Today I'm very proud to announce that the Illustrated Guide to Building a Search Friendly Website is finally complete. I've personally been working on it for over a month - completely writing it from scratch and doing all the designs and illustrations. I'm incredibly happy with the results, and I think you will be, too. This guide is, in my opinion, one of the most valuable documents SEOmoz has ever produced. It includes almost everything a web developer or publisher would need to know to build a site that follows the best practices of optimizing for search engines. Plus, it includes tons of clever illustrations:
As I noted in the past, we only release premium articles when we've provided something free first. In this case, that was our search engine ranking factors V2, which is on par quality-wise. However, we are going down a bit of the corporate road and also launching ads on SEOmoz. Don't worry, they're our ads, not anyone else's, and they only show for certain folks. For example, our "overlay" ad, the most intrusive (but also cool looking), only displays on your first visit to the site every two weeks (and only if you're not logged in as a member). Here's what you'll see:
See an example of this (even if you are logged in) here
We also have inline ads, ala Aaron Wall's suggestion (so blame him if you're angry 
), for the premium content, which displays to non-premium members and the general public.
We are seeking to ramp up premium membership and offer as much fantastic content as possible to you, both for free and in paid format. We love working on this kind of material and we think that it offers far greater access to the information we've collected (in a more egalatarian fashion) than our consulting services.
Speaking of consulting services, Gillian and I have recently made the decision to move to $1,000 an hour consulting prices. Yes, it's prohibitive, but we also think it accurately portrays the cost of time for our organization at this point. It also makes many of our recommended providers an even better choice. :)
p.s. Yes! I do plan to report back about the performance of these ads, and we certainly will be sharing lots of statistics from SEOmoz that you can use as a case study for your own projects/clients.
UPDATE: We've made a few changes to the ads - mostly the overlay, which now displays on your 2nd click to the site each week, and only if you're not a logged-in, premium member. We'll be playing around with them more and more over time - we're considering making special, more "fun" overlays for those who are regular members - maybe a comic strip from Rebecca or the like.
It feels a bit weird to have an opinion about this, since as a premium member, I won't see most of the ads anyway (when signed in), so it feels a bit like saying "I think it's ok for you to put up with this". Nevertheless, might as well chip in...
I have absolutely no problem with the ads in between posts on the blog - they look pretty helpful to me, and if you've got your fill, you can always subscribe to the RSS.
I personally am not a fan of interstitials and pop-ups, but having said that, I am a fan of the content here on SEOmoz, and if they work (that is, people on average like them or at least more people sign up for premium memberships) and therefore you guys get to spend more time on writing great stuff, then it'll end up being a good thing for me. I guess I feel a little uneasy about the pop-up, not because of what it is advertising, or for any real rational reason, but just because (as with new browser window pop-ups), I like to control my browsing experience.
I'm sure we'll hear the results of the testing - openness being a Rand trait :) - I'd just end with saying that I would like to see the results of that test - the initial negative reaction here is somewhat inevitable (only those who feel strongest would protest) so the proof will really be in the pudding. Let's see.
PS $1,000 / hour? Sounds good to me. Makes it expensive for someone if you need to take a leak while working on-site with a customer...
:)
Will I feel pretty much the same as you. The ads between posts aren't bothering me at all. I think their design is really good and if anything they're just adding a bit more visual interest to the page for me. They're not in the way at all.
Interstitials and popus I don't care for either. I have been seeing the overlay ad on most visits since I do log out and clear cookies and the site doesn't seem to know it's me otherwise. Is the overlay annoying? Sure. Is it annoying to the point where I won't be back. Absolutely not.
I'd rather not see it, but it's certainly worth having to click to get to the content behind the ad. And if it really gets to me I can always find and protect the right cookie. Not a big deal at all.
It's true, you guys have a lot of fab content that's free. Because of that, you've generated a lot of goodwill among the SEO community. You're the one site/blog that I see linked to everywhere...and if people dislike the pop-up ads, they may stop linking to you or promoting you through word-of-mouth.
I guess what I'm saying is that your free content already generates revenue for you, in the form of increased traffic, which leads to more premium members, more clients, more speaking engagements, etc.
So those of us who visit here regularly (and link to you, and talk about you) - even those who've never given you a shiny dime - feel like we've contributed to your success. We feel like we should have a say in what goes on here. Definitely the openness and helpfulness of all of you Mozzers increases that feeling.
I'm not saying we're right. Just that you guys have created a community - and hats off to you, because that's hard to do - and now we're reacting like one.
Lorisa - I actually feel the exact same way. SEOmoz was built on a community that accepted, enjoyed, discussed and linked-to our content. We'd be insane to anger the people who have made our success possible.
That said, we DO need ads - the adoption of premium content and the downloading of articles simply doesn't happen. We have a conversion rate so low, if we were our own client, we'd be hitting us right now. It's literally under 1/100th of a percent. We'll be making modifications to the ads, but sadly, they're here to stay - we think they're better than losing our ability to contribute so much content to the blog, articles, tools and premium section.
