New technologies allow consumers to freely explore seemingly endless amounts of products and information online. Because of this, consumers are becoming increasingly self-reliant. People check-in to flights and hotels with automated machines and purchase groceries through check-out stations. Consumers are responding positively to self-service systems and the need to interact with customer service employees is rapidly decreasing.

With this rise of self-service, more customers are buying products through online retailers and shopping sites are growing fast. Most consumers are pleased with the effortlessness of shopping online. However, when customers do encounter a problem, finding solutions can often be tedious and frustrating. Retailers work hard to constantly improve the online shopping experience but many are still using out-dated customer service techniques. Search engines and FAQ pages are not satisfying customers and businesses have to look for new ways to allow consumers to navigate themselves through potential issues.

In the past, many businesses thought their only solution to customer relationship management (CRM) was to create call centers with a large trained staff. Smaller businesses struggled with the cost of such an extensive increase in employees and larger business had too much traffic to adequately provide helpful service to every consumer. Companies are relentlessly creating new technologies and trends for online shopping and the old strategies of CRM no longer apply. Consumers will have questions and concerns and they expect to receive answers quickly and easily. According to Consumer Technographics, 57% of US online consumers report that they are very likely to abandon an online purchase if they cannot find quick answers to their questions. The dichotomy of online consumers is that they both demand guidance and self-reliance. For many businesses, virtual agents have proven to be the most effective way to help consumers help themselves.

What are Virtual Agents?

Intelligent virtual agents (IVAs) are programs that work as online customer service representatives. They have a human appearance and a conversational style of speaking. These agents interact directly with the customer to help with a variety of online services. Essentially, an IVA is the ideal customer service employee. They have an extensive knowledge of the business, can speak several languages, work 24 hours a day, and can personally help hundreds or thousands of customers all at once. The agent provides personal and direct guidance for consumers, making it more effective than search engines or FAQ pages. Many companies have successfully implemented an IVA program including Ikea, Ebay, and Paypal. Now, customers visiting these sites can ask “Anna“, or “Alex” or “Sarah” to help them find what they find what they are looking for or help get them the answers they need.

How Virtual Agents Can Benefit your Business

Using IVAs to help with customer service can help a company in many ways. They can converse and answer questions, giving customers personal and immediate assistance.

Consumers can chat with the representative in a way that feels familiar because it builds on the in-store customer service experience. The more self-reliant customers prefer an automated representative because they feel less inclined to rush and freely ask any and as many questions as they like.

The virtual agent has the unique ability to be everywhere at once. Human agents can only help a certain number of customers for a certain number of hours. As a company grows, maintaining a trained staff that can sufficiently respond to a growing number of buyers can be costly. AVIs can help customers find solutions without contacting customer service representatives.

Most of the information consumers are looking for is already available online. However, navigating through pages of information without help can be frustrating and potentially keep customers from returning to the eCommerce retailer. Mark Gaydos, VP of worldwide marketing for VirtuOZ explained that simply giving the customer a big repository of information and hoping they find what they need isn’t enough. “Virtual agents have the ability to instantly assist customers rather than leaving them to look for the information on their own.”

AVIs can also work as an information gatherer for the business to improve the customer’s experience when they need to speak with a human agent. Customer concerns can be transferred to the appropriate call center and provide personalized information to the customer representative making things easier and faster for both the representative and the consumer.

In Closing

As new technologies and trends develop in online shopping, AVIs allow customer services to adapt and improve along side these changes. Consumers are now able to shop with mobile devices and through social media. While many people are struggling with using search engines on new programs and devices, AVIs are making an easy transition to phone apps, Facebook, and even Second Life. As businesses experiment with new ways to reach customers, AVIs are effortlessly going along for the ride.

Caught this announcement on the Google Checkout Blog yesterday and it also appeared on Search Engine Land today. It looks as though Google has added another Trends tool to their arsenal that caters to eCommerce sellers, shoppers and even eTail professionals and search engine marketers.

The new eCommerce trends tool is called Google Checkout Trends. The tool is similar to Google Web Search Trends, except that the Checkout Trends tool only aggregates useful sales data from Google Checkout merchants and charts the data on an easy to use, easy to read interface for the user to see. Basically, it shows users important trend data about who is buying and selling what from Checkout.

Google Checkout Trends aggregates the sales data of Google Checkout merchants and charts it in a matter of seconds. (Of course, all the data is anonymized first.) So if you’re interested in how sales of Batman or Spider Man paraphernalia compare, or are wondering just how popular Ugg boots are these days, visit Checkout Trends for a glimpse into online shopping.

Here’s a screenshot using the example… shoes, boots, heels, slippers

Click the thumbnail to see a larger version of this screenshot.

