Flight Center's SEO Practices shaken at SMX Sydney
Monday, 14 April 2008
SMX Sydney took place last week on the 10th and 11th April 2008 in Luna Park, in Sydney. For the first time in Australia, the event organised by Barry Smyth brought many international and local speakers to discover and discuss the latest trends in the search marketing industry. Part of the conference, called the SEO Clinic, offers selected real-life websites to be examined by a panel of experts.
In 2008 the panel included Rand Fishkin from SEOmoz, Danny Sullivan from Search Engine Journal and Adam Lasnik from the Google Spam Team. All these guys are probably some of the most recognised professionals in the industry and having their input can save you a lot of work and help you to improve the optimisation of your website. That is great you would say. The drawback is that high-level experts can also find all sorts of things that can make you feel quite embarrassed in front of a live audience and in the industry.
How did Flight Center get Shaken?
That is exactly what happened to one of Australia's largest travel websites: FlightCenter.com. When Rand and Danny did an analysis for duplicate content for DiscoverTasmania.com, they found out that their content is served on the Flight Center website. However, they discovered that the same content is not visible for a normal user when you go to the Flight Center website. That's when it starts to be tricky.
After a little more work, they noticed that the content on the Flight Center website is served differently to users and search engines robots(responsible for crawling and indexing pages). In practice it means that, if you are a simple visitor of the website, you would see this:
But if you are a Google Bot, you would see this:
This practice is called Cloaking, which identified as a SEO Black Hat practice by Wikipedia"
Now it is getting really embarrassing, especially when this happens in front of an audience of search marketers.
Why did Flight Center use Cloaking?
As described by Flight Center's GM Colin Bowman in Neerav Blog,Flight Center wanted to create more interactivity and a better visual experience when a user browses their catalogue. To serve this purpose they decided to use Javascript to display the content. However, search engine spiders are not able to read content contained in Javascript, which results in the pages not being able to be indexed and therefore not being able to rank in the SERPs. Obviously this has a bad impact on traffic and Flight Center and their technology provider wanted to avoid this.
The alternative they found (probably not the best one) is to serve a text based version to the search engine spiders so that they can index the content and a Javascript version to the end user to provide optimal interactivity.
Are Flight Center's SEO practices Black hat?
While Cloaking is against the Google guidelines and considered as a Black Hat practice, the Flight Center case is quite ambiguous. As noted by Rand in SEOmoz, the content served to the search engine spiders is identical to the content served in a user browser, and therefore the intention to 'deceive' search engines spiders is not fully there.
Flight Center's GM Marketing Colin Bowman has also expressed that their intentions were not to deceive search engines, but to make sure that the content of their web pages would be properly indexed:
It sounds like Flight Center had no real intention to deceive search engines, but to index their content, however they have made a poor(if not more) choice in using cloaking for this purpose.
Update - 21st April: Based on further research, discussions and feedbacks (thanks Webco), it appears that Flight Center did not direclty use cloaking on their website, however the cloaking was part of the catalogue solution offered by Catalogue Central (one of their technology provider). This gives even more sense to the Google decision.
What is the outcome for Flight Center?
Having Adam Lasnik in the panel was probably not the best thing ever for Flight Center and it seems that the content included in the catalogue section of the Flight Center website has been removed from the Google listings already. However, the Flight Center website is still present in Google SERPs, which seems to prove that the website has not been fully banned.
Probably worst (or not?) than being banned from the Google listings, Flight Center will have to review their SEO practices and probably work on some serious reputation management as the news has already generated quite a lot of buzz in the industry.
What is the outcome for the Australian SEO Industry
The Flight Center's case also bring us back to thedark VERY unpopular debate on skills level the practices in the Australian SEO industry. While the Flight Center case does not mean that all Australian SEOs are 'Cowboys' or 'Spammers' as you can see in some comments, it surely demonstrates that the standards of some of them in the industry have yet to be improved and that some SEOs in Australia have to lift up their game to compete on a global scale. In that sense, initiatives such as SMX Sydney have a key role to play in this process and should therefore be encouraged.
What is the outcome for Google?
On top of a real need to have clearer guidelines, the Flight Center case also reveals the limitations of search engines to index content that is not text-based and therefore to be up to date with the latest web development technologies.
As demonstrated at SMX Sydney in the SEO 3.0 session with Chris Dimmock talking about the Myhome.com.au website, web 2.0 technologies such as AJAX and Javascript are getting more popular and largely contribute to improve the end-users experience. However search engines are not able to follow (or not quickly enough) the trend.
While evolving toward better indexing capabilities there is a real and growing technology gap between the current web development technology and the technology behind search engine indexing. This gap is currently stretching the challenges of search engine optimisation and obviously creating some 'collateral damages'. Should search engines stop focusing too much on relevancy and include user-experience in the equation?
PS. After receiving feedback for some readers and proof reading the post, I realised that what I wrote did not really match with what I actually meant. English is a tricky language and a few missing words can make a big difference... Please find some correction in blue.
In 2008 the panel included Rand Fishkin from SEOmoz, Danny Sullivan from Search Engine Journal and Adam Lasnik from the Google Spam Team. All these guys are probably some of the most recognised professionals in the industry and having their input can save you a lot of work and help you to improve the optimisation of your website. That is great you would say. The drawback is that high-level experts can also find all sorts of things that can make you feel quite embarrassed in front of a live audience and in the industry.
How did Flight Center get Shaken?
That is exactly what happened to one of Australia's largest travel websites: FlightCenter.com. When Rand and Danny did an analysis for duplicate content for DiscoverTasmania.com, they found out that their content is served on the Flight Center website. However, they discovered that the same content is not visible for a normal user when you go to the Flight Center website. That's when it starts to be tricky.
After a little more work, they noticed that the content on the Flight Center website is served differently to users and search engines robots(responsible for crawling and indexing pages). In practice it means that, if you are a simple visitor of the website, you would see this:
But if you are a Google Bot, you would see this:
This practice is called Cloaking, which identified as a SEO Black Hat practice by Wikipedia"
Cloaking is a black hat search engine optimization (SEO) technique in which the content presented to the search engine spider is different from that presented to the users' browser. This is done by delivering content based on the IP addresses or the User-Agent HTTP header of the user requesting the page. When a user is identified as a search engine spider, a server-side script delivers a different version of the web page, one that contains content not present on the visible page. The purpose of cloaking is to deceive search engines so they display the page when it would not otherwise be displayed.
Now it is getting really embarrassing, especially when this happens in front of an audience of search marketers.
Why did Flight Center use Cloaking?
As described by Flight Center's GM Colin Bowman in Neerav Blog,Flight Center wanted to create more interactivity and a better visual experience when a user browses their catalogue. To serve this purpose they decided to use Javascript to display the content. However, search engine spiders are not able to read content contained in Javascript, which results in the pages not being able to be indexed and therefore not being able to rank in the SERPs. Obviously this has a bad impact on traffic and Flight Center and their technology provider wanted to avoid this.
