Excerpted from SearchEngineLand.com: How To Choose Content Management Systems For SEO

Nowadays, a great many websites  are powered by a content management system (CMS) along with a back-end database. And for good reason. It’s too unwieldy to code HTML on a page-by-page basis, as you expand your content offerings to the thousands or tens of thousands of pages (and beyond). Content managements systems to the rescue! But there can be downsides too.

My biggest gripe with the content management systems of today is their lack of SEO features. And I’m not talking about meta keywords, which are a complete waste of time.

I’m patiently waiting for the day when a CMS-based site can rival static HTML sites…(Read More)

Post by Property Centric.

Get rid of the click as the de facto standard to measure the success of an online campaign. It’s outdated and doesn’t represent real success. So says Gian Fulgoni, chairman and co-founder of comScore, at the MediaPost OMMA Metrics & Measurement conference in San Francisco, Calif., Friday.

In the keynote, Fulgoni told attendees the Internet is far more successful in increasing sales. And it may be the most measurable medium, but not everything measurable matters.

So, what now? Fulgoni says advertisers and marketers need to forget the click, focus on the sales impact on campaigns and conduct post-buy analysis. They also need to realize that display ads help search advertising succeed and vice versa. Don’t forget the power of creative display ads. Online branding campaigns can be effective. Internet advertising has had an impact on retail that is on par with television.

Advertisers and marketers just want some type of metrics that show the online campaign reaches the demographics and promised target segments. Fulgoni says that in any new medium, it’s easy to make promises that exceed the ability of the technology. And to some degree, Internet advertising has done that. “One problem is, it’s too easy to exaggerate the promises and claims that can be delivered,” he says.

Fulgoni believes the industry has failed to eliminate the click as…(Read more)

Post by Property Centric.

Spend Local–Online - Entrepreneur.com

Reach a younger, hipper market for a fraction of the cost of traditional advertising.

Post by Greg Starr.

SEOptimise’s blog, “Five online marketing New Year’s resolutions” provides 5 healthy reminders for your 2009 resolutions, especially if you’re still not optimizing your online marketing potential via search engine marketing (SEM) and search engine optimization (SEO).

Resolutions include: set a budget, start a blog, focus on your audience, seek experts (especially wnen you don’t exactly know what to do or where to start), and be personable (build relationships, don’t toot your brand’s horn).

Don’t let fear of failure or of the unknown daunt your marketing resolutions. Sure, there are significant changes in the economy, consumer behavior and online marketing techniques. While our realities are undergoing constant evolution, there are certain SEO truisms that still reign supreme, such as: lots of relevant, keyword-rich content, great inbound links and proper site architecture and formatting.

Focus on the basics, put forth a plan and just take the first steps. A little action, even if imperfect, is better than procrastinating for a better quarter, bigger budgets, or more stable economy. Go forth and resolve to better position your site in 2009!

Post by David Gosse.

SearchIgnite reports a 33% increase in retailer’s ad spending over last year illustrates that retailers are likely pouring more dollars into search campaigns which can be monitored and tweaked in real-time.

Roger Barnette, president of SearchIgnite notes: “Advertisers are shifting more dollars to paid search and digital media. Retailers want media they can buy on a performance bases to track and measure.”

Despite a decline in overall consumer spending, people are steadily purchasing goods over the Internet. Observationally, retailers are offering more incentives earlier in the season than is typical,  likely incentivizing consumers to go ahead and make necessary and discretionary purchases.

Post by David Gosse.

Online advertising data offers some light in the current economic do. Third quarter figures reveal an 11 percent increase over 2007, coming in at $5.9 billion, according to the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) and PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC). The first nine months of revenues set a new record, climbing 14% over the same period last year. This data not only shows that Internet advertising has continuing to grow as predicted, it reveals that its becoming a haven for ad dollars in the downturn. Continually hailed as the most cost-effective and measurable method of reach customers, online shines while other ad outlets fade.

Post by David Gosse.