To use Google Checkout Trends simply type a keyword or phrase into the search bar or compare multiple words by separating phrases with a comma. The example above illustrates how the terms shoes, boots, heels and slippers were entered into the search field and compared within the results below. Other common examples include ipod compared to zune, nike compared to reebok, dress compared to skirt and any other comparative data you can dream up.

To interpret the results simply drag your mouse over the lines in the chart and view the colored phrases in the top right of the chart. You will see the numbers next to each phrase will change for all the compared terms. The example shows that in middle December boots were at an all time high, showing 100, while shoes were very low, showing 1.90, but not higher than slippers at .14 or heels at .08. Interesting stuff, but doesn’t quite seem right that the shoes was lower than boots from December to January, the other two make sense. Maybe there are lots more boots sold due to it being winter in so many places? Lets go check June for the same query. Ah, just what i thought. If you scroll to the left back to June, you’ll see that indeed shoes is higher than boots as people tend to buy less boots in summer and more shoes. Makes sense.

Keep in mind that the data and results are from Google Checkout merchants only and do not represent the entire shopping search scope, however as Google eCommerce services continue to grow in popularity and among users we will see more useful, accurate data from the various Google Trend tools. It would be interesting to compare the main Web Search Trends to the Checkout Trends for the same query. I think I might try that out, one sec…

Ok back, here’s the data from Google Web Trends on the same query…

Interesting to compare the two. On Web trends shoes has out performed the rest for the past three years, but if you look at the end of 2007 (around November to December, you’ll see boots gets very close to shoes on the trend data chart. So the data looks pretty close, just not as refined, like Checkout Trends is. It’s great to be able to gain access to data like this strictly related to buying and selling products. I applaud Google, thanks guys I can see some great potential for this new Checkout Trends data.

Other Google Trend tools include the main Google Web Trends, Google Hot Trends, Google Reader Trends and Google News Trends.

Just caught wind of this news at the SEOmoz blog. Wow Mozzers, good secret, this is certainly something I didn’t expect to see from you, but is definitely a good addition to the site in my opinion. We are seriously lacking a quality marketplace that allows service providers to display their services and skill-sets, hopefully this becomes THE industry resource for that.

So, if you are an industry service provider and specialize in anything web design, development, content or marketing related, be sure you go over to SEOmoz right now (if you haven’t already), register or login to your account and go to the new Services Marketplace so you can list your resume, company and areas of specialty for display on SEOmoz. Hurry, before someone else from your organization does and gets all the credit for the idea!

At SEOmoz, we get more than a dozen requests for business every week, and constant emails asking if we know people who can fill a particular position. With the SEO Services Marketplace, we finally have a scalable solution that lets search marketers and web professionals of all stripes connect with businesses seeking services and candidates. It’s a match made in search industry heaven.

SEOmoz’s New Services Marketplace Features…

• Company Directory
• Job & Contract Finder
• Resume Repository
• Marketplace FAQs

Company Directory:

The company directory section of the marketplace is meant to display professional profiles, contact information and more from some of the top rated search-focused businesses. in this section you can find and learn about search marketing companies, review potential employers, conduct business development and even take part in local networking.

Company Directory categories include…

• Analytics
• Business Management/Development
• Event Planning/Exhibition
• Link Building
• Linkbait/Viral Content
• Offline Marketing /Advertising
• Organic Search Engine Optimization
• Paid Search/PPC Management
• Public Relations/Reputation Management
• Social Media
• Web Design
• Web Development/Programming
• Writing/Blogging

Companies in the Directory include…

• SEOmoz
• Stone Temple Consulting Corporation
• Future Now, Inc.
• Distilled
• Caveman SEO Consulting
• ACS
• UsabilityEffect.com
• Alchemist Media, Inc.
• BlogStorm Marketing
• Onetomarket

Job & Contract Finder:

The job and contract finder section of the marketplace is primarily for individuals seeking employment or companies seeking out new employees. People looking for a job can view any of the opportunities posted or may narrow searches using sorting options like whether the job is full-time, part-time, contract or per category topic. Companies looking for new employees can post job opportunities in the Services Marketplace. Listing there helps to make your opportunity visible to thousands of highly-qualified, passionate search professionals around the world.

Jobs and Contract categories include…

• Analytics
• Business Management/Development
• Event Planning/Exhibition
• Link Building
• Linkbait/Viral Content
• Offline Marketing /Advertising
• Organic Search Engine Optimization
• Paid Search/PPC Management
• Public Relations/Reputation Management
• Social Media
• Web Design
• Web Development/Programming
• Writing/Blogging

Available jobs in the Contract section include…

• PHP & MySQL Web Developer

Resume Repository:

The resume repository section in meant to for search professionals who wish to post a resume and employers who are hoping to find a gem within the posted resumes. Professionals looking for a job can build and post their resume to be visible to potential employers, clients and networking contacts. In addition, professionals who post a resume can have their colleagues leave references on the resume. Companies looking for a new addition to their organization can search for potential job candidates using sorting options like whether the resume poster is currently looking for a job, is already happily employed or by specific skills needed for the position.

