My name is Chris and I started working at Exsilio as a Marketing Manager about a month ago and love it. From my first day, I have witnessed firsthand the energy and excitement of Exsilio that came across during my interview. I have also noticed the value they take in each employee to grow personally and professionally…something I have always heard about, but have never experienced. I am looking forward to growing within Exsilio and sharing my passions in marketing, technology and maybe a few “off the wall” topics in these posts. 

I recently read an interesting article in Wired Magazine (one of my favorite journals) on today’s students and how they use online search. A study conducted found that most of the time, students relied on PageRank results (even when the order of the results was changed) and almost never checked the author’s credentials. Educators are now teaching students to use critical thinking when conducting a search and to examine the tone of the web page, the author and their sources, and also how to use the advanced settings of a browser. I remember this type of source citing education during my high school days and how I would use nearly every search engine I could to find what I was looking for; as search engine’s algorithms were not as powerful back then as they are today.
As a marketing professional, we need to be more aware of how we write copy for websites, SEO campaigns and other searchable materials as it will be analyzed for authenticity by the web searchers of tomorrow.

The New Guy

Everyone has a first day, whether it is the first day of existence in the world as a child, first day of school, or first day of work at a new job. Being that I am writing this blog for Exsilio, it should be reasonable to conclude that I have arrived at the new-job “first.”

Here are the things I know for sure about my first day:

1. Traffic in Seattle fluctuates like crazy. The same commute that took 45 minutes one day took 15 the next; I arrived 45 minutes early – too early.

2. Anthony has an affinity for cars. I like that.

3. You are judged by the size of your coffee cup.

Regardless of the facts, I am now cooking along at full speed and feeling comfortable and feeling welcome here at Exsilio.

But what will I be doing?! Glad you asked. I am a new Marketing Manager at Exsilio focusing on Paid Search and landing page Search Engine Optimization. By focusing on this form of marketing, I hope to bring a valuable asset into the Exsilio family and provide knowledge to help all of our clients meet their marketing needs.

But why are SEM and SEO important? According to Netcraft, as of this month, there are over 555 million websites world-wide. With 29.5 million created last month. Though getting a dance to high school prom was difficult, try standing out in this crowded digital world. This is where SEM and SEO become even more valuable. They are the tools that businesses can use to make sure they are at the top of search queries for potential customers.

Having a good website is no longer enough – firms need to grasp these tools firmly to ensure that they can get the exposure they need. We need to think about this in terms of a storefront to a business that has the answer to life. Having a nice sign that has the “key to life” message on the storefront, maybe even a flashing “open” sign in the window, and a sandwich board outside the front door are a good start, and will likely generate some good foot-traffic. But foot-traffic is not enough. Everyone wants the answer to life, so we need to provide a roadmap to the business. This is where SEO and SEM step in. They are the roadmap that brings in customers from all over the country to this store – and in the digital world, this is possible.

This is why SEM and SEO are important. They help to ensure that a business can stand out to their desired customer and provide the exposure they need on the internet.

From this point out, you’ll be able to find me with a big coffee cup, arriving at work no more than 15 early, and learning the “ins and outs” of SEO and SEM.