I am afraid I have an announcement; sadly I am temporarily leaving the Base One search team. I am not sad because I am only temporarily leaving, just sad to be leaving obviously.

Cue: Trumpets and Fireworks plus hire extras to look sad and tearful.

I am set to travel the world and visit such wonderful places like Thailand, Laos, Singapore, Australia, New Zealand, Fiji, Chile, Peru, Mexico and Las Vegas! As you can see it was a very difficult choice but a choice had to be made and I am fairly happy with it.

But not to fear I will be back, not like Arnie, just back.

But in the meantime and in my absence I am commencing a silent auction on my work properties.

I have a wonderful, loyal servant named Bic the pen. He has travelled with me to meetings and has never let me down. I shall start the bidding at a reasonable 50 pence.

Do I hear 60?

Attending a search conference can be a very valuable experience; it can also be a very memorable one. Note: consuming copious amounts of free alcohol will affect memory.
 
This post intends to illustrate and advise how to get the most from a search conference.

Consider it a manual which highlights reasons why you should be attending search conferences.

1.    Read the conference agenda thoroughly. Try to select the sessions that you have a keen interest in and will most likely to improve your skills.
 
2.    Attending a conference can be an excellent opportunity to establish new and develop existing relationships.

3.    Remember it is not only fellow professionals within your industry that attend search conferences.  It is often the case that before a business actively seeks to employ a search marketing company they will attend events such as the upcoming London SMX to get a general feel of the potential benefits a search marketing campaign can offer.  This is an amazing opportunity to network, be the first point of contact and to exchange details with prospective clientele.
 
4.    Don't be afraid to start conversations - always introduce yourself if given the opportunity. You are all in the same boat and share more common interests than you may think so don't be shy.  If it helps here are some SEO Jokes to break the ice or start with the tried and tested lines "is this your first conference?", "What was your favourite session today?" or "What industry are you in?"

5.    Don't overly pitch people - let the conversation grow naturally.  Desperation is a real conversation killer and it smells bad too. A conference should be seen as a method to make contacts not sign contracts.
    
6.    The after party which contains the secret quest of every search marketing professional - Free Beer.  Coincidently here is a drinker's guide to hangover cures.

7.    Never, Never, Never forget your business cards.  If you have made the effort of attending a conference and actively set about networking then you want them to be able to remember that fine young gentleman or lady in the future (that would be you).
 
8.    Take notes on the back of business cards - You will ultimately forget conversations no matter how great and insightful they were at the time. For future reference take notes on the back of cards highlighting what was discussed and how you might work together.

9.    Bring a SWAG bag to fill with all the free items and products from the exhibition stalls. You often find many exhibitors willing to give out free stuff to promote their product or service but be warned only part with your details on two conditions; you are offered a whole treasure trove of goodies or you are actually interested in the product or service.  I was once hounded for weeks by a sales rep who I gave my details to because I felt I had to after taking a cup warmer. Damn that cup warmer.

10.    Working within the dynamic search industry you will know that you are constantly learning new techniques, so what better way than to sit back and listen to highly experienced and knowledgeable speakers.  Debates often arise and many questions can also be asked and answered.  It is like a forum but in REAL time, amazing huh?
 
11.    It is not always the high profile search marketers that have the best tips.  Don't spend all your time trying to harass the session speakers as it is often the case that other more quiet individuals have just as much experience and knowledge. So pull up a stool crack open the Werther's Originals and soak up as much information as you can.

12.    Make it a point to hug a black hat. Although you may not employ black hat techniques it is always very useful to know what they know just to keep you aware of new techniques.  They also have some very good ideas outside of the box which can often be tweaked to fit into an online strategy. Some tips on black-hat spotting include; corner hangouts, soft whispers, secret handshakes and every time you ID me a rabbit dies t-shirts

13.    Not only do you learn from conferences they also inspire future ideas.  Surprisingly you may learn more at the bar as it often acts as fuel for the mouth of many search professionals. This information can turn out to be just as valuable as what you get in the sessions.

14.    A chance to obtain competitor research and trade secrets - If you have passed your stalking grade 1 badge you will undeniably run into employees from competing firms. When you do be friendly and ask lots of questions. Smile, be sociable and engaging. Remember how important it is to be a great listener; this will be important as scribbling annotations into a notepad is not the most subtle of methods.
 
I hope these tips and tricks act as a good resource for search professionals newer to conferences. Ultimately the number one tip would be - don't be shy - it's good to talk. There are so few opportunities to discuss your thoughts, ideas and questions outside of work so grab the opportunity and embrace it.

It's ok folks you have not read the title wrong, I have not posted in a euphoric state, we can make http error codes fun!

