PHP/SQL backend Web Developer

PHP/SQL backend Web Developer or Architect both with SEO experience for an online company in Newport Beach, CA with current unique visits of about 500K and aiming to grow them to about 5MM.  This is a very successful entrepreneurial company which provides an online database and consumer’s reference for one million aftermarket automotive parts and accessories–organized by year, make, and model.  They will pay a very competitive salary and are also offering part ownership opportunities.

Heather Athan
Sr. Technical Recruiter

Lucas Group
In Partnership With The Wall Street Journal
18301 Von Karman, Suite 700
Irvine, CA  92612

P: 949.660.9450  x136
F: 949.660.0126

Red Ventures – SVP Search Engine Marketing

Tangent Executive Search
Alvis Salenieks
(303)832-3844
alvis@tangentsearch.com

SVP Paid Search Marketing/SEM
Red Ventures

Company Description

Red Ventures develops and runs end-to-end, fully-integrated sales and marketing businesses to acquire customers for brand partners within a number of vertical markets. These partners include DIRECTV, ADT Security Services, HughesNet and iContact, a leading provider of commercial email marketing solutions. Our eight vertical markets span the consumer, financial and business service industries and, through them, we access untapped sources of market share for our brand partners.

Combining analytical marketers, high performing and often unique direct response marketing channels, with a superior web and sales infrastructure, we harness a robust technology and reporting platform to drive success.

Red Ventures was recently named #2 among marketing companies and #17 overall on Inc. Magazine’s 2008 Inc. 500 list of the nation’s fastest-growing private companies. We pride ourselves on recruiting only the best talent in marketing, technology and sales to fuel our growth.

Our company culture is one that encourages individual development while maintaining an emphasis on collaborative teamwork. We were recently awarded a top spot in the Charlotte Best Places to Work list.

Position Summary

The SVP of Paid Search Marketing/SEM is responsible for developing and implementing strategies to grow operating income derived from the company’s search engine marketing (paid search) activities.  This person will set paid search marketing strategy for the company, oversee management of all aspects of the company’s paid search marketing efforts, and lead development of the staff, processes, and systems necessary to establish a world-class paid search marketing capability.

Key Responsibilities

• Set overall paid search marketing strategy.
• Manage $15 million P&L, achieving monthly revenue and profit targets.
• Oversee management of hundreds of paid search marketing campaigns spanning 5 different lines of business.  Lead development and launch of additional paid search campaigns to support new lines of business as they are developed.
• Lead effort to implement a profit optimization system to support growth and maximize operating income across all keyword buys.
• Interpret key performance metrics, identify trends, and exploit opportunities for operating income growth through enhancements in marketing creative and promotions.
• Lead efforts to continually improve ad copy and web site conversion rates through A/B and multivariate testing and best practice adoption.
• Develop, maintain, and manage collaborative relationships with key search engines and other strategic partners.
• Work with marketing and leadership teams within each line of business to develop/refine paid search marketing strategy, set goals, and review performance vs. plans.
• Direct a staff of paid search marketing managers, analysts, and IT specialists and ensure the team has the training and resources needed for cutting-edge skill development.  Continue to build and develop team to support company’s growth objectives.
• Research emerging technologies for opportunities to improve internal tools and capabilities.
• Stay abreast of changes in search engine behavior, identify best practices, and determine how to apply them to company’s business.

Requirements

• 5+ years of hands-on experience managing large-scale direct-response paid search marketing campaigns across multiple search engines, preferably in highly-competitive consumer-oriented verticals, with direct accountability for profit contribution or return on spend.
• 3+ years of senior-level management experience with successful track record of profit growth in a mid-sized or larger e-commerce business or customer acquisition firm.
• Advanced knowledge of paid search marketing strategies and tactics including landing page and response optimization.
• Experience managing campaigns using both branded and unbranded terms.
• Proven ability to establish key performance indicators to measure success vs. key objectives, and oversee development of reporting  and analysis systems.
• Thorough understanding of key industry trends affecting search engine marketing.
• Deep understanding of web site usability, site design, and A/B and multivariate testing techniques.
• Strong quantitative analytical skills.
• Clear understanding of ROI analysis.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
• Ability to build strong relationships with business leaders, both internally and externally, while also providing the domain expertise to lead, develop and inspire team members at various levels of experience.
• Bachelor’s Degree (MBA or MS preferred).

