Google’s Matt Cutts On SEO Myths: Ads Correlate To Organic Results & More…

In a recent video from Google Head of Search Spam Matt Cutts, Matt talks about the biggest SEO myths he sees today.

By far, the biggest myth, according to Cutts, is how people think Google makes changes to their search results with the only intent of making more money. Matt said buying or not buying ads has no positive or negative impact on your rankings. In addition, Google does not make changes to their organic algorithms based on encouraging people to buy ads. All of this, according to Matt Cutts, is a big SEO myth.

The other large myth is more of an SEO pattern he sees often in the SEO forums and black hat SEO forums. It is “group think” where one SEO suggests doing a specific tactic will lead to good results in organic and then everyone follows.

The example Matt gives is that someone might say article directories leads to easy rankings and then six-months later the group will jump from article directories to guest blogging and from guest blogging to link wheels and so on.

Cutts explained that if someone found a loophole, they wouldn’t post it in a forum, sell it in an ebook or sell it via software – they would exploit it to make as much money off of it as possible. So that is another SEO myth he’d like to see SEOs stop following.

Here is the video:

Microsoft's Scroogled Campaign: Dead...Again?

Over the past couple of years, you’ve likely seen one of the many Microsoft Scroogled campaigns. They are designed to attack Google for a variety of reasons, such as Gmail using ads on private emails, the Google Play Store, paid shopping ads, and their use of the cast of Pawn Stars to attack the value of Chromebooks, since they run without Windows or Office:

Plus, we can't forget the line of Scroogled store merchandise.

The campaign has met with mixed results, with many marketers not liking the tone, and many more considering it ironic that Microsoft would be attacking Google.

Recent comments made by Derrock Connell, Microsoft corporate president of the Bing Experiences team, seem to show that Microsoft might be shutting the door on future Scroogled campaigns.

That campaign had a primary purpose so let me explain that first. The main purpose was to bring attention to some activities that we didn't like as a company (for e.g. the idea of scanning email for the purpose of selling you ads seemed wrong). As a company we deeply care about trustworthy computing and user privacy. We felt there were things happening in the industry that didn't match our world view, and the campaign was aimed at providing information to consumers.

It is tricky as you want to raise awareness and do it in a fun way. I think we achieved that goal, and changed some policies, and we are now done with the campaign. Mostly I feel proud that we decided to do it regardless of how we might be perceived.

Could new Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella be behind the demise of the Scroogled campaign? The last Scroogled campaign was five months ago, so we haven’t seen a new Scroogled ad since Nadella became CEO.

Of course, this isn't the first time that Microsoft has been rumored to be ending Scroogled ads only to come back with a fresh round of advertisements targeting a different Google product.

Guest Blog Network PostJoint Confirms Google Penalty

Google has hit another guest blog network. Google's Matt Cutts confirmed via Twitter that action was taken against PostJoint.

This is the second major guest blog network that Google has penalized this year, following the highly publicized MyBlogGuest penalty last month.

PostJoint probably brought attention to itself with a series of blog posts about why guest blogging isn't dead despite Cutts' claims and why their guest blogging system is different from MyBlogGuest. They also claim on their home page they had "no footprints":

PostJoint's website proclaims they are "not a dodgy link network", and even has an article, "Will Google penalise me for using PostJoint?" which promises: "As long as you don't let your standards slip just to make a quick buck and follow our guidelines, chances are you will be fine."

Oops.

In his tweet, Cutts said anyone claiming "zero footprints" might as well be waving a giant red flag:

PostJoint has confirmed the penalty, and says it is a manual action penalty, not from any incoming links.

"Actually we’ve never done any link building to our site, so this is a manual action as Google has no other way of targeting us," said Saleem Yaqub, director at PostJoint. "This will affect us very little."

When you search for their name, you won't find the company in Google's organic results, but you will see a very poor quality AdWords ad. And it likely won’t be long before link cleanup companies target the PostJoint name, as we saw happen immediately following the MyBlogGuest penalty.

They publicly state that they process more than 3,000 blog posts per month, as of November 2013, and have earned their bloggers nearly $400,000. They also have an active affiliate program, which has resulted in plenty of spam from bloggers trying to get others to sign up using their affiliate link.

While there is no confirmation yet, it's highly likely that bloggers within PostJoint's network have been penalized, or likely will be soon, just as those who got involved with MyBlogGuest were.