Being a free-loading bitcher, I'm not sure how this will be recieved, BUT.
First, I am not angry about the ad, the overlay is perhaps mildly dissappointing, but no anger has entered my emotions (except maybe that freeloader comment :P). I completely understand your need to make money, it's what every last damn one of us has a goal to do, Daily. I said what I did, and I stand by it, only because it seemed like you were looking to see what we, your users (free-loaders and payers alike) thought about the new ads. I like the design, I like the look I even like the colors but whatever, I was just giving my opinion. And just an aside, I (and I am sure most other 'free-loaders') would gladly give my left pinky or (insert other useless appendage here) to become paid members and are doing what we can to pony up. Give it some time, it took me a year to post here, we'll get to it, promise.
And just an aside, I (and I am sure most other 'free-loaders') would gladly give my left pinky or (insert other useless appendage here) to become paid members and are doing what we can to pony up. Give it some time, it took me a year to post here, we'll get to it, promise.
What does you getting up the nerve to post have to do with whether or not you show some financial loyalty? And please don't give me the "I can't afford it" line. If you have enough time to hang out here all day and read all the indepth content Rand and company cranks out, yet you can't come up with enough money to subscribe, you should turn off your computer and go get a part-time job at McDonalds.
When I got started in this business, I was so broke half my day was spent trying to avoid the Repo guy that was trying to find my old Nissan pickup because I was three months behind on the payment. Every day was a financial struggle, yet I still found a way to pay for the information I needed to establish a foothold in this business.
Back then, the man with the content was Danny. And I can vividly remember the day he announced that he was adding a subscribers section. No one whined about it. Instead, people lined up to subscribe because they understood and appreciated the value of the content.
And the same thing happened when Brett Tabke launced his supporters site. He didn't have to run pop-up ads in order to improve his conversion rate because people were standing in line to contibute.
So what's the difference? It certainly isn't effort or quality of content. The only real difference I can see is the fact that Brett and Danny never apologized for charging money. Rand, on the other hand, continually conveys the message that he feels guilty for asking anyone for money. And because of that, the majority of Munchkins in the land of Moz act as if they are actually doing Rand a favor by not subscribing.
You all need to wake up. Rand raising his consulting rate to an unprecedented level isn't going to subsidize the freemium model long term. If everyone continues to act like spoiled rich kids who deserve to have everything handed to them on a silver platter, Rand might wake up one day and realize that he could quadruple his income if he spent less time teaching and more time doing.
And if that happens, you are all screwed. There isn't anyone of Rand's caliber waiting in the wings to take over the role of the SEO Dali Lama. Those that have the knowledge wouldn't take the pay cut, and those that have the desire suck.
Bravo, WebGuerilla!
I too have feared the debt collectors in my time. And like you, Rand and I always found the means to move forward. Better to do with old pencils and write on the backs of scraps of recycling paper than buy fresh pens and paper, instead of the tools of your trade.
In our case, it was also Danny who got our last dime and then some for Rand's first SES conference (not to mention plane ticket and hotel). The experience was so powerful for Rand and for the company, we never looked back.
Congratulations on your success. As one who has walked in your shoes, I wish you much much more from the bottom of my heart!
I love you, Greg.
Screw Colbert, can we rank Greg for Giant Brass Balls? Thanks for that, dude, you truly are an SEO Rockstar and a damn good friend to us Mozzers.
Screw Colbert? Gasp.
I have suscribed, but I feel there is an SEOmoz office memo going around not to respond to me because I said my opinion, am on a SEOmoz shit list now? I thought someone might even say thank you for joining or something.
sniffle
Office memo? It went to all subscribers.....! ;) Oops. Broken it. Welcome.
You're on the shit-list!? Which one of us is a munchkin with shriveled raisin balls who whines that I don't have access to premium content, and then gets triple throttled by staff? I don't think getting ripped a new one even convers it....
Memos? We have memos?
??? Looking back over comments from the last few days, I doubt you could say we've been ignoring you. Hell, we've probably carried on more comment conversations with you since you've been here than anyone else.
We don't begrudge people their opinions around here, whether we agree with them or not. It seems, however, that several of us agreed with some or all of what WebGuerrilla had to say and, regardless of opinion, appreciated him sticking up for us and the content we offer.
Scott, thanks for the reply, I forgot you all don't know me yet.
when I put "sniffle" or "wah" or "boohoo" at the end of my post I am saying, "I know i am whining, please do not take seriously."
But thank you,
I know you guys rock.
Oh, I thought you were just a crybaby ;)
Ok, I've clicked the damn reply to WebGuerilla link one too many times, here it goes.
First, let me just say I find it interesting that when SEOpractices mentions that he is doing what he can to find a way to buy a premium membership he is encouraged, but because I say it along with a VERY minor criticism, I find I have new orifices.
