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Great article. It often takes multiple people to provide services what with the need for creating a team of in-house search engine marketers for big companies. As the search engine marketing industry changes the level of skill required to complete each task may vary to keep up with the growth of the search engine companies and their technology. I think you can be talented in one area, as long as you have an understanding of the project as a whole and have another team member to provide other specific skills you should be considered advanced for your capabilities. The skill base is growing wider for providing services. As an old timer its pretty cool to see this kind of growth happening in our industry.
Ten years already! I remember starting my first in-house SEO job in 1999 and being given two websites to visit: Search Engine Watch and SearchEngineForums. I was told by my supervisor to go learn everything I could about search engine optimization. SEF really helped me in the early days of my career.
Story: Life, Death, and Links
In my prior career I worked as a supervisor for the elderly in skilled nursing facilities. My very independent seventy-two year old mother-in-law finally got around to getting a computer and using email, all of which intimidated her in the beginning. I imagine there is difficulty for many seniors of that era using computers and search engines.
Eric I hope your dad is feeling better. I know it is scary to deal with strokes and the aftereffects of them.
>>I predict that many SEO professionals will massivly abuse the nofollow attribute and that it will no longer be valued.
This paragraph is interesting. So if SEOs overuse the nofollow attribute then eventually it will be devalued like every other overly used SEO technique? Seems like exactly the opposite of what Google was trying to achieve with nofollow and links. Then again some SEOs might like that concept.
>>I believe that learning never stops, we're equals and you may know something in a way I hadn't considered or experienced before.
Absolutely agree with you. Experience is a great teacher, including the mistakes we make along the way. There is always something to be learned from someone else whatever degree of experience they may have. Experience doesn't necessarily make you right in situations, you've just had more time to figure things out.
>>I'd be interested in hearing from you. Do you like the term expert or guru? If you are referred to as one, do you accept the label? Do you think it's true of you?
I wouldn't feel comfortable calling myself by either of these terms. I have some long time experience in the industry and that's pretty much how I phrase it to our clients. I have knowledge from what I've done in the past and how I've worked from then to the present. In my experience the more you know, the more you realize you need to learn.
"In my experience the more you know, the more you realize you need to learn."
I'd have to say I'm talking specifically about me through the years I've spent in the industry, or just life in general. Every time I open another door there's something else to look at and learn from.
>>I may have had it very wrong in my post, when I wrote that reaching the expert level might mean the learning stops or the guru becomes this frozen, unapproachable person.
It depends on the person but I think its a natural process for us to keep learning. Maybe you get so good at it you don't even notice the learning process while its happening. :) For me its important to keep looking in new ways at old systems I have in place. Years later there are still times I find some new technique to a method that makes me reevaluate and upgrade how I've been working.
As you mentioned before, I'm sure there are many people in the industry who aren't well know who are a wealth of information. I do agree that a year's time in this industry is not much in order to understand the many levels of SEM. At one year's experience I was just skimming the surface of what was to be learned.
>>To me, an expert means that the person has an above average knowledge of a topic/subject, as well as many years of experience putting that knowledge into action.
That is a very good definition Jill, I like it.
>>I think the word "respected" instead of "expert" is a more accurate term for some folks/companies.
I agree, I like that term better. Your experience and abilities certainly put you in this category Kim. :)
Great post. SEO and usability should be used in tandem. Facinating to think about how different generations interact online and what the future holds.
Who knew that surrendering to Google could be so funny? It is hilarious but sad since the decision has to be no follow. Good for Robert and Jenn for making a sad situation better and their solid teamwork. Shake it off and go forward guys, because at some point the no follow crap being passed off as guidelines is going to come back and bite Google in the ass.
Great article. An algorithm can't understand intent. Humans evaluators viewing a site must spend a good amount of time studying what is going on and even then might have problems understanding the intent of the webmaster. Factor this in with the number of web pages online and the number of available human evaluators Google has and its pretty clear this can't be a good sign for quality review.
>>It comes down to whether or not I want the freedom to decide how I will do business. I choose to not to do it with a company that wants to push me around.
Absolutely.
Perhaps the automated targeting was partly aimed at TLA because they sell text links, it would be a way to get to TLA and discourage the people that buy and display their ads. Then there is the whole idea of high profile SEO industry sites getting PR knocked because Google knows SEOs will talk about it and the visibility of possible penalties will rise in the industry.
I'd have to question any company that uses fear to solve problems, especially when the PR problem was created by that same company in the first place.
Linking has been around long before Google came to be. You link to an article, you post a comment with your site URL, you link to a site you approve of, you publicize your business by writing articles, you post opinions in forums with signatures, etc. All of this equals links and can be seen as link building, whatever the intent is. So if you get a job from writing an article or a referral job from a forum post, could this be seen as a paid link, thinking outside the box? Same idea, different method. I remember exchanging emails with Robert back when I was starting off in SEO, before Google was even created. SEG has been a great resource for small businesses for many years and from SEG's sponsor page, has plenty of qualified traffic to send to an ad buyer. Its pretty obvious if a human evaluator looks through the site that this is what the focus is about, small businesses. And why shouldn't this business, SEG, be able to make a living online? Just my 2 cents. Btw Jenn, excellent series on no follow.
>>The best SEOs I know are business consultants
In my experience this is especially true of working with small businesses. Many times when asked we advise clients about the next step for their online business. Some small business clients jump head first into an online business without any plan and panic ensues. Education, as planetc1 mentioned, is very important in these particular situations. Setting expectations before the work begins is essential.
Excellent series on no follow. I agree that part of the purpose of no follow is Google not having to address algorithm issues. As Jennifer said in part five, small businesses will suffer because of link building prices going up and link building going underground. The non-official means of penalty notification by Google certainly puts regular webmasters at risk since they are not always aware of these types of changes. Maybe Google is hoping by feeding this information through SEO's the FUD will be enough for a marked change in the use of websites selling paid links and SEO's paid linking services. Probably not the most clever tactic to take, in the end it is not going to solve Google's paid linking problems.
I think what bothers me most about the White Hat/Black Hat labels is that it tears away at our industry. The damage of in fighting over who is right and who is wrong seems to be a waste of time, time that could be put to better use. I agree with Jenn and Bill about the importance of the quality of work provided by SEM companies. I don't think it is a difficult choice to do right by the client.
Great article Kalena! The list is very helpful to hone in on what problems lie within a PPC campaign.
Story: How Not to Deal With Clients
Great post. So true, its all about setting expectations from the very beginning and clear communication.
Good post, love the title. I never bought into the keyword density argument myself. Write what makes sense to the user. It just boils down to common sense SEO.
Good article David. There are so many details that go into link building and link buying. I like your observations and agree, don't make selling links obvious.
Interesting article. Yeah, its only a matter of time. Nofollow = no good.
Story: A Letter to the Women of SEO
Great article. I've been in the work force a long time and the SEM industry is the first time I've felt I've been treated equally compared to the other industries I worked in. I remember in my past career I found out a new manager (a guy) received more money than I did after two years on the job. I've been involved in SEM for nine years and can't imagine doing anything else.
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Story: So, You Think You're A Search Engine Optimization Expert?