Consumers don’t always make a purchase within the same day or even the same week that they click on an ad, but that doesn’t mean the ad didn’t drive a sale. Many online marketers see significant latency between a paid click on an online ad and a purchase. Moreover, your most valuable customers are the ones who make a purchase and keep coming back, compounding the challenge of measuring latent conversions and optimizing bids. In general, as time passes, marketers often see more and more value attributed back to an initial PPC click, but revising bid calculations after the fact res [...]

Related Topics: Channel: SEO | Industrial Strength

It’s landing page testing time! In this article, I will outline five ways to test elements on your landing pages. Before getting started with landing page testing, it’s important to ensure the following: Identify testing goals. Are you trying to increase sales? Leads? Identify them. Test variables that have a direct impact on your goals. For example, if you are selling a product, test call to actions, headlines, etc. Testing the look and feel of your landing page may increase conversions but not as much as variables more directly related to your goals. Ensure when it’s [...]

Related Topics: Beginner | Channel: SEM | How To: PPC | Paid Search

There have been a number of comments in forums and tweets that people aren't seeing the Google Maps' "send to car" option any longer. The following comment is representative: The send to car option is gone from the Google Maps Beta: there is only a send to email and send to phone option.  Is it gone forever.  This seems to happen with every Google maps Beta.  I find this feature very helpful and use it all the time. Yet for me and others I've spoken with the "send to car" option remains very much an option on Google Maps. Just last year Google was promoting the fact that it now users c [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Mobile | Google: Cars | Google: Maps & Local | Google: Mobile | Top News

Google is celebrating what would've been the 135th birthday of Romanian sculptor Constantin Brancusi with a special log0 -- or "doodle" as Google calls them -- that features seven of his sculptures. Brancusi was born February 19, 1876 in Romania and died on March 16, 1957 in Paris. It's one of the more vague Google doodles; they usually resemble the Google name a bit, but this one doesn't follow that tradition. Michel Wester shows the names of the seven sculptures in a blog post at Websonic.nl, and was kind enough to share with us an English version that labels each piece of art. [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Consumer | Google: Logos

[caption id="attachment_65488" align="alignright" width="240" caption="Image courtesy Shutterstock.com"][/caption] A Federal judge in California has denied Google's motion to dismiss a "false association" claim in Daniel Jurin's case against it, surprisingly reversing his own previous rulings. Intellectual property attorney Eric Goldman reported the development in his Technology and Marketing Law Blog. Jurin has been waging a legal battle against Google for years, alleging that the search engine's AdWords program infringes on his "Styrotrim" building materials trademark. Federal Distr [...]

Related Topics: Channel: SEM | Google: AdWords | Legal: Trademarks | Top News

Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web. From Search Engine Land: Social Meets Search At Search Engine Land’s SMX West EventEverything we program at Search Engine Land’s SMX: Search Marketing Expo events are always related to search. So why a post about social media sessions at our upcoming SMX West conference? Because social continues to play a big role in search. Search marketers need to know social. Here’s what we’ve got planned for you at [...] Search In Pics: Google Lederhosen, Umbrellas [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Other | SearchCap

Everything we program at Search Engine Land's SMX: Search Marketing Expo events are always related to search. So why a post about social media sessions at our upcoming SMX West conference? Because social continues to play a big role in search. Search marketers need to know social. Here's what we've got planned for you at our show next month. Social Signals & Search Yesterday, Google rolled out an expanded version of Google social search. What your friends like or share can influence what you see. Meanwhile, Bing is continue to make use of Facebook Likes in its own search results. Both [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Industry | SEM Industry: Conferences | SEM Industry: Search Marketing Expo - SMX

In this week's Search In Pictures, here are the latest images culled from the web, showing what people eat at the search engine companies, how they play, who they meet, where they speak, what toys they have, and more. Googlers In Lederhosen & Dirndls: Umbrellas Made For Google: Google Mexico Guillermo Gonzalez Camarena Logo: Google Israel Miriam Ruth Logo: Google UK Ernest Shackleton Logo: [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Other | Search In Pictures

Long time readers of this column know that I am fascinated with the technology behind search engine marketing. In recent posts, I’ve highlighted tools that optimize the Google Display Network, help generate winning text ads, and even a platform for developing thousands of tiny ad groups for Quality Score optimization. With SEM representing almost half of the digital advertising industry revenues, this channel is more important than ever and new tools are popping up to help us get the most return on our investment. TenScores is a perfect example of one of these laser-focused tools. Foun [...]

