Search Engine Trends, How to Hire an SEO Firm & Speaking Engagements

Dear Friends,

I recently returned from a conference on search engine optimization (yes, such a thing does exist!) and thought you might like to know about some trends that may affect how prominently your site is placed in the engines:

SEARCH ENGINE TRENDS

I'll spare you the technical details and just report on two trends in the search engine optimization world that I picked up from "Search Engine Strategies" conference in San Francisco:

As the online advertising market continues to decline, the search engines and directories are being forced to turn to alternate sources of revenue. What this really means is that they're charging the web sites that are included in the results they return. There are a variety of different pricing models currently being used, ranging from pay-for-inclusion (AltaVista and Inktomi), pay-for-consideration (Yahoo! and LookSmart), pay-for-placement (Yahoo! and Google), and pay-per-click (Overture [formerly GoTo], FindWhat and Sprinks). This trend has positive aspects to it (as well as the obvious negative one) - if you're interested in finding out more, please feel free to contact me.

When Google came onto the scene a few years ago, it pioneered the concept of "site popularity." That is, if you have a lot of links pointing at your site from other sites, your site is deemed "popular," and it's ranked higher than sites with fewer links. Google sees links as an implied endorsement (a human being had to review your site and decide to link to it, so it must have good quality content). If you've used Google to run searches, you know that this approach works amazingly well. The other search engines have all incorporated site popularity into their algorithms, and from all accounts, it's becoming more and more important. If you're interested in seeing how many links point to your site, you can run a quick and dirty check at for free.

ARTICLES OF INTEREST

Finally, I've found myself passing along articles to prospective clients who may be unsure as to whether or not they need a search engine optimization specialist, and confused about how to compare different SEO providers. If you find yourself in the same boat, please click on one or more of the following links:

• "Five Myths That Stop Companies From Hiring Search Engine Optimization Experts They Desperately Need"
• "Ten Considerations when Hiring a Search Engine Optimization Company"
• "What to Look for in a Search Engine Optimization Specialist"
• "Top 10 Tips to Hire a Search Engine Promotion Company"

RESULTS

As many of you know, I've been working on the site for NBC's new daytime talk show, The Other Half. Within eight days of optimizing it and submitting it to search engines, we went from having 6 top rankings to over 100 top rankings (an increase of over 1,500%). A month later this figure continues to grow - we've currently got 22 #1 rankings, and 81% of our rankings are in the top 10.

NEW CLIENTS

I'm pleased to welcome two new clients:

• ReCellular, Inc., world leaders in wireless equipment trading and refurbishing.
• Mori Luggage & Gifts, the southeast's premiere retailer of fine luggage, leather goods and gifts.

PUBLICITY

Prominent Placement was featured in a recent Atlanta Business Chronicle article entitled "Internet Marketing Focusing on Search Engines". Special thanks go to client Dave Ryan of MarketingCentral for agreeing to be featured as well.

I authored a lengthy article for Competitive Edge magazine entitled "Attracting Traffic to Websites".

For those of you that missed my June article in Digitrends entitled "Why You Should Rev Up Your Search Engine Use," it has been reprinted, along with two additional new "how-to" articles, on SEO Today:, "Determining the Ideal Search Terms for Crawler-Based Search" and "Secrets to Submitting to Search Engines".

Finally, Prominent Placement was included in MarketingSherpa's recent "Buyer's Guide to Search Engine Optimization & Positioning Services," which is available for purchase at their site.

SPEAKING ENGAGEMENTS

As some of you know, I was a panel member at a recent Webgrrls presentation where we discussed "Marketing Opportunities for Small Businesses." This was well received and plans are being made for an "encore presentation" on the north side of Atlanta in the near future. Let me know if you're interested in attending and I'll provide more information once I have it.

I'll be speaking on "Obtaining High Search Engine Rankings for your Web Site" at the November 7 meeting of TIMA (The Interactive Media Alliance, a society of TAG [Technology Association of Georgia]). The meeting will be held from 6:30-9:30 at the Apple Computer offices (Northpark Town Center) and costs $10 for non-TIMA/TAG members (free for members).

SERVICES

I've recently started guaranteeing my linking campaign service. That is, I will guarantee to get you a certain number of inbound links if you'll post a page of outbound, reciprocal links on your site. Not only does this drive traffic directly to your site, but more importantly, it'll boost your rankings (see more about the importance of "site popularity" below). Contact me for more information about getting guaranteed links (and yes, this is legitimate - as always, I never spam the search engines or bend their rules!).

THAT'S ALL SHE WROTE

I appreciate your time and support. As always, if you have friends or colleagues that may be interested in having their web site placed more prominently in the search engines (leading to greater traffic and increased sales), please feel free to forward this message to them.

Best wishes,

Stacy Williams