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.

Arguably the most popular online photo management and sharing application on the Internet today, Flickr boast some 1.5 million users and counting. As for many social media networks, businesses are quickly realizing the value of such a dense and active audience, and like any social media marketing campaign, it is important for businesses to not only set up an account with appropriate titles, tags, and so on, but also to become active and productive members of the Flickr community, utilizing the full potential.

By posting quality photography representing local businesses, products, services, or even ideas and tagging them according to location, subject, or keyphrase, these photos have a high potential for appearing in image searches for engines like Google and Yahoo, not to mention the possible visibility on actual Flickr searches. The recent development of Universal Search has upped the ante yet again by making it possible for images to appear in the main organic ranking results. When photos gain this kind of visibility, they can begin to greatly impact viral marketing efforts, actually search engine rankings, and especially web traffic, which is why so many businesses are jumping on the Flickr exchange.

The success of a photo or group of photos depends on many things, but mostly on the “interestingness” of the images. Now this may seem somewhat arbitrary, but I assure you it is quite the opposite. Flickr has employed an algorithmic ranking system to rival the Googlebots. An image’s interestingness is based on the number of people who view it, comment on it, and mark it as a favorite. If those who mark it as a favorite are themselves favorites of a host of others, that vote is weighted more, and thus it is an ever changed and growing web of users that gradually push the best material to the top. Though the Google and Yahoo image searches work on a similar principle, the results found on Flickr searches are vastly superior, and thus the image search experience is becoming hugely popularized by this new social media platform.

Though some business marketing campaigns focus on Flickr for the potential impact on organic search engine rankings, many quickly find the rewards from actual Flickr searches surprisingly fruitful. Yes, regular participation, quality images, and strategic tagging can find their way into major search engine results, but the large base of avid users found on Flickr alone can provide companies with a wealth of traffic and recognition. I highly recommend creating an account and spending the time to become an active user, you might even enjoy it. If you and your staff are finding it difficult to navigate or strategize, seek the advice or services of a knowledgeable search engine optimization company that has an active social media department.

About the Author: Peter Hamilton is the Project Manager in charge of the Seattle office of ArteWorks SEO. He has a Bachelor's degree in radio, television and film and extensive experience in social media marketing. Mr. Hamilton also heads up the ArteWorks SEO educational video series on topics related to Internet marketing and search engine optimization. If you would like to view the free educational SEO video series, please visit www.arteworks.biz.