Eric Van Buskirk is available for consulting and project management on a contract basis. Start 2012 with a smarter web presence at affordable rates. Please use the contact form if you are interested in his social media, Internet marketing, or website development services. Please also see the ClickStream Marketing portfolio with a sample of projects he oversaw.
Van Buskirk launched and maintains Tweet Philadelphia as a solo project. Other than proofreaders, he built everything you see. The site is on a WordPress platform with a professional theme he customized.
Van Buskirk is a South Philly resident who emigrated from NYC 1 1/2 years ago. Since 1996 he worked on interactive media initiatives with partnership companies or clients. The exception was 6 years, in 2 year stints, when he worked on off-line, direct marketing campaign management. He started ClickStream Marketing, Inc., an interactive agency, and grew it to 15 employees, from 2004-2007.
With an MS in Mass Communication from Boston University, the social component of the Internet was always at the forefront of his interests. In 1995, when one of the top 5 sites on the Web was zima.com (remember them? The wine cooler?) he worked with other graduate students chosen by Barnes and Noble as managers that oversaw production of their first site: a Website community for college students (loci.com).
ClickStream Marketing, Inc was the first US company devoted to Web services in Cebu, the tech hub of the Philippines, and was recognized by the Philippines Board of Investments. Running Clickstream required hands-on experience with the entire Website development and Internet marketing implementation cycle, from domain purchase to server software use. In addition to client projects, the company ran over 20 publisher Websites and blogs. ClickStream completed many complex dynamic and Ecommerce Websites with clients.
Today there are over 40 companies or branch offices in Cebu focused on web design, development and/or marketing for US clients or companies.
At SmartAge.com, a marketing portal for small business, Van Buskirk was the Senior Manager for Partner Marketing in 2001, overseeing account relationships with some of the largest sites on the Web and with Fortune 500 companies such as AT&T and IBM.
As the Channel Partner Manager for Delphi Forums in 2000, he managed major web-based software distribution partners. His partnership work with Hasbro resulted in a Web based community which was a finalist in New England’s largest Interactive Media award ceremony.
Social media marketing and organic search results.
Tweet Philadelphia gets the majority of visits from Web search. It has strong inbound links from authority websites.
Van Buskirk’s participation in online community with other interactive media specialists goes back to the late 90s, and some of his profiles on websites are over 10 years old, resulting in “author authority” that gives high search placement for an individual’s website. Search engines are just beginning to rank individuals the way they did websites: based on the “trust” and authority from signals that indicate others’ like, follow, and share what a person contributes on the Web.
Organic search started its long road toward producing relevant information in the early 2000s. Today professionals with more than a few years of expertise in how search engines function keep their attention on this special skill set. And with good reason. There are few professionals with as many as four years of experience. Great interactive content, connections with other authority sites and individuals, as well as sophisticated Website development, ultimately results in strong organic search results. This was a major part of Van Buskirk ‘s work background as early as 1998. Today is no different. Van Buskirk differentiates himself from SEO and social media specialists by focusing on integrating the two in Web strategy.
Twitter and Facebook are in the news because of their explosive growth, but referrals from search engine results pages (SERPS) remain the main source of Website visits. Social media experts come from a variety of disciplines: PR, advertising, and offline marketing for example. They typically do not bring an expert understanding of how to fine-tune Websites so they are user, platform (including mobile), and search friendly. Social media has a huge impact on search traffic, but to leverage the “signal strength” of social media activities and maximize SERPS for Websites, the social activities need to be done with advanced research and implementation of keywords, competitor’s SERPs, on-site clickstream, and off-site inbound links.
