Search Opt Media Inc., a SEO Company in the Philippines was present during the first day of the 4th SEMCON 2010. I was happy that we finally gave it a go to attend the conference despite all the deliverables at hand.

I learned a lot on my one-one session with Jim Boykin and Chris Ellis during the poolside party con chitchat after the conference. You get to learn more when you do ask one-on-one these TOP Search Gurus in the industry. Amazingly, they were way too happy to tell their crafts and methods with no qualms at all. If I give a value on what I learned from them, I think that will be  around $10,000 at least! Not a bad conversion goal right? =P

By the way, I shared my thoughts about the Top 10 Search Engine Optimization Key Take Away from SEMCON at http://www.searchoptmedia.com.  Go check it out!

Search Opt Media & Aaron Wall of SEO Book

Jim Boykin of WeBuildPages & Gary Viray of Search Opt Media

I can’t wait to see this movie – The Social Network! You can watch the trailers from here.

To learn more about Search Engine Optimization or Social Media, you can visit www.searchoptmedia.com – SEO Company Philippines

Mark Zuckerberg - Facebook Open Graph | F8 Developer Conference

Facebook Open Graph was recently launched during the F8 Developer Conference.

Let me quote a few lines from CNet.

The bigger announcement was what Facebook calls the “Open Graph,” and how Facebook plans to connect disparate corners of the Web that other social sites are building. “Yelp is mapping out the part of the graph that relates to small businesses. Pandora is mapping out the part of the graph that relates to music,” Zuckerberg said. “If we can take these separate maps of the graph and pull them all together, then we can create a Web that’s smarter, more social, more personalized, and more semantically aware.”

“These connections aren’t just happening on Facebook, they’re happening all over the Web, and today with the Open Graph we’re bringing all these things together,” Zuckerberg said.

With these bold announcement from the Facebook CEO himself, some questions keep bugging some people on issues involving web search engines such as Google. Will the FACEBOOK OPEN GRAPH can finally topple the dominant Google? What future will it lead SEO practitioners if such thing happens?

I would say Google will still be the dominant force in the World Wide Web. The Google Link Graph technology has a different approach than that of the Facebook Like Graph. The crawling of pages and link graph architecture of tagging, indexing and ranking pages according to relevancy will still hold useful to different type of searchers online. So far, Google is outstanding. No doubt about it.

As for the Facebook Open Graph – with that dub of  “like button” that can added in your website and being evangelized by the Facebook CEO himself as the wave of future in search,  it still needs to be proven.

I am a little skeptical if it will change the search behavior patterns in the next few years although we have already seen the impact of social networks and personalized search results. Certain lines were drawn but not entirely when it comes to the dominance of web search engine results are concerned. The fact that some results “can be liked” by some can be “not-so-likeable” for others.

Moreover, we have already seen such “liking”, “favoriting” , “digging” and “bookmarking” from among the best and largest social networks such as Digg, StumbleUpon, Reddit, etc. and still the ground net effect of such social behavior remains to be the fact that Google is still Google. It is still getting larger and larger.In fact, Google has already added into their algorithm some” social media flavors” which we have been witnessing these days on integrating Twitter, Google Buzz and many more.  We need to take note too that the social tagging and bookmarking is one of the strongest signals known to many. You can read more on the how Google uses the Social Media to impact search results here.

Thus, SEO practitioners need not worry that Facebook Open Graph can kill Google and SEO practice. However;  SEO practitioners should always be well-prepared taking on Social Media Optimization (which I  discussed Google Caffeine back then) in order to have well-rounded craft arsenal on our belt.

To profound whatever I earlier discussed about Google Link Graph and Facebook Like Graph, try to watch RandFishkin below.

Dixon Jones made it very clear that the Fundamentals of SEO Are Far From ‘Basic’. I agree.

As many local companies are jumping into having their web presence felt, web sites and web pages are build and rebuild many times. Companies get the best web developers just to get things started for them. The goal is simple. To rock and hit the chart (ROI). Good! Good! The result? Well, you should know your metrics by now.

Proliferation of SEO practitioners are almost everywhere these days because the Fundamentals of SEO are not hard to learn. They are easy (?). However; What separates the better SEO herds from those not-so good SEOs? I think it  is how they treat the fundamentals of SEO. I do believe that only the well-trained programmers and exceptional graphic designers can really fully understand the fundamentals of SEO. There are fundamentals, true but they are not basic as opposed to what other people may think of. There is an art to it if you would not want to call it a science. So be it.

So what SEO fundamentals would anyone should grasp? Simple. Hmm.. Not so simple (?).  The search engines are here to stay in order to give the users that ultimate goal of outputting the right content that matters to them.  Search engines has a goal of providing content with a “sense of relevancy and sense of productivity” (if I may quote Dixon Jones). More than that, the algorithms keep on changing providing more and more signals to rank relevant web pages to the searchers.

