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Social Media Beginner and Advanced Stragegies
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Expanded Analytics Training
Expanded Keyword Research Training

Join us for a 2 day basic, 3 day advanced or 5 day mastery workshop during 2010.

Check our SEO training pricing and dates for a time and location that meets your needs. Take advantage of early registration pricing to save $200. If you have attended a basic 2 day workshop in the past, it’s a good time to consider expanding your skills with the 3 day advanced training.

I’ve been reading over an economic white paper from Ruhr University’s department of economics which concludes that Google is a better forecaster of consumer confidence than traditional measures.  Since private consumption/spending represents a significant portion of the gross domestic product in many countries, it is one of the things used to predict overall economic activity.

 The authors of the white paper compared normal survey results to a study of consumption related search categories in Google Trends.  Their conclusion? 

“ The results show that in almost all forecasting experiments the Google indicator outperforms the survey-based indicators. This suggests that incorporating information from Google Trends may offer significant benefits to forecasters of private consumption.”

 Apparently the Google indicators outperformed the US Conference Board Consumer Confidence Index. I wonder what other uses for Google data will emerge in the future.

Here’s an overview of the study that includes a link to the full white paper.

The Search Engine Academy of Western Canada (SEA West) has been named one of the top firms offering training in internet marketing. The Academy teaches how to effectively use the internet – including search engines and social media – for business growth.

After only one year of operation it has been placed among the top 5 companies in Canada offering this type of training. The honour was received from TopSEOs.com, an independent authority on vendors who supply internet marketing products and services. 

Instructor and co-founder of SEA West, Muriel Archibald, is pleased with the recognition. “I think it’s a result not only of the depth of the material we teach but the way it’s delivered.” The course is taught in a limited seating classroom setting, allowing time for individual attention and reviews of specific Web sites attendees are working with. “Lots of courses teach the basics of search engine optimization and marketing (SEO/SEM), but when it comes to putting that into practice for your own website, you’re on your own. We take that next step with you, and every student is given a six month follow-up mentoring program.”

SEA West holds workshops in Kelowna, Vancouver and Calgary.  Anyone interested in upcoming workshops can sign up at http://www.searchengineacademywest.com/pre-register-for-sem-training to be notified of dates and locations.

SEA West also hosts the free Okanagan Internet Marketing Meetup Group to share tips and information. Meetup dates are posted online at http://www.meetup.com/OK-Internet-Marketing-Meetup/

In class, we get together in groups and brainstorm for USP ideas. Not only is it a lot of fun, it gets all of us thinking about what we do - or could do - to stand out.  Sometimes we are so focused on doing business a certain way that we forget to keep an open mind and regularly think about new ideas. Don’t let that happen. You might miss some great opportunities if you do.

Here’s a great little blog post from Search Engine Guide that sums up the issue beautifully by using a real-world example of a USP.

It’s one of the things I like most about being part of this team. We have a growing group of instructors that talk regularly, sharing ideas and discussing new developments in the world of search engines. Its great for us, but it also helps our students.  You’re not just learning from one of us, but from a whole group of SEO trainers.

I was aimlessly playing around with search engines today (don’t as why…it’s just what I do sometimes) and I noticed that when I search Google.com for ’search engine’, Google is #3, behind Dogpile and Altavista. Better yet, when I search Google.ca for ’search engine’ Google isn’t even in the top 10. Dogpile is still #1. Yahoo and Bing are on page 1. Google is on page 2, at #17. (At the time of writing.)

It’s just a curiosity and not very important but I think Google should rank #1 on Google for what they are…a search engine. Yahoo is #1 on Yahoo for the term. Bing? Apparently it doesn’t know it’s a search engine. I gave up looking at page 10.

I’d like to compile a list of keyword research tools and services and ask for your opinions on which work best for you and why.  So here’s a few to get started.  If you use different tools add them to our list using the comment form. If you use any of the tools below to conduct your keyword research let us know what you think.

