The 5 reasons why I Am still blogging after many years:

• Contribute to the Search Engine Marketing World – I have learned so much about all things of SEM/PPC/SEO during all these past years, and believe I should contribute back to the SEM world by sharing my knowledge.
• I like WordPress – My Blog is now on WordPress: WordPress is great and powerful web publishing tool, besides many other benefits. WordPress is easy and convenient for anyone (from no to any levels of coding/programming experience) to release user-generated content to the web. From the very beginning WordPress made it easy for creating SEO friendly URLs, whether you are creating a website or a blog. You can find too many free, useful WordPress addons/plugins to improve your site / blog.
• Learn from Web Analytics – Running a website or a blog allows you to use free web analytics tools such as Google Analytics to monitor your site’s visitor/traffic. Learning where your blog’s traffic are coming from, and what web pages are being searched and viewed the most allow you to offer better content and create a better website for your visitors.
• Become a Webmaster – Running a website or a blog makes you a webmaster. Being a webmaster you should make good use of Google Webmaster Tools which provides information on SEO and technical issues that your site may have.
• Build Online Resume: Show your expertise on your blog to complement your LinkedIn Resume.

PPC Topics Shared

I have shared many PPC topics over the years that include:

• PPC Optimization Tips
• Google Adwords PPC Optimization Tips
• Google Adwords Quality Score
• Baidu Phoenix Nest PPC vs Google Adwords
• Google SEM Tools 2011 Update

SEO / PPC Gurus

I absolutely need to mention these names as over the past years I have learned so much from these PPC / SEO / Site Optimization gurus:

• Vinny Lingham – Figured out Google Adwords advanced optimization techniques in the early days back in 2003, and also an entrepreneur of 2 start-ups, Clicks2Customers.com and Yola.com
• Stephen Noton – Over the years, Google been updating the organic ranking algorithms. However, even before new organic ranking algorithms went live, Stephen often has figured out Google’s trends. He has helped different global companies as an SEO consultant with his SEO methods for many years. Stephen has offered his understanding in Google, Yahoo and Bing search algorithms.
• Zhang, Guoping – Offers systematic approach to create a large website that is scalable, trackable and SEO friendly. Guoping emphases on the importance of creating SEO dashboard reports and has developed some SEO tools for free download.
• Ryee – Has years of experience in Chinese SEO for high-traffic and large user-generated content sites down to every single tiny details.

Derrick Wheeler and Avinash Kaushik are the 2 other experts who I have never met in person but are required mentioning.

• Derrick Wheeler, Microsoft’s Chief SEO Architect: Handles SEO for Microsoft’s mega websites.
• Avinash Kaushik, Web Analytics expert: Offers insights, high-level thoughts and every aspect on Web Analytics through his blog.

My Blog’s History

My work experience can be found on about Gordon Choi, and here is the history of my blog www.gordonchoi.com:

• My blog with domain name www.gordonchoi.com has been active for over 4.5 years since June 2006.
• My blog was all about pay-per-click (PPC) related topics on tips, experiences and tools, and news topics on China Internet and China search engines.
• I started my blog 4 months after I moved from Johannesburg South Africa to Cape Town South Africa to join Clicks2Customers.com (an Incubeta company), which is still today one of the most experienced PPC companies with in-depth knowledge in global search engine marketing.
• I continued blogging on www.gordonchoi.com after I joined Alibaba.com in Hangzhou China where I managed the PPC team. I subsequently joined Ctrip.com in Shanghai China to take up PPC/SEO/Analytics.

PPC

PPC topics on www.gordonchoi.com include Google Adwords, Adwords Content Network, Baidu PPC, Bing Adcenter, Yahoo Search Marketing, and PPC trends:

• Google Adwords – Google Adwords Quality Score, Adwords Conversion Optimizer, Adwords conversion tracking, Google Adwords PPC optimization tips, Adwords Enhanced CPC
• Adwords Content Network – Adwords Remarketing, retargeting to Google Content Network
• Baidu PPC – Baidu Phoenix Nest PPC vs Google Adwords, Advertise on Baidu
• Bing Adcenter – Microsoft Adcenter Desktop, Adcenter conversion tracking, Bing Adcenter PPC optimization, Yahoo PPC to Adcenter tips
• Yahoo Search Marketing – Yahoo Search Marketing Problems
• SEM/PPC systems – Kenshoo Search, Google Adwords search ad auction system
• PPC – PPC metrics, PPC business models, Global PPC team structure