Resume repository skills include…

• Accessibility Testing
• By-the-Hour Consulting
• Click Fraud Analysis
• Content Development
• Information Architecture Design
• Internet Marketing Strategy Reports
• Keyword Research Reports
• Link Building Campaigns
• Linkbait/Viral Content Dev + Promotion
• Longterm/Ongoing SEO/M Contracts
• PPC Management
• Press Release Optimization
• Programming & Web Development
• Reputation Management in the SERPs
• SEO Site Reviews
• Social Media Marketing
• Speaking Engagements
• Usability Reviews
• Web Analytics
• Web Based PR
• Web Design
• Web Hosting Services

Active user resumes include…

• Rand Fishkin
• Rebecca Kelley
• Danny Dover
• Mel Gray
• Andy Beal
• Michael Gray
• Scott Willoughby

Need More? Check Out Marketplace FAQ’s

List of common questions and answers about the new SEOmoz Services Marketplace.

• What is the SEO Services Marketplace?
• What is an SEOmoz Recommended Company?
• Where do I start using the Services Marketplace?
• What is a referral?
• Where can I get additional help?

Just noticed this, not sure if it’s been brought up or if anyone cares, but it appears that there are some new ads in place of the premium member advertisements that have previously been displayed on SEOmoz’s blog and Youmoz under each first post. I can’t see this being a permanent change, Rand must be doing a favor for Danny, or something like that. I don’t expect to see these new ads replacing SEOmoz’s second main stream of revenue advertisements for good though, do you? Feel free to chime in anytime Mozzers, I don’t recall seeing anything about this and you we usually get a hint when something like this happens or is about to happen.

A recent post that Rand wrote, answering some reader questions, mentioned that SEOmoz’s two main revenue streams were their consulting services and their premium member offerings. If these new ads are now going to replace the premium member ads, where will the premium member features be advertised? I wonder if this is going to lead to an expansion of their revenue model and if they are going to start selling ad space, we know they can get a pretty penny for their space? One thing I like about SEOmoz is that they have very few ads on the blog and throughout their content (until now I have only seen their own services and a banner for Superb Hosting, which is located in the footer on every page). I would hate to see it change, but things wouldn’t be all that bad, as long as it doesn’t start to look like every other Problog out there with the advertising banners at the top right of every page.

It would be cool to hear some feedback and answers from the SEOmoz team! Until then, what are your thoughts?

Note from eCopt: Just a follow-up to this post. Since we got clarification straight from the source (SEOmoz), then I will show you what Rand meant by "continued partnership with SMX." I was on Search Engine Land, as I often am, and noticed a new addition to their advertising space too! See below...

Didn’t see anything on Search Marketing Expo though, yet!

SEOmoz has also added a new footer advertisement to go along with their SuperbHosting ad…

On Sunday, after picking up Slingshot from the airport, we headed down to the Metropolitan Cafe’ to take advantage of Carlos’ Pre-Funk invite. There weren’t many that attended the pre-funk, but it was still great to get some time to know him a little more and pick his brain (he’s a really brilliant landing page optimizer who got second in the SEOmoz landing page design contest).

After a few drinks on Sunday, we woke up the following day and headed down to UW for the Training Seminar (started at 9am). The event itself was held in a lecture hall on University of Washington’s campus that had the capacity for about 100+ attendees. Literally every seat was filled, but I got there early enough to grab one on the plush couches that lined the walls of the hall, lucky me! There was coffee and donuts for all the attendees, thanks Mozzers.

Once all the seats were filled and everyone had their fill of coffee/donuts, Rand kicked off the show with An Introduction to Search Engine Marketing and Search Engine Algorithms. Much of this portion of the presentation was review for me, but there was great insight and information for any search marketer, whether beginner or advanced. I can always find a few gems of knowledge, even for topics I have researched to death.

After the quick Intro to SEM and Algos, Rand discussed Best Practices for Search Engine Friendly Design, How-to properly conduct Keyword Research, How-to properly Target Keywords and wrapped up with Content Creation Strategies and ideas. I was impressed by how much Rand shared on these topics. A lot of it he has been talking about on the blog for years, but much of the presentation was updated to include newer strategies, ideas, insights and valuable knowledge geared towards helping site owners, webmasters and marketers improve in important areas.

The second half of the day was dedicated to Social Media, Blogging and finally a discussion on Analytics. After each session, Rand opened up the floor for QandA, giving all attendees the chance to ask specific questions about specific topics or their own sites. Not only did Rand open up the floor for questions, but he also encouraged the audience to ask questions during the presentation, which I have found to be a hard thing to do in past presentations I have done. Rand did an excellent job managing all his content, keeping track of time on each subject and giving enough time for attendees to get their questions in. At the very end, he opened up the floor yet again for anyone to ask questions about any topic of search marketing.