A while ago I was introduced to this by Lisa Ditlefsen and Chewie, I have named checked Lisa specifically for the reason of my family having someone to blame at the sad, sorry state that I have become, one of which is often described as a geek.

I invite you now to break the conversation codes below and also to create your own conversations in the comments section.

Enjoy!

Person A:  I had a row with my girlfriend the other day; she said my actions were 406

Person B:  Oh, bit of 409 at home I see. What happened?

Person A:  Well it was my birthday and she said she had a surprise waiting for me;                             unfortunately the surprise I was thinking of was 501

Person B:  So you made a 400?

Person A:  Yep, it was a 405 apparently and it was 403

Person B:  Not even on birthdays?

Person A:   No,  that was not 202
 
Person B:  So your 417 then, shame

Person A:  Yeah not the best birthday, I 408, said I was going out and was 410.
                 Hopefully I will come back and find out she has 301


Here is the full list of http error codes to help you in your quest:

• Full list of HTTP Error Codes

100     Continue
101     Switching Protocols
200     OK
201     Created
202     Acceptable
203     Non-Authoritative Information
204     No Content
205     Reset Content
206     Partial Content
300     Multiple Choices
301     Moved Permanently
302     Moved Temporarily
303     See Other
304     Not Modified
305     Use Proxy
306     Unused
307     Temporary Redirect
400     Bad Request
401     Unauthorised
402     Payment Required
403     Forbidden
404     Not Found
405     Method Not Allowed
406     Not Acceptable
407     Proxy Authentication Required
408     Request Time-Out
409     Conflict
410     Gone
411     Length Required
412     Precondition Failed
413     Request Entity Too Large
414     Request-URL Too Large
415     Unsupported Media Type
416     Requested Range Not Satisfiable
417     Expectation Failed
500     Server Error
501     Not Implemented
502     Bad Gateway
503     Service Unavailable
504     Gateway Time-Out
505     HTTP Version not supported

As strange as it may seem ethics, morals and principles are associated to various coloured hats within the SEO world. We wear our hats like hearts on sleeves. As characters, our hats define us but they do not box us. For example, a 'white hat' may believe this is the best possible approach but could also respect and admire the innovation and techniques of their deadly rivals the 'black hats'.

To quote Salt n Pepa "push it good, p-push it real good" I hear you sisters, but how do you feel about pushing the boundaries?

The discussion of morals, principles and ethics within the SEO world is comparable to a heated discussion concerning religion or politics: there will always be more than two perspectives and therefore two sides. Both of which are strongly opinionated and could sell you 'their way' faster than a fat kid eating cake.

In order to gain a better understanding, we need to obtain a clearer insight into what colour the hats are and what they believe in. Practitioners within the search industry are divided into three camps. There are the "white hats," their polar opposites "black hats" and the hybrid outfit the "grey hats", who use a combination of ideas and techniques whilst hiding under the comfort and safety of the white hat blanket.

 "Do you wana be in my gang, my gang, my gang; do you wana be in my gang, Oh yeah?"

Coloured hats and their beliefs:
 
White hat SEO generally means using traditional and accepted optimisation techniques and thoroughly avoiding and thinking about using practices like cloaking, which made their distant cousins 'black hats' infamous.

Being part of the white hat SEO group you will typically use standard best practices, focusing on optimising a website for the end user but with the search engines in mind.  The content displayed will be the same content the search engines will see, the pages that rank will direct visitors to originally intended page; you will have nothing to hide.
 
Although this sounds like an astrology reading, white hats will have patience and strive to achieve a top ranking position naturally.  They will place a strong emphasis on writing engaging on-page copy, with well placed keywords and use above board techniques when link building believing (sometimes blindly) that Google will smile upon them if they do so.   
 
Black hat SEO Black hat SEO Black hat SEO (I am not keyword stuffing I promise) usually means employing ranking techniques that are clearly outside of Google's stated Webmaster Guidelines.  Black Hats will focus on optimising a website for the search engine with the end user in mind. Although it is not right to box them the majority will aim only to obtain high search engine ranking positions; many would say in an unethical manner as they breaks search engine rules and regulations and can create a poor user experience.  One defining trait of a Black Hat is that they continually look for loopholes in the algorithms of search engines; some could call them pioneers.  The one public example of how Black hat techniques can be detrimental to a brand is the BMW case where they were banned from Google for using a practise coined 'cloaking'.

Methods used to achieve higher search rankings include cloaking, hidden text, keyword stuffing, and intensively cross linked sites.
 
Grey hat SEO lies somewhere in the middle, they have no real territory, no allegiance and exist on the realms of both worlds. The concept of Grey hat SEO is much more difficult to define as techniques which fall into this category are subjective and could be argued to fall into either black hat or white hat.  Although Grey Hats are based within the walls of the white hat territory, agreeing with most of their principles, they just can't help themselves so they often peer out of their windows or go out across the street and snoop around, like a nosey neighbour.

