Search Marketing News

Lee Odden to Speak at Jill Whalen's Seminar

2007-02-13T16:48:00.000-06:00

I am happy to announce that I'll be joining Jill Whalen and her super talented team of SEO and SEM instructors for the Minneapolis High Rankings Search Engine Marketing seminar March 15 & 16th.

From all the people that have attended the few local search marketing presentations I've done through MIMA, I know there are a lot of in house marketers and web designers in dire need of improving their search marketing skills. I also know there are quite a few small business and web site owners that could benefit significantly from some hands on SEO/SEM training.

The High Rankings seminar can deliver for both audiences.

Here's why: The High Rankings Search Engine Marketing seminar is two days of jam packed, practical information from experienced search marketing pros who make their living from SEO and SEM.

The impressive lineup includes:

* Jill Whalen - High Rankings
* Scottie Claiborne - Successful-Sites
* Matt Bailey - Site Logic Marketing
* Christine Churchill - KeyRelevence
* Karon Thackston - Marketing Words
* And some guy named Lee Odden from TopRank :)

Topics to be covered in the two day seminar include:

* Search Engine Optimization Overview
* Technical Design Issues
* The Nitty-Gritty of Writing for the Search Engines
* Social Media and Public Relations for SEO
* Effective Keyword Research
* The ins and outs of Paid Search (PPC)
* Copywriting Your Way to Success
* Link Building
* Measuring Success

Day one is made up of a sequence of sessions, each building upon the other - from keyword research all the way to web analytics. The day two workshop offers hands on instruction and site reviews.

This is not a giant Search Engine Strategies event where the speakers simply take 10 minutes to sell you their product or consulting services. This is practical, hands-on and actionable information.

What makes this even better is that there's an early bird discount (10%) for registrations by Feb 15th, 2007. If you're a reader of Online Marketing Blog, then you'll also benefit with an ADDITIONAL 25% off.

Click the following link for more information or register today.

The Best SEO Blogs

2007-01-03T15:31:00.000-06:00

Amie, Thomas and I have been working in between client projects over the past week to refine the huge list of RSS feeds and blog urls from my RSS reader to share with our readers. Each blog and RSS feed was recently visited to ensure an accurate description, working URLs and post frequency.

After going through this many blogs, a few trends that stuck out include:

Many blogs on SEO are not themselves optimized
Bloggers suck and making it easy to subscribe to RSS feeds - help with RSS feeds here
Anonymous blogs are not inherently interesting
AdSense heavy blogs distract too much from content

Check out the big list of SEO blogs and the OPML file for importing into your RSS reader at Online Marketing Blog.

Tags: seo blog, search marketing blogs

SEO Video Interviews

2006-12-07T11:23:00.000-06:00

Never one to disappoint in his conference coverage, Lee Odden of TopRank Online Marketing has published 4 video interviews with some of the top people in the search marketing industry. Enjoy!

Joshua Stylman and Peter Hershberg - Reprise Media
Gord Hotchkiss - Enquiro
Stephan Spencer - Netconcepts
Neil Patel and Cameron Olthius - ACSSEO

In other news related to Search Engine Strategies in Chicago, Danny Sullivan announced his new venture, Search Engine Land and ClickZ editor Rebecca Leib was named Danny's successor at Search Engine Watch.

Tags: Gord Hotchkiss, Joshua Stylman, Peter Hershberg, Stephan Spencer, Neil Patel, Cameron Olthius, seschicago06, seschicago2006

Lee Odden Interview eMarketing Talkshow

2006-12-01T17:39:00.000-06:00

In about 30 minutes I will be doing an online radio interview with eMarketing Talkshow about "Push and Pull Online Public Relations". I'll be talking with Cindy Turrietta about the market opportunity with online PR, explaining the concept of push and pull with examples of each as well as considerations on measuring results.

With all the buzz about optimizing and marketing with social media as well as the emerging meme in public relations on the social media news release format, there is an opportunity to help marketers better understand how these concepts can be applied in a practical manner.

Too often tactics get promoted as the latest and greatest trends without any substance or real world references. This interview is intended to provide a framework for understanding how marketers and public relations professionals can increase their reach and ability to be found by consumers as wel as the media by incorporating SEO concepts along with PR and social media.

You can tune in to the show by visiting the eMarketing Talkshow site at 4PM PST/6PM CST/7PM EST this Friday, December 1st. If you don't make it for the live show, the archives will be available in four segments when they are posted next week.

