Archive for December, 2007

They say that Canada is one of the most wired nations in the world. This should not be a surprise to anyone. Canada has a strong economy (especially when compared to the US) and Canada has a smaller population which should provide a larger per capita percentage of Internet users. So we were looking around for some Canadian Internet usage stats and came up with some interesting findings.

For example, did you know that

• By mid 2007 an estimated 85% of Canadian households with Internet access used broadband connections.
• Over 95% of Canadians live in communities served by high-speed Internet access.
• Rapidly increasing demand for cable VoIP is fuelling demand for cable broadband in Canada.
• By the end of 2006 Canada had the ninth highest broadband penetration in the world.
• In Canada, broadband is defined as speeds in excess of 64Kbps, a lower threshold than in other countries.
• By end-2006 although Canada’s wireless carriers offered coverage to more than 98% of the population, only 58% of all Canadians were mobile phone customers.
• Online sales more than doubled in Canada from 2003-2006, and nearly half of Canadian retail firms now have a Web site, compared to the 42% that did in 2005.
• It is expected that the average amount that Canadians spend online will grow strongly over the next three years. Seasoned online buyers (rather than new ones) will drive overall market growth.
• Canadians are either on par or ahead of their US peers in purchasing electronics, travel and event tickets online.
• Canada is a world leader in Internet adoption, time spent online and electronic banking and bill payment.
• With the number of subscribers to wireless products and service totalling close to 13.9 million by mid-2004, almost 43% of Canadians now have access to a wireless device.
• In 2007, Canada had approximately 22 million Internet users representing a 67.8% penetration rate. (Source: ITU)

According to the Computer Industry Almanac Inc, 2005 Internet Usage looked like this:

I want to talk about the Search Engine Marketing job Market in Canada because I feel I need to clarify a few things. I have seen too many companies lately who are looking to hire a Junior Search Marketing Specialist with 1-2 years of experience (or so) or freshly out of school and expect to pay them $25-35k a year. If you are one of those, I have some news for you: that person does not exist. Why? Because there are simply no school that teaches Search Marketing in Canada. Demand for serious Search Marketing Specialists at all levels keeps increasing and there is a scarcity of talent in this field, which does not yet regenerate itself. In desperation, and after they have been searching for months to fill positions, business owners are calling me and ask if I know anyone. They are telling me that their job posting on Craigslist is not generating anything. Strange isn’t it? The gap between offer and demand keeps growing and the situation is alarming.

Therefore, I think there are misconceptions that would need to be broken here. Unfortunately, and I have met a lot of people that were *somewhat* interested in Search Marketing, I don’t know anyone remotely as passionate about search marketing as I do. Hands on SEO with the motivation that leads to results can only come from 2 places (as far as I know): the owner of a company, a professional self-taught Canadian SEO such as Chris Breikss, Darcy Foster, Chris Genge, Ross Dunn, Jim Hedger, Ken Jurina, Andrew Goodman, Gord Hotckiss, Andrea Hadley and a bunch of others in their respective teams. That being said, what puzzles me here is that business owners are looking for SEO talent in the wrong places with unreasonable expectations with respect of the current job market. Proof? In all honesty, it does not seem normal to me to post an SEO job on craigslist and not receive anything back, especially when the job has been posted for months. If you are looking for a junior SEO, which seems to be the brand of choice these days, you are not the only one in that boat. A lot of business owners are going fishing for SEO pros that will work full time for us but those who have the knowledge already have their plate full with their own business.

The main issue here is that there is no Search Marketing education program nearby to fill the accrued needs. Since this is a new market, it is currently filled with disconnects and the sooner business owners will acknowledge the state of search marketing in Canada, the sooner we will be able to elaborate solutions.

Recommended Solution:
If you represent a University, a College, a School or everything in between, I seriously recommend that you start developing search marketing programs so that people in your community can learn about it. SEMPO Institute will help you. I will help you. The only program in Canada that has been brought to my attention lately was one from Fanshawe College in London (Ontario) with only one search marketing course and only as part of a full-on marketing degree. Universities want to position themselves as online & web savvy but most don’t have a search marketing program in place, which is the basis of any online promotion. They pretend but they don’t walk the talk. Maybe their Ad Agency can help. I doubt.

Other Solutions:
Take Action: Join SEMPO Canada sempo.ca and start beating the drum locally. We need help to fill the growing demand of search marketing specialists of the canadian business community.

If you don’t do any of this, you have no right to complain that you can’t find the people you need.

Canadians were obsessed by the saga of pop star Britney Spears in 2007, according to Yahoo! Canada’s list of top 10 online searches, with her name coming in second only to searches for hockey news.

Rounding out the rest of the top 10 searches were TV show American Idol, WWE (World Wrestling and Entertainment), celebrity blogger Perez Hilton, Revenue Canada, the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corp, Environment Canada, Paris Hilton and NASCAR.

Last year’s overall top 10 searches included the National Hockey League, FIFA World Cup, American Idol, Rock Star Supernova, WWE, virtual pet Web site Neopets, Revenue Canada, TV soap opera Days of our Lives, Environment Canada and pop star Jessica Simpson.

Source Reuters India