Web Analytics | Think Tank Live Digital Marketing Training and Consultancy

Tell us a bit about yourself:
I am an online marketing specialist with a focus on organic traffic generation and the strategic use of web analytics. I’ve been heavily involved in both SEO and Analytics since 2003 following years of experience in site coding and have worked in both in house and agency-side positions which I think gives me a unique perspective on the site optimization process. Presently I serve as SEO Specialist at Agency.com where I work with companies such as Nike, Hewlett Packard, and Vonage to develop comprehensive natural search programs. Previously I served as SEO/SEM Product Manager for Hostway, a leading worldwide web hosting provider where I developed search engine marketing solutions for clients such as Ebay and Costco.
Describe your approach to online marketing:
I think my approach to online marketing and just marketing in general has always been to focus on quality rather than quantity and to look at things from a long term perspective. Aggressive short term tactics absolutely have their place in marketing but without a solid strategy and a mentality that values continuous improvement you will never be a true contender in your industry for long.
Tell why it is important to you to be a part of IM Think Tank.
IM Think Tank is a unique group of professionals who each look at marketing through a different lens and bring a unique perspective to the table. I continue to find there is nothing more valuable than surrounding yourself with intelligent people who have diverse backgrounds and experience.
What is your favorite internet tool or application?
There are so many great free and paid tools out there for online marketing and in particular search marketing. However, for me there is still nothing more powerful and important for building and expanding a web presence than the Google Adwords Keyword Tool. It offers an unmatched look into Google’s “database of intentions.” (a phrase John Battelle coined)
That said it’s important to realize that anyone can do basic research using this tool, but it is completely useless unless you have the experience and market intelligence to both identify the keywords most valuable in your niche and profitable for your business and take action to increase the visibility of your web properties for them. A very close second for me is a properly set up modern web analytics package (i.e. Google Analytics, Omniture)
Any tips for people just getting started?
I think the opportunities for people to work in Online Marketing are only going to increase in the coming years (problems with the economy aside) and thanks to companies like Google, Yahoo & MSN a lot of the tools of the trade (that were only previously available to big corporations able to invest in them) are now freely available to anyone willing to invest the time and work hard to learn them.
Take advantage of this and start out by building your own website from the ground up to experiment with. Get your own web hosting account, learn html, install Google analytics, and experiment with some of the great keyword research tools out there. Most importantly build website about a topic you are passionate about.
What are you excited to see come about in the future of integrated marketing?

I continue to be excited about the increased accountability that I am seeing from all marketing channels over the last few years. Business owners and clients today need to know that the dollars spent on marketing activities are truly delivering for them. The more accountable we as marketers become the more successful we will be.

One trend particularly relevant to integrated marketing I’ve been keeping a close watch on are innovations in attribution tracking. Knowing if a visitor clicked on a banner and then visited a search engine before they make a purchase and vice versa is powerful information that today is not being tracked in most cases.
Recommend a product or website (other than your own) related to business on the internet:
John Battelle, who I mentioned earlier wrote by far one of the best and most exhaustively researched books on the early history of the search engine called “The Search: How Google and Its Rivals Rewrote the Rules of Business and Transformed Our Culture” I think this is a must read for anyone who works in search or is even just interested in the business of search.
Who do you admire in the SEO or Internet Marketing industry?
A couple writers/pundits in the SEO industry that I particularly admire are Todd Malicoat and Aaron Wall. In my spare time I play ice hockey and of course one the greatest players of all time is Wayne Gretzky. He was once quoted saying “A good player skates to where the puck is. A great player skates to where the puck will be.” Marketers like Todd and Aaron are people so in tune with their craft that can anticipate what will become important before anyone else. Of course just writing about marketing and actually delivering quality work are two very different things, but Todd and Aaron excel on both of these fronts.
What is your idea of success?
My idea of success is finding something you are truly passionate about and then doing it for a living for a sustained period of time. I work every day with the hope of achieving this.
Any final thoughts?
I’m definitely looking forward to the first IM Think Tank event. I think it is a great group of marketing professionals and I am honored to have been asked to participate.
Chris King – Chicago SEO & Web Analytics Specialist
Website: http://chrisking.info
Twitter: @fendmark
LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/chrisjking

You are known in certain circles as MilwaukeeSEO, but we know you as Anthony Verre,
tell us a bit about yourself:
I started my professional career as a teacher in the Milwaukee Public School system, teaching 9 – 12th grade Grammar, Literature, and Sociology. I also served in the military, United States Army National Guard, for nine years, completing one tour in Operation Iraqi Freedom from 2003 – 2005.
I have worked at both interactive agencies and traditional agencies within the Milwaukee area. I served as a project manager and account manager for web for national real estate websites, to handling web project, strategy, and search optimization for national brands like Firestone.
I have been married nearly 5 years now to an amazing woman and have two little girls (3 and 1 and half). I have my bachelor’s degree in English and Sociology from the University of Wisconsin – La Crosse. In addition, I am a Masters candidate in Creative Writing and Literature at the University of Wisconsin – Milwaukee. I like to think that I’m thoughtful, creative, and a sound pragmatist, but I have a wonderful/awful tendency to be bluntly honest. About everything. (You’ve been warned. )
I’ve been working in the search engine marketing industry for the last 5 years, specializing in SEO (search engine optimization). I write a blog, which I try to update as frequently as possible, called The Milwaukee SEO. I have completed Market Motive’s SEO Master Course, a Google AdWords Qualified Individual, and have recently received my Google Analytics Individual Qualification.

