The search industry, an industry that I’ve been proud to be a part of for the past 20 years, needs a Hall of Fame. The industry as a whole, which includes search engine marketing, PPC, internet marketing, website marketing, search engine marketing, etc. etc., should recognize those who are responsible for making the industry what it is today. Here are several reasons, along with some names of people that I think should be considered for the Search Hall of Fame. [Read more…]

Let’s take a look back, a throwback of sorts, back to the year 2000, when Pay Per Click was just getting started. This was uncharted waters, where companies were willing to test those uncharted waters of the PPC world. FindWhat was a popular search engine that didn’t offer any organic or “natural” search results. It was PPC only, and the higher you bid the better placement you got. [Read more…]

A Google AdWords bug has cost a company thousands of dollars. Even after Google fixed the situation for the company, Google has not offered the company a refund or even a credit on their account. Lawnstarter.com realized that Google was running their ads in Austin, Texas with someone else’s phone number–even though the company is located in Virginia and restricted their ads to their local area.

In a blog post on the company’s website, Lawnstarter explained what happened: [Read more…]

A lot of companies that you typically wouldn’t expect to offer SEO (search engine optimization) or SEM (Search Engine Marketing, PPC) services have lately have begun to offer such services to their current customers. A while back Deluxe Corporation bought Orange Soda, and Behr Paint then started offering SEO and SEM services to their Pro contractors. Now, the latest company to jump on the SEO/SEM bandwagon is IBM. [Read more…]

If you have a brick and mortar business with a physical street address that you publicize (you typically have customers visit you at your location), then you should be listed in the “local” listings of the major search engines. Yahoo! Local, for example, is one that you should make sure that you’re listed in–and your listing should be correct. [Read more…]

Update: December 14, 2013: I have received complaints about this SEO tool, as it either is no longer being updated, or the service is unreliable. I personally spoke with the owners of this tool and these issues have been resolved now. [Read more…]