Online is just a part of marketing. Doesn't matter how great your SEO people say they are. If they don't understand marketing, they're going to be bad for you.

Great point: Google has such a lion's share of the market that it doesn't matter how GOOD other search engines are. It's going to take a "face plant" by Google to make someone else really viable.

You need paid advertising too -- being on both sides of the Google results page bumps your clicks about 3x.

Best marketing: Well done word of mouth.
2nd best: Well done PR. [How do you get that?]
3rd best: Search.

Don't focus on eyeballs. You want leads, engagement, conversions. Measure those and you'll know how it's affecting your business.

Leake shares some things to know about search today:

• Pay per click is moving to cost per action.
• Use bid management to hit your users when they're searching...don't pay when your prime users aren't there.
• Target particular sites with your keyword buys.
• Be sure you are testing your PPC buys.
• Use the Proctor & Gamble strategy: Own an out-sized share of the shelf space.
• This point is great: Good content matters. It makes a difference in your link ranking. About 80% of your ranking on Google is probably what other people are saying about you. Maybe 20% is what's on your site. But your title tag is the most important part of that. Keyword density on your own site is very, very far down the list. Don't let your SEO write content!! You need real content that inspires other people to link to you--because that's what gets you links and pushes you up in Google.


• PR can really help SEO. A press release that gets picked up is your content, posted elsewhere, linking back to you. Release frequently. Send some smaller distribution. Use good keywords in the release. Use Internet wires. Train management to understand that Internet-only mentions are actually good, sometimes better than offline.


• Manage your online reputation well. What shows up when people search for you? How are you addressing negative sites, comments?


• Use Google Local.


• Video, products, etc. are starting to be blended in with text search results. Make sure ALL your products/services are listed, especially multimedia. Video converts well. Your #1 ranking is irrelevant--what matters is getting conversions.

Leake adds a list of more hype than real in search optimization, at least for now:

• Pay per call


• Mobile. This is coming but it is still too hard for average interaction.


• Virtual worlds. When you look at the numbers, it doesn't make sense. There are just about 100,000 people who are logging in frequently to Second Life every month. May be something interesting in the virtual world sphere down the road.

What CAN be effective for you right now:

• More and more video


• Social media optimization


• Convergence and cross-channel marketing