Second, who are you to presume that you have any idea what my current financial situation is or what my priorities are. I will NOT bore you with my personal life, but I find it the height of arrogance that your way is the only right way and therefore I am a moron (oh, do you want fries with that?).
Finally, I have never whined about the premium content model and am (contrary to popular belief) doing my damnedest as well to become a member. But if voicing an opinion that is somewhat unpopular (yet echoed by everyone who commented on it) gets me attacked personally, perhaps it is time to reevaluate my participation in this community and SEOmoz' status as my favorite site, and perhaps I overestimated the quality of this community.
I'll probably regret putting myself into the middle of this, but I've got to defend chil_uno a little. Let me give an analogy: my dad and brother are protestant ministers. People aren't generally inclined to give up their money, and part of the job of a minister is to occasionally stand up and say "ok, people, you can afford to give a bit more". That's understandable, and if it's certainly even more expected in business. On the other hand, they would never stand up and say "you people are a bunch of mooches!", because they know (1) circumstances vary, and (2) they'd have less people in church the next week.
I'm not a premium member yet. Can I afford it, in absolute dollars? Yes. Like anyone in small business, though, I have to weigh what I can get for free versus what I get when I pay, and I have to weigh every dollar spent against a dollar that could be spent on something else. I'm not looking to take advantage of SEOMoz, I value (in real dollars) what I've gotten from the site, and I absolutely understand your need to make a living. On the other hand, I have to see the value for my business, and make the decision that's best for me. I've paid for a couple of articles, because I've seen the value, and I'll continue to re-evaluate the value of becoming a premium member, just as I'll re-evaluate going to SES, etc.
Fair point, Dr. Pete, but chil uno, don't go anywhere, it's friendly here. Really. We're all cheery and we're all friends :)
Seriously - SEO is one of the friendliest industries I have come across and the people I've met and chatted with through SEOmoz have been some of the friendliest within the industry.
Thanks to all three of you, and that friendlisness is what I especially love about SEOmoz, which is why this whole little exchange feels so out of character.
It really is, in my experience, so let's all just have a nice Friday ;)
Just try to remember that everyone is entitled to their opinion and, in this community, has the ability to voice it.
You voiced yours criticizing the ads (fair enough) and WebGuerrilla voiced his criticizing your criticism, as well as addressing something he'd seen other people complain about that he chose to take issue with in the same comment (fair enough as well).
It's not a one way street. If you are going to offer your opinion (popular or not) you need to be willing to be redecptive to the opinions and feedback of others (popular or not).
Generally it's friendly around here but sometimes people disagree. Oh well. I don't think anybody needs to take their ball and go home.
But it's my ball, and you're all so unfair :(. Sniff.
Anyway, stop placating the community and do us a Friday video ;)
Whiteboard Friday, comin' your way. Unfortunately, unless you plan on staying up really late tonight (Will's in the UK, folks) you probably won't see it until tomorrow morning.
For those of you in time zones this side of the Atlantic, it'll be up this afternoon.
Yeeeha. Don't worry - that's fine. It brightens my weekend ;)
Now gimme back my ball so we can get on with the game ;)
Atta boy. :)
I am glad you and willcritchlow mentioned this, I was really taken aback when I read Gregs comments that ,while a breathe of fresh air and well deserved support for rand, was also very hurtful towards someone else.
You guys are so nice, and that rocks.
I don't really care one way or another about the ads. If people don't like them, they can pay to have them removed and become a premium member. If not, then the ads are your "cost" of the information found here. Seems to work for Pogo.
What I do care about, Rand dear, is that I just bought the new guide and see that the pdf request from the last time I bought a guide (that was seconded, thirded, fourthed and so on) still has not been fulfilled. :-(
Oh yeah. I think I was one of those second or thirds. PDF please.
PDFs... The curse of SEOmoz. I will have someone get on that right away... Ummm.. Scott! I nominate you to figure out how to convert HTML to PDF effectively. Go team SEOmoz! Make Rae happy! She's earned it.
Scott - you've already got open office format - that should just save straight to PDF. In fact, since I'm sure everyone at the mozplex is a little bit sad at the bashing the ads have got (my opinion on that in a minute), I've done a quick conversion and emailed it to you. That's my contribution to say 'thanks' for all your hard work. Hope I'm not violating copyright ;)
PS I just opened my pdf to test and while external links work just fine, the internal ones still link back to the seomoz site which I think then fail because of the gateway on paid documents... Don't know an easy way around that - they should link to anchors in the PDF but I don't know how to persuade it to do that... Sorry!
A thousand thanks, Will. I LOVE pre-cognitive outsourcing!
(I hadn't even seen that I'd been assigned to make a PDF when I got your e-mail with it attached)
:)
Pre-cognitive outsourcing. I love it. I want to put that on my business card.
Looks like someone already beat you to the domain though Will.
I'm with Sugarrae...PDF's are essential. (It'd probably be easiest to convert from the Word version of the document, but there are some decent HMTL -> PDF converters out there too.)
