I've had quite a few emails this week from companies that are looking to get
into the search engine marketing (specifically search optimization) game and
most of them are making a common, but sometimes major mistake. They're waiting
until their sites are built or their redesigns are complete before seeking out
search engine optimization advice. Take a deep breath and stop putting all your
focus in to creating something that looks great, but might never find its way in
front of its intended audience.
More Search Engine News | Search Engine Archive
I generally cover what most of us think of as paid search, where the search
engines collect the ad revenue. This includes PPC paid placement, shopping
engines, and paid inclusion. Today, though, I'm going to discuss an increasingly
popular and controversial type of paid search that bridges the gap between
organic SEO and contextual ad placements. Paid direct links are ad links
purchased either directly from sites or through a network. Unlike PPC search
links, these are standard HTML links.
More Search Engine News | Search Engine Archive
Travel search marketers are the most strategically sophisticated in driving
online activity and spending significantly less on search than counterparts in
other industries, according to a new JupiterResearch study. The report, titled
“U.S. Online Travel Search Marketing Executive Survey 2007,” found online
travelers continue to research on multiple Web sites. To respond to this
competition, online travel industry marketers are using bid management tools and
Web analytics.
More Search Engine News | Search Engine Archive
Authority sites are sites of value. They have large numbers of inbound links
from similar well linked sites, have been online for a while and tend to be
content heavy. Their 'authority' is accumulated by their inbound link structure
and passes via link popularity and implied endorsement to the sites they link
to. Links from authority sites can lead to a boost in ranking and online
credibility and for now, is the strongest of the relevancy criteria when it
comes to building links.
More Search Engine News
In the third installment of this four-part series, we continue to focus on
building an SEO report card for your Web site. After reviewing site URL
structures, linking structure, and navigation, we're finally ready to deepen our
understanding of the role keywords play in driving targeted search engine
referrals. First, take some time to review your Web site's title tags. Title
tags play a definitive role in helping search engines understand what your site
is all about.
More Search Engine News
In the first two parts of this series, I identified some important search-based
metrics to watch for during the good times, and began to outline ways to
identify site problems. Now we'll look at the remaining metrics and suggest ways
to correct the traffic drops that accompany their decline. Each engine measures
(and reports) links differently, so expect constant minor fluctuation and
numbers that disagree from engine to engine.
More Search Engine (SEO & SEM) News >>
One logical way to initiate a natural SEO campaign is to prepare a report card
for your current Web site. In the first part of this series, we reviewed how to
set up a report card for your Web site. We also established some simple
guidelines for measuring your SEO project's results. We'll continue our
site-o-analysis process to get a handle on any structural issues that could
affect your site's overall search engine visibility.
More Search Engine (SEO & SEM) News >>
Google has done more to facilitate local online advertising than anyone could
easily quantify. When an advertiser creates a free local business center listing
(which consists of the business name, address, phone number, hours of operation,
payments accepted, relevant business categories, and the like), he becomes
eligible to promote his services through a special location-targeted Sponsored
Link. Why pay for an ad?
More Search Engine (SEO & SEM) News >>
As click costs rise, many companies who are already investing in active pay per
click marketing campaigns are looking toward hiring a search engine optimization
company to supplement their marketing portfolio in order to increase their
exposure and reduce their advertising spend. It is important to recognize the
innate differences in pay per click campaigns and search engine optimization
when trying to quantify results.
More Search Engine (SEO & SEM) News >>
A programmer friend recently contacted me about a site with search traffic that
had nosedived. His boss was feeling the pain, creating a ripple effect through
the company. I posed several questions, which he forwarded to his boss. The boss
couldn't answer any of them quickly, which made me think about how important it
is to have a good understanding of some basic organic search benchmarks, even
during periods of high search traffic.
More Search Engine (SEO & SEM) News >>
While pretty much anyone that knows anything about search engine optimization
can tell you that links are important (ok, REALLY important), most of the small
business owners that I've spoken with really don't have any idea of why links
matter beyond the simple concept that links will help them rank better. Today,
I'll explore the idea of links as the threads of the web, helping both search
engines and humans find their way from one site to another.
More Search Engine (SEO & SEM) News >>
Obviously, getting your site to rank high in the search engine results and
getting searchers to click through to your site are among the foremost
objectives of B2B search engine optimization. But that's just the beginning. You
still have to turn the visitor into a customer or client. In the
business-to-business realm, conversion (turning a site visitor into a customer)
can take months or even years—and it typically doesn't occur online.
More Search Engine (SEO & SEM) News >>
Keyword research is a vitally important aspect of your search engine
optimization campaign. If your site is targeting the wrong keywords, the search
engines and your customers may never find you, resulting in lost dollars and
meaningless rankings. By targeting the wrong keywords, you not only put valuable
advertising dollars at risk, you are also throwing away all the time and energy
you put into getting your site to rank for those terms to begin with.
More Search Engine (SEO & SEM) News >>
