ATTRACT, CONNECT AND BOOST YOUR SALES

Web Design, SEO Services & Internet Marketing
by Deon Designs

It looks like the Saints finally have a drive going against Indianapolis, and Super Bowl XLIV is looking like it’s going to end up being a pretty good game.

On top of the game itself, I know a lot of people are not just watching the pigskin, but watching out for the Super Bowl Commercials that will be aired during the game. We’re pretty excited as Search & Social (the parent company of SEJ) has several clients airing commercials this year

As we’ve always done here in SEJ, we’ve compiled a list of sites (especially search related ones) where you can watch the Super Bowl XLIV commercials.

You probably already know that search marketing is all about keywords. For paid search, it’s the keywords you bid on and the match types you associate them with that determine when your ads are shown.

The basics of paid search marketing are keyword selection and match types. Once you’ve selected your keyword list you move on to match types.

Facebook has come out with a new page redesign which in my opinion, more and more simulated the web browsing experience moreso than just the social mapping experience. The only problem is, with Facebook constantly referring its users to Facebook fanpages and other controlled content within the walls of Facebook, the overall findability quotient resembles something more of a late 90’s AOL than a 2010 social media world changer.

That being said, what really garnished my attention this morning with the new Facebook design was not necessarily the browser aspect of its UI, but moreso the centering of the Facebook Search Box.

Most of us have accounts at dozens of social networking sites and are active at minimum 3 of them. Therefore aggregating this activity is such a good idea: you want to keep your friends updated on all news and stories you share.

There are quite a few tools that unite several social networks for you and today I am sharing a new-comer:

Flavors.me is a sleek tool for aggregating your social medial life. The tool is in private beta but you can go ahead and request the invite (or try using the one I am sharing at the end of the post).

We’ve seen quite a few FireFox addons aimed at showing you more information while you browse with no or little effort from your part. There are addons that help you predict the linked page content, there is also a way to add a sidebar to Google SERPs containing additional information on search terms or ranked pages.

Today’s featured addon aims at optimizing your browsing by showing additional information on various page objects.

MashLogic is a FireFox addon that (on mouse-over) shows in-page info about:

• Names;
• Terms;
• Linked pages.

Here’s a few examples of what info you may see…

Last night I was exhausted after being in a meeting at work all day. I had to start studying for an online test I was taking for a class at USF. I was procrastinating and wishing Starbucks delivered. I found myself browsing my Facebook account as people often do when they should be doing more important things. I quickly caught myself clicking on profile after profile. I started off by glancing at one photo of a friend and thinking she looked much better than I remembered. I concluded the answer was because my friend had posted a photo of a celebrity in place of her face. I noticed a ton of people were doing it. I thought it was odd but I was intrigued enough to keep clicking away on everyone I knew. Apparently, a large portion of Facebook users were posting a photo of someone famous along with this message:

Microsoft and Facebook are expanding their mutual cooperation some more as announced on the Bing Search blog.  Specifically Microsoft will continue to provide Facebook users full access to Bing features through the Microsoft-powered Facebook search facility. So, soon instead of just giving set of links, Facebook will now provide richer answers as well as other tools to enable Facebook members make faster and smarter decisions.

In addition, the Bing-Facebook search integration will now be implemented across Facebook’ s 400 million members worldwide.

Advertise on Deon Designs website and SAVE 10% OFF for the entire month of January. Use the promotion code “feb2010” at checkout. Valid till February 28, 2010.

Deon Designs is one the leading Organic SEO & Web Development Company.

Our audiences are composed of site owners trying to improve their ability to be found in search engines as well as people looking for news or information related to the world of search engines.

We get more than 30,000 unique visitors per month and over 80,000 visits per month.

Today, we’re going to go under the hood and take a quick look at a search engine platform where advertisers can upload keywords and ads to start buying paid search. For the sake of practicality, we’ll be specifically looking at just the Google interface, AdWords, as it is the most widely adopted paid search platform in the industry. It wasn’t the first, but it has become the standard for paid search buying and offers the most robust options for reporting, optimizing and managing accounts. And, because upwards of 70% of all paid search is bought through Google, it is almost imperative to learn for anyone involved with paid search. Not every feature in AdWords will be available in other platforms, but many of the basics are customary functions you will find in all paid search interfaces.

