This morning's Dilbert comic is on the topic of black hat SEO. Dilbert wisely decides to avoid those tactics: The comic reads: "I want you to use "black hat" methods to raise our website's ranking on search engines." "What do you like best about that ideas - the fact that it's unethical or the near certainty of getting caught?" "That's sort of a loserish thing to say." "Talking doesn't work for people like me." Scott Adams: No Stranger To Google It's probably best that Dilbert decided to stay with acceptable practices. After all, creator Scott Adams depended on Google for go [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Industry | SEM Industry: Community | SEM Industry: General | Top News

Matt Cutts of Google gives daily advice on the Google Webmaster YouTube Channel. He has been doing so for years and they recently did a live Q&A to celebrate their 5 million views. Click2Rank published an outstanding infographic documenting the various facts gleamed from these videos. He named the infographic the Matt Cutts Webmaster Infographic. Here is a low resolution version, but you can find the better quality version Click2Rank. It has been a fun week for infographics. We had the Matt Cutts debunking flowchart and our SEO Periodic Table. [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Industry | Infographics | SEM Industry: Community | SEM Industry: General

Yesterday SEMPO and Econsultancy released the 2011 "State of Search Marketing Report" featuring attitudes and spending behaviors of 920 survey respondents (agencies, advertisers) from more than 60 countries. The full report is over 130 pages. The report came out on the same day that the IAB released its full-year 2010 online ad revenue figures. Interestingly, there's a $4 billion dollar discrepancy between the IAB paid-search figures ($12 billion) and the SEMPO estimate ($16.6 billion) for 2010. The SEMPO estimate is for "North America" while the IAB numbers are US only. The IAB estimated t [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Local | Search Marketing: General | Search Marketing: Local Search Marketing | SEM Industry: General | SEM Industry: Outsourcing | SEM Industry: Stats

To promote its Search Manager service (powered by Clickable) American Express has released small business (SMB) survey data about search and social media marketing. The survey was conducted this month and was a collaboration between Amex and SEMPO. The qualifier was that these small business respondents did some sort of online marketing. The sample size was 400. The definition of "small business" was not disclosed. It's no surprise that most SMBs need help with online marketing. Regarding search marketing in particular the biggest challenges discovered were "identifying the right keyword [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Strategy | Google: Web Search | SEM Industry: General | SEM Industry: Stats | Stats: General | Stats: Search Behavior | Stats: Size

Ah, another SEO is dead post from a non-SEO to get the blood rushing on an otherwise calm weekend. I've been ignoring these more and more lately, but in the wake of Google's Farmer Update, it looks like everyone could use some history lessons. Don't depend solely on SEO, but don't neglect it, either. SEO Is Not The Only Way Let me quote someone I know really well, some sage words about SEO, from 1996. That's 15 years ago, from before anyone was even saying "search engine optimization" widely. This person had written one of the first guides on how webmasters and site owners should ensure t [...]

Related Topics: Channel: SEO | Features: General | Magazine | SEM Industry: General | SEO: General | Weekender

Today, Forrester Research unveiled a 6- page report on the utility of SEO automation tools for use in larger enterprises. Six vendors were covered in the landscape report, including Altruik, BrightEdge, Conductor, Covario, SEOmoz PRO, and Yield Software. The report mainly covers key issues in scaling automation across larger enterprises, integration of IT services and in-house marketing, and improving measurement of SEO impact beyond just search result rankings. There's a features comparison chart which includes technology integrations available with each tool, including web analytics packa [...]

Related Topics: Channel: SEO | Search Headlines | SEM Industry: General | SEO - Search Engine Optimization | SEO: General | Top News

You've had a week to put 2010 in the past and start unpacking 2011. If you're the type to do so, you've probably already made your own marketing resolutions for the new year, or thought about the trends and predictions that might make a difference as the year goes along. You have? Good. So has just about everyone else you know in the search and online marketing industry, and dozens of people you've probably never heard of, too. Fear not, we've got all their collected thoughts about marketing in 2011 wrapped up in this year's Big List of Trends, Predictions and Resolutions. And I mean "big" [...]

Related Topics: Channel: SEO | Features: General | Search Marketing: General | SEM Industry: General | SEO: General | Social Media Marketing | Top News

Some of the members of the Search Engine Land team spent some time at Google last week. They put together a 12 Days of Googlemas Carol for all to listen and watch on YouTube. Sitting in front with the laptop and yellow shirt is Google's Matt Cutts. In the blue shirt in front is Danny Sullivan, Editor-In-Chief of Search Engine Land. In the back row, from left to right is Michelle Robbins, Director of Technology; Matt McGee, Executive News Editor; and Elisabeth Osmeloski, Executive Features Editor. Here are the lyrics of the carol: On the 12th day of Googlemas my Googlebot gave [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Industry | SEM Industry: Community | SEM Industry: General

Malcolm Coles spotted that the Daily Mail, one of the UK's largest papers, changed their robots.txt file to include a line which reads: # August 12th, MailOnline are looking for a talented SEO Manager so if you found this then you're the kind of techie we need!# Send your CV to holly dot ward at mailonline dot co dot uk How clever! They suspect some of the best SEOs out there would be sniffing around their robots.txt file and used it to recruit a new SEO manger. If anything, it is getting the word out there via the press that they are looking for a new SEO. This reminds me of when Go [...]

