Online Marketing Blog - TopRank®

Online Marketing Resources

I know many companies that want to engage in search or online marketing for the first time and also those that want to step it up a notch are always on the lookout for better resources. You can spend a lot of time lurking in forums, reading blogs and information sites, reading books, attending conferences and networking and still not be sure of what to do next or what’s right for you. There are a few resources that I’ve found to be consistently effective and high quality that I’ll mention here. This is by no means a comprehensive list – it really represents the resources I find myself using often and/or recently:

Marketing Experiments – Web Clinics

Marketing Sherpa:


Online Marketing Resources

Google AdWords New Features Webinar

Earlier today I logged into the Google Webex site anxiously anticipating that maybe, perhaps, Google was going to produce something new in the Google AdWords New Features Webinar? The presentation started with an overview on AdSense Referrals, Custom Reports, Online Advertiser Sign-up, Section Targeting and Seasonal Formats. Jensense also has comments on the presentation.

It was a good overview if you hadn’t been through these features before. But there was nothing "new" as in, newly announced during the webinar. It was an explanation of some of the recently added features to the Google AdSense program. A more accurate title for this Webinar might have been, "Google AdWords Recent Features".


Google AdWords New Features Webinar

Finding Good Blogs

Finding good blogs can be a challege. If you’re into voting for blogs, KBCafe Blog Award Voting is going on between now and Dec 31st. There are several search engine and marketing related categories including:

Best Google Blog
Best Yahoo! Blog
Best Microsoft Blog
Best Webvertising Blog
Best SEO Blog
Best Marketing Blog

This blog, Online Marketing Blog is somehow mentioned in the Best SEO Blog category along with some very good company: 

Search Engine Marketing Weblog – More of a news blog on search engines with some SEO.
Matt Cutts – Not an SEO blog per se. It’s about putting the kibosh on SEO. He even dreams of it!
Search Engine Roundtable – More about SEO than any others in my opinion.


Finding Good Blogs

Interview with Andrew Goodman of Traffick and Page Zero Media

Spotlight on Search: Interview With Andrew Goodman

Andrew Goodman is known as the guy who “wrote the book” on Google AdWords or at least that’s one of the ways I like to think of him. He’s authored/edited Traffick.com since long before blogs became popular, speaks at numerous industry conferences and also has a successful SEM agency, Page Zero Media. In this interview, Andrew explains how he tossed in the towel on his PhD to become, gasp, an internet marketer!

Andrew, we’ve been bumping into each other at conferences for a while now and Ed Kohler is nowhere to be seen. Maybe if he reads this he’ll hit SES New York?

I hope so. I’ve been missing Ed!

Please tell us about your background. How did you get involved with search engine marketing?


Interview with Andrew Goodman of Traffick and Page Zero Media

SES Chicago Day 2 Wrap Up

This is the first SES conference I’ve been to where there were no large scale events sponsored by any of the major search engines. There are smaller, invite-only gatherings, but they only involve a small number of attendees. 

I opted to check out some of the Chicago steak houses recommended to me by Jolina, one our Public Relations rockstars, who is from the area.

On Sunday, Andy from WebCertain and I first checked out Harry Caray’s.  This place is definitely a Chicago tradition in sports bars. Unfortunatley, their interpretation of what "medium" means was very different than what Andy and I had in mind. Service was excellent though.


SES Chicago Day 2 Wrap Up

SES Chicago Keynote with Danny Sullivan

Keynote Day 2 of Search Engine Strategies with Danny Sullivan

Danny says keynotes should be inspiring.

How are we (search marketers) viewed?  Shows photo of guy wearing spam shirt and drinking a beer.

Shows quotes from various sources characterizing SEOs as:  Worthless, shady, criminals, cockroaches

Who to blame?  

Blach Hats:
Blog spamming, keyword stuffing, content thieves, cloaking

But consider some contradictions:

  • Some news sources are allowed to cloak
  • Large respected pubs selling links
  • Web site of respected blog software maker hosting spam pages

White Hats:
Algorithm ingnorant, simple tips overselling, industry best practices

Consider:  

  • Simple tips aren’t simple to people who don’t know
  • Working with designers and others to do content SEO is a skill

SES Chicago Keynote with Danny Sullivan

Domain Name Traffic Monetization

Frank Michlick posts about a trend in purchasing domain names citing articles from Business 2.0 and the Wall Street Journal.

Interestingly, last week at the Pubcon search engine marketing conference, I met people from two different domain name broker/buyer/management/monetization companies: Moniker.net and Oversee.net.

During my discussion with the fellow from Moniker, a prominent SEO mentioned he’d spent $1000 the night before (had to get his fix) buying up domain names for the purpose of parking them to monetize traffic.

To be honest, I had noticed people doing this, but did not realize the momentum it has gained as an advertising practice and method of generating revenue.

Update: Here’s an interesting site I found that offers a way to monteize your unused domains: http://www.trafficclub.com/


Domain Name Traffic Monetization

Pubcon X Wrap Up

The conference portion of Pubcon ended yesterday. Exhibitors pulled down their booths promptly at about 5pm. It would be great if there was more time in between sessions to visit the exhibit hall though. Overall, it was a great show and opportunity to connect with many of the leaders in search marketing.

Yahoo drew a lot of attention to the Yahoo Publisher Network (YPN) program and seems very committed to building a great program for publishers and advertisers.

Yahoo also announced the availability for blog publishers that are participating in the beta YPN program to place ads in their RSS feeds. That’s something that I will be testing with this blog very soon. Feedback is welcome.


Pubcon X Wrap Up

Brett Tabke Interview on Pubcon & WebmasterWorld

One of the hottest topics in marketing is search marketing and many webmasters, company marketers and agencies are scrambling to acquire the knowledge necessary to serve their clients.

Next week the search marketing conference, Pubcon 10, kicks off in Las Vegas. Founded by Brett Tabke, who also founded WebmasterWorld, the Pubcon conference has grown significantly in recent years and has served as an excellent resource for search marketers world-wide.

With an audience that started initially with independent webmasters and mom-pop company online marketers, the Pubcon conference now includes a broad range of search marketers and companies including corporate online marketing staff, search marketing and interactive agencies from all over the world.


Brett Tabke Interview on Pubcon & WebmasterWorld

Online Marketing Resources

I know many companies that want to engage in search or online marketing for the first time and also those that want to step it up a notch are always on the lookout for better resources. You can spend a lot of time lurking in forums, reading blogs and information sites, reading books, attending conferences and networking and still not be sure of what to do next or what’s right for you. There are a few resources that I’ve found to be consistently effective and high quality that I’ll mention here. This is by no means a comprehensive list – it really represents the resources I find myself using often and/or recently:

Books

  • Winning Results with Google AdWords – Andrew Goodman
  • The Virtual Handshake – David Teten & Scott Allen

Online Marketing Resources