Off-Season Awards Coverage
2009 SEMMYS: 200 authors nominated; January 19 launch
No Comments »The 2009 SEMMY Awards are just around the corner, and here’s some news to share with the online marketing community:
1. Launch Date
We’re planning to announce the nominees on Monday, January 19. That’s just less than two weeks away. If all goes well, winners should be announced on February 4. You can learn more about the process, and see our planned timeline, on the How It Works page.
2. 200 Authors Nominated
With a group of 8 people nominating articles/content throughout the 2008 calendar year, we have a larger and more diverse pool of nominees. For this year’s awards, we have 200 authors nominated representing 157 blogs/web sites. That’s a huge increase over the first year (127 authors from 111 blogs/sites).
3. New Categories
Due to the diversity of nominated content, we’ve added two new categories: Design & Usability and Industry. All 15 categories from last year’s awards are back, so we now have a total of 17 awards categories.
That’s the latest from SEMMYS.org. Stay tuned for the announcement of nominees on January 19th!
Off-Season Awards Coverage
2009 SEMMY Awards Coming Soon
No Comments »The SEMMY Awards will be back soon to honor the great online marketing content produced during the 2008 calendar year.
This will be the SEMMYS second year, and we’ve completely changed the way great content gets nominated for an award. Last year, all nominees were discovered by me, Matt McGee, during my regular reading of marketing web sites and blogs. That produced a nominee list of 127 authors from 111 different blogs and web sites; those are strong numbers, but I knew we could do better this time around.
And we are.
For the 2009 SEMMYS, we have an eight-person committee that’s been nominating great content throughout the year. The nominee list is still being put together, but I can tell you that there are dozens of first-time authors and blogs/web sites nominated this year. I also expect we’ll have some new categories in this year’s nominees, and a couple categories from last year may not be represented at all.
Stay tuned for the announcement of nominees, which should happen in mid-January, 2009.
And the Winners Are...
SEO
4 Comments »
Let’s skip the corny, canned jokes and the awkward moments at the podium and just open the envelope, shall we? Ladies and gentlemen, the winner of the 2008 SEMMY Award in the SEO category is … drum-roll, please …
Search Engine Ranking Factors Version 2
Rand Fishkin, SEOmoz | 4/3/07
Congratulations to our winner! Here’s a choice bit from the winning post:
Internal Link Popularity of Linking Page within Host Site/Domain
Eric Ward
I’ve seen instances where one link from one internal page from one site resulted in page one rankings for the site being linked to.Michael Gray
properly focused internal anchor text is very helpful once domain trust has been established.Chris Boggs
This can backfire if gamed too ehavily and if the site has too few IBLs from other domains.
Runners-Up
The top two runners-up in public voting were:
- Sculpting Your PageRank For Maximum SEO Impact
Stephan Spencer, Search Engine Land | 12/20/07 - SEO Linking Gotchas Even The Pros Make
Andy Beard | 11/27/07
The winner and runners-up are welcome to grab the appropriate badge — we have a badge for both winners and runners-up.
How the Voting Ended
Here’s a look at how each finalist fared in the public voting:
Thanks to all who voted, and congrats again to the winner, runners-up, finalists, and all nominees. We look forward to reading your acceptance speech soon!
Posts Judged by Andy Beal, Eric Enge, and Deb Mastaler
PPC
No Comments »Let’s skip the corny, canned jokes and the awkward moments at the podium and just open the envelope, shall we? Ladies and gentlemen, the winner of the 2008 SEMMY Award in the PPC category is … drum-roll, please …
Optimizing Paid Search & Landing Pages for TV, Radio and Print Advertising
Greg Meyers, SEM Geek | 12/13/07
Congratulations to our winner! Here’s a choice bit from the winning post:
Whenever your company decides to move into TV, Radio and Print advertising, don’t forget to colleborate all of your creative and messaging efforts to the web and particularly the search engines. The purpose of this entire post is to reinforce the idea that all marketers need to accommodate all efforts to all media channels. Collaborating offline and online behaviors is still evolving and the better you can “marry the two” together, the better chance you have to maximize your results.