The alternative they found (probably not the best one) is to serve a text based version to the search engine spiders so that they can index the content and a Javascript version to the end user to provide optimal interactivity.
Are Flight Center's SEO practices Black hat?
While Cloaking is against the Google guidelines and considered as a Black Hat practice, the Flight Center case is quite ambiguous. As noted by Rand in SEOmoz, the content served to the search engine spiders is identical to the content served in a user browser, and therefore the intention to 'deceive' search engines spiders is not fully there.
Flight Center's GM Marketing Colin Bowman has also expressed that their intentions were not to deceive search engines, but to make sure that the content of their web pages would be properly indexed:
It is clear that our intent is not to show content to spiders that differs from the content in the pages and therefore should not be regarded as blackhat cloaking. The content that was visible to Google’s spiders is an identical replica to what is shown in the customer friendly brochure viewer so no unfair advantage was gained nor sought.
It sounds like Flight Center had no real intention to deceive search engines, but to index their content, however they have made a poor(if not more) choice in using cloaking for this purpose.
Update - 21st April: Based on further research, discussions and feedbacks (thanks Webco), it appears that Flight Center did not direclty use cloaking on their website, however the cloaking was part of the catalogue solution offered by Catalogue Central (one of their technology provider). This gives even more sense to the Google decision.
What is the outcome for Flight Center?
Having Adam Lasnik in the panel was probably not the best thing ever for Flight Center and it seems that the content included in the catalogue section of the Flight Center website has been removed from the Google listings already. However, the Flight Center website is still present in Google SERPs, which seems to prove that the website has not been fully banned.
Probably worst (or not?) than being banned from the Google listings, Flight Center will have to review their SEO practices and probably work on some serious reputation management as the news has already generated quite a lot of buzz in the industry.
What is the outcome for the Australian SEO Industry
The Flight Center's case also bring us back to the
What is the outcome for Google?
On top of a real need to have clearer guidelines, the Flight Center case also reveals the limitations of search engines to index content that is not text-based and therefore to be up to date with the latest web development technologies.
As demonstrated at SMX Sydney in the SEO 3.0 session with Chris Dimmock talking about the Myhome.com.au website, web 2.0 technologies such as AJAX and Javascript are getting more popular and largely contribute to improve the end-users experience. However search engines are not able to follow (or not quickly enough) the trend.
While evolving toward better indexing capabilities there is a real and growing technology gap between the current web development technology and the technology behind search engine indexing. This gap is currently stretching the challenges of search engine optimisation and obviously creating some 'collateral damages'. Should search engines stop focusing too much on relevancy and include user-experience in the equation?
PS. After receiving feedback for some readers and proof reading the post, I realised that what I wrote did not really match with what I actually meant. English is a tricky language and a few missing words can make a big difference... Please find some correction in blue.
Labels: australia, black hat, seo, SMX Sydney
Australia & New Zealand SEO SEM Salary Survey: The Results!
Friday, 4 April 2008
The results of the Australia & New Zealand SEO SEM Salary Survey are finally here and the findings are quite interesting. SEO Sydney Blog started the survey in February 2008 with the goal of understanding a little bit better the SEO SEM industry in Australia and New Zealand and the objective has been achieved.
From February 2008 until the end of March 2008, 65 qualified SEO/SEM professionals have responded including 84.6% of individuals working in Australia or New Zealand. Before moving on to the analysis of the results, I would like to thanks everyone for their support and for their time in taking the survey.
The Australia & New Zealand SEO SEM industry is dominated by Male under 30
78.1% of the SEO SEM professionals in Australia and New Zealand are male.The results also reveals that the industry is young as 64.5% of the professionals are under 30 years old and 85.5% are under 35.
Australian and New Zealand SEO SEM professionals are experienced, but do not always come from a IT background
Interestingly, 41.9% of the respondents come from a Marketing background followed by IT and Other.
Looking at the level of experience, the Australian and New Zealand SEO SEM professionals have a great level of experience. 22% of the respondents have more than 5 years experience in the industry while 54.3% have over 2 years of experience. It is interesting to notice that 37.9% of Australian and New Zealand professionals have gain their experience in 1 company and 29.3% in 2 companies.
Search Agencies are the main employers and salaries are reasonable
54.4% of Australian and New Zealand professionals work for SEO SEM agencies, while 28.1% work in-house. It is interesting to notice that 17.5% of respondents work as Freelance or Consutants. Employee is the most popular position with 41.4% of the respondents while the rest of the industry is quite well balanced between freelance, manager, senior managers and owners/CEO.
Salary wise, the Australian and New Zealand industry offers reasonable wages. 53.4% of the repondents are getting $60,000 or less per year including 18.2% of the professionals earning below $35,000 per year. On the other side 14.5% of the professionals earn $150,000 or more per year which makes the salary range quite diverse.
If you are interested in getting more details on the results, please feel free to download our PDF Report.
From February 2008 until the end of March 2008, 65 qualified SEO/SEM professionals have responded including 84.6% of individuals working in Australia or New Zealand. Before moving on to the analysis of the results, I would like to thanks everyone for their support and for their time in taking the survey.
The Australia & New Zealand SEO SEM industry is dominated by Male under 30
78.1% of the SEO SEM professionals in Australia and New Zealand are male.The results also reveals that the industry is young as 64.5% of the professionals are under 30 years old and 85.5% are under 35.
Australian and New Zealand SEO SEM professionals are experienced, but do not always come from a IT background
Interestingly, 41.9% of the respondents come from a Marketing background followed by IT and Other.
Looking at the level of experience, the Australian and New Zealand SEO SEM professionals have a great level of experience. 22% of the respondents have more than 5 years experience in the industry while 54.3% have over 2 years of experience. It is interesting to notice that 37.9% of Australian and New Zealand professionals have gain their experience in 1 company and 29.3% in 2 companies.
Search Agencies are the main employers and salaries are reasonable
54.4% of Australian and New Zealand professionals work for SEO SEM agencies, while 28.1% work in-house. It is interesting to notice that 17.5% of respondents work as Freelance or Consutants. Employee is the most popular position with 41.4% of the respondents while the rest of the industry is quite well balanced between freelance, manager, senior managers and owners/CEO.
Salary wise, the Australian and New Zealand industry offers reasonable wages. 53.4% of the repondents are getting $60,000 or less per year including 18.2% of the professionals earning below $35,000 per year. On the other side 14.5% of the professionals earn $150,000 or more per year which makes the salary range quite diverse.
If you are interested in getting more details on the results, please feel free to download our PDF Report.
Labels: australia, seo market, seo survey, seo sydney
Web Search Coordinator - SEO Role
Tuesday, 1 April 2008
Reader's Digest is a global multi-brand, multi-channel Marketer, with a long and reputable history in both local and global markets. We are now looking to grow and integrate our online offerings substantially.
