Best of 2008 (So Far) - Search Engine Marketing, Part 1

In my continuing effort to clean out my bookmarks and stay ahead of the game for the Best of 2008 series in January, here are a dozen of the most linkworthy articles and posts on search engine marketing so far this year.

Google Analytics Keyword Sleuth vs Search Query Performance Report by Google Analytics Blog

Mark Curtis offers up a detailed comparison of these two helpful PPC keyword research tools. Both are free, but one is considerably faster and more thorough.


SEO and SEM Shortcuts, Spying and Stats to Dominate Google! by SiteProNews

Writer Michael Small supplies some now-slightly-out-of-date but still useful statistics on usage of the leading search engines as well as advice on tools to help improve both SEO and search marketing results.


The AdWords Content Network - Better Than Ever by PPC Discussions

Reflecting the experience of many search marketers, blogger Jeremy Mayes gives 10 reasons why the Google content network no longer sucks for advertisers. Thanks to improved quality of sites in the network, along with other factors, the content network can now provide reasonably good lead generation performance often for considerably less than the cost of search-driven conversions.


Whats the best keyword match type? by CDF Networks

Broad match, exact match, phrase match, negative match...ever wonder when to use which? This brief yet helpful post provides some answers.


Four Tricks to Gain An Unfair Advantage on AdWords by Search Marketing Standard

"Unfair advantage" may be stretching the case a bit, but author Andrey Milyan nevertheless presents four tactics that enhance your SEM results with Google AdWords.


With A/B Testing - You Don't Think, You Know by Find Resolution

In this articulate and well-researched post, Jeff Campbell lays out a 10-step program for scientifically performing split tests to optimize campaign copy.


Why YOU fail with Google Adwords by SiteProNews

Leighton James ticks off ten common mistakes to avoid in PPC campaigns, from including too many poorly targeted keywords and failing to optimize landing pages to improperly using phrase matching options and modifying bids for the content network.


Avoid Scope Creep Money Pit SEM Jobs by aimClear Search Marketing Blog

In kind of an inside-baseball piece for search marketing agencies, Marty Weintraub shares his firm's goals and scope document, which is designed to set clear expectations, avoid expensive scope creep and, in the end, make projects fair for both agencies and their clients.


PPC Automation: Robots vs Humans by StraightUpSearch

This post makes the case for using a real live PPC manager instead of PPC automation software. In practice, both are probably needed. Particularly for large, complex campaigns, automation software can improve efficiency and reduce total costs. But the software itself is just a tool; for best results, it needs to used in the hands of an expert search marketing professional who can use it to streamline tedious tasks while applying human judgment in areas such as optimizing ad copy and aligning SEM programs with overall marketing goals.


Pay Per Click Advertising Tip #11 - Conversion Tracking by semvironment

Okay, it's kind of basic, but conversion tracking is essential to determining and optimizing ROI from search marketing programs. This post walks readers through the conversion tracking process on AdWords, Yahoo! Search Marketing and Microsoft adCenter.


Website Visitors Read Your Copy, Right? by Search Marketing Standard

Uh, no. Kevin Gold offers a couple of examples demonstrating that ad clickers don't read landing page copy in detail. In other words, they respond to what they think the offer is rather than what it actually is. As with all other elements of search marketing campaigns, the key is to test, test, test landing page copy to not simply maximize leads but also disqualify resource-consuming non-prospects.


PPC ads should always lead your online sales efforts by DMNews

Writer Tim Schaden makes a compelling case that PPC efforts should precede and guide SEO efforts. Because PPC produces almost immediate results—while SEO changes need weeks to take effect—it's the ideal testing ground for the productivity of various search phrases for a particular offering. Armed with analysis from PPC testing, SEO efforts can be focused on optimizing for the most valuable terms for a specific company, product or service.