Google Wave – Making Social Social

If you’re online some of the time or if you work online or work for a company who has an online presence, you simply must watch this video about Google Wave. Unfortunately, it’s 1 hour and 20 minutes long; but if you’re committed to making a difference online…take the time to at least watch some of it.

Testing Apture plugin

Check this plugin; so far it’s been easy to install and use.

This is a surfing video test for fun.

SMB Mobile Marketing for the Holidays

Now is the time to start planning your campaigns for holiday sales later in the year. Mobile marketing can be a good tactic for SMBs. It takes time to develop a mobile marketing strategy so you need to start early to set up the technology and build your list.

Mobile Marketing Elements

Your basic mobile marketing elements are the short code, the keyword, and the message.

Your short code is a number, usually five digits, which is the mobile equivalent of your telephone number. It is used by mobile subscribers to contact you.

Your keyword is a unique word or number that users text to your short code. For instance, if you’re a retailer, consumers can text the keyword “win” to a unique short code for a special offer, discount, etc.

Your SMS message is a short and simple message limited to 160 characters of plain text. You can’t use HTML, links or images. Some phones offer a multimedia messaging service that allows you send images and video, but SMS is the most widely used mobile marketing tactic.

Making Mobile Marketing Work for You

If you provide coupons, tickets, or other relevant promotions and offers that people can use at brick-and-mortar stores, you’ve got a viable marketing campaign. Or you can design a text-to-win promotion.

Remember, SMS mobile marketing doesn’t work well as a stand-alone blast without the incentive. Users must find your text message relevant at the exact moment they receive it and be motivated to act. That means the text must be tied to a wider promotion or initiative.

Mobile messages work best in conjunction with other marketing channels such as e-mail and social media to support your marketing initiative. Start with email to introduce and explain your promotion. Mobile can be used to send text alerts reminding your users when they’re at the point of purchase. Then social marketing can be used to make it easy for recipients to spread the word about your promotion via their social networking sites, social bookmarking pages, etc. A smart campaign can even go viral.

Planning a mobile strategy for holiday sales isn’t easy. So take the time now to plan your promotion early by getting started and learning as you grow and expand your mobile initiatives.  If you need some help let me know, I have friends who can help you get set-up.

Optimization Tips for Local Listings

To rank well in local search, it goes without saying that your site should be optimized for organic listings. Optimize all on-page and off-page factors, and get your site listed in important directories for your niche.

I mentioned the desirability of adding a footer listing your street address and phone number on all your pages. If you limit your contact information to the Contact Us page, this won’t help your site get into the right geographical category, and it won’t help your other pages rank organically for locally oriented searches. When the information about your business is presented on each page, it’s easy for search spiders to extract local information when indexing.

To achieve good local rankings, concentrate on all your local resources. A link from the local Chamber of Commerce can be valuable. Involvement with the local community can lead to more links. You might sponsor local events, join local business organizations, or sponsor a local sports team, etc. It’s important to be a visible member of the community to gain the trust and authority necessary to attract links.

Provide specific information when entering your business profile directly into all local search sites. Not all search engines display the same information, but they all require details about your business, products and services.

Other Local Search Opportunities. Local search is expected to grow exponentially in the years ahead. This list of local search opportunities beyond the major players may not be comprehensive, but it provides a number of additional options for local business owners to extend their reach.

CitySearch: Provides local information for sites such as MSN Live, Ask, Expedia, Ticketmaster and more. Business owners should get their sites listed correctly in CitySearch. As with any local search listing, start by searching for your business. If it’s listed, click to your profile page to check for accuracy. Options for making edits are shown in the lower right corner of the main content column (below your business information).

Google Product Search: Local merchants can get free listings on Google’s free product search engine (formerly Froogle). Merchants must submit their item information to Google Base. When shoppers look for items to purchase on Google Product Search, it scans through product information sellers have submitted to Google Base. The beauty of this is you can be found on the web even if you don’t sell online because you don’t need a website to list items for sale in Google Base.

InfoUSA: This is one of the information aggregators that compile databases on businesses and households in the United States and Canada. It gets information from telephone White and Yellow Pages, business records, real estate records, newspapers and multiple resources. Add your business or update an existing listing through an online form.

Insider Pages: This site features local listings and user-generated reviews. Check to see if you’re in the database and then you can add/update a listing or buy advertising. Sponsored ads appear above and below the main listings on a search results page. Ad rates are based on city size and business category popularity. Monthly rates run from $5 to $25 per month.