Runners-Up
The top two runners-up in public voting were:
- How to Lower Your AdWords Minimum Bid
Brad Geddes, eWhisper | 4/16/07 - (TIE) Five Common Paid Search Mistakes That Can Sink Your Campaign
Jennifer Laycock, Search Engine Guide | 11/6/07 - (TIE) Starting from Scratch: A Paid Search Primer
Ryan Gibson, rkgblog | 11/20/07
The winner and runners-up are welcome to grab the appropriate badge — we have a badge for both winners and runners-up.
How the Voting Ended
Here’s a look at how each finalist fared in the public voting:
Thanks to all who voted, and congrats again to the winner, runners-up, finalists, and all nominees. We look forward to reading your acceptance speech soon!
Posts Judged by Christine Churchill and Aaron Wall
Let’s skip the corny, canned jokes and the awkward moments at the podium and just open the envelope, shall we? Ladies and gentlemen, the winner of the 2008 SEMMY Award in the Google category is … drum-roll, please …
Why Google Can’t Just “Dump” PageRank
Dan Thies, SEO Fast Start | 11/9/07
Congratulations to our winner! Here’s a choice bit from the winning post:
The biggest benefit of using PageRank doesn’t come in at the ranking step, it comes in at the document retrieval stage, when you’re trying to decide which of 27,438,902 documents that matched the query text are actually worth ranking. The search engine’s job at the retrieval stage is to pick 1,000 documents to rank, without losing any really important documents.
PageRank excels at this. In fact, PageRank’s role in the retrieval process is why Google’s “Supplemental Index” exists.
Runners-Up
The top two runners-up in public voting were:
- What Is Google PageRank? A Guide For Searchers & Webmasters
Danny Sullivan, Search Engine Land | 4/26/07 - Google 2.0: Google Universal Search
Danny Sullivan, Search Engine Land | 5/16/07
The winner and runners-up are welcome to grab the appropriate badge — we have a badge for both winners and runners-up.
How the Voting Ended
Here’s a look at how each finalist fared in the public voting:
Thanks to all who voted, and congrats again to the winner, runners-up, finalists, and all nominees. We look forward to reading your acceptance speech soon!
Posts Judged by Lisa Barone, Rand Fishkin, and Chris Winfield
Viral Marketing
No Comments »Let’s skip the corny, canned jokes and the awkward moments at the podium and just open the envelope, shall we? Ladies and gentlemen, the winner of the 2008 SEMMY Award in the Viral Marketing category is … drum-roll, please …
Top 6 Ideas for Incredible Viral Content
Tamar Weinberg, Techipedia | 10/29/07
Congratulations to our winner! Here’s a choice bit from the winning post:
Viral content is what people bookmark. Viral content is what people talk about. Viral content can spark memes. Viral content is the foundation for linkbait. Indeed, viral content is a wonderful concept and especially important when you’re looking for traffic or attention. But if you’ve never traversed along the road to viral content, where can you get started? What is makes good viral content?
Runners-Up
The top two runners-up in public voting were:
- Viral Marketing is NOT the Same as Word of Mouth
Jennifer Laycock, Search Engine Guide | 10/19/07 - Publicize Your Publicity to Create Successful Viral Marketing Campaigns
Aaron Wall, SEO Book | 11/28/07
The winner and runners-up are welcome to grab the appropriate badge — we have a badge for both winners and runners-up.
How the Voting Ended
Here’s a look at how each finalist fared in the public voting:
Thanks to all who voted, and congrats again to the winner, runners-up, finalists, and all nominees. We look forward to reading your acceptance speech soon!
Posts Judged by Loren Baker and Lee Odden
Link Building
2 Comments »Let’s skip the corny, canned jokes and the awkward moments at the podium and just open the envelope, shall we? Ladies and gentlemen, the winner of the 2008 SEMMY Award in the Link Building category is … drum-roll, please …
Help! I’m New, I Need Links, What Can I Do?