Describe your approach to internet marketing:

My approach to internet marketing is a holistic view. That no one single part is independent of another; they all work in conjunction with one another to form a high functioning and performing machine.
I find that specializing in search engine optimization (SEO) is more than simply keyword choice and semantics on-site, SEO involves foundation preparation of the website. That is, building the strongest, more efficient core possible for any given website. And, from that foundation, I then begin to map a web marketing strategy: from keyword choice to link opportunities to what other types of search marketing efforts would compliment and further the objectives your company has set forth.
For me, measurement and analysis is key. The most important breakthrough in marketing in years was the advent of Web Analytics. No longer do company’s have to throw darts in the dark and make “guesstimates” as to how a given strategy performed, now we can measure the effectiveness of strategies and adjust to capitalize on missed opportunities. The bottom line for me, is to create the highest ROI possible with the strategy implemented.
Tell why it is important to you to be a part of IM Think Tank.
It’s important for me to be apart of IM Think Tank for several reasons. First and foremost, it’s nice to come together with a group of proven professionals in the search marketing world. In a professional field where community is, more often than not, an after-effect, it’s a pleasure to talk and interact with a group of professionals on a regular basis.
Secondly, I think IM Think Tank is important for the Midwest as a whole. To date, there hasn’t been much of a presence of professional seminars that’s main objective is to help, guide, and inform small-businesses and corporations, save SES Chicago, on how to build elite and successful search marketing strategies. I’m honored to be apart of that mission.
What is your favorite internet tool or application?
I can’t say that I have a single favorite tool or application. I use so many in a day it would be nearly impossible for me to choose a single one! But I do have a couple of essential tools that I use on a daily basis, that would make my job all that more difficult without:
1) Web Developer Toolbar (Mozilla Firefox)
2) Linkscape from SEOMoz
3) WordTracker and Google AdWords Keyword Tool
4) SEO 4 Firefox from Aaron Wall
What is your pet peeve about the industry?
My single biggest pet peeve about the interactive marketing industry are those that proclaim themselves “gurus” or “experts”. It’s a status that has to be bestowed upon you by your colleagues from respect and experience, not something you can give yourself.
What are you excited to see come about in the future of integrated marketing?
I’m excited to see the clear distinctions between all search marketing disciplines blend together and become inseparable and indistinguishable. As the majority of us have already begun to see within the industry, highly specialized disciplines are fading away. Everyone is going to have to know and be capable in every area of search marketing to be truly successful in the next decade.

Recommend a product or website related to business on the internet:
I’ve got a few that I would definitely recommend, as they are some of the best and brightest minds out there:
1) Search Engine Land: must read search marketing news site to keep up with the trends.
2) SEO Book: Aaron Wall has been in and doing search marketing as long as anyone around. Excellent articles and posts on all facets of marketing.
3) SEOMoz: Rand Fishkin and company do some very fine research and put out some amazing tools in the PRO membership that I always find come in handy for deep research.
4) Market Motive: great master courses on SEO, PPC, Social Media, and Web Analytics. If you want a in-depth course that goes through all the nooks and crannies, this would be it. They test vigorously to ensure that you have mastered the knowledge of the course, and not everyone who signs up will pass the course.

Any tips for people just getting started?

Keep your ear to the ground, find someone you trust in the field to help mentor you, and spend time listening and absorbing all the information you can. That means even the pure nonsense. Once you start understanding the idiosyncrasies within each discipline, you’ll be able to distinguish what’s credible and what’s pure nonsense, and create your own methodology.
Do you have a SEO, PPC, Social Media or Internet Marketing hero?
I wouldn’t say that I have a “hero” but there are a lot great people in the search marketing field that I respect tremendously and value their opinions.
What inspires you creatively?
When I need some creativity, I go back to my roots and read some really good poetry or read some great fiction. I use it to pick up the rhythms of language and it helps to breakdown writer’s block.

Contact Info:
Twitter: TonyVerre
LinkedIn: My Profile
Phone: 414-795-9941

Chris King: Chicago SEO and Web Analytics Specialist

Think Tank Live! Interview with MilwaukeeSEO

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