There are a lot of different ways to conduct keyword research. Too often, companies will focus on words that show good demand, even if that word from an intent standpoint does not map to their products and services. Even worse, some companies will just want to rank high for a high-volume keyword, even though they’re really a fish out of water. Search marketing has been called the database of intent. Here are some tips that will help you look beyond just the monthly demand, but also at the “intent” behind a search.

Your traditional keyword research model probably looks something like this:

Many small businesses ask me, ‘how can I get found more online?’ Or, ‘I have a web site but I rank so low that I never get found so I get little traffic’.

So you may expect me to answer:  ”just list your business on Brownbook.net  (the global wiki style directory site that I founded with @daveingram) and you will be fine,” but that’s NOT where I start.

Well-known SEO consultant and search writer Ann Smarty recently launched a new project that many white hat SEOs have welcomed with open arms: My Blog Guest. The project helps SEOs find guest-blogging opportunities, and site owners to find bloggers to write for them. I sat down (virtually) with Ann and discussed the usability planning and iteration that goes into such a project.

You’re seeking feedback from users on how well My Blog Guest is working for them. What other means can you use to get feedback? Are there analytics metrics you focus on or read in a particular way?

The Google LatLong Blog announced the addition of World War II imagery to Google Earth. Now you can compare, side by side, the earth as it is today versus how it was during World War II.

Google said:

Images taken in 1943 show the effect of wartime bombing on more than 35 European towns and cities. Imagery for Warsaw, which was heavily destroyed at the time, is available from both years 1935 and 1945. They remind us all of the devastating impact of war on the people in those cities and also the remarkable way in which urban environments are reconstructed and regenerated over time.

When I’ve spoken in the past to people at Siri we’ve discussed and they’ve struggled a bit with how to present and “position” what they’re doing. Described as a “virtual personal assistant” — and called the “Siri Assistant” in fact in its formal launch — the company’s much anticipated iPhone app has arrived. There will be other apps for other mobile platforms, as well as a major carrier deal to be announced relatively soon.

Econsultancy and ExactTarget released a new report today that says digital marketing will account for 24% of overall marketing spend this year, and 28% of firms are shifting at least some of their overall marketing budgets from traditional to digital channels.

The research was based on a survey of more than 1,000 companies around the world, though the majority were based in the US (45%) or UK (33%). Some key findings include:

• Just under half (46%) of companies say they are planning to increase their overall marketing budget, and a further 42% say they are planning to keep this budget the same as it was in 2009. Only 13% say they are planning to decrease overall marketing budget.

The HotJobs for sale rumor has been around for some time. Yesterday a deal with Monster was finally announced. It has being widely hailed as a smart move by Yahoo to gain cash and divest itself of another “non-core asset.” Except for payment and other terms the deal is conceptually analogous to what Yahoo is doing with PriceGrabber in shopping and with Microsoft in search: outsourcing content or fulfillment.

Yahoo will continue to have a career site (at least for the next three years) but it will be powered and populated by Monster:

Yesterday WatchdogWatch.org, which monitors NGOs (”watchdogs”) found and blogged about a filing with the FCC in the larger context of its proceedings on net neutrality. The filing is by an organization representing minority owned media and business. The issue raised is whether the concept of “net neutrality” should be expanded to include search engines and appearance in search results:

The Minority Media and Telecommunications Council, representing 16 national organizations, [  ] raises the provocative issue of whether net neutrality requirements should be applied to search engines.

The MMTC report (.pdf) says the following about alleged search engine “bias” against minority owned businesses (and especially small business):

SEMPO, the Search Engine Marketing Professional Organization, has launched its sixth annual “State of Search Engine Marketing” survey. Search marketing professionals — either in-house or at an agency — are welcome to participate, and you don’t need to be a SEMPO member.

The study will project planned spending across the industry for search, advertising, and social media campaigns in 2010. Its goal is “to assess the economy’s effect on year-to-year online marketing spending and investigate new trends.”

The survey is open until February 22nd. All participants will get a free copy of the final report (a $249 value) when it’s released in March.

Experienced SEOs understand the need for keeping up on changes in the constantly evolving search space. That’s why I’m so passionate about continuing SEO education and training. The upcoming SMX West conference taking place March 2-5 in Santa Clara, CA, is one such opportunity I recommend to fellow advanced-level SEOs.

The advanced-level content that will be shared at SMX West is set to span a variety of fields and specialties, so check out the full agenda for all the offerings. Meanwhile I’ve gone over the agenda with an SEO-focused gaze and I’ve drafted an “Advanced SEO’s Dream Agenda” to be my guide while navigating the presentations, conversations and events at the show.