June 2009 Archives

Applying Probability to Landing Page Optimization

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Website Marketing

on June 30, 2009 8:19 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Landing page optimization is based on statistics, and statistics is based on probability theory. And probability theory is concerned with the study of random events.

But a lot of people might object that the behavior of your landing page visitors isn't "random." Your visitors aren't as simple as the roll of a die. They visit your landing page for a reason, and act (or fail to act) based on their own internal motivations.

See the full story at: http://searchenginewatch.com/3634190

Spend Less on Pay-Per-Click

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Website Marketing

on June 29, 2009 8:16 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Cutting down on PPC expenditures is at the forefront of SEM discussions these days. By the looks of search marketing agency IMPAQT's newly enhanced Adaptive Bidding tool, marketers will be able to do more with less - a key to surving in today's economic climate for many businesses. In some instances the tool is reducing cost for search-originated acquisitions by nearly 80%. That's the sort of saving that can't be overlooked.

See the full story at: http://www.websitemagazine.com/content/blogs/posts/archive/2009/06/25/spend-less-on-pay-per-click.aspx

SEO Friendly Site Structure - If You Build it, Will They Come?

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Website Marketing

on June 26, 2009 8:13 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Your site's content is at the heart of what your site will rank for, and to a strong degree how well it will rank. Simply put, you need lots of it. I mean tons. Building authority takes more than a page or two, it takes a page or two or ten on every sub-topic of every category of a big idea or kind of product.

OK...once that's done, now what? You built it, now will they come?

They will come only if you've structured your information in a way that's easy for visitors to navigate, and for search engines to understand. You will see the traffic you desire only if your content complements your overall goals, your reputation feeds itself from top to bottom, and you've got good structure.

See the full story at: http://searchenginewatch.com/3634097

How Long Should It Take for SEO to Show Results?

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Website Marketing

on June 25, 2009 9:24 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

The typical question that gives many SEO professionals a bit of a gut-check is, "How long will it take for you to show me results?" Typically, the answer will vary based on the age of the site in question and the level of competition for high volume keywords, if boiling it down to two major factors.

However, there are considerably more elements to a fully-fledged answer. These are also split into new vs. redesigned or reformatted (URL) Web site.

See the full story at: http://searchenginewatch.com/3634072

Quality SEO Pays for Itself

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Website Marketing

on June 24, 2009 9:58 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

I saw this question posted on a message board recently:

Title: Wanted SEO/SEM Vendor Referral Message: Does anyone have a COST EFFECTIVE SEO and SEM vendor referral. I am open to outsourcing, if referral for trustworthy vendor. Thanks, "Uninformed Buyer"

I actually cringed in horror; just look at those capital letters on precisely the wrong attributes! Cost is usually the wrong question to focus on when choosing a search engine optimization professional, as it implies you are buying a commodity.

Strategic effectiveness and search marketing profitability impact are much more appropriate questions. A quality SEO is all too rare, and should be priced like fine artwork.

If search engine optimization is about organic ranking effectiveness on the web that drives relevant, converting and revenue-generating traffic - wouldn't online research of organic listings be a good first step? I'd assert it would be a good place to create a short prospect list of vendors to perform due diligence.

See the full story at: http://searchenginewatch.com/3634113

Effective PPC Ad Copy 101, Part 2

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Website Marketing

on June 23, 2009 9:21 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

In Part 1, we covered the searcher behavior funnel and tips for writing headlines and descriptions. Now we'll venture beyond the ad copy to discuss methods for testing and fine-tuning your ads to increase performance.

After you've finished writing your initial ad copy and have launched your PPC campaign, you might be tempted to just leave everything as is and let it ride. This is a big mistake. The key to a successful campaign is to check how well your ads are performing, and check them often.

See the full story at: http://searchenginewatch.com/3634162

Search Engine Submission 101, Part 2

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Website Marketing

on June 20, 2009 8:18 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

As I stated previously, manual and automated search engine submissions are still around, but are of little to no value. Some would maintain they are a complete waste of time. So what's the alternative?

Google Sitemaps Back in 2005, Google launched an initiative called Google Sitemaps, which provided webmasters with a better tool to keep Google informed of new web pages and updates. This was a much better process than having webmasters submitting their site manually or in some automated way.

Later, Yahoo, MSN and Ask united around the XML sitemap protocol and they are all supporting it through Sitemaps.org. So if you are considering any type of submission, then this is the way to do it.

See the full story at: http://searchenginewatch.com/3633773

Search Engine Submission 101, Part 1

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Website Marketing

on June 19, 2009 8:08 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Although it isn't as important as it once was, search engine submission is still a SEO best practice. Search engines prefer finding your site and associated Web pages on their own. However, submitting your site to search engines doesn't hurt, as long as you're careful not to overdo it.

See the full story at: http://searchenginewatch.com/3633692

Video Search 101, Part 2

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Website Marketing

on June 18, 2009 9:28 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Many people agree that its video searching capabilities are much better than Google's. This is just another indication that video search is growing in importance.

Last time, we looked at keyword research, tips on video production, and landing pages for video search. Today, we'll look at distribution and keyword placement and tracking/analytics.