Related Topics: Channel: SEM | Search Marketing Toolbox | SEM Tools: PPC

A few weeks ago, I saw a reference to search engine optimization (SEO) on the TV Show The Good Wife that made me fall off of my chair. (See SEO Gets Dissed by CBS TV Series "The Good Wife" for the transcript.) I fell off of my chair for two reasons: (1) I certainly did not expect a reference to search engine optimization during a prime-time television show, and (2) I did not expect the reference to SEO to be a negative one. Aren’t we past the whole "snake-oil" thing already? Alas, I wish we were. I certainly do not like to be characterized as a snake-oil SEO practitioner when I, and [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Content | Search & Usability

Lately, Webmaster Tools has been improving its analytical capabilities significantly. This trend comes as a great benefit to webmasters and search marketers, both of whom are gaining access to important data in order to understand how their Search Engine Optimization is performing, as well as additional tools to help optimize their efforts. Last year, Google launched a set of improvements in graphs that empower webmasters to analyze search traffic. The most significant feature (in terms of data analysis) was the possibility to segment search data by Type of Search, Location, and Traffic siz [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Analytics | Google: Analytics | Search & Analytics

Why was he there? Who wasn't invited and why? What did they talk about? Why was he really there? These are the questions being debated this morning about Obama's visit last night to the home (dare I say "lavish Woodside estate") of tech investor and Google board member John Doerr. Stanford University President John Hennessy (also a Google board member) was present and so was Google CEO Eric Schmidt, but not incoming Google CEO Larry Page. Who Was There? Here's the full list of attendees according to the NY Times, LA Times and SF Chronicle: John Doerr, partner, Kleiner Perkins Caufield [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Social | Features: Analysis | Google: Business Issues | Microsoft: Business Issues | Twitter | Yahoo: Business Issues

Searchmetrics new Link Manager makes the tedious task of link management a lot simpler by allowing you to find, control, manage, and evaluate all source and target URLs within the integrated environment of our enterprise-level SEO tool. [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Other | Sponsor Messages

Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web. From Search Engine Land: Google Congratulates Watson On Twitter; IBM Says ThanksAmong those watching IBM’s Watson win Jeopardy last night were folks at Google, which just tweeted congrats over to IBM. In response, IBM has said thanks. Ah, sweet. The Google tweet: The IBM response: For more about the Jeopardy match involving Watson, see our post from yesterday: Could Google Play Jeopardy Like IBM’s Watson? Redesigned Bing Bar Toolbar More Like A “Dashboard̶ [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Other | SearchCap

Among those watching IBM's Watson win Jeopardy last night were folks at Google, which just tweeted congrats over to IBM. In response, IBM has said thanks. Ah, sweet. The Google tweet: The IBM response: For more about the Jeopardy match involving Watson, see our post from yesterday: Could Google Play Jeopardy Like IBM’s Watson? [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Industry | Google: Marketing | Search & Society: General

Bing is introducing a totally redesigned version of its toolbar, called the "Bing Bar." Apparently it has been "rebuilt from the ground up," says Microsoft's Stefan Weitz. Indeed, it operates more like a kind of "dashboard" than a conventional toolbar with links to various sites. And yes, the Bing Rewards loyalty program is still in force. The new toolbar, which is graphically more pleasing to look at than a conventional toolbar, enables users to get lots of different types of information via drop-down windows: news, weather, maps, multiple email accounts, movies, games and so on -- in addi [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Video | Features: General | Microsoft: Bing | Microsoft: Bing Maps & Local | Microsoft: Bing News Search | Microsoft: Bing Videos | Toolbars & Add-Ons

Search Marketing Expo – SMX West kicks off March 8 at the San Jose Convention Center in the heart of Silicon Valley. With more than 60 educational sessions and keynotes, multiple networking activities and presentations from leading solutions providers, you’ll leave a more informed, effective and inspired internet marketer. SMX West offers flexible pass options to fit your needs, your budget and your schedule. Which pass is your match? Keep reading, and then register today to secure your spot: The Comprehensive SMX Experience – All Access Pass Participate in your choice of 60 [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Other | SEM Industry: Conferences | SEM Industry: Search Marketing Expo - SMX | SMX & DMD Alerts

I recently had an interesting conversation with Microsoft adCenter support which left me feeling sad about how Microsoft is missing out on opportunities to expand their market share in search advertising. Let me start by saying, I'm a fan of adCenter because it provides high quality traffic and a solid return on investment for many of my clients. Some time ago, a client asked us to set up their adCenter account. It had been running smoothly with minimal attention. We do not spend much time with it because the spending is modest. Microsoft emailed us because the payment method was expiring. [...]

Related Topics: Channel: SEM | Features: General | Microsoft: Bing Ads | Paid Search

Last week’s inaugural Conversational Commerce Conference (C3) was dedicated to bringing together relevant groups and influencers to discuss the growing connection between marketing and customer service. Core to this discussion was the rapid adoption of social media and mobile Internet-enabled devices, and how these trends are being leveraged by businesses both large and small, to reach and build relationships with customers. In addition to attending the conference, I had the opportunity to present how small businesses can  improve their bottom line by capturing and analyzing what cust [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Other | Small Is Beautiful

As former Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum sets his sights on the White House, he has a lot of awareness-raising to do, and he desperately needs some help with search, a Roll Call piece this week shows. Currently, when you search for Santorum, the first result is a blog apparently started by gay syndicated sex columnist Dan Savage, who masterminded a successful campaign to associate the Senator's name with anal sex -- on Google and Bing, at least. Savage, and other like-minded folks, launched and supported the site against Santorum back in 2003, after the Senator made comments against hom [...]

Related Topics: Channel: SEO | Google: SEO | Search & Society: General | Search Marketing: Public Relations