Online Marketing

It’s a good end to the year for Microsoft, who announced at an investors’ conference last week that the software/search giant merger is working ‘better than we could have hoped’. The announcement was made by Microsoft’s General Manager of Corporate Strategy, Charles Songhurst. The two companies merged earlier this year, in a deal which saw Microsoft’s Bing take over the mechanics of the search engine and Yahoo take on the advertising side of search to create a super- engine known as Yahoo-Bing. Initially the move was a compromise after Microsoft failed to buy Yahoo outright, but it may yet prove to have been the best solution all along. [Read On]

There are hundreds of potential Key Performance Indicators (KPI’s) by which you can judge your website’s performance across any given period. The ones you choose to focus on will largely depend on your marketing goals and long-term business strategy, but here are some key ones to consider: [Read On]

It’s barely November, but already the stores are full of advent calendars, Christmas puddings and mince pies. That means it’s time to start considering your Christmas marketing campaign, as shoppers habits shift to accommodate their present buying. Online shopping has become increasingly popular around Christmas time, as it removes the hassle of dragging yourself to the store and fighting with the gift-hungry hordes. This year it is expected 40% more people will shop online in December as compared to October. [Read On]

The big news on Google Adwords blog this week was the announcement of a new course in  remarketing. The initial course was a one hour interactive presentation, in the form of a 'webinar', delivered by an Online Media Specialist from Google. The course, hosted via the Adwords Online Classroom, was first delivered on Wednesday 20th October, with very little forewarning. It’s seen by industry insiders as a trial for rolling out further courses in the area of pay per click advertising across a variety of subjects. [Read On]

A recent report from Pay Per Click statistician SearchIgnite has confirmed Google as the market leader for paid search, with a dominant 80.2% of PPC traffic passing through their search engine in the third quarter. This is their most dominant market share to date, and a rise of nearly 8% from this time last year. However, industry insiders are asking if the figure is really as unassailable as it sounds; especially now Bing-Yahoo is starting to wake waves. [Read On]

Some of us are seeing a blue arrow pointing to the top Google search result. It looks like this and frankly looks more annoying than anything else. [Read On]

SEO marketers won’t need to change their strategies to account for Google’s new Instant feature, according to specialists at the search engine. Google Instant gives web users some relevant search results even whilst they are still typing in the search box: a shortcut to search that is likely to prove useful to mobile internet users when the service is rolled out for them. The service, which launched last week for computer browsers, has seen the deletion of the Enter key from search as users don’t need to finish their sentence to get results. [Read On]

When writing content for your website or blog, it can be very easy to rely on jargon and technical language to make your point. However, the strongest web copy takes a more creative approach, and isn’t afraid to tell a story. [Read On]

Ben & Jerry's have caused a stir by announcing their intention to abandon email marketing and communicate with UK customers exclusively through social media. However, according to a new report from Econsultancy, the ice cream maker could be throwing the baby out with the bathwater. [Read On]

Working in a constantly evolving industry like search is exciting and over the years we’ve helped lots of clients achieving high ranking positions in search engines using ethical techniques to build long term link equity and brand visibility. As real time search, mobile and social media become increasingly important to the marketing mix, so does the need for research and testing to develop techniques that lead to successful online campaigns. [Read On]