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Tag: jobs

  • Influencer Profile: Olin Gallet

    After a long hiatus, we’re pleased to announce that our Influencer Profile series is back! Every other week we’ll be highlighting one of our talented teammates, and this week’s employee is one of our resident junior developers Olin Gallet.

    Olin enjoying his hard-won SI Word of the Day Champion Pimp Cup!

    Olin started on our production team just a few months ago, assisting Luke Ledet and Jason Hamilton with the technical end of what Search Influence does. He’s a recent graduate of the University of New Orleans’ Computer Science program with a minor in English — which obviously means that you’ll be seeing more of his excellent blogging skills on display in the near future.

    As one of our resident early birds, you can usually find Olin tapping away at PHP code at absurd hours of the morning. On the off-days he spends his time discovering new music, writing, playing Street Fighter, programming and having adventures around New Orleans. Just don’t call him “bro”… And without further ado, the man himself!

    A note from Olin – since I’ve actually got a minor in English focused on poetry writing, I’d like to show you some of my lyrical skills. I’m not letting Julia have all the fun around here.

    So what do you find yourself doing on a day-to-day basis around here?

    Turn on computer

    Type words look at peers code works

    Turn off computer

    There really is no set guideline as to what I do day-to-day. I just fix problems people have and make sure the solution works.

    Is there anything that excites you about coming to work every day?

    No amount of money or bountiful women with plastic surgery can keep me coming to work. What keeps me coming to work is the people here. I’m not naming names for the sake of favoritism, but there are some characters at work that make the day go by better.

    Most importantly, people know how to leave me alone when I have stuff to do. They also know how to help me or at least entertain my questions when I have them. When I can get my job done and help other people do the same, then I know I had a good day at work.

    What are your biggest contributions?

    I’d say my biggest contribution so far has been designing various forms for various websites. Being able to see the work I do makes it huge for me. They’re also important for ensuring that customers have an easily accessible way to communicate their needs and concerns to the client.

    Anything you’d like to do more of at SI? In a perfect world, what would you be sitting around all day doing?

    I want to do something more creative. For one, I want to get involved in more marketing. I realize that many of the tasks such as keyword research and article writing are repetitive and time-consuming. I want to create ways to minimize the work in these tasks.

    I also want to get involved into graphic design at work. I used to be big into just sketching around when I got a drawing tablet for my laptop, but I haven’t had much time for design recently. I want to get back into it.

    _________________________________________?

    Hey, this is my question for you. What do you want to know about me? The only stupid questions are those that are left unasked. Feel free to either drop it in the comments, email me at [email protected], or pass me a note at work (just make sure Luke isn’t looking).

    Thanks for all your hard work, Olin! We have a really talented and interesting team here at SI, and we’re proud to show off each and every one of them. Keep your eyes on this space for more profiles of our Influencers!

  • Three Influencers To Speak At SMX West

    We’re very pleased to announce that the upcoming SMX West Search Marketing Expo will feature three Search Influence employees — Rodney Hess, Anthony Coleman and our CEO Will Scott — as speakers. The conference, which will take place March 8-9 at the San Jose McEnery Convention Center, features a wide array of panels on different aspects of online marketing, including SEO, paid search advertising, social media marketing, local and mobile search, landing page conversions and more.

    Rodney will be speaking on “Location Services: The New Local Search?” where he will be presenting some follow up interviews from our Foursquare Advertiser Survey. Anthony will be discussing Google Instant’s impact on paid search and how this is impacting buying ads and strategies, how auto-generated phrases distract searchers from their initial intent, and the overall decay of geo-modified terms in an era where search entities are organically focusing in on their users’ locations. Will will speak on the following points:
    * Reviewing the Yelp Review Filter
    * Buying Yelp Reviews
    * Why you’re not a Good Yelper

    Besides our talented teammates, SMX West will feature SEM experts from around the world speaking at over 60 sessions and keynotes. Congratulations to all of our Influencers for this exciting opportunity!