Tags: social media, push pull pr, online pr, marketing, public relations

YouTube Cashless with the Google Cow

2006-10-09T17:59:00.000-05:00

Who isn't talking about this recent acqisition? Google BlogSearch, Technorati

$1.65 billion in stock is all it took to get YouTube over to the GOOG side.

Steve Rubel doesn't care and Mark Cuban says they're morons and that Google is crazy.

Another day in the search engine world......

Tags: youtube, google, googtube

Google's Blog Hacked

2006-10-08T17:03:00.000-05:00

Google Blog announced today "About that fake post" that someone was able to get in and make a fake post about Google click to call being cancelled. Also commenting on this are Google Blogscoped with a screenshot of the fake post and ThreadWatch.

Brett Tabke Interview

2006-09-27T17:56:00.000-05:00

Over at Media Posts' Search Insider there's a nice short interview with WebmasterWorld and Pubcon founder, Brett Tabke. A few highlights:

"Conferences must listen to what is going on with these weekenders and start to adjust the more formal conferences to get these people back into the process."

"Search engines are the current big muscle on the block. But they have one major weakness: they can’t exist without Web sites to feed them, but Web sites can exist just fine without search engines. Search is just about another form of traffic for Webmasters."

"I think we will see a day when a search service realizes that Aunt Sally’s phone number relates to a date notification of her birthday in such a way that it should send you to ProFlowers to buy Aunt Sally a birthday card."

"Organic search results are difficult for the average Web site to attain today. Organic optimization is becoming for professionals only."

Nice!

Too bad Rob got to Brett first. I was supposed to interview him last week but the biz comes first. I will be publishing an interview with Brett Tabke as well as several other search marketing luminaries at Online Marketing Blog in the coming weeks.

Mobile Search Trends

2006-05-24T10:29:00.000-05:00

JumpTap has just released usage statistics for the month of April revealing that mobile subscribers are hungry for premium content, such as True-tone ringtones, driving revenue increases for carriers of eight percent on the month. Click-through rates on mobile searches of 36 percent and a four percent increase in unique users are fueling revenue growth, with average revenue per search increasing to $2.73.

JumpTap also found that the Top 10 mobile searches by category for the month of April were:
Artists – 58 percent
Adult – 12 percent
Games – eight percent
Miscellaneous genres – seven percent
Sports and Television – tied at five percent

Full release

Tags: mobile search, jumptap

Eurekster Red Herring 100

2006-05-23T15:54:00.000-05:00

Eurekster has announced they have been selected as a winner of the annual Red Herring 100 North America award by Red Herring magazine. 100 privately held companies in North America are recognized as playing a leading role in innovating the technology business. See the full list at RedHerring.com

Tags: eurekster, red herring

Online Sales Increase to $211 Billion in 2006

2006-05-23T15:47:00.000-05:00

According to Forrester Research and Shop.org's annual State of Retailing Online study, online sales are expected to rise 20% in 2006. Some interesting findings from the report:

Computer hardware and software, cars, and apparel, accessories and
footwear are expected to be the largest nontravel categories driving
the increase, with anticipated sales of $16.8 billion, $15.9 billion
and $13.8 billion, respectively.
But sales of pet supplies, cosmetics and fragrances will increase faster than other categories at growth rates of more than 30 percent, the report found.

Gift cards and loyalty programs were big contributors to increased sales. The report also cited the benefits for online and offline integration. Read the full story at CNET News.com.

Tags: online sales, forrester research, ecommerce 2006, shop.org, retailing online

Webshots all you can eat photo hosting

2006-05-23T14:06:00.000-05:00

CNET property, Webshots has announced the launch of a free image upload and hosting service called AllYouCanUpload.com. The service lets users upload up to 10 images at a time with no size limit on photos. It also provides the code you can copy and paste into a blog post, onto a web site or for use on a forum.

In fact, the image above is hosted at AllYouCanUpload.com.

Tags: free photo hosting, webshots, CNET, photo archive, AllYouCanUpload

MSN Continues to Play Catchup

2006-05-07T13:32:00.000-05:00

You've got to hand it to Microsoft, they're trying pretty hard:

MSN AdCenter now live - SEW

Microsoft to Spend $1.1 Billion to Catch up with Google - MarketingVOX

Yahoo MSN to Partner? - Search Engine Lowdown

Marathon SEO

2006-04-17T10:05:00.000-05:00

Are you a runner? Are you a SEO? If so, then this is going to be a great week for you.

