Hi. My name is Tom and I have a problem. Actually I have a lot of problems, but none are more pressing or more relevant to you than how SEO has affected my perception of the Internet. More specifically, SEO has ruined how I use the Internet so I hope that sharing my story will keep you free from suffering my fate.

Everywhere I look, I see bad websites. I see hideous design, poorly designed technology, flash implementations that render websites invisible, information architectures based on a company’s organizational chart, copy that looks like it was written by my six year old, cluttered layout, garbled code, ugly interfaces, and worst of all, sites that forgot they were there to serve a purpose.

Read more at Search Engine Land.

(In response to an opinion piece on the NY Times: The Google Algorithm).

Old media reaches over 90% of the world’s population. Analysts reckon that most people still rely on old media for half of their daily news intake. When journalist, editors, or presenters tweak (skew) their supersecret algorithm, as they do hundreds of times a week – they can out a gay member of parliament or help elect a country’s first black, female president.

When there was competition in old media, it was easy to be agnostic about news, with no reason to play favourite with one candidate over another. But as old media has become more concentrated, with fewer competitors owning newspapers, radio and TV stations in the same market, it has acquired pecuniary incentives to favour one party over another.

Old media argues that it’s only the messenger and it does not bias the message. With declining circulation and the people spending less time spent in front of the tube, their grip on serving news the way they want to is waning. Competitors are a click away and old media is concerned that the premonitions of the new media gurus are finally coming true. The situation has become so dire that a case is now building for government handouts to help ensure that yesterday’s old media remain the gatekeepers of tomorrow’s news.

In the past few months, the old media rallying cry has intensified. Traditional journalism, they claim is under siege by bloggers and copy cats like the Huffington Post. They argue, “how can the people rely on the trustworthiness of today’s online news if they (the old oligarchs) are not serving it.” Rivals in new media have accused old media of sour grapes, especially now that their grip is slipping and they are no longer able to control the message even with their insanely high concentration of media ownership. Old media though says it still expects the government to bail them out, especially if said government expects to be re-elected.

Their accusations may or may not have merit. Old media says there is no bias. They only report what their people want to see or hear. Some old media pundits refuse to change and continue to claim that sites such as Mahalo are nothing more than a collection of links with next to no original content of their own, precisely the kind of information the people should be protected from. Antitrust regulators in the United States could well let old media buy 100% of all media assets in multiple markets because they are no longer as relevant as they once claimed to be.

Still, the potential impact of old media’s bias on news is such that it is still worth preventing further concentration of ownership to ensure ‘the editorial algorithm of news’ is free from a single entity’s faltering grip over all media (especially in Australia).

Some early suggestions for how to accomplish this include putting old media out of their misery with some specified level of accountability in their editorial policy that guides its bias. Another would be to ignore their whinging all together as their dominance is truly coming to an end.

Old media still provides an incredibly valuable service, and the government must be careful not to rely on social media to spread its message to the masses, at least not yet. Remembering that old media can still help fill party coffers, paying gazillions in old media buys to help sway public opinion is a small price to pay (by taxpayers), so government must tread lightly and protect its investment in the old guard.

With these caveats in mind, if old media continues to see itself as the map to the daily news, it concerns us all that it delivers the message to us without tweaking the news algorithm.

The satirical views expressed in this article are the sole views of the writer.

Further reading:

Amplify is looking for an intelligent and motivated junior PHP developer who is looking to prove their potential and join the ranks of a highly skilled and good looking team team.

You should have a broad range of skills in PHP, CSS, JavaScript and strong standards based HTML coding (at the very least you should know what they mean). A good eye for design will be a distinct advantage, as would knowledge of PHP frameworks like symfony (tickets to the opera are not included).

Amplify is a fast growing and profitable company that focuses on providing an integrated approach to developing our clients online business. We combine solid web development skills with search marketing and digital media expertise to achieve our client’s goals. You will be working on large scale projects for a wide variety of brand name clients like Webjet, Board Room Radio and others.

Amplify also offers a flexible, fun and relaxed atmosphere to work in.

Mandatory skills required:

• Computer Science degree (or similar) or 2+ years development experience
• Experience in PHP development
• Excellent English language skills

Bonus skills:

• Familiarity with (or a willingness to learn) the symfony PHP Framework (or similar such as Cake or Zend)
• Experience with MySQL, JavaScript, jQuery, HTML, HTML5, CSS and W3C compliant web development/design
• Web design skills and experience with design software such as Photoshop an advantage

Other Requirements:

• Highly motivated, efficient and well organised
• You must work well in a team environment but also be able to work independently
• An ability to work within project deadlines
• Strong communication skills, both written and verbal
• Must be an Australian Permanent Resident

Salary is contingent on experience.

When submitting your resume please include some examples of your work including information on your role in the project and send to jobs@amplify.com.au.

No agencies, thank you.

Add some structure to your life

Often, little thought is put into the initial structure of an SEM campaign. Needless to say, we don’t build house without the help of plans or an architect. The same should apply for paid search accounts. Google and Yahoo are there to make money. They’re not going to come knocking like the local building inspector when you haven’t planned.

A strong, well planned account structure is key to the success of any paid search campaign. A solid account structure will make it easy to expand and identify new trends within your industry, apply budgets appropriately and assist you to take full advantage of search engine tools that reward well structured accounts.

5 Must Do’s for Paid Search Account Structure

1.Utilise match types

Google: Broad | Phrase | Exact | Negative Yahoo: Standard | Advanced | Negative

Broad match (advanced) is generally overused, and other match types generally overlooked. Best practice would suggest to use phrase and exact (standard) match for words you know work and utilise broad match to discover new ones.

2 Start small

Starting out? Don’t feel like you need to think of every possible keyword variation, this will happen over time. It’s best to start small, evaluate performance and build from there.
Established Search Accounts. Don’t be afraid to pause and delete. Use that money to test or increase the budgets on campaigns that do perform.

3.Create themes.

Themes should be focused around your text ad. If the keywords in an ad group don’t directly relate to an ad create another ad group. Themes can be categorised many ways – brand, type of product, size, high/low volume words. Always remember that the purpose of creating these themes is to maximise performance.

4.Keep ads & keyword groups relevant.

Generally speaking, more ad groups with fewer keywords are easier to manage. It also makes the task of removing poorly performing keywords a cinch. Ads should always be clear and relate directly to the search query. Highly relevant ads will increase the chances of a higher CTR%.

5. Keep your brand related keywords separate

Always have a separate campaign for brand related words. Brand keywords should be visible 100% of the time. Visibility is often limited by budget especially if brand words are competing against other more expensive terms. Always separate brand words from broader, more generic terms.

Why these tips really work.

We all know the search engines reward relevancy, in the form of lower CPCs and higher ad rank. A good SEM account structure ensures you tick all the boxes and if done right will mean everything is rightly relevant. A clear structure will allow you to measure apples to apples and help identify what’s working. Invest time into a good SEM account structure and you will see the rewards.

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!