Related Topics: Channel: SEO | SEM Industry: General | SEO: Blocking Spiders

Trada announced a $5.75 million "C" round this morning. It was led by Google Ventures and early investor Foundry Group. Trada CEO Niel Robertson told me yesterday that the money will be used for to get into display (and eventually video and mobile), as well as to expand into non-US markets and develop new tools for agencies. What is Trada? you ask. Trada is a relatively new "crowdsourced search marketplace." It brings together freelance search marketers and advertiser campaigns and gets multiple people to work on those campaigns. In fact the company says that it has an average of 24 search [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Search | Search Marketing: General | SEM Industry: Community | SEM Industry: General | SEM Industry: Outsourcing

If you felt a rumble yesterday amongst the search marketing ranks, it was probably caused by the news that four well-known marketing companies announced a merger into one new agency known as BlueGlass Interactive. The companies coming together are 10e20, Search & Social, Brent Csutoras Inc., and SecondStep Search. In a blog post announcing the merger, BlueGlass CMO Chris Winfield says that the companies had already been referring work amongst themselves for years. A news release about the merger says that, in addition to offering client services, BlueGlass also plans to offer free and [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Industry | SEM Industry: Acquisitions | SEM Industry: Community | SEM Industry: General

Search Marketing Now hosts two free webcasts this week, both at 1 PM Eastern. Tomorrow, Tuesday June 22, Vanessa Fox will deliver a presentation "SEO & Hosting Issues: What You Should Know." She'll explain what every serious SEO need to know about hosting—from understanding which database to use, to the impact of hosting issues on SEO. Thanks to Codero for sponsoring this webcast. Thursday, June 24, executives from Yahoo! and Microsoft will share details with us about the upcoming Search Alliance. "Yahoo! & Microsoft Search Alliance—What? How? When?" will delve into specifics [...]

Related Topics: Channel: SEO | SEM Industry: General | SEO: General

Today is Father's Day in many countries and we wanted to wish you a Happy Father's Day. Here is a collection of the various logos from the search industry celebrating the day. Google: Yahoo Animated: Yahoo Static: Baidu: Sogou: DogPile: Bing: Ask.com: Cre8asite Forums: Search Engine Roundtable: [...]

Related Topics: Ask: General | Channel: Consumer | Google: Logos | Microsoft: Bing | SEM Industry: General | Yahoo: General

Playing out according to the rumor that surfaced a couple of months ago, media company Hearst has acquired marquee SEM firm iCrossing. The Wall Street Journal is reporting the acquisition price is about $325 million with performance and financial goals that, if achieved, "could push the purchase price above $400 million, according to other people familiar with the matter." The acquisition is partly about bolstering the digital marketing assets and sophistication of Hearst's various traditional media businesses, which include magazines, TV stations and newspapers. According to the press rel [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Industry | SEM Industry: Acquisitions | SEM Industry: General

Memorial Day is being celebrated and commemorated today in the United States. Since it is a holiday, please expect lighter coverage here today than on a normal day. Below are the logos, themes and the Google ribbon for the special day: Google's Ribbon/Badge: Yahoo (animated): Bing: Ask.com: DogPile: Cre8asite Forums: Search Engine Roundtable: [...]

Related Topics: Ask: General | Channel: Consumer | Google: Logos | Microsoft: Bing | SEM Industry: General | Yahoo: General

Your local newspaper may soon offer SEO services. Heck, maybe it already is. Two of the three biggest newspaper publishers in the U.S. have recently announced that they're selling marketing services to small/local businesses ... and those services include things like SEO, local search marketing, and more. Gannett Newspapers is the latest to hop on the SEO bandwagon. The nation's number one publisher recently opened GannettLocal, a small business marketing division based in Phoenix. The independent Gannett Blog recently quoted a memo written by GannettLocal chief Brad Robertson, who expla [...]

Related Topics: Channel: SEO | Search Marketing: General | SEM Industry: General | SEO: General | Top News

SEMPO is working with the U.S. Labor Department to classify job titles and descriptions related to search engine marketing, and is looking for industry help in the process. In a recent SEMPO newsletter, the organization explained what's going on: You can be part of an important and exciting task force for SEMPO, to help the US Government understand and document the job classification that includes search marketing expertise. Among its many uses, it will allow those in the Search Industry to bid more easily on government contracts. SEMPO has been asked to facilitate participation by at l [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Industry | SEM Industry: General | SEM Industry: Organizations

Few people have been building links professionally as long as Eric Ward. Long an independent, Eric is now joining AdGooroo as a "link evangelist." From today's press release: In his role as link evangelist, Ward will continue to improve Link Insight's feature set and also interact with agencies and Link Insight subscribers. As he has for fifteen years, Eric will promote responsible and ethical link building, consistent with search engine best practices. [...]

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Couple pieces of industry-related news to pass along: One is about an industry-wide survey and the other is about a new industry awards; both have just launched today. First, SEOmoz has announced the 2010 SEO Industry Survey -- an update of the industry survey they first did in 2008. There are questions about the types of services you provide, which services are more or less in demand now, your background and training in search marketing, what SEO and social strategies and tactics you use, and so forth. You can take the survey here. It took me about 10 minutes to complete. You don't hav [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Industry | SEM Industry: Awards | SEM Industry: General

Google posted their Earth Day doodle today and the overall impression from most people I see talking about it (via Twitter, forums and so on) is impressive. Here is a picture of Google's 2010 Earth Day logo. Google was not the only one with a special theme or logo for Earth Day. We have logos from Bing, Yahoo, Dogpile and others. Here is what I found today. Yahoo: Google's Orkut: Bing: Ask.com is running a full skin ad, which is earthy, but yet an ad for Avatar: Dogpile: Cre8asite Forums: Search Engine Roundtable: I also have an ar [...]

Related Topics: Ask: General | Channel: Consumer | Google: Logos | Microsoft: Bing | SEM Industry: General | Top News | Yahoo: General