SRPI

Many businesses don’t think SEO is difficult, and they are right. It’s not rocket science, but it does require applied strategy, testing, and a lot of patience. Faced with the choice of going all out SEO (in or out of house), or putting it into the hands of a few part-timers to cut costs, some choose the latter. They believe the knowledge to rank a website is now mainstream enough that anybody can do it. A couple of interns would have no problem fixing title tags on a website, but unfortunately for that company, search engine marketing has advanced beyond title and description tags.

It is great news that many companies are seeing value in SEO and SEM. It makes it easier for companies like SEO.com to persuade people to let us do what works. But the basic nature of some SEO services has led some to question whether or not the investment is worth it. It is tempting to view SEO as simply a task that once achieved by a first page ranking can be eliminated or at least outsourced for cheap.

So why is this misguided thinking?

SEO has become something much bigger than most people realize. This is why some use the term ‘SEM’ (search engine marketing), or ‘online marketing’, instead of SEO. SEO plays a very important part in what we do, but when you take into account our people who run PPC campaigns for clients, optimize site layouts for better conversion rates, re-design websites for better usability, and whatever else we do, you have something resembling a full-service web marketing firm.

More than building a link or two

Consider the advantage that comes with expertise. For example,did you read Greg Shuey’s post about building links from relevant sites? If you didn’t know any better, you might think all link building was created equal. Turns out, there is a direct correlation between link building and on-page site structure. Go back and read up to find out more.

Or how about Rick Hardman’s discussion about Twitter? As social media continues to evolve, will you have anyone to consult with about its direction? Chances are, what you know about social media’s strategic relation to SEO is already a bit dated. You could study up, but you’ve got a business to run.

Maybe you missed David Malmborg’s post on why you shouldn’t send PPC traffic to your home page. Would you have continued to send all your hot leads to a poorly laid out page if you didn’t know that it was costing you money? Maybe, maybe not. But unless you had somebody on staff that had tested a landing page versus a home page for PPC traffic, you might never even think of something like that.

Pardon me for being a bit sales-pitchy there, but when you understand what SEO/SEM entails, it becomes clear that interns won’t cut it. Because while the business world got web savvy, online marketers were moving ahead. Some simple SEO tasks became commoditized, but web strategy became more complicated as social media, video, etc., gained acceptance. In sum, it takes more now than it ever has before to get the results you want. You could do some link building and content creation yourself, but your resources would be better spent on strategic search engine marketing.

View post:
SEO Grows Up, Now More Than Just Links and Tags

Many businesses don’t think SEO is difficult, and they are right. It’s not rocket science, but it does require applied strategy, testing, and a lot of patience. Faced with the choice of going all out SEO (in or out of house), or putting it into the hands of a few part-timers to cut costs, some choose the latter. They believe the knowledge to rank a website is now mainstream enough that anybody can do it. A couple of interns would have no problem fixing title tags on a website, but unfortunately for that company, search engine marketing has advanced beyond title and description tags.

It is great news that many companies are seeing value in SEO and SEM. It makes it easier for companies like SEO.com to persuade people to let us do what works. But the basic nature of some SEO services has led some to question whether or not the investment is worth it. It is tempting to view SEO as simply a task that once achieved by a first page ranking can be eliminated or at least outsourced for cheap.

So why is this misguided thinking?

SEO has become something much bigger than most people realize. This is why some use the term ‘SEM’ (search engine marketing), or ‘online marketing’, instead of SEO. SEO plays a very important part in what we do, but when you take into account our people who run PPC campaigns for clients, optimize site layouts for better conversion rates, re-design websites for better usability, and whatever else we do, you have something resembling a full-service web marketing firm.

More than building a link or two

Consider the advantage that comes with expertise. For example,did you read Greg Shuey’s post about building links from relevant sites? If you didn’t know any better, you might think all link building was created equal. Turns out, there is a direct correlation between link building and on-page site structure. Go back and read up to find out more.

Or how about Rick Hardman’s discussion about Twitter? As social media continues to evolve, will you have anyone to consult with about its direction? Chances are, what you know about social media’s strategic relation to SEO is already a bit dated. You could study up, but you’ve got a business to run.

