You write about rel="author" (a tag used in header code of websites to tell information about the author of the site). What are your favorite sites for keeping up with search engine news?

That's an excellent question. I really do keep up all of the time. Every day I read an article or two, whatever I come across. I am a member of the WordPress Web Designers Group in LinkedIn, which I highly recommend, and I get the TemplateMonster Newsletter, which is also excellent. I'm always seeing links to interesting articles in all kinds of blogs, and there are a lot of these. In our field, as soon as something important happens, there's a lot of buzz, so it's fairly easy to stay updated.
 

As a designer of websites for small and medium businesses, what percentage of clients would you say are aware of SEO?  What are your clients' most common requests?

You are right that not all of my clients are aware of the significance of SEO – at least, not when they first contact me. However, after their website is constructed and we reach the stage of updating the content, I teach them how to conduct a survey of key words and where to place their emphasis, so they learn which words and expressions to link, how to select a title for their pages, which tags to choose and which alt texts to provide their images with.
 

What tips would you suggest to other web designers to make their clients happy?

I'm glad you asked that. I love to give out tips. So here we go:

a) First of all, listen to your clients. Nobody knows their businesses better than they do, and if you listen to them patiently, you'll find it easier to identify their needs and provide them with good service.

b) Show them you care about their website: look for new promotion channels for them. For example, recently I discovered a really good website called c-israel, which promotes the field of tourism coming into Israel and offers six month's registration for free. I immediately recommended the site to all kinds of B&B accommodations and tourist attractions among my customers, and told them to register, and they were very grateful
 

You recently enjoyed a nice bit of press coverage with Galit Harel. Many SMB's don't know how to go about obtaining press attention. How did you achieve that?

Galit Harel is a good friend of mine, and I can tell you that she has excellent contacts with the magazine Haim BaEmek (Living in the Valley), where this article was published. However, for the sake of accuracy, this is a totally promotional activity where you purchase advertising space. Unfortunately, this advertisement didn't bring the desired results.

Actually, the best investment I've ever made in marketing has been to join BNI. I recommend this to everyone who has a business and is committed to its success, although I am aware that it might not suit everyone, and not everyone will automatically be accepted as a member.
 

Your friend Ruthka recently shared a video with you on design that sells. Where did you first learn about designing for conversion?

Even before people began using the expression "conversion rate", I constructed websites that are directed to bringing results. Twelve years ago, these expressions weren't yet in use, but my approach was the same.

An internet website shouldn't exist if it doesn't work. If you aren't getting enough hits, if your website doesn't earn you money, you should look into it and determine what you need to change and improve.
 

Ron Spinner, CEO of AIMS Internet Marketing in Israel has been in the industry since 1998. Moving fast with the market is one of AIMS' hallmarks and Ron has the Google hat to prove it. He received it in the mail from Google because he was one of the first 100 people worldwide to pass the Adwords Professional test. 

Multi-lingual SEO is another strategy AIMS has years of experience in.  However, what really sets AIMS apart is creative thinking. Linking, social media campaigns, conversion optimization and Adwords all need creativity to ensure success.

You ran an AdWords ad writing contest a little while ago. How did you come up with the idea?

We came up with the idea of the Adwords creative writing contest in one of our weekly meetings because we see this as the most important part of running a campaign. Any good company can do all the technical aspects of keyword research, organization, implementation, etc. It is very time consuming and you need to know the system very well but it is not rocket science. 

However, we have seen in the campaigns that we run that a great ad can improve a campaign exponentially. Coming up with great ads is the most challenging aspect of any campaign.
 

What benefits did you get from the campaign besides seeing great ads and getting inspired? For example, did you hire new staff from it?

We had a lot of fun reading all the entries. There are a lot of creative writers out there -- not necessarily in the ad business. The most important thing we learnt is that it is worthwhile to approach different sources for new ad ideas.
 

What were the first two hires you made in your business and why?
If you had to do it over, would you hire for those two positions again? Why/why not?

Since we have been in business for 29 years this question is a memory test. Back then we were a traditional marketing company as it was before the Internet started so it is not that relevant. We started designing websites in 1995 and did on site SEO optimization free as it was fun to do. In 1998 one of our clients came to our office to update his website. He told us 2 important things:

1. "There is a new search engine you should try---it's called Google.
2. "By the way, we are getting a lot of leads through our web site"

That is when I realized that search engine marketing was important. I decided to phase out our traditional marketing activities and focus on Internet marketing. I even changed our name from Vista to AIMS - Advanced Internet Marketing Strategies.
 

You recently tweeted that mobile usage was on the rise - how much mobile business does AIMS do?

This varies greatly by client. Some clients have as much as 15% of their visitors from mobile and others only have 3%. However it is on the rise for everyone. Conversion also very greatly depends on how the website renders on the smartphones. We are encouraging all our clients to update their sites for mobile.
 

What trends do you see emerging in internet marketing? Are there any Israel-specific trends you see?

As major economic trends continue, multi-lingual websites will become more important. For example we have been marketing in mainland China for the last few years and it is a totally different marketing environment, to say the least. Here in Israel we are probably more adept at marketing multi-lingual sites since our local market is so small. 

Social aspects to marketing is going to get stronger. Google just came out with the +1 button for SEO and Adwords. Many Google innovations don't catch on but I believe that this one will. Google says that it will use the SEO button as a ranking factor. If it is an important factor we will all be adding this button to our websites.

For Adwords it is a little trickier. Since the person clicks on the button before seeing the landing page it may encourage people to write more entertaining ads which are not necessarily good for ROI. This seems to go against the original intent of search engine ads. We will just have to see how this plays out. 

Israel SEO trends come a little later even in this digital age.  But they sometimes play out differently. We are on social media sites (http://www.globes.co.il/serveen/globes/docview.asp?did=1000652763) more than other countries. I expect we will get more group actions like the cottage cheese boycott in the future.
 

What can internet marketers do to take advantage of them?

Optimize your website for different languages and countries.

Become more social. But be aware of the pitfalls.

Go mobile.

What specs do you look for in hosts for your customers?

A good host is very important:

• Reliability is not trivial. Many people don't realize that 99% uptime means your site is down 7 hours every month.
• Support is also extremely important. That is where the big companies usually fail.
• We also like to have access to raw log files. Although Google Analytics is now the de facto analytics package, it has many shortcomings. It can't easily show you actual keywords used by Adwords visitors, comparison of ads with the same title, pdf file downloads, etc. We run the log files through our analytics program to fill in these important metrics.

A chocolate fudge ice cream sundae will be awarded to the person who submits the best answer to the following web hosting question: 

How can an Israeli server location, dedicated ip address, and/or Israeli domain name extension benefit a business in Israel?

Eligibility:
All are welcome to participate.

Deadline:
Content ends Friday, October 22nd at at Midnight IST.

Rules:
Answers must be at least 3 full sentences, must be submitted as comment to this blog entry or on a separate blog. 

Winner will be chosen by JerusaHost staff based on quality and accuracy of answer and announced in subsequent blog entry. Winner will be notified be email or phone and given gift certificate for one large chocolate fudge ice cream sundae or other favorite desert of equal or lesser value at ice cream parlor of choice.

Good luck! :)