I wish you all a happy & safe New Year. See you in 2006!

The process of understanding our online audience should be ongoing and evolving. A recent study examined the online behavior of both women and men.

The results show that men tend to search the Internet looking for the bottom-line: What is the weather going to be? What was the score of the game? How did my stocks perform?

The online tendencies of women were more of a gathering or shopping process: What type of plan is the best for me? What does this mean for me and my family? How does this work?

What impact does this type of information have on us as affiliate marketers? It is another chapter to study in order to learn more about our audience. The more we learn, the better the service we can provide.

Enjoy the entire article here.

The votes have been tallied, and the results are ready!

Search Engine Watch has been voted as the top search engine news blog of 2005. There are several excellent resources that made the top 12 and, as an Affiliate Marketer, I have learned a great deal from this list.

You can view the results here.

I look forward to us being a part of the top 2006 list…enjoy!

Now that the dust has settled a bit, we can take a deeper look at the Google/AOL deal and examine what it means to us as Affiliate Marketers.

A hot possibility would be the opportunity to place sponsored searches for AOL-specific traffic. Kevin Lee, chairman of the Search Engine Marketing Professional Organization, stated, “We have found that for a lot of clients, the traffic that comes in off AOL converts slightly better than the rest of the traffic. So if one had the opportunity to bid separately for that traffic, one would bid more.” You can read the entire article here.

This “segmented bidding” has huge potential for Affiliate Marketers, who have the ability to construct unique landing pages/content for a specific audience/Internet traffic.

Lets see how this story develops….

It is my hope that none of those new to Affiliate Marketing suffered a panic attack when they checked their PPC stats over this past holiday weekend.

Please view the posts included in this link to set your “low impressioned” minds at ease, as some Affiliate Marketers saw their traffic drop as much as 80%.

So pull up your PPC boot straps and get ready for next week. What is next week? A brand new year, with no major holiday in sight for over three months!

When MSN adCenter began testing its sponsored search back in October, there were approximately 600 advertisers participating. This number has since grown to approximately 800, and MSN has put a hold on any newcomers for the time being.

DM News article on adCenter highlights the outstanding conversion and ROI many advertisers are experiencing in the beta test. The most common request? Expand the program faster!

Currently, “The volume is low because MSN is testing only a small portion of ads while it continues streaming Yahoo! ads, as required by its contract with the search engine.”

We are all anxious to see how long the inexpensive clicks and premier conversions will last once MSN opens its barn doors and fully engages Yahoo! and Google. Stay tuned….

Can content carry your site to the top of the Empire State Building? This is a sensitive issue indeed, and that is why I brought it in here.

There is a current thread on WebmasterWorld.com that brings to question how much weight content bears for a site.

There are schools of thought for both sides of the issue. I stand in the corner that believes the more constructive and relative content there is, the more the site and the online “inquisitive” will benefit and excel.

You can view this thread here.

I had the opportunity to see John Battelle this past summer as he discussed his book, “The Search: How Google and Its Rivals Rewrote the Rules of Business and Transformed Our Culture.”

John is a charismatic speaker who freely shares his experiences that recently earned him the title of “Global Leader for Tomorrow” by the World Economic Forum.

Today, there is an interesting interview with John on CNN.com where he discusses Google and predicts the “next big thing.” View the entire interview here.

I wish you all very safe and happy holidays!

WordBiz.com just provided links to some great free downloads/articles on hot topics, including:

To Blog Or Not To Blog, by the Content Factory (requires registration), Beginners Guide to Podcast Creation, and my personal favorite, Scott Adams Dilbert Blog.

Enjoy!

Atlas provides online marketing technology and advice for its clients. Now I know that “online marketing technology” always sounds a bit scary during a sales phone call. However, I have never been approached to buy anything from this company. Thus, I am receptive while I review their research on daytime conversion findings.

The latest news from Atlas is that they “will integrate adCenter from MSN into its…online campaign management system.”

Atlas claims that their client package includes easy, manageable access to 30+ search engines. I dont have an interest in all 30 search engines; however, I will do some more research into Atlas and its tools.

