SEO is just another form of marketing. It works when it’s done right… like any form of marketing and unlike billboard or tv advertising, it’s much more transparent and accountable.

Are there dodgy ways of gaming the search engines. Sure. Just like there are dodgy ways of misleading customers offline. Ultimately, if you produce something that results in a bad customer experience you’ll pay.

With regards to this post, I’d challenge the following assertions:

1) [SEO is] A Continual Investment with No Guarantees

That’s a criticism you could level at any marketing effort. Not selling is not an option for most people, so as SEO is just another form of marketing, it shouldn’t be singled out in this respect. In fact, it’s much more accountable than other forms of marketing when it’s done right (Hello brand marketers…!)

2) You’re manipulating the system

Yes. And if by manipulating the system you mean we’re identifying what customers are searching for and then trying to present them with relevant information that addresses their concerns, then you bet that’s what we’re doing. And our clients who are meeting the customers’ needs and making a decent living growing their business are loving every minute of it.

3) It [SEO] can damage the user experience

Yes, if it’s done poorly. Why would you not want a great user experience that still gets indexed by search engines? When SEO is done right, you get a fantastic user experience. Not only does the visitor get what they are searching for, but they get it quickly with no bells and whistles. That’s SEO done right. The example sited in the post is outdated and no serious SEO practitioner would see it as a benefit.

4) “Website owners seem obsessed with being ‘number one’ on Google. However, it is not a particularly effective method of marketing.”

Seriously? You have to be joking, right? In Australia, Google is the search engine of choice. It’s used by 90% of Australians searching online. Let me hammer this point home, 9 out of 10 Australians are using Google to find what they are looking for on the Web.

If you have a business and you are not visible for the product s or services you offer on Google, you are giving this business away to your competitors… and on behalf of my clients I would simply say: ‘Thank You! Thank you for not believing in SEO and letting us make piles and piles of money in this channel! We’re eternally grateful and would encourage you to stay ignorant on the subject. It only makes our job easier! God Bless you Man!”

5) I would invest in making your site better for users and encouraging them to recommend it through social networks and linking.

Linking and getting users to your site via other web entities… Hmmm… What would I call that? Ah yes… That’s what known as link building and social media optimisation and it’s an integral part of any SEO strategy. Increased traffic via social websites only boosts your credibility and visibility… and referrals via links are massively helpful to your visibility on search engines. Like it or not, when you’re doing this, you’re practicing SEO to some degree – and your clients will be all the better for it!

Good on ya matey!

With the launch of the Apple’s iPad this week, small laptops, netbooks, e-readers and tablet notebooks are likely to be top of mind for many working Australians. And the question for many will be: Is smaller necessarily better? Enter Amplify friend and tech guru Joel Montgomery from Powerbuy.com.au with his two cents on what to consider if you’re thinking of going small for business and getting a netbook. Enjoy!

A netbook is a much smaller and cheaper version of a laptop. Netbooks (short for “Internet Notebooks“), also known as “mini laptops” and “mini notebooks”, are ideal for travelling and for home but what about for the office? Does it make sense to shrink your I.T. budget and our screen size? We look at whether netbooks are really worth your while.

1. Price

Netbooks are ultra-cheap. You can pick up a decent netbook for under $600, less than half what you’d pay for a laptop. However if you plan to use a netbook regularly in the office then you may want an external (bigger) monitor & keyboard which will set you back another $200 – $300.

2. Mobility

A typical laptop weighs between 2kg and 3kg and with a 15″ screen they can be difficult to use when you’re travelling. Netbooks, however, weigh less than 1kg and with screen sizes ranging from 7″ to 10″ are ideal for use “on the go”. Netbooks also have a lower power draw so their batteries can last 2 – 3 times longer. You can buy netbooks with built-in Bluetooth, Wi-Fi or 3G cards which makes connecting to the Internet easy no matter where you are.

TIP: Look for netbooks with SSD (Solid State Drives). These are better than the traditional hard drive models because there are no moving parts so they’re less prone to damage if (and when) they get knocked about.

3. Performance

Netbooks are much slower than your typical laptop. They use low voltage processors usually with 1GB memory (RAM). You’ll find that you can simultaneously run multiple Office applications (Word, Excel, Outlook, etc), accounting software and a web browser without any issues. However, when you start to run graphics applications, videos or websites with lots of Flash your netbook may grind to a halt.

TIP: You’ll get the best performance if you run Windows 7 (starter edition) or Linux. You may also need to schedule your anti-virus software to run the scheduled scan of your hard drive after hours.

4. Screen size

The netbook’s small screen (7″ to 10″) can give you eye strain if you’re on it all day. Popular netbook models allow for a maximum screen resolution of 1024×600 but anything below this doesn’t let you to view the whole width of a web page at any one time (so you have to scroll the page back and forth to read a full line of text, which can get very frustrating).

TIP: Make sure your netbook has a VGA connection so you can connect it to an external monitor.