Local.com: Your business should take advantage of the free basic listing at Local.com, which includes your company name, address, phone number, website URL and a brief description. Local.com also offers paid listing services, including Local Promote Plus and Local Promote Premium. These services give you a business profile webpage and other additional options for about $40/month, depending on options selected. Local.com shows some user reviews from sites like Insider Pages and Judy’s Book with its listings.

Localeze.com: Major data supplier to local search engines. Use the following links to submit updates to your business listing: Add a Business Listing, Update a Business Listing, Remove a Business Listing.

ReachLocal: This site provides services for setting up, maintaining and tracking local search advertising campaigns on sites like Google, Yahoo, MSN Live and AOL for a fee. It may be an option for local businesses that don’t have the time or manpower to manage their own local search ad campaigns.

RegisterLocal: This service allows local businesses to create a master business profile that is stored and distributed to search engines, internet Yellow Pages, local search engines and leading data providers for an annual fee. Your master business profile can also be used as a business website. When you make changes to your business information through RegisterLocal, it is automatically sent to the distribution network. The advantage is you can update your business info in one place online and this updates all your listings within RegisterLocal’s distribution network. It can be a time saver for any local businesses.

TrueLocal: Users can enter full text searches rather than just a business name and location. For instance, if you’re in Boston and query, “I’m looking for the best lobster,” TrueLocal will show you relevant restaurants. Many businesses are already listed. You can change or add your listing free if you’re a brick and mortar business in the United States or Canada. TrueTarget advertising options offer expanded listings (category, ZIP code) and enhancements (logo, coupons).

Verizon SuperPages: This classified directory offers free business listings as well as pay-per-click and pay-per-call advertising opportunities. You can get bolding, highlighting, color and/or larger text for a small monthly fee on the free listing. Paid advertising gets you listed above your competition with $35 in free clicks with PPC signup, free reports on ad performance and bolding, highlighting, color and/or larger text. Like most PPC programs, you can set your budget limits and target by location, category and keywords.

YellowPages.com: This AT&T-owned online local directory also includes city guides and user reviews. Search options include local city and state or ZIP code name, category and keyword search. Businesses can get a free basic listing. The advantage is the huge exposure — up to 34 million unique visitors each month.

Yelp: This online city guide featuring user reviews began in San Francisco as a local guide for big cities. It now has pages for many large cities from Los Angeles and San Diego to Chicago, New York and Boston. Search for your business name and ZIP code to see if you’re listed. At the bottom of the search results page you’ll find a red “Add Business” button leading to a form where you can add your business. Yelp also offers paid advertising in the form of enhanced listings and featured placement in search results. Yelp for Business Owners shows you how you can enhance your listing, and you can complete a contact form for more info.

The Local Search Advantage. Research shows that 70 percent of online searchers will use local search to find offline businesses (Kelsey Group). Another study by TMPDM-comScore shows 86 percent of online users will be searching for a local business at some point in time. Therefore, it’s important for SMBs to be visible for local search queries by getting listed in Google Maps, Yahoo! Local and other local search engines and directories. It is also advantageous for branding to buy sponsored local search listings for good visibility in the SERPs.

Twitter Updates for 2009-07-04

• if concerned about a traffic drop off, verify you are in compliance with Google dup content guidelines http://tinyurl.com/344jw7 #

Powered by Twitter Tools.

Yahoo! Local Listings to Drive Business

Free Yahoo! local listing. Your local listing is called Yahoo! Local Basic and consists of a profile listing of the following information:

• Address, phone number and FAX number
• Website and email addresses
• Business category
• Business hours of operation
• Accepted payment methods
• Products and services offered

Yahoo provides sponsored search and local listings as local advertising options.

• Sponsored Search: These pay-per-click ads on Yahoo can be geo-targeted by user location or user interest (keyword). Geo-targeted sponsored search ads can also be inserted into the Yahoo Local results.
• Local Listings: These listings appear on Yahoo Local and have two flat-rate fee levels: Local enhanced listings give you a company logo and tagline, up to 10 photos of your business, a detailed business description, inclusion in five business categories and two customizable links to coupons or special offers for a flat rate of $9.95 per month; local featured listings give you all the features of local enhanced plus guaranteed prominent placement in Yahoo Local, customizable listing and business details page and a free five-page basic website for a monthly flat rate starting at $25 per month.

