Many SEO’s have been kicking and screaming against really using video as a legitimate source of content and link bait. The fact of the matter is that video is quickly becoming the most accessible and viewed type of content online, meaning Internet marketers should be hopping on this and fast. I suppose the largest barrier is that most SEO’s have very little if any experience in video production or formatting for the web. So for many, the task may seem daunting. Whatever the reason, now is a better time than ever to really make an investment in this steadily growing market.

Take for example this recent Google trends graph “search engine optimization” queries.



This may unsettle a few in the industry, showing a decline in the desire for SEO services over all, but I don’t believe this to be the case at all. I believe businesses and marketers are becoming more and more savvy with SEO and are now looking for more specific facets. Why do I think this? Let’s take a look at the trend of queries for “video seo” related keywords.



Hmmm. This looks pretty exciting for SEOs looking to expand their video production departments and affiliates. Of course the numbers are still not at the level that “search engine optimization” queries are, but according to the trend, it won’t take long. Matt Foster, CEO of ArteWorks SEO, predicts that we will see all of the major online players “jumping on this bandwagon over the next 18+ months.” Coming from someone who has watched the SEO trends for the last 10 years under a microscope, I would take this statement seriously. There is going to be a major shift.

If you are not involved in video or some of the other more specialized SEO strategies in the future, you will be left in the dust. Search ranking competition continues to increase as the status quo continues to rise, and at the same time, online video viewership is increasing at an alarming rate. Video is the new SEO copy, and as always, the better the content, the more links juice it will create, so everyone should be prepared to get their feet wet if they are not already pursuing this.

More Information on Video SEO

Major media companies, retailers, corporations, and even Presidential campaigns have realized the power of online video. It is the most likely type of content to go viral on a major scale, and it is becoming one of the most likely to receive link love. This is the way the trend is going, but don’t take my word for it. Do the research. I guarantee what you find will get you excited about online video.

Contact this author about Video SEO.        

About the Author: Peter Hamilton is the Project Manager in charge of the Seattle office of ArteWorks SEO. His interest and experience in search engine optimization is largely focused on social media optimization and multi-media facets of exposure specifically video SEO. To learn more about this search engine optimization company, visit www.arteworks.biz.

On Wednesday, Brandon Falls of Google released what they call the Search Engine Optimization Starter Guide. This is a twenty two page document that summarizes the basic ideas of SEO so that the average webmaster has some direction on how to improve their rankings for relevant searches. If you refer to the post that provides the Starter Guide pdf, you will see over sixty comments on what various people think about this guide and about Google releasing such a guide. It seems that some SEO’s are not too excited about it, but I say thank goodness.

Now why would a search engine optimization expert be happy about this? Isn’t it putting us out of a job? To be honest, it should make my life much easier. I spend half of my time trying to educate people about many of the practices discussed in this document. I suppose some SEO companies are distraught because companies with smaller websites and budgets can start doing their own work. For me, this is great news. ArteWorks is not scrounging to find underfunded projects for which we can’t produce real results. If the budget threshold is too low, clients are better off doing some work on their own, and this is a great resource I can point this range of client toward. They may not be able to achieve top rankings depending on how competitive their industry is, but at least they can go in the right direction with this great resource at their side.

Of course this starter guide is only one of many that can be found online. It is great for all of us to have this information directly from the horses mouth, but do not be deceived that any of this material is some grand revelation. This guide is exactly what Google has labeled it as, a “starter guide.” With that in mind, there is a great deal of accurate and incredibly important information included, and it might also be extremely helpful when shopping for the right SEO agency. With a little of this education under their belts, consumers and business owners will find a conversation with a search engine optimization company to make much more sense, which can be crucial in developing the best SEO campaign.

I say congratulations to Brandon Falls and the rest of the Search Quality Team for providing a simple, clear, and insightful resource to webmasters and business owners of all levels. It might also prove to drown a few old disputes about what is or is not important when optimizing a website.

About the Author: Peter Hamilton is the Project Manager in charge of the Seattle office of ArteWorks SEO. His interest and experience in search engine optimization is largely focused on social media optimization and multi-media facets of exposure. To learn more about this search engine optimization company, visit www.arteworks.biz.