My favorite part of the event was, of course, the AFTERPARTY. SEOmoz held the afterparty at Jillians, a fun bar, game room and restaurant. They offered drinks, unlimited video games and great food, including a burger bar, nachos, wings and all the trimmings. My girlfriend even got to go, thanks Scott!

Recap of Events in Pro & Con Format:

The Pros:

• Great breakfast (coffee/donuts)
• Awesome Lunch (pizza)
• Great presentation
• Awesome content
• Began and Ended on time
• Little Self-promotion
• THE AFTERPARTY

The Cons:

• Too much review and beginner discussion
• A few technical difficulties

Overall, I had a really good time and learned a lot at the first ever SEOmoz Training Seminar. I would personally like to thank Rand (who for some reason thinks I look like a Chris), the Mozzers (especially Gillian and Scott) and everyone else who attended the event (Carlos, Nik, Ken, Eric and Jesse). I’ll be sure to fill out the survey and get it back to you with my feedback.

I want to thank Slingshot for visiting Washington and going to the seminar with me, I had fun man! Finally, I want to thank my girlfriend, Amber, for being so patient with me and understanding during the whole weekend and event.

P.S. If you guys ever track down my name tag, send it over will ya? I collect them from every event I go to, and would love to add one from yours.

You can purchase Expression Studio for $599.00 or you can upgrade any of the individual Expression tools to the complete Studio for $349.00. A complete set of Studio FAQ’s and Individual Expression Program FAQ’s are available here.

Microsoft Expression Web:

Microsoft Expression Web, formerly called Microsoft FrontPage, has been live since September 2006, and is a new standards-based Web-editor that’s part of the Microsoft Expression Studio. It hasn’t gotten much attention with designers, that I have seen, but I wanted to take a moment to discuss two of the Expression Web add-ins for merchants thinking of using Expression Web to build an eCommerce storefront or accept payments through Expression Web powered sites. You can purchase Expression Web for $299.00 or you can upgrade from FrontPage for $99.00 and there is also a free trial download.

To see a few sites built using Microsoft Expression Web click here.

System Requirements:

Actual requirements and product functionality may vary based on your system configuration operating system.

• Supported Operating Systems: Windows Vista; Windows XP Service Pack 2
• PC with Pentium 700 or faster processor
• 512 MB of RAM or more
• 1.5 GB of available harddisk space; a portion this disk space will be freed after installation the original download package is removed from the hard drive CD-ROM or DVD-ROM drive
• 1024 × 768 or higher resolution monitor
• Internet functionality requires Internet access (fees may apply); Network access required
• Broadband connection, 128 kilobits per second (Kbps) or greater, for download and activation of products

Expression Web Feature Highlights:

• Standards-based Web sites
• Sophisticated CSS-based layouts
• Extensive CSS formatting and management
• Rich data presentation
• Powerful ASP.NET 2.0-based technology

Standards-based Web sites:

Create CSS-based, XHTML 1.0 Transitional-conforming Web sites by default. Work better across browsers, simplifying deployment and maintenance. Configure flexible schema settings to support all combinations of HTML, XHTML, Strict, Transitional, Frameset and CSS 1.0, 2.0, and 2.1 plus browser-specific schemas. Validate your site with compatibility and accessibility reporting and against Section 508 and W3C Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG).

Sophisticated CSS-based layouts, formatting and management:

Generate elegant, modern CSS layouts with state-of-the-art surface design tools. Directly manipulate positioning, sizing, margins and padding. A sophisticated CSS rendering engine inside gives you the confidence to make design decisions on the fly. Try out CSS styles on the page with drag-and-drop style management, and migrate them to a central repository. Typing aids and IntelliSense in the Code View make your process efficient and fast.

Rich data presentation:

Build and format views of industry-standard XML data using drag-and-drop tools for quick visualization. An XPath Expression Builder allows you to create complex queries, and XSL Transform (XSLT) support gives you the flexibility to present data any way you want. XML data can be retrieved and presented via live RSS feeds that match your site’s formatting.

Powerful ASP.NET 2.0-based technology:

Harness the power of ASP.NET 2.0 to transform your sites into dynamic, interactive Web applications. No code data binding required with integrated support for server and user controls. Inserting and configuring ASP.NET controls is a snap with the controls toolbox, properties grid, and on-control “action menus.” ASP.NET Master Pages make site-wide changes quick and easy.

Expression Web eCommerce Add-in’s:

SalesCart Express:

Since 1995, the original shopping cart built into Microsoft FrontPage, now integrates directly into your Microsoft Expression-based Web sites. This easy-to-use full eCommerce service-based solution can operate statically or with a large dynamic catalog of thousands of products. SalesCart Express is a one-stop storefront shop that supports automatic tax calculations, real-time shipping, discounting, search engine optimization, a merchant account, and real-time credit card processing via AuthorizeNet.