A lot of Grey hats admire Black hats and push the boundaries by employing some of their techniques but toned down and reapplied with the end user in mind.
 
Anakin Skywalker would be the pin up boy of this gang, just before turning evil of course.
   
Deep Breath...

Some people feel that ethics, principles and morals are the equivalent of excess baggage which can't fit into the hand luggage, easily dismissed and forgettable on the trip to number 1, in the sunny, quaint village of Google.  Others would feel that ethics should be adhered to and are central to their way of life.

The benefits of black hat techniques are often short lived and like the laws of gravity, whatever goes up in an unethical way through using Black Hat must also come down - thanks Mr Newton.
 
Black hats seem willing to sacrifice the experience of the end user as their ambition to get the desired number one spot blurs their vision, losing focus on what's really important, the customer.  Client consideration must also feature in the discussion; it is immoral and dishonest to work on clients behalf using these techniques. I would never do this as in the long term they often turn out to be detrimental to a website.
 
The Streets sung "let's push things forward" and personally I view the black hats with respect and admiration.  They are integral to this industry being as dynamic as it is and their techniques inspire others to continue thinking of new practises. Some of their ideas get filtered and form the basis of techniques within the grey hat SEO World, who combine their original function with more focus of the end user.

SEO techniques and practises are not a science; they were and continue to be created out of trial and error and a lot of experimentation, knowing this, where do you stand on pushing the boundaries of SEO Ethics?
 

[Or Here]


Does placement matter more online than offline?
Before you raise your hand and answer, sit back down and continue slurping on your milk and cookies. Today's lesson will explore whether placement of your brand matters more online than offlline and if so, why?

Placement, one of the seven P's of marketing, is a critical component of the offline marketing mix but online is absolutely HUGE. Organisations are beginning to realise the importance of ensuring that their brand is well positioned online and is visible at the 'virtual point of sale'.
 

Internet users continue to embrace search engines as a resource to navigate the overwhelming amount of information available to them.  Hence why techniques such as SEO have become so popular - it enables a brand to be placed where prospective consumers are going to come into contact with it. The driving force behind these techniques is to occupy one of the top three ranking positions, either in the organic or paid listings, to obtain maximum exposure to the ever increasing number of customers relying on search engines to find products and services.  Research has shown that people rarely go beyond the top 30 results listed from a search.

In fact:
•    The top 30 results get over 90% of search traffic
•    The top 10 results receive over 80% more traffic than those in positions 11-30
AND
•    Positions 1-3 obtain 80% of the OVERALL traffic.

Its ok, take a second, push your lower jaw back up and I will explain further.  

So by employing a strategy that allows your brand to obtain one of the top 3 positions you are going to achieve a significant portion of 80% of the overall search volume for your chosen keywords. The Enquiro click distribution study suggests 1st place position obtains 56% of the total consumer searches whereas as 2nd postion receives 13% and 3rd position 10%.



 
It is a legalised version of daylight robbery, sponsored by Google.

The Crime Scene: Artefact 1 - The Evidence

The 3rd "P" of the marketing mix deals with product placement.  Placement under the offline marketing mix involves various ways of making products available to customers.  This contrasts hugely with online as the distribution channels online are dwarfed by the importance that search engines hold as 80% of internet users visit a search engine every day. This is why the placement of a product is so much more crucial online than off.  If you did not have your brand positioned within one of the major shopping centres then it would slightly affect sales but due to the various other channels of distribution that exist you would still survive, with regards to online, if your brand can not be found within search engines then it will be detrimental to your ability to generate brand awareness and the acquisition of new customers.

According to the web monitoring company Hitwise (2008), here's where we pull out the big guns, the three largest search engines are Google, Yahoo! and MSN. These account for 90% of all searches carried out in the UK and since comScore states there were "4.1 billion searches conducted in the U.K., more than in any other European country" in April 2008,  you can imagine the integral part of a online strategy they must play.

Knowing that around 80% of web users visit a search engine every day for product or service research is why advertisers are investing "to fish where the fish are" (Roehm, 2005)  Positioning your brand online through search engines is as essential as opening your doors to let customers in.  

To summarise, what online marketers can identify is that the web is growing continuously; as new pages are published on the web every day. However, it is not enough to publish a web page; the site must also be locatable for it to succeed. See the placement pattern emerging here? This is why online product placement is vital.  


The Crime Scene: Judges Verdict


The foreman steps forward and summarises suitably:

"In retail marketing, the catchword is "location, location, location." In cyberspace, the same catchword holds true, only the locations are different. Hollywood got it wrong when they said, "If you build it they will come." The reality is, they will only come if they can find you. SEO is a matter of survival."