SALT LAKE CITY — Up until now, SEO.com’s clientele was mostly made up of larger corporations and businesses with a bigger marketing budget. With one partnership, that’s all changed.

SEO.com has partnered with Boostability.com, a local Internet marketing firm with a proprietary SEO platform, to offer clients Google maps optimization and other local Internet marketing services.

“We’ve been seeking out a partner that could be a service provider for small, local accounts,” said Chris Knudsen, vice president of marketing. “We’ve found that in Boostability. They have great software, an equally great background in search, and a management team and product that will deliver results.”

The affiliation comes after SEO.com experienced multiple years of rapid growth and is on track for a record year. In the last two years, the SEO company increased its monthly revenue by 600 percent and went from 12 employees to nearly 70 – and is still aggressively hiring.

This April, SEO.com was named the No. 2 SEO firm by Website Magazine. The SEO company has been listed among the top 10 SEO firms in the country by PromotionWorld, and one of the top 25 fastest growing companies in Utah by the Utah Valley Entrepreneurial Forum two years running, including No. 6 in 2010. SEO.com also has been named among the Emerging Elite by MountainWest Capital Network.

Through this partnership, SEO.com is now offering local search services (including local SEO and maps optimization) ranging from $200 to $1500 a month, in combination with its proven enterprise offerings. Boostability will fulfill the service for SEO.com and will greatly benefit from the addition of many new clients every year.

“Given our incredible lead flow and reputation, we will now be able to service thousands of new accounts though this partnership,” said Nelson James, president of SEO.com. “We are pleased about being able to provide the value and benefit that comes from SEO to even more businesses in need.”

“We’re excited to be a part of what SEO.com is doing, and to help both sides continue to grow,” said Travis Thorpe, CEO of Boostability. “They will be able to leverage our proprietary technology and we’ll benefit by getting more customers as a part of their brand.”

About Boostability.com
Boostability provides SEO technology and fulfillment services for agencies, media companies, and phone book (yellow pages) providers. Using proprietary technology it delivers cost-effective and scalable SEO solutions.

About SEO.com
SEO.com is a search marketing firm that delivers a big ROI for its clients by driving traffic to their websites through aggressive search engine optimization, pay per click management, and social media marketing. SEO.com then turns those visitors into sales through search-optimized Web design and conversion optimization. Clients range from small startups to Fortune 100 companies.

Nelson James (left) replaces Dave Bascom as president of SEO.com.

SALT LAKE CITY – Dave Bascom stepped down as CEO and President of SEO.com on Monday to take a position with a new division of Deseret Digital Media. Bascom will continue to have part ownership in the SEO company and will act in an advisory role.

“I helped build this company to a point where it’s established,” Bascom said. “Now I’m moving on to a new challenge with Deseret Digital Media. SEO.com has an amazing team and incredible leadership. It’s on a great growth track and is headed in the right direction. I’m confident SEO.com will have even more success in the future.”

From his basement, Bascom started the SEO company in 2003 under the name Web Targeted. In 2007, he obtained the SEO.com domain with Mike Mann (http://MikeMann.com/), renamed the company, and since dramatically grew SEO.com despite tough economic times. In the last year, Utah Business Magazine named Bascom as a Top 40 Under 40; and V|Spring Capital named him a top 100 entrepreneur in Utah.

Mann will be the acting CEO and placed Nelson James as the president of the company. James was formerly SEO.com’s vice president of client services, and has worked directly under Bascom for the past five years.

“Dave has been a great leader for this company and a mentor of mine for the past five years,” James said. “We have a great opportunity and strong leadership in place, and I look forward to continuing SEO.com’s growth. I wish Dave all the success he deserves.”

In the last two years, the search marketing firm grew from 12 employees to more than 60, moved to a larger office in Salt Lake County, and increased monthly revenue by more than 600 percent.

SEO.com was named the No. 2 SEO firm by Website Magazine, among the top 10 SEO firms in the country by PromotionWorld, and one of the top 25 fastest growing companies in Utah by the Utah Valley Entrepreneurial Forum two years running, including No. 6 in 2010. SEO.com also has been named among the Emerging Elite by MountainWest Capital Network.