Searchmetrics Releases New Tools to Analyze & Optimize Web Page Performance

Searchmetrics has announced a new addition to the Searchmetrics Suite tools that promises to help marketers "more effectively analyze and optimize the organic search performance of specific landing pages on their sites."

The "Page Cockpit" collects page-level search performance metrics like analysis of traffic, conversions, backlinks, and social media activity for a Web page, as well as analyzes individual pages to make recommendations for content, technical, and internal link optimization.

"Managing search performance for your website is increasingly about delivering valuable content to searchers on specific pages rather than focusing at a domain or keyword level or trying to manipulate search engine algorithms using SEO tricks," said Marcus Tober, CTO and founder of Searchmetrics. "Which is why we're giving users this highly focused, URL level analysis capability to make it easier to optimize individual landing pages."

Searchmetrics has created a number of new URL-based metrics to track, such as:

URL SEO visibility, which provides an overall picture of the optimization of a page based on search rankings for millions of keywords.URL keyword trends, which provides a trend over time for whether a page is losing or gaining rankings for its targeted keywords.URL optimization, which looks at the on-page optimization score for individual URLs, and factors in criteria like number of detected errors, warnings, and notes for the URL.Traffic index potential for URLs, which shows the possible traffic that can be generated to a page as it rises up the search rankings for targeted keywords.

"One of our primary goals is to ensure our enterprise SEO software keeps pace with the way search is evolving so that users are always equipped with the right tools to continue improving their organic visibility in searches," said Tom Schuster, CEO of Searchmetrics. "These new URL level optimization facilities are a great example – as they help SEO professionals focus on optimizing individual pages in line with the way search engines are now increasingly focused on showing searchers those pages that deliver the most helpful, unique content within search results."

Microsoft’s Cortana Assistant Personalization Comes To Bing On The Web

One of the most interesting things about Microsoft’s new Cortana search assistant has just gone live for those early adopters of it: integration with Bing’s search results.

Cortana Personalization Comes To Bing

Those using Cortana will now find “personalized cards” that will appear at the bottom of the Bing home page:

Personalized information cards will also be integrated into Bing’s search results, when deemed relevant. For example, here’s how it looks for someone who has flight information being tracked (which Cortana learns about by reading the email on your Windows Phone):

Adding Interests To Cortana Via Bing

When performing searches, Bing will also suggest things that can be added to Cortana’s interest list. For example, here’s a search for “Agents Of SHIELD” where you can see Bing offering to help me “stay up-to-date on this news topic” if I click on a star:

Doing so gives me a confirmation that the new interest has been added to my profile:

You can see how this quickly adds that interest among those displayed at the bottom of my Bing home page (and will be shown in Cortana, as well, on my phone):

Searches for things like weather also offer the option to add to your personal interest list:

Alternatively, you can add interests and manage existing ones using a new web-based “interests manager”�page:

The integration is important, because it allows Cortana to tap into search activity that is one of the reasons why rival Google Now is super-powerful as a predictive search tool.

How To Get Cortana Now

Microsoft shared the news in a blog�post�today. There’s also a new�Meet Cortana�page designed for Bing users, plus a�FAQ page�about the Cortana integration (which only seems to work for those signed-in with a Cortana-enabled account).

Cortana is still weeks away from its consumer release as part of Windows Phone 8.1, but you can get it now. You’ll need a Windows Phone 8.0 device. Assuming you have that, and hat-tip to the Verge on the advice, here are the steps:

Go to the Windows Phone App Studio page. Agree to let the app access your info, on the next page that appears.Click “Register” on the Windows Phone App Studio welcome page that will then appear. That should be it (some advice recommends starting a blank new project, but I didn’t have to).Next, download the Windows 8.1 Preview app for developers by choosing the Install button.That will send the preview app to your Windows Phone. Click on the app there, and the upgrade process will begin.

Google Teases April 22 AdWords News, More Than 10 Announcements Coming

On April 22, Jerry Dischler, VP of Product Management for AdWords, will unveil a slew of new features and tools that are coming out of beta during a livestream from an AdWords customer event.

Google has given Search Engine Land an exclusive early look at a blog post going up later today (now live here) that gives a few more (albeit subtle) hints of what’s in store.

The latest tease is short on specifics other than to say Dischler will announce “10+ new AdWords products, features and research studies” developed over the past year. But, with a closer look, there are some hints of what might be coming.

Don’t Expect An “Enhanced” Curveball

There has been some anxiety in the paid search world about whether Google is planning to toss out another big curveball like it did with enhanced campaigns. That seems unlikely. First of all, these features are being broadcast during a customer event. Have you ever seen a company announce controversial new features at a booster showcase? Nor have I.

