I decided to poll some of the SEO guys here at OrangeSoda and see what they thought:

Alex McArthur: “…probably should be “a SEO”. But I say “an SEO” because it just feels right.”

Luis Bonilla: “..if you spell out the acronym and say “a search engine optimizer,” you would use “a.” If you were to use the acronym, you would use “an SEO.” To me, grammatically it makes more sense to use “an” because you’re actually saying the letter “ess,” and it doesn’t really matter structurally what the “S” stands for, it’s how you actually pronounce it. In my opinion, that’s the reason why saying “an SEO” flows more naturally….”

Mike Cook: “I asked my teacher this same question in my writing for digital media class last semester. It’s “an SEO” because you say it “S – E – O” because S is spelled “ess” when spelled out. So you’re really saying “an ess e o”. Now if you actually sounded out SEO (like NASA, PETA, etc.), saying it “see-yo” or whatever, you would use “a SEO (a see-yo).” But you don’t.”

Claye Stokes: I read a few blogs arguing the issue and asked two English major friends, and the consensus is that it is optional (there is no formal grammatical rule dictating one way or the other) – saying “an SEO” sounds right, but on paper, “a SEO” makes more sense because the written-out phrase that the initialism SEO represents is “Search Eng…”. Another perspective: acronym vs. initialism. NATO is an acronym, which can form a new word (pronounced phonetically, instead of being spelled out). That’s the key difference from an initialism such as BBC or SEO, which does not. If SEO were an acronym, I think we would be required to put “an” in front of it, but as an initialism, it is just an abbreviated form of “Search Engine Optimization” and not a word by itself.

So there you have it…I’ll no longer feel foolish for being confused or using the wrong wording. As Alex so eloquently put it, “it just feels right” so I’ll continue saying “an SEO”.  Another productive day in the books.

Keyword #1

• Google claims approximately 33,100 searches in December
• My #1 ranking only received 2,428 visits from that keyword (a mere 7% of searches)

Keyword #2

• Google claims approximately 14,800 searches in December
• My site ranks in the 1st and 2nd position (with sitelinks on the first) and received 17,651 visits (about 120% of the supposed search volume).

I’ve read various studies about what percentage of clicks go to the 1st listings but these two examples are all over the board.

Because of sitelinks and having the top 2 rankings, I’d expect a higher CTR (click-thru-rate) for that keyword but 120% is a little unlikely.  On the other hand, I would expect greater than 7% of the searches with Keyword #1 even though it is just a single listing.

So this obviously leads me to question any keyword research done with Google’s tool.  Anyone else ever compared your analytics to Google’s approximate search volume?

Ann Smarty - Search Engine Journal

Search Engine Journal is a very popular blog but I especially like Ann’s posts.  They always have practical, useful information you can apply to your website.

Claye Stokes - New Shoe Media

Claye is a web designer and a great SEO.  Because of his web design background, Claye often writes how-to’s and tutorials about on-site SEO and SEO-friendly web design

David Mihm - Mihmorandum

David is a well-known local SEO blogger.  In addition to his blog, he recently launched a great local SEO tool at GetListed.org.

OrangeSoda Enterprise - Internet Marketing Blog

I obviously couldn’t leave out the new OrangeSoda Enterprise blog.  This one is just getting started but subscribe now because there will be a flood of great information.

You can view my SEO presentation and check out 9 others about various business topics.

This was the first Crunch Lunch event but there was a great turn out.  I hope to attend or speak at more in the future and would definitely recommend it to others.

Thanks to Cary and all other other great presenters.

Stop spamming me Google!

Bryan Phelps on Google

I don’t even need to show you my analytics to prove that I don’t rank in the top 10 for [cell phone].  But if anyone trusts these rankings and would be interested in purchasing a site that ranks for [cell phone], contact me for my paypal info.

Notice the local search results in the middle:

In addition to that, it appears Google is recognizing search terms that people might also need locally and offering to search by location:

There is an explanation included:

Local Search is going to be incredibly important for businesses with physical locations. A recent YOUmoz entry from SEOmoz indicates that a good chunk of clicks go to those local search results. With local search on mobile devices growing and Google placing a greater emphasis on local search (even on non-local searches), being in those coveted top results for local could make or break your business.

***Just to clarify, the marriage counseling search is client related, not personal

Click to enlarge