Sometimes many local professionals are over looked so in an effort to bring  a little attention to these great local resources I’ve compiled a short list of the area’s best search marketing professionals that can help you with web design, search engine optimization and social marketing.

This is a not complete list but it’s a start.

Knox Denver Web Guy
A SEO, a webmaster, a web developer, copywriter and common sense Internet consultant in Denver and let’s say- a web problem solver of sorts.

HyperDog Media
Hyper Dog Media is a Denver, Colorado SEO Firm with a background in web site design and development.

Katz Web Services
Katz Web Services is a Denver web design and Denver SEO company operated by Zack Katz and based near Denver, Colorado.

Copy Brighter Marketing
Brett Borders specializes in online reputation management and social media marketing.

They don’t appear to post everyday (probably because they are doing their jobs) but taking the a few minutes to drop in on them every once in awhile would not be  a waste of your time.

Wise Owl

Wise Owl is an affordable SEO services company that specializes in optimizing websites for high placement in the search engines. Wise Owl caters to small businesses and start-ups.

If you know of any other that should be here just leave a comment and I’ll be sure and add them.

Post from: Denver SEO - Local Search Expert

Staying In Touch With Denver Search Marketing Advocates

Well, I can say I’ve run across this almost every week for the past 2 year!

This really drives me nuts because you don’t know a) why the ad was declined  b) let alone how to fix it so that it will be approved. Google just won’t tell you.

They don’t seem to care about their customers and would rather leave you fending for yourself to figure what to do.

Bottom line is I’ve grown very tired of Google throwing road blocks in my way with things like quality score and landing pages and not telling me what I have to do to please them.

So last month I decided (coaxed by Frank and Trey’s “Screw Google” report)  to move over to Yahoo and start doing more of my advertising there.

With that said- I had a fantastic experience with Yahoo Search Marketing today!

First though let me set the stage. Earlier this week I had setup a few ppc campaigns for a customer only to have them declined. I thought, “Oh great – not again! What could I have done to cause the ads to be declined?”

Something was different this time though. You see Yahoo SM has a phone # (866-924-6676) that you can call and guess what- you can talk with a real human being!

I actually talked to someone and found out exactly what had caused the ads to be declined. On top of that the guy who was helping me actually fixed my problem, explaining every step along the way as I was on the phone with him.

Not only did he explain to me exactly what was wrong with the first ad, he wrote another ad for me to compliment the first one I had submitted.

How cool is that!

I’m sure glad I decided to come back to Yahoo SM. I had become  so fixated on Google that I lost site of other marketing venues. With the recent Yahoo/Bing merger I really don’t lose much (might even gain) because the two of them together equals Google.

Thanks Frank and Trey! I needed the swift kick in the butt.

Screw Google!

Huge thanks to Rorke at Yahoo search marketing for all the help. You rock dude!

Post from: Denver SEO - Local Search Expert

Yahoo Search Marketing Leads the Way in Customer Service

Todd also uses lawyers and auto mechanics when pointing out expertise and experience to justify high rates. Although I don’t think I’d have used a either as an example. There are more lawyers and mechanics that don’t have a clue what they are doing then there are one that are actually experts in their field.

I can relate to his concerns though. I’ve spliced fiber optic networks since 1987 and have seen pricing come down from $120+ per fiber to the current $30 or less. In the past 15 months I’ve seen the pricing down as low as $18. The reason for this is simple. Competition has increased.

Back in the late 80’s there where only a hand full of companies splicing optics. Today there are thousands. Why?–because companies trained their own employees to do the work for a fraction of the price. Schools opened that offered training and certification to the “guy on the street” so they could have a chance at a good career too. This resulted in a lot more capable, quality conscious people to do the work.

Todd’s analogy about knowing where to hit the printing press just doesn’t fly anymore. There are too many SEO experts like Dan Thies and Jerry West training people where to hit the damn machine for themselves. Btw- I hate that analogy. SEO is no more than  applied science and using the word hit and machine in the same sentence when talking science screams of ” I don’t know what was wrong, but I smacked it and it started working again”.

The plain truth of the matter is most small businesses simply cannot afford $1000-$3000 a month for a search marketing campaign. They simple do not have the money or can’t see the potential returns from spending the money.

Many SMB’s just don’t know what to look for before hiring an SEO firm. To be fair to the SEO’s that are feeling insulted and misunderstood Matt McGee wrote a great piece on Small Business SEM: Small Business SEO: Costs, Expectations & Realities that covers 5 points about pricing and SEO services. It’s well worth the read if you’re considering hiring an SEO firm.

My advice to the SEO’s that feel that they are being degraded–crawl out from under your $1000 bills and get over it. Competition brings down cost. That’s capitalism.

I’d watch out for the paperboy too-

Post from: Denver SEO - Local Search Expert

SEO Companies Too Expensive For Small Business

The story

The other day I was doing a little temporary patch work on my roof due to the damage caused to the roofing by heavy winds and rain we received on the 20th of July.

While I was contemplating how hard it’s going to be on this ‘ole man’ to do a roof a gentlemen walking down the sidewalk interrupted my thoughts of the task ahead. He was asking me if I needed any windows or siding work. I had to say no as I didn’t really need those things.