Debra Mastaler, The Link Spiel | 9/29/07
Congratulations to our winner! Here’s a choice bit from the winning post:
- Locate the prominent bloggers in your niche and start adding to the industry by commenting on their views. Don’t be obnoxious and don’t do it everyday. Join their community and they’ll join yours. (cost - free)
- Be sure to incorporate an incentive-to-link program in all your external correspondence such as autoresponders, confirmation emails, reminders etc. (cost free)
- Create a corporate blog and invite bloggers, journalists, and your customers to contribute. Continually promote the site and it’s writers and in turn, they’ll support your site by linking to it. Don’t forget to add an RSS feed as well. (cost free to low)
Runners-Up
The top two runners-up in public voting were:
- Andy Hagans’ Ultimate Guide to Linkbaiting and Social Media Marketing
Andy Hagans, Tropical SEO | 2/5/07 - Revealing your Competitor’s FULL External Relevance Profile – One of my best kept secrets
Hamlet Batista | 10/17/07
The winner and runners-up are welcome to grab the appropriate badge — we have a badge for both winners and runners-up.
How the Voting Ended
Here’s a look at how each finalist fared in the public voting:
Thanks to all who voted, and congrats again to the winner, runners-up, finalists, and all nominees. We look forward to reading your acceptance speech soon!
Posts Judged by John Andrews and Bill Slawski
Local Search
1 Comment »Let’s skip the corny, canned jokes and the awkward moments at the podium and just open the envelope, shall we? Ladies and gentlemen, the winner of the 2008 SEMMY Award in the Local Search category is … drum-roll, please …
Anatomy & Optimization Of A Local Business Profile
Chris Silver Smith, Search Engine Land | 12/17/07
Congratulations to our winner! Here’s a choice bit from the winning post:
Rating values have become one of the most important factors for achieving rankings in various local search engines, so you shouldn’t ignore them. Ask your particularly pleased customers to rate your business online in each of the major directories and local search engines. Some rating services allow you to respond to specific complaints or negative statements—do so. If you suspect that a competitor has falsely stacked the deck against you, complain to the company hosting the reviews and request that they look into it.
Runners-Up
The top two runners-up in public voting were:
- Local Search Interviews, Information, and Resources
Michael Gray, Graywolf | 2/5/07 - When Might Google Show Local Search Information in Web Search Results?
Bill Slawski, SEO by the Sea | 8/12/07
The winner and runners-up are welcome to grab the appropriate badge — we have a badge for both winners and runners-up.
How the Voting Ended
Here’s a look at how each finalist fared in the public voting:
Thanks to all who voted, and congrats again to the winner, runners-up, finalists, and all nominees. We look forward to reading your acceptance speech soon!
Posts Judged by Brad Geddes and Barry Schwartz
Blogs & Blogging
No Comments »Let’s skip the corny, canned jokes and the awkward moments at the podium and just open the envelope, shall we? Ladies and gentlemen, the winner of the 2008 SEMMY Award in the Blogs & Blogging category is … drum-roll, please …
The Blogger’s Guide to SEO
Aaron & Giovanna Wall, SEO Book | 11/25/07
Congratulations to our winner! Here’s a choice bit from the winning post:
If another blog links to you, how much should Google trust that link as a vote to help your site rank better? Do any popular and trustworthy blogs link to that site? How many people subscribe to their RSS feed?
While services like Bloglines or MyBlogLog are able to answer some of these questions, Google can answer them more precisely than any other company.
Runners-Up
The top two runners-up in public voting were:
- Must-Read Search Marketing Blogs
Lee Odden, Online Marketing Blog | 1/3/07 - The 10 Second Rule: How to Write for Diagonal Readers
Muhammad Saleem, Copyblogger | 6/18/07
The winner and runners-up are welcome to grab the appropriate badge — we have a badge for both winners and runners-up.
How the Voting Ended
Here’s a look at how each finalist fared in the public voting:
Thanks to all who voted, and congrats again to the winner, runners-up, finalists, and all nominees. We look forward to reading your acceptance speech soon!
Posts Judged by Michael Gray and Tamar Weinberg
Reputation Management
1 Comment »Let’s skip the corny, canned jokes and the awkward moments at the podium and just open the envelope, shall we? Ladies and gentlemen, the winner of the 2008 SEMMY Award in the Reputation Management category is … drum-roll, please …
Buzz Monitoring: 26 Free Tools You Must Have
Andy Beal, Marketing Pilgrim | 8/27/07
Congratulations to our winner! Here’s a choice bit from the winning post:
While many large companies will enjoy the peace of mind that comes from having a company track their reputation for them, the rest of us need something a little less expensive–or better yet, free!
