| From the Editor: |
 Dear
Subscriber,
You might have noticed that it's been a couple of months since our last newsletter. My apologies for that, but I've got two excellent excuses. First up, I've been in hospital for major surgery. Those of you so inclined can read all about it here.
Secondly, we shifted our newsletter management from Constant Contact to AWeber and it's taken us a few weeks to get to grips with the new software and design a newsletter template within their system.
So do you like the new design? We thought it was high time for a fresh look, especially as we are celebrating nearly 7 years of The Search Light. I also thought we could use a new banner at the top that better reflected our newsletter name. I'd love to hear your feedback on the new Search Light. Drop me a line with your thoughts and ideas for future articles you'd like to see featured.
Speaking of articles, the feature article for this month is a breakdown and comparison of all the search engine marketing training options available. I originally presented it as a slide show at Search Engine Summit in Sydney earlier this year and then realized that the content would make a great article. So if you've ever wanted to learn search engine marketing but weren't sure what methods were available or where to start, make sure you have a read. It could give you just the inspiration you need to start a new career!
Enjoy this issue and remember to visit the Ask Kalena blog to check out my daily answers to frequently asked search engine questions or submit one of your own.
Till next time - wishing you clicks and conversions...
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| Feature Article: | |
SEM Industry Training: What are the Options?
By Kalena Jordan
The State of SEM Training
Search Engine Marketing is the hottest new career to sweep the employment sector. There are literally more jobs available than there are marketers to fill them, hence the high salaries. Traditionally, SEO/SEM has had a long, steep learning curve, so there is currently a large supply/demand gap.
The growth of the industry has underscored the need for faster, more flexible training options. The demand for trained SEO/SEM staff has accelerated the launch of online training programs in the past three years. The spread of misinformation and the growth of dodgy SEO practices have also highlighted a need for best-practice industry certification.
Advantages of a Career in SEM
Here are the major advantages of having a career in search engine marketing:
1. The search industry is hot, hot, HOT!
2. SEO considered one of four jobs on the cutting edge
3. The pay is (usually) fantastic
4. You can learn it all online
5. You can be your own boss
6. Search marketing has the WOW factor
7. The demand is strong and growing
8. The industry is hip and groovy
9. The skills are portable and global
10. Job satisfaction is high
SEM Training Options
If you decide to start that career in search engine marketing, you have numerous training options open to you:
- Do It Yourself (DIY)
- E-books and online manuals
- Books and offline manuals
- Conferences and seminars
- In-person training
- Online courses
Do It Yourself (DIY)
You could try to learn search engine marketing on your own, by conducting your own research, reading widely in webmaster forums and honing your skills on your own sites via trial and error.
The advantages of learning SEM on your own are:
- You can set your own timeframe
- It's generally inexpensive
- You have the satisfaction of acquiring skills on your own
The disadvantages of learning SEM on your own are:
- There is a very long lead time
- You will be faced with conflicting and unreliable information sources
- There is only a limited ability to network with peers
- Research is time-consuming
- You won't know what works and what doesn't until you trial it
- You'll have no record or proof of skills acquired
E-books and Online Manuals
There are plenty of e-books and manuals about search engine marketing available online.
The advantages of learning SEM via e-books and manuals are:
- They are generally inexpensive
- They are readily available
The disadvantages of learning SEM via e-books and manuals are:
- They are generally considered lower quality than training
- There is no interaction with your peers
- You'll have no record or proof of skills acquired
Examples of SEM e-books and manuals include:
Books and Offline Manuals
As with online versions, there are just as many physical books, CDs and offline training manuals available to persons wanting to learn search engine marketing.
The advantages of learning SEM via books and offline manuals are:
- They are usually inexpensive
- They are readily available
The advantages of learning SEM via books and offline manuals are:
- The information dates quickly
- There is no interaction with your peers
- You'll have no proof of skills acquired
Examples of SEM books and offline manuals include:
- Search Engine Visibility by Shari Thurow
Conferences and Seminars
As search engine marketing has grown as an industry, so too have the number of conferences and events dedicated to it.
