Google is the mother of all search engines. So, should you bother optimizing your website for Bing and Yahoo, too? more

Have you considered using an agency to handle your PPC campaigns? "Knowing what to expect, and what not to expect can help you judge whether or not outsourcing this work is a good fit for your organization," writes Nathan Pabich at the Renegade Search blog. Pabich offers nine points to consider ... more

It would be great if online marketing—websites, pay-per-click, email, etc.—were all you needed to get the most out of your business's marketing plan, but that just isn't the case. Could you make it work? Sure. But you'd be leaving money on the table. more

Consumers tend to prefer starting their online purchasing research with Amazon rather than Google: 30% of online buyers surveyed say they began researching their most recent online purchase via Amazon, more than twice the proportion (13%) who began their research with Google, according to report by Forrester Research. more

Customers are now using video to educate themselves on products and services before they buy, and that extends across both the consumer and business-to-business markets. Here are five tips from five companies that are making online video work for them. more

The relative position of a brand on an organic search engine results page (SERP) appears to influence key brand measures among target consumers, such as brand awareness, brand quality, and purchase consideration, according to research by Conductor. more

The importance of local search has been growing. But with the recent release of Google's Venice update, local search has become more important than ever. If you don't have a strategy for local search optimization, you're losing business. more

Are those pay-per-click (PPC) ads on search engine results pages (SERPs) effective? Does the average Google searcher even click on them? Seems so... more

As Google continues to personalize search results, the data you see in ranking reports might not mean what you think. Why? They only tell you what rankings would look like in a non-personalized search. Most of your customers, meanwhile, see rankings driven by their behavior—so your Web page might rank ... more

"While SEO will always be a good bet for generating long-term value," writes John-Henry Scherck at Renegade Search, "it doesn't necessarily have to be the only aspect of a good digital marketing campaign." There's no reason to sit around waiting for SEO to take effect when you can bolster your burgeoning ... more

Only a few Games ago, trying to take advantage of the Olympics if you weren't a sponsor was as difficult as teaching a Los Angeles Kings "fan" the meaning of icing. But in the case of the 2012 London games, you can... without investing serious sponsor-level cash. more

If SEO had one rule, it would be that the rules can change at any moment. And Google's newest algorithm changes—Panda and Penguin—have sunk many an SEO program. So how can you survive Google's algorithm riptide? more

Google accounted for 65.02% of all US searches conducted in the four weeks ended June 2, 2012, according to Experian Marketing Services' Hitwise. Bing-powered search accounted for 28.12% of searches more

Google recently entered the semantic search sphere with its Knowledge Graph update. Semantic search changes the way a search engine "thinks" about a search term. What does Knowledge Graph mean for searchers? more

As a relatively new discipline that explores new territory and aims for a moving target, SEO can feel like a ride through the Wild West. We even use lingo like "white hat" and "black hat" to describe the good guys and the bad guys—and like any modern western, the difference ... more

Businesses use YouTube to host video in the hope they'll turn up in search results, expand their audience, and generate leads, says Mike Hanbery at Webolutions. "Simply uploading a video, however, won't achieve any marketing goals," he warns. To get the marketing results you want, you'll need to search-optimize each and every video. ... more

"More folks turn to the Internet than any other medium—including newspapers, TV, or word-of-mouth—for local information," writes Tom Shapiro in an article at MarketingProfs. "Furthermore, a whopping 83% of local search users contacted businesses offline ... and half of all local business searchers eventually made purchases." These days, a basic local search strategy ... more

OK, SEO ranking reports are not dead... but Google's personalized search is making them less and less relevant. Learn why many are using the wrong metrics to measure success—and three ways to reach online customers despite personalized search. more

Bing-powered searches—those served by Bing.com and search.yahoo.com—accounted for 30.01% of all US searches conducted in the four weeks ended April 28, 2012, up 5% from the previous month and up 11% from the previous year, according to data from Experian Hitwise. more

What can gardening techniques teach you about growing a keyword plan? Quite a lot, it turns out. "When you plant seedlings, you need to plant them in groups according to how much sun they need and how aerated the soil should be," writes Jenny Halasz at Search Engine Land. "You ... more

A strong SEO program relies on backlinks—links to your website from external sources. "Those backlinks signal to search engines how influential and relevant your business is online," writes Chris Sheehy in an article at MarketingProfs. They "trigger local citations of your business and aid in deepening your local market penetration," ... more

Content curation is everywhere: 95% of surveyed marketers say they have curated content in the past six months (i.e., shared content from blogs, industry publications, or other online channels with customers or prospects), according to a survey from Curata. more

You've got a killer online video, but now what? In Part 2 of this online video master class, you'll learn essential tips for marketing an effective online video. more

When you work in SEO, it might seem that Google is always trying to trip you up. But that's not really the case, argues Brandignity: "They don't dislike all SEOs because ... we actually help catalog information and pages; that in turn helps their search identify which pages make sense to ... more

"I get asked about pay per click (PPC) marketing quite frequently by my full-service SEO and B2B SEO consulting clients," writes Nick Stamoulis in a guest post at the Resource Nation blog. "They want to know how much of an impact PPC is really going to have on their online ... more