Does anyone know you better than you know yourself? I don't think that is possible. I know my strengths and weaknesses, my likes and dislikes, plus I know how much I am willing to tolerate in every aspect of life - especially working life.
One of my biggest turn-offs is micromanagers. That said, I want to file some public grievance about those who hire and then insist they know more than their selected service provider.
If you believe you know more than the person you hire - you are a big dummy for spending money on a task you should be doing yourself. This is one of the dumbest things I have ever heard and it saddens me when I learn they are so ridiculous. Micromanaging a new hire regarding tasks you have no clue how to implement will damn your project to failure in short time. Not only does this dampen enthusiasm, but it sufficiently ties the service providers hands to the point nothing gets accomplished. Worse, for those who insist they know more than me - ones lucky enough to hire me, that is - you will get to demonstrate your aptitude in real time because very soon you "WILL" be doing the task yourself.
At such point you will learn how little you really know and you will feel ridiculous. If you have learned how to optimize your website please attempt the project D.I.Y. Save your money for paid advertising or until such time as you realize you over estimated your abilities.
Definition of D-I-Y for those who are not 'in the know'...It means Do-It-Yourself.
I warn all prospective clients I do not work well under such condition as that of a micromanager so be certain you comprehend caveats offered early on. True SEO's know their own limitations and are in high demand so don't waste their time or your money if you fit the profile.
Perhaps there are others who work well and may even need to be micromanaged and in such case why hire them? I don't want to babysit one of my workers. I expect everyone to manage themselves and simply deliver as agreed. It is that simple.
I know my management style is what it is and I always look for new hires who mesh well with me. Please save each of us headaches and discover yours sooner rather than later as it can save you a great deal of money in the process of optimization.
Google Product Apps Guide
Wikipedia has a great list of Google Apps located here
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Google_Directory#Search
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Google_Directory#Search
Google AdWords Certification
What you need to know about Google AdWords Certification
Engage Program.
The certification course itself is pleasant and well intentioned in my opinion. I very much enjoyed learning more about how to manage OPM - other people's money. Thinking I had studied all I needed to and with a bit of arrogance I set off with my coupon code in hand to get certified as a search engine marketing manager.
AdWords Exam.
The most obvious question which comes to mind, "Is the AdWords Exam difficult?"
My response would normally be no, after all I have been managing campaigns for clients for nearly five years. These were my thoughts on the front end anyway. As an after thought...the exam is damn difficult to pass for most and I shared the same misery as the majority of others who attempt it - failure has an awful after taste doesn't it?
What makes it difficult I really can't say. It is a many things that brought me to SEM exam failure but one thing very troubling is that my grade on this exam was not necessarily a failing grade. In fact I scored in the 83% higher testing group. Still, it was not a grade high enough to earn my certification.
How much does AdWords Exam Cost?
The first attempt is compliments of Google. They send you a coupon code for use with their testing center. The testing center in turn asks you to input the coupon code in order to waive your exam fee and next asks you to download a special browser for the examination. All of these steps were very much anticipated and did not slow the testing process whatsoever. The normal cost of the examination is $50 USD and those who must re-take the exam must pay the next round out of pocket.
What exactly does the AdWords exam consist of?
There are over 100 questions and 120 minutes to complete the exam. You may not stop and re-start the exam at a later time. To give up or quit is to fail.
If you are thinking of testing for Google SEM Certification pay special attention to the study guide and be forewarned the test is anything but easy.
Those seeking SEM status must take the basic AdWords Fundamentals exam along with a choice of an advanced exam covering a different portion of the AdWords program. If you seldom score high on a standardized exam it is highly suggested that you prepare yourself for less than the best experiences, study hard for at least a week and be aware that you can not leave your screen to search for correct answers. Even if you could, you likely would not have enough time to look up enough of the questions to achieve a passing score.
SEO KPI METRIC
Often times it is difficult to measure the success or failure of SEO efforts by an analytics program as most applications are designed to focus on advertising click-thru-rates and sales revenues.
It is possible, however, to gauge how well SEO efforts are performing by the amount of revenue generated by traffic from organic search engine referrals. To calculate this SEO KPI, measure the total revenue of all combined search engine traffic and then measure the revenue per specific search engine source. When compared with pre-SEO month metrics you can gain some insight into how much gain you are realizing for your SEO investment.
3 Useful Lists for Building Links to UK Sites
This list provides a list of sites we believe are the offer the most comprehensive lists of sites for link building efforts. We have manually visited and authenticated the vast majority of those sites in some form or fashion and find them absolutely appropriate for our own list and link building campaigns.
This list featuring submission sites related to the United Kingdom was last updated March 29, 2010.
http://www.directorycritic.com/uk-directory-list.html United Kingdom
http://www.seoservice.org.uk/1000_directory.php United Kingdom
http://www.web-directories.ws/Regional/Europe/UK/ United Kingdom
