At SES New York, SEMPO‘s Sara Holoubek summarized the state of search marketing by saying, “Things are looking good for search.” She also said, “Folks should feel confident in their spending.”

In terms of some specifics, Holoubek then stated, “The data suggested that we will have 14 percent growth, and that means that the North American search engine marketing budget will be $16.6 billion in 2010.”

Finally, here’s a rather stunning fact with regards to where most of that money is headed: “97 percent of the respondents are advertising on Google.”

It looks like the search marketing industry – along with Google’s bank account balance – is in great shape, then, regardless of the recent recession. Indeed, a record number of people (about 1,500 individuals in 16 countries) responded to SEMPO’s survey, making the results hard to dismiss.

He suggests setting up customer ports in order to see all the keywords that come to your site from both organic and paid search. In addition, look at the number of clicks and conversions that come from each keyword.

One problem with analytics that Beckman sees quite often is that people do not break down their data correctly. Many times, they are not tagging correctly, not properly structuring their URLs on the paid side, and not looking for funnels in user behavior.

Beckman says these areas are important since they indicate where buttons should be placed on a site. Also, they allow you to see if you’re converting at a higher rate than you had been.

Another area Beckman recommends utilizing is pageviews. He says they help you better understand consumer behavior, which not only helps influence webpage adjustments, but they are also useful in building new pages.

According to Beckman, these are areas of analytics that people need to embrace but, unfortunately, are not.

Since there are numerous paid search books, Fox wanted her book to primarily cover organic search. Although it is not a technical SEO book, it does contain high-level strategies for incorporating search into the overall business process. It includes valuable search data consisting of searcher behavior, market research, and information for building a searcher persona.

The book also looks at the integration between search and social media. Several years ago, businesses realized that they needed to have a website. Fox said they are now having similar realizations regarding their need to get involved with social. Unfortunately, search was skipped along the way. In her book, Fox gives helpful tactics for how search and social can both be easily integrated into business strategies.

Speaking about the book, Fox said: “I’m hoping that it just helps companies understand why it’s important to engage with search marketers.”

Although the book has not yet been released, you can pre-order it through Amazon.

Online display advertising has, traditionally, not been very measurable. Shamim however explains how ShopperConnect combines the effectiveness and measurability of search engine marketing to online display advertising. The advertising platform helps merchants put their ads in front of past, current and, most importantly, new customers.

Since the company is focused on reaching the needs of retailers, Shamim says their solution provides them with a different reach than the major search players provide.

To learn more about Permuto and their advertising platform, visit their site.

Many people either overestimate or underestimate the knowledge of their company’s C-level suite in regards to search and social media. As a good rule of thumb, Ryan says that when the mainstream media catches on to the latest technological innovation, chances are the C-level execs are willing to come on board as well.

When it comes to the actual approach, the best way to go about it is to show how SEO, SEM, social media, and whatever other initiative you might be pushing can be integrated into already established programs. Emphasize how all the areas work together to produce greater benefits for the company.

Are you having any success in communicating with your C-level executives? If so, what tips can you share for others to utilize?

Jamie Lowe, the Support Team Manager at Joblr, shares how the core product behind the service is based on an SEO metrics reporting service called Visibility Scoring. Svendsen developed this algorithm, which compiles data and produces 1 normalized score. It acts as a personal barometer for each user’s website.

Joblr offers 3 levels of their product ranging from free to $82 per month. Each level differs in the number of keywords, competitors, and other factors that the service tracks. The highest level, or Joblr Elite, obviously tracks the most factors and is $82.

For more information on this do-it-yourself SEO product, check out Joblr.net.

Matt Van Wagner of Find Me Faster explains that, in spite of these circumstances, the Web offers every business an opportunity to be found, even with a small budget. First and foremost, a business needs to have an online presence with a website. The site does not need to be elaborate, but needs to be able to operate and provide basic functions.