One of the many cool tools over at Webconfs.com is the Domain Stats checker. By using the tool, you will be able to get information like:

• Alexa traffic rank
• Age of the domain
• Yahoo! WebRank
• DMOZ listings
• Count of backlinks
• Number of pages indexed in Google, Yahoo, MSN

By analyzing successfully optimized domains with this tool, you can get useful competitive information.

Of course, what you do with that information is up to you

ClickZ interviewed some of the industrys major players for their reaction to the new Google/AOL alliance.

Their conclusions?

The real losers were MSN and the search community, who need a legitimate third choice for search. Most feel that MSNs demographic targeting is very appealing, but their lack of status will prevent Google and Yahoo! from matching the capabilities. Googles plan to add graphic elements such as logos to paid listings drew little interest from search marketers.

They have been labeled the “inquisitives” in a report conducted by the BBC. An “inquisitive” is an online user who spends sporadic amounts of time each day at work feeding his need for information.

A statement that I found exciting is, “People go online for a purpose - they are inquisitive to find information, learn about the latest news or catch up on a story. They are grabbing time at work. In some ways people access online news sites instead of having a cigarette. ”

The online “surfer” is becoming more of a rarity.

This information directly relates to us as Affiliate Marketers, as we go forth to interact with and attract a more sophisticated and experienced online audience. Know your audience!

One big change coming from the billion-dollar Google/AOL deal will be the appearance of ads on Google with actual logos and graphics (in addition to plain text). According to MediaBuyerPlanner, Google is still considering what ad formats to offer with the new feature.

One resource that I often recommend to new AdWords users is Andrew Goodmans “21 Powerful Google AdWords Tips and Techniques.” (I apologize in advance - the Web page is a beast.)

We purchased a version of this eBook after we had developed a large AdWords account for our company. After reading it, I wish we had bought it sooner.

The book shares many great tips for maximizing your results with Google AdWords. From improving click-through rate to lowering your average cost per click, this book should help you build a solid AdWords account.

The cost of the book is $69 - I know it could have saved us at least that much had we purchased it when we first got into Google AdWords. If you are new to AdWords or are just looking for a refresher, I would recommend buying a copy.

This Affiliate Marketing thing is starting to get some recognition.

The Advanta Bank Corporation is offering a new credit card that targets Affiliate Marketers and the way we spend our money.

What is the biggest bell and whistle on this credit card offer? 5% cash back for online pay-per-click advertising that includes your spending on Google, Overture and Miva!

Ive checked the fine print, and the maximum cash-back allowance is $300 per enrollment year. That is $300 in free clicks! Be sure to review all the fine print, as applicable.

So you may have noticed that things change pretty quickly in the world of search marketing. Every day it seems like there is a new rumor, changes to the way things are done, and new tactics for online success. So how does a person keep up with the latest buzz? The Daily Searchcast, thats how.

Every workday Danny Sullivan and Gary Price (both from Search Engine Watch) podcast a 10 to 15 minute show that covers all of the latest search marketing news.

The quirky show is entertaining and will help you stay up to speed with all of the latest developments in the search world.

The show is broadcast live daily at 11:30 am EST through Webmasterradio.fm, and can be downloaded as a podcast through iTunes.

As a follow-up to Jacks post last week titled “New Year Changes for Yahoo! Search,” there is a great message board discussion regarding the changes to the length of Yahoo!s ad text over at Search Engine Watch.

Looks like Yahoo!s surprising decision might not be spreading the holiday cheer the way they hoped it would.

Word from the Yahoo! Rep. on the message board is that Yahoo! listings will be “automatically truncated.” They assure their advertisers that the change will increase click-through.

Increased click-through is great for Yahoo!, but does an increase in click-through really help the advertiser? One poster on the board sure doesnt think so. The person commented:

“Google AdWords already are too short, requiring users to click to find out what the advertisers web site is about–only to discover after the advertiser has paid that it is not what they want…. Probably one of the reasons tests on Marketing Experiment.com shows lower ROI for Google than Yahoo!.”

Hmmmm….I hope that is not the case, but an interesting point. With this move, who do you think Yahoo! is looking out for, their advertisers or their bottom line?