We have an exciting opportunity in our new Internet team for a tech-savvy, hands-on individual who can help us maximize site traffic through Search Engine Optimization.
The key responsibilities of this role include developing and maintaining a Search Engine Strategy for the RD site by:
- Ensuring that search engines are able to properly access and index site content;
- Optimising external link structure;
- Assisting with the creation of pages with clar descriptive/keyword page elements;
- Influencing outbound and inbound links to maximize search strategy;
- Working closely with editorial and product/promotions teams to ensure the best outcomes for the site.
To be successful, you will need:
- 3 years or more on-line experience;
- Demonstrated involvement with the development of search strategies;
- Experience with reporting and statistical analysis;
- Project leadership / coordination experience;
- Ability to read and edit HTML and experience with Dreamweaver;
- Strong communication and negotiation skills.
- Ideally you will also have business/marketing qualifications
This is an exciting opportunity to make your mark on a global company's online presence in Australia.
If you are interested in working for a company that values its people and offers excellent remuneration and benefits
then please send your resume and a short covering letter to: humanresources.au@readersdigest.com
Digital Marketing Companies - What is Happening?
Friday, 29 February 2008
Back in November 2007 the 'Big 3' digital marketing groups in Australia did not really expect what happened in the last couple of months: share prices are going down up to 150%, some issues with profitability, job cuts
BlueFreeway changes its strategy
BlueFreeway is the digital marketing company that generated much of the talk. From the Sydney Morning Herald to B&T, BlueFreeway's issues have been publicly exposed starting with the resignation of Richard Webb and two other directors, followed by a large number of job cut and the change in the company strategy.
BlueFreeway appeared in 2006 and proceeded to a series of acquisitions in Australia and overseas to reach 25 companies in 2007 including Clear Light Digital, Cogentis and others. BlueFreeway also heavily invested in the development, support and sales of the Blu. advertising portal.
Early 2008 some profitability issues started to rise and quickly led to the current situation: A share price at its lowest, job cuts and a lot of questions.
The interim direction has decided to go back to a more sustainable strategy focused on the portfolio of companies instead of the development of their portal.
According to Fanale, one of the new CEO, BlueFreeway grew too quickly and had a level of expenses to high compared to the level of sales. Now that overheads costs have been reduced, Fanale is confident on the future of the company.
Q Group struggles with profitability
The Q Group has aggregated 9 digital companies in the field of online marketing including media sales, search marketing and list marketing in the last 2 years.
Even if the group has a strong position in Australia, the Q Group is still not fully profitable. The latest acquisitions have not been fully integrated and the cost of expansion have dented the group profitability.
The results are similar to BlueFreeway, the share price has dropped significantly and the board has to proceed to some cost cutting activities
The future of the Q Group is not jeopardised as the group has recorded an orgnaic growth of 42.7% in the last 6 months of 2007 generating 12 Millions in revenues with an improving profitability.
However the future possible acquisitions mentioned in the board presentation might have to wait a little longer if Q Group want to restore confidence with its investors.
BlueFreeway changes its strategy
BlueFreeway is the digital marketing company that generated much of the talk. From the Sydney Morning Herald to B&T, BlueFreeway's issues have been publicly exposed starting with the resignation of Richard Webb and two other directors, followed by a large number of job cut and the change in the company strategy.
BlueFreeway appeared in 2006 and proceeded to a series of acquisitions in Australia and overseas to reach 25 companies in 2007 including Clear Light Digital, Cogentis and others. BlueFreeway also heavily invested in the development, support and sales of the Blu. advertising portal.
Early 2008 some profitability issues started to rise and quickly led to the current situation: A share price at its lowest, job cuts and a lot of questions.
The interim direction has decided to go back to a more sustainable strategy focused on the portfolio of companies instead of the development of their portal.
According to Fanale, one of the new CEO, BlueFreeway grew too quickly and had a level of expenses to high compared to the level of sales. Now that overheads costs have been reduced, Fanale is confident on the future of the company.
Q Group struggles with profitability
The Q Group has aggregated 9 digital companies in the field of online marketing including media sales, search marketing and list marketing in the last 2 years.
Even if the group has a strong position in Australia, the Q Group is still not fully profitable. The latest acquisitions have not been fully integrated and the cost of expansion have dented the group profitability.
The results are similar to BlueFreeway, the share price has dropped significantly and the board has to proceed to some cost cutting activities
The future of the Q Group is not jeopardised as the group has recorded an orgnaic growth of 42.7% in the last 6 months of 2007 generating 12 Millions in revenues with an improving profitability.
However the future possible acquisitions mentioned in the board presentation might have to wait a little longer if Q Group want to restore confidence with its investors.
Labels: australia, bluefreeway, online marketing, Q Group, search industry
Online Retail Industry in Australia - Christmas 2007 and Beyond
Friday, 15 February 2008
According to Hitwise data in January 2008, the Australian online retail stores have performed quit well over Christmas 2007.
Sectors including appliances, electronics, books, music and video-games have experienced records web traffic, with increases in excess of 30% during the last quarter of the year.
Overall visits to Shopping and classified websites have increased by 9% comparing December 2006 and December 2007. Such trends have a good impact on the e-commerce and online retail industry in Australia.
However, the Australian online retail industry does not seems to be as healthy as in other market overseas. Mike Zeederberg, managing director of Digital Agency told B&T that:
This assumption is a little superficial as Australia is probably one culture that is really mail-order focused due to the size of the country. Therefore this is not really the issue
If you look at the ranking of the top 10 shopping and classified websites in Australia, it is quite scary to notice that except Trading Post Online and Email Cash, there is no real Australian online retailers in the top 10.
Major Australian Retailers are not taking the initiatives of going online
Some of the reasons that explain the actual state of the online industry, is the lack of initiatives from major Australian retailers such as Coles/Myer, Woolworth, David Jones or Harvey Norman. According to Chris Hitchen, managing director of Get Price, most of Australian retailers have limited or no online shopping facilities. Moreover they do not operate multi-channel strategies and if they do they concentrate their efforts in driving visits to their physical store. Paul Greenberg, managing director of Deals Direct recently elected Australian number 1 online department store, said in an inteview that he almost felt embarassed to be the first online department store as they are a privately own company with no real competition.
This is the result of a real lack of confidence in online retail from traditional retailers. Big retailers are often afraid of the unknown and the cost associated with starting an online division.Moreover most major retailers are afraid of competing on prices and do not see the benefits of online retail.
A lack of efficiency of the Australian online retail model
Another reason that can explain the situation is a real lack of experience with the online business model. Most retailers find it costly and difficult to understand. Those who have tried are still not mastering all the challenges of an online business. For example Dymocks, which is one of the rare major Australian retailer that took the opportunity of moving online, is still struggling against its overseas counterparts. While Dymocks generates a large share of its revenue online, their offer is still inferior to Amazon in terms of price, delivery and customer service. Indeed Amazon offers cheaper prices and deliver much faster while being located in US!