SalesCart NET:

This professional eCommerce development for merchants that require unlimited customizations and extensibility includes open-source access or options to purchase ASP.NET script-based source code for the creation of unlimited e-commerce websites. Unlike SalesCart Express, SalesCart NET is a software-based solution that can be hosted on any ISP that supports ASP.NET and developers can use the product to create multiple merchant websites using Microsoft Access or Microsoft SQL database shopping cart websites.

PayPal eCommerce Toolkit:

Discover the quickest and easiest way to add shopping to your Microsoft Expression Web site. Easily create payment buttons and basic shopping cart functionality with an easy-to-use wizard. Set up recurring payments with the Subscription button or take set or open-amount contributions using the Donation button. Include product options for any item—Toolkit Recipes show you how.

Expression Web SEO Macro Kit:

The SEO Macro Kit for Expression Web helps Expression authors get their sites ready for the Internet’s biggest search engines. The Kit includes a search engine sitemap.xml generator, a title/description/keywords count window and an image text review window. With these easy-to-setup macros, authors can add several time saving and useful tools to their Microsoft Expression Web toolbox.

Conclusion & Final Thoughts:

So, there you have it. Microsoft is really bulking up their software and tool offerings, not to mention the add-ins and new features constantly being added. I am personally not a huge fan of .NET or the Micrsoft framework, but the tools and programs outlined in this article are a great way for newer merchants to get a program for site design from a reputable name with all the basic functionality and ability to add more if needed.

The eCommerce add-in’s and SEO Macro Kit are just a few of the available add-in’s for Expression Web including a nifty navigation maker, Template Monster themes, slide show maker, mp3 player maker, flash browser, InstandFX case changer and more. The Expression Studio comes with everything you could possibly need.

Microsoft isn’t the only choice, feel free to check out our Shopping Cart Solutions page for more ideas of who to use for your site, SEO and shopping cart provider.

First of all we have to assume that you have a product that is of value, consumers are searching for your products on popular search engines and that you can compete on price and quality with other high ranking eCommerce stores offering similar products. If this is true of your products, then you can be profitable optimizing an eCommerce store.

Picking a Domain Name

If you don’t already have a domain name that’s been up and running for awhile, you should take the time to pick a winner. Over time I have found that search engines seem to prefer short domain names that contain at least one of your major keywords. Long domain names seem to cause delay in high search engine rankings.

Title and Meta Tags

Your title tag should contain the most popular two and three word phrases that your potential customers are searching for. Take time to make sure that several word combinations can be derived from words in your title. It also helps if your most popular phrase is the first part of your title. Your title content must directly relate to content and images found on the page your listing links to. Unrelated titles can lead to high ‘bounce rates’. I will discuss this in future articles, take my word for it. If you have the dedication, unique titles should be made for every category, sub-category and product in your store.

The meta description should contain your company name and/or your brand names for the the products you’re selling as well as popular search phrases for your products or services. If you’re selling off-brand products, or you manufacture your own products you should develop a catchy company name or brand name for brand recognition. The meta description should be well written. Many searchers will read descriptions before deciding to click on a search result, so a call to action or clever wording might help to entice a searcher to click on your listing. Do not mislead searchers in your description or title, as this may increase your ‘bounce rate’. I will discuss bounce rates in future articles, again just take my word for it. If you have the dedication, unique descriptions should be made for every category, sub-category and product in your store.

Keyword meta tags are generally ignored by most search engines, but it is still good practice to include keyword tags. Add as many popular two, three, or four word phrases to this tag as can be found on the immediate page. The first keywords listed should relate to your title and description tags. I have not realized a limit in keywords to affect search engine rankings, but I advise that you don’t add keywords that don’t relate or can not be found in your page content. If you have the dedication, unique keyword tags should be made for every category, sub-category and product in your store.

Get more stucture tips in Basic Page Title, Meta Description & Meta Keywords Structuring Rules.

Product Image File Names and Alt Tags

Product image file names should include product numbers and keywords that relate to the product. Use dashes to separate words, not underscores. For example a file name for Adidas running shoes would be as follows… adidas-running-shoes-A10.jpeg

Alt tags should contain the same keywords and product numbers for consistency.

Text Content Development

Writing content can be like pulling teeth for some people. Don’t get too caught up with the ‘SEO’ tricks and think that they will substitute quality content development. You must take the time to write detailed, well written product descriptions, main page introductions, sub-category descriptions and about us information. Don’t copy this information from a supplier or a competitors website. Popular search engines will recognize the duplicate content. Paraphrase any information that you must take from another website.