According to Jupiter Research, display and search adspend is projected to increase about 10% annually over the next five years. To help advertisers measure and compare the performance of their online ads with their radio, TV and print campaigns, Yahoo is launching an analytics service offering an apples-to-apples comparison across various channels. Online advertising is projected at $13.6 billion in 2006 and $15.1 billion in 2007. More.

How do you keep a relationship together? Try a billion dollars.

To update the “AOL and Google on the Rocks?” posting from earlier today, MSN has been removed from any negotiations involving AOL. Time Warner and Google are working on a deal that would include:

If AOL moves forward with selling their own advertising, this may be another PPC avenue for us to drive. Lets stay tuned….

No, its not what you think. Were talking about the Believability/Simpatico Index. The Index has five components which help you evaluate how well your site communicates with visitors. There are some great examples of how some companies have done it right and how others have completely missed the mark. You can check this out for free at MarketingProfs.com.

For a few months now, Yahoo has been asking search marketers to use the Yahoo Site Explorer when checking inbound links and the number of pages that are indexed by Yahoos crawlers.

The general idea was to move the people who are running heavy queries (search marketers) to their own search platform so they are not taxing the main search data centers.

I am not really sure how many people are utilizing Site Explorer, but I can tell you that it seems to be pretty accurate when it comes to checking inbound links.

So if you want to be courteous to your friends over at Yahoo, please use Site Explorer. If you dont feel like you have any friends over at Yahoo, www.Yahoo.com works just fine too.

Jennifer Aniston and Brad Pitt. Nick Lachey and Jessica Simpson. Are AOL and Google the next big break-up?

According to the Wall Street Journal, “Time Warner Inc is closing in on a deal with Microsoft Corp. to team up on an online advertising service to compete with Google Inc”. This new arrangement would drop Google as the main online search source for AOL and bring MSN into the mix.

This is a giant opportunity for MSN, who is working against the 49% online usage share owned by Google.

The expected announcement is due sometime next week. Stay tuned….

Massachusetts is the only state in the nation in which state regulators set insurance rates. Consequently many carriers have abandoned the state because they cant compete and still make a profit. Recent cuts will make it cheaper for drivers, but even fewer companies will want to offer coverage in the state. State Regulators think its great, but the Boston Herald doesnt agree.

Since it is the holiday season, we want to encourage everyone to take some time to give a little back to others. It is truly a wonderful way to celebrate the season of giving.

InsureMe is a company that is dedicated to helping out those less fortunate. A great example of this is a trip we took back in April to help out orphans in Ghana, West Africa.

It was amazing for our employees to see the issues facing the children of Africa and have an opportunity to help out.

Most people do not have the chance to hop on a plane and go to Africa, but there are plenty of ways to donate your time or money in your local community. If you are interested in helping out you can visit organizations like the United Way for more information.

Nothing quite says “Happy New Year” like receiving a notice from Yahoo! Search Marketing that all of our sponsored ads will be “automatically” adjusted in 2006.

Beginning January 18, 2006, Yahoo will display shorter ad descriptions for the sponsored ad results. The motive behind this enhancement is to “improve the search experience for its users.”

Ive attached the original email for your viewing pleasure:

Read the rest of this entry »

Link development is an extremely important part of the search engine optimization process. When you first get started building links to your site, it is hard to know where to start.

A tool that will help you kick-start your link-building campaign is SEOBooks Hub Finder. With Hub Finder, you will be able to get a list of Web sites that have the potential for being good link partners.

Why are they good link partners? Because they have links pointed to the highest-ranked pages in your industry.

To use the Hub Finder, start by setting your parameters and entering up to 10 URLs from highly ranked sites in your industry. Upon submission, the Hub Finder will check the inbound links for each URL. Then it will compare the links for each site, and display the Web sites that link to more than one of your chosen URLs.

Once you have your list of target sites, start checking them out to see what you can do to get a link on those pages.

Happy Linking!

Have you ever seen two playground heavies shake hands because they both wanted to play on the same court? Google and Microsoft have partnered to fund “The Reliable, Adaptive and Distributed Systems Lab,” otherwise known as RAD.

A goal of the RAD project is to develop web-based services and applications for the future.