David Jones is another example, they invested a large number of money the late 90's with a 14 Million invetment. However they did not managed to understand the model or did not spend enough time to understand the challenge of the Australian model and never came back!
A lack of expertise in marketing products online
Finally many Australian retailers that have moved online have not mastered the way of marketing their products online. I have seen many online retails websites that do not have a clear online strategy and especially a clear and defined search marketing strategy. If you look around many Australian online retailers do not have well optimised websites and many of them do not even use paid search.
But opportunities exist and are not fully explored by major brands
However Australian want to shop online. Forrester Research and AC Nielsen discovered that 62% to 78% of Australian internet users are online shoppers. Looking at the growth figure in the US, online retail grows at 25%, while traditional retail grows at 4 to 5% a year. Early online players, who rationalized their online business model are enjoying a dominant position on the market and are actually putting traditional retailers in danger. For example Deals Direct enjoyed a $50 Milion dollars turnover in 2007 exclusively online and has been elected number 1 department store in Australia in less than 3 years.
As a result there is a real need from major retailers and especially Woolworth and Coles to take the step and make a move online. At the same time,the same companies wil l need help from agencies to fill the gap in knowledge and manage the transition from operating and managing a business offline to online. Conferences and industry gathering such as the Online Shopping Conference have also a real role to play to educate and help the Australian retailers to move online or improve their online activities. The challenges are real, but the opportunities are far greater!
Sectors including appliances, electronics, books, music and video-games have experienced records web traffic, with increases in excess of 30% during the last quarter of the year.
Overall visits to Shopping and classified websites have increased by 9% comparing December 2006 and December 2007. Such trends have a good impact on the e-commerce and online retail industry in Australia.
However, the Australian online retail industry does not seems to be as healthy as in other market overseas. Mike Zeederberg, managing director of Digital Agency told B&T that:
There is a lot of discussion about why e-tailing is not growing at the same sort rate as the other markets, and the fact that Australia does not have the catalogue culture
This assumption is a little superficial as Australia is probably one culture that is really mail-order focused due to the size of the country. Therefore this is not really the issue
If you look at the ranking of the top 10 shopping and classified websites in Australia, it is quite scary to notice that except Trading Post Online and Email Cash, there is no real Australian online retailers in the top 10.
Major Australian Retailers are not taking the initiatives of going online
Some of the reasons that explain the actual state of the online industry, is the lack of initiatives from major Australian retailers such as Coles/Myer, Woolworth, David Jones or Harvey Norman. According to Chris Hitchen, managing director of Get Price, most of Australian retailers have limited or no online shopping facilities. Moreover they do not operate multi-channel strategies and if they do they concentrate their efforts in driving visits to their physical store. Paul Greenberg, managing director of Deals Direct recently elected Australian number 1 online department store, said in an inteview that he almost felt embarassed to be the first online department store as they are a privately own company with no real competition.
This is the result of a real lack of confidence in online retail from traditional retailers. Big retailers are often afraid of the unknown and the cost associated with starting an online division.Moreover most major retailers are afraid of competing on prices and do not see the benefits of online retail.
A lack of efficiency of the Australian online retail model
Another reason that can explain the situation is a real lack of experience with the online business model. Most retailers find it costly and difficult to understand. Those who have tried are still not mastering all the challenges of an online business. For example Dymocks, which is one of the rare major Australian retailer that took the opportunity of moving online, is still struggling against its overseas counterparts. While Dymocks generates a large share of its revenue online, their offer is still inferior to Amazon in terms of price, delivery and customer service. Indeed Amazon offers cheaper prices and deliver much faster while being located in US!
David Jones is another example, they invested a large number of money the late 90's with a 14 Million invetment. However they did not managed to understand the model or did not spend enough time to understand the challenge of the Australian model and never came back!
A lack of expertise in marketing products online
Finally many Australian retailers that have moved online have not mastered the way of marketing their products online. I have seen many online retails websites that do not have a clear online strategy and especially a clear and defined search marketing strategy. If you look around many Australian online retailers do not have well optimised websites and many of them do not even use paid search.
But opportunities exist and are not fully explored by major brands
However Australian want to shop online. Forrester Research and AC Nielsen discovered that 62% to 78% of Australian internet users are online shoppers. Looking at the growth figure in the US, online retail grows at 25%, while traditional retail grows at 4 to 5% a year. Early online players, who rationalized their online business model are enjoying a dominant position on the market and are actually putting traditional retailers in danger. For example Deals Direct enjoyed a $50 Milion dollars turnover in 2007 exclusively online and has been elected number 1 department store in Australia in less than 3 years.
As a result there is a real need from major retailers and especially Woolworth and Coles to take the step and make a move online. At the same time,the same companies wil l need help from agencies to fill the gap in knowledge and manage the transition from operating and managing a business offline to online. Conferences and industry gathering such as the Online Shopping Conference have also a real role to play to educate and help the Australian retailers to move online or improve their online activities. The challenges are real, but the opportunities are far greater!
Labels: australia, e-commerce, online retail, search industry
Australia & New Zealand SEO/SEM Salary Survey
Thursday, 7 February 2008
After having a look at the results of the SEMPO SEM Salary Survey and taking the SEOmoz SEO industry survey, we realised that these surveys are highly US/Canada focused and therefore do not fully reflect the reality of the Australian/New Zealand SEO/SEM market.
To overcome this lack of targeted information, SEO Sydney Blog has decided to create the first SEO/SEM Salary Survey for Australia and New Zealand.
We had a look at other surveys and took into considerations the comments of our readers . Finally we came up with a set of 10 questions. The survey will take you 5 mins to complete and is totally anonymous.
On the second week of March we will publish the results on the SEO Sydney Blog
To make sure that we get a good picture of the Australian and New Zealand market, please feel free to invite the people in your network to take the survey.
Contrary to other surveys, there is nothing to win (unfortunately), however we think that the results will be valuable for the Australian SEO/SEM community and therefore be the main incentive.
The results have been published! Find out what is the most common SEO Salary in Australia
To overcome this lack of targeted information, SEO Sydney Blog has decided to create the first SEO/SEM Salary Survey for Australia and New Zealand.
We had a look at other surveys and took into considerations the comments of our readers . Finally we came up with a set of 10 questions. The survey will take you 5 mins to complete and is totally anonymous.
On the second week of March we will publish the results on the SEO Sydney Blog
To make sure that we get a good picture of the Australian and New Zealand market, please feel free to invite the people in your network to take the survey.
Contrary to other surveys, there is nothing to win (unfortunately), however we think that the results will be valuable for the Australian SEO/SEM community and therefore be the main incentive.
The results have been published! Find out what is the most common SEO Salary in Australia
Labels: australia, search engine marketing, search engine optimisation, search industry, seo jobs, seo salary, survey
Google Geek Nights - 2008
Monday, 28 January 2008
After the good feedback of the first Google Geek Night in October 2007, Google is holding new sessions in February. The Google Geek Nights are agency-focused and provide presentations of the new Google 's products.
