Monthly Archives: December 2007

SEM training and education on the increase

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Have you noticed that Search Engine Marketing education seems to be the flavor of the month right now? Look at all the education-related events that have happened in the past month:Graduate

  • Matt Spiegel of Search Engine Watch talked about the biggest crisis in SEM: the lack of qualified search marketers and the need for further education and internships to address this crisis.
  • We heard about the launch of Market Motive, a new, subscription-based training website founded by Michael Stebbins and John Marshall, both formerly from ClickTracks and Avinash Kaushik, a web analytics guru.
  • Search Marketing Now announced a SEM Basics training webinar to be held this month.
  • Search Engine Strategies announced SEM training classes will follow their Chicago conference this month.
  • SEOmoz held a SEM training seminar at the University of Washington. (Ok this occurred in October, but it was still recent enough to warrant inclusion).
  • The eMarketing TalkShow held a webcast about the unlimited career opportunities available to persons with SEM training and experience.
  • Search Engine Watch decided to launch a regular column called SEM.edu dedicated to SEM training and education.
  • Microsoft announce their training and accreditation program for Microsoft adCenter called adExcellence.

It’s great to see the industry better addressing the two problems that have plagued it for years: the lack of trained professionals and the lack of educational options for webmasters wanting to learn SEO/SEM.

Of course my Search Engine College colleagues and I recognized this in 2004 with the launch of our courses, but I digress!

Welcome to my new home

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As you can see, I’ve moved the blog to a new WordPress template and it’s own domain. What do you think?

I bought both askkalena.com and ask-kalena.com and even though the first one is the most obvious, I decided to use the latter as it’s easier to read as a URL. I made sure to park the other domain to this one so I get the traffic from people typing in the more obvious URL. I spent a long time searching the WordPress cellars for a template I liked and then I had to bribe the author to turn it from a 2 column into a 3 column, but I’m really happy with the result.

I thought it was going to be a nightmare moving from Blogger FTP hosted to WordPress but it turned out pretty simple in the end because I decided to keep my archives in place at the old domain and merely redirect the main blog page. If you ever want to scan the archives of the old blog, you’ll find links to them on the bottom left of the nav menu. Archives prior to January 07 are available from any of the old archive pages.

So I’ve been absolutely blown away by how feature-rich WordPress is and by all the incredible plug-ins designed for WP by clever developers. I can’t believe I waited this long before migrating from Blogger to WordPress.

I’d love to hear your feedback on the new blog design, so please leave your comments. If you’re new here, please subscribe using my shiny new red RSS button on the left. Make yourselves at home!

Q and A: Is a 3 word search phrase counted as 1, 2 or 3 keywords?

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Dear Kalena…

Just read your fine feature article at Site Pro news in the Nov 28th issue. In your part 2, would it be possible to include the max character length, max# of keywords that you would recommend be used. Also I was wondering if a three word term such as “widgets in FL” would be counted as one keyword or two or three?

Ed

Dear Ed

Thanks so much for your feedback on my article. That article is actually half of a larger one I wrote a few weeks ago and you can expect to see the other half in SiteProNews shortly. I think Part 2 will answer your questions, but this recent piece by Danny Sullivan about the keywords tag might also help.

As for “widgets in Florida”, there is no official standard in terms of how many keywords you should target on each page or in each tag, but it is generally very difficult to optimize a single page for more than 3 or 4 keywords or phrases. “Widgets in Florida” can be considered a single search term but also covers the individual keywords “widgets” and “Florida” and the phrase “widgets Florida” (search engines consider “in” to be a stop word) so I would describe that phrase as covering 3 or 4 search terms and I would probably stick with optimizing your page for that single phrase and concentrating on other search queries for your other pages.

Need more than advice? Take a Search Engine Marketing course online


Pick up a Search Marketing Standard Mag subscription for just $4.95

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Search Marketing StandardIf you’re a regular reader of this blog, you’re probably already aware of Search Marketing Standard magazine. If you’re not, SMS is the first quarterly print publication devoted completely to the world of search marketing. It covers topics such as pay per click advertising, search engine optimization, web analytics, click fraud, local and contextual search. Each issue features articles and advice from leading experts in the field, interviews with the who’s-who of the industry, reviews of the most popular tools and services, latest news and trends and much more.