Non-PPC, All Over the Internet

Over the years, topics including search engine optimization (SEO, Google SEO, Bing SEO, Baidu SEO, Yahoo SEO), Web Analytics / Google Analytics, Google tools, Google Webmaster Tools, B2C websites, landing page optimization Microblogging, LinkedIn, China SNS (social network sites) have been added to www.gordonchoi.com to compliment PPC topics:

• SEO – Google, Yahoo and Bing search algorithms revised, SEO glossary
• Google SEO – Google SEO for beginners, SEO geo targeting, Increase Google PageRank
• Bing SEO – Bing search algorithm, Bing Webmaster Tools, Submit site to Bing
• Baidu SEO – Baidu Robots.txt, Submit site to Baidu, www.Hao123.com
• Yahoo SEO – Yahoo Site Explorer
• Other search engines – Yandex Russian search engine, Submit site to Yandex
• Local search – Submit sites to Google, Yahoo, Bing local business search
• Google tools – Google SEM tools, Google Website Translator
• Keyword tools – SEM keyword research tools, Chinese keyword research tools, Baidu keyword research tool, Bing keyword tools
• Google Analytics – Google Analytics setup, Google Analytics metrics, Google Analytics direct traffic
• Web analytics – Web analytics bounce rate, Baidu Analytics, Yahoo Web Analytics
• B2C websites / Landing page optimization – SEO tips, marketing tips for small websites, Breadcrumb navigation, Optimize landing pages
• Social Media / Microblogging – Twitter vs Google Buzz, LinkedIn resume guide

Roads Ahead for Gordon Choi’s Blog

The roads ahead for Gordon Choi’s blog will be to provide a variety of Internet-related topics, focusing on useful tips, practical experiences, and insights. Of course, PPC, SEO, and web analytics are still going to have big parts on my blog.

Reason #1: Refreshing my memories on updates

As both PPC and SEO are ever-changing techniques, I need to always keep up-to-update with the latest changes. Just to name a few in the past year.

• Google updated Adwords quality score algorithm numerous times.
• Yahoo! launched Panama.
• Baidu introduced Combined Ranking Index.

Reason #2: Researching and learning

Search engine optimization can become very theoretical if you do not have the practical experience. One good experiment is to optimize rankings for your own blog (web site) within the SERP.

Being the sole webmaster of your own blog can be very demanding and time-consuming. You will be able to develop your consistency and patience. You will also gradually be good at other skills besides SEO, such as site architectural planning, content writing, reading, research and HTML.

Reason #3: Sharing my knowledge

As I’m blogging on a consistent basis, I’m sharing my knowledge with all the people reading my blog posts. In the past, I have shared my knowledge and experience regarding pay-per-click marketing on the topics below:

• 5 ways spot to PPC click fraud
• 5 reasons to avoid 2nd- and 3rd- tier PPC search engines
• 5 reasons paid search becoming more competitive in 2007
• Google Adwords content network strategies

I can go on and list a few more.

Reason #4: Promoting the services of company I’m working for

For those who do not know who I’m currently working for, you are more than welcome to check out my profile. There we have a team of very talented people with years of experience on paid search marketing. We are certainly not the largest company in the search marketing industry, but we believe that we are as good as any top companies.

Reason #5: Creating my online resume

By combining the use of my blog and my resume-like LinkedIn profile, I have created a detailed online resume for whoever interested to view. Remember, it is never a shame to tell people what you are good at!

Finally

Okay, here are the 5 bloggers I’m tagging,

• Shimon Sandler
• Gemme van Hasselt
• Lim Cheng-Soon
• Michelle Clarke
• Tony Lopes

• English is my second language. I used to struggle to write simple essays in English before I graduated from high school, but here I am blogging in English without any problem.
• I studied part-time for 6 years and obtained my bachelor degree (computer science and mathematics), while I had a full-time day job. I did not even attend a single class.
• I was once a COBOL programmer.
• I used to sell health supplement on a network marketing basis before I officially had my first full-time job.
• I was the Chinese Chess Champion of the junior league at my first high school in Hong Kong.

It took me awhile to find 3 bloggers who have not been blog tagged. So here are the 3 people I’m tagging:

• Jeremy Zawodny
• Seth Godin
• Shimon Sandler

Have fun!

P. S. You can find the summary of my work experience from about Gordon Choi.

• I was so impressed by the high quantity of free WordPress addons (or plugins) which are available all over the Internet.
• In terms of customization, MovableType is more suitable to the tech savvy guys (aka professional web developers) who are able to frequently add or change codes, while WordPress can be easily customized if you know where to find the right plugins.

As for me I have my expertise (PPC & SEO) in the fields other than web development, it would be rather easier for me to manage and customize my blog in the long run.