  • Influencer Profile: Rodney Hess

    This is the first of what I hope will become a regular series in which you, our readers, get to know a little more about the most important thing at Search Infleunce, our team members.

    Picture of Rodney Hess keeping Angie entertained at our night out on / at Oak
    Rodney Hess keeping Angie Scott entertained at our night out on / at Oak

    Rodney Hess is on our Account Management team, supporting Paula Keller and maintaining customer relationships and strategy for his own group of customers. Additionally, Rodney is the guy who is leading the charge to get our other teammates (you know who you are) to blog more. In fact, due to Rodney’s efforts, a brand-new team member Sara Soriano penned her first post in her first week on the job (way to go Sara)!

    Rodney is a fine fellow, quick-witted and very involved. In addition to his support of our clients, Rodney is a videographer, occasionally helps with video projects in-house, a husband and a very strong contributor to our team.

    I asked Rodney to do the first of these profiles for a couple reasons. In addition to being our blogging cheerleader / whip-cracker, he is one of our most prolific bloggers. And, in support of his cheerleading efforts he has produced a series of composite images which are hilarious and I needed an excuse to blog about them. So without further ado, Rodney in his own words (and images):

    I Want You to Write Blog Posts picture
    I Want You to Write Blog Posts

    So, Rodney, what do you do around here?

    My official title is Account Associate but I like to think of myself as a budding account whiz and blogger extraordinaire.

    What excites you about coming to work each day?

    I’m a laid back guy and I dig the similar vibe of the office. Nobody takes themselves too seriously, which allows me to make a fool of myself on a weekly basis through these pics.

    Please Sir May I have Another Blog Post
    Please Sir May I have Another Blog Post

    What do you think are your greatest contributions?

    To the office? I’m always willing to help anyone out and thrive on being a “go-to” guy. To the human race? I am an incredibly considerate person and I show it. I also have a never-ending thirst for knowledge and love sharing it with people. Perhaps that’s why I enjoy being the blog guy so much. I suppose the two answers are one in the same.

    All Work And No Play Makes Rod A Dull Boy picture
    All Work And No Play Makes Rod A Dull Boy

    What would you like to do more of?

    In a perfect world I would sit around, write blog posts and edit videos all day. I also thrive in a collaborative environment and I love brainstorming, which is probably why I enjoy SEO so much.

    What are you some kind of wise guy?

    I prefer the term “Goodfella,” thank you very much.

    Say Hello to My Little Blog Picture
    Say Hello to My Little Blog

    Do you feel like your efforts to motivate your colleagues to blog are working?

    They were at first. When I initially started I got a few bites, mainly from the newbies. Now I think I’m doing it for my own amusement, which is fine with me. If I can make myself laugh, I’ve succeeded. Being a married man I’ve gotten used to it by now.

    I'll Get You My Pretty... And Your Little Blog Too Picture
    I'll Get You My Pretty… And Your Little Blog Too

    What do you think we as an organization could do to get greater buy-in from the team to blog?

    The simplest answer: if you want a greater buy-in, you have to “buy them.” If it isn’t in the job description, people are less inclined to volunteer. However, if there is some sort of gain- say, blog with the most comments gets a prize- they may be more inclined. It sounds kind of childish, but it works. B.F. Skinner, reinforcement, all that jazz.

    I've Always Depended on The Kindness of Bloggers Picture
    I've Always Depended on The Kindness of Bloggers

    I’d like to take this opportunity to publicly thank Rodney for all his hard work on the blog, both blogging and motivating his fellows to put it all out there.

    We are exceptionally fortunate to have such a strong and conscientious team at Search Influence and I will take the opportunity to eventually profile every one of them.

    And finally, I want to be clear, the images associated with this post are 100% a product of Rodney’s immense creativity. We’re very happy to have it on loan for as long as we do.

    Connect with Rodney:

  • Will Scott Interview on Search Engine Journal

    A quick thanks and a link, for your information, to an interview Mat Siltala did with me on Search Engine Journal.

