Entries Tagged 'mainstream media' ↓

My recent shots at mainstream media aside (remembering I was part of the MSM for decades!), I am happy to report that folks are still reading print. That’s the evidence of the Google U article in Biz Magazine Nov 2008 I authored.

Several businesses called me after reading the article - my outline of the business benefits of search engine optimization, including the case study of a retail website I helped get better page rankings. That company, Custom Orthotics Design Group, Ltd., is quoted in my article:

“…[Linda] Laakso turned to a professional SEO agency that conducted extensive keyword research, wrote the pages to SEO specifications and conducted linkbuilding – all with the purpose of getting those two [new product] web pages ranked high on Google’s list of search results. Within two weeks, Custom Orthotic was listed in the top five results for the search terms specific to her new products! The investment of a few hundred dollars gave her web exposure like she’d never had before.”

I think the sidebar I wrote to accompany this article, titled “How to Find a Good Search Engine Optimizer” was equally as popular with readers; any warning flags in a sea of SEO specialists are appreciated!

Anyhoo, I’m happy with any way I can get more businesses to embrace search, social media, digital PR and all other aspects of Internet marketing - heck, even print can be worth the effort!

Some traditional, mainstream media continues to have a hate-on for the field of Search Engine Optimization… Why, when it’s been proven so effective in generating new business? Ah, there’s the rub..!

The green-eye monster plays no small part in the SEO-bashing. Offline publishers and old-school web marketers are jealously eyeing the fruits of SEO and deciding the grapes are sour, anyway (while more and more of them frantically bone up on SEO knowledge!)

Respected SEO guru Aaron Wall recently said in an interview:

“All throughout history established businesses have tried to diminish and vilify new business models and new competing businesses…. I think when SEO stops delivering such a strong ROI it will be considered a legitimate business practice.”

Ha! Put that in your pipe and smoke it, mainstream media!

I just came across this major contradiction by journalist Steven Straus writing, “Get on Google’s Good Side with SEO.”

“…there is in fact a great way to market your business that is not expensive and is very effective. However, it is quite time-consuming. It’s called search engine optimization. SEO gets you noticed, is practically free marketing and increases sales. SEO is the magic bullet.”

“Quite time-consuming” AND “practically free”?? How does that work? Time is money, naturally… whether or not you use your own staffing resources (payroll costs) for search engine optimization (SEO) or you outsource it to an SEO expert.

Warning: MSM at large

But when I consider the source - Strauss is a USA Today columnist - I am not surprised he would make such a misleading statement. What does a veteran of mainstream media (MSM) know about search and Internet marketing?

I suggest that his observations about the cost of SEO be taken with a (very large) grain of salt.

Do your bit for the environment - invest in search engine optimization instead of advertising in a print magazine or newspaper. That way, you help save trees and get face time on the the built-in marketing channel known as the Internet!

Not to mention that, with SEO getting more eyeballs on your products/services, you aren’t dealing with issues that haunt print publications:

No website ever ended up at the bottom of a birdcage - unlike the fate of newspapers and magazines after their limited shelf life.

Search engine-optimized websites will show you exactly how your prospects are coming to you; tracking leads from mag ads is still largely a guessing guess.

OK, you don’t have to boycott print publications… I’ve got nothing against them. (In fact, I used to edit and write for several magazines and newspapers.) They can be an effective marketing vehicle, especially specialty magazines and other niche publications.

But be sure your Internet marketing efforts are getting some of your best bucks; SEO will give you the biggest bang, for sure, when it comes to generating new business.

Be search engine-friendly. Be environmentally-friendly.

Happy Earth Day to you from all of us at writingSEO!