After his unsuccessful attempt to gain my business we stood there and talked about about the general economy and how tough it is right now to generate income. After five minutes talking with him he revealed he was the owner of the company.

He told me  he has owned the company for 30 years and commented that this is the toughest times he has ever had generating income. He’s had to let several of his people go, including the people (sales) who generated potential customers.

I asked him how many new leads he had generated over the past week. He answered.. ” Maybe a few, but nothing solid. I’ve been walking neighborhood’s for almost a week ( I live on a small mountain) talking to around 100 people.  I haven’t had to do this in 25 years. It’s wearing me out!”

So of course after hearing that I had to ask him if he had a website. He answered that he was paying for leads from a website but hasn’t gotten anything from it. He also jokingly added that his daughter is better with a computer than he is.

As he was saying that I was remembering how my parents, now in their 70’s, thought they would break something if they tried to use the Internet. Now I can’t stop them from sending me those silly jokes about Wyoming! Ha ha.

On a serious note, my Dad  learned how to use one of the ancestry sites and traced his entire family tree AND found his daughter from his first marriage. Pretty cool.

Towards the end of my conversation with the exterior siding guy, I invited him to the office and offered to add his business online for him. I thought he might need a break from all that up and down hill walking.  He accepted.  This took us less then 30 minutes to do.

Getting your business online (bare essentials)

Getting a web presence for your business will take you less than 1  hour of your time (tops), you don’t need a website and it will cost you nothing. All you need is a computer and Internet connection.

Follow these steps below to get your business online and start beating the recession.

• Go to Google and create a Gmail account (called a Google Account)
• Go to Google’s Local Business Center at http://maps.google.com/localbusinesscenter and add your business details. Watch this video to learn more.
• Get verified. Google will give you very specific, easy instructions on what to do. Tip: Use the by phone option. Google will call you with a code that is used to activate the listing immediately.
• Advice: Get a website. This isn’t a  requirement, but if you don’t have one, chances are your business will not be displayed in the first 10 results (the sweet spot). Having a site will greatly increase your odds of being displayed in the top 10. It doesn’t need to be pretty, but the most important thing is to just have one.

If my Dad (an old truck driver) can teach himself to do research on the Internet than almost any business owner that has a PC in the office with an Internet connection has all the skills and tools necessary to get their business online and starting beating the recession.

If you know a small business that is not online please refer them to this post. If you can help them get online take 30 minutes and show them how to do it.

Small business is the heart and soul of our economy and rite now they need some help. If you have any suggestions please feel free to add comments to this post. Help small business owners succeed in this changing economy.

Post from: Denver SEO - Local Search Expert

Beat The Recession: Get Your Business Online

The people I asked are novice marketeers that have some experience with Internet marketing but are by no means pros. What I found out is I’m not doing that good of a job explaining things so I thought I’d back up a little and start at the beginning and explain what search engine marketing is.

What is Search Marketing?

Search Marketing, also known as Search Engine Marketing (SEM), is part of a businesses online marketing efforts to increase the number of visitors to a website and then turning those visitors into buying customers (known as conversion).

Three Methods used in Search Marketing

There are three methods used in SEM. Search Engine Optimization (SEO), Paid Listing (pay-per-click or paid inclusion) and Web Analytics.

The first part, commonly referred to as SEO,  is the process of getting organic search engine rankings. Or a more simplified explanation; the natural position of a website in the search engines for certain keywords that people are searching for.

The second part, Paid Listing/pay-per-click, is paying a search engine for the inclusion of your website into their index or as a sponsored listing (PPC) in advertising.

For many new website owners paid listing and pay-per-click may seem like the fastest methods to attracting more visitors but this method can end up costing a lot of money and may end up breaking the bank before your reach the desired goal – buying customers.
 
For this reason many website owners, including me, choose the SEO method. If done properly this can result in what is called organic (free) rankings . Although search engine optimization is more time consuming the results of your efforts are much better and a heck of a lot cheaper.

The third and probably the most important part of SEM is what is referred to as Web Analytics. This is about gathering, analyzing and using information about your visitors, their details, their behavior on your website, the ways they found you, the efficiency of referrers and your advertising, conversion rates and together with all this data you will have a much better understanding of your visitors habits and what it takes to get them to buy.

So, what you should understand about the goals of Search Engine Marketing is a) to improve your web visibility and get as much traffic (visitors) as you can b) improve traffic quality by getting high rankings for keywords that bring in converting (buying) visitors and c) track and learn your visitors habits in order that you can learn more about what a they are lookiong for and how they find it.

I hope this clears up any confusion that I may have caused by starting in the middle instead of at the beginning.

Post from: Denver SEO - Local Search Expert

Search Engine Marketing Explained

Here’s what’s going on around in search marketing along with some tips on using Twitter in your marketing.

Search Engine Marketing – the future

Search Engine Marketing – the future. 08.06.09. SEO; DaveN. For a while now I have been wanting to just throw down some ideas, thoughts and facts on linkage, so here goes. You can decide what category they fall into.

Twitter Tactics and Search Marketing from SMX Advanced

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Churn May Be Spoiling Local Search Marketing

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B2B Search Marketing Strategy Guide: Advice From the Pros

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Post from: Denver SEO - Local Search Expert

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