Second, the language of the post echoes what the company has been expressing since enhanced campaigns launched — when it effectively changed the search marketing narrative to focus on user context and forced the issue of delivering relevant advertising and landing page experiences to users no matter what device they use. We can expect announcements that build on what we’ve seen from enhanced campaigns as well as Estimated Total Conversions.

Beyond that, it’s a bit like reading tea leaves.

In the upcoming post, the AdWords team outlines the three concepts it says drove the updates, written in what is now familiar, post-enhanced campaigns Google-ese. There are a few nuggets to grab onto, however.

1. It�s no longer about devices. �Consumers are constantly connected, and the average American today owns four digital devices and spends 60 hours per week consuming content across platforms. In this multi-device world, the way people use desktops, laptops, notebooks, tablets, and smartphones is blurring. This means people don�t think about which device they�re using, they just expect the right content to appear seamlessly wherever they are ready to engage.

2. Context matters more than ever. The ways people connect — whether that�s on a computer, a mobile website or an app — have become increasingly important in showing people the right content — and the right ads. With more insight into people�s contexts, we can make more meaningful connections and create better consumer experiences.

3. Connecting people to content. With more consumer touchpoints than ever, it can become increasingly complex to reach people in the moments that matter. At Google we work hard to develop innovations that let technology do the hard work so that businesses can focus on reaching their customers.

Now, let’s also look back at what the AdWords team first wrote about the event in March (bolding is mine):

We�ve designed new tools so you can increase awareness and engagement everywhere your customers are online � from the web, to the mobile web, to mobile apps. And when it�s time to manage your campaigns and measure performance, we want to help you do so efficiently in AdWords with new functionality designed for the multi-screen world.Let the tea leaf reading begin

Based on Google’s statements, here are a few by-no-means-exhaustive thoughts on what’s coming.

Multi-Screen Takes Over Multi-Device: For the most part, it’s true: device only matters now in terms of how content and ads render on various screen sizes. How we use these devices, particularly for search, is becoming less and less differentiated, even when it comes to app and phone call functionality. Perhaps we’ll see more sophisticated ad messaging tools than the simple mobile-preferred option that help advertisers deliver ads to users “seamlessly wherever they are ready to engage”.

In-App Ad Features: Most of the mobile innovation in AdWords has focused on mobile websites. Both posts about the April 22 event happen to mention mobile apps. It seems likely that Dischler will unveil new features and tools around in-app targeting and potentially new formats for in-app ads.

New Measurement Metrics:� Estimated Total Conversions rolled out in September — with Estimated Cross-Device Conversions that taps into sampled data from signed-in users as a part of the new equation — to give advertisers a way to measure the impact of their campaigns across all channels and devices. But with in-store conversions missing, the equation is not yet complete. As we covered over the weekend, based on the tests Google has been conducting on this front, it seems likely Dischler will introduce at least the beginning of Estimated In-store Conversions.

More Secondary Signals: Google again reiterates that context is key, and the company has a lot more secondary signals — i.e. “more insight into people�s contexts” — than what’s currently being used in AdWords. It seems a safe bet that Google will introduce more signals about users that advertisers can use for audience targeting and to deliver more relevant messaging. Demographics have been known to be in beta with a set of advertisers for several months now, for example.

With the blog post preview, Google suggested I speak with Jeremy Hull, director of bought media at iProspect, who will be attending the event next week to get his thoughts on what might be announced. We spoke yesterday by phone. Hull believes the addition of secondary signals that advertisers can tap into based on the wealth of data Google knows about users will be the biggest news of the event.

Automation & Bid Strategies: When Google added new conversion types for phone calls, it added the ability to set bidding strategies based each on conversion action. To help advertisers be “in the moments that matter,” it makes sense that Google gives advertisers ways to set bidding strategies (recently made available in AdWords Editor) around any new signals it introduces. I asked Hull about privacy concerns around leveraging more information from signed-in users, and he thinks Google would probably put targeting for any new signals in a bid modifier or ad copy modifier as it does already for location and mobile targeting in part because of privacy concerns.

Hull also sees Google Now as a huge area of potential that Google may be looking to monetize now that users have shown they’re comfortable with the predictive search service. “Google Now is the future of where search is going. It gives you information before you type a search in a way that offers value to the user.”