The Sydney night will take place on Feb 12th, Melbourne on the 19th and Auckland on the 20th.
This second Geek night will cover the following products:
- AdWords - MCC/GAP, Report Center, Keyword tools
- AdWords - Billing & Payments
- Google Analytics
- Mobile
- Maps & Local Business Ads
- AdSense & AdSense Quality
- Website Optimizer
- YouTube
- Orkut
The Sydney night will take place on Feb 12th, Melbourne on the 19th and Auckland on the 20th.
This second Geek night will cover the following products:
- AdWords - MCC/GAP, Report Center, Keyword tools
- AdWords - Billing & Payments
- Google Analytics
- Mobile
- Maps & Local Business Ads
- AdSense & AdSense Quality
- Website Optimizer
- YouTube
- Orkut
Labels: australia, google, google adwords
Save Energy, While Searching ?
Tuesday, 22 January 2008
Save energy while searching, is the concept that Blackle, a website using Google Custom Search engine feature claims. Blackle has been created in Sydney, Australia in 2007 by a company call Heap Media based on the following concept:
Blackle uses the same tecchnology as Google (and also share their text ads), which makes your search as effective, but instead of having a white background it has a black background. Using a black background, has contributed to save 421,207,977 Watt hours until know.
As pointed out by Sly, this theory is true with CRT screens, but is not so promising with LCD screens
According to a review in BusinessWeek:
CRT and LCD monitors use different amounts of energy to produce a black screen due to their design according to Scott Gray, product manager a Hewlett Packard. CRT monitors produce an image by firing a stream of electrons at phosphorescent material within the screen. The various frequencies with which the electrons hit the phosphorescent material produce the unique colors. Black is the default color of the phosphorescent material when no electrons are hitting it and the electron gun is essentially off. "The CRT is using less current with a black screen so there is less electricity used," says Gray. "The peak current is with a bright, well-lit image."
LCD screens, on the other hand, are lit via fluorescent tube lights located above or behind the LCD screen. The screen scatters the light, creating the picture. When an LCD screen is on, the lights are also on. "Black is not created by the absence of electricity or by turning off the light," explains Gray. "In a lot of cases, a black screen looks purple because the colors are created by mixing the right pixel elements in the LCD together at the same time.
It seems that the whole concept is now (already) a little outdated. I guess even if the amount of energy saved won't be huge, the amount of articles talking about it will be far greater and that is probably the main advantages for those who got into 'dark background' search engines... Nice Online PR/Viral Marketing example :-)
Blackle saves energy because the screen is predominantly black. Image displayed is primarily a function of the user's color settings and desktop graphics, as well as the color and size of open application windows; a given monitor requires more power to display a white (or light) screen than a black (or dark) screen." Roberson et al, 2002
Blackle uses the same tecchnology as Google (and also share their text ads), which makes your search as effective, but instead of having a white background it has a black background. Using a black background, has contributed to save 421,207,977 Watt hours until know.
As pointed out by Sly, this theory is true with CRT screens, but is not so promising with LCD screens
According to a review in BusinessWeek:
CRT and LCD monitors use different amounts of energy to produce a black screen due to their design according to Scott Gray, product manager a Hewlett Packard. CRT monitors produce an image by firing a stream of electrons at phosphorescent material within the screen. The various frequencies with which the electrons hit the phosphorescent material produce the unique colors. Black is the default color of the phosphorescent material when no electrons are hitting it and the electron gun is essentially off. "The CRT is using less current with a black screen so there is less electricity used," says Gray. "The peak current is with a bright, well-lit image."
LCD screens, on the other hand, are lit via fluorescent tube lights located above or behind the LCD screen. The screen scatters the light, creating the picture. When an LCD screen is on, the lights are also on. "Black is not created by the absence of electricity or by turning off the light," explains Gray. "In a lot of cases, a black screen looks purple because the colors are created by mixing the right pixel elements in the LCD together at the same time.
It seems that the whole concept is now (already) a little outdated. I guess even if the amount of energy saved won't be huge, the amount of articles talking about it will be far greater and that is probably the main advantages for those who got into 'dark background' search engines... Nice Online PR/Viral Marketing example :-)
Labels: australia, blackle, online PR, search engines, viral marketing
Share of Online Advertising in Australia
Tuesday, 11 December 2007
According to Zenith Optimedia, The Internet Advertsing Bureau and PriceWaterHouseCoopers, Australian Businesses are allocating around 14% of their total advertising budgets in online advertising (including search, classifieds and display).
The online share of total advertising budget in Australia is the highest in Australasia and even higher than in the UK.
Australian Businesses seem to have a more mature attitude towards online advertsing compared to their Australasian counterparts. On the other end, New Zealand seems to be far behind.
According to the latest figures from the Interactive Advertising Bureau in October 2007, the total amount spent in online advertising in Australia in 2007 is $1 billion . The figure has strongly increased compared to the $620 Million from last year. According to the IAB the Global online advertising market is divided between:
- Search, which accounts for 41% of the online advertising revenues
- Display - 32%
- Classifieds - 17%
- Referrals - 8%
The online share of total advertising budget in Australia is the highest in Australasia and even higher than in the UK.
Australian Businesses seem to have a more mature attitude towards online advertsing compared to their Australasian counterparts. On the other end, New Zealand seems to be far behind.
According to the latest figures from the Interactive Advertising Bureau in October 2007, the total amount spent in online advertising in Australia in 2007 is $1 billion . The figure has strongly increased compared to the $620 Million from last year. According to the IAB the Global online advertising market is divided between:
- Search, which accounts for 41% of the online advertising revenues
- Display - 32%
- Classifieds - 17%
- Referrals - 8%
Labels: advertising, australia, search industry, statistics
Social Media Network Trends in Australia
Saturday, 1 December 2007
The last post on the social media network had a strong focus on the US market. I have made some further researches and found more information on what is actually happening in Australia. While the data is different, the information below provides a more accurate view of the Australian Social Network market
As shown on the graph, the Australian market shares similar trends with the US market. However the magnitude is quite different. Facebook's audience has skyrocketed in the last couple of months with a 400% growth since June 2007, while MySpace has not grown much. In the last couple of months, Facebook has even taken the second position leaving Bebo behind.
My Space is leading with larger audience, but the trend might change if FaceBook keeps growing at the same pace.
As shown on the graph, the Australian market shares similar trends with the US market. However the magnitude is quite different. Facebook's audience has skyrocketed in the last couple of months with a 400% growth since June 2007, while MySpace has not grown much. In the last couple of months, Facebook has even taken the second position leaving Bebo behind.
My Space is leading with larger audience, but the trend might change if FaceBook keeps growing at the same pace.
Labels: australia, Facebook, myspace, social media, social network marketing
Where are the SEOs?