Today the Boston Marathon takes off and this week the WembasterWorld Pubcon conference kicks off as well. I'm leaving in a few hours to attend one of the best conferences for hands on search engine optimization and paid search marketing information.

The keynote speaker is Malcom Gladwell, author of "The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make A Big Difference" and "Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking". All the major search engines will be there along with in-house marketers, agencies, vendors and the group that started it all, independent webmasters and search marketers.

Topics range from organic SEO site reviews to paid search strategies to public relations. Speaking of PR, I'll be presenting on SEO, Blogs and Online PR Wednesday morning (after a night of revelry ala Yahoo Publisher Network) on a Public Relations panel along with CEO and founder of PRWeb.com, David McInnis.

With a conference that has a hands on and practical flavor, the information I'll be presenting is very much like giving away some of the "secret sauce", so hopefully you'll be attending the conference. Using online public relations is a perfect match to natural search engine optimization programs and can multiply the results.

I'll be posting on a few of the sessions as I have time, particularly the keynote presentation and the "Super Bloggers of Search" session with Robert Scoble of Microsoft, Jeremy Zawodny of Yahoo and Matt Cutts of Google.

Tags: SEO, Pubcon, Boston Marathon, Lee Odden, Conference, online PR

Click Fraud, RSS, Clueless SEO, Riya Invites

2006-03-27T12:03:00.000-06:00

How to Protect Yourself against Click Fraud - Marketing Experiments

RSS Marketing Article - iMedia Connection

Top Ten reasons why it sucks - it's great to be an SEO. Todd

Highest paying AdWords phrases - CyberWyre

The Clueless SEO Link Exchange Directory - SEO Consultants

Riya Photo Search uses face recognition software - sign up for beta

Mixing Organic SEO and PPC - Aaron

Google to Join S&P500 - iMedia Connection

Sunday Links

2006-03-19T10:42:00.000-06:00

Logo Map of Web 2.0 apps via Phillip Lenssen

Google's Eric Schmidt Briefs Journalists - "Google is also working out how it can turn itself into a global retailer, so that customers can not only search for something but buy it from them in a few clicks." What is that all about? via Threadwatch

public relations and search engines web sites score the lowest in a recent Internet study conducted by the Web Marketing Association.

Comprehensive info on Aaron Wall, who gives sage advice on the mixing of SEO and PPC.

SES China

2006-03-17T09:52:00.000-06:00

Search Engine Roundtable has coverage of the Search Engine Strategies conference in Nanjing, China by Marc Hil Macalua. Posts so far include:

Miles Evans of ProfitPapers is also making posts about SES China.

Tags: SES China, SES Nanjing, Search Engine Strategies

SEO Clients From Hell

2006-03-16T12:20:00.000-06:00

Via Search Engine Roundtable, Ben at RankSmart has published "15 Reasons Why Nobody Wants You As An SEO Client". In the post he describes a scenario where a potential SEO client might bounce around various SEO resources, skimming info from each. (no link love for TopRank Ben?)

The more visibility you have, the more of these types of calls your SEO firm will get. I think SEO firms and potential buyers of SEO should definitley read this post. SEO as a marketing channel is HOT and will remain so for a while. There are also a finite number of tier one SEO consultants and firms. A lot of those talented and visible SEOs can afford to say no far more often than they say yes. Therefore, potential SEO clients should understand more about what makes a good SEO client, as SEOs should understand what makes a good SEO vendor.

Tags: SEO, SEO Clients From Hell, SEO Firms

Ammon Johns Interview

2006-03-16T11:50:00.000-06:00

Rand posts a very thorough good interview with Ammon Johns, aka Black Night. In fact, it's more like a magazine article than a blog post. Rand really knows how to package content. In this case, it's not only well-packaged, but excellent content.

I remember seeing a multitude of posts from Black Night on the very first SEO forums I ever explored over at Cre8asite forums. Always very helpful, often to the point and very thorough, much like Rand's interview with him.