This blog is a rant. I am not ashamed, even though I have never posted a ranting post before. A discussion entered Sphinn today based on an article about Google’s CEO Backing Obama, and it seems to have gotten some people really upset. Well, let me put in my two cents without taking up a full page of comment space.

The problem with our human interaction with media (including search media) boils down to something I studied back in film school. Have you ever heard of the “hypodermic needle theory” in regards to media? Well, it basically says that what we watch is what be believe. So if I see something that tells me that Dove soap is better than Ivory, I am likely to believe it, even if there is no logical persuasion (now all of you will go purchase Dove soap). As a young idealistic lad at the University of Texas, I thought, NO WAY. No way does that make any sense. People believe what they choose to believe, and these advertisements, politically charged TV shows, or morally biased films only add to the collective resources we have to make opinions. As you can imagine, I did not believe that way for long.

People are like sheep. By and large, we go where we are told. This can be a very scary thing to consider when people have the power to elect presidents, engage in mass riots, and wipe out other races. The hypodermic needle theory certainly has some weight.

Now, back to this article about a political bias in Google. The only thing that scares me more than the bias of one of the world’s most powerful media resources is not knowing what that bias is. Though it was probably not in his public best interest, it is good for us to know that Eric Schmidt, CEO of Google, has a democratic (or Obama) bias. A few comments in the discussion supported this idea, saying that Eric Schmidt is going to have a bias either way and he will most likely have some influence with that bias. The only difference with him doing it publicaly is that now we know about it and can adjust our interpretations of his company’s actions accordingly.

And this is great!

When the public hears things like this, the hypodermic needle theory becomes less effective. The more a reader or searcher knows about the company giving the information, the more they will put it under scrutiny and attempt to gather their own opinions. We should not be afraid of knowing the truth! I hope millions of people learn of Google's political affiliations and catch wind of other biases found in major corporations or other powerful entities so that we can begin to live as more analytical creatures than our less fortunate woolen friends.


About the Author: Peter Hamilton is the Project Manager in charge of the Seattle office of ArteWorks SEO. His interest and experience in search engine marketing is largely focused on social media optimization and multi-media facets of exposure. To learn more about search engine optimization, visit www.arteworks.biz.

With iPhone users gobbling up more and more of the mobile search market, Internet marketers must consider the idea that perhaps the mobile market will some day be the dominant search platform. That is certainly the feeling I got from the iPhone and SEO session at SMX East 2008.



According to panelist Cindy Krum, iphone users consume six times more data than the average mobile phone user, and in a world where mobile search has increased by 68%, this is a pretty exciting figure. One of the largest barriers to success with mobile search, and why some companies have outright ignored it, is the necessity for a separate website format that is easily accessible to cell phone browsers. According to Cindy Krum, the .mobi website structuring is out, and iPhone web browsing is in, quickly changing the possibilities for all types of businesses. With the iPhone’s ingenious ability to render html, most website owners don’t even have to change their existing site to show up in beautiful form on the iphone. Even if a business wants to create a custom look for mobile users, they can simply have multiple CSS, one set of rendering instructions for ‘Screen’ and the other for ‘handheld’. The content can stay the same, while phone users get a much simpler navigation using a handheld.

This means that more and more people are going to be exploring the world wide web using mobile devices. Both Nokia and Blackberry have already come up with their answering products to the iphone, meaning a simple touch screen interface and quality html rendering will eventually become commonplace. This implies that consumers will be using their phones to search for information, services, entertainment and more at a dramatically increasing rate. Any smart business owner will soon realize the importance of a search engine presence on mobile devices, which is why SEO experts and in-house teams need to be paying close attention.

Gregory Markel of Infuse Creative, brought up some excellent points about the possible future of the mobile search experience. Markel speculates that search oriented applications will take over the way users find what they are looking for. Instead of relying on keywords in a vast search engine, specific apps will help users find information and services faster. For example, Urban Spoon is an application that helps you quickly find restaurants and revues in proximity to your current GPS location. Just shake the iphone, and this nifty application brings you exactly what you’re looking for, maps it up, and will even let you know what others think about it. This sounds pretty simple compared to entering a long keyphrase search like “thai restaurants near seattle wa,” then having to sift through various forms of results, then mapping them, then getting directions or looking at reviews. Phone Internet users are looking for the quickest, easiest way to get what they want, which is extremely understandable given the limitations in download and typing speeds.