We’ve compiled a list of twenty six buzz monitoring tools that are free of charge. Use these tools to keep track of your company reputation or even spy on your competition!
Runners-Up
The top two runners-up in public voting were:
- Own Your Google Reputation with these Ten Suggestions
Andy Beal, Gooruze | 10/2/07 - Using Social Media To Help Manage Online Reputation
David Wallace, SearchRank | 10/23/07
The winner and runners-up are welcome to grab the appropriate badge — we have a badge for both winners and runners-up.
How the Voting Ended
Here’s a look at how each finalist fared in the public voting:
Thanks to all who voted, and congrats again to the winner, runners-up, finalists, and all nominees. We look forward to reading your acceptance speech soon!
Posts Judged by Lisa Barone and Rae Hoffman
Small Business
5 Comments »Let’s skip the corny, canned jokes and the awkward moments at the podium and just open the envelope, shall we? Ladies and gentlemen, the winner of the 2008 SEMMY Award in the Small Business category is … drum-roll, please …
Branding For Small Business And Bloggers
Steven Bradley, TheVanBlog | 8/28/07
Congratulations to our winner! Here’s a choice bit from the winning post:
Anytime, no matter how seemingly small, you do something in public, people will form opinions of you and make associations with your brand. Everything you do affects your brand. That’s why consistency is important. Consistency reinforces your brand. Conflicting messages tear it down.
As a blogger every post you write is a branding opportunity. Your blogging voice becomes a large component of your brand. Do you give good advice? Do you have something interesting to say? Do you point your readers to quality information?
Runners-Up
The top two runners-up in public voting were:
- Small Businesses And Social Media
Chris Brogan | 11/28/07 - 9 Simple Ways for Small Businesses to Leverage Social Media
Todd Emaus, Stone Interactive | 11/13/07
The winner and runners-up are welcome to grab the appropriate badge — we have a badge for both winners and runners-up.
How the Voting Ended
Here’s a look at how each finalist fared in the public voting:
Thanks to all who voted, and congrats again to the winner, runners-up, finalists, and all nominees. We look forward to reading your acceptance speech soon!
Posts Judged by Rae Hoffman, Todd Malicoat, and Andrew Shotland
Social Media
2 Comments »Let’s skip the corny, canned jokes and the awkward moments at the podium and just open the envelope, shall we? Ladies and gentlemen, the winner of the 2008 SEMMY Award in the Social Media category is … drum-roll, please …
The Social Media Manual: Read Before You Play
Muhammad Saleem, Search Engine Land | 11/20/07
Congratulations to our winner! Here’s a choice bit from the winning post:
Too many people look at the popularity of a Digg or a StumbleUpon and they think that they absolutely have to sign up for them to succeed. But if you plan on using a site strictly to promote your site or content or that of your clients, don’t sign up, because the social web is certainly not for you. You might be able to call in enough favors or spam enough people to get a few stories popular at first, but you’re going to lose in the long-run.
Runners-Up
The top two runners-up in public voting were:
- Social Media’s Direct Influence on Search Engine Ranking
Loren Baker, Search Engine Journal | 8/31/07 - The Future of Communications – A Manifesto for Integrating Social Media into Marketing
Brian Solis, PR 2.0 | 6/11/07
The winner and runners-up are welcome to grab the appropriate badge — we have a badge for both winners and runners-up.
How the Voting Ended
Here’s a look at how each finalist fared in the public voting:
Thanks to all who voted, and congrats again to the winner, runners-up, finalists, and all nominees. We look forward to reading your acceptance speech soon!
Posts Judged by Simon Heseltine, Lee Odden, and Jeff Quipp
Analytics
3 Comments »Let’s skip the corny, canned jokes and the awkward moments at the podium and just open the envelope, shall we? Ladies and gentlemen, the winner of the 2008 SEMMY Award in the Analytics category is … drum-roll, please …
Web Analytics Demystified
Avinash Kaushik, Occam’s Razor | 12/18/07
Congratulations to our winner! Here’s a choice bit from the winning post:
You are looking, first, for pages with the highest bounce rate. Remember bounce rate measures this from a costumer’s perspective: I came, I puked, I left. Or technically speaking: single page view sessions.