Search Engine Optimization – Ensuring the Best Results for your Business

Since 1995 every site wants to be featured in the top ten list of the search engine result page (SERP). To reach this goal, you must understand how search engine robots (bots) think and act. You must implement site-wide changes for every new page or blog post on a consistant basis. An effective SEO strategy is to take care of the “bread ‘n butter” drills, the due-diligent essentials that build your site theme, authority and trust with bots. Three of the biggest SEO strategies are 1) on-page content and code enhancements, 2) interlinking pages within your site and 3) other sites linking to you. In addition, there are a few more items on the checklist 1) we have to consider the correct keywords to use based on traffic and relevancy and 2) we want to syndicate all of our content to RSS feeds to distribute our content around the Internet.

Doing all of this will bring you the proper rankings you deserve in the search engines and relevant traffic that is targeted to appreciate your site. Your content should be structured to include the keywords that are relevant to your site, and your website needs to be SEO optimized so the search engines can spider it with ease (get to it, understand it, and give it a high score).

Your investment in the future of your website is worth while and you must control your business message or the bots will do it for you. The reason you need to optimize your site for best rankings in the search engines is due to the level of competition on teh web; without having search engines on your side you will be in the “lost not found” category.

Billions of sites are updated daily and they are all crawled on a daily basis or weekly. Every time you write and optimize an article and you get it published, you will potentially receive several links pointing back to your site which will in turn increase your link authority (like a vote for you and your authenticity).

Your website authority and trust is what builds all of your natural listings in the organic SERPS (where people find you). The natural listings grow based on the consistancy of expert level understanding of the techniques employed onpage and offpage. It is imparative to ensure that each web page of yours will focus on a particular group of keywords or key phrases.

If you’d like to automate all of the above strategies and tactics and more…[Shameless pitch] Join both the newest in SEO and the most experienced expert SEO’s in the world; from around the world China, India, Africa, Europe, Asia, Russia and all over the US. Test-drive KellerDogs new SEO software to determine if you like the results, no obligation no charge. Subject to change.

Google Local Listings to Drive Business

If you have not taken advantage of Google Local; here’s how to improve your results on Google Maps You can also use these tactics on Yahoo!, MSN Bing, Ask, or any local directory.

Free Google Maps Listing. List your business in Google Maps by going to Google’s Local Business Center, where you’ll find information for creating your free listing. You need a Google account to log into the business center. It’s important to have accurate business information in your business profile, so get it together ahead of time and then follow these steps:

• Sign up for a Google Local Business Center account.
• First, check to see if you already have a listing.
• If you find your listing, check it carefully for accuracy and edit if necessary.
• If you’re not listed, enter your company name, address, phone/FAX numbers, toll-free number, contact personnel, email address, website URL, hours of operation, and any other information requested.
• If possible, use keywords in your business name title.
• Submit a listing for every location where you do business.
• It’s helpful to mention your city and location nicknames on your web pages.
• Add a footer to all your pages, listing your street address and phone number.
• You can create coupons and display photos or videos.
• Edit your listing periodically to update your information.
• You can access Google’s data to learn where your customers come from and what they search for to find you.
• Google activates your profile with a phone call or postcard, which is necessary for verification.
• Your business profile appears in Google Maps as a local listing and can also come up for local search queries in Google’s general search index.
• Google Maps Advertising. You can display local business ads by using the Google AdWords local match options for Google Maps

Google Enhanced listings: Once you establish your free business listing, you can enhance it with features from the Google AdWords advertising network. You can create Local Business Ads through your AdWords account. These ads serve a dual purpose because they appear as regular text ads on Google.com and other sites participating in the Google advertising network. And they appear as enhanced listings in Google Maps.

Local Business Ads: These ads are based on the physical location of your business, so it’s important for the address in your Google AdWords account to match your address in the Local Business Center. Your location determines whether or not the text version of your ad appears in Google.com listings. That’s because searchers indicate location in their local search queries; therefore, if your business is in that location, your ad will appear.

Logo Image: The text of your ad on Google Maps is also accompanied by a small logo image of your choosing. The ad appears on the left side of the screen, and also as a balloon marker showing your business location on the map display to the right. If you wish, the marker can be an uploaded custom icon rather than the usual red-letter balloon provided by Google Maps. This can help your ad stand out from the crowd.

Coupons: Google allows you to create coupons that your customers can print out and redeem at your offline location, which is an easy way to create more business.