The ads are well done. If they only show up every couple weeks or so, you have no problems. When ads are tasteful, even artistic, and relevant, few people will mind. they might even like them because it exposes them to something they might be looking for but didn't know where to find. (One idea for your ads...It might be cool to let people subscribe to the RSS feeds for the blogs right from there. Just a thought.)
It's a great way to improve conversions...after all you DO have to run a business. :) (I'm sure you'd love if you could guys could do everything for free, as would I, but that's obviously not realistic.) We've had a lot of success and few complaints with well done ads like this.
Great job. :)
Printed out the article, I have even binded it so it's all pretty =) Came at a really good time as I have just started the concept and briefing of the Base One Search website. This way I can refer back to the article and when the designer says "why do I have to do it like this, it's so unfair" I can say "because Rand says so" ;0)
With regards to the ads, I was quiet suprised when I saw the pop up this morning, but do I mind? Nah not really. Hey look at the bright side folks; at least the pop up isn't moving around bouncing with music. Now that would be annoying.
Hmm that gave me an idea, how about making it funny instead. How hilarious would it be if Rands talking head appeared saying "Premium Membership gives you the SEO edge you need" ha ha. Ok it might not get you more members, but it would be so funny.
It could alternate different mozzers - then you can have Rand being all straight-up and "Premium Membership gives you the SEO edge you need" on some days then on others it could be Rebecca with a "Sign up to premium so we can buy more things to throw at Matt", Jane counters with "Be the fust on your block to sign up and nit some great rewards" (sorry Jane, poor kiwi accent there).
Then we can see who gets the most signups.
great idea Will, a competition who has the most compelling talking head lol
Obviously this "fun pop up" would also double as a viral campaign as I bet people would want to see the "talking SEOmoz heads".
Yeah. Only SEOmoz could make their adverts linkbait...
Scott - if Rand wakes up and reads this, thinks it's a great idea and your todo list has just got longer, Lisa and I say sorry!
Woke up - loved the idea, task list now longer, must hunt down Will & Lisa... Stupid ten hour flight to get there, though. I guess we'll let 'em be for now :)
Thanks for the very positive suggestions, gang.
Delegate, Rand. I'm sure one of your staff wants to work out how to do this ;)
Nah, Rand's our resident Flash animator so if anybody's screwed from this suggestion, it's him...as such, I think it's a FANTASTIC idea!
That's alright then. I don't feel so bad now.
Proud to say I just became an Annual Premium Member.
We're even more proud to have you as one :)
If I did SEO for a living, whether freelance or for a specific company, I'd sign up for Premium Membership in the blink of an eye. So actually the low conversion rate surprises me.
I do like the idea of the pop-up on second tier pages. Like the others, I clear my cache & cookies every day, so I don't stay signed into your site for long periods.
Another recommendation - remember when Aaron Wall redesigned his page that sells his SEO book? I had read that page before without making a purchase, but after the redesign, sure enough, I bought it.
I think if the content of the Premium Membership were explained more in depth - not just what is included, but why it's necessary info - and there were quotes from big names who found it valuable, your conversion rate would increase.
It's very interesting that all the complaining is coming from free loaders. If you really hatethe ad that much,quit your bitching and write Rand a check.
Oh Greg, how I love your eloquence :)
This is what I was thinking. I put up with ads on *every free site I use* because they're *free*. I don't put up with ads on the walls of my living room because I pay to live there.
Rand -- I don't think you need to apologize for Ads. In fact, I wouldn't even mind having relevant contextual ads inserted in my browsing experience (even as a premium user). My macro issue was just around getting an interstitial if I'm not logged in (which happens often, when I come back, becasue of clearing cookies). Instead, I'd prefer smart/well-placed/helpful Ads, and if I weren't a premium user, I'd accept, and be 100% OK with even more of them.
No need to apologize for rent-collection -- just make it relevant to the audience.
Dave
p.s. The idea about showing interstitial on the second non-logged-in visit is a really good one. Because, I bet that most premium users log in after their first visit, and thus would never actually see it, and it would still be shown to visitors who are much more likely to click on it (because they bothered to come back a second time).
Onward...
I really look forward to reading the report (my printer is busy chunking it out now!). Your post about Ads reminded me of a topic I was discussing with someone the other day -- that is, if you had the choice to remove Google Ads from Google Search Results, would you take advantage of that? My answer would be no, because they offer me value.
In that vein, I think you should set that bar with your advertising -- the in-line Ads are fine, as I think they should pass the bar of educating users that there is more behind the scenes if they choose to become a member. You'll need to test the size/format/color/etc. that works best there.
However, I do find the pop-up/overlay offensive. It reminds me of the annoying PayPal interstitial that I get when I log in to my account. I don't care if you give that to me every 2 weeks or every 2 months. I'm a paying user, and I don't want to see it at all. If you're implying that people won't read that unless you pop it up like that, I disagree. I think it actually cheapens your site by jamming it in front of people. Instead, work on optimizing your in-line/email/rss ads with compelling offers and keep on generating awesome content (with teasers to even more behind the scenes), and let the business grow with quality.