    Picture of Mat Siltala and Will Scott at SMX West
    Picture of Mat Siltala and Will Scott at SMX West

    Mat and I often speak about search, local, social media and his favoriteviral marketing. I appreciate the opportunity for the exchange of ideas and am always happy to spend time with Mat.

    In the interview we talk about some of the Top Local Business Listing questions we receive.

    For those who don’t know Mat Siltala, his Internet Marketing Firm Dream Systems Media is one of the best in the industry. With customers ranging from small businesses to some of the biggest names on the Internet, Mat and his team are a worthy choice for any business, seriously thinking about online marketing who recognizes that Investment is the first part of Return on Investment.

    Again, a big thanks to Mat and the Search Engine Journal team for helping spread the word about the value of Local search for small business.

    Written at 38,000 ft somewhere over Indiana

  • 3 out of 5 Search Influence Employees Don’t Even Own a Print Phone Book

    In conversation one day, I mentioned to Will that for what we charge some of our clients, I can put a real value on it when I compare it to yellow pages spending.  And what I mean by that is for what a plastic surgeon or a dentist or a wedding photographer might pay for a large display ad in their local yellow pages, they could be spending the same or less in search engine optimization (SEO – Organic Search) / search engine marketing (SEM – Paid Search) and getting so much more return on investment for their marketing budget.

    Orlando Plastic Surgery Yellow Pages Ads
    Orlando Plastic Surgery Yellow Pages Ads

    I worked in the yellow pages industry for just short of 10 years at a CMR, Certified Marketing Representative, where all of my clients were national clients in multiple markets.  So I’ve spent a full decade of my life working in the yellow pages industry, which is not a glamorous media, but at one time it was incredibly profitable for clients based on their return on investment (ROI).  That ROI in yellow pages is now dropping dramatically with every year because of the overwhelming competition from internet for media dollars.

    It is in the yellow pages industry where a lot of tracking techniques were started.  I can’t tell you how many tracking phone numbers I have set up and used in a yellow pages ad.  And given a client’s number, had to track a very real ROI each month based on the calls made.

    I have organized split run comparisons where we run 1 ad in half of the distribution area of a phone book and another ad in the other half of the distribution area, and then sit back and watch the tracking phone numbers data.

    And now in search engine marketing for 2+ years, I find I am doing many of the same things.

    When Will first asked me to work with his company, Search Influence, I hesitated – I mean what did I know about search engine optimization?!?

    It turns out, it’s a lot of the same stuff. Getting our clients in the right directories, listed under the right categories, tracking incoming calls, proving value …

    It is this last, “proving value,” that is the most telling.  Knowing what a large display ad costs in the yellow pages which a lot of our clients would have been doing 10 years ago, and comparing it to what Search Influence charges for SEM and SEO, I realize that the value is definitely in the internet.

    In yellow pages, a plastic surgeon might buy a full page or a half page ad for a large percentage of their annual advertising budget.  In some larger metro markets, this can easily reach up to $100,000.00, over $8,000.00 each month, with a yellow pages industry average of 5% increase each year.

    This gets the surgeon an ad that is in print for a year, and that’s what you get.  Hope that people pick up the fat book shoved in the back of the cabinet, find the heading, (not under “Doctors,” not under “Physicians & Surgeons-Cosmetic Surgery,” but buried under “Physicians & Surgeons-Plastic & Reconstructive Surgery”) and choose your ad to call.

    Most people today are already in front of the computer for work.  They just type it in exactly what they want, no digging, “Plastic surgery Houston“.  It’s too easy to use the internet.

    The internet is a living, breathing medium.  For the same amount of money or, amazingly, much less in some big metro markets, SEO actively finds the people searching for your product.

    Ringing Phone = Profits
    Ringing Phone = Profits

    Changes can be made daily or hourly for specials and promotions.  Yellow pages ads are in print for 12 months.

    Tracking is not limited to phone number tracking – we can find which pages are working and which pages users are most likely to leave the site on, edit some graphics and compare the traffic patterns week to week instead of year to year.