He recommends utilizing David Mihm‘s site called GetListed.org. This site gives actionable tips and information for small businesses and the best part is, it is free. If you are going to do paid search, Van Wagner suggest being conservative and local in what you do.

As a result of that finding, Rebecca Lieb of Econsultancy says search marketers have to explain and, essentially, up-sell what search marketing is and prove that it has ROI. She calls the situation “ironic” since SEM is very measurable and actionable.

So, how can this barrier be broken down? Lieb believes there has to be a complete generational shift in management. Marketers need to continue to show the value digital marketing can bring with search specifically, and how it can enhance other media channels instead of replacing it.

There are some companies that are embracing digital marketing, but the majority of traditional marketers are still not accepting it. As technology advances, we can only hope that the C-suite comes on board and sees the value in digital marketing before they fall too far behind.

One of the biggest parts of directing SEO/SEM for a company like Yahoo! is marketing the seasonal events. Consumers are just finishing up with the travel season and are preparing for upcoming events such as fantasy football and holiday shopping. Roth says Yahoo! must monitor these events closely.

SEO/SEM is a challenging business and one that marketers must stay on top of. Roth says that when he first came to Yahoo!, he saw the need to set up internal tools, processes, and goals and he advises other marketers to do the same with their businesses. Search marketing affects any goal a company has and should, therefore, be managed thoroughly and effectively.

Our agenda is fully packed as usual, so you can expect to see a lot of coverage from us. We’ll be bringing you interviews from Laura Lippay of Yahoo, Rand Fishkin of SEOmoz, Michael Gray of Atlas Web Service, and many more.

In the way of topics, we are going to delve into the latest issues regarding SEO and social media as well as looking into the future of search from Microsoft.

Be sure to check out all our coverage right here on WebProNews.

Jeff serves as the Executive Vice President of iCrossing and the President of SEMPO. In their latest State of the Market Survey, SEMPO found search spending at 13 billion in 2008, and saw that it would increase to 19 billion by 2011.  (WebProNews detailed SEMPO’s latest State of the Market Survey in an interview with Kevin Lee.)

While these numbers show significant growth in spite of the economic crisis, Jeff points out that these statistics do not reflect the extent of how much search has evolved. Search now looks at how users engage with content. In the past, users had to go to search engines to find websites and news. Today, users go to social networks, use various devices to search on, and want to find images, video, blogs, etc.

What does all this mean for marketers? According to Jeff, marketers need to look at their content distribution processes and make sure they are optimized for both search engines and social networks. Marketers also need to break out of their traditional molds and integrate social into their search efforts.

To better understand the search evolution and to further help marketers, SEMPO is working this year on the thought leadership of extending search beyond what it is known as today.

Sage Lewis was among the attendees at the event and expressed some concern about Guy’s position. As he shares in this video, Sage was very excited to attend the keynote address from Guy Kawasaki and hear what he had to say. Even so, he admits that he was surprised by Guy’s message.

As mentioned above, Guy actively advocates Twitter as a marketing tool. His marketing philosophy is to obtain as many followers as possible and to measure success based on retweets.

While Sage respects Guy’s openness and the extremeness of his position, at the same time, he has mixed feelings about it. He does not like that Guy has up to 3 other people tweeting on his behalf and calls it “provocative.” Although there is no concrete measurement model for social media yet, Sage doesn’t know if Guy’s methodology is the correct solution. At this point, the measurement model has to be “home-grown” and based on individual business goals.

Sage isn’t the only one who has mixed feelings about Guy’s use of Twitter. Lisa Barone over at Outspoken Media live blogged Guy’s keynote and expressed some strong feelings toward Guy’s position on Twitter. She also received a large amount of feedback from her readers, some in her favor and others siding with Guy.

Li Evans of KeyRelevance also voiced her opinion on the issue over on SEM ClubHouse. What’s your take on the issue? Do you agree with Guy Kawasaki and his Twitter habits or do you have different feelings?

