SEO: Search Engine Optimization Bible

Andrew Wetzler, President, MoreVisibility

Andrew Wetzler co-founded MoreVisibility eight years ago. Today, the company, which started with

three people, has grown to more than 40 and has been named to the Inc. 500 list two years in a row.

MoreVisibility targets small and mid-sized business in niche markets, helping them create strategies

for SEO and SEM. Some of their clients include the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Sony Disk Manu-

facturing, Clemson University, GarageTek, and Hagerty Insurance.

Wetzler is a member of MSN’s Search Advisory Council and is the membership chair of the Direct

Marketing Association’s Search Engine Marketing Council.

Prior to MoreVisibility, his background includes 10 years of direct-marketing consulting where

he taught organizations how to better utilize multiple channels to improve campaign perform-

ance. Andrew serves on the board of directors for Jambase.com. He holds a B.A. in economics

from Tulane University.

Jerri: What do you see that organizations are doing well in search engine optimization today?

Wetzler:I think the first line in the sand is where in the process SEO comes into the mix. There

are several categories: those companies that already have a web site and know they need SEO and

also those companies that are about to invest in a major redesign and want to integrate SEO into the

redesign. The second category is companies that have it in their head that they want SEO in the

future, and they are planning their site around SEO principles.

Organizations are trying to create a balance between the search engine experience and the human

experience — they’re trying to decide which is most valuable and on which they should focus more

of their attention.

I say they are both valuable. Organizations need to build a web site that first accomplishes the objec-

tives. But you ought to have an understanding of the elements of SEO and how to use those to improve

your search engine ranking.

Jerri: In what aspects of SEO are organizations not doing so well?

Wetzler: There are a couple of areas. Content is one area because organizations see content for

search engines differently than content in general.

We try to get our clients to narrow the scope of their content on a page so there are not too many

ideas on a page. This focus makes content more valuable and more relevant. And more focused

content means that you continually have fresh material on your site, which is better because search

engines see the content change more often and will revisit the site more often.

Jerri: What trends do you see that organizations should focus on now which will have impact

in the future?

Wetzler: Again, I think that organizations need a careful balance of the bells and whistles with the

notion of what a search engine needs to see.

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Industry Interviews

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