Lastly, I asked Hull where he thinks keyword targeting stands in light of more audience targeting levers getting added to search and last week’s move to top passing search query referrer data to Analytics.� He doesn’t see keywords going anywhere soon, particularly when coupled with the added context signals. “The declared intent of [search queries] gives marketers real-time messaging opportunities that will continue to make search more valuable to marketers.”

So what else? Anything sound way off base? This surely doesn’t begin to cover everything that might come up. We could see announcements around retargeting and RLSA. Then there’s the research aspect. Maybe Google will give updates on features for brand advertisers such as data on how image extensions have been performing.

Let the predictions begin! Share your thoughts in the comments. You can register for the livestream here.

Zuckerberg: Facebook Graph Search Is “A Five-Year Thing”

It’s been more than a year since Facebook introduced Graph Search to the world — its first foray into developing a serious search product for Facebook users.

If you think development of Graph Search has been moving at a snail’s pace, you’re probably not alone. The rollout to all U.S. Facebook users took about seven months. It was almost nine months from the launch until users could search their status updates. And more than a year later, Graph Search still isn’t available on mobile.

In a new interview with the New York Times, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg explained that all of this is by design — that Facebook is taking a very long-term, deliberate approach to Graph Search.

With Graph Search, I think that modern search products have so much built into them that we knew it was going to be a five-year investment before we got anything really good and different. So far we’ve done these milestones. The first one was that we were able to search over structured connections on Facebook. That was important as a consumer product and also as infrastructure that we are using inside the company. The next focus is searching posts. All of this has been on desktop, and the real push is mobile. So I’m not that worried about it. I think the real question will be how effective it will be on mobile once post-search works. I think that’s a five-year thing. We have to think about it over a longer period of time.

In other words: Patience, grasshoppers.

The comment in there about mobile being the next “push” area for Graph Search is similar to comments Zuckerberg said on Facebook’s earnings call back in January — that Graph Search will roll out “pretty soon” on mobile. Facebook’s next earnings calls is a week from today (April 23), so we might get another GraphSearch update then … or perhaps at the F8 developers’ conference on April 30.

Zuckerberg: Facebook Graph Search Is “A Five-Year Thing”

It’s been more than a year since Facebook introduced Graph Search to the world — its first foray into developing a serious search product for Facebook users.

If you think development of Graph Search has been moving at a snail’s pace, you’re probably not alone. The rollout to all U.S. Facebook users took about seven months. It was almost nine months from the launch until users could search their status updates. And more than a year later, Graph Search still isn’t available on mobile.

In a new interview with the New York Times, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg explained that all of this is by design — that Facebook is taking a very long-term, deliberate approach to Graph Search.

With Graph Search, I think that modern search products have so much built into them that we knew it was going to be a five-year investment before we got anything really good and different. So far we’ve done these milestones. The first one was that we were able to search over structured connections on Facebook. That was important as a consumer product and also as infrastructure that we are using inside the company. The next focus is searching posts. All of this has been on desktop, and the real push is mobile. So I’m not that worried about it. I think the real question will be how effective it will be on mobile once post-search works. I think that’s a five-year thing. We have to think about it over a longer period of time.

In other words: Patience, grasshoppers.

The comment in there about mobile being the next “push” area for Graph Search is similar to comments Zuckerberg said on Facebook’s earnings call back in January — that Graph Search will roll out “pretty soon” on mobile. Facebook’s next earnings calls is a week from today (April 23), so we might get another GraphSearch update then … or perhaps at the F8 developers’ conference on April 30.

Why Yahoo’s Not Going To Steal The Search Default For iPhone Away From Google

Apparently, Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer wants to be the default search for Apple’s Safari browser on iPhone and iPad and has been preparing to make a solid pitch. Well, we all want things we can’t have, and I’d be incredibly surprised if Yahoo got its wish here.

Kara Swisher over at Re/code has the scoop, in her�Marissa Mayer�s Secret Plan to Get Apple to Dump Google and Default to Yahoo Mobile Search�story. Be sure to read that. Here, I’m going to share the incredibly tough list of obstacles that would have to be overcome to turn this from a fantasy into reality.

Yahoo Has No Search Technology

The biggest challenge Yahoo has is that it lacks any solid search technology. Sure, Yahoo has some for very specialized things. But the core technology to sift through billions of pages across the web and ferret out relevant results? Yahoo gave all that up as part of its deal with Microsoft years ago.