Maybe you missed David Malmborg’s post on why you shouldn’t send PPC traffic to your home page. Would you have continued to send all your hot leads to a poorly laid out page if you didn’t know that it was costing you money? Maybe, maybe not. But unless you had somebody on staff that had tested a landing page versus a home page for PPC traffic, you might never even think of something like that.

Pardon me for being a bit sales-pitchy there, but when you understand what SEO/SEM entails, it becomes clear that interns won’t cut it. Because while the business world got web savvy, online marketers were moving ahead. Some simple SEO tasks became commoditized, but web strategy became more complicated as social media, video, etc., gained acceptance. In sum, it takes more now than it ever has before to get the results you want. You could do some link building and content creation yourself, but your resources would be better spent on strategic search engine marketing.

Original post:
SEO Grows Up, Now More Than Just Links and Tags

This time of year is when most people reflect on their lives, where they’re at and where they want to be in the future. It’s also a time to reflect on the good things in their lives. I thought of a list of SEO things to be thankful for.

1. You know what SEO is! You’re already ahead of the curve if you run a website and know what SEO is. Even better if you know what the key elements of SEO are.
2. There are plenty of resources for SEO information. When I first started doing SEO almost 10 years ago, there was hardly any information available about what to do other than title, meta description, meta keywords and copy. Now we have other criteria to consider and plenty of resources, like the blogs at SEO.com, to get more information.
3. Great conferences to attend:
   SES (Search Engine Strategies), PubCon, SMX (Search Marketing Expo), and Search eXChange. There are even international conferences now, which didn’t exist a few years ago.
4. It’s not boring. Things within the industry change quite often, so you constantly get to learn new techniques and tricks to help sites rank well in the search engines.
5. You can be creative. Being good in the SEO industry requires that you pay attention, think through what you’re doing, and try out new things. Testing to see what happens when you do a particular action is a great way to learn more about what works and what doesn’t. And testing in our industry doesn’t involve blood, animals, or human pain!
6. Sharing. It’s amazing to me how well we share with one another. When one person learns something new, they blog about it and teach others how to do it and what the impact of it will be. We even share our toys (also known as plug-ins and tools).
7. Learning a new language. Yeah, OK, we might be geeks, but we can be pretty dang interesting! At our Christmas party a group of us starting talking about SEO. The spouses started laughing because it didn’t make any sense to those outside of the industry.
8. Our industry is growing at a time when almost everything else is declining. What a great space to be in! We are so different from other industries; we are definitely in a good spot.
9. We can work from home when we need to. With only a computer and Internet access, we can work from the office, from home or even on vacation if we want to (one of my co-workers took a two-week vacation and is working part of the time to save on PTO). It’s so flexible!
10. We work with great people! Most SEO people either know or want to know other SEO people. We talk about more than just our industry and take an active interest in other people’s views and ideas.

So there you have it. Ten things to be thankful for in regards to SEO. Hopefully you can think of a ton more things to be thankful for all year long.

Go here to see the original:
Be Thankful

I’ve been hearing a lot over the last year or so about long tail searches and all that. So today I wanted to talk briefly about why the long tail is important, but also why it should only be part of your overall search marketing strategy.

Understanding the Keyword Cycle

Let’s briefly discuss what head terms and long tail terms are for those of you that are not familiar with this concept.

People search for things in a variety of different ways, and they generally go through a cycle that looks something like this:

• A person starts looking for a new laptop, but they don’t really know what’s on the market. So they start their search with a head term like ‘laptop’
• As the person learns more about the topic, maybe they decide that they are most interested in a ‘Dell laptop’, so they do a search for that short tail phrase hoping to find out more about this brand.
• Now they’re getting an idea of what the price range is, but they want to see if they can find a better deal. So the person starts using long tail terms like ‘Dell laptops for under $1000’, ‘cheap Dell laptops’, etc.

Does this process sound familiar? It should, because we all do it! The less we know about a topic, the more we tend to use head or short tail phrases. The more familiar we are with a topic, the more likely we are to start searching with medium and long tail phrases.

