Link building is hard work. Allow me to clarify that: Building legitimate links that have genuine value in search is hard work. Some folks don’t have patience for that hard work, so they turn to alternative means to acquire links. Sometimes they simply do ineffective work. Sometimes they seek links from junk sites that accept any link request they receive. And sometimes they cheat. They might pay a fee to have link farms link back to them en masse or they might create their own network of low-to-no value sites for the sole purpose of having them all link back to the primary site. The p [...]

Related Topics: Channel: SEO | Link Week

Mindboggling. That's the only word I can use to describe the fact that still today there are agencies and professionals who think that the right approach to generating keywords for international search marketing campaigns is to translate them. I have wasted so much of my time on this planet saying "Do Not Translate Your Keywords" and still every day I see or hear of examples of international SEM or SEO campaigns where doing that has been part of sowing the seeds of failure of that campaign. A Case Study In "Localizing" Keywords That word "Localizing" has become especially dangerous since [...]

Related Topics: Channel: SEO | Multinational Search | Search Engines: Outside USA

Observant users of Google's AdWords Keyword Tool have noticed something odd in recent days -- when you do an exact match search on certain terms, the volume reported is zero. Surely someone has been searching on terms like wine, iPod, and dogs. Indeed, a Google spokesperson confirms that it's a bug. "We're aware of a potential issue that is affecting the keyword tool in AdWords, and are working hard to fix it," said the spokesperson in a statement. We first saw news of the bug on SEO Consult's blog, where one commenter says he's seen similar results for a couple of weeks. The problem [...]

Related Topics: Channel: SEM | Google: AdWords | 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: How To Get Started With YouTube Promoted VideoEarlier in the year, YouTube surpassed Yahoo as the world’s second largest search engine. In June 2011, ComScore reported that in the U.S., YouTube currently attracts 5.6 billion viewing sessions per month and the average U.S. visitor frequents the site 23 times a month with each visit lasting on average 26 minutes. And, just today, [...] New European Law ‘Targets’ Personalized Ad Targeting [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Other | SearchCap

Earlier in the year, YouTube surpassed Yahoo as the world’s second largest search engine. In June 2011, ComScore reported that in the U.S., YouTube attracted 5.6 billion viewing sessions per month and the average U.S. visitor frequents the site 23 times a month with each visit lasting on average 26 minutes. And, just today, ComScore also reported that YouTube passed 20 billion video views during October 2011 alone. No matter how you look at the data, that’s a lot of eyeballs and a lot of time spent on a single site that a marketer can take advantage of. But creating a video is only hal [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Video | Enterprise SEM | Google: YouTube & Video | How To: Social Media Marketing | Paid Search | Search Ads: Video | Search Engines: Video Search Engines

A new directive by the European Commission may stop advertisers from leveraging users's information when advertising on Facebook.  The Telgraph reports that the EC is looking into the way that Facebook "eavesdrops" on users and how personal data is made available for ad targeting.  This new legislation will be introduced in January and will be applicable to all action taken on Facebook, even though most information is stored on U.S. based computers. The new laws would require that users would need to approve more than the standard 4,000 word contract if their personal information was [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Social | Facebook

Online video viewership reached record levels in October, with YouTube passing the 20 billion views mark for the first time. That number represents a little less than 50% of all videos watched in the U.S., according to the latest statistics shared by comScore. U.S. Internet users watched an all-time high of 42.6 billion videos during October, with YouTube accounting for 20.9 billion of those views -- 49.1% of the total. ComScore credits YouTube/Google with an audience of just under 161 million unique viewers, almost triple the reach of Facebook, which was second with a little less than 60 m [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Video | Google: YouTube & Video | Stats: comScore | Stats: Popularity

Sidestepping the "social media" questions from your bosses and clients? "What are we doing? Is it effective? How much does it cost? What’s this Google+ thing?" Get the answers. Attend SMX Social Media Marketing next week in Scottsdale, AZ and you’ll hear from the pioneering internet marketers who are inventing social media marketing. Learn the latest tactics and best-practices for Facebook, Google+ and Twitter. Whether you’re managing your brand’s reputation, driving traffic with content or buying paid ads, SMX Social Media Marketing is for you. Check out the agenda. SMX Socia [...]

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

First out of the gate this year in the annual rush to declare search winners is Bing, who earlier today unveiled the top searches of 2011 at BingTrends.com. Bing.com also created an original video to recap the year in search, ending the clip with the Twitter hashtag #My2011. Video: Bing Originals: Decisions That Shaped 2011 Top Celebrity Searches Justin Bieber proved he's a  ladies' man by edging out 9 female celebrities for the most searched person of the year: Justin Bieber Kim Kardashian Jennifer Aniston Lindsay Lohan Jennifer Lopez Britney Spears Katy Perry Megan [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Consumer | Microsoft: Bing | Search & Society | Search & Society: General

Google released a short video today highlighting some of its key milestones in search over the past decade. It's both a fun blast from the past and a worthwhile reminder of how much things have changed over the years. The video is also a nice follow-on to the look under the hood of search that Google released in August. From the Google blog post announcing the video, Google sums up its approach to improving search: "Our goal is to get you to the answer you’re looking for faster and faster, creating a nearly seamless connection between your questions and the information you seek. That mean [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Strategy | Google: General | Google: Web Search | Stats: History | Top News

Many paid search advertisers send visitors to landing pages that sell specific products and/or services. Landing pages are not the only option available to PPC advertisers – there are many more things paid search advertisers can do in order to generate leads, sales or just plain old allow people/prospects/visitors to obtain basic information about businesses. In this article, I’ll discuss alternative options for landing pages such as Google maps/Google Places listings, using phone numbers in paid search advertising, and strategies involving the Apple App store and Amazon.com. Google Ma [...]