OK... my pocketbook is $0.02 lighter now... off to do my reading...
Dave
Wow Dave great comment, It is exacly what I would have said had I not been ranting above:)
Particularly the "let the business grow with quality" part.
Dave - as a premium user, you will never see any of the ads... Maybe we coded something wrong (or you saw it before you logged in)?
I appreciate your thoughts on the pop-ups, too. We'll talk about them first thing tomorrow and try to work out a better solution.
Rand if I'm not mistaken you use a cookie to keep track of members. I tend to clear out the cookies I've collected a few times daily so when I first arrive here the site will assume I'm new. I'd guess I'm not the only one clearing cookies either.
Thanks for the new guide. It's a little late now so I haven't had a chance to read it yet, but I've been looking forward to it all month and will get to it at my first opportunity.
Okay -- I'm rethinking letting my premium membership lapse now. Hmmm....
If this is the kind of thing you all are going to turn out on regular basis, I can probably convince the boss that it's a worthwhile expense.
good work
We plan to release a new Premium Guide approximately every two months.
We are also constantly working on new Tools, researching and providing new Tips & Tricks, and, coming soon, plan to produce and release a series of multimedia Webinars and Podcasts...this is going to be Rand presenting the kinds of information that conference goers and clients pay thousands of dollars to see.
Also, if you're a monthly subscriber, keep in mind that the Annual Subscription rate is 36% less than the monthly rate, so you essentially get 3-months free.
Thanks, CarlenLea. It's nice to get some positive feedback about the article(s) amongst the negative opinions about advertising. As Scott said, we're constantly brainstorming and creating new premium content ideas.
As mentioned above. I vote for less "You should do this because it's good and don't do that because it's bad." and more "This is how you do this specifically (technically) and it helps because."I can get the former from any SEO forum but the latter is what people will pay money for. But the articles are great. Don't get me wrong. It saves a lot of time and anyone getting into the business can probably learn a good year's worth of trial and error from one article. Keep up the good work.
Thanks for the feedback. We can definitely look into providing guides that are more "How To" and less "Do's and Don't's."
It seems like you've got more than enough opinions to last you a while on the ad front, but I'll add (no pun intended) this: I think your best ads are blog posts just like this one. This is the second article I've purchased from an announcement, because your announcements do a good job of summarizing and conveying the value. Being a one-man (non-SEO) shop, I'm not quite in the market for full membership yet, but every time you announce a new article or new tool, I get a little closer. Those explanations of benefits are 100X more likely to get me to go premium than any ad.
Look that that! A testimonial! And from a doctor, no less! ;)
Side effects may include improved page-rank, increased traffic, sore thumbs, and general sexiness.
I believe we have a testimonial that everyone will enjoy.
That's a much better testimonial than I'd have come up with.
Since joining SEOmoz my posture has improved, girls seem to like me more, and I walk taller with more confidence.
BUT THE AD STILL SUCKS and much like Demi Moore in a Few Good Men, I strenulously object to it.
And rand, if you gotta have a pop-up (which I don't like) please do it anywhere except your home page.
I see. Well, if you strenuously object, I'll have to reconsider. ;)
Cool SEOmoz chiropractic and SEOmoz dating services. Who knew?
Are the ads really that bad? Don't get me wrong I'd prefer not an overlay when not logged in, but I don't mind the extra click because I've been here long enough to know it's worth clicking past.
Great comments Lorisa, I know that I will be exploring the premium content and will be writing about it. Aaron did a great thing in clearly stating the case for his ebook, and that is an important factor in his successful conversions.
And your comments on the value that free members brings to this site is a wonderful reminder. (even though I just became a premium member.
Selling SEOmoz premium content could perhaps be achieved through more of a "packaged SEO/SEM solution". I have noticed that some real lame websites with archaic and bad advice are better designed and more "sell oriented" than here at seomoz. I think the value of your comment lies in the suggestion of paying more attention to the packaging of it. check out this example
I've been wondering if it wouldn't be better to show it on your 2nd page load once you're on the SEOmoz site (and not logged in and it's your first visit in 2 weeks). That way, we're hitting a crowd that's more interested in SEOmoz content (seeing as they clicked a link) and we're exposing them only after they've expressed a distinct interest in seeing more content (so they'll be less likely to abandon).
I'm also interested to hear what you think of the idea of reducing the overlay ad's size. I think it might be better if it was about the size of the comment box windows, so you could see the grayed-out content behind it and know it's just a click away...
Love to get everyone's feedback on this.
BTW - For those who've downloaded the search friendly guide, what did you think of my custom made illustrations? I'm thinking of launching a new career as Googlebot's unofficial cartoonist....
Good point. Showing the ad on the 2nd page load makes sense.
Otherwise, the ads are all good with me - small price to pay for the valuable content, and a useful reminder to get my arse in gear and sort out my premium membership.
