You may be wondering about the evolution of SEO—and whether you'll get left behind as it grows in sophistication. Well, you're not alone. A recent interview with Nathan Thompson at the Inbound Internet Marketing blog yielded some takeaways that may help clarify SEO's development—and demonstrate how you can beef up your efforts ... more

Worldwide online advertising revenues are forecast to reach $61.0 billion in 2010, up 12.4% over 2009 levels, according to MagnaGlobal. It forecasts global online advertising to grow 11.7% in 2011—and thereafter by an average annual rate of 11.0% through 2015, reaching $103 billion in global spending that year. more

Among social media channels, LinkedIn accounts for the greatest number of referred visitors to B2B websites, but Wikipedia is more effective at delivering relevant and serious leads, according to a study by LeadForce1. In addition, visitors referred to B2B websites from Wikipedia spend more time on those sites once they ... more

With the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa set to begin on June 11, US Internet searches related to the World Cup during the week ended May 29, 2010 were up 10% from levels recorded a week earlier, and up 64% from a month earlier, according to Experian Hitwise. more

Facebook has more than 400 million active users who collectively spend more time on the platform than on any other website in the world, sharing detailed information about their likes, dislikes, and preferences. No wonder advertisers are salivating at the chance to reach Facebook users with precisely targeted ads. more

A few years ago, John W. Ellis wrote the post, "If Paid Search Isn't Working, Then You're Doing Something Wrong" at the Search Engine Land blog. Recently, now at his own blog, Ellis reviewed the article to see how current it was—only to find that it is still spot-on! "The fact ... more

Despite widespread consumer adoption of social media, advertisers on average allocated just 4% of their media spend to the channel in 2009, relying instead on traditional, proven online media choices that were in place before the economic downturn, according to data from interactive agency Razorfish. more

In an article at MarketingProfs, Dan Skeen writes that search-engine optimization provides several return-on-investment measures with a greater potential impact on a company's bottom line than many traditional tactics. However, he notes, because SEO is less tangible than some other areas of marketing investment, it's often harder to clearly show ... more

Mitchell Harper of BigCommerce recently wrote a cool piece on Mashable detailing how companies can use YouTube to boost their brand SEO. Step One? Consider creating a YouTube channel, he advises: "Every video you post to your channel can be tagged and indexed, increasing the odds your brand name will ... more

...will go unnoticed by Google. That's what some search pundits are saying these days: To achieve smooth-and-easy SEO, you need to spell out who you are, plain and simple, for the search engines—even if it means inserting a keyword in your primary domain name. "[C]ore branding principles tell us that ... more

Marketing campaigns that actively engage consumers online for longer periods of time—by enticing them to "Dwell"—are more likely to generate high conversion rates and are three times more effective at driving brand-related Web searches, according to a study by Eyeblaster. more

Mad Men-style advertising, based on interrupting entertainment or news, is still with us—but most marketers recognize that it's unsteady on its feet. The reality is that people are tired of being "targeted" with ads and so are inclined to take evasive action. It's time to dust off the tried-and-true customer ... more

"We are often asked how long it will take before an optimized website will start showing up in the search-engine results," writes Lauren Hobson at Five Sparrows, "but of course that's a difficult question with a complicated answer." (Deep breath, kids.) The truth is, Hobson says, it all depends on ... more

Google continued to dominate search in April, accounting for 71.4% of all US searches conducted in the four weeks ended May 1, 2010, up 2% from March, according to Experian Hitwise data. more

MarketingProfs blogger Helena Bouchez writes the first in a series of posts from the B2B Forum 2010 and discusses SEO marketing. more

Even while more and more consumers are using social media to help them make purchasing decisions, most B2B marketers are not using social networking and digital marketing tools to reach their audiences, according to a study that examines marketing's evolving role in the enterprise. more

When you're marketing to global audiences, your messages must be accurate, concise, and targeted to establish consumer trust and brand loyalty. Satisfied customers often result in repeat purchases and increased return on investment (ROI). That is where translating marketing content comes into play, ensuring that messages are properly conveyed to ... more

"A client called me, concerned because their analytics data showed a drop in pageviews," writes Ian Lurie at Conversation Marketing. "[They] were dropping steeply, even as their rankings and traffic from organic search were going up." The client, who had just re-launched her site, believed negative visitor reaction to the new ... more

"Facebook" was the top search term in the US across three major search engines—Google, Yahoo, and Bing—in the four weeks ended March 27, 2010, according to Experian Hitwise. more

It's no secret that link-building can help boost your bottom line and make your SEO efforts a whole lot easier. So, here's a thought: To help improve your site's organic visibility, why not leverage the power of your entire company and have everyone contribute to active link-building? That's what Mark Thomson ... more

Online research is central to consumer shopping behavior: 50% of online shoppers say they conduct research online for at least one-half of their purchases, and 64% consistently read online reviews prior to making product purchase decisions, according to an e-tailing group and PowerReviews study slated for release in early May. more

Will Google's latest search-engine algorithm update, dubbed "Caffeine," change search as we know it, or is it simply a minor update? more

In a recent post at the Online Marketing Blog, Lee Odden explains how a better understanding of search-engine optimization can help PR and communications professionals boost their results in a digital world by making it easier for various search engines to find, index and rank their content. "If content can ... more

Still wondering how people are really using your website? The answer may be closer than you think, reports Jared Spool in a post at the User Interface Engineering blog. Though the search log may not be a part of a site's regular analytics package, its contents provide a window into ... more

Ask increased its market share for the fourth consecutive month, accounting for 3.44% of US searches in the four weeks ended March 27, 2010, up 21% from February, according to Experian Hitwise data. more