I was interested in the article because it's about search engine marketing,a subject dear to my heart and small business.

The letter in factual in some respects but the writer's knowledge on the subject is about 4 on a scale of 1 to 10. I'm not saying this to sho off my knowledge and skills in this very important area of Internet marketing but on how easy it is to get articles published and free publicty on topics that you're not an expert.

The writer's has his name and company name published in the FT. In the popular "leaders & Letter column.

Here's the letter in its entirity:

From Mr Ian Saunders
Sir, it wasinteresting to read that recent research has shown that majority of FTSE 100 companies havefailed to make their websites visible to potential customers on leading search engines. While individual organisations could be accused of not running fully integrated online search advertising campaigns, some of the blame needs to be directed at existing search technologies.

Many existing systems are largely based on statistical algorithms and keywords. These are great for delivering significnt quantities of result but these are all too often include many that are in appropriate, bizarre and downright insensitive, which can compromise rather than enhance brand identity. This is a prime reason why some
top brands have so far shield away from search-related marketing.

To be truly successful, search needs to take into the semantic context of web pages. Only by analysing the linguistic content can searches become more accurate and deliver more relevant results. The
methodology can also be applied to online advertising, because if more ads are applicable to each user's needs there wll be an increase in clickthroughs.

A customer's ability to locate the products and services he or she wants is key to successful online sales. It is time to put some "sense" back into searching; otherwise potential sales will be lost.

Comment: I read this letter with disbelief! If this is indictative ofthe knowledge of search engine optimisation and advertising on the Internet in the UK then no wonder there's such a gulf between the USA and UK.

Credit nontheless to the writer who although lacking in knowledge about search engine optimisation and marketngtook the time to write a response and getting free publicity as aresult.

This web site has more free information on search engine optimisation and Internet marketing than you can read, understand and apply than anything you'll read in the UK press.

Do you have a comment? What do you think about the letter?

David
Small Business Resource