Previous posts in this series:

Best of 2008 (So Far) - SEO Guidance, Part 1
Best of 2008 (So Far) - SEO Guidance, Part 2

*****

technorati tags: search engine marketing, Google Analytics Blog, Mark Curtis, SiteProNews, Michael Small, PPC Discussions, Jeremy Mayes, CDF Networks, Search Marketing Standard, Andrey Milyan, Find Resolution, Jeff Campbell, Leighton James, PPC campaigns, aimClear Search Marketing Blog, Marty eintraub, StraightUpSearch, PPC automation software, semvironment, Kevin Gold, DMNews, Tim Schaden

del.icio.us tags: search engine marketing, Google Analytics Blog, Mark Curtis, SiteProNews, Michael Small, PPC Discussions, Jeremy Mayes, CDF Networks, Search Marketing Standard, Andrey Milyan, Find Resolution, Jeff Campbell, Leighton James, PPC campaigns, aimClear Search Marketing Blog, Marty eintraub, StraightUpSearch, PPC automation software, semvironment, Kevin Gold, DMNews, Tim Schaden

icerocket tags: search engine marketing, Google Analytics Blog, Mark Curtis, SiteProNews, Michael Small, PPC Discussions, Jeremy Mayes, CDF Networks, Search Marketing Standard, Andrey Milyan, Find Resolution, Jeff Campbell, Leighton James, PPC campaigns, aimClear Search Marketing Blog, Marty eintraub, StraightUpSearch, PPC automation software, semvironment, Kevin Gold, DMNews, Tim Schaden

Contact Tom Pick: tomATwebmarketcentralDOTcom

WMC Interviews: Tim Young of Socialcast

Last week I had the opportunity to interview Tim Young, CEO of Socialcast, an on-demand social networking platform that brings collaboration and knowledge-sharing capabilities to intranets. The software is designed to help organizations better harness the collective intelligence of employees by providing them with a secure, internal set of tools for social networking (profiles and connections), social updating (like Twitter) and social bookmarking with project management functionality. Current customers include retailers Hot Topic and Guitar Center.

WebMarketCentral (WMC): Tim, it appears that unlike tools such as Ning or Zanby, which are designed to let organizations create their own external social networks, Socialcast is more of an internal corporate social network tool, sort of an "Intranet 2.0" platform. Is that a fair description?

Tim Young (TY): You're correct. Socialcast is focused on using social dynamics to solve organization's internal information problems. The Socialcast application is a customizable internal corporate social network designed to allow the employees within a company to share information, ask questions, get answers, and engage more deeply in their daily work. It's a secure, private site that can either complement or replace a traditional intranet depending on the needs of the company. Our tool focuses on capturing the tacit knowledge held by multiple generations and geographically dispersed employees, resulting in a knowledge-sharing and collaboration portal that unites the minds of a company's entire workforce.


WMC: Socialcast is described as "designed for enterprises of all sizes,' but what really are the characteristics of organizations that this is best suited for—size, industry, geography, process type, etc.?

TY: We've seen the best application in two arenas—any company that employs knowledge workers, and organizations who have a geographically dispersed workforce. We've found that Socialcast fills an information gap for knowledge workers, making expertise and data much easier to find. For example in the retail industry, we've found that Socialcast unites corporate and store-level employees, creating a direct link from the staff that touches the customer to the staff that makes company-wide decisions.


WMC: I've seen increasing use of wikis by companies for internal collaboration; how is Socialcast different?

TY: Wikis are an excellent collaboration tool but in our opinion are not social software. In most cases wikis lack the concept of authorship and fail to focus on the individuals who created the knowledge and who else in the organization should be aware of it. We employ a wiki-like feature called "Pages" inside Socialcast. However, we also incorporate more features and tools that provide a structured way to get questions answered and to surface new ideas from employees at all levels to the top tiers of management. Additionally, our platform is built with social networking DNA—so all of these activities can be traced back to actual users with identities and identifiable knowledge in the community. Essentially, a wiki is just one piece of our software that can be used as a collaboration tool.


WMC: There's no mention on your website of features like file uploading / sharing / revision control—does Socialcast offer document sharing and control functionality?