5. Other considerations

Netbooks usually don’t have CD or DVD drives. Small keyboards can also make it difficult to type so you may need an external keyboard when you’re in the office.

The Bottom Line

If you need a second computer for the home or a travelling companion then the price, weight, mobility and battery life of a netbook make them hard to go by. If you’re in the market for a Dell or Samsung netbook then make sure you grab an extra saving from PowerBuy first. However, if you spend most of your working day in the office in front of your computer, then we suggest you spend extra to get a laptop, because even the slightest performance degradation can add up to hours of lost productivity for you and your staff.

I’m no lawyer, but has Google’s venture into the mobile handset space finally gone a bridge too far? It’s a question worth pondering with Google’s release of the Nexus One cell phone as the search giant now has the ability to develop a mobile phone primed to take advantage of its software innovations and its globally dominant search platform – a huge advantage on other handset makers.

The argument could (and likely will) be made that Google built up its business and the Nexus One is simply an extension of those efforts. But that’s where I get the sense government regulators could disagree…

Google – Extending its Dominance Into Hardware

Google’s search dominance is overwhelming. In most developed countries it is the search platform of choice. In Australia, we’re talking a 90% market share. It is so dominant, the number one keyword query on Yahoo 7 Australia (now Bing Australia) is ‘Google’ (or at least it was according to Bill Tancer from Hitwise in 2009 SMX Sydney presentation). Clearly we’re dealing wih juggernaut that has embedded itself into people’s everyday lives and modified behaviours to become the overwhelming ‘default search platform’. It’s a phenomenal success and the good folks at Google should be commended for it.

Google’s Smartphone – A Competition Killer?

Where this gets tricky is when Google starts creating hardware. Suddenly you could have a phone that auto-updates to the latest Google software innovations. Imagine a phone that not only works seamlessly with the world’s preferred search engine, but has first mover advantage whenever Google rolls out a new update? Heck, why stop at phones? Imagine a TV, computer, fridge, or car that is fully integrated.

What is the competition to do? Develop a new search engine and try to beat Google at its own game? Yeah right. We’re talking ingrained behaviour here and one heck of a technological mountain to climb. That’s easier said than done. Just as the good folks at Microsoft’s Bing.

Antitrust Lessons from Days Gone By

Don’t get me wrong. I’m all for innovation, competition and reaping the rewards of your hard work. But there comes a point where customers like you and me are ill served when a monopoly uses its strength in one area to dominate in other sectors. Recall how back in the day (1934 to be precise), the US government broke up United Aircraft (now United Technologies) – a holding company comprising among other things, a collection of airlines known as United Airline, an engine maker, Pratt & Whitney and a little aircraft manufacturer… known as Boeing. United Aircraft was deemed anti-competitive, because you simply couldn’t have an airline getting sweet deals from its own aircraft manufacturer and engine maker.

Now view Google’s foray into cell phones in this light, add the new ‘regulatory environment’ we find ourselves in, sprinkle a few competitors with an axe to grind (and with a penchant for litigation) and maybe… just maybe, Google’s finally pushed its luck into antitrust territory.

Is there a lawyer in the room?

Ever wanted to start your own business online? Odds are you have, but found the whole process of kicking off your own startup a daunting task. Well if that’s the case, you’re going to find this blog post by former Googler (and Amplify friend) Michael Fox well worth your time. Michael left Google to sell shoes online and we think his insights make for delightful and informative reading. Without further ado… over to Michael!

From Google to Selling Shoes Online

Mike, Jodie and I have always liked to dabble in starting different online businesses and over Christmas 2008 we decided that we wanted to explore doing something more seriously so we started brainstorming different ideas for a business. We came up with the following criteria for what we wanted in a business:

Online Retail Offers Opportunities

1. We wanted to do something in online retail as it’s a space that is well behind on the innovation front. The reason for that is it’s not a super easy area to work in so a lot of web savvy startup people avoid it – you have to deal with a physical product and all the issues that brings. The second benefit of online retail is that it’s simple enough to monetise – you sell a product. Unlike other online businesses you don’t have to re-invent the wheel to monetise what you’ve created.

2. We wanted to find a product that had a strong point of difference and a good PR story to it. The best way to market a business these days is by word of mouth, and (although we might be biased having worked at Google) not too far behind that is search engines. A product that is different and exciting encourages people to tell their friends about it = great for word of mouth. And when they talk about it online, on their blogs and websites it’s great for SEO.

And so we chose to sell… Shoes!

So armed with these criteria we went in search of a product. Jodie loves shoes and on her trips to Europe she would always fly through Hong Kong to visit her favourite bespoke shoe stores. So we thought if we could offer reasonably priced, high quality custom made women’s shoes online we would have met our criteria, so Shoes of Prey was born.

