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We hear this term all the time – search engine ranking – and rightly so.  It is one of the important things that we should pay attention to when engaging in SEO.  That is why it is called “Search Engine” Optimization after all.  So what should we do in order to climb the ranks of [...]

I hope that I have gotten your attention with regard to page title tags. As I mentioned before, not everyone really pays attention to these. If you just want to blog or create a web site without really focusing on SEO, then that should be just fine. However, if you have the [...]

To be honest with you, I never really paid much attention to this.  As I was going through Google’s Search Engine Optimization Starter Guide, which I talked about in the previous post, I was hit by the realization of just how important the page title is.  According to the guide, the purpose of the page [...]

New data released by Rubicon Consulting shows that online reviews are second only to word of mouth when it comes to influencing consumer purchasing decisions.

Here’s other key points from the survey:

• The Web is the #2 resource for customer support information, after user manuals. It ranks ahead of calling the manufacturer or asking a dealer.
• Website categories that get the most daily usage are search, social communities like MySpace and Facebook, general news websites like CNN.com and NYTimes.com, and online banking.
• The websites that Americans value most are (in order), Google, Yahoo, YouTube, Wikipedia, and Facebook. Although Yahoo’s financial challenges have generated a lot of press attention, it continues to have a very large and loyal following.
• Young people (age 22 and under) are much noisier online than their elders. They account for about half of all the content and comments posted online.
• Facebook appears to be ahead of MySpace in terms of number of users in the US, and perceived value of the site.
• Despite extensive publicity, the community sites SecondLife and Twitter reach only a few percent of US Internet users.
• Democrats are more active online than Republicans. Democrats are more likely to participate in online communities, and say they are more heavily influenced in their voting decisions by information they find online.

Harry Max, a principal at Rubicon Consulting said, “Many companies downplay the importance of online communities because only a few percent of all Internet users contribute to them heavily. What they don’t understand is that most other Internet users read those reviews and rely on them heavily when making purchase decisions. Taking good care of online communities can be a huge money-saver for companies trying to get more marketing impact from limited budgets.”

I disagree. I think a lot of companies are interested in online communities but aren’t always sure how to engage consumers with them. However, with the economy the way it is, many companies are likely to cut social media first, as we saw in data released just the other day.

The biggest key to making sure you get good online reviews is to have a solid product or service. So, while you’re making those efficiencies in order to survive the slow economic times, make sure your products don’t suffer. Better yet, create efficient products and services and just watch those positive reviews come in.

To get the ball rolling, you might try pitching a few bloggers - especially mom bloggers if you have a product or service related to them.

Related Reading:
How to Bury Negative Online Mentions of You - Intermediate Level Tactics
Constructive feedback on online reputation management
SEO for Brand Reputation Management
Pssst. People are Talking… About Your Business!

When you’re competing with hundreds of other Web sites for the attention of just one user, how can you ensure your site stands out? If you look at what you offer, what you make the most money on, and what people are asking for, you can build your Web site to serve the most profitable aspect of that need. In today’s small business search engine marketing column, “The Geometry of SEM — What’s your Angle?,” Carrie Hill shows how an angle for your Web site and search marketing can mean all the difference between a successful Web site venture and a failure.

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One of the largest challenges in writing copy is keeping the attention and eventually converting your readers. It doesnt matter if it’s for a click, a sign up or even a purchase. People get in and get…
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website content that converts your readers how to get that compelling pitch

Recently, SEW Expert Erik Qualman examined Google Insights for search trends related to newly announced Republican Vice Presidential nominee Sarah Palin. Like Barack Obama, being unknown sends people a-searching on the internet.

Google Trends and Insights gets a lot of attention when it comes to measuring searches, and so does measurement firm comScore.

But the number 2 and 3 search engines also provide insight into hot searches. So, let’s take a look at Microsoft’s xRank and Yahoo’s Buzz Index to see what’s hot in their user searches this week too.

Microsoft’s xRank sorts hot searches by categories. The current categories are Celebrities, Musicians, Politicians, Blogger and Olympics.

Here’s a screenshot of the Politicians page for this week:

The Yahoo Buzz Index has categories, but not one for politics. Here’s a general look at the top searches:

What do you think of xRank and Buzz Index? Let us know in the comments.

In the Search Engine Watch forums, user searchengineman (Does he wear a cape? I hope so!) noticed a change to his AdWords statistics. Now, he could check separate statistics for ads on the content network and ads via search.

So how did he feel about it?

In the words of a famous Etta James song, searchengineman wrote, “At last.”

Check it for yourself. There’s a new Statistics drop down menu, which lets you change your view to see content and search network stats in separate rows.

The AdWords team says, “By separating the statistics by network on your summary pages, you can not only see which campaigns or ad groups need your attention, but you can also identify which network you need to optimize for.”

What do you think of the separation? Is this a welcome update? Let us know in the comments - or head over to the forums to join the conversation.

Search marketers deal with landing pages everyday in their work, but not all landing pages are created for paid search campaigns. Many landing pages, or sometimes entire sites are created for offline advertising on television, radio, and magazine ads.

Should these landing pages be tested as well? I talked to Google Website Optimizer’s Tom Leung to get his thoughts on how testing can influence offline campaigns.

Leung said there are two ways that tools like Website Optimizer can be used in offline campaigns:

1. As already mentioned, to test landing pages created for traffic coming in from offline ad campaigns.
2. Using paid search or display ad campaigns to make informed decisions on creatives designed for offline ad campaigns.

The second point really got my attention. Leung expanded by saying that SEM’s can use landing page testing as a “bargaining chip to get a seat at the table with other marketers in your organization.”

This information gained from testing is highly useful to marketers planning offline campaigns. As a search marketer, you can use testing and analytics tools to be the one in their department or agency who knows the most about a target audience. That knowledge is highly useful to your colleagues, and can help you work more as an integrated team.

Even though offline and online campaigns can generate interest from consumers with different expectations, at the very least, testing can rule out things that don’t work. An image, text, or highlighted feature that just doesn’t resonate can be discovered through landing page testing. Marketers can test these factors in a paid search or other online ad test, and use the results to develop creatives for offline ads.

Online ad tests can also be used in advance of an offline-to-web ad campaign.

For offline traffic driven to landing pages, you can use those preliminary tests to narrow down the number of landing page options for the initial traffic driven from the offline ad. When the offline traffic begins to arrive (and you’re expecting enough traffic to run a test), you can test the first visitors. You don’t want to test more than 1 page per 100 conversions. Multivariate testing should generally be reserved for large, national campaigns.

WiderFunnel Marketing used Website Optimizer for Tourism BC’s TV-to-Web ad campaign for HelloBC.com. According to a published case study, the campaign targeted the Los Angeles and San Francisco markets. Tourism BC experienced a 52% conversion rate (filling out a web form), up 7% from the previous year.

Even though search marketing has been gaining ground for years, SEMs still may find themselves struggling to lend their insight to traditional marketing methods that have been around for decades. Landing page testing is not just a must for SEMs in their own work but can be a strength to participate in the greater strategy at hand.

What do you think about landing page testing and integrating marketing campaigns? Let me know your thoughts in the comments.

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