Personally I would appreciate that, like van gogh, I also clear my cookies throughout the day and have to periodically log back in, so that would save me from seeing it ;) I think it would also help if you made it smaller. But again, as others have said, I might be annoyed by it but I'm not about to stop coming to your site because you're serving an ad to try and make some more money. Keep up the good work.
One question I have about the ad is who are you marketing to? First time users of the site or people who have been reading for awhile, but haven't become premium members? I would think the second group is more likely to go for premium membership, but I maybe I'm wrong.
I ask because that might determine when and where to show ads. Members could always get the ad on their profile page. With loyal readers who aren't members having the ad show up right away or a page or two in might work best.
For people new to the site I wonder if it would be better to let them visit a few times before showing them ads. The overlay ad doesn't bother me because I know what's behind that ad. I've been reading the content long enough to know it's worth putting up with an ad. If it was my first or second time to the site seeing the ad would probably bother me a lot more and maybe enough to keep me from coming back a third or fourth time.
I'm not sure if you can reasonably sort out all three groups above, but if you can you might try serving the ads differently to each.
Rand, In response to your (thus far ignored) question about the graphics, they are really great and very profesional looking and have given me some great ideas.
The content is really impressive, I wasn't sure what to expect, but I was really blown away by it in the sense that it is a solid piece of informative writing regardless of the readers knowlege level. I often find articles laking for the new user, but yours is a wonderful resource.
Thanks Patrick - I quickly realized how dumb a move it was to announce ads and the article at the same time - of course everyone's going to talk about the ads, while the article gets less face-time.
That guide is something I'm really happy with, and those who know me, know that I'm rarely happy with anything I do - I ALWAYS think it can be better.
Appreciate your membership, too! We're going to be sending out invites for our first members-only event pretty soon, so good timing!
Talking too much about the ads has actually stopped me reading the doc yet, never mind talking about it!! I have printed it and do like the pictures - very good :) More feedback when I've actually read it!
Members-only event will presumably be across the pond from us. Maybe we'll have a UK mozzers meet up too and nominate a guest-yellow-shoe-wearer.
The articles are great but a little too fluffy at times. It would be nice to see more specifics on how to implement some of the suggestions. For example:
In one article you mention that forced registrations and pages behind forms are not good because they don't let spiders on the site. But many news sites employ these pages and still get spidered.
I know I can just look up how to allow a bot through to the content but it would have been nice to at least have some links to resources that talk about how to do this on a more technical level with examples.
Other than that keep up the good work. Well, there is one more thing. I still can't post with Safari. Man I hate having to switch to Firefox just to post. Why are you tormenting the mac users?
OK. Finally read it over the weekend! Nice work. I found it to be a great summary of a lot of things you have said on the blog recently and a lot of things I knew (or should have known!).
In particular, things I found helpful (as reminders or incentives to actually get things sorted) were:
I was also reassured by your approach to information architecture - that's the way my mind works as well and tends to be the way we work with our clients.
All in all, an excellent document - thanks!
Edited for mis-matched brackets!!
I'm trying to get my boss into getting an anual membership for us here in our Company. I'm sure it will be worth it, let's see how it goes, I've already talked to him about it.
It's worth it. Go for it - it's not that much $. What's the worst that can happen?
Incidentally, Rand - I'm sure that your blog and the general community functions as testimonials / references for you guys, but if you want a quote or two to go next to calls to action for the premium membership, I'd happily oblige.
yeah ditto. I'll happily vouch for the quality. I'm growing my team at the moment and the premium content articles have just proved priceless as a one stop recource for educating others (as well as myself).
Thanks, SEO Practices.
If your boss says yes, we'll keep working hard, so he'll know you made the right decision.
I look forward to reading, but the ad was a shock indeed (Clearly you didn't see my professional "smack people in the face with a fish" graphic that described the dangers of hitting people over the head with ads. :) )
To be clear... The Ad is bad in my opinion.
You had in my opinion a very unique thing going on. SEOmoz seemed very fun and open and it is more than clear to your users that you have premium content.
It seems you are a little less unique now and apparently I (your user) am too dumb to figure out that you have premium content, that offends me a bit. I just chose to become a subscriber, but it was not because of an ad. It is because I feel that there is value in your membership. the reason I see your content has value is because I have interacted on this site enough to explore in detail different aspects of your site. I felt comfortable exploring your site because of the nice, free, fun atmosphere. That probably wouldn't of happened if you smacked me in the head with that ad. Your users are people who know their way around a web site and are more than able to make their own decisions on subscribing or not, and it seems lame to blame Aaron even jokingly since you know damn well who your users are and I really question this decision you made. I don't see people suscribing due to an ad, even a groovy looking one..
I hope you get some new subscribers, and look forward to seeing the numbers and if this helps or hurts you. Until then, I can only say that SEmoz rocks, but the ad seems awful to me.
I have to agree with feed here, when I came to the site today and got hit with that overlay, I said out loud WTF? I don't mind the inline or panel ads, those are much less obtrusive, but the overlay is definitely a smack in the face.