The advantages of learning SEM via conferences and seminars are:
- They offer cutting edge information
- They often provide access to search engine staff
- They give you the ability to network with peers
The disadvantages of learning SEM via conferences and seminars are:
- You must travel to the venue
- They generally provide no training material
- They can be more expensive than other options
- You'll have no record or proof of skills acquired
Examples of SEM conferences and seminars include:
- Search Engine Watch's Search Engine Strategies
In-person Training
Just as the number of conferences relating to search engine marketing has grown, so too has the demand for in-house training in SEO and SEM subjects.
The advantages of learning SEM via in-person training are:
- It generally includes step-by-step instructions
- Training material is usually provided
- Verification of subjects studied is provided
- You have the ability to network with your peers
- Some form of certification is generally given
- University credits are sometimes available
- Certification may be recognized by potential employers
The disadvantages of learning SEM via in-person training are:
- You must travel to the venue
- The information can date quickly
- It can be more expensive than other options
Examples of SEM in-person training include:
Bruce Clay's SEOToolSet
Jill Whalen's SEM Seminars
Robin Noble's Search Engine Workshops
Search Engine Bootcamp
Elite Retreat
Online Training Courses
It's not always viable or affordable for webmasters to attend conferences or training sessions at a venue other than their home or workplace. For these reasons, the demand for online training in search engine marketing subjects has skyrocketed.
The advantages of learning SEM via online training courses are:
- Courses are available 24/7 from any location worldwide
- Training materials are provided
- They are usually cheaper than venue-based options
- They generally include step-by-step instructions
- Courses are self-paced and interactive
- Certification is provided
- A knowledge benchmark is required to qualify for certification
- Verification of subjects studied is provided
- The lesson materials are updated regularly
- University credits are sometimes available
- Certification is usually recognized by potential employers
- Training institutions can assist graduates with employment
The disadvantages of learning SEM via online training courses are:
- They can be more expensive than other options
- There is only a limited ability to network with peers
Providers of online training courses in search engine marketing include:
SEMPO Institute
Search Engine College
Benefits of Industry Certification
When it comes to industry certification, there are various schools of thought in the SEM industry. Some suggest certification is simply not necessary, others state that SEO/SEM has no official industry standards, so any certification is meaningless, still others insist that certification is becoming increasingly important to potential employers and persons seeking careers in SEO and SEM.
If you're skeptical about the value of industry certification, ask yourself these questions: Will you be looking to hire search marketing staff over the next 12 months? Would you prefer to hire search marketing staff that hold industry certification? Will you be seeking a job in the search industry over the next 12 months? Do you think holding industry certification would give you an edge over applicants applying for the same jobs?
Here are some advantages to having industry certification in search engine marketing:
For Staff:
- Proof of subjects studied and skills acquired
- Ability to promote certification on web site / CV
- An edge over other applicants when applying for SEO/SEM jobs.
For Employers:
- Ability to hire based on a proven skill set (e.g. ability to set up a Yahoo! SEM campaign quickly).
- Ability to impress clients with certified status of staff.
- Reassurance that search engine-approved methods are used.
- Less on-the-job training is required.
To Sum Up
Everyone has a different learning style, so don't assume one method will work for you. Don't rely on a single source of training for your search engine marketing needs. Attend conferences, purchase books, take a course, network in forums and DIY when you can to acquire a broader knowledge base.
Finally, remember that training should always be supported by hands-on SEO/SEM experience so get those hands dirty!
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Have a great day!
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FAQ 1: How long will it take search engines to update my new keywords?
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Dear Kalena...
My question is to do with keywords and how often search engines update them. If I change my keyword or key phrase for a page how long would it take Google to update its index for the keyword or phrase so that it now shows up in a search for that new keyword?
Regards
Clive
Dear Clive
Search engines don't update on the basis of keywords. They re-index the code on your pages and how often they do this depends on their own update schedule. If you've verified your site with Google's Webmaster Tools and Yahoo Site Explorer, you can view your stats to get an idea of how often your site pages are indexed.
Whether or not your site begins to rank for new target keywords depends on how well you've optimized your pages for those keywords and how relevant the search engines now determine it to be. If you've optimized well and your pages are indexed regularly, you should see the results within a week or two. But in terms of Google, you may need to wait for a major database shuffle before you see your revised pages showing up for new keyword searches.
Kalena
FAQ 2: Will search engines obey the robots.txt if a robots meta tag is used per page?
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Dear Kalena...
I am running a CMS (joomla) and have robots.txt configured for the pages I want indexed. however, I noticed that the CMS is automatically appending the meta robots tag (index, follow) to every single page - yikes! So my question is, will Googlebot respect robots.txt or be led astray by the meta robots tag?