Making sure your business is available through the most used industry specific applications and that your website is user friendly and attractive on the iphone is going to be extremely important if you are going to compete in mobile search. Though it may seem like a small slice of the pie right now, I believe we are going to see a surge as cell phone technology continues to develop, making it possible for people to have access to everything they need through a device small enough to fit in their pocket.

About the Author: Peter Hamilton is the Project Manager in charge of the Seattle office of ArteWorks SEO. His interest and experience in search engine marketing is largely focused on social media optimization and multi-media facets of exposure. To learn more about search engine optimization, visit www.arteworks.biz.

Did everyone see that update on your Facebook “Home” the other day? 100 million active users on Facebook, and no, this is not an Austin Powers reference. This social networking platform has consumed a population that is one-third the size of the United States. The more amazing part of this new fact is the “active users” part. This number does not include those fly by night posers that just sign up for an account and never return to that beautiful blue bar again. Now, what if we took a little liberty and substituted the word “users” with the word “viewers.” Suddenly we all see the dollar signs.



Think about the demographic that Facebook has captured. Traditional advertising has been fighting for this culture group for years. Want middle to upper class, 18-24 year olds? They’re on Facebook, and it makes sense when in fact the Facebook creator and world’s youngest billionaire, Mark Zuckerberg, is only 24 years old. You might say that he speaks their language.

So what does this have to do with us, Internet marketers? This is obviously a major platform for exposure to one of the most impressionable and profitable demographics online. Time magazine even discovered that Facebook is more popular than porn with college students. How is that even possible?

So how do you get the stage for this audience?

Facebook advertisment is certainly one way to approach it. These have proven to be some of the most successful ad campaigns in the history of social networking (which I suppose is not that long). Every user has a “Home” page that gives them news and updates about their various friends, updates on Facebook changes, as well as short little ads. The most successful of these ads are the ones that make announcements about new products or offer some kind of update for users. You will also find image and text ads on the right side of profile pages, specifically targeted for certain demographics. In fact, in the Facebook ad creation form, you can actually designate the age group you would like to reach, where they are from, and specific keywords that might be found in their profiles. This is truly amazing ad control.

Also, most online marketers have long realized the importance of viral participation in major social networking communities. This is an excellent way to get your brand in front of target markets without beating them over the head with advertisement language. Company Facebook profiles and groups can accumulate quite a following, especially if there is useful or interesting information being posted, videos being uploaded, or other incentives for users. Most Internet marketers have barely tapped the surface of creating a Facebook presence but have already realized results. Facebook can produce citations/references, brand awareness, community interaction, and yes, even links.

If your company is not involved on Facebook, I hope these numbers give you a kick in the pants to get started. Take it step by step. There is no need to be afraid. Start by signing up and creating a profile, NOW!


About the Author: Peter Hamilton is the Project Manager in charge of the Seattle office of ArteWorks SEO. His interest and experience in search engine marketing is largely focused on the social media optimization and multi-media facets of exposure. To learn more about search engine optimization, visit www.arteworks.biz.

I am sick and tired, tired and sick of potential clients asking me how many directories I will submit their site to. “But in this proposal, they said directory submissions are essential!” For most of us in the SEO world, this beast has been dead and buried for some time, but how do we get the word out that directory submissions are no longer the super highway to link building success? (as if they ever really were) I suggest that every SEO company include a blog post on this very subject. It would be great to be able to throw down 15 links to all the major agencies talking about the myth of directory submissions boosting your link juice.

So obviously this will serve as my post. When considering all of the wonderful things that actually create valuable link juice, it is easy to see that most directories have none of these things.

1. Content – It is the king, and directories often have very little of it. There might be a few 200 word blurbs, but as far as valuable or entertaining content creation on a regular basis, directories are extremely lacking.