Just a note in regard to a comment below, I don't object to the add. Rand, it's your business to run and obviously you're doing an amazing job ($1,000/hr amazing). I love the site and I love participating, I personally don't like the big ol popup, but hey, it's your baby.
FeedTheBot,
To Rand the SEOMoz team defense, SEOMoz is still one of the most open, honest and transparent folks around - and that's hecka unique thing to be. They're not afraid to publish their rates, their earnings report and they publish a lot of strategy/tactics that would be consider trade secret in any other business, including among SEO firms.
But on the other side, I totally agree - that in-window pop-up ad was a little abbrasive for me. I could bear it, if it was a smaller ad (far smaller). Maybe off to the side. Maybe it would fade away on its own.
But the experience of loading up SEOMoz, then suddenly seeing a giant billboard wsa a bad one. The first thing one should see is not a big old ad.
Rand, I totally understand your need for monetizition - heck, you're being generous with us already as it is. I hope you guys find your way...and adjust that ad while you're at it. ;)
Emergance, I also agree that without a doubt, SEOmoz gives great value and alot of of quality content for free. I should have made more clear that my objection is the pop up ad. to have small tasteful ads is normal and healthy, but to have a page sized pop-up on a website that is frequented by knowlegable webmasters and marketers seems so stupid. My comment and the comments of others also highlight something else.
SEO moz has managed to do something very enviable which is to build a true relationship with their users. People aren't saying things like "ads are good or ads are bad" They are saying that it personally has affected them. The reason it has affected them is because of the precious and rare personal relationship SEOmoz enjoys with their users.
I am not against ads, but I (and the entire known universe of our profession) know that pop ups and full page anythings (other than what the users expect) are bad to show. They remove choice, when I go to SEOmoz to see what it is about, I am going there to see SEOmoz, not their full page push for me to buy something. How is someone going to know what they are about?
The worst problem is the very first thing their potential clients are going to see is a full page ad that has nothing at all about their consulting services. This is dumb. Yesterday I would reccomend a site owner to hire SEOmoz without a shadow of doubt. Today I feel different.
Personally I hate interstitials and overlay ads. Or any other kind of obtrusive ad. When I happen upon one, I normally close it and leave the site immediately. And then call all my friends and family to warn them to never ever visit that site. Ever.
However in this case, it won't apply to me since it only displays once every two weeks for visitors not logged in. But honestly if I was not a member and it was my first visit to the site, a giant obtrusive ad popping up would likely deter me from exploring all the great resources this site has to offer. I think you can achieve the same, and likely better, results by placing ads in prominent places.
If you think about it, a new visitor likely isn't looking to buy a premium membership the first time he comes to the site. And that in-your-face ad might turn away any first timers who might have joined in the future.
I think it may work out well for you in the short run, but in the long run I think you could do much better with other non-obtrusive methods.
Just my two cents. I gotta go and get back to calling everyone I know to warn them not to visit this Russian mail-order bride page I accidentally stumbled across yesterday.
I was rather suprised (even after seeing "Ads on SEOmoz" on my reader) to see the pop-up ad. Inline ads for non-members is perfectly acceptable, but pop-up ads are rather disagreeable, I might not even be able to stomach my double latte this morning. Pop-ups should be a last ditch effort in your advertising, surely you have other options to exhaust? You could for instance have an affiliate program and a decent sales page, or have a commercial at the end (not the start mind you!) of your friday vidcasts.
I was definitely surprised to see the ad too, but don't object to it. You guys are running a business after all.
I think it's a good idea to raise your consulting prices as well, time is money and when you don't have much time it's got to be valued appropriately.
Plus, if it means the Mozzers are spending more time producing awesome content (paid and free) then it only benefits more people.
Look forward to seeing the results of the ads too.
Signed up for the premium membership for this report, looks good!
$1000 / hour seems fair
Wow... A lot of unhappiness for an ad that most members will only see once every couple weeks (or less). I'm dissapointed, but I understand the perspective - SEOmoz has always been relatively ad-free (despite a couple experiments in 2005 with sidebar ads) and perhaps that's a big part of our appeal.
We, obviously, have not had widespread adoption of the premium content, and while consistent contributors here no doubt feel highly exposed to it, a great number of our visitors don't even know we offer it (hence the overlay).
My big role model for this was Farecast's system here, and I think we have become more intrusive, so we may try to scale it back a bit. Thanks as always for your input everyone, and thanks for being honest. We'll do our very best to continue to provide top-notch free and paid content, and work to make the ads a positive part of the experience, too.
I think that the main complaint is the pop-up, it certainly is for me. I look forward to tommorrow to see what happens when a bigger pool of people are commenting on this.
Rand, you may want to try something similar to what Sitepoint does on their site.
They have a subtle window that sort of pops up from the bottom of the window.
I see this all the time on Sitepoint and never feel like it's that obtrusive.