“I want to thank Dave for bringing SEO.com to where it is today,” Mann said. “He has done an incredible job. His efforts to date have, and will, perpetually benefit the charities we support, which is extremely important and the main impetus for all of my work. With Nelson, we will carry on the tradition of providing great results for clients, and we will continue to grow.”

About SEO.com
SEO.com is a search marketing firm that delivers a big ROI for its clients by driving traffic to their websites through aggressive search engine optimization, pay per click management, and social media marketing. SEO.com then turns those visitors into sales through search-optimized Web design and conversion optimization. Clients range from small startups to Fortune 100 companies. For more information, visit http://www.seo.com/

SEO.com is hosting the Utah Tech Council’s industry breakfast Thursday, July 29 from 8 to 9:30 a.m. at its corporate headquarters at 14870 Pony Express Road in Bluffdale.

Tim Sullivan, president and CEO of Ancestry.com, will speak on “How to Execute a Big Idea.”

He will tell the story of Ancestry.com’s experience of landing the hit NBC TV show, “Who Do You Think You Are?” and will discuss how to tackle similar big ideas and projects that may seem insurmountable. The show, which will return in August, features celebrities such as Spike Lee, Susan Sarandon, Emmitt Smith and Sarah Jessica Parker using Ancestry.com’s software to trace their roots and discover their ancestors. It has brought massive exposure to Sullivan’s company.

WHEN:
Thursday, July 29
8 – 9:30 a.m.
COST:
$15 for UTC Member
$30 for Non UTC Member
REGISTER NOW:

Event location:
SEO.com
14870 Pony Express Road
Bluffdale, Utah

Driving Directions:
Take I-15 to exit 288, 14600 South. Keep right at the fork and follow signs for Bluffdale. Merge onto UT-140 West. Turn left at I-15 Frontage Road/Pony Express Road. SEO will be on the right.

Event date: 7/29/2010 8 a.m.

In the email, Yahoo confirmed that they are currently testing the Bing powered results “offline”, but today, for the first time, Yahoo confirmed that they will be testing the Bing powered results in the live search results this month.

The email said:

“Though much of our testing is already happening offline, this month (July 2010) we’ll also test the deliver of organic and paid search results provided by Microsoft on live Yahoo! traffic.” Yahoo also said: “testing volumes will fluctuate during this period” and they will ensure to keep the “paid search volume in particular kept low” so that it will not impact their advertisers adversely.

It is assumed that the complete switch over will happen sometime in August or September, depending on how the testing goes, but you should keep your eyes open for the Bing search results on Yahoo as early as the next few days.

PROVO, Utah – For the second-straight year, the Utah Valley Entrepreneurial Forum has named SEO.com among the fastest growing businesses in its annual “Top 25 Under 5 Awards.” SEO.com landed the 6th spot this year after ranking 17 in 2009.

“It’s exciting to be on this list two years in a row, but dang it, we want that top spot,” said a smiling Dave Bascom, CEO of SEO.com. “There’s always next year.”

The Utah Valley Entrepreneurial Forum (UVEF) recognizes the best emerging companies in the state of Utah based on revenue growth and job creation. The UVEF uses these awards to help promote local companies that may become industry leaders throughout the region, state and the world. Recent winners include ZAGG, Interbank FX, Seastone, Altiris, and Omniture.

“These rankings are not a coincidence,” said Derek Miller, managing director of the Governor’s Office of Economic Development. “It is because of our entrepreneurs and the hard working men and women in this state.”

“Some really great companies have been recognized here in the past, and this year’s group is impressive.” Bascom said. “It really is an honor to be recognized along with these successful companies.”

SEO.com’s monthly revenue has increased more than 600 percent in the last two years. Since its launch in June, 2007, SEO.com has hired about 70 employees and helped numerous clients rank at the top of the search engines, which has delivered an average return on investment of more than 2,000 percent. SEO.com has also garnered national attention – just recently being named the No. 2 SEO firm in the country by Website Magazine. Currently, SEO.com has more than 150 clients ranging from small businesses to Fortune 100 companies.