Apparently, as Swisher reported earlier this year, Yahoo has two plans called Fast Break and Curveball intended to restore Yahoo’s technical chops when it comes to search — and in a matter of months. That’s pretty far-fetched.

In the years since Yahoo last did search, the amount of information to comb through on the web has increased — meaning much more noise to draw signal from. Meanwhile, potential employees serious about web search have long ago decamped to Google and Bing. Both those companies have huge teams involved in running mature search operations. Despite some Yahoo hires, there’s been no signs the company is drawing anywhere near the staffing that Google or Bing has.

Similarly, there’s been no signs that Yahoo is out busy crawling the web in order to build an index of all those pages — and that’s one of the things you want to do fairly soon, to ensure that you can not only store everything but also have good algorithms to pull the good stuff out in response to a search.

Some might think that Yahoo doesn’t need to do as big a job as Google or Bing does. Maybe it just needs to focus on answering popular questions. That, however, overlooks the fact that if Yahoo can’t answer virtually every question tossed at it, consumers will get frustrated. For all the talk about mobile search, contextual search, popular answers, predictive search, local listings, it’s web search that remains the core foundation that everything is built off of. If you don’t have that foundation, everything can topple over.

Yahoo Could Use Bing’s Technology…

The reason Yahoo can even operate as a search engine right now is because it gets its search foundation from Microsoft’s Bing. When you search on Yahoo, you’re searching really with Bing, though Yahoo dresses the results up here and there, sometimes inserting some of its own specialized search content in places.

Yahoo has deals that let it provide search for others, and since that means it is using Bing’s technology for some of that, presumably it could power the search for Apple. Presumably, even without building its own search technology, it could just try to convince Apple that it should be the default in Safari on iOS over Google.

But Why Not Use Bing?

The problem with this scenario is that Microsoft isn’t just going to sit by and let Yahoo nab an Apple deal. It’s going to fight for that, as well. In fact, Microsoft already has been fighting for that and is ahead in Yahoo in the sense that it was given a “try-out” to become the Safari default when it was made the default for Siri last year. For more on this, see our past article:

With iOS 7, Siri Drops Google For Bing, Also Gains Twitter Search

If you’re Apple, and you’re seriously thinking about dumping Google for another player, it makes a heck-of-a-lot more sense to go with Microsoft which has already been proving itself, and which owns the Bing technology first-hand, rather than Yahoo which merely leases the Bing technology.

Especially if Microsoft is offering to pay as much or more than Yahoo.

And Why Not Stay With Google?

The bigger issue in all this is that dumping Google is not an easy move for Apple to make. For all Steve Jobs talked about doing thermonuclear on Google, he kept renewing those search deals. And the search deals have continued to be renewed.

The renewals happen because Google Search is excellent. That’s why I wrote in 2012 that Apple, rather than blowing up some Google deal, would rather try to go a “containment” route and move people more into Siri, which eventually might lead to a Safari change:

There�s an excellent chance that if Apple switched the default search in Safari on iOS to Bing, people would freak out asking where Google was.�Sure, they could change the default. But it would still put Apple in�the uncomfortable position of having to explain why it chose not the best search engine to use as a default but rather one based on competition issues. That�s not something you want to do, when you�re a company known for creating great products that keep the user in mind.

All this was before the “Mapgate” of 2013, where Apple really did dump Google as a maps partner for a weaker Apple product. The result was Apple had to apologize for pushing an inferior product on consumers. It took a PR beating. And it likely learned that it had to be incredibly careful about trying to just dump Google in the future.

Apple did successfully pulled off a switch with Siri shifting to Bing over Google, as I wrote last year:

Last year�s �Mapgate� is unlikely to become this year�s �Binggate.� The results are about the same. Rather, I suspect if they�re unhappy with responses, they�ll just assume that�s because Siri is an imperfect tool, trying to guess as to where to get the right answers and not always getting that right.

Still, changing the Safari default would be more dramatic than changing Siri. It also means that Apple would have to hope that Bing would produce as much revenue as Google makes per search. Or get some strong guarantees, because as Yahoo found, Bing doesn’t make as much.

A Win That Might Help Google

Let’s say against all odds, Yahoo wins the Safari deal. That might not help Yahoo as much as you think, nor might it hurt Google.

Consider what happened to Google after it was forced out of powering the Maps and Video apps on iOS. The result was that huge numbers of people deliberately sought out and downloaded Google’s own Google Maps and YouTube apps as soon as they launched. They continue to be high in the charts today, ranking 14 and 15, at the moment:

People shifting to those apps give Google a direct connection to them on iOS, arguably a stronger connection than it had before. Only with great difficulty, and consumer outcry, could Apple dump those apps.

