The second interview in our Online Thought Leadership Interview Series took us to Adam Heitzman of HigherVisibility. Adam Heitzman has an experience of over 10 years in the online marketing industry. We quizzed Adam on the world of online marketing and he came up with useful insights for the year to come.
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Do you think SEO is becoming irrelevant with Google rolling out updates like Panda and Penguin? If not, then how do you see the role of an online marketer evolving?
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What is your take on mobile marketing? What advice would you give to businesses trying to optimize for mobile search?
All I can say is that if you’re not on the mobile bandwagon in 2013, you’re going to get left behind.
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Do you think social media will slowly replace the conventional website?
The first piece of advice would be to tell them to take a look at their website on a mobile device and decide if they are happy with the way it looks. If they can’t see or get to the content very well, then they probably need to create a mobile friendly version. More and more users are searching via their mobile phones. The mobile marketing space will grow as companies adapt to the mobile environment and are able to monetize those users better.
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Do you think social media will slowly replace the conventional website?
No. It would be very hard for social media to supplant a conventional website as the primary source of information. Social media is great when it comes to learning about the latest trends, finding out products and services that other people like and recommend as well as learning about possible negative experiences with a product or service.
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What is your favorite new tool for online marketing and why?
I’m not sure how new Helpareporter.com is, but it is new to us. It allows you the ability to connect with reporters while providing you with the opportunity to get media mentions and potential links back by offering yourself up as an expert on the topic of their story.
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Do you think the online marketing / SEO industry lacks collaboration between different companies? How do you think the industry can better promote its interests?
There is a lot of collaboration in the SEO industry, so I wouldn’t say there is a lack of it. There are many authoritative blogs and forums out there. Google will also chime in and give their opinions every now and then. There are also SEO tools that are created every year by various companies that are offered on a subscription basis. I think the best way the industry can better promote its interests is by cleaning up its image. There are several bad SEO companies out there still using Black Hat techniques and it hurts the industry as a whole.
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What are your online marketing predictions for 2013?
My first prediction is that social media still won’t play a big part in the Google Algorithm in 2013, but it’s coming. I would also predict that we will have several more Panda and Penguin updates. They might not be wide sweeping but will target very specific signals.
No. I believe the role of an SEO becomes even more important. There are nuances with each update and they need to be evaluated to determine what effects they may have had on a client’s website. These updates also show the direction of where Google is going for potential future updates. This allows us to position clients to take advantage of these trends.
Adam Heitzman is the Co-Founder and managing Partner at HigherVisibility.com located in Memphis, TN. Adam founded HigherVisibility in 2008 after realizing that the Mid-South lacked good internet marketing firms. After achieving success locally, HigherVisibility quickly expanded to serve clients across the country.