Today is the first of several SEO training courses being offered across Australia by Bruce Clay Australia. On the show, Bruce, Susan and Virginia highlight the new offerings and resources offered by the team at Bruce Clay Australia, including a recent blog post titled Keyword Research — Factors to Consider. Keyword seasonality is discussed along with keyword regionality. The hosts also consider an approach for long-term optimization of seasonal keywords, a concept described by the freshly minted phrase “keyword mobility.”

Des Odell, director and co-founder of Bruce Clay Australia, jumps in to share lots of news coming out of the office in Sydney. The company has released a report on SEO factors and trends as an overview of high-level SEO opportunities as well as actionable recommendations for taking advantage of each. Bruce Clay Australia has also teamed up with the U.S. offices to report the country’s Internet marketing news within the SEOToolSet Newsletter. In Bruce Clay Australia’s debut newsletter article, readers will find statistics and analysis on the state of the Australian search market, where PPC advertising is much more widely adopted than SEO marketing.

Bradley, Susan and Virginia then take a closer look at the SEO Factors and Trends Report. Bradley appreciates that the report takes a broad and high level view of search engine optimization, yet it is focused on the critical and complex SEO issue of content relevance. Susan explains how the goal of SEO has expanded beyond having the right content, as more and more sites compete for this status. Now it’s about getting that right content out to people when they need it through a speedy site, on the go through mobile-friendly versions, and in multiple ways for different learning types through engagement objects™.

With Bruce Clay presenting SEOToolSet Training, Susan Esparza, Virginia Nussey and Maryann Robbins take over hosting duties to discuss some of the latest search industry headlines. Google Caffeine, an improved indexing infrastructure for the search engine, will be rolled out in full after holidays. Until then, one data center is live with Caffeine. Resisting the search giant, Rupert Murdoch says he’ll keep Google from indexing News Corp. sites once the media company starts charging for content — an exclamation met with much controversy. And across the Atlantic, the European Union has agreed on telecom reforms ensuring stronger consumer rights and high-speed Internet connections for all citizens.


Continuing the conversation about European markets, multinational search marketing expert and co-host of the WebmasterRadio podcast Bas van den Beld talks to Virginia about understanding the search economy in light of historical events. In his article SEM Lessons from the Fall of the Berlin Wall, Bas explains how an expanded market size, the cross-country regulations of the European Union, and a common currency have shaped the environment in which marketers work today. Bas is an historian and the editor of Europe’s most popular search marketing blog, SearchCowboys.com. The SearchCowboys podcast airs live on Tuesdays at 2 pm EST.

Then Susan, Virginia and Maryann consider SEO for multimedia and rich media content. The topic was the focus of a PubCon session and is highly relevant following the increase of rich Web experiences being created by brands and organizations today. Bruce Clay has encouraged the integration of engagement objects — interactive elements of a Web site — both because they can engage the audience and because they may come with search engine ranking benefits. On-site features should not significantly interfere with load speed, and any non-textual site elements should be surrounded with appropriate contextual text and Meta data.

Tune in to this episode of SEM Synergy Wednesday at 3 pm EST/12 pm PST on WebmasterRadio.fm.

Photo by Bas van den Beld

Live from the search marketing industry conference Search Engine Strategies New York, Bruce and Virginia are in the WebmasterRadio booth on the expo hall floor. They open the show by giving listeners a feel for the energy and expectations of the conference. Bruce also gives a teaser of what attendees can expect at Friday’s SES affiliated SEO Training.

Then Bas van den Beld of SearchCowboys.com sits down to talk to Virginia about his perceptions of the show from a blogger’s perspective. As a search blogger based in the Netherlands, Bas has blogged search industry conferences in the past but SES New York was the first event he attended in the United States. He explains how the New York conference compares to international conferences such as SES Amsterdam and SMX London.

Wrapping up the live show, Virginia talks to Mark Knowles, CEO of Pixelsilk, an SEO-friendly CMS. Mark talks about the necessity of customizable content management systems and the feedback he’s gotten on Pixelsilk. They also talk about the after-hours events at the conference and the expectations he has for the show.

On today’s show, the discussion revolves around international search engine marketing. Susan, Michael and Virginia start off by looking at search marketing in Europe. Currency and payment options, language, search engines and searcher expectations differ from country to country. Our hosts consider these differences as well as country-specific Internet user statistics and adoption rates.

Then Virginia speaks to Motoko Hunt, founder and Japanese search marketing strategist of AJPR. Motoko’s company specializes in optimizing sites for companies marketing in Japan. She explains the difference between how search marketing is viewed in Japan versus how it is viewed in the U.S., lessons that can be learned from how mobile marketing is done in Japan, and the misconception of Yahoo’s dominance in Japan.

The hosts turn to Asia Pacific and Latin American markets to close out the show. With China’s online population now exceeding the U.S.’s, considering a presence with Chinese Internet users could be a smart decision. Latin America is also experiencing a boom of Internet users.

Bruce, Robert and Susan start off the show discussing link building best practices. With marketers clamoring to gain inbound links, it is important to keep in mind proper decorum when searching for linking opportunities. Basics — like being courteous, developing a relationship, and keeping messages short and sweet with proper spelling and grammar — can go a long way when requesting links from other sites.

Later, Virginia talks to two members of Bruce Clay Japan, Inc. about the Asian demand for SEO and SEM services. Harry Miyamachi, CEO, and Yoshi Akari, Strategic Planner, discuss the trade between and online transactions within Asian countries including China, Japan, Korea and India. The office, opened in May, primarily serves Japan-based global companies and international companies targeting Japan.

Then Susan and Virginia look at some of the things to keep in mind when launching an international SEO or SEM campaign. The first topic to consider is whether or not global search is a worthwhile investment, considering the extensive resources required for success, and whether your campaign will focus on SEM or SEO. They also discuss some of the technical elements of how a search engine determines the relevance of regional search results.