Wednesday, 21 November 2007
I have not published any fresh news for a while. Sorry about that, but I have been really busy with client work for Christmas... Talking about Christmas, the festive season is also starting, which mean a bit less time in front of the computer and more time to socialise and meet people in your industry. If you are looking for a job or looking for new employees, it is probably a good time to meet people in a relaxed athmosphere.
The Australian industry is not huge, but there are plenty of places to meet your peers competitors, potential clients/employee/employers so make you choice:
Search Engine Room
Search Engine Room is an PPC/SEO Conference which gathers industry agencies, clients and more... The last event was actually two days ago, so might have to wait a little before the next one.
Search Engine Bootcamp
Really similar to Search Engine Room, the next event is on the 29th of November. You can still book, it is $595 + GST
Clickaholics
If you are looking for a relaxed/party athmosphere, clickaholics is a great option. They organise regular parties for those working in the online media/ advertising. I do not know about the next one in Sydney, but there is a party coming up in Melbourne on the 13th December.
There are plenty of other events planned for 2008...
The Australian industry is not huge, but there are plenty of places to meet your peers competitors, potential clients/employee/employers so make you choice:
Search Engine Room
Search Engine Room is an PPC/SEO Conference which gathers industry agencies, clients and more... The last event was actually two days ago, so might have to wait a little before the next one.
Search Engine Bootcamp
Really similar to Search Engine Room, the next event is on the 29th of November. You can still book, it is $595 + GST
Clickaholics
If you are looking for a relaxed/party athmosphere, clickaholics is a great option. They organise regular parties for those working in the online media/ advertising. I do not know about the next one in Sydney, but there is a party coming up in Melbourne on the 13th December.
There are plenty of other events planned for 2008...
Labels: australia, search engine bootcamp, search engine room, search industry
Universal Search landed in Australia
Monday, 12 November 2007
The popular Universal Search from Google has finally arrived in Australia. After a launch in May in the US, Google has decided to bring the Universal Search in the Australian market. You might have noticed that Google Maps are now intergrated in search results when you search for a regionalised phrases. Progressively Google will integrate other media such as Image, Video, RSS feeds and so on in the search results.If you type 'John Howard' in Google.com.au, you will notice that the search results include news releases, images and blog results... Welcome to the Universal Search.
What is Universal Search?
Universal search is not a new concept. Back in the 90's Altavista proposed a universal search approach with its search engine. Ask.com has also pionneered this approach before. Universal Search provides more 'blended' search results. Instead of providing text-based search results, Google aims at intergrating Video, Blogs, News, RSS feed, Images. According to Google Australia's Product Specialist, Jeremy Wood, universal search will make it easier for the user to access relevant information in different forms. Instead of clicking on the various tabs on top of the Google search field, the users will have access to 'all the information in one spot'
Why moving to Universal Search ?
Why will Google move to Universal Search? Google has more than 80% of the search market in Australia, so why changing everything... The answer to this question will depends on who you are talking to.
Google officials love attributing any of the changes they make to a 'greater relevancy for the user' and a better service to the internet community. Fair enough, they have the intention at least.
But Google is a company that aims at making profits, not helping the community.
The latest Google Geek Night in Sydney has clearly demonstrated Google's intention to sell more services than their paid search program. Google has diversified its strategy with a handful of newly (re)developed products (Google Maps, Google Gadgets, Google Docs)and they obviously want to get a Return On Investment. Google has also acquired You Tube and once again maximizing the synergies is the idea.
Moreover, the latest analyst day in Mountain View also reinforce Google's strong desire to 'increase the monetisation of its services'. Nick Fox, director of product management of the advertising division declared to the investors and analysts that 'there are substantial headroom in the monetisation of our services'.
Universal Search is the solution! It allows Google to feature its range of products
- Video: You Tube
- Blogs: Blogger
- News: Google News
- RSS Feeds: Feedburner
- Image: Picassa
in one of the most popular spot on the internet, the Google Search results.
The Universal search is also a way for Google to increase the 'stickiness' of its pages. At the moment, people are conducting searches, but leave the page as soon as they have found what they are looking for. If Google want to maximise users exposure to advertising message (Adwords), they need to make people stay longer.
Universal search is also the solution. If you want to play a video that came up in the search engine results, you won't be re-directed to the video website, but Google will play it directly in the results page so that you can enjoy and possibly click on an ad.
If you were Google (and wanted to make money), it will be pretty stupid not to move to Universal Search. Now if the search users get more relevant results it is a plus!
Labels: australia, google adwords, google rankings, universal search
News from the Big 3: Blue Freeway, Photon and Q Ltd
Tuesday, 6 November 2007
The 'big 3' interactive marketing groups that have purchased a quite a few Australian online marketing companies in the next couple of years are keeping the same pace...
Blue Freeway
The Sydney based digital marketing group that acquired Clear Light Digital and Cogentis, continue its impressive expansion. After acquiring 22 companies in the last 11 months, Blue Freeway expect to expand at a 2-company-per-month pace until June 2008. Blue Freeway is mainly looking outside of Australia and especially in Africa, Asia and the Middle East.
Blue Freeway have also launched their new intergrated interactive program called Blu, which allow managing each aspect of digital marketing from a single interface.
Photon Group
Photon Group has reinforced its presence in the UK with a third acquisitions. Photon Group purchased the PR firm Frank Public Relations for $18.5. Photon Group has also finalised teh acquisition of the Found Agency.
Q Ltd
With a more 'Australian' focus, Q Ltd has improved its online marketing offer with the acquisition of The Great Australian Survey, a leading firm in consumer database/email marketing for $8.5 Million in cash.
Blue Freeway
The Sydney based digital marketing group that acquired Clear Light Digital and Cogentis, continue its impressive expansion. After acquiring 22 companies in the last 11 months, Blue Freeway expect to expand at a 2-company-per-month pace until June 2008. Blue Freeway is mainly looking outside of Australia and especially in Africa, Asia and the Middle East.
Blue Freeway have also launched their new intergrated interactive program called Blu, which allow managing each aspect of digital marketing from a single interface.
Photon Group
Photon Group has reinforced its presence in the UK with a third acquisitions. Photon Group purchased the PR firm Frank Public Relations for $18.5. Photon Group has also finalised teh acquisition of the Found Agency.
Q Ltd
With a more 'Australian' focus, Q Ltd has improved its online marketing offer with the acquisition of The Great Australian Survey, a leading firm in consumer database/email marketing for $8.5 Million in cash.
Labels: australia, Blue Freeway, Photon group, Q Group, search industry
YouTube Australian Edition
Tuesday, 23 October 2007
Google-owned YouTube has launched the Australian Edition of the famous video sharing website. The localised homepage offers Australian-related content and the ability to connect directly with Australian users.
Among the content providers, the big broadcasting networks ( Seven, Ten, Nine, ABC and Sky News) were the first to sign up, followed Faifax Media and all six political parties...
This should be really useful to take full advantage of Google's Universal Search..
Among the content providers, the big broadcasting networks ( Seven, Ten, Nine, ABC and Sky News) were the first to sign up, followed Faifax Media and all six political parties...