The success and accolades are extremely rewarding for Bascom, who started to company in his basement just a few years ago.

“It’s been a lot of hard work,” Bascom said. “In many ways I feel like we’re just getting started. Keep an eye on us because our best is yet to come.”

About UVEF

UVEF is a volunteer non-profit support group linking entrepreneurs to Money, Markets, and Mentors. Celebrating 20 years of new business success, UVEF empowers current and future business leaders to thrive in today’s competitive market. The organization provides real-world, practical educational and valuable resources on how to access needed capital, attract new customers and tap into industry experts. For information on upcoming meetings, speakers, and membership, visit www.uvef.net.

About SEO.com

SEO.com is a search marketing firm that makes its clients money by driving traffic to their websites through aggressive search engine optimization, pay per click management, and social media marketing. SEO.com then turns those visitors into sales through search-optimized Web design and conversion optimization. Clients range from small startups to Fortune 100 companies. For more information, visit http://www.seo.com/

In the official announcement, Google reps have said that they created this new index because “content on the Web is blossoming. It’s growing not just in size and numbers but with the advent of video, images, news and real-time updates; the average webpage is richer and more complex. In addition, people’s expectations for search are higher than they used to be. Searchers want to find the latest relevant content and publishers expect to be found the instant they publish.”

What this means to the user is that content will be available to searchers more quickly. In doing a quick search for Matt Cutts, the latest post added to the index was that of Matt McGee of Search Engine Land only 26 minutes ago. That’s FAST!

What this means for the SEO is that creating and publishing new, valuable, optimized content on a regular basis is going to be key in driving large amounts traffic from the Google SERPs.

Three months ago, 30 of us SEO geeks measured our body fat, then put together individual diet and fitness plans. The person who would lose the highest percentage of their body fat percentage by June 1 would win an iPad, or something of equal value.

The competition was fierce in the first month. People came in the office each morning bragging about running three miles, biking 10 miles, lifting weights and eating only tofu. Some malicious contestants planted booby-traps of cookies, brownies, donuts and chocolate cake around the office to repress would-be fitness gurus.

By the second month, the bragging subsided. By the third month, half of the competitors dropped out. In the end, only 14 returned to the Bod Pod to have their body composition analyzed. Of the 14 stalwarts, two of them actually gained fat percentage — one of them intentionally. So, out of dozen who kept up with their fitness plan, they lost 140.046 pounds of fat, which equaled a 218.22% loss of the total fat percentage.

Overall Winners:

1st Place, and the winner of the iPad: Michael Hasson. He lost 34.09% of his beginning percentage of body fat. Went from 31% to 20%
2nd Place: Dan Bischoff. Lost 30% of his beginning percentage of body fat. Went from 22% to 15%.
3rd place: Albert Mitchell. Lost 28% of his beginning percentage of body fat. Went from 18.6% to 13.4%

Woman Winner:

Tiana Smith. Lost 9.88% of her beginning percentage of body fat.

Total Fat Loss Winners:

1st Place: Michael Hasson. He lost 26 lbs of fat.
2nd Place: Andy Eliason. He dropped 23 lbs.
3rd Place: Rick Hardman. He shed 17 lbs.

Most Ripped (Total Muscle Gain Winners):

1st Place: Darren Bradley, gained 12.4 pounds of muscle.
2nd Place: Dan Bischoff, gained 7 lbs.
3rd Place: Albert Mitchell, put on 4 lbs.

Total Weight Loss Winners:

1st Place: Michael Hasson, dropped 29.4 total pounds.
2nd Place: Andrew Eliason: 21 lbs.
3rd Place: Dan Patterson: 18.512 lbs.

Extreme Last Place Loser. The Twinkie Award:

David Malmborg. He gained 35.714 % of fat from his beginning fat percentage. Went from 9.8% to 13.3% total body fat. He gained more than 6 pounds of fat and lost 2 pounds of muscle. And he recieved a box of Zingers for all his hard work.

