Search Engine News

Jennifer Laycock

Viewing it all backwards...

Michael Murray has an amusing tongue-in-cheek article over at WebProNews today that talks about the seven ways to know if search engine marketing is for you. While Murray's points are amusing, and not at all uncommon, I do wonder if...

Jennifer Laycock

ROLLYO - Pretty Cool, But Will it Last

Every now and then a site or tool comes around that seems pretty cool, but runs its course pretty quickly and then gets forgotten about. Orkut is a great example of this. Back when it launched as an invitation only...

Jennifer Laycock

Google Drops Size Count, Issues Parting Shot

Remember when you were a kid and you just HAD to have the last word in an argument? It might go something like this... You: Did not! Sibling: Did too! You: Did NOT! Sibling: Did TOO! You: DID NOT! Sibling:...

Jennifer Laycock

Companies Miss the Boat When Outsourcing Search Marketing

A new study released today by iProspect shows that while companies are moving toward outsourcing their search engine marketing efforts, many are failing to follow through on the very advice that they are paying for. 64% of companies that responded...

Jennifer Laycock

The Big Guys Aren't Far Behind...

The beauty of search engine marketing as an advertising venue is that so many small businesses were quick to the draw and have spent considerable time pulling customers away from the corporate giants that they could not otherwise compete with....

Jennifer Laycock

Is Search Marketing a One-Time Expense?

There's been debate over the years as to whether or not search marketing should be a one-time purchase like a marketing campaign, or an ongoing expense like a public relations retainer. While there are good points being made on both...

Jennifer Laycock

Profile: Google's Marissa Mayer

Those within the industry have known of Marissa Mayer's impact on Google's success for awhile now. She's often a featured speaker at industry events and shows up frequently in articles about the engine's latest projects. However, an article in the...

Jennifer Laycock

Understand, and then Conquer...

While learning about search engine marketing is handy, understanding how the search engines themselves work can go a long way toward helping you get a solid grasp on improving your rankings....

Jennifer Laycock

Doing What Small Businesses Do Best...

Adaptability. It's a required personality trait for anyone that wants to run a small business. In the wake of Hurricane Katrina, small business owners from the Gulf Coast were faced with a serious test of their adaptability. Thanks in part...

Jennifer Laycock

Danny Sullivan sticks his "big fat neck" out...

The search engine marketing industry has long been a battlefront between those who wish to push the envelope and those who hold to more conservative methods. There have been numerous attempts to lay down a set of "best practice" guidelines...

Jennifer Laycock

Ask Jeeves Changes Up Shopping Search

Long recognized as the "natural language" search engine, the good folks over at Ask Jeeves announced on their blog this morning that works to integrate their "Smart Answers" technology with shopping search....

Jennifer Laycock

Google Sends "Dear John" Letters...

Late last week, speculation started about whether or not a near "Dear John" letter from the Google team was legitimate, or some type of prank. This week, it's been confirmed...Google is now sending out notice to webmaster when their site...

Jennifer Laycock

An Inside Look at the World of Search...

If you've ever wanted to learn a little more about how it was that Google rose to be king of search, or how Yahoo! shifted from life as a directory to life as a portal and on to life as...

Jennifer Laycock

Search Marketing is Worthless...if Your Traffic Bails

Over and over again I've pushed the idea that even the best search engine marketing will do nothing for your business if your site can't keep and convert the traffic that it sends you. Abandonment issues are something that every...

Jennifer Laycock

Why You Should Care About Google's Blog Search Launch

Google has launched plenty of different search options over the years. From local search to Google answers to Froogle, it's nothing new for Google to announce that they've found a way to create search access to yet another block of...

Jennifer Laycock

Dayparting? Make Sure You've Got Your Timing Right

While search engine marketers have long understood that site visitors are more likely to convert to buyers during certain periods of the day, a new study has been released that shows their timing may have been off by just a...

Jennifer Laycock

New Study Shows SEO More Lucrative Than PPC

Though it will come as no surprise to many within the search marketing world, many small business owners will be surprised to hear that in many instances, organic search engine marketing produces a far better return on investment than pay-per-click...

Jennifer Laycock

Katrina Drives Unexpected Search Spike

Yes I know, you've read the blog title and thought "why would she be surprised that Katrina caused a spike in search?" Well...I'm not surprised by the spike in hurricane related searches, but I am surprised at the data that...

Jennifer Laycock

It's all about the children...

It's a popular refrain with politicians these days. Focus on the children and how you can help them...prove that you love them more and voters will flock to you. Well, what if search engines started playing the same game in...

Jennifer Laycock

DMOZ in 2005

Is there any value at all in the DMOZ directory? The idea of becoming "the definitive catalog of the Web" was a fine one, but it turned out to be an impossible dream....

Jennifer Laycock

Changes to AdWords Could Haunt Holiday Advertisers

While many within the industry have applauded the recent changes to the AdWords ranking system, some are pointing out the potential havoc that the new system could wreak on holiday advertisers....

Jennifer Laycock

Search Plays a Key Role in Auto Sales

A new study released by the folks at Yahoo! and Compete Inc. shows that search plays an important role in the automotive buying process....

Jennifer Laycock

New study shows companies STILL don't get SEM...

I've written time and time again about the need to get past things like rankings and traffic in order to look at what really matters in a search campaign. Namely...sales and profits. A new study released this morning shows that...

Jennifer Laycock

ClickTracks Does it Again!

Regular readers of Search Engine Guide know from past reviews that I'm a pretty big fan of the team over at ClickTracks. Apart from providing some of the best customer service around, they've also managed to consistently put out affordable,...