How 5 Popular Landing Page Optimization Tips Can Also Hurt Conversion Rates

September 29th, 2011 No comments

Disclosure: I originally wrote this article for SearchEngineWatch.com.

Everyone should know by now that landing page optimization is a critical tactic in your overall online marketing strategy. Optimizing your conversion rate can effectively boost your return on investment in digital marketing, as well as reduce churn and overall spend.

What most marketers won’t tell you, however, is that landing page optimization can be a double-edged sword; immediate improvements in micro conversions high up the funnel may result in lower overall prospect quality.

Consider the pitfalls of some of the most popular conversion-optimizing tips. …continue reading How 5 Popular Landing Page Optimization Tips Can Also Hurt Conversion Rates

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SES San Francisco 2011 Recap: Key Take-Aways

August 22nd, 2011 No comments
Pope with a black hat and +1

Yes, we plus1'd the black-hat Pope

Search Engine Strategies 2011 was – by far – the biggest internet marketing show of the year.  By partnering with OMS, the Email Experience Council, IAB and various other organizations the show was able to crank out up to 8 sessions per time slot over 5 days of education, inspiration and conversation.  This year I was fortunate enough to speak on two panels and felt I really got my finger on the pulse of the industry.  Here’s what I noticed at this year’s SESSF… …continue reading SES San Francisco 2011 Recap: Key Take-Aways

Conversion Optimization: Top 5 Places to Start

August 6th, 2011 No comments

Disclosure: I originally wrote this article for Search Engine Watch.

One of the easiest ways to gain credibility with any business partner is to establish quick wins using conversion rate optimization. In terms of business impact, conversion optimization is a grand slam because you effectively reduce cost per action, increase revenue per action, and satisfy more visitors to your website.

As is often the problem, web analysts and marketers tend to inherit a lot of excess baggage, so choosing to focus on only one or two sore spots on a website is hard to do.

Consider these top five places to start: …continue reading Conversion Optimization: Top 5 Places to Start

Inside Google’s Search office: Matt Cutts, Ben Gomes, and Amit Singhal

August 5th, 2011 No comments

Matt Cutts, Ben Gomes, and Amit Singhal discuss the Google search philosophy, their dedication to increase the quality of search results, and hint at possibilities for the future of the search giant.

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Video: Surviving Google Panda Update from SES Toronto

July 1st, 2011 No comments

Jonathan Allen, Director, SearchEngineWatch, interviews Thom Craver, Web and Database Specialist, Saunders College (RIT), Dave Davies, CEO, Beanstalk SEO, Garry Przyklenk, Founder, Eclipseo Online Marketing (and PPC-Advice.com), and Terry Van Horne, Partner, Reliable SEO and SEO Training Dojo, at SES Toronto 2011 on the subject of the most recent change to Google’s algorithm called Panda.

Top 5 Google Panda Update Survival Tips

July 1st, 2011 No comments

Disclaimer: this article was originally written for Search Engine Watch.

Google Panda 2.2 is looming to drop sometime soon, and with it, increasing levels of apprehension in the small business community on fears of further collateral damage to organic search traffic. As a speaker at SES Toronto this year, I had the distinct honor of accompanying Dave Davies, Thom Craver and Terry Van Horne on a panel to discuss the impact of Google Panda, and long-term strategies for SEO success. …continue reading Top 5 Google Panda Update Survival Tips

The MEGA list of top SEO tools the professionals use

April 25th, 2011 No comments

Honing your search engine optimization (SEO) skills goes well beyond tips and tricks you read in tidbits across the web. It requires time, patience, testing, and a lot of research.

Unfortunately, there are a lot of moving parts including the personalization of search results based on past search behavior, localization, language, user experience, and a host of other potential ranking factors. Fortunately, there are literally dozens of tools that can help, whether they’re free, freemium, paid, or even “no cost to you.”

When I originally posted this article on Search Engine Watch, I had no idea it would be amongst the top 10 posts of 2010, finishing at third overall. …continue reading The MEGA list of top SEO tools the professionals use

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Top 6 Skills of a Great Web Analyst

April 17th, 2011 No comments

Disclaimer: this article was originally written for Search Engine Watch.

What is one of the biggest problems in online marketing? Bryan Eisenberg puts it best: it’s our critically high demand for skilled people.

Why? One of the root causes is the supply and demand of data. As data becomes an exceedingly cheap commodity to online marketing professionals, the sheer supply of data creates a significant problem.

We can’t find enough skilled people to read, react, and respond to easy to spot risks or significant growth opportunities, and it will cost online business a lot of money this year. …continue reading Top 6 Skills of a Great Web Analyst

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Tracking the do not track amendment

March 25th, 2011 No comments

Fallout from a milestone decision at the FTC fizzled fears in the online community today, in a hearing that addressed the benefits and consequences of enacting a “do not track” option in web browsers.  Amongst some of the benefits: the ability to access certain free sites and the ability to enable some pretty cool technology.  But what did the decision really boil down to?  It really means the FTC thought enforcing a “do not track” amendment through the development of plugins was essentially “too hard“.  Excuse me?

Let’s ponder on this… …continue reading Tracking the do not track amendment

Next generation Przyklenk 2.0 SEM’s

February 6th, 2011 No comments

I haven’t written anything on my blog for quite some time, and I apologize to my faithful followers for sticking with me over the past few weeks.  But the wait was certainly worth it for some big news around here, so please help me in welcoming the newest additions to our growing offline family, Milla and Lucia Przyklenk, born February 4th, 2011 at 7:14AM. …continue reading Next generation Przyklenk 2.0 SEM’s

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