Pages with a high bounce rate are not delivering on the promise that is driving customers to your site. The ones in the top ten Entry Pages report need your attention.
Runners-Up
The top two runners-up in public voting were:
- SEO: Metrics That Matter
Stephan Spencer, Practical E-Commerce | 6/17/07 - Analytics on the Cheap: Six Free Stats Packages for the Startup or Small-Business Owner
Tamar Weinberg, 10e20 | 3/1/07
The winner and runners-up are welcome to grab the appropriate badge — we have a badge for both winners and runners-up.
How the Voting Ended
Here’s a look at how each finalist fared in the public voting:
Thanks to all who voted, and congrats again to the winner, runners-up, finalists, and all nominees. We look forward to reading your acceptance speech soon!
Posts Judged by Vanessa Fox and Brad Geddes
Search Tech
No Comments »Let’s skip the corny, canned jokes and the awkward moments at the podium and just open the envelope, shall we? Ladies and gentlemen, the winner of the 2008 SEMMY Award in the Search Tech category is … drum-roll, please …
Which Is Better For SEO: Shared or Dedicated IPs
Lisa Barone, Bruce Clay Blog | 3/6/07
Congratulations to our winner! Here’s a choice bit from the winning post:
It’s been said that about 3 percent of all Web sites have dedicated IPs, with the other 97 percent resting on shared IPs. Research was then conducted analyzing the top 50 results for certain queries in the various search engines. The research found that 90 percent of the top-50 results were using dedicated IP numbers.
Three percent of Web sites use them, and 90 percent of Web sites in the top 50 results have them. Counterintuitive, don’t you think?
Runners-Up
The top two runners-up in public voting were:
- When Choosing an eCommerce System, Remember the Search Engines
Bill Slawski, SEO by the Sea | 6/20/07 - What To Look For in a SEO Friendly E-Commerce Application
David Wallace, SearchRank | 1/4/07
The winner and runners-up are welcome to grab the appropriate badge — we have a badge for both winners and runners-up.
How the Voting Ended
Here’s a look at how each finalist fared in the public voting:
Thanks to all who voted, and congrats again to the winner, runners-up, finalists, and all nominees. We look forward to reading your acceptance speech soon!
Posts Judged by Andy Beard and Eric Enge
Online Marketing / General
2 Comments »Let’s skip the corny, canned jokes and the awkward moments at the podium and just open the envelope, shall we? Ladies and gentlemen, the winner of the 2008 SEMMY Award in the Online Marketing / General category is … drum-roll, please …
How A Pretty Face Can Push Visitors Away
Bryan Eisenberg, Grokdotcom | 10/2/07
Congratulations to our winner! Here’s a choice bit from the winning post:
Simply picking a “pretty” picture isn’t enough. Too often marketers will take people pictures and show them to a focus group to see which ones they relate to best. As marketers, we worry about the gender, style and overall quality of the picture relating to our message. There’s another crucial factor for marketers to consider: The direction in which the model’s eyes are facing.
Runners-Up
The top two runners-up in public voting were:
- Why Testimonials Do (and Don’t) Work
Holly Buchanan, Grokdotcom | 6/11/07 - (TIE) 17 New Rules for Successful E-Commerce Websites
Rand Fishkin, SEOmoz | 5/7/07 - (TIE) Seeing With Web Designer Eyes - 9 Evident Errors
Miriam Ellis, SEO Igloo | 12/1/07
The winner and runners-up are welcome to grab the appropriate badge — we have a badge for both winners and runners-up.
How the Voting Ended
Here’s a look at how each finalist fared in the public voting:
Thanks to all who voted, and congrats again to the winner, runners-up, finalists, and all nominees. We look forward to reading your acceptance speech soon!
Posts Judged by Stoney deGeyter and Jennifer Laycock
LOL Funny!