From having the initial idea to launch took 9 months, a rather apt gestation period! While we’ve detailed many of the challenges we’ve faced on our blog 22 Michaels, some of the key ones have been:

1. Finding a suitable supplier.

This posed a potentially business killing problem as most shoe suppliers want runs of 1000′s of shoes, not 1 shoe! We decided the best course of action was to find a supplier who already makes custom made shoes. We traveled to Hong Kong and China to meet with various suppliers and eventually settled on a supplier who had made many of the custom shoes Jodie had bought over the years. They were keen to work with us and we knew their product was great and it’s been a great match!

2. Making shoes in the right size for our customers.

This is difficult. Large online shoe retailers like Zappos get around this problem by suggesting you order your shoes in 2 or 3 different sizes, then returning the ones that don’t fit which Zappos can then put back on the warehouse shelf. Clearly we can’t do this because our shoes are custom made. We explored many different possibilities like instructions for how to measure your feet or an iPhone app along the lines of the very cool RulerPhone, however we’ve settled on having you tell us your most common size which we’ll then make for you. And if we don’t get it right you can return the shoes and we’ll remake them in a new size. This is potentially costly for us if our return rate is high, both in monetary terms and customer satisfaction, however we’re upfront about this with our customers and we’re exploring other sales channels to sell the shoes that don’t fit. This sizing issue means repeat customers have an even higher value for us than a normal business.

3. Online marketing.

As we outlined above online marketing potential was a key criteria in selecting a business and so far so good. Communicating with only our personal networks and the 100 people who signed up to our email list prior to launch, we’ve had over 10,000 site visits and excellent sales in the first week. So now we’re up and running we’re looking to ramp up our online marketing efforts:

• We selected the business for it’s word of mouth potential and our plan is to encourage this by finding PR opportunities for the brand, particularly in the online space.
• We’ve built the site to be SEO friendly.
• There’s solid search engine traffic on keywords like ‘bespoke shoes’ and ‘custom shoes’ so we’re in the process of setting up a Google AdWords campaign.
• We’re adding social features to the site to encourage customers to discuss their designs with their friends.
• When you design a shoe we provide the html code so you can easily embed a link to your shoe on your website (great for SEO).
• We’ve created a Facebook Page and Twitter account so we can communicate with our customers in the places they like to spend their time.
• We’ve set up a fashion blog where Jodie discusses the latest fashion trends and provides ideas on how to incorporate these into your shoe designs.

It’s been a challenging and very exciting 9 months getting the business up and running and we’re so pleased to have had a great launch. We’ve got a lot of work ahead of us and we’re well aware of the statistic that 90% of business fail within the first few years so we’re keen to do our bit towards reducing that number! To that end we’d love to hear and be very grateful for your thoughts and suggestions for the business in the comments section below.

So we all know Harvey Norman and other major retailers in Oz haven’t made a serious go of it online. And in the breach discount outfits have come in and made a killing while the giants slept…

Online Retail in Australia – Find your niche and go for it!

Joel Montgomery of Powerbuy, an online computer and server cashback outfit, highlights how anyone who can find a niche in the market place and with industry knowledge and a little SEO savvy to boot, can join in on the online retail revolution while major Aussie players like Harvey Norman are asleep at the wheel.

Ingram Micro – Opening the Flood Gates

Montgomery explains: “Major IT retailers are increasingly finding it difficult to compete with smaller (more nimble) online businesses who these days can set up online stores with minimal cost and hassle. Ingram Micro’s Techlink4U technology allows small IT computer suppliers to quickly establish a fully-functional, online presence capable of competing with the big stores from as little as a few hundred dollars per month.”

The Key – Online Retail with Low Overheads

Using Ingram Micro‘s technology, your small online store can  integrate into Ingram Micro’s logistic system (the largest I.T. distributor in Australia) which enables you to operate with extremely low overheads. You can  thus compete with minimal mark-ups on product cost.

Industry Knowledge + SEO Knowledge = $$$

According to Montgomery, many savvy consumers and businesses are now attracted to low-cost stores thanks to web robots such as StaticIce & ShopBot that rank online stores by product model and price. The evolution of the cookie-cutter online store and web robots is helping consumers save whilst taking significant share away from bigger players.

With a good grasp of what you want to sell and some solid SEO knowledge, there’s plenty of opportunity in the Australian market for smaller players to carve out their piece of the pie at the expense of the category leaders.

The Downside for Consumers

The trade-off for consumers, however, is that when they buy from low-cost stores and internet start ups the speed and predictability of delivery and (especially) the post-sales support is nowhere as good as what they’ve come to expect from Tier-1 retailers.

The Upside for Everyone Involved

But with role models like Amazon and local online retailers now showing the way, there’s little reason why a savvy retailer could not provide consumers with as good (if not better) an experience than Australia’s retail giants.

Start your Own Online Business

Know a bit about IT? Have some knowledge of SEO and how to get your site ranking on search engines? Maybe it’s time you took the plunge…

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Thanks to young entrepreneur and online retail startup extraordinaire ,Joel Montgomery of Powerbuy.com.au, for sharing his thoughts on the online retail landscape in Australia.

Full disclosure: Amplify did some consulting work for Powerbuy this year.