Related Topics: Channel: SEM | Paid Search

It's holiday time and I thought I'd spread a little cheer by talking about negative reviews and how fun they are for local businesses. As Yelp says, "negative reviews can feel like a punch in the gut". Even better, according to a recent study by Cone Communications, four out of five consumers have changed their minds about a recommended purchase based solely on negative information they found online. But there's a lot of lemonade to be made from those review lemons. After all, negative reviews can increase sales. Negative reviews can help potential customers feel like they have "done t [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Local | Local Search

The data were coming in all weekend; retail sales on Black Friday broke records this year. Figures released by a varied group of sources, including IBM, the National Retail Federation (NRF), comScore, Channel Advisor and ShopperTrak all reported significant increases in Black Friday consumer spending. Lured by "doorbuster" deals and earlier opening hours, Black Friday turned out to be the best on record notwithstanding the weak economy. There was also a significant amount of online buying that happened over the long holiday weekend. Today is round two: Cyber Monday. Cyber Monday got i [...]

Related Topics: Apple | Channel: Mobile | Google: Android | Google: Mobile | 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: Google+ Is Slowly Invading Google’s Main Search ResultsGoogle+ content is slowly — but very surely — expanding its footprint inside of Google.com’s main search results. The latest integration comes via the rel=author tag that Google’s been supporting since the summer. Mike Blumenthal tipped us to this latest change, which may (or may not) still be in testing. Here’s how it works for [...] User-Centered Or Usage-Cente [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Other | SearchCap

Google+ content is slowly -- but very surely -- expanding its footprint inside of Google.com's main search results. The latest integration comes via the rel=author tag that Google's been supporting since the summer. Mike Blumenthal tipped us to this latest change, which may (or may not) still be in testing. Here's how it works for me, which -- as I'll explain below -- is slightly different from what Mike B. is seeing. When a search result with rel=author appears in Google's search results, the author's avatar and the adjacent byline both now link to a new Google search results pa [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Social | Google: Google+ | Google: User Interface | Google: Web Search | Top News

When creating a search-engine friendly website, do you follow the principles of user-centered design, usage-centered design, or both?

Related Topics: Channel: Content | Search & Usability

We're already well into Black Friday. In many US stores the frenzy began last night at 10 pm or midnight (as opposed to the normal 4 am door-busting start time). People barely had time to overcome the sleep-inducing effects of L-tryptophan before getting out into the melee. And the word "melee" aptly describes the scene in a Southern California Wal-Mart store as one woman unleashed pepper spray on her fellow shoppers to prevent them from getting in her way. Today and for the next few days people will be using a wide range of tools and resources -- hopefully not pepper spray -- to help them [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Retail | Google: Maps & Local | Google: Mobile | Google: Product Search | Microsoft: Bing | Microsoft: Bing Shopping & Cashback | Search Engines: Maps & Local Search Engines | Search Engines: Mobile Search Engines | Top News

When I first started using Google Analytics, my "goal" was to not run away screaming. The intense amount of information, seemingly disconnected, made understanding what I needed so overwhelming. In my last article,we talked about the basic reports you should watch as a beginner. This week, we’re going to work on how to make Google Analytics work for you via Goal setup and configuration. The first thing you need to do after login is find where to setup goals, which is not where you see the goal results. In reality, most of the setup in Google Analytics happens behind the sprocket in th [...]

Related Topics: Beginner | Channel: Analytics | Google: Analytics | How To: Analytics | Search & Analytics

SEOnomics (pronounced 'see-oh-nomics') is a term I conceived to meld SEO with economics, but in a style and fashion not usually covered by traditional SEO experts. SEOnomics interweaves elements of SEO (especially Web Analytics), buyer psychology and business administration to positively impact the economics of a business. When businesses move online, they need to migrate their offline objectives and strategy, adapting them to the unique conditions of the Web. This can be challenging. We behave differently online. What we do can be tracked and measured with granularity. Standard offline ma [...]

Related Topics: All Things SEO | Channel: SEO

Google aired a 90 second TV commercial on Thanksgiving Day during the Lions/Packers Football game. The commercial highlighted some of the features of Google +, focusing on the circles and hangouts features - but mostly on circles. The goal of the commercial was to communicate how Google + enables you to share as you would in "real life," i.e. share certain things with certain groups of friends. Here is the commercial: This is not the first time Google aired a TV commercial. They did so back in February 2010 at the Super Bowl. Since then, seeing a TV commercial from Google is n [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Social | Google: Google+ | Google: Marketing