As you can probably guess, the shorter terms generally get a lot more traffic. But, because they are more general in nature, they tend to not convert very well. The long phrases get fewer searches, but tend to convert better because this type of person has a better idea of what they’re looking for. Here’s a sample of a very common graph showing this relationship:

Benefits of Short and Long Tail

Both short and long tail keywords have their place in your search marketing strategy. One mistake that a lot of companies make is only going after one or the other. But a complete strategy will take advantage of both. Here is a quick summary of things to consider with both of them:

Head and Short Tail Phrases

The lure of traffic is a big reason that companies go after these terms. The truth is that if you can get a good ranking on short terms you will get a lot of traffic for it. Sure, you may not get as many conversions from these terms, but they help to build your brand, which will in turn lead to more sales later.

In summary, head and short tail phrases:

• Generate a lot of searches
• Don’t have a high conversion rate
• Can be good for branding purposes
• Are generally more competitive

Long Tail Phrases

As you can see from the graph, there are a lot more long tail phrases than there are head and short tail terms. Cumulatively, you can get a lot of traffic this way, even though individual long tail terms may not generate much traffic by themselves. But because they generally convert better, you’ll want to rank well across the board for these phrases.

In summary, head and short tail phrases:

• Don’t get much traffic individually, but cumulatively can make up a large portion of your site’s traffic
• Convert better overall
• It’s estimated that 20% of searches have never happened before, so it’s impossible to optimize for all of them

Use All of the Tails!

By having a good position on shorter terms you are putting your company in front of a shopper while they are at the beginning stages of their search. But don’t stop there! The goal here is to get your site in front of the searcher during all stages of their search cycle.

Let’s look back at the example of the person searching for a laptop. What if your company came up in a majority of the searches they did, both short and long tail? Do you think they’ll notice this and consider your site as one of the more relevant ones for that topic?

This is one reason why it’s important to have a complete keyword strategy. You have to consider both the long and short phrases. You need to get your site in front of as many people as possible to get conversions, and you can do it across the board by incorporating both short and long tail phrases in your optimization efforts.

Optimizing for the Long Tail

The problem with optimizing for the long tail is that there are so many of them. And, being that an estimated 20% of searches are new, you can’t optimize for a majority of them anyway!

So what can you do to incorporate these long tail phrases into your site’s optimization? Here are a few tips:

• Use a good keyword tool to get an idea of what the known long tail phrases are.
• Watch your analytics for additional ideas of where you are getting traffic and conversions from.
• For each optimized page use your 1-3 main phrases in the copy, but also include long tail variations of them.
• Vary your anchor text when you’re building links with long tail variations.
• If your site has a blog, write content that is based around long tail phrases. Then link with those long tail phrases back over to the main page of your site that is optimized for the base phrase.

The good news is that ranking for long tail phrases is usually not too hard. Keep an eye on your analytics to see what’s working and tweak it from there. As you do this, you’ll get a better idea of the kinds of terms that are being used in your industry.

See more here:
Use All the Tails in Your Search Marketing Strategy

I’ve been hearing a lot over the last year or so about long tail searches and all that. So today I wanted to talk briefly about why the long tail is important, but also why it should only be part of your overall search marketing strategy.

Understanding the Keyword Cycle

Let’s briefly discuss what head terms and long tail terms are for those of you that are not familiar with this concept.

People search for things in a variety of different ways, and they generally go through a cycle that looks something like this:

• A person starts looking for a new laptop, but they don’t really know what’s on the market. So they start their search with a head term like ‘laptop’
• As the person learns more about the topic, maybe they decide that they are most interested in a ‘Dell laptop’, so they do a search for that short tail phrase hoping to find out more about this brand.
• Now they’re getting an idea of what the price range is, but they want to see if they can find a better deal. So the person starts using long tail terms like ‘Dell laptops for under $1000’, ‘cheap Dell laptops’, etc.

Does this process sound familiar? It should, because we all do it! The less we know about a topic, the more we tend to use head or short tail phrases. The more familiar we are with a topic, the more likely we are to start searching with medium and long tail phrases.