    The average yellow pages display ad attracts over 440 calls per year (Source: YPPA Media Impact Study, 2004).  Search Influence has many client sites with thousands of visits each month, with hundreds of contacts each month.

    Businesses are moving their marketing dollars to the internet from yellow pages more and more every day because it’s smart money spent.   I mean I don’t want to glorify SEO for more than it is, but dollar for dollar, internet marketing gives so much more impact for money spent by bringing in real customers.

    I did a very informal survey which I think sums up America’s use of their phone books.  Here are some responses to “Where is your print phone book?”:

    1. “I may have thrown it away, if I have it, it is in the pantry.”
    2. “I threw out the new ones.”
    3. “I saw it this weekend when I was trying to make room (in the kitchen cabinet)”
    4. “I don’t have one.”
    5. Another, “I don’t have one.”

    Of course, my survey of 5 people may not be fair because I did only ask people who sit in front of a computer all day, and so I ask, do you know where your phone book is?

  • Will Scott Featured in Mike Blumenthal’s Loci 2008

    I’ve been so busy with the turn of the year that I forgot to mention that I had a rare opportunity to contribute to Mike Blumenthal’s Loci 2008.

    For those of you who don’t know, Mike is THE authority on Google Maps and Local.

    I’m very proud to have been asked to take part and would gladly do it again!

    My contribution is here, excerpt follows:

    Search Influence has been in business since 2006 but 2008 is the year I realized there is a community of like-minded folks and engaged with that community.

    I made an offhanded comment on Tim’s blog for which Mike called me out and the rest is history.

    I had the good fortune to meet David and Alex

    at SES ‘07 in San Jose and David has been kind enough to prod me from time to time.

    No review of Local in ‘08 would be complete without David’s seminal work “The Local Search Ranking Factors“.

    So, David asks, I contribute — surely not as knowledgeably as some and it leads to one of the most valuable events I’ve attended: The SLOMO Local Search Sit Down as chronicled in David’s conference recap. Talk about some heavy hitters — the biggest names in Local Search around one table for the evening.

    Thank you Mike for including me. You flatter me.

  • Violet Marie Thompson – The Latest Influencer

    How apropriate that our first flickr photo is also a new baby.

    Please help us launch the career of another search marketer Violet Marie Thompson.

    Violet Marie is the latest addition to our team of influencers. She joined us on Tuesday April 22nd.

    Tuesday April 22nd is both Earth Day, and the closing day of Small Business Marketing Unleashed.

    Violet’s mom Eva (left) was critical in our preparation for that event and responsible for just-in-time delivery of all of our conference swag.

    And Violet’s aunt Angie (sporting the logo) is critical to Search Influence operations as our controller.

  • TIP – Search Engines Only Read Text

    A big part of the way a search engine decides how to give you a good response is by looking at how closely what you type in to their search box matches the words they have in their database of web sites.

    For this reason, it’s critically important you use enough text on the page to assure your web site is seen as a reasonable match to those phrases people really type. And of course, it’s not just as simple as creating compelling copy on the page, you have to also be sure that when you describe items in the code of your pages such as links to other pages and images that they too have text versions for the search engines to adequately understand what they mean.

    Finally, order matters. You may have noticed that many web sites have their navigation (inter-site links) either across the top of the page or down the left hand navigation. In early usability testing it was found that users responded better given our predilection to reading from top to bottom, left to right. Interestingly, this is what the search engines do too.

    This is one of many places where human usability and search engine read-ability don’t usually coincide.

    The problem for the search engines is this: if you have your left and top navigation loaded with non-descriptive navigational elements, this is what they will think you’re about. So instead of thinking you’re about “better ingredients, better pizza” a search engine might misunderstand and think you’re about “corporate guidelines” or “job search”.

    It’s a challenge, but whenever you can, make sure that your navigational elements reinforce your key phrase focus. If they don’t, put them on the far side of the text either right or bottom.