"Twelve Paid Directories"
"Eleven Bloggers Bloggin'"
"Ten Lord's a Link-Baiting"
"Nine Laides SEOing"
"Eight Web Stats You're Milking"
"Seven Steps to Great SEO"
"Six Blog Promotion Tactics"

Today: FIVE GOLDEN marketing planning stages.

What separates the amateur from the pro SEO? I firmly believe anybody who has a couple of years can become very proficient in the constructs of search engine optimization. The question is, do these SEOs really understand the nature of strategic planning and marketing?

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Why not resurrect the quality articles? Here's a worthy piece we wrote over a year ago about SEO and it's place in a proper business plan.

A brief browse through SEO/Webmaster forums reveal multitudes of SEO information that equips any webmaster and aspiring SEO consultant to enter 'the game'. With all the information, how can one correctly apply SEO to their business plan? Where does SEO fit in? Is it a marketing item, a strategy item, all of the above? This article will outline some basic suggestions for small business webmasters looking to include SEO within a coherent business strategy plan.

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Search Insider did a post SES Toronto article that notes some interesting trends in Canadian search.

Essentially Canadian firms, be it the mom and pop operation, or more noticeably the huge corporation, do very little web marketing wise compared to their American counterparts. This despite a higher ratio of online savvy Canadians (who browse more and are on average on the internet more).

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Some marketing bloggers have noted consumers are growing dissatisfied with the SEO industry due to the lack of accountability (with respect to results) and lack of transparency (with respect to what is actually completed for web sites). It's true, nearly anybody regardless of qualifications can figure out on-page SEO (changes made to your web site) and create an online firm to start garnering consultation dollars. The problem is the absence of SEO standard for training or governing body policing rogue consultants means the chance of 'pulling the wool' over the eyes of unsuspecting consumers grows.

Before we move forward here is a little bit of context. An article called, "A “Market for Lemons”, a Nobel Prize, and Snake Oil SEO" from John Andrews argued for the increase in transparency for an industry where the consultant holds an unfair advantage in service negotiations because of their unique knowledge of the SEO industry that the customer does not have.

Aaron Wall comments in his blog post "Why Selling Selling SEO Services is a Bad Business Model", by adding some more reasons why selling SEO services is a bad business model.

While I agree with both writers and their take on the SEO business models especially when it comes to contractual discussions, I think they failed to address some key activities that separate the 'snakes' from the pros. How then should legitimate SEO's approach their trade?

Why SEO/SEM is Neither Sales nor Product Focused

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Chicken or the Budget? What Comes First?

I recently engaged in a spirited discussion about business strategy and planning with some posters at SEOChat. Basically, I was challenging the position on how to go about creating SEO budgets. My basic premise was that budgets come out of plans, and not the other way around. Here is some key highlites to help you create the right goals for the right budget and not the other way around.

SEO Plans Lead to SEO Budgets

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