TY: Because of Socialcast's focus on tacit knowledge vs. explicit knowledge, we don't support document storage. Instead we provide two alternative methods of sharing document-based knowledge.

1. Linking to a file that lives on the intranet—if you have a Word document that is accessible via your intranet, you can link to it as you would for any other web-based document. This creates a link to the file location so that users can discover where they can find data they need. This method does require that you have access to your intranet from whatever computer you're using.

2. "Pages" feature—we like to encourage the use of the Pages wiki-feature discussed above so that users can manually input information that once lived in a document into a searchable, changeable format. So, this same Word document can simply be cut and pasted into a page, and users can access/search this data at any time.

Not enabling document storage was a careful consideration for Socialcast. We realize that other enterprise software providers do have this function. However, because our goal is to truly connect people and their minds to each other, versus connecting people to static data, we elected to create alternatives to document storage that could serve as a starting point for collaboration and discussion.

Additionally, our research has shown that many companies already have specific solutions in place for sharing documents internally, many of which have strict governance and access controls (for example, NASA). By linking to those we are able to stay true to the restrictions put in place by a firm's IT staff without creating yet another file repository that IT would have to control and govern.


WMC: How is Socialcast priced?

TY: Socialcast is priced at $5 per user per month for all clients.


WMC: For many enterprises, employee knowledge is spread across documents, databases, emails and other systems. A common approach to addressing this is through enterprise search. How does Socialcast integrate with enterprise search platforms, such as Microsoft FAST, Attivio or Endeca?

TY: Currently we offer a robust search interface from within the Socialcast application but we recognize the need to interoperate with organizations existing search products and platforms. We are currently in process of working with a number of enterprise search providers to connect our Socialcast API into their search products. We hope to make some exciting announcements around this effort during the fourth quarter of this year.


WMC: Who do you see as the primary competition for Socialcast?

TY: Socialcast is a unique application that blends a traditional consumer social networking layer with KM tools to capture and share tacit knowledge. This unique approach allows Socialcast to solve specific information challenges that companies are currently facing included knowledge retention and socialization. Many large enterprise vendors (Microsoft, IBM, Oracle) are beginning to add "social" features to their existing product suites but they are merely feature add-ons and not the core of a product. There are also a number of smaller enterprise vendors that are bringing social software to the enterprise but like Socialcast each has a unique focus and approach; Socialtext with wikis, ConnectBeam with social bookmarking, SelectMinds with alumni focused networks.


WMC: Anything else people should know about Socialcast?

TY: Socialcast brings a unique and effective approach to social networking and messaging in the enterprise that was born from building highly successful consumer social networks. At our core Socialcast has always been focused on making product decisions based on extensive research and data mining. Our product development is heavily customer and end user centric in its approach and methods. We invest heavily in research and development to bring impactful and meaningful product innovations to the market. Currently we are engaged in research in network science, collective intelligence, flock theory, emergence behaviors, and conversation theory.

*****

technorati tags: Tim Young, Socialcast, on-demand social networking platform, Hot Topic, Guitar Center, Ning, Zanby, Intranet 2.0, wikis, social networking DNA, enterprise search platforms, Microsoft FAST, Attivio, Endeca, Socialtext, ConnectBeam, SelectMinds, network science, collective intelligence, flock theory, emergence behaviors, conversation theory

del.icio.us tags: Tim Young, Socialcast, on-demand social networking platform, Hot Topic, Guitar Center, Ning, Zanby, Intranet 2.0, wikis, social networking DNA, enterprise search platforms, Microsoft FAST, Attivio, Endeca, Socialtext, ConnectBeam, SelectMinds, network science, collective intelligence, flock theory, emergence behaviors, conversation theory

icerocket tags: Tim Young, Socialcast, on-demand social networking platform, Hot Topic, Guitar Center, Ning, Zanby, Intranet 2.0, wikis, social networking DNA, enterprise search platforms, Microsoft FAST, Attivio, Endeca, Socialtext, ConnectBeam, SelectMinds, network science, collective intelligence, flock theory, emergence behaviors, conversation theory

Contact Tom Pick: tomATwebmarketcentralDOTcom

Best PR Blog - Vote for Harry!

