends, although if I can do both, so much the better.

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Gooruze, a Social Network for Online Marketers

5 Nov 2007 at 15:51 by Joshua J. Steimle

If you're in the SEO business you may be interested in checking out Gooruze. It's essentially a social networking site for online marketing types, such as myself.

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SEO KISS

25 Sep 2007 at 08:54 by Joshua J. Steimle

No, it's not a new cover band of SEO professionals wearing makeup, it's just my way of saying that getting results from search engine optimization doesn't have to be that hard--keep it simple, stupid.

What I mean is that as I frequent SEO websites and read the SEO blogs I see a lot of very detailed discussions about the science of search engines, how they work, and how you can refine your SEO strategy down to the tiniest aspects. But when it comes to making money as an SEO firm, how important is it to stay up to date on all these tiny details?

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Full-Service SEO vs. SEO Consulting

10 Sep 2007 at 22:37 by Joshua J. Steimle

For those of you involved in the search engine optimization industry, how many of you offer your clients SEO services that are of a consulting or training nature, as opposed to full-service SEO?

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Consumer Adoption of Search Engine Optimization

17 Mar 2007 at 13:18 by Joshua J. Steimle

Have you read Crossing the Chasm or Inside the Tornado by Geoffrey Moore? Well, if you are hawking SEO services you should read them, and then think about how what they teach applies to the services you are providing, or rather to the customers to whom you are providing services.

But here's the Cliff Notes version. It all has to do with the technology adoption lifecycle or bell curve, as seen below.

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The Best Internet Marketing Options?

23 Feb 2007 at 12:57 by Eric Morgan

There are several options for marketing your products or services on the internet, however it is sometimes difficult to tell which one will work best for your specific situation. All businesses are different and some marketing options would work better than others for your business; there is no one online marketing method that is best for everyone. Find out which options would work best for your business.

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Search Engine Relationships

31 Jan 2007 at 18:24 by Eric Morgan

Although you may have seen this before, if not it is a great resource. This flash piece show the relationships of search engines. If you have ever wondered which search engines get results from other search engines you can find out here.

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Search Engine Relationships

31 Jan 2007 at 18:24 by Eric Morgan

Although you may have seen this before, if not it is a great resource. This flash piece show the relationships of search engines. If you have ever wondered which search engines get results from other search engines you can find out here.

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Dishonest SEO Firms

5 Jan 2007 at 16:29 by Eric Morgan

Being in the SEO business we have had so many potential clients come to us with horror stories of their relationships with a previous SEO firm; in every case we have had to prove that we are ethical, honest, and worth it. What are your stories?

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250+ SEO Blogs

3 Jan 2007 at 17:52 by Joshua J. Steimle

Lee Odden over at Top Rank Marketing has put together a list of more than 250 SEO related blogs, and he was kind enough to include TheOrganicSEO.com. I guess that means we'll be adding him to our SEO directory :) Oh wait, we already had. Man, I am so on top of things.

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Are SEO Companies in Trouble?

19 Dec 2006 at 13:25 by Joshua J. Steimle

I was just turned on to an article by DM News entitled Troubled times for SEO firms by Lee Odden at Top Rank Online Marketing. The article cites a report from MarketingSherpa that says, amongst other things, that revenue for SEO firms fell from 124% growth between 2004-2005 to just 6.7% between 2005-2006. It then goes on to give a few reasons why this may have happened.

I agree with 50-75% of each conclusion, but 25-50% of each conclusion is based on what I believe to be misunderstandings about what SEO is.

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Directories for SEO

17 Aug 2006 at 08:58 by Eric Morgan

Here are some directories you can use to increase your SEO visibility.

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Organic SEO News

Dentists Uncertain About Online Marketing

17 Apr 2008 at 16:30 by Joshua J. Steimle

While not specifically talking about search engine optimization, this survey of dentists that asks them if their dental practice website marketing is worth the expense is certainly relevant.

Utah SEO Firms Directory

16 Jan 2008 at 23:47 by Joshua J. Steimle

New free directory of Utah-based SEO firms launched by MWI.

Boston Web Design and Boston Search Engine Optimization Free Directories

16 Jan 2008 at 23:46 by Joshua J. Steimle

MWI has launched two new directories, one featuring Boston search engine optimization firms and the other Boston web design firms.

Organic SEO News Archives >>