New Version of Firefox Released

Mozilla Firefox has recently released 2.0.0.8 version. This version has some fixes which were not there in previous versions.
The following problems/errors have been fixed in Mozilla Firefox 2.0.0.8 :

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SEO And Paid Search Go Together

by Tony Orelli
blogs.mediapost.com
To understand where SEO fits in the marketing mix, you first need to consider the behavior of the online consumer. When searching for a product, either hard goods or services, the first step is typically a very general search like “home theater” or “dresses.” As searchers become more familiar with their options, they conduct more specific product searches. The evolution of a consumer’s search for a digital camera might look something like this:

1. Digital Cameras
2. Digital Camera Reviews
3. 5 Megapixel Cameras
4. Inexpensive 5 Megapixel Cameras
5. Canon PowerShot A460

What we can infer from this behavior is that as consumers refine their search, they identify more specific product needs and, therefore, move further down the Long Tail of search. By entering a more general search term, the consumer is identifying himself as an information seeker. As a search becomes more specific, the consumer is far more likely to become a purchaser.

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The 8 Most Important Things I have Learned About Interactive Marketing

From: Search Engine Lowdown

It’s been my honor to follow Andy’s and Garrett’s lead for the last year. These were incredibly large shoes to fill, and moderating this blog is not something that I have taken lightly. My hope was that I’ve done it justice. And unless THK decides to generously give this blog to me, this will be my last post as I leave MSA today.

In the meanwhile, below are what I think are the most important tidbits of information that I’ve picked up about interactive marketing over the years. Some of them are pretty obvious, but then again:

1. Never forget that it is interactive. There is nothing more essential for conversion than a site that responds to the needs of the target market.

2. SEO never ends because it is a mindset, not a project.

3. The best way to have a search engine friendly site is to have clear and concise performance goals before the first line is coded. Your goals should affect the brand, the tone, the products, the pricing and the overall architecture. Retrofitting a site for SEO is almost always second best.

4. If you are not committing yourself to understanding and immersing yourself in your Web site’s analytics, you are in the wrong business.

5. PPC will never get less expensive. Success should be determined by overall conversions and trended conversion rates. Expect CPC to go up every year, because it’s going to.

6. The best Web sites diversify their traffic drivers between organic and paid search, email marketing, affiliate marketing, social media and when appropriate online and offline media. Those who rely solely on one of these tactics won’t last.

7. There is no more crucial Analytics metrics than bounce rates and conversion rates. Everything else comes second.

8. The term “linkbait” is given a bad name, because if you have good intentions the premise is very sound. It’s not about scheming to get links. It’s about creating something that is so good, your interactive neighbors can’t help but link to you.

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Google Selling Top Organic Spot?

- Jordan McCollum

I’m not sure if this can be filed under “lawsuits filed purely for publicity” quite yet, but apparently the Australian Consumer and Competition Commission (ACCC) is suing Google for selling the #1 organic spot in their search results. Now, either someone is confused, or the rest of the SEO industry is seriously getting gypped.

Let’s go with seriously confused: News.com.au states that the suit “alleges [that] Google does not do enough to differentiate ‘organic’ search results - those ranked by relevance - from sponsored links which appear at the top of the results page.”

For a laugh, read the rest of the story:

How to Make SEO Work for You

businessweek.com 

It’s a question Smart Answers readers often ask: How can I increase the Google ranking for my business? To get a good ranking on Google, or any major search engine, you have to make sure your Web site is “search-engine optimized.” Search engine optimization (SEO) just means your site is as accessible as possible to the search engines to improve the chances that they will serve it up when your potential customers type in specific search terms. The more easily search engines find your site, the higher up it appears on their results pages.

Constructing your site the right way is important. “Structure your site properly, code it cleanly, and use necessary keywords,” says Andy Leff, an entrepreneur and lead blogger for INCplace.com. “Sites that have the proper architecture in place, and are not slapped together, have a better chance of getting picked up by the major search engines.” Search engines “crawl” the Web looking for the keywords that their users enter, so sprinkling those keywords throughout your site means your pages will be picked up during searches.

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Optimizing Pages for Your New and Improved Search Engine Users

By Mark Jackson , September 4, 2007

SearchEngineWatch.com

A client of mine recently mentioned his analytics show a radical shift in the types of searches sending traffic to his B2B Web site. His primary keywords (those he wants us to focus on in our SEO efforts) aren’t driving significant traffic these days. Rather than the bulk of search traffic flowing through those primary keyword phrases, he’s seeing hundreds of less likely terms that send one or two people per month.

His Web site hasn’t suffered a significant loss in traffic. There has simply been a redistribution of the wealth. It’s not surprising that more and more companies are experiencing this phenomenon. In fact, SEO experts in the know predicted this years ago. It’s not that organic search engine optimization is less effective; it’s just that search engine users are becoming familiar with and educated in more effective ways to search.

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Getting Greedy With Keywords

From: SEO Book

When a page or section is new and you are competing against older sites that have built authority for nearly a decade one of the easiest ways to gain traction is to pick a specific keyword phrase that is not that competitive and go after trying to rank for it.

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Get Ready For YouTube Ads

Now Google believes it finally has found the formula to cash in on YouTube’s potential as a magnet for online video advertising and keep its audience loyal at the same time.

The company said late Tuesday that after months of testing various video advertising models, it was ready to introduce a new type of video ad

read more | digg story

Anatomy of a Successful Viral Video

there was a video post (Trust Me Im A Professional) that hit the front page of Digg.com today, where in a video supposedly shot in 1984 a motivation speaker talks a woman into doing a trust fall where she smacks her head on the floor. — It is called a viral video. Made specifically to fool you into talking about it.

read more | digg story

Google Maps can now be integrated using HTML

searchenginewatch.com

Google announced today that they have simplified the method for integrating Google Maps on to your web site. The new method allows Google Maps to be integrated using simple HTML. As a result, integrating Google Maps no longer requires a knowledge of Java Script, and you no longer need an API key to do it.

This should enable smaller site owners without programming expertise to leverage Google Maps. For example, a business could integrate dricing directions onto their site. The process now consists of 3 steps:

1. Pull up the Google Map you want
2. Click on the “Link to this page” link
3. Copy and paste the resulting HTML into their site

I don’t think that this is an announcement that will impact users of Google Maps that have already mastered the Java Script and Google API Key challenges, but it should enable a lot of new sites with less programming expertise to take advantage of Google Maps.

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