News Source: http://www.brandtheweb.com
Published: Nov 18, 2008 - 07:32 am
Story Found By: WillSEOForFood 1286 Days ago
Category: SEM
11 Comments
Sorry this site requires JavaScript to be enabled in your browser. See the following guide on How to enable JavaScript in Internet Explorer, Netscape, Firefox and Safari. Alternatively you may be blocking JavaScript with an advert-related or developer plugin. Please check your browser plugins.
News Source: http://www.brandtheweb.com
Published: Nov 18, 2008 - 07:32 am
Story Found By: WillSEOForFood 1286 Days ago
Category: SEM
11 Comments
Upcoming Conferences
Search Engine Land produces SMX, the Search Marketing Expo conference series. SMX events deliver the most comprehensive educational and networking experiences - whether you're just starting in search marketing or you're a seasoned expert.
Join us at an upcoming SMX event:
- SMX Advanced Seattle - June 5-6, 2012
- SMX Paris - June 7-8 2012
- SMX Melbourne - Sept. 5-6, 2012
- SMX East - Oct. 2-4, 2012
- SMX Stockholm - Oct. 15-16, 2012
- SMX Social Media Marketing - Dec. 5-6, 2012
- SMX Munich - Apr. 9-10, 2013
- SMX West - March 2013
- SMX Toronto - April 2013
- SMX Sydney - May 2013
Latest News From Marketing Land
- Yahoo Shutters Livestand iPad “Living Magazine”
- Marketing Day: May 25, 2012
- Marketing Biz: Tracking Google’s Dune Strategy
- How Performance Marketing Is Influencing The Next Generation Of Internet Startups
- New Google+ Android App Adds Vivid Imagery & Additional Functionality
- - See more news at Marketing Land -
Upcoming Webcasts
Learn more about search marketing with our free online webcasts and webinars from our sister site, Search Marketing Now. Upcoming online events include:
- Search, Social and Mobile: What Travel Marketers Must Know - June 26, 2012
Latest News From Search Engine Land
- Microsoft: Yes, We Do Send Takedown Requests To Bing, Too
- SearchCap: The Day In Search, May 25, 2012
- Search In Pics: SEO LEGO, Facebook Cooler & A Happy SEO
- Google Disapproved 134M Ads And Disabled More Than 800K AdWords Accounts In 2011
- Microsoft Integrates More Nokia “Infrastructure” (Traffic, Geocoding) Into Bing Maps
- - See more news at Search Engine Land -
Comments
Not sure that I buy this argument. My experience with clients suggests that the first budgets to be cut are offline advertising budgets (print, TV, radio, etc...) while online budgets (and search in particular) are either standing pat or expanding because of the cost effectiveness and ROI metrics that they provide.Granted, I deal mostly with Fortune 1000 companies, but I can’t help but think that this mentality extends to the small business owner.P.S. I recently held a search marketing workshop for affiliates for a major real estate brand, and all they wanted to talk about was SEO. Remember that while many agents are losing their jobs, the brokers (the ones that own the franchises and listings) are still alive and kicking.
I’ve also seen the other side of the coin with small businesses, where they first scale back or drop PPC, then SEO services. It’s not a given that SEM is going to stay when offline is cut back. Some companies have a very long history with certain offline programs which they "know" works. Online is still very new to them and even though the metrics speak for themselves, it’s sometimes difficult to convey the value, especially when they don’t do a great job of lead tracking/conversion.
I posted these two posts, in response to research carried out by IT Jobs Watch in the UK, which SEO job demand / pay bucking the trend of advertising / marketign budets in general.SEO Consultants:http://sphinn.com/story/85414Inhouse SEOs:http://sphinn.com/story/85413Consider the financial crisis that London has been going through lately, then check-out the increase in demand for SEOs...really quite remarkable. Do you think it’s a different story in the USA? My clients are small / medium sized, mostly, but I am still waiting to see any sort of downturn on a more direct basis for me. It does seem like the industry is doing very well and is still within a boom period, but who knows whether a bust period will follow...
@hugoguzmanWhile brokers are still alive and kicking they are not spending. I have two sites that are in the lead selling industry. They are literally in the top 3 positions for both. The traffic has been cut in half and the budgets cut by 90%. In the real estate industry you also have a lot of agents who have been burnt a bit by the template based design sites. The same "great" template with a different color scheme! for every broker with built in link exchanges! {sarcasm} so now a LOT of these brokers and agents have a bitter taste in their mouth in regard to SEO and the internet. I still talk to brokers all the time that think there is no one searching for homes in their city online. I do a quick keyword search on, say adwords tool, and pull up a good 3500 searches per month. You mix the feeling of being "burnt" with the lack of good information.@reubenyau -Yes exactly. While they may even be getting calls from PPC or leads, they find it hard to justify the expense of SEO or SEM when they cant quantify that expense. This is true even with a lot of different metrics. I’ve used heat mapping and shown certain clients real results that far outweighed their offline campaigns, but some just get stubborn with the idea.@yetanotherbenPay is getting higher because companies need the experience to back it up. Also are you comparing a consultant based SEO client/business relationship to someone being hired on to a company? The two will always be different. The post is more for medium to small businesses who are not bringing on in house consultants.
@willseoforfood - I hear ya as far as real estate brokers being burnt by shady outfits. That was actually one of the main takeaways from my workshop with the affiliates for this big brand. It may cause some to think twice about spending, but most of the ones I spoke with are really more into educating themselves so that they can pick the right provider as opposed to cutting off the services alltogether.Most of them realize that the longterm (and shorterm) value is to great to be completely ignored.
@willseoforfood, just providing those for reference really. Still unsure that we’re going to see a house cleaning anytime soon in the UK considering the persistant surge in demand and (at present) limited supply. Maybe I’m being neive but the evidence suggest otherwise, and that goes for small > large co’s as far as I see it.
If this article had been proofread before publishing, I might be able to take it seriously.
real estate/ estate agencies are optimised who knew all the ones i look at are shit and dont perform for the sort of searches that house buyers do.
I agree with the above, most clients are cutting their offline marketing before online, mostly because they’re seeing better ROI on the online marketing.
I agree that the industry is now in a cleansing period and hopefully, as in most recession periods the dead wood will be eliminated leaving only the strongest SEM agencies behind to manage best practise within our industry.Customers will be brought in by results and not cost, as the better agencies do not sell on positions or cost they sell on ROI, traffic and sales.If your agency can deliver true measurable success through hard $$$ then you will survive this econonic downturn, and will indeed flourish in it.
Well... I bet you display advertising sees the cut before SEO! Everyone starts with cutting the obvious stuff that didn’t work well in a good economy and sucks the bag big time during the downturn. That means PPC gets it after display advertising and last to go will be SEO. I don’t think there is a bias toward online it just has the best ROI. Advertising is partly being bought on the basis of job preservation. When you know there are giong to be cuts then... it’s not just about campaign success... your job may depend on it. Basically the concensus seems to be the consumer has put their wallet away for the time being and it is going to be more people going after fewer customers who are looking closely at price. That is also good for online but... not much to hang your hat on since many will research online and buy it offline. ie:a target that isn’t a target unless you have a huge off line presense like walmart.