The inimitable Harry Hoover at THINKing is locked in a tight battle in the PRWeek blog competition. To vote, scroll down to the bottom where you see the charts and click on "My Creative Team." Let's put Harry over the top!

PitchEngine Simplifies Social PR

I've been participating in an alpha test of a new social press release creation tool called PitchEngine (public beta coming soon). In the words of PitchEngine creator Jason Kintzler, "PitchEngine shakes up the PR industry making it possible for PR pros, brands, and agencies to build and share digital, social media releases with their contacts for free. Our PitchEngine SMR (social media release) takes the press release to the next level, eliminating the need for antiquated email attachments, word documents, image CDs, and more."

Although the tool has a few minor glitches at this point (the number of characters permitted for subheads and the "quick pitch" is way too small, the feature for adding Resources and Related Links is touchy, and hyperlinks have to be recreated after cut-and-paste from Word), overall it's very slick and easy to use. I created a social media release for version 10 of the Quick View Plus desktop file viewing utility (a VERY useful application BTW) from Avantstar, and other than a little manual effort on the links, the process was quick and easy. Reporting capabilities will be added soon.

PitchEngine provides an intuitive interface for creating the release; adding images, video and audio files; applying tags; and including social networking links for press contacts. It's a slick tool that includes some nice touches, such as automatically creating a shortened URL for use with Twitter. You can keep with the latest developments on the PitchEngine blog.

*****

technorati tags: social press release tool, PitchEngine, Jason Kintzler, social media release, Quick View Plus desktop file viewing utility, Avantstar, Twitter

del.icio.us tags: social press release tool, PitchEngine, Jason Kintzler, social media release, Quick View Plus desktop file viewing utility, Avantstar, Twitter

icerocket tags: social press release tool, PitchEngine, Jason Kintzler, social media release, Quick View Plus desktop file viewing utility, Avantstar, Twitter

Contact Tom Pick: tomATwebmarketcentralDOTcom

Using Blogs for Social Media Optimization

Blogs are one of six broad types of social media. This post will discuss how PR and marketing professionals can use blogs (even if you don't write your own) to increase brand awareness and credibility; the next will discuss all of the other tools of social media.

Blogs are a big deal; they are mainstream and competing with traditional media. There are a lot of them—Technorati tracks more than 15 million active blogs, and although the rate of growth has slowed, there are still thousands of new blogs started each day. Blogs help with SEO, whether you have your own or are generating links to your website from others. More than 60% of U.S. Internet users, and more 70% globally, have read a blog within the past 12 months. And blogs have become a key source of information for executive decision makers.

The first step in developing a blog strategy is understanding the landscape of blogs in your industry. You can search for relevant blogs using keywords pertaining to your business as well as searching for competitor names. While regular search engines can be used, that's a tedious process; it's much more efficient to use blog-specific search tools such as Google blog search, Technorati, BlogMarks, Blogarama and/or Blog Catalog. In addition, check out the blogrolls of the most relevant blogs you find.

The next step is to monitor blogs to discover what's being written about your company, product or other specific topic of interest. You can set up Google Alerts for free, although these won't catch everything (they're likely to miss quite a bit actually). Bloglines is a helpful free tool for monitoring blogs you've already identified; you can add their RSS feeds and monitor posts from one spot. If you have a modest budget (hundreds of dollars per month) for monitoring, try a service like WebClipping or CyberAlert. If you've got a bigger budget (thousands of dollars per month), you can step up to a professional-strength PR monitoring and current awareness tool such as Vocus, Moreover or YellowBrix.

Once you have a feel for the blog ecosystem in your industry, you can begin blogger outreach:

Commenting is a great way to start. Make sure your comments add something to the conversation and aren't simply self-promotional.

Contact the blogger as the next step. Contact should be personal (use the blogger's name, refer to the blog directly, act like you've been there before), compelling (tell a great story) and of course relevant to topics the blogger normally writes about.

