SEO Basics

The Exact Science of Hindsight and How This Helps in SEO

Over the last few months I've found myself doing slightly less SEO, and in its place I've been thinking about how we can improve the SEO services we offer our clients. SEOs, I've found, tend to be quite a creative bunch, both in the type of work that gets done but also in the way that the work gets done. One of the joys of being in SEO is that the tasks that need to be done and the best way of doing these tasks is permanently evolving. The creative urges mean that often when asked to do two similar tasks a week apart, the tasks are done in a completely different way. From a job satisfaction and creativity point of view, this is fantastic; starting from scratch each time on a task means the creative juices can really flow. From a management and consistency point of view, re-inventing the wheel each time is a nightmare!

Interviewing for SEO Jobs

Earlier this year Rand did a white board friday talking about how to get an seo job. A couple of years ago Rebecca covered the SEOmoz hiring process, with a full re-cap of how Jane became a 'mozzer.

Headsmacking Tip #8: Give Your SEO Campaigns Time to Take Effect

It's been a few weeks since I last posted a headsmacker, but this topic has been begging for some exposure. Recently we've worked with some fellow SEOs who've felt the harsh constraint of overly eager, impatient management. They're campaigns followed solid tactics, stuck to best practices and even...

The 3 Cornerstones of SEO

For the first time in a while I was let out of the office and sent to a Sales meeting. For as long as we have been running the company the typical stereotypes of coder vs salesman have been applied to Will. Taken to extremes people think that I can't string a sentence together and Will doesn't know how to turn a computer on. At sales meetings Will likes to talk in terms of the foll...

Do I Really Need to Build Web Access to My Service?

Yes, whiny title writer, you most certainly do. Check out this piece from the AP on PapaJohns.com: The nation's third-largest pizza delivery chain trumpeted the $1 billion milestone Wednesday, noting that its U.S. online sales have been growing at an average clip of more than 50 percent per year. In 2001, the chain's online sales totaled $20.4 million. Last year, its online sale...

I'm Getting Pretty Tired of Startup Advice that Doesn't Include Any Mention of SEO

Ever since SEOmoz took venture capital investment last fall, I've been reading a lot of blogs and sites geared towards the startup world. Even though we've been around for 5 years (and Gillian and I have been doing web marketing for 10), I still think of us very much like a startup - we've grown from 3 people 3 years ago to 14 people today and we're worrying about things like burn rate, product...

SEO SWOT Analysis -- Revisiting Marketing Models

I work with mostly small independent sites with little or next to nothing budgets and help them turn things around if possible. My biggest success story was a client who had 1 or 2 patients a week through word of mouth, and then grew to an average of 50 referrals through online marketing monthly, as well as a huge established practice. I cant take all the credit – he worked hard at...

SEO Contract Template: A Verbal Contract Isn't Worth The Paper It's Written On

Having bounced around the SEO industry for the past few years, I’ve managed to keep a record of (what I consider to be) useful information when it comes to dealing with SEO client’s. When I was an SEO consultant I used this information to create a personalized SEO contract for my business. With all the hoopla out there about SEO’s being snakes, deadbeats etc, I figured now wou...

Looking To Bag An Elephant? Try "Mozbait"

“I bagged the elephant!”, shrieks Bud Fox, the fledgling stockbroker from 1987’s “WallStreet”, after learning that he’s just landed financial mogul Gordon Gekko as his newest client. So, how does Bud hook the top-dog in the highly competitive world of stock trading? By raving about the value of his company’s services? Throwing ...

Finding a Good Web Design / SEO Firm (When You Already Are One)

This afternoon I have the privilege of interviewing a web design firm for a fairly large project. I'm currently in discussions with a company to become the COO of a nicely funded semi-startup, and unfortunately the owners of the firm have already selected a web design firm (thankfully I'm not bound to keep them in any way). As one of the final steps before I take this role, ...

Plan for the Holidays Nice and Early By Analyzing Search Trends

Happy Halloween, everyone! We here at SEOmoz are all dressed as internet marketers! Wheee! Did you adequately prepare for the holiday? Have your costume picked out and ready to go? Pumpkins carved into spooky jack-o-lanterns? Decorations put up? Candy purchased (none of those healthy granola bars, or your house'll get egged)? Site optimized for all that lovely holiday traffic? No? Uh oh......

The Bizarre Economics of Search Marketing Services

Mystery Guest and I are in San Francisco for a couple days - we flew into San Jose actually and had lunch just off Sand Hill Road (I figured I'd show her where the VC "magic" happens) :) We've already got every meal and several coffee meetups booked, which happens when your last trip to the city is ...