This should be really useful to take full advantage of Google's Universal Search..
Labels: australia, universal search, you tube
Free Australian Directories - The List
Tuesday, 2 October 2007
Submitting your website to Australian directories (.com.au or .net.au) will bring more value than .com directories if you aim at ranking in the local pages of search engines.
Having links from Australian directories, your website will 'send' clear signals that it has relevant content and that it has a certain credibility in the Australian market. As a result search engines will be more likely to list your website in the local pages.
Relying solely on free directories to rank high in Google.com.au or Yahoo.com.au might not be enough as they do not carry the same 'credibility' as other local websites. However, a link from an Australian directory is still a step forward to high rankings in local search.
To help Australian webmasters, SEO professionals and site owners, we have compiled a list of free directories dedicated to the Australian market.
All the directories in the list are free, but please be aware that some of them might reject a submission if your website does not have a .com.au, .net.au or .org.au extension, even if you website has Australia related content (for example a .com website with content related to Australia might be rejected).
Read our article: How to use directories for Link Building for more advice on submitting your website to directories
List of Free Australian Directories
Site Review
Web Directory Australia
Oz Find
AU Haabaa
My Sites
Australian Web Directory
Website Link
Shop Seek
DownUnder Index
GoldCoast Directory (GoldCoast businesses only).
Search Zone
IServe
Update June 2008 - We try to update the list on regualar basis. Please feel free to contact us at seosydneyblog (at)gmail.com if some of the directories have changed their pricing or if you want to list your directory. Thanks!
Having links from Australian directories, your website will 'send' clear signals that it has relevant content and that it has a certain credibility in the Australian market. As a result search engines will be more likely to list your website in the local pages.
Relying solely on free directories to rank high in Google.com.au or Yahoo.com.au might not be enough as they do not carry the same 'credibility' as other local websites. However, a link from an Australian directory is still a step forward to high rankings in local search.
To help Australian webmasters, SEO professionals and site owners, we have compiled a list of free directories dedicated to the Australian market.
All the directories in the list are free, but please be aware that some of them might reject a submission if your website does not have a .com.au, .net.au or .org.au extension, even if you website has Australia related content (for example a .com website with content related to Australia might be rejected).
Read our article: How to use directories for Link Building for more advice on submitting your website to directories
List of Free Australian Directories
Site Review
Web Directory Australia
Oz Find
AU Haabaa
My Sites
Australian Web Directory
Website Link
Shop Seek
DownUnder Index
GoldCoast Directory (GoldCoast businesses only).
Search Zone
IServe
Update June 2008 - We try to update the list on regualar basis. Please feel free to contact us at seosydneyblog (at)gmail.com if some of the directories have changed their pricing or if you want to list your directory. Thanks!
Labels: australia, free directories, link building
New SEO Reporting Tool from Australia
Wednesday, 26 September 2007
An Australian Sydney based company, DIY SEO Live has recently released a SEO tool package. The package includes a set of SEO tools, which generates comprehensive SEO Reports to evaluate the effectiveness of your SEO activities. There are 3 type of reports included in the package:
SEO Analysis
The SEO Analysis report will help you to evaluate your website's SEO Friendliness. The report includes a wide range of valuable information such as broken links, missing META tags, or Title tags. The SEO Analysis tool also provides details on hard-to-reach pages and incorrectly displayed images.
SEO Links
The SEO Links tool will give you all the information you need to measure your website link popularity. The tool identifies how many websites are linking to you and which websites are linking to your competitors. The information provided is essential for developing and maintaining your link popularity and increasing your website search engine rankings. Based on the results you will be able to improve your link building strategy.
SEO Reports
DIY SEO Live also provides a powerful SEO Ranking reporting tool. This tool will monitor your website search engines rankings for your targeted keywords. This tool also provides historical ranking reports so that you can easily evaluate the effectiveness of your SEO strategy.
As an Australian SEO professional, I really welcome this new SEO tool. DIY SEO Live is really powerful. It provides everything you need to analyse a website and therefore will save a lot of time on any SEO projects. I am also glad to mention that this tool is correctly priced for freelance consultants and small businesses. With the current discount you can get full access to this tool for $49.
For more information on DIY SEO Live or to buy it, visit DIY SEO Live
SEO Analysis
The SEO Analysis report will help you to evaluate your website's SEO Friendliness. The report includes a wide range of valuable information such as broken links, missing META tags, or Title tags. The SEO Analysis tool also provides details on hard-to-reach pages and incorrectly displayed images.
SEO Links
The SEO Links tool will give you all the information you need to measure your website link popularity. The tool identifies how many websites are linking to you and which websites are linking to your competitors. The information provided is essential for developing and maintaining your link popularity and increasing your website search engine rankings. Based on the results you will be able to improve your link building strategy.
SEO Reports
DIY SEO Live also provides a powerful SEO Ranking reporting tool. This tool will monitor your website search engines rankings for your targeted keywords. This tool also provides historical ranking reports so that you can easily evaluate the effectiveness of your SEO strategy.
As an Australian SEO professional, I really welcome this new SEO tool. DIY SEO Live is really powerful. It provides everything you need to analyse a website and therefore will save a lot of time on any SEO projects. I am also glad to mention that this tool is correctly priced for freelance consultants and small businesses. With the current discount you can get full access to this tool for $49.
For more information on DIY SEO Live or to buy it, visit DIY SEO Live
Labels: australia, search engine optimisation, seo tools
Australian Blogging Conference 2007
Tuesday, 25 September 2007
The first Australian Blogging Conference will be held on 28th of September (this Friday) at the Queensland University of Technology in Brisbane.
The Australian Blogging Conference 2007 is inspired by David's Winer BlogCons in the US.Instead of lengthy presentations, the conference will be more discussion-based with a discussion leader as a moderator.
The conference will cover many issues raised by the emergence of the blogosphere including the politics of blogging and the legal issues behind blogging.
Among the speakers: many fellow researchers from the Queensland University of Technology, some politicians, lawyers and a couple of recognized bloggers.
The Australian Blogging Conference is a great initiative that contribute to promote the online industry in Australia. If you want to attend, feel free to register here
The Australian Blogging Conference 2007 is inspired by David's Winer BlogCons in the US.Instead of lengthy presentations, the conference will be more discussion-based with a discussion leader as a moderator.
The conference will cover many issues raised by the emergence of the blogosphere including the politics of blogging and the legal issues behind blogging.
Among the speakers: many fellow researchers from the Queensland University of Technology, some politicians, lawyers and a couple of recognized bloggers.
The Australian Blogging Conference is a great initiative that contribute to promote the online industry in Australia. If you want to attend, feel free to register here
Facebook's SEO: Grand Opening to Search Engines
Friday, 14 September 2007
Facebook, the social media network, which has recently created a frenzy among Australian is opening its users profiles to search engines. The 30 milions users profiles will be accessible from search engines compared to the 25 000 , which are currently available.