Provide assets the blogger can use to enhance the post, such as original research results, images, video, or the offer of an interview with a key executive or other expert.

Writing a guest post is an excellent next step once you have a relationship of trust established with a blogger.

Promote posts when you get coverage. Increasing their exposure (and traffic) is a key incentive in getting bloggers to write about your topic.

And finally, follow up with key bloggers on your list. If they write about you, THANK THEM. If not, ask if it's okay for you to send them an occasional update on your firm/product/service and any interesting developments.

If you have your own blog, you can use many of these tactics to increase your audience through exposure on and links from other blogs. But even if you don't have your own, you can use these practices to increase exposure and build credibility for your company or product in relevant industry blogs.

*****

technorati tags: blogs, types of social media, Technorati, blog strategy, Google blog search, BlogMarks, Blogarama, Blog Catalog, blogrolls, Bloglines, WebClipping, CyberAlert, Vocus, Moreover, YellowBrix, blogger outreach, commenting, video

del.icio.us tags: blogs, types of social media, Technorati, blog strategy, Google blog search, BlogMarks, Blogarama, Blog Catalog, blogrolls, Bloglines, WebClipping, CyberAlert, Vocus, Moreover, YellowBrix, blogger outreach, commenting, video

icerocket tags: blogs, types of social media, Technorati, blog strategy, Google blog search, BlogMarks, Blogarama, Blog Catalog, blogrolls, Bloglines, WebClipping, CyberAlert, Vocus, Moreover, YellowBrix, blogger outreach, commenting, video

Contact Tom Pick: tomATwebmarketcentralDOTcom

Branding & Entertainment? Web 2.0? Pick an Event, a Coast and a Discount

Being the most informed and sophisticated marketing and PR executives on the planet, readers of this blog know that WebMarketCentral is the place to find a comprehensive calendar of live and online marketing events. However, in that wealth of content, it's easy to overlook something. Here are two events that deserve special attention.

For brand marketers, the L.A. Office RoadShow runs September 16-18 in Hollywood. There's no other event like this one for meeting the "players" and making connections in the entertainment industry. RoadShow is a global event that brings brand marketers together with 100 marketing execs from 40 top entertainment companies. Brands of all sizes can discover and capitalize on entertainment tie-in opportunities. It's a unique annual event where brand marketers can meet the right people and develop valuable industry partnerships for brand promotion.

The people behind RoadShow are offering WebMarketCentral readers extended special pricing on advance registration—a $200 discount to marketers who call (310) 275-2088 and register before August 31st with the promo code RS08-RD. To find out more information about the event, including present companies, current attendees and travel information, check out www.RoadShowHollywood.com.

On the other side of the country, the Web 2.0 Expo will come to New York City September 16-19. Tim O'Reilly and TechWeb take this event, connecting the builders of the web with the brightest minds, hottest ideas, and most useful tools, to the East Coast for the first time. Web 2.0 Expo will bring together executives from the big brands and big industries in New York with the creative minds behind the next generation of the Internet, to learn, share, network and shape the future. This event will bring together the thinkers behind and builders of the next generation web: designers, developers, entrepreneurs, marketers, business strategists, and venture capitalists. Together, they'll share experiences, lessons from failure, ideas for what's next, and how to practically apply new web technologies. Web 2.0 is about creating more business value while providing a more meaningful experience for customers, delivering relevant information and increasing collaboration.

Interested? Use discount code webny08bd17 to receive either $100 off the conference or a free Expo Pass when you register at web2expo.com/ny.