“Its interesting to have Google as one of the founding investors because one of the big questions (the RAD lab is trying to address) is, “How do you get the next Google out there?” said Greg Papadopoulos of Sun Microsystems, Inc.

The lab was scheduled to open today and will be initially staffed by UC-Berkeley staff and graduates. You can view the people working on the RAD project here.

Does this mean that we can expect to see Google and Microsoft becoming buddy-buddy? No, this is an example of bright minds being brought together for research and development with big financial backing.

Im excited to see how RAD will affect Affiliate Marketing and the tools available for us.

According to MarketingVox, after booting Azoogle as an affiliate, Commission Junction has sent a note to its advertisers claiming AzoogleAds is “non-compliant” with its code of conduct. CJ claims “Azoogle has been ineffective in their ability to perform (the) requested corrections.” Of course, Azoogle has fired back that CJs decision to terminate AzoogleAds was “a strategic move to thwart an ever-strengthening competitor,” and that AzoogleAds is happy to compete without merchants within the CJ platform. This aint over yet, folks.

Successful auto mechanics keep current on all the new makes and models. Successful sports journalists know who scored the most points last night. Successful insurance Affiliates…well, that is why we are all here.

The Insurance Information Institute has a Hot Topics and Updates section that may spark an idea for a new PPC search term(s).

Mold is a current hot topic. What type of consumer would do a search on mold? Perhaps a home or property owner? Perhaps a parent focused on the familys health? If you have an ad created for these online consumers, you may catch their attention as they strive to educate themselves on a certain topic.

Check out the Insurance Information Institute, and let me know if it helps you out. If it does, setting a weekly reminder for yourself to revisit is all it takes to keep your insurance PPC game current.

Here are three Web sites that I use as search engine marketing resources:

Search Engine Watch - Danny Sullivans Web site contains well-moderated forums, Dannys search blog, and some very good resources. Most of the site is available for free; some of the content requires a membership.

Webmaster World - Forums galore…you can spend hours sifting through all the information people post. The site requires registration, which is free–but donations are encouraged.

SEO Chat - Interesting articles on search engine optimization, pay-per-click and the search industry. The site also provides some different search marketing tools.

Enjoy!

You are putting your money on the line each time a consumer shops for your search phrase. MSN has created a tool to help you advertise to the audience you intended.

If you havent applied to the MSN AdCenter, click here to register and apply to this new, invitation-only PPC search engine. One of the cool tools you will have access to is targeting as a strategy.

What does this do and how will it help you control where and when your PPC dollars are spent?

Read the rest of this entry »

Bill Gates may have found a way to push Google from the top Search Engine spot. According to MediaBuyerPlanner.com, during a speech in India last week, Gates discussed his plan saying, “Well actually go to users and, instead of keeping all that ad revenue, well actually share some of it back with the user…[who] essentially will get…either money, free content or software…that they wouldnt get if they didnt use that search engine.” A Microsoft spokeswoman said the offer is merely one of many possible ideas. The concept of using rewards to attract consumers isnt new; just check out www.iwon.com.

It seems like all is quiet in the Googleplex right now, but you never know when the next “Google Dance” is coming. When it does come, a great tool to use to monitor the progress is the McDar Data Center Quick Check tool.

So what the heck is a data center? You can think of a Google data center as a library that stores millions of books - each book represents a cached version of a Web site Google has indexed. In order to service the incredible amount of search queries that Google gets every day, Google has multiple libraries where they store their cached content.

When a major Google update happens, these libraries of cached content are updated along with the algorithm that determines search results. All of the libraries, or data centers, are updated with the new information. But these updates happen at different times - and this is where the Data Center Quick Check tool comes in.

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Personally, I had no clue what leprechauns and search engine optimization (SEO) had to do with one another. But then again, Google can buy almost anything at this point; why not leprechauns? (Oh yeah, they are mythical creatures…um, never mind.)

Anyway, Scott Buresh wrote a great article about the many tricks SEO companies use to dupe unsuspecting clients, including a trick he dubs “The Leprechaun Repellent Keyword Guarantee.”

While seasoned search engine marketers will know these tricks well, anyone who is new to online marketing or is thinking of outsourcing their search engine optimization needs to read this article. It could save you a lot of time, money and hassle.