• Wordtracker - http://www.wordtracker.com
• Keyword Discovery - http://www.keyworddiscovery.com
• Google Adwords Keyword Tool - https://adwords.google.com/select/KeywordToolExternal
• Google Insights for Search - http://www.google.com/insights/search/
• Yahoo/Google/Bing search suggestion tools
• Google Search Based Keyword Tool - http://www.google.com/sktool/
• Wordstream - http://www.wordstream.com/
• Wordz - http://www.wordze.com/
• Keyword Spy - http://www.keywordspy.com/
• SEO Book Keyword Tools - http://tools.seobook.com/keyword-tools/seobook/
• NicheBot - http://www.nichebotclassic.com/

Want to comment on any of the services above, or add another tool to the list?  Let us know using the comment field below.

Private Training Session: March 8 to 12

Vancouver BC:  April 12 to 16

• 2 Day basic SEO/SEM training: April 12, 13
• 3 Day advanced SEO/SEM training: April 14, 15, 16

Kelowna BC: Tentative - May 10 to 14 - Dates to be confirmed.
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Calgary AB: May 31 to June 4

• 2 Day basic SEO/SEM training: May 31 and June 1
• 3 Day advanced SEO/SEM training: June 2, 3, 4

Would you like to see our SEM/SEO courses in another city in BC or Alberta? Please let us know by using our contact form or use our pre-registration feature (no cost or obligation).

If you have a group interested in our training we may be able to schedule a workshop just for you and discounts may apply.

Find out more:  Basic Course Agenda, Advanced Course Agenda, Pricing, Contact Us.

So…some thoughts on these two leaders in the field of paid keyword research services:

Wordtracker

Wordtracker recently implemented a whole new set of tools for keyword research which include some fundamental changes on how they measure competition.  The KEI (keyword effectiveness index) provides a number derived from a ratio between the number of competing pages and the number of searches for a particular keyword. Simply put, the higher the KEI the better.

Previously, competing pages were determined by conducting a search for your keyword, in quotes, on your selected search engine. Any page that contained that exact keyword phrase was included.  Now, the KEI measures the number of pages that use the keyword phrase in the inbound links, and the beta KEI3 measures the number of pages using the phrase in both the title and incoming links.  I like the change - since any serious competitor for the phrase will be using it in one or both of these important areas - the title and inbound link anchor text.

I still prefer Wordtracker for quickly and easily finding related keywords and phrases that your target audience may be using. You can do this with both tools, so my preference here is a personal one and based partly on the user interface.

Keyword Discovery

Some strengths of Keyword Discovery include the ability to get search volume data by country, rather than just US or UK, and I like the fact that their search volume data is coming from actual search engines, rather than Meta crawlers. So instead of relying on general search volume I have a way to look at search volume within Canada. Having said that, I am not convinced yet the country-specific data is entirely accurate. Still, even if you use the global data it is bound to be more accurate than an extrapolation based on Meta crawler market share.

The tool for examining industry specific keyword phrases is not bad, and at this point is unique to Keyword Discovery.

So I’m back on the fence about which to choose if you had to pick only one.  If you can afford both, that’s the route I would go. If you are working with multiple sites, especially in competitive industries, it is worthwhile to use them both, compare data, dig down deep in their respective tools.

Wordtracker costs a bit less, so if budget is a consideration that might be the way to go. If you work exclusively within one competitive industry, such as travel or real estate, Keyword Discovery may be your best bet.

Here’s an article by John Alexander, one of the founders of the Search Engine Academy, offering his perspectives on Wordtracker and Keyword Discovery comparative strengths that I hope you’ll find useful. John goes into more detail about specific features and their strengths/weaknesses.

Do you use WordTracker and/or Keyword Discovery?  Let us know what you like or don’t like about them, and what other keyword research tools you find helpful.

At 2:00 pm on Sunday October 18th, 2009, we will randomly choose two people.  We will contact the winners immediately by email so that you can make your plans to attend.  When we contact you, we will inquire as to whether you would like to attend the 2-day basic, the 3-day advanced or the entire 5-day Mastery course.  It is absolutely your choice but I know because of the late timing of this there may be some who can only make it to one of the courses.

Unfortunately, also because of the time constraint, we will only be able to contact the winners.

So, go ahead — sign up for our Tip of the Day and don’t forget to check your email Sunday afternoon!