Search Engine News

Jennifer Laycock

Because Sometimes the Fluff is Fun...

A week or so ago I wrote about my experience of using no search engine other than Ask.com for a full week. One of the comments that I made about the engine was that while it lacked a depth in...

Jennifer Laycock

Suing Google For Your Own Stupidity

It's an easy way to earn a quarter of a million dollars...if you can actually pull it off. At least that seems to be the thinking of D.C. resident Theresa B. Bradley who filed suit against Google earlier this month...

Jennifer Laycock

The Problem With Building Content

With more and more companies earning their living by publishing content online, there's a growing problem in regards to finding that content. The temptation to simply pick up and republish a piece that was found on another site can be...

Jennifer Laycock

Findability: The Fancy Way of Saying "Speak Their Language"

It's the number one rule of organic search marketing. Jakob Nielsen calls it "using old words." I call it "speak the customers' language. Whichever phrase you want to use, it still boils down to the concept of writing for "findability."...

Jennifer Laycock

The Difference Between Spidering and Indexing

Shari Thurow's column over at ClickZ today has an interesting tidbit in it than many small business owners and new SEM practitioners should read and consider. It's an explanation of the difference between a site being spidered and a site...

Jennifer Laycock

This Sandbox Stuff

A few months ago, I wrote an article exploring whether or not the Google "sandbox" existed. In it, I outlined why the sandbox, as an aging filter makes zero sense and how the reality of the situation is that things...

Jennifer Laycock

Are You Ready for the Surge? (And Do You Even Want It?)

Chris Garrett over at Performancing has a short, but interesting post this week about what can happen when your site gets pick up by a massive social network site like Fark or Slashdot. Sure, it results in tons of traffic..but...

Jennifer Laycock

Planning Your Holiday SEM Campaign

by Nick Guastella - Each year, planning your holiday search engine marketing (SEM) campaign becomes more competitive and increasingly challenging as marketers realize the effectiveness of online advertising. The two most successful online advertising strategies are SEM and display ads....

Jennifer Laycock

Making Fun of "Modern" Online Marketing

Sometimes you just need a break from it all. I mentioned a few weeks back that I find it slightly amusing that all of the new-fangled online marketing techniques are basically good common sense wrapped up in sexy new buzzwords...Good...

Jennifer Laycock

ClickTracks Sells Out (No, Not Really!...Well, Yeah, Sort Of)

Had an email this morning from the ClickTracks team announcing that the firm has been acquired by J.L. Halsey, a publicly traded firm that also owns Lyris, EmailLabs and most recently Hot Banana. Basically, ClickTracks will become an indirect wholly-owned...

Jennifer Laycock

Does Your Site Have to Validate to Rank Well?

One of the questions that I heard pop up time and time again during last week's Search Engine Strategies conference in San Jose was whether or not your site must validate in order to rank well. The common consensus among...

Jennifer Laycock

Optimizing the Impact of Social Media

Last week I had the pleasure of meeting Cameron Olthuis, who spoke on the Link Baiting and Viral Marketing panel with Rand Fiskin, Chris Boggs and I. Cameron had some very interesting things to say and I've since discovered that...

Jennifer Laycock

Just How Smart Can Google Get?

Sometimes I look at the latest Google acquisition and shake my head wondering "why?" Other days, I find myself absolutely intrigued at the seemingly endless possibilities that such a pairing could bring. Today is one of the latter... Loren Baker...

Jennifer Laycock

Google XML Sitemaps - The Basics

by Scott Van Achte - Google XML Sitemaps have been around for a while now and many webmasters are starting to become familiar with them. They can help you to achieve up to date indexing in Google, and, in a...

Jennifer Laycock

Loads and Loads of Link Building Ideas

Aaron Wall and Andy Hagans have put together a heck of a list of ideas for building link popularity to your blog or web site. Since links as an essential ranking tool are unlikely to vanish any time soon (well...ever...

Jennifer Laycock

Google Offers Up Coupon Service for AdWords Advertisers

In a move designed to show that online search is closely tied to offline purchases, Google has decided to allow AdWords advertisers to offer printable coupons via the Google Maps service. MediaPost Publications reports that the new offering was sparked...

Jennifer Laycock

Meet AOL Searcher #4417749

I wrote last week about AOL's gaffe in revealing the search terms used by millions of their users during a three month period. As it turns out, simply linking the searches to a number rather than a name really didn't...

Jennifer Laycock

To Google, or Not to "google"...

I missed a great article last week while I was buzzing around Search Engine Strategies in San Jose. It's from the Seattle Times and it discusses Google's annoyance with media outlets that continue to use the word "google" as a...

Jennifer Laycock

Ask Yourself This...Why Not Ask?

One of the down sides of having the job that I have is that I need to come up with tons of content on a daily basis for this site. Some days, there's plenty to talk about and that means...

Jennifer Laycock

Our Baby is Growing Up...

No, not that cute little thing that darts around my home office at lightening speed while I try to write content...in this case, I'm talking about the search marketing industry. Sure, we're a little more than a decade old now,...

Jennifer Laycock

AOL Gives Unprecedented Keyword Search Information

It's a move that will interest marketers and infuriated privacy advocates. Google Blogoscoped reports today that AOL has released some 20 million search queries conducted by users over the past three months. The issue is that the searches are all...

Jennifer Laycock

Live from San Jose

This week I'll be blogging live from San Jose, California. I'm out here for the Search Engine Strategies show and will be until last Thursday night. If you are out here, please do look me up and say hello as...

Jennifer Laycock

Getting Ready for a Redesign? Don't Tank your SEO Work...

One of the most challenging things that the owner of a well optimized web site can face is a redesign. Rob Garner tackles this issue in a great article over at MediaPost Publications titled "Natural-Born Search Killers." Garner explores some...

Jennifer Laycock

Yahoo! Offers Up Pay Per Click Classes

Are you anywhere near Michigan? Are you interested in learning more about pay per click advertising? If so, you might want to check out Yahoo!'s latest seminar offering "Secrets of Successful Yahoo! Search Marketing Advertisers." The all day seminar covers...

Jennifer Laycock

Search Engines Team Up to Self-Regulate Click Fraud

It could be good news, it could be bad news. After years of the general attitude of "it's not that bad," the major search engines seem to be acknowledging that click fraud DOES pose a thread to search engine marketing...

Jennifer Laycock

SEO Seen as one of "Four Cutting Edge Jobs"

It's news that anyone already in the industry could have told you...search engine marketing is a hot industry. The potential for a skilled search engine optimization specialist is almost endless. There are quite literally more jobs than there are skilled...

Jennifer Laycock

How Every Day Life Can Impact Search and Sales

There's an article over at MediaPost Publications that looks at the idea that while search accounts for just 5% of online activity, it accounts for 40% of the online advertising market. While that number may seem a little bit out...