Anne has examined the marketplace, researched Google’s investments, and studied how people use and access the Web. Based upon her investigation, she found that customers will look for products and services with video and Twitter. She also discovered that these actions would take place on mobile devices.

According to comScore, the mobile audience in the UK has increased by 10 percent. It has however, doubled in the U.S.

How does Google fit into all this? According to Anne, many people speculate that Google should purchase Twitter, comparing it to YouTube. Anne says that YouTube grew so rapidly that it needed someone like Google to maintain and support its technology. She believes the YouTube acquisition was beneficial to the search giant because YouTube is the television platform for Google to use to develop Google TV as an advertising model.

As a result of its high market penetration, Google has to constantly find methods to sell and reach its customers. If social networks continue to grow and people turn to them for search, and if Google sees that it needs to find more ways to increase its advertising revenue, Anne says that Google may consider purchasing a social network such as Twitter.

The fact that many of the social networks lack a revenue model could be one reason that large players such as Google are hesitant to acquire them. Another drawback for Google at least, is traditional advertisers.

Despite all the questions and speculations, most people agree that the industry has to build new models to quantify spending and determine results. Anne says there is a model that is currently under development called visibility scoring. It looks at the data of visibility outside the site instead of only looking at the traffic on the site.

Although marketers can see the benefits of social media especially in the area of brand awareness, C-level executives have a harder time seeing growth unless they see actual profitability in numbers. With that being said and as budgets continually get tighter, it is even more imperative that models such as that described above emerge.

Kevin says the survey not only gives projections, but it also looks at areas of interest for the search engine marketing industry. SEMPO surveyed advertisers and agencies and found that SEM spending will continue to grow in 2009. The report also predicts long-term growth rising to an estimated $26.1 billion total spending by 2013.

Kevin says the growth is a result of marketers redefining search and looking at factors such as social media and behavioral targeting. SEMPO’s press release also credits the growth to advertiser demand, rising keyword pricing, and cost per click efficiencies.

Specifically, SEMPO’s site lists the following findings:

-    2008 SEM spending totaled $13.4 billion
-    2009 SEM spending is projected to rise to $14.7 billion
-    Long term projections show a total SEM spend of $26.1 billion in 2013
-    Paid placement accounted for 88% of 2008 spending, or $11.9 billion
-    Organic SEO accounted for approximately 11% of 2008 spending, or more than $1.4 billion
-    Additionally, the market for SEM technologies, including leasing, agency solutions and in-house development, accounted for 1.1% of overall 2008 spending, or $141 million.

Overall, the search marketing field is broadening. For the first time, SEM programs are receiving larger budgets.

On a side note, Kevin has a new book entitled The Truth About Pay-Per-Click Advertising. The book is a companion book to Rebecca Lieb’s The Truth About Search Engine Optimization. For more information on Kevin’s book, visit his site.

Amanda Watlington presided over one of those sessions and as she explains in this video, told the attendees how to manage their search efforts strategically. Approximately half of all online marketing spending is being used on search. As a result, Amanda says that conferences within the SEO industry are seeing more attendance from C-level executives and entrepreneurs.

Amanda began her session by differentiating between SEO and SEM. SEO is search engine optimization and is a long-term effort. SEM is search engine marketing and usually refers to short-term campaign efforts. Also, SEM is sometimes used in reference to the industry as a whole.

As if executives and managers didn’t have enough on their plate already, the advent of universal/blended search complicated matters even more. Also, since the search industry is expected to grow even in the down economy, it is more important now than ever for executives to understand how to manage their search efforts.

Just as she mentioned in our interview from PubCon South regarding universal search, Amanda says that SEO must be the visibility manager and not a soloist. It requires that companies broaden their online efforts and embrace video, images, news, maps, local, and mobile.

SEO managers must collaborate with videographers, the public relations team, and content creators to ensure that their SEO efforts are achieving the best results. They need to be aware of current trends and make sure they are capitalizing in those areas.