As you can probably guess, the shorter terms generally get a lot more traffic. But, because they are more general in nature, they tend to not convert very well. The long phrases get fewer searches, but tend to convert better because this type of person has a better idea of what they’re looking for. Here’s a sample of a very common graph showing this relationship:

Benefits of Short and Long Tail

Both short and long tail keywords have their place in your search marketing strategy. One mistake that a lot of companies make is only going after one or the other. But a complete strategy will take advantage of both. Here is a quick summary of things to consider with both of them:

Head and Short Tail Phrases

The lure of traffic is a big reason that companies go after these terms. The truth is that if you can get a good ranking on short terms you will get a lot of traffic for it. Sure, you may not get as many conversions from these terms, but they help to build your brand, which will in turn lead to more sales later.

In summary, head and short tail phrases:

• Generate a lot of searches
• Don’t have a high conversion rate
• Can be good for branding purposes
• Are generally more competitive

Long Tail Phrases

As you can see from the graph, there are a lot more long tail phrases than there are head and short tail terms. Cumulatively, you can get a lot of traffic this way, even though individual long tail terms may not generate much traffic by themselves. But because they generally convert better, you’ll want to rank well across the board for these phrases.

In summary, head and short tail phrases:

• Don’t get much traffic individually, but cumulatively can make up a large portion of your site’s traffic
• Convert better overall
• It’s estimated that 20% of searches have never happened before, so it’s impossible to optimize for all of them

Use All of the Tails!

By having a good position on shorter terms you are putting your company in front of a shopper while they are at the beginning stages of their search. But don’t stop there! The goal here is to get your site in front of the searcher during all stages of their search cycle.

Let’s look back at the example of the person searching for a laptop. What if your company came up in a majority of the searches they did, both short and long tail? Do you think they’ll notice this and consider your site as one of the more relevant ones for that topic?

This is one reason why it’s important to have a complete keyword strategy. You have to consider both the long and short phrases. You need to get your site in front of as many people as possible to get conversions, and you can do it across the board by incorporating both short and long tail phrases in your optimization efforts.

Optimizing for the Long Tail

The problem with optimizing for the long tail is that there are so many of them. And, being that an estimated 20% of searches are new, you can’t optimize for a majority of them anyway!

So what can you do to incorporate these long tail phrases into your site’s optimization? Here are a few tips:

• Use a good keyword tool to get an idea of what the known long tail phrases are.
• Watch your analytics for additional ideas of where you are getting traffic and conversions from.
• For each optimized page use your 1-3 main phrases in the copy, but also include long tail variations of them.
• Vary your anchor text when you’re building links with long tail variations.
• If your site has a blog, write content that is based around long tail phrases. Then link with those long tail phrases back over to the main page of your site that is optimized for the base phrase.

The good news is that ranking for long tail phrases is usually not too hard. Keep an eye on your analytics to see what’s working and tweak it from there. As you do this, you’ll get a better idea of the kinds of terms that are being used in your industry.

View original post here:
Use All the Tails in Your Search Marketing Strategy

In my previous work experience, I designed and created pages and graphics for a company’s intranet. In this context, SEO practices were not number one on my list of priorities. Adding a few keywords to help the internal search engine sort through the pages was enough.  Coming to SEO.com from this environment has been eye-opening to the importance of applying good SEO practices during the design phase. Unfortunately, optimizing content for search engines can often lead to challenges in maintaining a desired design.

Text Rendering: SEO vs. Design

An area of uncertainty that I would like to focus on is the rendering of text, since text is also an important contributor to a page’s search rankings. It is important to try to keep page content coded in HTML with the appropriate tags (h1, p, etc) for search engine and accessibility purposes. How might this limit a designer, when text is coded in HTML and styled with CSS?  As with the range of available operating systems, browsers, screens, and settings, all of which can alter the way a web page is displayed, there is variation in the fonts that viewers have installed on their computers. Consequently, choosing a particular font does not guarantee that your text will actually display in this font to all of your users.

