I have a lot of SEM agency friends who refuse to participate in RFPs (requests for proposals). Their rationale usually boils down to this: if you (e.g., the agency) wasn't involved in writing the RFP, you aren't going to win. Or to put it another way: With most RFPs, the "fix is in" -- there's an agency that has already won, but the marketing team has to go through the RFP process to appease procurement.

When it comes to search algorithm changes, Google has gone from making official announcements to a "this is something we do every day so don't expect to hear from us" attitude. With this in mind, the upcoming mobile-friendly algorithm change is a very big deal.

Some brands have been obsessed with the notion that rankings are the only SEO metrics that matter. While rankings can contribute to overall success, they are not a reliable measurement or predictor of success. Instead, increases in traffic and revenue, along with other conversion metrics, should be the sole metric by which SEO success is measured.

I'm not sure exactly when it happened (my guess is 2011, when smartphone shipments surpassed PCs) but the "Year of Mobile" has officially come and gone. We're also past the year of "Mobile Too," in which principles like responsive design dictated our approach to creating experiences that worked for consumers on desktops and mobile devices alike. We're now in an era of "Mobile-First" thinking, when all marketers must adopt this mantra or (their brands will) perish. So what does "Mobile First" mean for search marketers? Here are 10 key areas to focus on:

SEM superstars are in great demand these days, and likely will continue to be for several years to come. That said, tying your horse to SEM exclusively is a dangerous proposition these days. The market is moving toward multichannel, multi-device marketing; eventually, SEM-only experts run the risk of becoming obsolete.