They say a picture speaks 1000 words, and any SEO that has experienced the benefits of a well-executed image strategy will tell you it also has the potential to generate Return on Investment in the thousands. And according to industry insiders, image SEO strategy isn’t a mere flash in the pan – visual content is more popular than ever before, and it won’t be fading into the background anytime soon.

As a long-time SEO copywriter, my knee-jerk reaction is to defend the tools of my trade and say that words will always be superior to images when it comes to SEO strategy; that a carefully-worded article crafted to perfectly balance optimisation with creative expression will do more for any SEO agency’s strategy than a simple “pretty picture” ever could. However, as a copywriter I also know that searchers respond better to articles that draw the eye easily to relevant points in the content by using:

Psst, there’s still a recession going on. It’s nowhere nearly as cataclysmic as the financial tsunami of 2008 that buried many businesses, but it still resonates. Thankfully SEO is one advertising and brand building tool which rises above the tight belt scenario and SEO benefits make this one of the foremost marking platforms of today.

SEO benefits companies, big and small, but smaller companies will find this time to be most beneficial as they can now play SEO with the big boys. Bigger companies are tightening their belts and spending less on advertising, SEO included, while smaller companies are still spending the same budget on SEO, which brings them on par with bigger companies.

What’s an SEO to do when Google, once again, makes changes to the search algorithm and threatens to render your years worth of SEO strategy redundant? Organise a petition online and attempt to get the Penguin Update euthanized of course! Well this is the action taken by one SEO Jane Dorpish, who claims that the new update by the internet search giant is killing off small enterprise and paving the way for domination by internet publishing giants such as eHow, WikiHow and Amazon.

If your digital strategy isn’t focused on your ground roots customers, you’re slowly disappearing down the SERP (Search Engine Results Page) listings without the support of your local clientele. It’s time to speak to your SEO Agency about making sure your local clients reach you in their space, and not the view from space of your previous global focus.

Home is where the heart is, and near to home is from where you want your answers to come from. Over the past 6 months, you couldn’t have thoroughly followed an SEO blog, or spoken to a top notch SEO agency without hearing about the growing importance of local relevance with SEO strategies for your business, and now post “Venice” changes in the Google search engine algorithm (no less than 40 changes in total) it’s even more relevant. Has your company missed the boat? What are the changes that need to be implemented straight away and can truly make the difference to your SEO strategy before you get left behind in the wake of the Google waves of change?

The SES Conference is coming to the Big Apple next week. From March 19th to March 23rd the conference will captivate SEO and experts from around the globe. The problem for many small businesses is that they struggle to find the time and/or the money to better understand and utilise search engine strategies (SES). By following this conference or reading highlights and summaries of the goings on, one can really gain insight into the current best practices of this exciting and ever-developing industry. What an SES conference aims to do is pool the knowledge of various authorities in the field into one region where they can exchange ideas and comment on new developments in the world of media and engine marketing.

The New York SES conference is sure to be a hub of industry enthusiasts and the event covers everything from social media and paid search to SEO and integrated marketing. The conference consists of about seventy sessions and close on one hundred exhibitors as well as a multitude of like-minded individuals with a passion for with SES. It’s not all business though, as there are also plenty of opportunities to network at the variety of after-parties throughout the week.

The Western assumption is that the Internet is largely dominated by English users and thus search marketing strategies often target English websites exclusively, whilst ignoring multilingual SEO opportunities. However this line of thinking is fast becoming a costly mistake. As online marketers and search engine optimisers are all too aware, the English web is becoming more saturated as competition for visibility increases, resulting in lower ROI for businesses. However, figures released on Internet World Stats reveal that online marketers should be looking at the bigger picture when it comes to search marketing. The Internet is globalising, why not our search marketing strategies too?

Internet World Stats provides some interesting insights into the multilingual web as well as the motivation for re-thinking SEO strategies. According to figures, between 2000 and 2011:

My previous blog for MediaVision dealt with the Information Diet, a growing philosophy based on encouraging the conscious consumption of information, and its implications on the world of SEO. We concluded that well-crafted, organic SEO is more likely to attract those following a healthy information diet – and in turn, these smart consumers are more likely to favour this “nutritious” content.

However, much as even the most committed dieters can not avoid being bombarded daily with advertisements for junk food, conscious consumers find it nearly impossible to avoid the media’s attempts at informational “force feeding” – in the form of online advertisements promoting spam content.

Search engine optimisation has seen an increase in popularity and many businesses are opting to utilise these effective marketing strategies. There are new developments being incorporated frequently by SEO specialists and many a SEO agency, keeping them at the forefront of new developments and increasing Google rankings. Impactful SEO video content should form part of an effective SEO marketing strategy as it proves successful with consumers searching and can be easier to rank for opposed to using normal and saturated keywords.

Some obvious SEO video marketing tips that are already being utilised are:

• Comments on your Youtube video will boost rankings
• Make sure that your SEO videos have captions
• Include high ranking keywords in your title and file name.