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As Om shared earlier this month, New York’s tech scene is getting a flood of venture capital for Internet deals, rivaling San Francisco. It’s validation for a city that has built a formidable base of companies and is now becoming a hotbed of start-ups, particularly web-based and software-driven companies.

I sat down with Fred Wilson, venture capitalist with Union Square Ventures to discuss the New York renaissance, how it came about and where it’s headed. Wilson said New York’s tech scene, which grew out of the mid-90s, is in the equivalent of its late teens: just growing into itself as a major player. He said he doesn’t expect to see any slow-up, just as Silicon Valley took off after two decades in the late 1970s. “New York is not only sustainable, but it will grow an order of magnitude from here,” he said.

Wilson obviously has a stake in New York’s stature as a tech center. More than half the companies in his New York-based fund hail from New York, though he wrote recently that’s he’s open to branching out. However, the local growth is real, including start-ups like portfolio companies Etsy, Foursquare and Tumblr, as well as companies like Gilt GroupE and the Ladders.

The growth in the New York scene is largely built on the Internet, which as it’s developed and become more mature, increasingly taps into the expertise of New York, he said. As web start-ups incorporate more data and business logic and work to refine user experiences through design, he said, they’re able to draw on talent from the local finance, media, fashion and design industries. Companies like Banksimple and My City Way were built by former Wall Street employees, while Gilt Groupe was formed by a trio including Alexandra Wilkis Wilson, a former executive at Bulgari and Louis Vuitton. Several New York entrepreneurs have said something similar to me, saying the city provides an interesting intersection between technology and various industries that both benefit from technology and also influence it.

New York’s place in the tech start-up world often gets short shrift, Wilson said, because the start-ups are of the largely capital-efficient variety. When the figures of VC deals are compiled, they often don’t reflect fully how many smaller companies are starting in New York, making do with less money. In essence, he said there are two VC industries. “New York doesn’t participate in capital-intensive business. There’s no biotech or hardware here. But if you look at New York’s place in the software business, New York is a huge player.”

What New York lacks at this point is a standout performer on the order of a Google, Apple or eBay, said Wilson. Having a large tech success story would feed the pipeline of entrepreneurs, give some start-ups a chance at getting acquired, and serve as a role model.

“We haven’t had that,” said Wilson. “People look at Wall Street and figure they can sell, so they sell.”

Plus, Wall Street is still an issue for start-ups, trying to convince talented employees to leave better paying jobs in finance, media or advertising to try out the start-up life. But as some of those industries contract, it’s providing more incentive for talent to sign on with start-ups.

“Media, Wall Street, fashion, they’re not growing very much,” he said. “Tech can pick up the slack.”

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Several factors have contributed to this year’s gusher, including a U.S. Supreme Court ruling in January that now allows unlimited campaign spending by corporations and unions. In August, a low-profile Federal Election Commission decision opened the door for donors to pool their money and give anonymously, which produced a bumper crop of ads from nonprofit political groups and committees trying to influence voters.

“The biggest factor driving the spending is the competitive landscape,” said Evan Tracey, president of Kantar Media’s Campaign Media Analysis Group. “Incumbents across the country are worried about losing, and they are not holding on to their money. And many of these statewide races are in states with expensive media markets like New York, Texas and California.”

Political spending this year should reach record levels, Tracey predicted.

Wells Fargo's Ryvicker estimates that TV stations will collect $2 billion in political money this year. Cable television systems will generate at least $150 million; radio stations will garner $250 million; direct mail efforts should consume $650 million; and billboards will receive $55 million. Ryvicker estimated that newspapers would take in $95 million in political money.

Coming in last, according to Ryvicker and Tracey, will be Internet sites. Their collective haul should be about $50 million -- less than 2% of the total.

Companies that own TV stations in the LA market include CBS Corp., NBC Universal, Univision Communications, News Corp., Walt Disney Co. and Tribune Co., which owns KTLA-TV Channel 5 and the Los Angeles Times.

For the full story in the Los Angeles Times, click here.

-- Meg James

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What is natural search engine optimization (SEO)?

Natural, or Organic, Search Engine Optimization (SEO). It's a process of making your site more search engine friendly by optimizing the entire website design and content. Then the site will be visible in SERPs against optimized keywords or Key phrase.

Why is SEO important?

Search engine optimization is important for a number of reasons including:

36% of searchers attribute top organic position with brand quality

60% to 70% of all search traffic comes from organic listings

90% of organic search traffic is driven from the top five listings

62% of searchers view only one page of results before clicking (Jupiter Research)

Having the No. 1 listing in both organic and paid search can increase click rates by three times

How do natural search differ from paid search?

The primary differences are:

Paid search can be launched quickly. Natural search generally takes months to show a return.

Paid search focuses on a large number of keywords. Natural search needs to be focused on a few high-return keywords.

Paid search is highly measurable. Tracking results on natural search is more difficult (although not impossible).

How much time will it take to see SEO result?

Time is most important factor in SEO life cycle. Once your website cached by search engines, it will take at least 2 weeks to update the results.

Can any one guarantee a #1 ranking in Search Engine?

No. No one can guarantee a #1 placement in SERPs (Search Engine Result Pages), as there are simply too many factors outside our control. In fact, in Google's Information for Webmasters, they recommend that companies beware SEOs that guarantee results.

We are, however, willing and able to make a guarantee as to our SEO ethics.

Will my website stay at the #1 position once my website is placed there?

Search Engine ranking fluctuate frequently. SEO is an on going process. However if your website is maintained by SEO Specialist month to month then it can be stay in top positions.

How long will it take to see results?

