SEM Rock Stars
by Greg Meyers @ SemGeek
 There has always been the debate surrounding the benefits and setbacks of going with "In-House" vs. Agency as the best solution to maximize the companies efforts through Search Engine Marketing. However, due to the recent results from SEMPO's second in-house salary survey the report mentions that Salaries for Search Marketing Professionals increased significantly, even considering the lackluster economy that we endured over the past few years. So, in theory, this is a good thing right? Sort of......
Even though some of the salary figures listed on this report are a little outrageous to say the least, I am more concerned about the agency world who is not only struggling to keep clients from going "in-house", but also dealing with an overall decrease in the monthly Ad spends and/or continued commitment for ongoing optimization. With that said, there is an apparent trend happening and it begs us to ask the question, whether or not Search Marketing Agencies are still worth their weight in "Google Gold" anymore. Has the evolution of Blogs, Social Networking and of course "Conferences" just made it easier for companies to do this on their own? .
Read More...
by Amber Speer @ PPC Hero
If you have a PPC account that allows you to target across the Unites States, try adding geo-targeted campaigns for each of the 50 states to help increase your conversion and click-through rates. In most of my accounts I have inherited, there are several campaigns with very specific keywords that are targeted all across the US or one particular area.
A great way to help increase your CTR and conversion rates is to take your top performing keywords, and put them into new campaigns, targeting each state individually. When you write your ad text, be sure that state’s name is in your title and if possible in your description line...
Read More...
by Patrick Altoft @ BlogStorm
In my second and final installment of "Classifying PPC Marketing? Is It An Art Or A Science?", I will dig a little deeper into the "weeds" of PPC Geekdom to try and identify which tactics and techniques of PPC should and will always be a Science as well as others that are reserved for the Artist respectfully. However, we all must acknowledge one thing. Regardless of anyone's biased opinion, there is one constant that everyone can agree on and that is PPC requires both Art and Science in order to have a better chance to achieve a successful outcome. Did you notice "better chance?" Well that is because there are many other factor that are in play that go way beyond Quality Score and CTR%.
So with that said, in continuing my discussions with Craig Danuloff, President of ClickEquations and Marc Poirier CEO of Acquisio, I surrounded my next segment of Q&A around the specifics of what areas of PPC deserve more attention to Science and others which should just be left to the Artist. In response to the question "Can you tell our audience what element of PPC should always be considered a science?" Craig believes that working methodically and focusing on the key metrics of PPC are the best path. He also mentions that his company ClickEquations has developed what is called 'High Resolution PPC' which basically breaks the search management process into three phrases:
Read More...
IQ Workforce Blog
by Corry Prohens
 Yes, it is an unusual qualification to see in job descriptions, but we are in fact looking for Poker enthusiasts all over the world.
If you know anything about IQ Workforce, you will correctly assume that the poker enthusiasts need to have analytics and online marketing skills, as well…
We just started working with the top online gaming company in the world. It is one of the fastest-growing online businesses in Europe. Their top site is their US poker site, but their fastest growing sites are in the EU and Asia/Pac...
Read More...
The Latest Survey Results
Our latest survey concerns the recent news of Adobe's acquisition of Omniture. We wanted to get an idea of what the Web Analytics community thought about the acquisition. Here are the results so far:
Almost everyone was surprised by the acquisition. Only 1% kind of saw it coming and no one totally called it.
43% believe there will be no NEAR TERM (6-12 MONTH) impact on the pace and type of Omniture’s product development.
35% believe there will be a positive LONGER-TERM (12-36 MONTH) impact on the quality of customer service and professional services.
45% said impact on Omniture’s competitors (Webtrends, Coremetrics, Unica…) will be positive.
52% believe this a good thing for the Web Analytics community as a whole.
To participate in our latest survey - please visit https://app.icontact.com/icp/sub/survey/start?sid=3332&cid=127264. To see all our survey results - please visit our industry survey archives.
Recent Industry Buzz
PORTLAND, Ore.----Web Analytics Demystified, the world’s leading Web Analytics strategic consulting group, announces John Lovett as its newest senior partner. Mr. Lovett will join Web Analytics Demystified founder Eric T.
The solution includes a client Web portal with access to customized risk reports and interactive analytics that will permit a multitude of views.
Open Text Web Delivery Manager can be leveraged maximize visitor engagement via Personalization, Social Media, Web 2.0, Search, Analytics and robust integration. (PRWeb Dec 1, 2009)
Read More...
| 