Movers in the rental realm are getting slammed with higher moving costs in 2008 and being advised to shop around and negotiate for extras. As much as apartment dwellers are encouraged to take advantage of move-in specials and amenities in rental communities, they are also pushing for incentives with professional movers, truck rentals and storage facilities, to name a few. It can be worthwhile to look past the big brands and consider some local alternatives. On the East Coast for example, Safeguard Self Storage boasts impressive package deals, modern facilities and high-end security to protect your belongings. Smaller brands like this accommodate local movers and those from afar, but sometimes you have to do an extra layer of digging to discover them. Niche local search engines like WeAreNetwork are a great way to find these gems of local establishments, because their content is more specific to a metro and its neighborhoods, rather than being more franchise and national based as the major engines typically are.

Post by Stephanie Santoro.

With today in increasingly sketchy economic times, how could companies not be more likely to seek out better values in their marketing efforts? I might sound overly optimistic (to the point of possibly being laughed off the internet), but I am excited that marketers are going to have to get more resourceful and creative. Since marketing budgets in companies everywhere are plunging, it’s likely that business owners and executives will begin employing less expensive and more free methods for keeping their name on the map.

Small business owners can start by increasing their visibility with the free search listing tools available at Google’s Local Business Center and Yahoo’s Add a Business page. By ensuring their information is visible and fresh, they become more accessible, therefore increasing their rank and visibility in search results with every curious click. And how could any local business go wrong by making sure they appear in various local engines such as WeAreNetwork where you can add a free listing at any of their U.S. and Canadian city sites? TrueLocal offers a similar service.

While niche search companies are typically confident in their specialty and highly value their own services over others, they still know they are fresh on the scene and might have the flexibility to cut you better deals to join your campaign.

Post by Stephanie Santoro.

Is it far-fetched to say that businesses offering products or services that are remotely connected to the Olympic games are missing out if they aren’t advertising online right now? I don’t think it’s a stretch because of people who behave like me. I was watching the table tennis competition and became so inspired, I searched for “ping pong tables” online. As I browsed some product sites, I wondered how many actual impulse transactions like this might actually have real follow-through during some of these events? I quickly came to my senses before reaching the “Add to cart” stage, but there could conceivably be others following a similar behavior patterns who actually do have the space and disposable income to buy what they want, when they want it. There is just something so motivating about the Olympics and the desire to relive that energy. The same could happen during a volleyball tournament or women’s fencing. Why not buy keywords or rich media that lets customers buy a gift card in one click and get a free volleyball with the purchase? How about capturing the thrill of fencing and advertising for fencing classes? Or a link to the private sports instructor’s website? Not everyone has an Adidas size budget to directly sponsor the Olympics but why not ride the coattails of $200 million campaigns with the same powerful concept on a smaller scale?

Post by Stephanie Santoro.

A major distinction between online search advertising and traditional advertising is that an online searcher is looking for choices and recommendations while a television user may not be. Both users are bombarded with offers, though the online user is more likely to accept irrelevant offers as a self-inflicted experience they simply expect to endure. This is an age where digital recording services are coming standard with cable services after all. Ignoring a television commercial is as easy as flipping to the next page in a magazine. 

Some may argue this contrast alone elevates a viewer’s intolerance and increases their likelihood of flipping off the tube. They can easily switch to the laptop instead or often simultaneously. But whether they turn it off or keep it on, consumers are likely to follow up what interests them on TV with research or shopping online. Events like the Super Bowl pull in a tremendous amount of pre-kickoff and post kickoff searching. Recently Bob Parsons, CEO and Founder of GoDaddy.com delivered a keynote address at AIM 2008 (Apartment Internet Marketing Conference) in April about how he catapulted his business from small to world leader in domain names and web hosting by reinforcing Go Daddy commercials with online branding and direct marketing. The point is that people are advertising online more than ever, whether it’s to reinforce more traditional campaigns (or not).  Either is good for search sites that offer relevant content and either is good for the actual advertiser.

Post by Stephanie Santoro.