If you follow these suggestions then you will be headed down the path of eCommerce success. Look for future articles from me to discuss topics such as…

1. Bounce rate reduction strategies
2. Link Building (it’s critical to do this correctly, so don’t rush into it)
3. Search Engine friendly urls (there are a few ways of doing this, so stay tuned for my tested theories)
4. Keyword research
5. Dynamic content
6. Internal link structures
7. Many, many more to come…

Note: We are pleased to announce a new author to eCommerce Optimization, Slingshot. We will see posts from him off and on as he has time to help us out with contributions related to organic optimization, running an eBusiness, getting started strategies and beginner tips and tricks as well as many advanced strategies that will help Online merchants sell more.

Stay tuned for the new author profile for more information about Slingshot.

SEOmoz Premium Membership Overview:

Premium membership at SEOmoz gives you 24/7 access to unique industry guides, tools, tips, tricks, answers, videos and exclusive events. The membership features provide Internet professionals of all skill levels with a suite of beneficial educational resources designed to improve the processes needed to properly analyze, setup and market sites of all sizes.

Quite simply, these features and tools make it easier to understand the inner workings of web sites, search engines and other forms of Online marketing that Webmasters constantly use within their business advertising and branding strategies.

Premium Features Rated & Reviewed:

To gather third-party feedback I emailed a list of the following services with detailed rating and review instructions to several current premium members. The data I received back from these members was compiled and used, along with my own feedback, to analyze, rate and review the individual premium services offered by SEOmoz. This article will be updated as I continue to get feedback and they continue releasing features.

SEO Q&A - Current Rating Based On Knowledge Base Of 646 Available Q&A’s

Overall Rating: Ease of Use: Functionality: Usefulness:

Member Comments, Reviews & Feedback:

Wellwrittenwords (SEO Copywriter) – This is a really amazing service: to-the-point answers to any question you care to ask. What more could anyone ask?

Willcritchlow (Media Monitoring) – The Q&A area is worth the premium membership all on its own in my opinion. Bespoke consulting value for the price of a few magazines.

eCopt (eCommerce Consulting) – I like that you can receive multiple answers from other staff members and readers. The time it takes to get your answer posted is fast and I have noticed that the SEOmoz “level of quality” is very much present within answers to user questions. The public or private question feature is probably my favorite part since there is sometimes a need to keep questions from displaying.

SEO Tips & Tricks - Current Rating Based On 63 Available Tips & Tricks

Overall Rating: Ease of Use: Functionality: Usefulness:

Member Comments, Reviews & Feedback:

Wellwrittenwords (SEO Copywriter) – Very informative: superb resource for anyone who wants to get up-to-speed on all aspects of the business in a hurry.

Willcritchlow (Media Monitoring) – I really like the tips and tricks section. They’re fun and useful.

eCopt (eCommerce Consulting) – It must be very difficult for the staff to keep posting quality tips and tricks often that aren’t already posted in the regular blog area. I have a feeling that most readers have been used to getting that kind of content for free from Mozzers in the past. So far there have been some great ones posted and I notice there are always a few fresh ones each week covering a variety of topics.

SEO Guides - Current Rating Based On 4 Available Guides

Overall Rating: Ease of Use: Functionality: Usefulness:

Member Comments, Reviews & Feedback

Wellwrittenwords (SEO Copywriter) – If you’re new to SEO and you’d like a starting point—this is it. These guides are also good for the rest of us to fill in any gaps in our knowledge.

Willcritchlow (Media Monitoring) – Mainly useful to improve our processes rather than tell us things we don’t already know.

eCopt (eCommerce Consulting) – This has got to be my favorite feature currently offered to premium members. I have always enjoyed reading the advanced and intermediate articles on SEOmoz and these guides take it one step further. They are very detailed, really useful and certainly provide insight into the world of search and the area surrounding this industry. Out of the three guides, I got the most out of the link building article and loved the images on the search-friendly website article. Can’t wait for viral marketing and linkbait one.

Premium Member Guides Currently Available

• Social Media Optimization Strategies
• Illustrated Guide to Building a Search-Friendly Website
• The Professional’s Keyword Research Guide
• The Professional’s Guide to Link Building

Individual Guide Comments & Reviews (both members and non-members)

The SEOmoz Keyword Research document has already been put to use in our office as we look for extra keywords in those very niche markets. The plethora of research resources out there are all nicely encapsulated into this SEOmoz document, which makes it a great resource as we look for new avenues to dig up important keywords. (via e-Marketing Performance)

Link Building is a resource worthy of placement on the office bookshelf. Anyone engaged in link building for themselves or others will find themselves referring to this frequently as they try various strategies and avenues to generate links. (via e-Marketing Performance)

SEO Tools - Current Rating Based On 10 Available Premium Tools

Overall Rating: Ease of Use: Functionality: Usefulness:

Member Comments, Reviews & Feedback:

Wellwrittenwords (SEO Copywriter) – It’s fun and informative to make use of these tools to see exactly how a website is performing.