Why does it matter if text shows up in Times New Roman instead of Papyrus? Well, it doesn’t necessarily, but if you’re at all concerned with the user experience (And why wouldn’t you be?) then it certainly does. The fonts you use can, for example, emphasize important text, establish your site’s branding, or make content more or less readable, affecting how long a viewer stays on your site and what they decide to do. What, then, is the best way to display the fonts you want while maintaining compatibility with multiple systems and staying search engine friendly?

CSS

First of all, CSS does have a catch if there is a font you wish to use that a user does not have. You can list the name of the desired font, alternative fonts, and even a font family that you want applied to the text if your first choice is not available.  However, if your ideal font is not the one that ends up being displayed, layout issues can arise due to variations in font spacing and sizes.

Image Replacement

Another way web designers cope is through image replacement. You can create an image of the text in the font you wish to use and this image will display the content instead of coded text.  Problem solved, right? Not necessarily. Using images with “alt” tags will make that text less relevant to search engines than if it were coded and tagged appropriately.  There are some work-around techniques for coping with this issue, including placing images in the background and indenting coded text off of the page and out of view, setting the display of the coded text to “none”, or using the CSS layout to hide coded text behind images.  However, Google does warn that “Hiding text or links in your content can cause your site to be perceived as untrustworthy since it presents information to search engines differently than to visitors.” It is therefore possible that even these adapted techniques can negatively affect your search rankings, as well as interfering with screen reader accessibility.

FLIR

FLIR (Face Lift Image Replacement) plays off of the concept of image replacement, but does so dynamically using PHP. Text can still be coded appropriately in HTML for search engines even though it is being swapped out with an image for the viewer. Possible downsides of this method include its reliance on PHP, and the fact that text cannot be selected, which decreases site usability.

sIFR

Another method is to use Scalable Inman Flash Replacement (sIFR). This method combines Flash, Javascript, and CSS to do dynamic text replacement as well.  Like FLIR, text remains SEO friendly but the text is replaced with a Flash file instead of an image. This technique, like the others, is not without its drawbacks which include increased loading time and a reliance on the viewer having a Flash Player installed.

Cufon

Cufon is another popular method which can render fonts using Javascript. This technique allows for faster load times, but uses embedded fonts, which can cause copyright issues with certain font license agreements.  Also, unlike sIFR, the text will not be selectable.

CSS3 and Embedded Fonts

Browsers are beginning to support the next version of CSS (level 3), which also allows for fonts to be downloaded from the web.  Copyright violations are also a concern here as well as possible security issues.

Conclusion

Although none of these methods are perfect, new technologies and techniques come closer every day to addressing the need for both good design and searchable content. At this point it is up to the designer to navigate these options and adapt their design based on the requirements of the project.

Read more about these web typography techniques here:

http://thinkclay.com/technology/cufon-sifr-flir

http://www.webdesignerwall.com/general/fonts-and-the-web/

Excerpt from:
Fonts, SEO, and Compatibility: a Designer’s Dilemma

In my previous work experience, I designed and created pages and graphics for a company’s intranet. In this context, SEO practices were not number one on my list of priorities. Adding a few keywords to help the internal search engine sort through the pages was enough.  Coming to SEO.com from this environment has been eye-opening to the importance of applying good SEO practices during the design phase. Unfortunately, optimizing content for search engines can often lead to challenges in maintaining a desired design.

Text Rendering: SEO vs. Design

An area of uncertainty that I would like to focus on is the rendering of text, since text is also an important contributor to a page’s search rankings. It is important to try to keep page content coded in HTML with the appropriate tags (h1, p, etc) for search engine and accessibility purposes. How might this limit a designer, when text is coded in HTML and styled with CSS?  As with the range of available operating systems, browsers, screens, and settings, all of which can alter the way a web page is displayed, there is variation in the fonts that viewers have installed on their computers. Consequently, choosing a particular font does not guarantee that your text will actually display in this font to all of your users.

