There is no doubt in my mind that Internet marketing and search engine optimization are playing a larger and larger role in a webmaster’s life. A few years back, you would put up a web site and hope for the best. These days though, you must really study and learn several aspects of the marketing game if you want to stand a chance.
Marketing in general has really always excited me, so I thought it might be a good idea to talk with somebody who does this as their day to day business. Daryl Kennedy is the VP of Operations over at TechWyse Internet Marketing. When approached about the interview – my first thoughts were “Whoo hoo! Now I can pick the brain of somebody who really understands this Internet marking stuff” and I have to say I was not disappointed.
How did you find yourself in the Internet marketing world? Most people on the web want to get to the top themselves in popularity. You guys specialize in helping other people make a name for themselves.
Daryl: Getting into the Internet marketing world for myself was quite by accident. I have always been a resourceful person. I have always enjoyed efficiency and understanding new technology. After being in the business of developing web sites, I decided it would be far more resourceful to learn and understand the newer search engine phenomena then hit the streets cold calling which was far more traditional.
After studying search engines for about 6 months, I quickly found that by following search engine principles I could get our own company on the first page of Google, Yahoo! and MSN rather easily. Ironically, many other companies across North America and especially Toronto, Canada began noticing themselves! Since this was clearly a way for companies to begin to generate revenue they began asking me to help them in the same way.
The rest is history. We have branched out now to become a full service Internet marketing company with more than 50 people in 2 different locations. I have never been an egocentric person, I simply enjoy the Internet marketing industry, and even further than that, understanding how to build and analyze different companies marketing efforts as effectively as possible.
Internet marking is a very large tent. At TechWyse, what are some of the services you really specialize in?
Daryl: It has sure developed into a ‘very large tent!’. Put as simply as possible; our goal is to cultivate, promote and measure the marketing efforts of companies. Our focus is on developing a full marketing strategies which include the following process:
- Planning & Measurement – gaining an understanding of the company goals and building a blueprint to develop a successful online marketing campaign.
- Creative Development – developing an online persona that matches and promotes the ultimate goal. Having an effective online brand and conversion friendly design ensures that all the traffic we get your site converts at a higher rate.
- Promotion – the successful launch of previously developed Internet marketing campaign, which may include anything from organic optimization, pay per click, email marketing, Facebook advertising and other social media utilities.
- Analysis – by launching an effective analytics program we can now analyze every facet of a company’s marketing plan.
It is not as focused as it once was, but the truth is that it’s essential to help companies grow!
What is the one marketing tip you see overlooked the most? Such as you see web site after web site and say, “Oh my gosh – why are they not doing this?”
Daryl: This one is easy Mitch; Companies invariably, almost always come to us wanting to promote and build traffic to the corporate web site without first looking in their own yard to make sure it’s as inviting as possible. This is why myself and the entire TechWyse team always discuss the importance of web site conversion or put more simply – what is the ultimate goal of your web site. Figure that out, and develop accordingly. By doing so we can maximize the efficiency of your marketing dollars.
Does it make you mad to see the “easy” offers to rise your search engine rankings? You know the ones that have 101 tips and promise to get you to the top of Google for any keyword as long as you pay $69.99 for their ten page ebook?
Daryl: Hah! You hit the nail on the head with that one. I find it rather comical that even we receive the bulk emails from companies that can get us on the top of Google within 24 hours! My rule of thumb is that if it sounds too good to be true — it probably is. Most of these tactics are those that prey on those that do not know otherwise. Over the last few years, however, I have watched the public grow wiser to this.
Having said all of this, it is definitely possible to get ranked at the top of search engines if you follow a proper plan. Internet marketing done right still means not only the cheapest cost per acquisition than any other marketing strategy but also the most measurable.
My biggest piece of advice for those that do not who to choose; Do some research on the company. Type in the company name into the search engine and see what else comes up. Ask for testimonials and ask those people what exactly the company has done for them. Pay attention to the details; even simple things like collateral, site design mean a lot in this business!
How do you deal with the clients that say, “I want to be at the top of Google for the keyword ‘muffin’ tomorrow!”?
Daryl: There are several different questions to ask to answer properly. It is firstly important to discover if the word “muffin” will get the company the most targeted type of visitor as possible. In this case, if you are selling a recipe book, for example, wouldn’t “muffin recipe’s” be more targeted? Or what if you make muffins in Toronto and want people to come to your muffin store? Why not focus on “Muffins Toronto?”
In the end, there are some instances where not using a long tail strategy is best. In that case it is possible to rank the highest for the word “muffins.” If this is the case, it is very important to build a campaign that effectively engages the major search engines to the point that you are the most relevant search when someone types it in. It usually comes down to having a wealth of content, and also something that is unique that people will reference online to improve your own link popularity.
Give me a solid argument as to why somebody reading this interview should invest in TechWyse and its Internet marketing and analytics services?
Daryl: I am the type of person to outwardly promote why you should use TechWyse services. What I do take great pride in however, is that our company does focus on capturing the entire purpose to your online marketing campaign. While getting results is important, it is just important effectively measure campaigns for results. There certainly are a handful of companies in the world today that do this, but the truth is this is still such a new industry, that you still see a lot of pretenders that take advantage of many lack of knowledge.
Our company is an avid supporter of Google products because this is still the mecca of search. We also put a great deal of emphasis on delivering effective, measurable campaigns that you and your account manager at TechWyse can work together on implementing successfully.
The final thing that I feel speaks volumes about TechWyse is the bandwidth that we have. When companies come to us, they have a group of more than 50 individuals dedicated to their own special area in Internet marketing. Very important!
Thanks Mitch, for the opportunity to speak on your blog. It has been a pleasure answering your pointed questions. I enjoy reading your blog. Keep up the good work!
Final thoughts: Many thanks back at Daryl, and be sure to tech out TechWyse for all of your Internet marketing needs. They are an awesome company that seems to be more than happy to do anything in the world for you when it comes to online marketing.
Nice to see there are still a few good SEOs left out there. Very nice interview!