Search Engine News

Jennifer Laycock

It Can't Be Said Enough: Learn What Converts

There's a fantastic article in Internet Retailer this month that talks about some of the issues plaguing sites that are trying to drive traffic via search engines. The one that caught my eye was the lack of sites making proper...

Jennifer Laycock

Looksmart Relaunces as Vertical Search Engine

After a few years of languishing in near obscurity, Looksmart announced today that they would be relaunching themselves as "the largest vertical search site launch in the history of the Web." The new Looksmart features 11 new vertical categories and...

Jennifer Laycock

Is There a Limit to Google's Reach?

While Google has proven time and time again that it can succeed outside of its standard realm of operations (Gmail, Google Earth, etc...) many within the marketing world are wondering if the engine's latest plan to tackle the world of...

Jennifer Laycock

Still Don't Understand Click Fraud?

With pay-per-click advertising growing at a staggering pace, more and more concerns are being raised about the issue of click fraud and how it will impact the future of paid search advertising. With click fraud estimates at anywhere from 15-40%...

Jennifer Laycock

Link Exchange - a Power Play

All the search engines use the extent of inbound links to a web page as a means of assessing the value of that page, the logic being that if someone has bothered to provide a link to the page, there...

Jennifer Laycock

All Your Base Belong to Google?

After speculation popped up yesterday about a new subdomain that had appeared on the Google site, it seems that a sight briefly appeared and then vanished again. It appears that the new Google Base program will be Google's attempt to...

Jennifer Laycock

Yahoo! Drops Minimum Monthly Spend

Had an email last night from the Yahoo! Search Marketing Team that said they were eliminating their $20 minimum monthly spend for pay-per-click advertising campaigns. That's good news to small businesses that were trying to advertise in low-cost or niche...

Jennifer Laycock

Two Sides to Every Story

While a decent amount of attention has been given this week to Google's Gmail trademark issues in the U.K., most of the articles have been somewhat skewed in favor of the search giant. Reporters and bloggers have talked about the...

Jennifer Laycock

"Still Together" - Search Engines and Internet Yellow Pages

Search for an accountant, pizza restaurant or auto shop in your nearest metropolitan area. In addition to more relevant natural search results, there is a good chance that up to three local listings will appear above the treasured #1 natural...

Jennifer Laycock

Keyword Research: Getting Started

Start by addressing the actual product or products you sell. How narrow/broad is the focus of your site? You'll need to address that fact before you start picking keywords....

Jennifer Laycock

Blogs Are Great, but Use them Right...

While blogs have become the next great thing for many in the search engine and online marketing worlds, like anything else on the web, they are quite often misused. Common mistakes that could easily be corrected keep many blogs from...

Jennifer Laycock

Top Sites for September 2005

The ZDnet research team has the latest Nielsen//NetRatings list of the top Internet sites for the month of September. There were few surprises as Yahoo! took the top spot with just under 100 million viewers. Yahoo! was followed up by...

Jennifer Laycock

Less than 20% of Major Online Retailers Well Optimized

A new study released by the team at Oneupweb shows that less than twenty percent of Internet Retailer Magazine's top 100 sites are doing a good job of using search engine marketing to promote their products and services. The report...

Jennifer Laycock

Targeting Teens? Stick with Search...

A new study by the team at Yahoo! Search Marketing surveyed 486 college students to find out where they go for information and what they place their trust in when they are researching topics. The survey mostly looked at online...

Jennifer Laycock

The Ethics Debate Continues, From the Buyer Side

Articles about search engine marketing ethics or white hat verses black hat techniques are nothing new, they pop up on a pretty regular basis. But usually, these articles are written from the industry or search engine side. This week, Jim...

Jennifer Laycock

Accelerate Online Sales

Getting a prospect to click on your listing in a search engine is only the first step in an effective online lead generation program. What happens after they arrive on your website is just as important as how they get...

Jennifer Laycock

If We Build it, They Will Come...and They Will Want Control

A long time ago in a university not far away, some very intelligent Americans were inspired by a military project known as ARPANET and created the first TCP/IP wide area network. What does all that mean? It means that they...