Why does it matter if text shows up in Times New Roman instead of Papyrus? Well, it doesn’t necessarily, but if you’re at all concerned with the user experience (And why wouldn’t you be?) then it certainly does. The fonts you use can, for example, emphasize important text, establish your site’s branding, or make content more or less readable, affecting how long a viewer stays on your site and what they decide to do. What, then, is the best way to display the fonts you want while maintaining compatibility with multiple systems and staying search engine friendly?

CSS

First of all, CSS does have a catch if there is a font you wish to use that a user does not have. You can list the name of the desired font, alternative fonts, and even a font family that you want applied to the text if your first choice is not available.  However, if your ideal font is not the one that ends up being displayed, layout issues can arise due to variations in font spacing and sizes.

Image Replacement

Another way web designers cope is through image replacement. You can create an image of the text in the font you wish to use and this image will display the content instead of coded text.  Problem solved, right? Not necessarily. Using images with “alt” tags will make that text less relevant to search engines than if it were coded and tagged appropriately.  There are some work-around techniques for coping with this issue, including placing images in the background and indenting coded text off of the page and out of view, setting the display of the coded text to “none”, or using the CSS layout to hide coded text behind images.  However, Google does warn that “Hiding text or links in your content can cause your site to be perceived as untrustworthy since it presents information to search engines differently than to visitors.” It is therefore possible that even these adapted techniques can negatively affect your search rankings, as well as interfering with screen reader accessibility.

FLIR

FLIR (Face Lift Image Replacement) plays off of the concept of image replacement, but does so dynamically using PHP. Text can still be coded appropriately in HTML for search engines even though it is being swapped out with an image for the viewer. Possible downsides of this method include its reliance on PHP, and the fact that text cannot be selected, which decreases site usability.

sIFR

Another method is to use Scalable Inman Flash Replacement (sIFR). This method combines Flash, Javascript, and CSS to do dynamic text replacement as well.  Like FLIR, text remains SEO friendly but the text is replaced with a Flash file instead of an image. This technique, like the others, is not without its drawbacks which include increased loading time and a reliance on the viewer having a Flash Player installed.

Cufon

Cufon is another popular method which can render fonts using Javascript. This technique allows for faster load times, but uses embedded fonts, which can cause copyright issues with certain font license agreements.  Also, unlike sIFR, the text will not be selectable.

CSS3 and Embedded Fonts

Browsers are beginning to support the next version of CSS (level 3), which also allows for fonts to be downloaded from the web.  Copyright violations are also a concern here as well as possible security issues.

Conclusion

Although none of these methods are perfect, new technologies and techniques come closer every day to addressing the need for both good design and searchable content. At this point it is up to the designer to navigate these options and adapt their design based on the requirements of the project.

Read more about these web typography techniques here:

http://thinkclay.com/technology/cufon-sifr-flir

http://www.webdesignerwall.com/general/fonts-and-the-web/

More here:
Fonts, SEO, and Compatibility: a Designer’s Dilemma

Last night SEO.com hosted a live Tweet-up and #gno party. It was a lot of fun. We had a full house, kept the Twitter-feed busy with SEO tips, and website owners all over the country joined us via Twitter and Ustream.

We would like to thank Jyl Pattee with www.momitforward.com, Clark Winegar with Mustache Power, the panelists, and all of the #gno attendees for making it so successful.

The topic of the night was “How to Grow Your Website/Blog Traffic.” A panel of Internet marketing gurus weighed-in on various SEO topics and answered questions that came from the live audience both in-house and over Twitter. If you missed the event, or are looking for tips to increase your visitors and monetize your site, you can watch the recorded Ustream below.

Panelists include:

Dave Bascom @davebascom, Ash Buckles @ashbuckles, Scott Cowley @scottcowley

Robyn Storms: @robynstorms, Dan Patterson @dan_patterson

Original post:
What a Party! SEO.com & #gno Tweet-Up Video

Last night SEO.com hosted a live Tweet-up and #gno party. It was a lot of fun. We had a full house, kept the Twitter-feed busy with SEO tips, and website owners all over the country joined us via Twitter and Ustream.

We would like to thank Jyl Pattee with www.momitforward.com, Clark Winegar with Mustache Power, the panelists, and all of the #gno attendees for making it so successful.