Willcritchlow (Media Monitoring) – Huge time-saving vs either building the tools or doing lots of manual stuff. Again, probably worth the cost of membership.

eCopt (eCommerce Consulting) – Many of the tools are unique and can’t be found anywhere else, so it’s cool to have access to exclusive tools not many others know about. My favorite is the Page Strength tool, I use it all the time as a checks and balances system. Also, the Rank Checker is top notch and saves me a bunch of time checking standings (I added the browser toolbar button for quick checks).

Premium Member Tools Currently Available

• Geo-Targeting Detection
• Backlink Anchor Text Analysis
• Popular Searches List
• Term Extractor
• Juicy Link Finder Tool
• Rank Checker Tool
• Term Targeting SEO Tool
• Crawl Test Tool
• Keyword Difficulty Tool
• Page Strength Tool

Individual Tool Comments & Reviews (both members and non-members)

So in the end I have to give the Crawl Test tool an average rating. It doesn’t do anything that other tools don’t and it doesn’t do those things any better. (via SearchGrit)

In conclusion I give this tool a thumbs up for providing data that I haven’t seen any other tool provide. If there was only some way to do a mashup of Term Target and TextAlyzer I’d be all set. And I’d have some good linkbait to boot! (via SearchGrit)

Rand & Matt have put together a really nice tool with Page Strength, one that I recommend adding to your “tool chest”, especially since they are offering it for free. (via Search Marketing Gurus)

Link Directory - Current Rating Based On 125 Available Link Sources

Overall Rating: Ease of Use: Functionality: Usefulness:

Member Comments, Reviews & Feedback:

Randfish (SEOmoz) – Link building is a challenging, often frustrating exercise, and finding good, solid, relevant directories can be one of the more challenging parts of that process.

Discount Store - Current Rating Based On 13 Available Service Providers

Overall Rating: Ease of Use: Functionality: Usefulness:

Member Comments, Reviews & Feedback:

Randfish (SEOmoz) – We won’t list everyone who offers a discount (we need to do some quality control), but there’s certainly a lot of companies out there that we’d love to put in front of our members (and get you some great marketing, too).

Member Events - Current Rating Based On 1 Available Member Event

Overall Rating: Ease of Use: Functionality: Usefulness:

Member Comments, Reviews & Feedback:

eCopt (eCommerce Consulting) – Didn’t get to go unfortunately, but everyone who did really seemed to like it a lot. Not to mention the hard to see guests and some of the brightest folks in the industry all attended. I won’t miss the next one, that’s for sure.

Training Seminars - Current Rating Based On 1 Available Training Seminar

Overall Rating: Ease of Use: Functionality: Usefulness:

Member Comments, Reviews & Feedback:

eCopt (eCommerce Consulting) – My favorite part of the event was, of course, the AFTERPARTY. SEOmoz held the afterparty at Jillians, a fun bar, game room and restaurant. They offered drinks, unlimited video games and great food, including a burger bar, nachos, wings and all the trimmings.

Premium Member Pricing & Cost Per Month:

Cost per month is $49.00 or save by purchasing for multiple months at a time …

6 months = $249.00 (save 85%)

12 months = $399.99 (save 68%)

Conclusion & Final Thoughts:

In short, the premium membership is well liked by most of the industry no matter what specific field they happen to be in. Whether you are a novice site owner looking to improve your own exposure or a seasoned Webmaster with a decade of experience you can and will get something out of the premium service offerings at SEOmoz.

As I continue to get some more emails back from the premium members I asked for feedback from I will keep adding their reviews and average in their ratings so check back later to see what others are saying about the super cool SEOmoz Premium Membership. Hopefully publishing this post will motivate the ones who haven’t returned feedback to get theirs in and get a link to their profile AND site/blog.

Thanks to Rand and the rest of the Superhuman SEOmoz Staff (SSS) for working so hard to make all of these helpful features and tools available to the SEM/Webmaster community. I am really looking forward to seeing their next round of features and will certainly provide updates to this article as new ones are released in the future.

Feel free to take the poll below and tell us what you think!

Once a month we look at the SEOmoz members who earned more than 150
mozpoints in the past 30 days and we reward those that we consider the
most generous and participatory with a free month of premium
membership. It’s our way of giving back to those who help build the
SEOmoz community. Your account has been updated and you now have access
to all our premium content. Your premium membership will last until July 9, 2007.
If this is your second(third?) time receiving a free premium membership,
congrats x2!

First of all I never really set out to get a FREE premium membership from SEOmoz and in no way did I try and “game” the thumb rating system (I am sure they check for those things anyway). There were times as I was posting comments that the thought did cross my mind that it would be cool to win a membership and use ALL the features of SEOmoz, but I never really made that my goal. I just wanted to be a part of their community of users, including the staff, and be able to give my feedback, opinions and views towards their unique industry commentary, insights and contributions.

