EngineWorks, Inc.

This morning, Search Engine Land published a thought-provoking article written by fellow search marketing professional Shari Thurow, author of the book Search Engine Visibility, titled ‘SEO Ethics Are In The Eye Of The Beholder’ that astutely points-out that one person’s definition of ‘ethical SEO’ may be considered ‘black hat’ by another individual.  This difference in opinion is obviously created by the fact that there is not a standardization of optimization techniques within our hyper-evolving industry.

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As recently announced, Google and Adobe have teamed up to create a solution for effectively indexing Flash files. If successful, this partnered development should have a tremendous impact upon the SEO industry.

Historically, Flash files have caused a lot of problems for search engine algorithms. This is due to the fact that they ignore the entire Flash files during the indexing of specific pages. Now, however, Google announced on June 30th that they will be able to index textual content in SWF files, which includes “Flash ‘gadgets’ such as buttons or menus, self-contained Flash websites, and everything in between”.

In addition, Google states that it will be able to find, and differentiate, URLs within a Flash file. This has been a big problem in the past, since Flash files historically were only accessible through one file. (more…)

A well-recognized tactic to ensure that your online presence is rapidly found by the greatest number of individuals in your target audience is submitting your site to numerous Web directories. While not a requirement for getting your site rapidly indexed, submitting to directories can greatly benefit the success of your strategy. However, not all directories are created equal. Thus, it is imperative that you perform research to determine the value of each directory as it pertains to your specific site.

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Kent Schnepp (our VP of Client Service and Strategy) and I just got back from Lunch2.0 put-on by the Portland uber-agency, Wieden + Kennedy. (We even ran into EngineWork’s Director of Paid Search, Lisa Peyton, who attended on her day off . . . talk about commitment!) This was my first Lunch2.0, and I hear that it was different than the previous ones (a little more formal, with a bit more of an agenda).

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Today, DMNews released the 2008 edition of their Essential Guide to Search Marketing which features an insightful article written by our co-founder and president here at EngineWorks, Sean McMahon, titled “SEM Turns the Media World Upside Down”.

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Here at EngineWorks, we are all about optimization! And, I’m not just talking about our clients’ Web sites. We also continuously strive to optimize the structure of our talented search marketing fulfillment team.

It’s important for professional Search Engine Marketing companies to maintain an ideal company structure to effectively integrate new campaigns into their fulfillment department, to rapidly achieve and exceed client performance goals, and to accommodate the expansion of their client roster and employee base (all while maintaining profitability).

To accomplish this, you must clearly define the skills and responsibilities of each position. I perceive that the following structure represents an ideal fulfillment department for accomplishing the mission critical tasks above.

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A couple of weeks ago, I participated in the Monster Cookie Metric Century Bicycle Ride organized by the Salem Bicycle Club.  Towards the end of the ride I ended up meeting a few of the other riders.  After some small talk, one of the riders asked me what I do for a living.  To my surprise, the rider had heard of search engine marketing and even search engine optimization (SEO).  His knowledge was a bit misguided (the majority of his SEO experience involved Meta tags) but he was eager to learn more.   The rider went on to ask me what three items I think are most important to optimizing a Web site.  The following was my answer:

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There are many critical components to remember when re-designing an effective search-friendly Web site, including clean, accessible code, and deep, relevant content featuring the optimum mix of messaging and keyword density. However, one of the most important features to remember is the addition of a properly structured XML Sitemap.

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The issue of Google’s duplicate content policy came-up several times during question and answer sessions at our SEMpdx SearchFest conference last week here in Portland. Therefore, it’s worthwhile to write a quick post addressing the most important aspect of this policy, and how it is being enforced by Google.

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In a perfect world every Search Engine Optimization (SEO) campaign would involve a site redesign. Unfortunately, the reality is, the majority of SEO campaigns are conducted on existing sites. For Web site owners it can be worthwhile to conduct a periodic SEO site assessment. Here are 10 things you can do to help assess the SEO status of your site.

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