tiberiu adrian bazavan personal blog
Tiberiu-Bazavan
M-am nascut intre carpati, dintro mama si 5 tati. Ce as putea spune, sant deja celebrul Mioriticul ..... etc. Cititi pe net, sant tare ce sa mai.
Homepage: http://www.tiberiuadrianbazavan.com/
Posts by Tiberiu-Bazavan
Launch of DIYSEO and why its good for SEO’s
Apr 6th
After about a year in development we are now launching DIYSEO.com! We are offering a seven day free trial so please take it for a spin. It is important to point out that DIYSEO is NOT a replacement for professional SEO consultants and is NOT a one size fit all SEO software solution.
A Market Need – affordable SEO for the SMB’s
Having spent years in the early 1990′s doing SEO consulting full time I know firsthand that there are many business owners that simply can’t or won’t spend the money to hire a professional SEO that could cost them $500 per month to many thousands per month. These same websites generally have the most low hanging fruit from a SEO perspective because they have not had their website professionally optimized previously. Having been in the SEO space for many years I received countless requests from friends and family looking for help on their small business website. I found myself giving very similar steps and tips to these small business websites. After getting together with Andy Hagans we decided the right tools were on the marketplace to develop a simple SEO technology designed specifically for the small business website owner needing SEO.
Why Is DIYSEO Good For SEO’s?
The target market for DIYSEO are small businesses who do not have the budget or do not want to spend what most professional SEO’s charge. Our price point is $49/month making it affordable for the small business owner. We have just launched our affiliate program which pays out a full $50 for any client you refer and a full $250 for any client you send over that signs up for our $499 annual service. We think this is a great way for you to make money on clients you previously had to turn away.
SEO is NOT One Size Fits All
If you are looking for a high end SEO, DIYSEO is not for you, try: USA based: Greg Boser, Michael Gray, Eric Enge, and John Andrews. UK based: Shaun Anderson and Patrick Altoft.
If you want an expert forum to learn advanced tactics and advanced SEO tools, DIYSEO is not for you, try: Aaron Wall’s SEOBOOK or Rand Fishkin’s SEOMOZ
If you are an agency looking to manage SEO for your agency, DIYSEO is not for you, try: RavenTools
If you are looking for a written guide to SEO, try: Hobo SEO’s DIY SEO guide or Matt McGee’s SEO ebook ($25)
If you are a small business or have a business that reaches small businesses then give DIYSEO a try! Also if you have any business development ideas please shoot me an email at pg at patrickgavin.com
Update: DIYSEO in the news: Shoemoney’s DIYSEO Review, Techcrunch’s DIYSEO coverage.
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The Dangerous, Revolutionary Mix of Social Media and Politics
Apr 6th
Maybe it’s just a novel idea on my part, but lately I have been thinking about the possibilities the social sphere could provide towards the improvement of political communications – or the damage it could cause.
I stumbled across a recent post that talked about the implications of social media gone awry in Britain. On March 22, the Conservative Party in the U.K. launched an agressive Twitter campaign against Prime Minister Gordon Brown, using the hashtag “#cashgordon.” Below is a graph compiled by Meg Pickard that shows the trend of the hashtag.
As it turns out, the idea was jacked from a U.S. website run by an anti-healthcare lobbyist. Just as the campaign began to peak, it was discovered by the U.K.’s Liberal Party supporters, who in-turn used the same hashtag to the effect that the website was taken offline.
A shining example of social media implementation was during Barack Obama’s run for the U.S. Presidency. His team helped developed a grassroots strategy; they were very successful in spreading their message across the web using Twitter and other social channels. The result: an Obama victory. This grassroots movement helped create a massive following, which further aided with fundraising and as a barrier against opponent mudslinging.
Another recent example of successful political messaging through social media would be the election of Massachusetts Senator Scott Brown, who was victorious in the special election to fill the seat of the late Senator Ted Kennedy. This Brown campaign utilized YouTube, Facebook, iPhone apps, Twitter, and strategic hashtags to deliver a “homegrown” message to the people. Video was the key driver for Brown. Thus, YouTube became a major platform for his plans to become Senator. The result of that campaign was half a million hits in the weeks leading up to the vote, while his opponent mustered a mere 51,000 hits. Needless to say, Brown won in a landslide victory for the seat previously “owned” by the Kennedys.
What is the true potential of political use of social media channels? With the almost real-time transfer of information, the use of polls, and other measurement tools, one might think that voters could take control of lawmaking decisions, rather than decisions being made based on special interests. The revolutionary possibility of social media leading to better constituent representation is very real and not that difficult to conceive.
If lawmakers honestly care about the interests of their constituents they would use social channels to realize the true concerns of the people they represent. Unfortunately, I don’t believe most politicians would ever want such transparency. But I’ll continue to hope for the best.
Politicians take note: Do not approach social media lightly. Be prepared with a sound strategy, which should include a clear idea of your target audience and the message to be shared. Otherwise, expect to see yourselves associated with the hashtag “#fail.”
Bio:
Brad Barker is a seasoned interactive marketing professional, specializing in SEO and social media. He currently serves as SEO and Social Media Editor at AREA203 Marketing.
Follow Brad on Twitter
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Stop Consulting – Start Growing
Apr 6th
In the SEO industry, there are tons of consultants. Hiring a consultant is usually a great thing for short-term solutions but it doesn’t give the benefits of long term growth that most small business owners are looking for. If you just want to be a quick fix guy, charging flat-fees for consulting may work, but more and more small/medium sized business owners are becoming more aware of the limited effects this has on their marketing campaigns. Working as an equity partner on the other hand, may prove to be a more beneficial arrangement for both parties.