2 Comments »Let’s skip the corny, canned jokes and the awkward moments at the podium and just open the envelope, shall we? Ladies and gentlemen, the winner of the 2008 SEMMY Award in the LOL Funny! category is … drum-roll, please …
9 Ways To Bore The Audience at SES New York
Lisa Barone, Bruce Clay Blog | 4/6/07
Congratulations to our winner! Here’s a choice bit from the winning post:
Never look at any one individual in the eyes. Doing so may cause them to ask questions or engage with you. Your best course of action is to concentrate on your notes, scan the crowd as a whole, or stare at your PowerPoint presentation like you’ve never seen it and are amazed by its beauty, and frankly, your own awesomeness. It’s okay to look at the other speakers, but not for too long. You don’t want them to cut in on your presentation. This is about you.
Runners-Up
The top two runners-up in public voting were:
- What if that nice clean UI of Googles had to be designed for Google?
Gene McKenna | 10/16/07 - The Latest Google Flatline
Ask.com Blog | 2/2/07
The winner and runners-up are welcome to grab the appropriate badge — we have a badge for both winners and runners-up.
How the Voting Ended
Here’s a look at how each finalist fared in the public voting:
Thanks to all who voted, and congrats again to the winner, runners-up, finalists, and all nominees. We look forward to reading your acceptance speech soon!
Posts Judged by Vanessa Fox and Chris Winfield
Rants
1 Comment »Let’s skip the corny, canned jokes and the awkward moments at the podium and just open the envelope, shall we? Ladies and gentlemen, the winner of the 2008 SEMMY Award in the Rants category is … drum-roll, please …
Web 2.0 & SEO: Must We Piss In Every Public Fountain?
Dan Thies, SEO Fast Start | 9/8/07
Congratulations to our winner! Here’s a choice bit from the winning post:
Imagine that you live in a village. The villagers need water. It’s a long walk to the river. So some of the village leaders get together and decide to dig a well. They create a public fountain, and everyone can get water from it. It’s a wonderful thing, until the village drunk starts pissing in the fountain.
Now replace the fountain with Wikipedia, and the village drunk with SEOs… and you have a perfect picture of why Wikipedia had to nofollow outbound links.
Runners-Up
The top two runners-up in public voting were:
- Why The SEO Folks Were Mad At You, Jason
Danny Sullivan, Search Engine Land | 2/8/07 - SEOS: The Card Counters of the Internet
John Andrews | 9/9/07
The winner and runners-up are welcome to grab the appropriate badge — we have a badge for both winners and runners-up.
How the Voting Ended
Here’s a look at how each finalist fared in the public voting:
Thanks to all who voted, and congrats again to the winner, runners-up, finalists, and all nominees. We look forward to reading your acceptance speech soon!
Posts Judged by Loren Baker and Andy Beard
Stay Informed!
Want to be notified when new posts are nominated? Or stay on top of the voting process? Sign up for our RSS feed or comments feed!
Get Your Badges Here!
Have you been nominated for a SEMMY?
Why not show off a little by placing one our badges on your blog? Click here to download the code--available in five color / size combinations.
Latest Reactions
- dave @ zoekmachine blog noted “Winning a contest like this with almost 45%..you must provide very valuable content that. Of course Rand and his team ...”
on SEO - 2008 Winner - Yellow Pages Guy noted “I'm surprised Greg Sterling didn't factor into this (and no I'm not him); he has written a lot of interesting ...”
on Local Search - 2008 Winner - Chris B noted “Awww, what a great opportunity for some rude wine tasting puns - have you got a semmillon (pronounced - Semi-on)? ...”
on SEO - 2008 Winner - Sourav noted “Great work Avinash....I have been reading your blog for a while....and I must admit...you are really doing great....”
on Analytics - 2008 Winner
Contributors & Judges
- Aaron Wall
- Andrew Shotland
- Andy Beal
- Andy Beard
- Barry Schwartz
- Brad Geddes
- Chris Winfield
- Christine Churchill
- David Mihm
- Deb Mastaler
- Eric Enge
- Jeff Quipp
- Jennifer Laycock
- John Andrews
- Lee Odden
- Lisa Barone
- Logoworks
- Loren Baker
- Matt McGee
- Michael Gray
- Rand Fishkin
- Simon Heseltine
- Sugarrae
- Tamar Weinberg
- Todd Malicoat
- Vanessa Fox