*****

technorati tags: comprehensive calendar of marketing events, L.A. Office RoadShow, entertainment industry, brand marketers, advance registration discount, Hollywood, New York, Web 2.0 Expo, Tim O'Reilly, TechWeb, next generation of the Internet, customer experience, collaboration

del.icio.us tags: comprehensive calendar of marketing events, L.A. Office RoadShow, entertainment industry, brand marketers, advance registration discount, Hollywood, New York, Web 2.0 Expo, Tim O'Reilly, TechWeb, next generation of the Internet, customer experience, collaboration

icerocket tags: comprehensive calendar of marketing events, L.A. Office RoadShow, entertainment industry, brand marketers, advance registration discount, Hollywood, New York, Web 2.0 Expo, Tim O'Reilly, TechWeb, next generation of the Internet, customer experience, collaboration

Contact Tom Pick: tomATwebmarketcentralDOTcom

The Importance of Proofreading

From John Andrews at johnon.com today, this is priceless:

First, let me highlight an amusing snippet of text from a creative agency that claims to include SEO in their client work:

“Many of our clients have spent countless marketing dollars with little success.”

You have to love the irony. That is the “copy” on the website of an agency looking to earn your business. Beautiful.

(It's real; you can find the original by clicking on "Search Engine Positioning" here.)

That brought to mind a poster that my eighth grade English teacher had hanging in her room (really odd how the brain works sometimes on a Friday afternoon, no?). It was a poster about using words and punctuation carefully, and while I certainly can't remember the whole thing now, I remember that among the example sentences were:

Never break your bread or roll in your soup.

Abraham Lincoln wrote the Gettysburg address while traveling to Gettysburg on the back of an envelope.

Joe likes seafood better than his wife.

And of course, the classic "I shot an elephant in my pajamas." Strange that the poster doesn't seem to be available anywhere online, but my junior high days were just a bit before Internet time.

Author Lynne Truss even managed with Eats, Shoots & Leaves: The Zero Tolerance Approach to Punctuation to write a best seller on this sort of thing.

So be careful out there. Enjoy your weekend. That's all I got.

*****

technorati tags: John Andrews, johnon.com, Never break your bread or roll in your soup, Abraham Lincoln Gettysburg address back of an envelope, I shot an elephant in my pajamas, Lynne Truss, Eats Shoots & Leaves: The Zero Tolerance Approach to Punctuation

del.icio.us tags: John Andrews, johnon.com, Never break your bread or roll in your soup, Abraham Lincoln Gettysburg address back of an envelope, I shot an elephant in my pajamas, Lynne Truss, Eats Shoots & Leaves: The Zero Tolerance Approach to Punctuation

icerocket tags: John Andrews, johnon.com, Never break your bread or roll in your soup, Abraham Lincoln Gettysburg address back of an envelope, I shot an elephant in my pajamas, Lynne Truss, Eats Shoots & Leaves: The Zero Tolerance Approach to Punctuation

Contact Tom Pick: tomATwebmarketcentralDOTcom

Best of 2008 (So Far) - SEO Guidance, Part 2

Again, there have been so many excellent blog posts and articles written on SEO already this year that I'm trying to get a jump on 2009. So here are several more of the best SEO-related pieces from 2008 thus far.

How to Prioritize Your Optimization by GrokDotCom

Interactive marketing guru and best-selling author Bryan Eisenberg maps SEO priorities against Abraham Maslow’s famous hierarchy of needs. As with Maslow’s pyramid, Eisenberg’s maps out progressive levels of website impact, from being merely functional to truly persuasive.


Beginner and Comprehensive Guides to SEO, Link Building, PPC, Social Media, Affiliate Marketing and Blogging by SEO Scoop

An outstanding post from DazzlinDonna listing her favorite resources and guides for help with everything from SEO and online reputation management to blogging and social media marketing. It’s almost like a syllabus for your own self-paced interactive marketing guru course.


The SEO Website Overhaul by PromotionWorld

Writer Brandon Cornett gets to the heart of SEO in this concise and practical article, detailing “five simple tasks you can perform on your website over the next few days to improve your search engine visibility and traffic levels” from validating your keywords to creating an XML site map.


Learning SEO and SEM - Where to Start? by High Rankings Advisor

A look at the various options for getting SEO training, including online courses, in-person training at industry conferences, and customized training classes. A tad self-serving, but informative.


Q&A With Google's Matt Cutts About SEO and the Future of Search by the Epicenter blog from Wired.com

Betsy Schiffman posts a brief interview with the head of Google’s q