2009 Internet Marketing Trends

What trends should internet marketers look for in 2009? I've decided to list some of my thoughts on changes in the industry for the coming year, what to expect and emerging marketing opportunities.

Social Media Tools - Just as social media marketing has become more popular over the last few years, so has the need for tools to help marketers manage this space. I expect more analytical and management tools for marketers to help make business sense of social media.

Closed Networks - Google will continue to be the major player in search, but do not underestimate closed networks (LinkedIn) and smaller players that fit a niche. Closed networks will continue to grow and may offer more opportunity to reach your target audience.

Internet TV - I have been hyping online TV services like Joost and Hulu for the past year. This will be the year for internet TV in my opinion. Services have jumped through some technical hurdles and now offer respectable performance over a broadband connection. Entertainment is becoming more personalized, so it only makes sense to watch what you want when you want.

Mobile Marketing - Now that we have more advanced mobile networks and devices (iPhone 3G and G2), companies are beginning to invest in mobile applications that compliment their online experience. Many of these applications will enable real time interaction with product and services. What was cocktail conversation a couple years ago will now become a reality for many mobile consumers.

What trends do you think will be the big movers in 2009?

From Webmaster to SEO Specialist

The term SEO has been used to describe anyone who performs the function of search engine optimization and even those who manage and optimize paid search advertising. As the role of the SEO has evolved, the tasks and goals of search engine optimization have changed. Years ago, anyone performing search engine optimization was likely called a "webmaster". As the demand shifted from website maintenance to marketing, webmasters began taking on the role of online marketing manager. The focus here was mainly banner ads, affiliate marketing and online directory placement as well as their normal site updating duties.

Online marketing managers began to evolve into search engine marketers as search engines began to dominate the way we use the Internet. The role of an SEO then was to not only manage paid search ads, but also dig into content on the site to include key words and key phrases. Adjusting meta tags and descriptions was a main task of early SEOs. As the demands and complexity of search engine optimization began to increase, there became a need for content specialist or copy writers specific to search marketing. There was also a need for one way link building specialist as the need for inbound link popularity became more important. Meta tags and descriptions as well as two way linking partnerships began to loose their effectiveness.

As we look into the SEO crystal ball, all that is clear is change. Google specifically has raised the bar after each update and changed the game. This has only caused the search marketing industry to fragment into more specialized roles. If Google remains the dominant player, they will continue to mold the SEO industry. If Google looses it's Cuil the industry could become even more fragmented and specialized. What do you think will be the next trend in the SEO industry?

SEO Tech Blog

A colleague of mine, Craig Geis, at Rosetta writes a good technical SEO blog for keeping your website search engine friendly. He provides some great insight into what search engine spiders see when they crawl your website and how to fix errors that could prevent Google, Yahoo and others from accessing your sites content. He also has some good thoughts on usability, web analytics and general search marketing. Check out his blog for some helpful tips!