This largely depends upon how old the site is. If the site is new, you shouldn't expect to see significant results from Google until the site has been in Google's index for at least six months. Results for new sites can be seen in Yahoo and MSN, generally less than three months.

For sites that have been in existence for a year or more, results from on-page optimization can generally be seen within a few weeks of being placed online.

Google, is highly dependent upon links in its calculation, and prefers links that have been in existence for a long time. As a result, if the market space is competitive, it may take six months or more to see significant results.

What is SEO Copywriting?

In a webpage where the same keyword is repeated again & again, in a way that makes it very difficult to understand what the page is actually trying to say. This is SEO'ed copy.

SEO copywriting is the creation of website copy that includes heavy usage of keywords in hopes to move a page up the search engine rankings. It is generally written to a particular "keyword density", which will supposedly perform well in the search engines.

For search engines with a heavy reliance on on-page factors, such as MSN, or for particularly uncompetitive keywords, SEO copywriting might work, at least to a certain degree. For keywords with any amount of competition on Google and Yahoo, however, it is rarely effective.

What's more, even if the SEO'ed copy works in a search engine, it is rarely effective for the human beings visiting the site.

In addition, SEO copywriting can be very profitable for the SEO firm, as the search engines regularly change their preferred keyword density. This results in more work for the SEO firm as they rewrite the SEO'ed copy, and up charge the client.

We prefer not to use SEO copywriting. We recommend that the targeted keyword be used in the page's copy, but used in a manner that is natural sounding and effective for readers. Our SEO efforts focus on other on-page factors and most importantly - links.

Does this mean copywriting is not important to SEO?

Copywriting is certainly important in SEO. The copy of a website should always be written to maximize the return on marketing dollars. If the visitors to a website do not convert to leads or sales, then the efforts on SEO are wasted.

The copy of a page should focus primarily on effectiveness and conversion rate. Simply use the page's keywords in a natural manner, and optimize the other on-page factors and links.

Also, landing pages can be created to address specific keyword needs that cannot be found on other parts of the site. Each such page must have substantially unique content and not employ deceptive techniques such as redirects, or run the risk of receiving penalties from the search engines.

We offer a full range of copywriting services which can be used in conjunction with either our paid or natural search services.

Do you engage in unethical SEO?

We tend to not see SEO in ethical terms. Notwithstanding potential issues of deception, the way one structures one's webpage is not a concept that should inspire discussions of morality.

There are, however, issues of risk management and tolerance with SEO. Certain techniques might run the risk of being blacklisted by one or more of the search engines. Typically, the more competitive a space is, the more risky the needed techniques are.

As SMO Solutions Search does not work with companies in the truly hypercompetitive space (e.g. gambling and pornography), we have never needed to resort to risky techniques to achieve the rankings our clients demand.

One aspect of SEO that can raise ethical questions is the communication between the SEO firm and the client. Some firms engage in risky techniques without informing the client. That is certainly unethical.

Another area of potentially unethical behavior can be found in firms that provide "SEO" services by building a network of their own sites that drive traffic to the client's site. These are often sold on a per click basis. While this is a viable marketing model, many clients do not realize that the moment they stop paying, the "SEO" they've been buying goes away. In fact, many SEO firms will then turn around and sell this traffic to the former client's competitors.

Apogee Search's SEO practice is built around achieving superior results in the natural listings of the search engines. Baring an algorithm change in the search engine, the traffic does not go away if a client does not continue to engage with Apogee Search (although listings do tend to degrade over time if continue SEO efforts are not made).

Do you offer search engine submission services?

We'll let you in on a secret, assuming a page can be read and indexed by a search engine's search bots; all that is needed to submit to the search engines is a link from a page on another site that is in the Google index.

The automated submission services that you receive constant email spam for are, at best, a waste of money. In many cases, they can actually hurt your site's performance in the search engines, as repetitive submitting of the same site can cause the search engines to invoke a penalty.

How do you select keywords?

Ideally, keywords for natural search are selected by using data from a properly configured and managed paid search campaign. This way, keywords that generate leads and/or sales are certain to be focused on.

Alternatively, detailed analysis can be made on a group of potential keywords to measure their relative search volume and competitiveness, but this data is greatly strengthened with the addition of conversion data from a paid search campaign.

Will you make the changes on my website?

We are not a web design firm, and don't manage the actual pages of your site ourselves. We do, however, make specific, detailed suggestions of changes. And, if you do not have the staff to make the changes yourself, we have a number of web design firms that can do this for you.

What about link rental or purchase?

One of the dirty little secrets of the SEO industry is that many of the people at the top of Google bought their way there through paid links.

Many links can either be bought on a one time basis, or rented month to month. One of the biggest advantages of this is the ability to configure the link exactly how you want it for maximum SEO benefit (begged links often have to be accepted "as is").

Competitive market spaces are likely going to require paid links. We typically recommend either purchasing permanent links or budgeting link rental for at least six months (preferably eight or nine months). Links must "age" before Google allocates them their full benefit.

How do we track the results?

Many SEO firms create their own fuzzy metrics, generally around the idea of "visibility". If a particular key phrase improves from a ranking of 100 to a ranking of 20, they call that a 500% visibility. Rarely do you see such firms concerned about the traffic the rankings bring to your site.

While we certainly monitor rankings in the search engines for our targeted keywords, we are much more concerned with the traffic those rankings generate. And, we are happy to work with you to connect the traffic generated by the search engines to specific leads and sales.

Shankar soma is an experienced SEO, SEM and SMM consultant. He has authored several marketing manuals for small business owners and ecommerce agents. He is a contributing author to several websites and offers advice on dominating Google search results at http://www.shankarsoma.wordpress.com

http://www.shankarsoma.wordpress.com

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Monday, November 15, 2010

SEO FAQ's

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