Thank you!
AP Clarke
Dear AP
I think Joomla has an option of turning off the automatic tag appending. Search engines usually follow robots.txt in the first instance, but some will obey the robots meta tag per page, so if you don't want to risk confusing search bots, try to turn off that meta robots tag option or manually delete it from the code after publishing.
Kalena
FAQ 3: Does it matter to search engines if my pages are PHP or HTML?
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Dear Kalena...
Does it matter if I write my web pages in php or html? Does it hurt me to use php pages, or is it a benefit? Any suggestion to improve my site? Thanks for your input. I really appreciate it!
Barry
Dear Barry
Nope. Whatever programming language you choose to design your site with, just make sure you use clean, valid code, preferably in combination with CSS to help reduce code bloat.
Kalena
FAQ 4: Is it best to use single keywords or variations and phrases in PPC campaigns?
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Dear Kalena...
I am in the process of setting up a PPC campaign on Google AdWords and I have found a keyword that looks promising. So what I have done is to use the Google Estimator.
With this keyword I have used exact match, phrase match and broad match and the google traffic estimator gave me estimates for my keyword. I notice that the traffic estimates vary a lot through the three of them. So I just tried one keyword and the estimates were higher.
Is it best to use one keyword or is it best to use the variations on the keyword you like? I hope you know what I mean.
Graeme
Dear Graeme
You've got to be very careful when choosing your keyword matching types. Broad match and phrase match will always show a higher number of searches in the Keyword Estimator than exact match because using those matching options result in your ad being shown for more variations of your keyword.
The use of broad match for your keywords will trigger your ads to appear for a much wider number of search queries and save you time researching an exhaustive list of related keywords to target. However broad matching can drain a PPC budget very quickly and result in your ad being shown for unsuitable or less relevant search queries, lowering your conversion rate and increasing your overall cost-per-conversion. For these reasons, broad matching options should be used cautiously and in close consultation with negative keywords.
In my campaigns, I use a combination of phrase match and exact match and I use 2 or 3 word keyword phrases and variations instead of generic keywords. It requires more keyword research, but it means I know *exactly* what search combinations will trigger my ads to appear so I can better design my ads to suit. It also saves me money. Knowing which matching options to use for which keywords and phrases and when to adjust them will give you much better control over your campaign's performance and click-through costs.
Kalena
FAQ 5: Is the Meta Description Tag important anymore?
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Dear Kalena...
My friend and I are having a debate about the value of the meta description tag. He says that search engines don't index them anymore and so you don't need to use one. I think that he's wrong and that search engines will use them in the search results pages to describe your site, but if you don't include one, you might find a snippet of text from your page being used instead.
Who's right?
Anther
Dear Anther
Great question! The answer depends on each search engine. For example, Google and Yahoo will sometimes use part of your META Description tag, but they will usually use a snippet of text on your web page that includes the exact search query entered. But if your site is listed in the Yahoo Directory, Yahoo will often use your editor-created description from there. If your site is listed in the ODP, Google may use your ODP description.
As Ammon Johns says in this post at cre8asite forums, the most valuable use of the META Description tag is to write it in a way that is going to convince relevant visitors to click on your link if it is shown in the SERPs. Always write a unique META Description for each page on your site and make sure it accurately describes your page and the content users are going to find on it so you only attract clicks from qualified visitors looking for exactly the information you are offering.
Kalena
FAQ 6: Should I swap links with this site?
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Dear Kalena...
I have received a link request from [site URL removed] to exchange links. Should I do it?
Susan
Dear Susan
If you look at the page where they are placing their "links", you will see that the links are actually embedded in Javascript code. This is a sneaky way to make it look like there is a link to your site from theirs (to the naked eye), but it is not a text link that search engines can read, so it might as well not exist.
The best links are when popular sites and directories link to you, but you don't necessarily link back to them. This is what this site was trying to do to you - having you link to them, but them having no real link to you. Search engines are clued in to sites exchanging links to try to boost each other's results, so they don't give as high "marks" when each site links back to the other as they do when there is only a one way link from one site to the other.
This site is betting that you will use a simple HTML link on your site so that they can get some value from you linking to them, but you will get nothing from them in return. Just ignore them.
Kalena
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