This can be debatable based on several factors...budget, vendor, client, target audience, product, etc. But what are the numbers? According to a survey done by eMarketer, SEO is the most effective form of online marketing!
Read moreThere is a lot of search news out there...it can be tough to make it through the good stuff. I gathered some articles together for a client and thought I would share.
Read moreGoogle has recently updated their user interface for Adwords users. If you are looking for a quick answer, I like it so far. I have also talked to a few other SEM professionals and the general consensus has been, "Well, it seems to be an improvement. But no matter how you look at it, the Adwords UI is still better than anything Yahoo! or MSN has to offer!" I think we can all agree there.
Read moreFor an updated version of this post, click here. What is duplicate content you ask? When a search engine spider/bot finds multiple pages containing the same information, it is duplicate content. Sometimes this is done on purpose by 'black hat' SEOs, but sometimes it is just accidental because you just don't realize the engine sees 2 pages as being different URLs. This is usually the point when I would throw out one of my all time favorite words, URL canonicalization...but instead I will point you to a great visual representation of duplicate content by Ann Smarty at Search Engine Journal. Enjoy!
Read moreCrisis management...something we generally don't want to think of as a business. Most times it means bad news, but bad news can be worse if the situation is not handled properly. Generally speaking, most businesses who require strong public relations, already have a public relation strategy in place in case of crisis. But does your company's PR plan include search engine marketing?
Read moreWondering why every time you buy new ink cartridges it costs almost as much as your printer? You're not alone! Even if you buy your ink at Walmart, you're likely to spend too much. We recommend using Data Bazaar. No, we're not affiliated in any way with Data Bazaar, and No, we get nothing when you do business with them. At databazaar.com you can search for your printer's ink cartridges and select a "generic" version of it. It will usually be under half of the price! They also have FREE shipping most of the time.
Read moreA great article at Andy Beal's Marketing Pilgrim discusses the continuous growth of Google's Market share...and also points out that searchers are still becoming more sophisticated. To me, these 2 things go hand in hand. I think many people agree that Google provides the most relevant search results, especially for longer search terms. The only reason searchers are able to use longer keywords, is because of the impressive intelligence of the search engines. If it were the days of old, search results would be very poor for queries longer than 3 words. So it makes sense...more and more searchers are using longer search queries, so more and more searchers will use the most intelligent search engines will use their results. Check out these statistics from Hitwise:
Read moreI can't tell you how many times we hear this question, or a variation of it, such as:
Read moreHow often do you think of punctuation and how it relates to SEO? In some instances you just don't use it because you just know you shouldn't (i.e. in a domain name), but do you use it in the title of your web page? And more importantly, does it effect the search engine results? In an article at SEO-Scoop.com, the author explains why you avoid punctuation in web page titles and domain names.
Read moreWe knew that search terms related to the recession would rise...but I did not expect them to rise this significantly. eMarketer released statistics showing % change from 2007 to 2008 in regards to economy-related search terms. The most significant changes were 'unemployment benefits' and 'unemployment', rising 247% and 206% respectively. Other terms mentioned were 'coupons', 'discount', 'mortgage', 'bankruptcy', and 'foreclosure'.
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If you are executing digital marketing, congratulations! You are most likely already one step ahead of your competition, and making strides to meaningfully connect with prospects online. But, how do you know if you’re seeing continual success year over year, and improving your metrics?
Without the tools in place to analyze and benchmark your efforts, it is impossible to scale your online marketing and ensure continuous success.
