Jon = Corporate SEO / SEM

Big news here – I’m now currently employed as a full-time in-house SEO with a fairly large telecommunications firm. I will continue to operate my search engine marketing firm, but on a scaled-back and more selective basis. In reflecting upon all the recent issues with bloggers posting too much info about their jobs and companies … Read more

Content, Links and Patience

My private internet marketing business handles roughly a dozen websites that are primarily lead-generating in nature. For the most part, these are small businesses with either a local reach or a reasonably defined line of business. Anyhow, about three weeks ago I launched a redesign of a site for one of my new clients. Essentially … Read more

New Changes in Google

Within the past couple of weeks Google made an algorithm adjustment that caused dramatic swings for some, and much more moderate swings for others. I have a few associates who had some very high ranking sites for some competitive search terms who have really been hit hard. The common denominator seems to be that they … Read more

Can Video Enhance SEO ROI for Service-Oriented Websites?

Different calls to action require different approaches. In my experience there are generally a handful of different types of sites, from a very general SEO standpoint. Typical e-commerce websites that want relevant traffic and hope to convert as large a percentage as possible to sales. Lead-generation sites – typically for service oriented businesses. May include … Read more

New MSN Search Now Live!

I heard rumors that it was supposed to be 90-95% live yesterday or even the day before (these were predictions over the weekend) and I had noticed some stats on some of my sites that indicated more visitors from MSN – visitors who searched on terms that the sites were significantly more highly ranked on … Read more

New Nofollow Link Attribute and Link Spamming

I heard a few rumors yesterday about this and just this morning saw a confirmed report on Search Engine Watch posted sometime yesterday by Danny Sullivan. Twenty minutes ago I had no idea what this was, but now after reading up on it in a few places let me share the jist of it. Blogs, … Read more

MSN Starting to Change Over

First, my apologies for going about a month without a post. Christmas, NewYear’s, etc. etc. There has been a fair amount of talk lately in the forums regarding MSN’s new search engine, which has been in Beta testing for just about two months (see my post on MSN launching their new search engine – beta … Read more

Professional Bloggers & Blog Firms

Blogging seems to be so mind-boggling hot right now that it was really only a matter of time before more firms began offering consulting and even blog-writing services. A ton of publicity and press in mainstream business publications has attracted both large corporations and small businesses alike – even those that may be quite conservative … Read more

Theme-Based Directories & Linking

Short entry today… Directories are great resources for internet users who want an alternative to search engine results when looking for a list of websites about a particular subject. There are generally two kinds of directories – general directories and theme-based directories. Some general directories include: The Open Directory Project Gimpsy Yahoo Directory Jayde There … Read more

The Power of Content

If you read a few of my articles, entries or forums posts you’ll quickly learn a few things about me and my general take on SEO. I’m not a links junkie. In fact, I despise link building campaigns. Particularly reciprocal link building campaigns. That topic though is probably better discussed in it’s own blog entry. … Read more

Organization for Better Search Rankings

Each morning one of the first things I do is create a “to do” list of tasks I hope to accomplish that day. Its an optimistic time, really – generally between 7:30 and 8:00 am, when I lay out my plan of attack. Now I know full well that not every item on the list … Read more

My Most Recent SEM Lecture

I was recently invited to speak to a class of MBA students at Johns Hopkins University on the topic of Search Engine Marketing. The course was entitled “Marketing Strategy”, so my goal was to speak on a high level, discussing the importance of search engine marketing and its position as owning the lion’s share of … Read more

A Bit About Me – Professional Bio

The search engine optimization field is quite interested in that it is much more an art form (however ugly the art may be in this case) than a science. I say this because for the most part, an SEO is nothing more than the knowledge, experience and skillset they bring to the table. But in … Read more

SEO Blogs – Follow the Leader

Well its about time really. Like many SEO professionals I spend a great deal of my time each day reading the latest industry news, reading and occassionally posting in various forums, and doing a bit of research regarding keywords, “search engine-friendly” website design, link popularity and the various aspects of marketing websites on the internet. … Read more