Below is everyone in order of their rankings:

Michael Hasson 1st Place: Lost 34.09 % of his beginning % of body fat.

Dan Bischoff: 2nd place: Lost 29.9539 % of his beginning % of body fat.

Albert Mitchell: 3rd place: Lost 27.957 % of his beginning % of body fat.

Andy Eliason: 4th Place: Lost 22.6744 % of his beginning % of body fat.

Dan Patterson: 5th place: Lost 22.314% of his beginning % of body fat.

Scott Smoot: 6th Place: Lost 18.774% of his beginning % of body fat.

Darren Bradley: 7th Place: Lost 18.0645% of his beginning% of body fat.

Joe Bergevin: 8th Place: Lost 13.988% of his beginning % of body fat

Rick Hardman: 9th place: Lost 10.1695 % of his beginning % of body fat.

Tiana Smith: 10th Place, 1st for women: Lost 9.8765 % of her beginning % of body fat

Robyn Storms: 11th Place: Lost 9.009 % of her beginning % of body fat

TJ Welsh: 12th Place: Lost 1.35 % of his beginning % of body fat.

Nathan Blair: 13th Place: Gained 0.2989 % of his beginning % of body fat. Went from 8.9% to 9.7%.

David Malmborg: Dead Last Place: Gained 35.714 % of fat from his beginning %. Went from 9.8% to 13.3%

SALT LAKE CITY – Can businesses make money with Foursquare? Right now?

That’s the question SEO.com will try to answer in the coming months.

To find out if Foursquare is a legitimate tool for businesses, the SEO company will manage free Foursquare campaigns for a select number of companies. SEO.com will track the success and release the results later in the summer.

“To be honest, we don’t know if Foursquare will work. Some of us think it will, others don’t,” said Dave Bascom, chief executive at SEO.com. “But we’re looking for strong case studies to prove whether Foursquare can be a tool for marketers and location-based businesses.”

There is growing hype around Foursquare, an up-and-coming social site. It is gaining 15,000 new members each day and has eclipsed the 1 million mark one year before Twitter did. Those numbers are the reason for SEO.com’s interest. But the same numbers also support the naysayers’ view.

“Compared to Facebook and Twitter, Foursquare is small. But we think it could fill a marketing void where other social media sites fall short,” said Chris Knudsen, vice president of marketing at SEO.com. “Many think Foursquare needs businesses more than businesses need Foursquare right now.”

Foursquare’s platform may offer unique opportunities that the other giant social media sites don’t. Users check in at locations, earn badges, become mayors, and businesses can award users for any of those actions.

“Foursquare seems built for the mobile phone, for offering specials, and for engaging customers on a different level that can create strong loyalty,” Bascom said. “Those who work with us on this case study will receive a free Foursquare marketing campaign and will be featured in our report that will be published towards the end of the summer.”

For more information, or to sign up for the Foursquare ROI challenge, go to http://www.seo.com/foursquare/

These new pages are no longer bland and boring, and now shows up to five pages of topics that are trending in search. One really cool feature it added is the ability to turn on the auto-scroll feature so you don’t have to scroll through the pages manually.

Yahoo said it has already seen double digit percentage increases in engagement for both image and video search since it launched the new home pages, and a 60% increase in time spent on the image search home page.

Here are screen shots of the new look taken from the YSearch Blog:

This is great news for anyone who blogs about current events and performs SEO tactics on images to acquire a new and increased source of traffic to their websites.

In the announcement Google said, “all community edits will be reviewed before they are shown.” For local business owners, this means that competitors and spammers will no longer be able to edit your business listing however they see fit, which as been a huge problem in the past.

Regardless of how long ago this should have happened, this is a welcomed news released by Google. We are unsure just how many edits Google Maps get on a regular basis, but it seems as though Google is ready to process each and every one of them manually before any of those edits show up in the map listings.

Even though the death of this community edit free-for-all is taking place, one crucial piece of local SEO advice still remains the same — Claim your Google Maps listing and sync the information found on it with what’s on your website and your other local listings.