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Many people remember the Western Movie starring John Wayne, TRUE GRIT. This article explores Writing with True Grit. Am I talking genre, language, characters? The truth is the gentlest, emotional sto…
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writing with true grit

Google’s intentions are good, but we must also remember that they aren’t in the business of helping your Web site rank highly in Google. So when Google advises against URL rewriting in their Webmaster Central blog, is there an ulterior motive? In today’s organic SEO column, “Tin Foil Hat? I Have Mine On,” Mark Jackson weighs the pros and cons of URL rewriting, and explores some possible reasons why Google would rather webmasters didn’t do it.

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“Research online, buy offline,” (ROBO) is the concept that a growing volume of product research is happening online while the majority of buying remains offline in physical stores. A growing number of local search engines are basing their business model on the concept. In today’s vertical search column, “When will ROBO’s Time Come?,” local search expert Michael Boland explores some of the reasons why ROBO features haven’t picked up on a mass market level.

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Earlier this week, I listed the “Top 10 Videos on YouTube from SES San Jose 2008.” Well, the WebProNews Video Blog has some top-rated videos from last month’s SES conference that you won’t find on YouTube – at least not yet.

Here are three of them:

SES: The Power of Thumbnails and Images

According to Rebecca Lieb of the ClickZ Network, recent surveys show that video has a greater chance of being clicked if it has a thumbnail or image. These results are evident in the popularity of universal search. Rebecca advises marketers to take these statistics seriously and recommends posting related videos with each new video just as I suggested in my interview with WebProNews, which appears below.

Website Optimizer Activates Pruning, Modifies Reports, and More

As you can tell by the title, Google’s Website Optimizer department has been busy. Tom Leung gives WebProNews the scoop on all their new features. First, through experiment pruning, users can disable any page that’s not doing as well as was hoped for. They’ve also enhanced their reports with a new color coded system, made it easier to validate tags on pages, and submitted several new demonstration videos to YouTube.

SES: Improving Conversion Rates

Landing pages can make or break a site, and no one wants that second situation to occur. In this interview with Mike McDonald, Frans Keylard, the director of optimization at Widemile, shares some tips that should help improve conversion rates.

There are a lot more interviews on the WebProNews Video Blog from SES San Jose 2008. That includes the five below with members of the Search Engine Watch staff.

SES San Jose: Kevin Ryan

WebProNews spoke with Kevin Ryan, the VP and Global Content Director of Search Engine Strategies and Search Engine Watch, at SES San Jose 2008!

SES: Focus On Call To Action

After going to all the trouble of getting users to your site, you don’t want your landing page to turn them away. According to Tim Ash, a Search Engine Watch Expert Columnist, clutter is the most common problem with landing pages. Tim explains how you have to give users breathing space so they can focus on their main purpose for coming to the site.

SES: The Blessing and Curse of Conversions

Did you ever think of conversions as a blessing and a curse? As Sage Lewis, another Search Engine Watch Expert Columnist, tells WebProNews, everything is trackable online. In most cases, this is a blessing. But for those marketing efforts which do not convert, it can be a curse.

SES: Being Careful With Blogs

Blogs are powerful communication tools, and companies should embrace them. Yet there are things to watch out for, and Search Engine Watch Guest Blogger Amanda Watlington explores some potential pitfalls in this interview with Mike McDonald.

SES: Get on Top of Video Distribution

After listening to a spirited musical intro from a certain Search Engine Watch Blog Correspondent, WebProNews got me to tell my secret to video distribution. I explain how video optimization on your own website was enough in years past, but now in order to succeed you must distribute your optimized videos to sites like YouTube, Yahoo Video, and more.

Okay, taunting Buckeyes from The Ohio State University by having a Wolverine sing the University of Michigan fight song may seem like an odd way to open an interview, but it was payback for the interview below that I conducted earlier this year.

Mike McDonald of WebProNews, Web Video Guru, at SES NY 2008

Mike McDonald talks about the humble beginnings of e-business internet video channel WebProNews and some of its funnier moments of adolescence, like forgetting to hit record. Stay tuned ’til the end to see and hear the University of Kentucky Wildcats cheer!

Get it? Got it? Good.

There’s been lots of hype about social media lately. But what’s it mean from a business perspective? How can it help you educate potential clients or customers, or spread the word about your product or idea so that people are talking about it among themselves? In today’s SEM.edu column, “Leveraging Social Media to Educate,” Ron Jones explores the basics of social media, and tells you how to get started using it to help spread that awareness you seek.

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Bidding on trademarked kewyords may bring big conversions, but the strategy is often perceived to carry a grand amount of legal trouble with it. In today’s SEM Crossfire column, “Trademarked Terms: Guaranteed Conversions, Guaranteed Controversy,” Frank Watson explores whether or not bidding on competitors trademarks is a worthy strategy.

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Just as cheap power delivered over a universal grid revolutionized the processing of physical materials, cheap computing delivered over a universal grid is revolutionizing the processing of informational or intellectual goods. That’s the premise of The Big Switch: Rewiring the World, from Edison to Google, the latest book by Nicholas Carr, former executive editor of the Harvard Business Review.

In today’s SearchDay, “Q&A with Nicholas Carr, author, The Big Switch,” we asked Carr about some of the issues raised in his book, which explores the future of computing and its implications for business and society. Carr will also discuss some of those topics today during his opening keynote at SES New York.

In Parts 1 and 2 of this series, Eric Qualman discussed why you want to buy your brand search terms and how to properly measure them. In today’s Brand Equity column, “Brand Strategies for Search Marketing - Part 3,” Qualman explores the intricacies of the ongoing maintenance/optimization of your brand terms.

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In today’s au Natural column, “Google Dance in Aeon Flux,” Mark Jackson explores the “Google Dance.” Some SEO experts say the Google don’t dance. Others claim the Google Dance never ends. What does it mean for SEM, ranking reports, and site analytics?

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Let’s see . . .  Google Maps tells me to take a left, and then hang a right at an ad reading, “Click Here Now to Save $$$.”  Wait, that can’t be right . . .   And it won’t be, but Google has revealed that it will incorporate AdSense into its mapping services.
Bo Majewski, [...]