We just returned from the Drivingsales Executive Summit in Las Vegas Nevada where Paul Rushing participated in an automotive seo panel discussion. Typically we have not attended events like this in the past, because we do not have a huge marketing budget or feel the need to acquire a large number of clients.

This event proved to be very profitable in terms of getting our name out there and new business that was acquired.  Typical auto industry events are more like infomercials by those presenting at them.  This event was different.  Best practices were shared and the podium pitches were almost non existent.  Those that were interested in our services reached out to us versus us having to pitch them.  It made for a non confrontational discussion.

If you look to serve clients in any industry do not discount the networking to be found at conferences and seminars even if you are not an active participant.  The rewards come from new business, enlightenment and seeing what your competition is up to.  One thing you need to remember if you are participating in these types of events and looking for vendors to help you meet your marketing goals.  The best pitch and the most polished presentation does not equate to results,  look for those that can show you a broad range of results not just hand picked examples.

One of the common misconceptions regarding search engine optimization is that it’s all about what you do on your site.  Nothing could be further from the truth.  In reality, your onsite optimization is only part of the equation.  What Google, Yahoo, and MSN really want to see are links from other sites pointing to your site as an authority for a particular keyword.

It’s just like votes.

The old saying that “content is king” still holds true today.  While many companies will give too much weight to content (and others give too much weight to links) having the right mix of quality links and quality content is the key to getting optimized to the top of the search engines for any keywords that you want.

You can hop into a Lotus, screech the tires, and head down the highway doing 140 MPH.  The problem is, if you’re not heading in the right direction, you won’t get to your destination any faster.

There are literally thousands of companies out there trying to cash in on the mixture of two things:

1. The general business need for search engine optimization
2. The general business ignorance about search engine optimization

These companies charge low prices (usually) for their services.  The services normally entail looking at the meta tags on a site, offering suggestions, and submitting the website to directories.  The problem is, these services, while inexpensive, are relatively worthless.  They have zero benefit for today’s complex search engine algorithms.

There are literally thousands of websites that offer some value to businesses in the way of branding.  Any time you can get your name and/or logo in front of potential clients and customers and shine a positive light on it, it’s a good thing.  To survive in today’s marketplace, you need to be where your customers are, and most of them are online to one extent or another.

Putting a blog out the for the world to see is pointless if you do not drive traffic to it.  They just don’t promote themselves, regarless of what “content experts” tell you.  For a corporate or small business blog to be successful, it needs eyeballs and links.  We can help.