Yearly subscription to the magazine is usually a very reasonable $15 for 4 issues for US-based readers and $20 for international subscribers (including shipping). BUT… the magazine publishers and I have negotiated an extra special deal for readers of this blog. If you hurry, you can score an annual subscription for just $4.95 in the U.S. or $6.60 if outside the U.S. – that’s a massive 67 percent discount!

On top of that, Search Marketing Standard publishers are taking this a step further and will donate $1 for every subscriber that signs up through this blog to the Toys for Tots Foundation.

To claim your discount and do your bit for some needy kids, subscribe via this link and enter coupon code HOLIDAY67. But hurry! The coupon expires on December 10. In case you were wondering, I don’t make any money from this deal – it’s not an affiliate link, merely a tracking URL.


Search Industry Job of the Week: Country Marketing Manager, Google Australia

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Job Title: Country Marketing Manager – Google Australia

Job Reference #: Unknown

Position Type: Full Time

Name of employer: Google

Location: Sydney, Australia

Date Posted: November 2007

Position description:

Do you love Google? Interested in learning more about one of the most cutting-edge technology companies in the world? We are looking for flexible, hardworking, experienced people, passionate about Google, to analyze, measure, position, package, and promote Google’s product and business offerings in Australia.

Major responsibilities:

  • Build and manage a world class team to handle all of Google marketing efforts in the region.
  • Lead the development of Google’s marketing plans for consumer, advertiser and publisher products in Australia, working closely with cross functional teams in the region and around the world.
  • Ensure the monitoring of consumer, industry and competitive behaviour in Australia and provide local market expertise to the Google team.
  • Create the Australia agency strategy, solicit and evaluate agency bids, and manage agency relationships.
  • Drive the implementation of marketing campaigns including: Direct marketing, affiliate marketing, online/offline advertising and promotions.
  • Marketing communications materials including sales collateral, merchandise, print and online advertising, email newsletters and blogs.
  • Trade shows and industry events and advise where company participation or sponsorship would be appropriate.
  • Standalone Google events and workshops, where appropriate.
  • Co-marketing, reseller and other third party relationships.
  • Ongoing retention programs for consumers, advertisers and publishers.
  • Local market research.
  • Effectively champion the needs of the local markets.
  • Contribute pro-actively to the overall development of Google through ideas and creativity based on solid market and sector knowledge.
  • Evaluate marketing opportunities and initiate programs to increase awareness and usage of Google products.
  • Oversee the Australia marketing budget.

Requirements:

  • MBA or masters preferred.
  • Fluent in English.
  • Minimum 8-10 years marketing experience in the Australia market.
  • 3-5 years Internet, online services/media industry experience.
  • Minimum 4 years business-to-business marketing experience.
  • Strong aptitude for determining the optimal way to position products in the market.
  • Understanding of the search, online advertising, or web publishing markets.
  • Understanding of Google’s strategic and competitive position.
  • Proven ability to deliver outstanding and highly innovative marketing achievements with limited budgets.
  • A proven track record of increasing awareness, product usage and revenue through well-executed marketing efforts.
  • Thorough knowledge of on/offline advertising, tracking and reporting.
  • Strong leadership skills.
  • Entrepreneurial and thrives in fast-paced and dynamic environments.
  • Motivated and creative with the ability to self-manage.
  • Excellent oral and written communication skills.
  • Project management skills and the ability to multitask across projects and products.
  • Demonstrated excellence with agency and client relations.
  • Thorough knowledge of off/online advertising planning, tracking and reporting.
  • Strong aptitude for determining the optimal way to position products in the market.
  • Understanding of the search, online advertising, or web publishing markets.
  • Understanding of Google’s strategic and competitive position.
  • Team player able to work on multi-part projects with multiple teams and able to ensure that local and global project deadlines and budgets are met.
  • Strong computer application skills including PowerPoint, Excel and MS Office.

Salary range: Unknown

Closing date: Unknown

More info from: Google Jobs

Contact: Send resumes via online form Google Jobs Application Form

To see more search industry job vacancies visit: Search Engine College Jobs Board