I think they based it on a script called "Catfish" which you (rather Matt) can modify to your own needs. Sorry I don't have the link to the Catfish script though.
Rand I think it's more the over the top nature of the ad. Ads on sites don't bother me at all if they're not too intrusive, but it was a lot to see when first showing up on the site earlier.
It was a nice looking ad though, and seeing it once every two weeks isn't that big of a deal. You might just have to give everyone a chance to get used to it and think of the initial feedback as just that. It's a first reaction to something new.
From someone who has used the same method, I must say that your method has shown to increase conversions and I think you are just doing what a marketer SHOULD do - give it a shot and see what happens.
However, I have not seen it used for PAID content/products/services very often at all. Most of these 'pop-ups' are used for list building or other FREE offers because most people don't mind giving their email or other basic info.
I guess we will see how it works and I hope it does well for you!
Yeah thats true, we tested a bookmark popup on one of our sites (which takes place when a customer sends us a sales inquiry). We found that by using a pop-up we got 50% of people to bookmark us, while with a small add we only got around 10%. Popups can certainly help boost conversion rates.
I was surprised by the big ad. But it makes sense to let your visitors know you have premium content and try to allure some of them to signing. Not sure a big ass ad is the best way, but it's one way.
Why not give them a sample and then reel them in? Just a suggestion. I just don't like "in your face-buy me now" ads...
The inline ads are fine and not that intrusive.
Good luck with the end results.
Looking forward to reading the document.
I'll agree with previously "mentioned", the ad's too big. Although I support the ads idea I think a banner size would be less intrussive yet functional. I do like the design.
I'd also like to find out how the ads do.
Just letting you know I do plan on getting a yearly premium membership very shortly. :)
Just curious - can you reveal details on how many premium users there are total? As well as how many "freeloading" registered users? And finally, what percentage of all visitors are actually registered? It would be interesting to see the numbers but I perfectly understand if you don't want to provide such info.
I see Seomoz’ blog as an online SEO paper. I have never paid to read an online news paper and will properly never do. If my online news paper starts to charges money I read another. I read all information available about keyword research and would properly pay for relevant research articles/papers. I see Seomoz’ articles as illustrations more than research. Can you tell me why I ought to buy the Guide to Keyword Research? NB: Ads don’t bother me.
noticed and downloaded yesterday. looking forward to going over in detail soon but upon skimming, gotta say looks great; for whatever it's worth i've got an illustration degree. been developing stuff like this in various contexts for some time now but this new pass on site-side best practices from you looks prettier on that count so you've raised the bar there. :)
nice to see something like this come out from seomoz.
cheers
Hey rand that was a great move… in fact every one will think about some business in their field. Here is the question, How we do? But you are doing the right way.
Interesting - no harm trying to monetize the time you put into this blog.
One comment about your ad design, i had to re-read this page several times before i actually saw your ad. It doesn't stand out.
If you had an ad that blended in with the text on your site /cough/ adsense you would do better.
Any gamblers here - I will put money on this.
I also got the ad pop up after I logged in as a premium member. The popup is the most irritating ad. The inline one is just fine.
Plus I can't post comments with your javascript box with Safari on the mac. Other than that, great site.
I believe Matt was refining the ads yesterday and I got one at one point... because we're taking users' opinions and working with them, we're also having to iron out some things. I got an ad yesterday, and I'm a staff member :) I'm advertising to myself!
...and you still haven't signed up? Sheesh.
Some people.
The ads communicate the message well, and the 'wow' factor is enough to prevent them from being the same-old same-old that you see on most sites (I hate clutter).
In previous posts, you mentioned that you're mulling over some changes to the organizational focus. Does one of them include becoming a membership research lab? Kind of a Think tank/mastermind group sort of thing for cutting edge SEO research?
I love the article, didn't finished it though.and yeah about the ads.. are u sure to do it? i dont care personally but for new users?
I didn't get the popup but the big ol' ad confused me - I thought it was an article about the paid content and thick ol' me tool a couple of seconds to suss it was actually an ad
:-)
I think it is important and while some of us are well aware of the premium content, if it has a low take-up, something needs to be done.
Remember...
First Coffee, then SEOmoz.
Haha. I've made that mistake before. Definitely caffeine first (especially before commenting).
I glanced at the new article and it looks great! I'll have to read through it later. I just wish I had it when I wrote a similar guide for a client last month, which ended up being 25 pages!
The overlay ad surprised me... I wasn't sure what was going on at first. My first thought was that SEOmoz.org was hijacked. :P
As for the inline ad, I personally think it's too big (too high?). It looks great, but it pushes down the content a significant amount. I would suggest more of a banner-type sizing.
Either way, I'm curious to find out how they test for you guys.
The quality of the information I've gotten off this site has been so incredible, that I can't really complain too much...
As long as the public blog keeps up the good posts, I'm pretty happy.
$1000/hour :0
Hey, its a good move, companies are willing to pay that as the return would be alot greater than that.