So if you are a company who wanted to provide your users and feed the search engines the best content/product you have, how would you treat your online presence then? I think you know the answer. But the art of getting it across would require you to get a Search Engine Specialist who knows that the fundamentals of SEO is not really that basic. It is serious. It is of big importance to your ROI. Is not it?

Just Another post: SEO Consultant Philippines.

SES London (Business Design Centre - Islington, London) - Jim Sterne & Gary Viray (SEO Consultant Philippines) - February 15-20,2010

When I was in London last February 14-20,2010 to attend the Search Engine Strategies (SES), I was skeptical as to what I can learn from the said conference. All I thought things are way to general in terms of the knowledge and information I can get. It turned out that I was wrong. Everything went fine. All was fun!

Jim Sterne who was seated just beside me while listening to the Augmented Reality presentation of Howard Ogden kept me thinking on how can I get him into a casual conversation. Knowing myself when it comes to social networking, I am a quiet person  and so… I did the opposite. hehe. I asked him a casual query and there you go, communication went well and I even got myself a chance to take a photo of the two us. He is I would say a quiet guy too who knows how to live by what he preaches.  Social Media is about engagement and it is all-about knowing how to listen well and to spend time reacting on any given reply or response.  Jim Sterne would say, Retweeting is one of the best acts one can do to get people be involved in a discussion as well as getting them to really listen to your tweets too.  Action, reaction I should say.

Jim Sterne was a keynote speaker during the SES London conference who talked about ” Social Media Metrics”.  If Avinash Kaushnik was awesome, Jim Sterne is overwhelming! When it comes to Social Media Metrics, Jim Sterne discussed rightly the metrics that matters most in using social media for any business or product.

Again, SES London. Jim Sterne is amazing!

For the past few months, I never did dare to look at my site’s ranking on some keywords which I deem valuable in my practice as an SEO Philippines Consultant because I was practically so overwhelmed with a lot of “things to do”.

Moreover, I was so busy to have tested a lot of “signals”  on the Google caffeine sandbox effects as it is about to be implemented or is already in full-blown in some date centers.

Try to look at the message from Google.

Thank you!

We appreciate all the feedback from people who searched on our Caffeine sandbox.

Based on the success we’ve seen, we believe Caffeine is ready for a larger audience. Soon we will activate Caffeine more widely, beginning with one data center. This sandbox is no longer necessary and has been retired, but we appreciate the testing and positive input that webmasters and publishers have given.

The Google Caffeine sandbox test page is no longer available and it is crystal clear based on the message above that the new Google algorithm is going live!

So what will be the future of SEM Philippines or SEO Consultant Philippines when the Google Caffeine is in full blast? I have some questions in mind as follows:

1. What other significant changes were made in the Google algorithm that every SEO  consultant or SEO Philippines Consultant service company should understand?

2. Will link acquisition still be the heavyweight contender that every SEO practitioner adapts as their topmost priority in ranking their clients well? Or will the social networking sites and social integration & interaction of brands and products be the next big thing that search engines like Google is driving into in ranking pages?

3.  Can Google profile and Sidewiki impact searches and ranks?

4. Is Google wave a concrete evidence of Google’s direction by giving importance to social interactions/media?

Whatever the answer maybe, it is vivid that social media optimization (SMO) and search engine optimization (SEO) should start morphing together as one and that every SEO Consultant Philippines consultant must start acquiring expertise on both fields in order to grow better as an Online Marketer.

Social Media per se is no longer a new term among internet marketers as it has been one of our primary platforms in reaching out to our prospective clients online. The growing population of internet users specifically in Asia has been astounding and that this online social phenomenon (social media) shows no sign of stopping at all.

Fairly said, it is the way to go when you want visibility, awareness, market, traffic, mileage and of course, conversion for your product/brand. It is the cheapest yet effective way of marketing your product/brand.

Hear ye! I am not talking about the future here because this social media platform is already the here-and-now way to market your brand.

I really could not understand some IT policies that block social networking sites and social bookmarking sites when the said guilty companies’ core businesses are into customer service, entertainment, press relations and other business models that need to be promoted globally so as to be billed as world-class companies.

It is really a counter-productive measure to execute IT policies of blocking social media sites among its employees because of its inadequacy to prevent possible virus attacks. It doesn’t really address the real issue of IT security risks by simply blocking social media sites. I call it a cheap shot!

Granted, some malwares are coming from the social networks (?) and some viruses are passing through the transfer of files into the network but if these activities are nicely secured by the network administrators with patches and server policy procedures, the need to block social networks (social media) is no longer relevant.

How about the transfer of files using USB drives, cell phones and other file media into the network offline? I guess this type of activities makes the network more vulnerable to attacks. Let us count our fingers. Let us use our arithmetic lessons.

If I were to ask, any ICT group exists to support, develop and push forward the business core products either through promotion of company brands, services and products via available technologies.

IT Support exists to make life easier and not the other way around.

Now, executing policies due to poor monitoring only to guard the network and without JUST consideration that such overly-secured implementation can harm other aspects of the business core brand/products is NEVER the way to do it.

