Good Search Marketer Characteristics

There's no secret to the fact that if you can get links from other web pages to yours, you will see an increase in traffic. There are numerous products available that claim to help you accomplish this goal. Sometimes you can get the links with some basic skills often overlooked in today's service oriented market.

How about this one? Saying something nice about a group of people as a whole.

That is what Rob Garner did when he wrote about our professional characteristics. I am sharing an excerpt from his column and a link so you can read it in it's entirety. Mr. Garner's views are very complimentary and I would largely agree with him (what a surprise!).

"Characteristics of good search people

Good search marketers are a special breed and in very high demand. While there may currently be a shortage, this new breed of practitioners possess a few key characteristics that you should look for, or help develop, within an existing agency or in-house search team.

Ability to think globally and objectively. Good search marketing people can see and understand the universe of search elements, and make decisions on how one might impact the other. This includes paid and natural dynamics, Web sites, analytics and an understanding of a company's business.

Ability to think analytically. Search marketing people are always asking '"how?" and "why?" If we outsource these key questions to technology alone, dollars are lost and overall campaign performance suffers. Examples of these questions may include "How are natural algorithmic changes impacting sales?", "How are they affecting complementary paid search campaigns?" and "Why are current search conversions differing from previous historic trends?"

Ability to think creatively. Thinking creatively not only addresses the "how" and the "why," but also helps to solve problems, create efficiency and formulate strategies to address the ever-changing search landscape. The creativity of people reveals itself in strategy, reporting, keyword research, technical solutions, team communication and many other areas.

Does not shy away from tough problems. Fortitude is an essential element in the holistic mindset. Good search people are constantly refining data and applying insight to create efficiency. They also adjust to the daily changes in the search landscape.
Diversity of background. Some of the greatest search observations have come from people with diverse backgrounds not related to search. I have been influenced by people who have applied their backgrounds in law, investment brokerage, public relations, music, art, language and psychology.

Accepts that search is not perfect. The holistic search marketer is constantly adapting, and accepts change as a part of the business. If you truly believe that search is simple and perfect, then you're not looking hard enough for areas of improvement.
Has an appetite for instruction. Also at the top of the list of characteristics for successful search engine marketers is a voracious appetite for knowledge about search. These folks don't begrudge time spent attending seminars, reading books, testing out concepts, and reading the daily news, blogs and newsletters. Instead, they seek out such experiences."

Here is the article in full:
http://publications.mediapost.com/index.cfm?fuseactionfiltered=Articles.showArticle&art_aid=50279

Now, he and I have never met and we could be considered competitors in some regards, but he has now received a link from my resources to his which will help him in the Search Engines. At this point, this is a one-way link because there is no reciprocal link from him to me. This link will weigh slightly more in the algorithms of the various Search Engines because there is no back link to me.

Perhaps this will change. We all monitor to see where we are visible on the Web. Perhaps I will gain a link from one of his resources in the future that will help my claims for relevance. Even if I do not, I have still gained because I had some good content to share with you today and an opportunity to demonstrate that multiple approaches to advertising can be successfully completed with a little imagination.

Mike Myklin is an author, lecturer, and e-commerce owner who specializes in Internet Marketing. He can be reached through mike@myklin.com and http://www.myklin.com where you can find archives of these articles.

Provide Services - Not Websites

Ask people what they think the Internet is made of and I would bet most of them would answer, “websites”. It’s a natural answer and it shows how most people look at the electronic world. I have a different answer to offer you today.

For me, the Internet is a place where services are performed. Even if what I am looking for is a new shirt, what I am looking for is someone to offer me the convenience of a low price, a selection I can not find locally and delivery to my home. Notice that I am not looking for a product. I am looking for a product plus a price plus a service that will satisfy my needs.

An interesting statistic that came out of AOL’s release of anonymous search data earlier this year was that 47 per cent of the searchers did not click on any of the search results that were offered to them. Almost half the people did not find what they were looking for when they searched the Internet. I argue that the reason is most websites try to sell you a product when you go searching to satisfy a need. The product they want to sell you is what they can make a profit with rather than what will satisfy your needs.

A website that concentrates on the product will continue to lose out in the market place. As we become more comfortable finding what we want on the Internet our standards and expectations are also rising. It is like having a car as a young person. We were ecstatic with a basic model when we didn’t have anything. As we get older we expect more from our vehicles and the companies who sell them to us. The car advertisers sell us on benefits not the products. We are offered excitement, adventure and style; not Fords, Chevys, and Toyotas. These are the products they sell to us to satisfy our needs.

While there is a place for high end services there is also a place for good value services that don’t try to wring every last penny from a transaction. The Internet allows you to show people how your services can satisfy their needs. If you concentrate on how you can make someone’s life better you will be more successful. Let me give you an example.

I recently worked with a company who was trying to reduce their fuel costs by making their fleet routes more efficient. We needed to know where the trucks were going and how much time was spent traveling in congested areas. The quick answer was to use some GPS tracking products that would tell the dispatcher each truck’s location.

When the company went searching for information on how to do this they ran into several companies who sell real-time tracking systems. These can cost hundreds to thousands of dollars plus monthly fees for connections to networks. This was outside their budget and someone referred them to me. I suggested they use some passive GPS devices that would just store the data until it could be manually downloaded at the end of the day or week. Prices for this are much lower and it brings this into the realm of good business research. I concentrated on their needs, not on what I wanted to sell them. This is a good key to website success and one that is often overlooked by website designers. Remember the maxim, “Sell the sizzle, not the steak.”

Mike Myklin is an author, lecturer, and e-commerce owner who specializes in Internet Marketing. He can be reached through mike@myklin.com and www.myklin.com where you can find archives of these articles.