The topic of the night was “How to Grow Your Website/Blog Traffic.” A panel of Internet marketing gurus weighed-in on various SEO topics and answered questions that came from the live audience both in-house and over Twitter. If you missed the event, or are looking for tips to increase your visitors and monetize your site, you can watch the recorded Ustream below.

Panelists include:

Dave Bascom @davebascom, Ash Buckles @ashbuckles, Scott Cowley @scottcowley

Robyn Storms: @robynstorms, Dan Patterson @dan_patterson

Read the rest here:
What a Party! SEO.com & #gno Tweet-Up Video

The Internet marketing company follows up a record year by hiring vice presidents of marketing, sales and finance.

From left to right: Grant Chandler, Rod Lee, and Chris Knudsen.

SALT LAKE CITY (Jan. 12, 2010) – SEO.com starts 2010 the way it ended 2009: with rapid growth. The SEO firm bolstered its numbers with three new, high-profile executive positions to start the new year.

The three executives include Chris Knudsen as the vice president of marketing, Grant Chandler as the vice president of sales, and Rod Lee, vice president of finance.

“We’re all excited to be part of SEO.com, a fast-growing company that’s providing an increasingly vital service for today’s business world,” Chandler said. “Companies that want to succeed will make SEO services a key part of their overall marketing strategy, and SEO.com is uniquely positioned to help them turn those strategies into real results.”

In 2009, SEO.com flourished with record sales and grew its monthly revenue more than 300 percent over the previous year. The SEO firm has been recognized by various national and local organizations for its contributions to the Internet marketing industry. It is consistently ranked by TOPSEOs and PromotionWorld as one of the top SEO companies in the country, and has been recognized as one of the fastest growing companies in the state of Utah by the Utah Valley Entrepreneurial Forum and Mountain West Capital Network.

The company has also expanded its services in 2009 to offer a complete range of Internet marketing and SEO services, including conversion optimization and Web design and development.

“We had a great year in 2009, and now our company is ready to go to the next level,” said Dave Bascom, president of SEO.com. “Chris, Grant and Rod are extremely talented. We are fortunate to have them, and they will be vital in helping us reach our goals.”

Executive Bios:

Chris Knudsen, Vice President of Marketing
Chris Knudsen is an experienced technology marketing and business development executive. Prior to SEO.com, he was the vice president of sales and marketing for Doba SMB – one of the largest Internet companies in Utah. He previously served in various vice presidential roles at Podango, Sapha, and Speaking Roses International. Knudsen has also consulted extensively in the areas of Internet marketing, startup sales, and social media. He has published articles in both Connect and Launch magazines. Knudsen has been recognized by v|Spring Capital as one of the top venture entrepreneurs in Utah for 2007, 2008 and 2009. He earned an MBA from Westminster College and occasionally teaches as an adjunct instructor in the Gore School of Business.

Grant Chandler, Vice President of Sales
Chandler brings a variety of sales skills and management experience to SEO.com. Most recently, he was the vice president of sales at ContractPal, and has had many years of successful management experience at Internet and software companies like AtTask Inc., and Monster.com. He graduated from Brigham Young University with a degree in finance.

Rod Lee, Vice President of Finance
Rod Lee comes to SEO.com with 15 years experience in finance and business operations. Most recently, Lee was the vice president of finance and operations at Nexeo, a Utah-based recruiting and HR consulting company. In three years, he tripled revenue by implementing sound financial policies and procedures and detailed managerial reporting. He also worked in similar roles with the Robert I. Merrill Company and TaxMind, LLC. Lee has an MBA from Utah State University.

About SEO.com

SEO.com is an SEO company that makes its clients money by driving traffic to their websites through aggressive search engine optimization, paid search marketing, social media marketing and blogging. SEO.com then turns those visitors into sales through conversion-focused Web design and development and copywriting. Clients range from small startups to Fortune 100 companies. Find SEO.com on Facebook for the latest SEO industry news.

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SEO.com Brings on Executives to Fuel Big Growth in New Year