2. Indexing (with verified sitemap) – Upon closer look, you might realize that many of the interior pages of directories are not even indexed in major search engines. In fact, you might be submitting to be included on a page that does not even exist to Google, Yahoo, or MSN. (might want to check on that)

3. Relevance – Are these directories really relevant to your industry? When your website is submitted to hundreds, if not thousands, of directories, how do you know the relevance of those directories? Any time you talk about doing a hundred or more things at one time I start to get a bit nervous.

4. Incoming Links – Who links to a directory? Seriously, most directories have very little link flow themselves, which is why their PageRank usually matches. So why does it make sense that a link from a directory with no PageRank is valuable link juice?

5. Outgoing Links – How many sites are these directories linking out to? Any PageRank that a directory might have attained is then immediately dispersed to the several hundred sites in their listings, giving a client’s website a very small piece of the pie.

Now with that said, there are a couple of directories that can be useful for referral traffic, such as Yahoo Directory and Business.com, and even beyond those, some niche directories have their place. However, these are not the type of directory submissions SEO companies are peddling. Clients can easily submit their websites to these directories themselves, and each should be individually considered. Even if an SEO company claims to manually submit to directories, you must again consider all of the factors listed above and seriously debate the value of submitting to any directories, especially if your goal is search engine optimization. I think you will find that 95% of the time the link juice just is not there.

About the Author: Peter Hamilton is the Project Manager in charge of the Seattle office of ArteWorks SEO. His interest and experience in Internet marketing is largely focused on the social media optimization and multi-media facets of exposure. To learn more about this search engine optimization company, visit www.arteworks.biz.

Though I was very busy last week and only made it over to the Online Marketing Summit Conference in the afternoon, I felt that my experience was well worth documenting. After getting a call from a friend and colleague that I should really take the time to drop by, I headed downtown to catch the last two sessions of the day. Having attended some rather large and reputable Internet marketing conferences, I must admit that my expectations were not very high. Let me tell you that I was pleasantly surprised.

With an attendance of only a few hundred people, I felt like the size was one of the greatest assets of the conference. It was a tighter group of folks, and guess what? they were mostly from Seattle. In terms of networking, it was great to meet people close by (both in house and agency side), rather than having to completely depend on things like Facebook to stay connected.

The first session I attended focused on Social Media Communities, and I was very impressed with the various industry examples and excellent ideas and advice about creating online communities from the session's speaker, Barry Tallis of Jive. The following session, and final for the day, was an expert panel designed to field questions on just about anything Internet marketing related, which took on the form of a great SMM discussion. This was one of the best conference panels I have seen in a while. The responses were candid and genuine, and minus all the BS. Panelists included:

Shane Atchison – CEO & cofounder of ZAAZ – Is a long time industry expert, going back to the creation of ZAAZ in 1998. Some of their clients include Starbucks, T-Mobile, Disney, Fox Television Network, Microsoft Corporation, and National Geographic, just to name a few…

Liza Tewell - REI.com Online Editor – REI has long been a major player in online commerce and social media spaces. I found Liza’s comments to be very insightful from a client perspective, and it was great to see the level of interest REI has in the social space.

Olivier Chaine – CEO & Founder of Magnify360 – Another fantastic mind in the social world of Internet Marketing. He has spent many years on both the client and agency side and he made for substantial addition to the knowledge base.

Matt Holleran - vtrenz - an iMarketing Automation for salesforce.com's AppExchange.

What a great group! Questions to the panel were rewarded with a cocktail of the asker’s choice, for which I received my shot of Tequila. niiice…

The "drinks/networking" event afterwards was extremely down to earth and enjoyable, complete with raffles and plenty of eats (the cheese was the best), and I really felt like it was easy to connect with some great people. This was definitely the best 5 hours I have spent at a conference this year. And after speaking with Aaron Kahlow and Jimmy Huh of BusinessOL.com (Conference hosts), I found out why. Their goal is to create educational sessions without all of the ridiculous product and service plugging. Each speaker is required to submit their material in advance so that any overt marketing ploys and otherwise useless pieces of information are edited out. They are trying to bring the bare bones truths of the industry directly to the attendees.