Again, this is the ever tug-of-war between the overly baked IT security policies versus the more productive IT endeavours especially on social media usages is something that needs to be really addressed.

The Web 2.0 has redefined the way we conduct our businesses these days.

Admittedly, such paradigm shift among consumers to utilize social networks, social bookmarks, blog platforms and others have greatly affected their buying decisions.
We converse, communicate, interact and socialize in the internet through the social media. We CANNOT DENY that fact. We find costumers through those said networking sites whether we like it or not.

But then, if IT policies hinder all these already available social media (needless to say, sites topping the daily internet traffic) then it goes to show that the IT mindset 10 or 20 years ago has not morphed into something more fruitful at all. It has not grown at all.

I know you would react that some employees are using those social networks during their time of work. Do they have good output? Are they performing well as expected? If yes, then you don’t have any reason to block the social networking sites at all. How about if some employees are not performing rightly? Then, simply block those employees’ computers to send the signal that they are being monitored with their activities and outputs.

Blocking social media should be done on a case-to-case basis.

Again, you cannot stop people to socialize and to interact. Blocking the social media in your network is almost committing a mortal sin, I should say.

So, Is Social Media, a boon or a bane?

Think about it.

Just my thoughts put online being an SEM Philippines advocate  Cadabish!

 

At last I got ratified!

I was aware of ratified.org as the site that ranks the top 100 blogs in the Philippine Blogosphere eversince. Sad to say, I was not interested then into making a blog to be “ratified”.

I had a different focus.

But then when I got the chance to see the  realm of pinoy bloggers, I had an awakening. Questions like, why not create once and for all a blog that I can be proud of? Why not surface out from the underground? And so, www.garyviray.com was reinvented into a more “sane” site that anyone might be interested in reading my blogposts. In fact, I even titled this site before as something like, “I am not proud of my blog” which generated a lot of varied reactions from the Philippine Blogosphere. It was an unintentional link bait (hehe) actually from the  vantage of a Filipino SEO guy.

After those reactions, That was the start.

Currently, I am rank 31 among the top 100 blogs in the Philippines. It is good start.

So… I got ratified? What is next? We’ll see.

PR: wait… I: wait… L: wait… LD: wait… I: wait… wait… C: wait… SD: wait…

We were able to generate a good number of post to support Busby SEO Test in this competition. Facebook is one venue where we get to promote the site and articles over time. Through it, we also found out which articles are most popular and here they are:

• 20 Secrets of Great Relationships (Busby SEO Test)
  
• Astrological Compatibility Match (Busby SEO Test)
• Busby SEO Test Home
• 9 Ways to Stay in Love for Life (Busby SEO Test)
• Scorpio Predictions for 2008-2009 (Busby SEO Test)
• Taurus Predictions for 2008-2009 (Busby SEO Test)
• 10 Ways to Say I Love You (Busby SEO Test)
• U2 Upcoming Tour Dates 2009 (Busby SEO Test)
• Sagittarius Predictions for 2008-2009 (Busby SEO Test)
• Amazon Affiliate aStore Review (Busby SEO Test)

Thank you to all our Facebook friends!

Whenever search engine optimization (SEO) and search engine marketing (SEM) gets talked about, different entities and individuals have their interpretation on its scope. For this Busby SEO Test participant who also renders consulting services, it can cover the following:

1. Content development

Creation of content based on popular keyword searches by target users.

2. Website fixing

If there is an existing website, this includes improving the code, url, meta-tags, text, navigation, sitemap and analytics installation, and others with the intent of making sure that search engines pick up the valuable information that is being disseminated by the site.

3. Website performance & maintenance

Analyze monitoring reports and update website based on findings. Common tasks are reduction of bouncing pages, improve page size, develop new content or navigation path to ensure visitors will find what they need from the site.

4. Directory submissions

Paid, free, reciprocal, deep link directories tapped though it is dependent on client’s budget.

5. Search engine submission

Paid and free search engines to ensure that the client’s site can be found.

6. Article writing and submission

Writing a high-quality article that gets disseminated to popular article directories for re-publishing. This in turn results to traffic generation and search engine visibility.

7. Online press releases

If the site has a major announcement, an online press release is also suitable as this gets picked up by major publications, e-zines, and blogs.

8. Link build-up

This is trading links with other websites that have similar niche.

9. Paid advertising

This can come in the form of online ads. It allows the client also to discover and validate keywords that were chosen for effectiveness.

10. Local sites and maps

Registering at country level directories and search engines. In addition, making the entity visible in various map sites.

11. Blog marketing

This can include creation of blogs and linking campaign from various blogs.

12. Social Bookmarks

Get your site, blog, video, or photo submitted to various social media and bookmarking sites.

13. Wiki

Get your entity mentioned in various wiki sites accurately.

14. Social networking

This may include creation of brand profile, product page, and invite users to become followers.

There is a lot more that can be mentioned but I hope the above 14 will give you an idea already on the range of services that SEO and SEM can cover.