Yesterday, I had the pleasure of teaching at my alma mater.  I spoke to the junior/senior college Ecommerce class about the wonder of SEO and Web Marketing.

One of the most interesting things about the class (for me), was the fact that students were actually excited about what I do.  I mean, I’m passionate about it…but that’s just me.  (Hi, I’m Nicki, and I’m a web geek. Hi Nickiiiii….)  They asked some really great questions, here are the paraphrased versions:

Q: If search changes so often, how do you keep up with it?
A: I spend about 2, sometimes 3 hours a day reading blogs, articles and twitter, as well as writing.  There are some blogs and forums that I especially like that I read everyday.

Q: Do you ever worry with our generation [Generation X] being so tech savvy, that people will soon be able to do what you do themselves?
A: No; because even though we’re more tech savvy, marketing – and search marketing in particular – may not be a company’s forte.  Hopefully, they’re already doing what they’re good at; and they still need us to do what we’re good at!

Q: Is it hard to sell clients on SEO?
A: Sometimes, especially since search marketing is so intangible – it’s not like a website – something that’s much more of a living, breathing thing.  But as we gain more and more experience and stats, it becomes easier and easier.  Also, that’s why we use measuring tools – like Google Analytics.

Here’s a video of the basic PowerPoint presentation:

Nicki Hicks
Just call me Ms. Hicks

My name is Rich Brooks. You may remember me from such get rich quick schemes as “Rank #1 At Google for Every Word Ever…Today!” and “Make Money While You Shower and Other Ways to Get Rich with a Webcam.”

I’m not just the president of flyte, I’m a member. Whatever the hell that means.

Obviously, I’m not the voice of reason.

While Nicki documents her ascent up the learning curve, I’ll be throwing in some of my own .02 on search engine marketing…some of it will be fresh, some repurposed from our flyte blog. My personal belief is that although search engine marketing is the sexiest part of Web marketing, it needs to be part of a bigger strategy we call “holistic Web marketing.” That includes:

• Attraction: Getting qualified visitors to your site through search, blogs, podcasts, links, traditional media and more.
• Retention: Keeping the communication going even after the visitor has left the site through email marketing and RSS.
• Conversion: Getting the sale, or getting the visitor to take the next step towards the sale.
• Measurement: Use Google Analytics or a similar tool to measure where people are coming from, how they’re finding you, what they’re doing on your site, and how you can improve what you’re doing.

Well, I gotta get back to work now. Those mines aren’t going to sweep themselves.

Rich Brooks
Coffee Brewer