See the full story at: http://searchenginewatch.com/3634013

Video Search 101, Part 1

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Website Marketing

on June 17, 2009 9:42 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

With Internet video on the rise and the search engines looking more favorably on video content, there's an opportunity to leverage this medium for your SEO efforts. We'll focus on five steps for optimizing for video search, many which run parallel to traditional SEO best practices:

1. Keyword research

2. Video production

3. Landing pages

4. Distribution and keyword placement

5. Tracking/analytics

See the full story at: http://searchenginewatch.com/3633933

Effective PPC Ad Copy 101, Part 1

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Website Marketing

on June 16, 2009 8:22 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

One of the most important factors of a successful PPC campaign is writing successful ad copy. You can spend a good deal of time on other aspects of your campaign but skimp on the ad copy and you might not get the results you're looking for. This two-part article will review several tips for crafting high performing ad copy and methods for testing its effectiveness.

See the full story at: http://searchenginewatch.com/3634082

Five Ways to Use Twitter to Improve Your Marketing

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Website Marketing

on June 12, 2009 10:49 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Do you tweet? If so, you're part of a fast growing trend. Emarketer estimates there were about 6 million U.S. adult Twitter users in 2008, 3.8 percent of U.S. adult Internet users. Twitter users in the U.S. are projected to grow to 18.1 million by 2010, representing 10.8 percent of U.S. adult Internet users. Surprisingly, Twitter users tend to be older than traditional Internet early adopters; 45 to 54 year olds, the highest-indexing age group, are 36 percent more likely than average to visit Twitter.

See the full story at: http://www.clickz.com/3633745

Facebook Advertising Basics | Social Promotions

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Website Marketing

on June 11, 2009 8:25 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Let's move beyond traditional search engine marketing for a moment and focus on another very viable opportunity in Facebook advertising. It might be the largest social network site ever developed and is ripe with social marketing opportunities, but it also presents an amazing opportunity to advertise. Facebook is an impressive advertising platform that enables Web marketers/online advertisers to target by interest and demographics. Early adopters recognize it and are already leveraging the platform to drive high quality, inexpensive traffic.

See the full story at: http://www.websitemagazine.com/content/blogs/posts/archive/2009/05/19/facebook-advertising-basics-social-promotions.aspx

Is There a Link Between SEO and Social?

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Website Marketing

on June 10, 2009 9:25 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Why would you go to an SEO firm for the execution of a social campaign?

As you may be able to tell, I'm also trying very hard not to use the term "social media." That term hardly reflects what is essentially modern public relations. Generally speaking, the average SEO shop is a technical resource helping clients to develop or reengineer Web pages to make them more crawler friendly. In my experience, the majority of SEO shops rarely even provide link building services. Having said that, I've always believed that link building is more of a public relations and marketing exercise than it is an SEO one.

See the full story at: http://www.clickz.com/3633920

Future Proofing SEO

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Website Marketing

on June 9, 2009 7:44 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

With all the recent announcements from Google I/O, Microsoft's Bing replacement of Live Search, and Yahoo's shuttering of GeoCities and Yahoo 360, it feels like search is changing in front of our eyes and that somehow SEO must be changing, too. Yet SEO has always been a moving target.

See the full story at: http://www.clickz.com/3633947

Use Blogs to Extend Social Reach, Drive Online Sales

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Website Marketing

on June 8, 2009 7:55 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Rethink blogging.

Before you say that's old hat, let me clarify. Blogging shouldn't be the sporadically updated, self-serving promotion broadcast channel that many retailers, including a few of my clients, create. Rather I suggest creating product-related content that leverages the strength of your firm's expertise. You can use your blog posts to provide useful solutions for consumers as part of an integrated social media marketing strategy to extend your reach and provide engagement that results in sales.

See the full story at: http://www.clickz.com/3633904

Why Not a Widget?

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Website Marketing

on June 5, 2009 9:15 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

A recession doesn't mean that people stop searching the Web. Searching the Web isn't a fad -- it's totally gone mainstream just like streaming media. Sales might drop and conversion rates might falter a bit, but search traffic isn't going down in flames due to the economy. However, search engines will continue to change, and with it SEO will continue to evolve.

See the full story at: http://www.clickz.com/3633786

How to Get Your Mail Past the Inbox Bouncers

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Website Marketing

on June 4, 2009 8:14 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Getting your e-mail opened and read by your recipients is like trying to get into the most exclusive club in town.

Having your name on the VIP list (your recipient's address book or Safe Sender's list) is the best way to get ushered past the velvet rope. If it's not there, you'll have to prove yourself to two tough bouncers, who are there to keep the riffraff out.

If neither bouncer recognizes you right away, you'll either get turned away (blocked) or sent to cool your heels in the rope line (the junk folder).

See the full story at: http://www.clickz.com/3633787

Emerging Trends in Web Design

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Website Marketing

on June 3, 2009 11:39 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Web design neither stands still nor waits for technical innovations before evolving new approaches. The best Web designers observe how people interact with the interfaces they create in order to find what design approaches work best. And by looking at some recent redesigns of sites, several design trends appear to be emerging.

See the full story at: http://www.websitemagazine.com/content/blogs/posts/pages/emerging-trends-in-web-design.aspx

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