I realize some of the sparkle of OMS is directly related to the smaller number in attendance, but I hope they find a way to keep that close knit feeling as they will undoubtedly grow. I love the concept and I urge everyone to check it out, especially if it comes to a city near you!

About the Author: Peter Hamilton is the Project Manager in charge of the Seattle office of ArteWorks SEO. His interest and experience in Internet marketing is largely focused on the social media optimization and multi-media facets of exposure. To learn more about reputation management and this search engine optimization firm, visit www.arteworks.biz.

Well so am I! I guess I am a little behind the wagon train because I just signed up on this recent addition to Google’s bag of tricks. A “knol” as defined by Google is a “unit of knowledge.” Of course, I am a bit unclear about what a “unit” of knowledge really means and if it is supposed to be a metric or US unit, but nonetheless, it is some type of unit. Upon visiting knol.google.com, I signed up for my own profile, for which I was then required to verify over the telephone. It felt like I was sucked into that early 90’s movie Sneakers - “my voice is my passport, verify me,” though I am not comparing myself to Robert Redford in any way. Once I was in and all verified up, I was then allowed to write my very first Knol, and how exhilarating it was to create my very own “unit of knowledge.”

As the initial excitement began to wear off, I found myself quite familiar with this Wikipedia style content submission, the main difference being less focus on terminology and definitions and more on full articles with unique titles. Just like Wikipedia however, other users can comment on and amend the submissions of other users. The idea being that information will continue to be revised and updated to provide the best information to readers.

I was pleasantly surprised to find that anchortext links are quite welcome and encouraged by the edit html tool found on the editing page for any knol. So of course I tossed in a link back to me and a few others to various sites I think worthy, so I guess we’ll see what that does. I was also able to add “bio” to my profile, which also included some anchortext, but the interesting thing is that this bio is also considered a knol. I suppose my life story (not really) is at least a unit or two of knowledge. You never know what you might be asked on in the final round of Jeopardy.

Since the creation over eight months ago, Google’s knol has gained a bit of press in search engine circles. Various SEO’s have run experiments to see how the mother ship search engine treats this little toddler finding some pretty interesting results. It seems as though Google tends to give it some preferential treatment when it comes to ranking content from the Knol versus identical content posted previously on other websites. David Utter talked about this yesterday on a Web Pro News Blog. Personally I don’t see too much of a problem with it. They have been giving the same preferential treatment to their other services like adwords, analytics, blogging, and email for years, as do all of the other search engines.

By and large, I think this is a very interesting new space to explore, and I certainly plan on contributing quite regularly. I think Google is on the right track by introducing some more user generated spaces. The social media trend continues to grow, and they should continue to think of new ways to join the game in order to stay on top.

About the Author: Peter Hamilton is the Project Manager in charge of the Seattle office of ArteWorks SEO. His interest and experience in Internet marketing is largely focused on the social media optimization and multi-media facets of exposure. To learn more about reputation management and this search engine optimization firm, visit www.arteworks.biz.

In the old days, unless someone sent a letter to the editor or started an all out advertisement war, most big companies had little difficulty keeping a tight hold on their reputations. Unfortunately for some, the information age has turned the world of reputation management upside down. Anyone with a computer and a dial-up connection (or just an iPhone in their pocket), can post whatever slanderous thoughts they have or take out their frustrations on anyone in a very public way, and because search engines appreciate the authenticity of blogs and other user generated content, these comments, rants, and raves often find their way into extremely visible positions. Agreed, some companies probably deserve it, but the really sad thing is that many great businesses hurt by one person’s statements, suddenly lose an incredible amount of online credibility.

Social media websites have amplified the situation incredibly. These user-generated meccas are permeating search indexes and grabbing ranking results in virtually every possible market. Decide you don’t like the company you work for? Just give them a thumbs down in Stumbleupon and leave a nasty comment. It is so easy for a single voice to be heard that companies are walking on pens and needles, afraid of their social networking savvy employees or customers. Don’t get me wrong, I believe in a freedom of speech, but some of these negative claims have no foundation in truth, and in some circumstances, the company is just an innocent bystander.
Luckily, it is still possible to control online reputations using a very similar principle as in the old days.

Own the space.

