I guess it's time to play with the big kids. I have been in the SEO trenches for oh, six or seven years now mainly doing link building and search engine copywriting all the while sitting across from my business partner/husband absorbing all that is this crazy profession of search engine optimization. In the shadow of the SES New York 2007 (which I did not attend) I figured it would be a good time and place to finally start our blog.

For my first installation, I would like to include in all its rawness and lack of editting, my notes after SES New York 2004.

Search Engine Strategies Conference NYC 2004

Lori Pearson, the VP Marketing for Trafficdeveloper attended the Search Engine Strategies Conference held in New York City in early March of this year. What a whirlwind of excitement and information! Among the topics discussed was The Future of Search Engine Marketing- and let me tell you folks, it's here to stay. One person was quoted as saying that the Internet without search engine marketing is like a car without door handles. I will add- that if you don't hop in now, it's going to take off without you! Our clients can rest assured that we are on top of the trends and gained a wealth of good information and new strategies on how to help your site become the best marketing tool for your business.

Among the interesting tidbits I learned is that search is expected to be a nine billion dollar industry by 2007 and will still remain the most cost effective way for advertisers to spend their marketing dollars. Users will graduate to larger search terms (3-4 words) as they become more internet savvy. Marketing principles that have been traditionally used in other mediums will gain greater importance on the web. Paid inclusion and paid advertising is here to stay and will only get larger and more competitive as big dollar companies eat up premium paid listings and ad campaigns on the major search engines.

The most important search engines (Google, Yahoo, Ask Jeeves ) promise that websites will always be given equal consideration in the organic listings based on their relevancy to a topic- but the trend of paid listings mixed in with organic ones is already being tried by Yahoo- and I'm afraid that the dollar signs may prove more enticing than the ethics of good content and relevancy. And what will Google do when they are pressured by investors after they go public? All the die-hards will drive their Lamborgini's out of there at top speed never to be seen again and the people left behind will be forced to grow, grow, grow- make more money and eventually cave in to the pressure to go down the paid inclusion highway.

I can't help but see the future of search engines as being parallel to television. Major syndicated networks and their advertisers feed us a bunch of fluff so that we can see 100 commercials for Budwieser and Applebees (Yahoo and Google)
and the stations (engines) that really provide good content will be small and localized, and the only place that the little, unique and interesting company or idea will be able to afford to advertise or be heard (like public t.v.- or radio for that matter). But people won't be able to buy a computer that doesn't have an automatic homepage that goes to Yahoo or Google and only the diligent will weed through the corporate mess.

The whole reason that people loved the internet in the first place was because it was empowering. There is an authority that the searcher gains by searching. You can find exactly what you want- and in your point of view- no matter how mainstream or alternative. I fear that there is the potential for this to be lost because unfortunately I predict it will become all about the money. Will we have a couple more media conglomerates to add to the (very short) list. Yahoo and Google? hmmm

Yes folks, that's what I wrote verbatim. Of course, at SES 2004 I was viewed as a bit of a loon for these comments, some of which I made in public. But I was, and actually remain a cheerleader for the underdog. For me, a big SEO budget has become exciting because of the endless online marketing possiblities available today- but it still pales in comparison to the creativity involved in taking a small SEO budget and achieving huge results. This is basically what Trafficdeveloper still does for many of our clients.

Labels: 2004, History, SEO, SES New York