Tags: seo interview, ammon johns, seomoz

FeedBlitz Offers Weekly RSS to Email Digest

2006-03-15T15:09:00.000-06:00

Phil over at FeedBlitz tells me they have now added weekly scheduling options:

"FeedBlitz has now added weekly email options to simplify weekly newsletter production from blogs and other RSS feed sources. Available as a "Turbo" upgrade, you select the day of the week you want your newsletter to be released. In the wee small hours FeedBlitz collects your posts from the previous seven days and mails them out to your subscribers, automatically."

This is a good feature since a lot of blog readers don't want daily updates and blog owners can use this feature to present their week's blog postings as an email news letter.

Tags: FeedBlitz, rss to email, rss, blog marketing

What Alexa Knows and Co Citation

2006-03-15T14:05:00.000-06:00

Via Threadwatch, apparently Alexa now displays an option to see "See other sites owned". I tried this on toprankblog.com and sure enough, my seo firm site, TopRankResults.com was listed.

Jim Boykin has an excellent post on c0-citation, which he pretty much translates into how search engines determine "related"sites. Another good way to see related sites is the Touchgraph Google Browser.

Spending on SEM Beats Online Advertising

2006-03-15T12:53:00.000-06:00

According to eMarketer, spending on search marketing has surpassed overall online advertising spending in 2005.

"Search marketing is the driving force behind continued growth in the online advertising industry. The enthusiasm for search marketing was reflected in the results published in Outsell's recent report, "Annual Ad Spending Study: Where and Why Advertisers Are Moving Online." This report shows 26 percent growth in spending on search marketing in 2005, more than the 19 percent growth in all online advertising, and substantially above the single digit growth rates in ad spending in print and on TV & radio"

Via iMediaConnection

Tags: search marketing, search marketing spending, online advertising, emarketer, search marketing agencies

Big Agencies Finally Getting Into the Search Marketing Game

2006-03-15T12:37:00.000-06:00

The New York Times reports that more Madison Ave agencies are investing in pay per click search marketing.

"More agencies and their parent companies are stepping up online investments in what is known as search marketing or search engine marketing, an estimated $5.1 billion category last year that has been growing far faster than traditional advertising in media like television and newspapers."

The article also touches on SEO as part of the mix hitting big agency radar. Watch out little SEO/SEM shops and get ready to be run over by the big guys. Or not.

Tags: seo article, sem, new york times, search marketing, seo firms

Pay Per Call 101: Beyond the Hype

2006-03-15T12:31:00.000-06:00

A new webinar from SEMPO on the topic of Pay Per Call will be held Monday, March 20 at 2:30 PM EST.

Kelsey Group recently predicted the Pay Per Call market will double each year for the next five years, and everyone from Google to eBay has thrown a hat in the Pay Per Call ring. But what is the true market opportunity for national marketers and agencies?

Ingenio's Marc Barach and Ross Weinstein will cover:

Several case studies illustrating Pay Per Call's impact on both small businesses and national brands - as well as tips to help you figure out whether Pay Per Call is a fit for you
Examples of how leading agencies and SEMs are leveraging Pay Per Call for clients in different industries
What the differences are between Pay Per Call, Click-to-Call and Call-Tracking - and how to figure out what's best for you and your clients
Campaign specifics and best practices: how to optimize your Pay Per Call campaign

The webinar is free to all and you can register online.

Tags: pay per call, ingenio, SEMPO, webinar, online marketing

Google @Last

2006-03-14T16:30:00.001-06:00

Google has acquired @Last Software, a start-up 3D-design toolmaker and developer of the SketchUp software - via Google Blog

HOW IS THIS A GOOD THING FOR SKETCHUP USERS?
One of the biggest reasons we chose to go ahead with this deal was that it was a good thing for our users. We'll keep SketchUp simple and easy, and we'll continue to make it more useful and powerful. Looking ahead, the product will improve, the user experience will get better, and the community will grow. I think the future of SketchUp is brighter than it's ever been before. via SketchUp site

Curiouser and curioser I say.

Tags: google, sketchup, google acquires sketchup

Interviews at SES New York 2006

2006-03-14T10:11:00.000-06:00

Chris Pirillo did several interviews at the Search Engine Strategies conference in New York a few weeks ago, and I was one of them. We chat about blogs and SEO mostly. You also get to hear a record number of, "ah's" and "um's" from me. Very embarrasing. I had no idea I said those things so much.

If you can bear it, listen to the Lee Odden interview by Chris Pirillo here.

Tags: lee odden, chris pirillo, seo interview, sesny2006