By taking over the entire space for particular search terms, companies don’t have to worry about those one off bloggers or that one disgruntled customer (who was being unreasonable anyway). Consider a search for the phrase “hillary clinton.” I am quite certain that this senator as a large amount of slanderous material written about her online, but somehow a Google search does not reveal any of that material for at least the first two pages. Now does this mean there are not hundreds of blogs devoted to running her name through the mud? of course not. Because Hillary has a large amount of valuable and heavily linked online material associated with her name, she owns the search ranking space for her name.

Yes, this is an extreme example, but any company can take control of their name space by producing great content, building the strength of that content in the search engines, and using that content to build the strength of other websites in that space, are things that reputable SEO firms should have no problem accomplishing. Sometimes negative comments can stay in the rankings for years, and there is no reason why any organization or individual has to stand by helplessly as their reputation suffers. Online reputation management is a great way to protect your brand.

About the Author: Peter Hamilton is the Project Manager in charge of the Seattle office of ArteWorks SEO. His interest and experience in Internet marketing is largely focused on the social media optimization and multi-media facets of exposure. To learn more about reputation management and this search engine optimization firm, visit www.arteworks.biz.

Yet another conflict arose at this year’s SMX Advanced here in Seattle, WA. Just a short jaunt from my home in Seattle, I was pleased to have a bit of controversy in my own backyard. Jay Young, of Link Fish Media stepped up to the “Blow Your Mind Link Building Techniques” session, intending to do just that. Among other “brass balls” techniques, Jay is a hearty advocate of Paid Links, suggesting that it is a perfectly legitimate marketing method and that SEO’s and small businesses should not be afraid of Google’s iron fist.

The Google Fist himself, Matt Cutts, later took the stage in a session called “You and a Session with Matt Cutts,” in which he proceeded to morally challenge the likes of Jay Young by questioning who wants to be in an industry like that. Unfortunately for Matt, it seems we are already very much in an industry like that, and I don’t know about you, but my arm was never twisted. To me it is almost like asking who would want to live in a world where money equaled power or sex sells products. The fact of the matter is that money does produce success, especially in marketing. Saying it is not fair for a company to purchase links for the sake of their online visibility is like saying it isn’t fair that one restaurant has a great location and atmosphere and therefore gets all of the traffic, while the taco shack on the corner has much better food (not a perfect analogy I know, but you get the point). In a perfect world the Internet, and all search engines associated with it, would remain unbiased and reflect only the best, most relevant content. But even then we have a problem. The “best” is always subjective, and the “most relevant” content is certainly an opinion. Historically, we have always been told what is best by the government or the church, but mainly by big business. Themz the cold hard facts of life, and it will be no different for the Internet, unfortunately.

So while it may seem unjust or shallow, you must ask yourself the question, “do I want to play the game?” Perhaps this whole world of business is just too cutthroat, too self seeking, and too unfair. If that is the case, any type of marketing or profit seeking venture is probably not the best place for you. May I remind everyone that all of the major engines make a great deal of their profits directly from link sales. Anyone paying for Adword links? How are search engines exempt? Besides, buying and selling links can also produce a healthy dose of commerce and help people find already trusted companies who have achieved great financial success. In a funny way, bought links can actually produce better content for the web. Just as paid advertisement has allowed for the creation of some of the world’s greatest news stations, films, and television shows, so can link selling provide a great incentive for producing excellent web content.

Officially, ArteWorks SEO does not participate in link buying or selling, but I am not going to judge another for participating in what seems to me to be a perfectly natural way of doing business. Though I love the idea of a pure search engine that only brings me the best content and a world where all people help others before themselves, I am faced with the reality that not everyone is going to promote my business for me or give me the shirt off their back. I have to agree with Jay that this is marketing, not morality. The day I see Yahoo pages ranking in the top results on Google, and visa versa, perhaps I will give this some more thought. For now, I will call it a difference in ethical opinion in which both sides have their flaws.

About the Author: Peter Hamilton is the Project Manager in charge of the Seattle office of ArteWorks SEO. His interest and experience in Internet marketing is largely focused on the social media and multi-media facets of exposure. To learn more about this search engine optimization company, visit www.arteworks.biz.