Facebook will join the 'open to search engines' social network group already made of MySpace, Orkut and Linkedin. Unlike MySpace and Orkut, Facebook claims to put more emphasis on user privacy protection. Facebook users will have the option to display a public profile, while some information will remain private.
Facebook has been accused of costing more than $9 Billion a year to Australian businesses due to the amount of times employees are spending on it. Facebook's SEO means that it will be even easier to find people and therefore even easier to spend more time on it...
A more positive note for advertisers. Facebook's grand opening aims at targeting the masses and therefore is expected to increase the number of users. While the advertising opportunities are still limited this change is likely to make a great improvement.
Facebook will join the 'open to search engines' social network group already made of MySpace, Orkut and Linkedin. Unlike MySpace and Orkut, Facebook claims to put more emphasis on user privacy protection. Facebook users will have the option to display a public profile, while some information will remain private.
Facebook has been accused of costing more than $9 Billion a year to Australian businesses due to the amount of times employees are spending on it. Facebook's SEO means that it will be even easier to find people and therefore even easier to spend more time on it...
A more positive note for advertisers. Facebook's grand opening aims at targeting the masses and therefore is expected to increase the number of users. While the advertising opportunities are still limited this change is likely to make a great improvement.
SEO Specialist - Sydney
Thursday, 6 September 2007
Have you worked across large site structures in SEO or at an agency level servicing a broad spectrum of clients?
If so Downstream Marketing offer an excellent opportunity for an SEO manager to be involved at ground level building a specialist SEO service to our growing list of Blue Chip clients.
Requirements:
- minimum 2/3 years SEO experience
- Background in HTML, PHP, .NET, MYSQL
- Excellent written skills
- Good management experience
Activities
- Driving SEO processes
- Keyword Research
- Auditing Websites
- Reporting
- Client Management
- Team Management
Responsibilities
Working alongside our current SEM team your role will involve strategic planning for SEO campaigns and implementation.
Key Requirements
This role would suit someone with a background of website development who is already doing SEO at a high level with regard to web design. You will have good communication skills in order to communicate effective change with our clients.
Benefits
There are excellent career prospects for the right individual. Our company already works with large Blue Chip clients servicing their SEM requirements and is looking to grow an in house team to service the growing need for their SEO requirements as well.
You will play a pivotal role in setting up processes and liaising with clients to implement them.
Our environment is a young company located in Sydney Central near Town Hall located in a modern warehouse office space.
Salary dependant on experience.
Contact Gary Capps 02 9295 5195
Downstream Marketing
www.downstreamonline.com.au
If so Downstream Marketing offer an excellent opportunity for an SEO manager to be involved at ground level building a specialist SEO service to our growing list of Blue Chip clients.
Requirements:
- minimum 2/3 years SEO experience
- Background in HTML, PHP, .NET, MYSQL
- Excellent written skills
- Good management experience
Activities
- Driving SEO processes
- Keyword Research
- Auditing Websites
- Reporting
- Client Management
- Team Management
Responsibilities
Working alongside our current SEM team your role will involve strategic planning for SEO campaigns and implementation.
Key Requirements
This role would suit someone with a background of website development who is already doing SEO at a high level with regard to web design. You will have good communication skills in order to communicate effective change with our clients.
Benefits
There are excellent career prospects for the right individual. Our company already works with large Blue Chip clients servicing their SEM requirements and is looking to grow an in house team to service the growing need for their SEO requirements as well.
You will play a pivotal role in setting up processes and liaising with clients to implement them.
Our environment is a young company located in Sydney Central near Town Hall located in a modern warehouse office space.
Salary dependant on experience.
Contact Gary Capps 02 9295 5195
Downstream Marketing
www.downstreamonline.com.au
Labels: australia, seo jobs, seo specialist, seo sydney
Salary for a SEO/SEM Position
Wednesday, 29 August 2007
To provide more information on the previous article about seo jobs salaries. I have done some research and found a great article on ClickZ dealing with the topic. It is actually an interview. Even if the focus is more US, the content is interesting to get an idea on the average salaries for different SEO roles.
Q. What's considered a typical salary range for non-management and management positions in the SEM industry?
A. I sort of addressed the money question early last year, but that was specific to how much someone could expect to earn in a corporate SEM position. As far as SEM agency salaries go, earning potential is, for the most part, "commensurate with experience." Consequently, many firms seeking SEM professionals don't post salary details in job listings.
Based on information gleaned from the few firms that publish salary ranges in their job openings, several compensation trends appear. An entry-level SEM position tends to range from $30,000 to $45,000, for example. I did come across one firm, though, that sought an SEM marketing analyst for $10 an hour. You had to answer the phones, too.
If you possess three- to five-years experience in the industry, salaries range from $50,000 to $75,000. This includes the majority of the salary information published for online marketing account managers. More tenured, expert-level paid and organic search optimization specialists can garner $75,000 to $90,000 a year.
Senior management salaries tend to range from $70,000 to $120,000, while SEM directors can earn $95,000 to $150, 000. Of the few VP-level positions that post salary ranges, the most common offering is from $100,000 to $200,000 a year.
Compensation plans vary dramatically in the SEM industry, as do the responsibilities that go along with the job. Money isn't everything. It's equally important to enjoy what you do, where you do it, and who you do it for. It's hard to put a price on quality-of-life factors. Take all these things into consideration when determining what your SEM skill set is worth.
For more information on SEO Salaries in Australia and New Zealand
and SEO jobs in Australia
Q. What's considered a typical salary range for non-management and management positions in the SEM industry?
A. I sort of addressed the money question early last year, but that was specific to how much someone could expect to earn in a corporate SEM position. As far as SEM agency salaries go, earning potential is, for the most part, "commensurate with experience." Consequently, many firms seeking SEM professionals don't post salary details in job listings.
Based on information gleaned from the few firms that publish salary ranges in their job openings, several compensation trends appear. An entry-level SEM position tends to range from $30,000 to $45,000, for example. I did come across one firm, though, that sought an SEM marketing analyst for $10 an hour. You had to answer the phones, too.
If you possess three- to five-years experience in the industry, salaries range from $50,000 to $75,000. This includes the majority of the salary information published for online marketing account managers. More tenured, expert-level paid and organic search optimization specialists can garner $75,000 to $90,000 a year.
Senior management salaries tend to range from $70,000 to $120,000, while SEM directors can earn $95,000 to $150, 000. Of the few VP-level positions that post salary ranges, the most common offering is from $100,000 to $200,000 a year.
Compensation plans vary dramatically in the SEM industry, as do the responsibilities that go along with the job. Money isn't everything. It's equally important to enjoy what you do, where you do it, and who you do it for. It's hard to put a price on quality-of-life factors. Take all these things into consideration when determining what your SEM skill set is worth.
For more information on SEO Salaries in Australia and New Zealand
and SEO jobs in Australia
Labels: australia, seo jobs, seo salary, seo sydney
