As an SEO, I am constantly trying to dispel search myths and misconceptions to the best of my little ability. I also try to get people to evaluate SEO campaigns and companies in the right light. Like any other direct marketing channel, they should be evaluated on ROI. I have always thought that SEO should be evaluated not on rankings or traffic but on sales that result from the effort.
Google personalized search should change the way many companies evaluate SEO firms, which has often been by rankings. Many of us know that clients love to type in a few words and see rankings like they were the stock market. Now, can you imagine if the stock market gave different pricing based on who is asking for the price? Well, that just wouldn’t work. In search, it totally works, as a search engine attempts to give the searcher the most relevant result possible. Take this example:
Suppose you do a Google search on the term “seal.” How likely would you be to buy a CD from “Seal” if you were seeking:
• information on the mating patterns of seals
• a documentary on Navy seals
• the Easter Seals web site
• seals for a leaky roof.
Probably not very likely. Why? Because a CD from the artist “Seal” was not what you were looking for and these other results are not even closely related to music.

The odds of a sale/conversion are VERY slim.

If I am really into music, and I was to search for “seal” and then find results about the guy married to Heidi Klum (oh, and he’s an Grammy winning singer), I would have received relevant results for my search. On the other hand, if I am zoologist and find him, I may not have gotten a relevant result as I may have been looking for results about the animal.
Personalized search seeks to address this issue, and its impact has many SEO companies concerned, but they shouldn’t be.

They usually evaluate success on traffic / leads / sales / e-newsletter signups and other measures that show VALUE. Ranking well for a term that leads people to “seals” (the animal) or Navy seals who were really seeking “Seal” of Grammy fame is NOT going to lead to the desired result. Amazon’s CD store, the iTunes store, or a documentary on Navy seals should not show up in the results for someone looking for information on the animal. That is not going to be a very valuable click either.

Here’s why — good SEO firms know that a client who obsesses over rankings is not focusing on what matters most to a business. A good client obsesses over results and revenues. They don’t care as much if they search for a term and see it at 15, and I see it at 7.

We’ll never know where each term ranks for each person performing a search. So, what is the next best metric? At the least, it should traffic but ideally it should be leads / sales / revenues.
As a frequent searcher myself, anything Google does to make my search experience more relevant to me is a good thing for EVERYONE!

Yahoo is rolling out personalized search too, see info here or here. This is a coming trend, so SEO firms take notice. Your days of analyzing success based on where your client ranks as the MAIN form of analysis are limited. And thank GOD!!!!

One of the areas that I know I am weak in is mobile marketing. It probably has to do with personal preference – I don’t like to be that connected. I don’t own a Blackberry (or Crackberry, as I affectionately call my husband’s PDA, since the only time I have found I can get him away from it is on an 8.5 mile run). Moreover, I have been a relatively recent adopter of text messaging, which means I am VERY slow at text messaging. It takes me forever to text a message to my friends asking, “What time for dinner?” It is hysterical to me when their messages that are three times longer come flying back to me in 30 seconds – “7:30pm. We’ll meet you at your house and then drive to the restaurant. How does that sound?”

I just read about how 13 year old Morgan Pozgar won LG’s National Texting Championship after texting “Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious” in 15 seconds. This top texter story makes me think about the future generation of texting people. The winner – she was only 13. 15 seconds for that whole word! Now that’s amazing! What is more is that she says she sends 8000 text messages a month. This brings me back to mobile marketing. I think this generation is the now and future target of mobile marketing. They are so connected, and they have grown up knowing nothing else. I think mobile marketing messages might be something that they might embrace, as long as they are done correctly.

I read a lot of blogs/newsletters/websites that I come across. It’s a great way to expand your knowledge and skill set quickly and easily. Recently I came across a fantastic case study about Nike’s mobile marketing efforts. They created a mobile-based scavenger hunt in New York City to promote the release of a limited edition shoe:

http://mmaglobal.com/modules/wfsection/article.php?articleid=33

It really speaks to knowing who your audience is, having a REASON to use mobile marketing as opposed to other methods of marketing (i.e., billboard, email, print, online), and creating buzz (another marketing trend that I love to study). (And it doesn’t hurt that I think urban scavenger hunts are a pretty fun idea, too.)

For now, I think I’ll stick to SEO and internet marketing – it’s what I’m good at and passionate about, but I’ll never stop reading about the great people out there doing mobile marketing and word-of-mouth marketing. Pushing the envelope is what keeps us all on our toes and at the top of our games. It’s what makes the marketing and advertising industry so phenomenally exciting.

I’m piggybacking on a great article Joe wrote a few months ago. I thought I’d bring another example to light. I was watching the nightly news on April 5th and heard that the Transportation Department announced that within 5 years all cars must have electronic stability control in them. I’m all about car safety – so I was immediately out on Google, trying to find out if my car has ESC in it already (it does, whew).

The night that the story broke, the only person bidding on the term “electronic stability control” was MSN! (Click on the image below for a clear screenshot.)

Hey, automakers! Car review magazines! Car review websites! This is a MAJOR opportunity! It would take you 5 minutes to develop a little ad that says something like, “Find out if you car has ESC,” or “Which cars have Electronic Stability Control?” or “Government requires ESC within 5 years. Which cars have it?” Those were my initial thoughts on ads I could write in one minute.

Funny how one week later the paid search results look exactly the same. I’m willing to cut companies some slack – when a news item breaks, it does take some time to digest, decide if it fits with your company, develop a landing page, whatever. But a week later – give me a break.