In the past, I have questioned whether or not to fork out the cash for their premium membership services and so far I had never payed to join. It’s nothing against them, or their design, I just didn’t know what I was missing out on. Honestly, I have been holding out since I thought I could get my company to pay for my subscription fee and I was working on a way to pitch them on the idea. Now that I have had a premium member status I wouldn’t dream of having it any other way. I have decided that even if my boss doesn’t say yes, I will still join their premium service and pay the fee out of my own pocket (once the free one runs out of course). I definitely still plan on contributing to the community as much as time allows and hopefully I can keep winning some free months of membership.

So enough of the background story and SEOmoz premium content plugging you want to know how I got my FREE membership and what it took to get one. First, there are a few pre-qualifications I believe must be met in order to win.

General Pre-qualifications:

Remember, these are pre-qualifications to WIN a free membership, they are only my personal opinion and do not have to be met in order to join their community or contribute your YOUmoz post ideas and article comments.

You must have time enough each week to contribute in some way or another. You can’t get 150 Mozpoints in a month with no time to post or contribute. Try and set aside a little time each day to review their posts and contribute feedback to any topics of interest. If you are really limited on time make use of your feed reader and subscribe to their RSS feeds.

You must be able to give and receive constructive criticism and not let that keep you from sharing your views. Whenever I read something online and carry on a written conversation it’s hard for me to establish a persons tone or the intentions behind someone else’s content whom I’ve just met. It’s easy to take offense to someones feedback if you read too much into what they are saying and at the same time it’s easy for others to take offense to things you might have to say. Try not to be offensive and rude and others will hopefully treat you the same.

You must not be an absolute beginner when it comes to SEO/SEM and the industry of search. I believe that it’s harder to contribute often on a variety of posts and topics if you are just getting into the search marketing business. I am still intimidated by some of the topics they cover on the blog and I have been doing this quite a while. Many of the users who have won a premium membership are intermediate to advanced search marketers or have contributed online in the past. It would be interesting to know if any newbies or beginners have won a membership at this point.

You must be somewhat social and witty so you can attract more thumbs from other members. The amount of thumbs you get and the quality of your comments and contributions is how they determine who gets a free membership. Being social, letting your personality shine and getting others to like you is the key to getting those thumbs quickly and more often. I know when I read the comments and posts that users who make me laugh always get a thumbs up from me and it’s probably no different for most. Be social and witty, you’ll get more points at a quicker rate.

You must be able to write unique post ideas of your own to contribute to YOUmoz. Being able to come up with unique ideas and write them in a manner in which the reader community at SEOmoz likes will help you gain Mozpoints more quickly and should increase the amount of thumbs you get from readers. YOUmoz is there for the users and it’s a great way to contribute to the community. It’s best if you can use as many of the tools they offer for you to get points.

Don’t worry if you don’t meet all of the recommended pre-qualifications, they are not really required and they are not all the same for everyones unique situation. Some may offset others so try different combinations and use what works best for you. For instance, if you cannot come up with unique ideas for YOUmoz it may just mean you’ll have to spend more time posting comments and being witty. Here’s the steps I took (mostly in order).

What I Did To Win My Free Premium Membership:

• Registered as an SEOmoz user so I could login and post comments or contribute to YOUmoz.
• Subscribed to their RSS feeds for both the blog and YOUmoz so I could keep up on new posts.
• Checked my feed reader every so often throughout the day for article topics that are of interest to me.
• Checked the blog for new articles, tools and features to use and kept up with the happenings.
• Posted my thoughts and opinions on articles from the main blog that I thought would help other readers.
• Posted comments and feedback on articles from YOUmoz that I thought were interesting or unique.
• Composed a modest YOUmoz post to see what it was all about and how readers would respond.
• Kept posting comments on the main blog and YOUmoz.
• Thumbed up other user comments and posts that I liked for good thumb karma.
• Rarely thumbed down user comments or posts again for good thumb karma.
• Wrote another YOUmoz post on a topic I knew about and felt confident it would get a good response.
• Kept posting comments on the main blog and YOUmoz.
• Tried to be one of the first readers to comment as comments near the top seem to get more thumbs.
• Went to SMX advanced and met the staff members to put a face behind the name.
• Finally, kept posting comments on the main blog and YOUmoz.

Conclusion & Final Thoughts:

SEOmoz makes it easy for their readers to get a FREE premium membership and access to their unique tools, content and features such as the tips and tricks or QandA sections. All you need to do to EARN your free membership is be yourself, take part in their community and share any opinions or personal views you might have out loud. There really is no need to try and game the system they have right now. It just takes having a vested interest in the industry and their community. If you can manage to do the things I mentioned above you may find yourself getting chosen to be a FREE premium member.

Either way, I am convinced that even if you can’t win a membership it’s still worth every penny they charge!