Why Partnering Works
Being an SEO, you know there are rapid changing events happening all the time. That’s the nature of the internet right now. What you do for a client right now is not going to help them in the long haul. It requires constant attention. The model of consulting does not fit with the model of the internet. Consultants are usually brought in for a quick fix. But being an equity partner, you determine how much you make, and this may prove to be an appealing situation with a small business owner. You should stop thinking of how much to charge per month put rather what percent of an 8x increase in revenue you can share with the right partner for you.
Who Shouldn’t Do This
But this relationship may not be of advantage to if you are an SEO that does minimal work. If you’re incentive is to add a few links each month that you use for every site that you work with and then compile a fancy looking report from Google analytics that shows basic things a middle school kid could figure out on their own, obviously you don’t have the invested effort to participate in such a relationship. These are the snake oil SEO firms that rip off companies because of the business owner’s lack of knowledge in the SEO sphere.
Final Takeaways
By partnering with a company and investing your skills into their future growth, both you and the company can come on top. The company will see that you are truly interested in helping them grow and can be an appealing factor in deciding who to go to with their SEO.
You’ll want to make sure that the company you are going to invest your time and skills in will have the chance to grow immensely. And making sure that limitations that will be put on you by company officials are spelled out before making the deal will help make sure that the growth you can achieve isn’t limited as well.
Bottom line: You have to decide which structure works for you. If you’re a flat-fee consultant that won’t deliver flat-fee results, then maybe that’s the way you should work it. But if you want to invest in a company and be a part of its growth, being an equity partner may be your best shot.
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Simple SEO = Quality Search Traffic, It Is That Easy!
Mar 24th
“Simple Simon met a pie man going to the fair…”, a lovely nursery rhyme I tell my little one each day. And how apt. to the SEO industry, even today in March 2010. Because simple is key to SEO; and yes although there are hundreds of different factors to a good search engine ranking, and you could beat yourself up reading, analyzing and looking into every ‘nook and cranny’ of every possible factor, actually keeping it simple gets the best results………..
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Top 5 Client Misconceptions – Bull They Were Fed by “SEO Experts”
Mar 16th
There are 5 client misconceptions I see on a weekly basis and all of them we have tracked back to misinformation due to ignorance by their “SEO” or flat out bull by “SEO Experts”.
The real SEO community needs to keep these in mind and educate potential and current clients. You will receive both trust and client retention. A win-win for you.
1). “The Keywords in Your Analytics Are the Only Keywords to Focus On”- I have heard this from 5 large companies this year already. They believe that the only keywords they should focus on are the words that are in their analytics.
Clients often send us their list of keywords (the ones they feel are crucial) and when we ask where they got them they often say their analytics. We have also heard that they have based their PPC campaigns off of these words. When we explain that perhaps there are other word/phrases that they could also focus on that are not in their analytics we see a combination of shock, anger and then the “light bulb” over their head.
Seems simple to you and me, but not them.
2.) “Social Media Marketing is Having a Fan Page on Facebook” – Well, no.
Any reputable SEO, Internet Marketing or Social Media firm knows that this is not true, but it doesn’t matter what we know. What matters is what potential clients have been sold and how we undo that damage.
I believe educating them is the key. My company makes sure they understand what is happening and why we are doing what we are doing. We retain long-term clients this way and so can you. Tracking and measuring Social Media success and failure is important. They need to understand why.
3). “Our Website Looks Fancy and That is All We Need” – I am surprised that this belief still holds true, but it does.
People are told that their Flash or huge jpg instead of text sites are fantastic and they believe it. Just because we know doesn’t mean the general public knows. Again education as well as patience and understanding are important. People hate to pay twice.
4). “Search Results Are the Same for Everyone” – We start off all new client conversations with the different kinds of search results. We bring it up in every class we teach. We try to get the word out there because, sadly, these personalized results are making business owners believe they are #1 for everything.
When we show them how to search and get real results they are typically not happy. Often the SEO reports they receive saying they are #1 for “X” amount of keywords could be a flat our lie or ignorance on their SEO’s part. If you are trying to land SEO jobs and people tell you they are doing great in the search engines, keep this in mind.
5). “There Are SEO/Social Media/Internet Marketing Experts Everywhere!” – Hey, I know how you feel after reading that. We all hear it and we all know it is false, but reputable companies have to find a way to overcome this . I have to admit that it makes me feel quite irritated when a new site pops up in my area with “SEO Expert” all over and they are offering search engine submissions for $40 a month.
So, how do we, as a REAL SEO community, overcome this?
I think we all know who knows and who doesn’t know, but I feel that often many SEO related blogs forget to target their own markets. They are writing for people like you and me, but forgetting potential clients. It is great to have a national reputation, but it is also important to be known locally or statewide (there is a lot of money there). You need to let your potential clients know that you are the best choice.
I am a big believer in educating my local market because they need it and I like to help them avoid hiring the wrong people. It is still a rough economy and for many businesses there web advertising budget is precious. Educating creates trust (and they may not be able to afford you, but their best friend might). I truly appreciate all the educating I get from the SEO community, but I need to pay it forward. More importantly, many business owners don’t really deserve the bull they are fed by “SEO Experts”.
Melissa Fach owns SEOAware.com, based in Sarasota, FL
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