Now notice that arrow pointing down to the Google Search app, currently ranked 28th. When the Google Search app was approved in October 2012, with Siri-like voice search, it rose to around 50 on the charts before dropping back to around 100, at the time the revamped version came out in March 2013 with Google Now support.

After Google Now, the app saw no great pickup until August 2013, according to stats from App Annie, for iPhone in the US:

What changed is unclear, but by October 2013, the Google Search app was staying solidly in the top 50. Things like “OK Google” voice activation�added in November 2013 and Google Maps integration added in December 2013 probably helped.

There are still plenty of people with no incentive to use the Google search app because they’re happy with how search works in Safari. But a shift to a non-Google powered Safari search, if not done right, or just not well-received, could send many more to Google Search.

Also, those searches done with the Google search app should, to my understanding, mean pure profit for Google with no revenue share to Apple, unless there’s some provision in the secret deal between the two. A deal, by the way, that might not even be open for change to a new provider yet.

The TL;DR Summary

So, Yahoo’s going to gain the search default in Safari? Anything’s possible, but that seems unlikely because:

Building new search technology from scratch is hardUsing Bing’s technology isn’t a better pitch to Apple than using Bing itselfApple doesn’t want to risk a repeat of Mapgate with SearchgateSpending whatever to gain the new share might not pay-off in the long-term, if people go to Google anyway

For the record, Yahoo said it had nothing to say about plans to develop its own search tech or to pitch Apple on being the default.

Amazon's 4 Pillars of Success: A Preview of Jeffrey Eisenberg's Pubcon SFIMA Keynote

By being customer-centric, continuously optimizing and innovating, and creating an agile corporation, Amazon.com has dominated the competition. Your company can as well, says best-selling author and online conversion optimization expert Jeffrey Eisenberg.

Eisenberg will be the keynote speaker at the Pubcon SFIMA Summit in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, on Thursday, April 24, where he will help digital marketers understand What You Need to Survive and Thrive: the Four Pillars of Amazon's Success.

SEW recently caught up with Eisenberg, partner at Eisenberg Brothers and Associates, and the author of Call to Action and Waiting For Your Cat to Bark?, to preview his upcoming keynote and offer us some insight into how Amazon.com became an online retail behemoth, and how companies can adopt what Amazon.com has done and win.

Danny Goodwin: I use Amazon a lot, as do many of our readers. I recently saw a figure that Amazon accounts for 30 percent of all e-commerce sales in the U.S. How has this happened? Why do we use Amazon so often? What has been the key to Amazon's growth and success?

Jeffrey Eisenberg: Amazon.com sold its first book in July of 1995. They ended 2013, selling $74.45 billion worth of stuff, all kinds of stuff.

The company did not start out knowing substantially more than most other businesses starting their efforts online, but because it was willing to think ahead, develop data-driven technologies and push the boundaries of how best to do business on the Web, it is now the largest online retailer. It now captures about 30 percent of every e-commerce dollar in the U.S. (and in many other markets as well), and it is also a successful B2B vendor, hardware developer and publisher.

Amazon is 10 years ahead of the curve and even leads strongly data-centric companies like Walmart. Amazon was built upon Jeff Bezos' vision and the four pillars of success:

Customer CentricityContinuous OptimizationCulture of InnovationCorporate Agility

DG: When looking at Amazon's success, what is one core tenet Amazon embraces that maybe other digital marketers aren't, but should be?

JE: "The most important single thing is to focus obsessively on the customer. Our goal is to be earth's most customer-centric company." ~ Jeff Bezos, founder and CEO of Amazon.com

DG: When looking at Amazon's optimization strategy, what impresses you most and why?

JE: Amazon continuously optimizes every aspect of their business. I don't mean the traditional marketing optimization tactics of A/B testing changing buttons or buyer flows but they optimize operations, marketing. finance, etc. To get a full understanding of how they push all of their operations to optimize it is worth taking a few minutes to look through the Slideshare Amazon.com: the Hidden Empire.

Amazon.com: the Hidden Empire - Update 2013 from FΛBERNOVEL

Back in 2004, we knew that Amazon.com was already doing more than 200 marketing optimization tests at any given time. Even today most companies average between two and five tests a month.

So imagine if Amazon has not scaled the amount of tests they had but continued to do only 200 tests a month and most of their competitors did even 10 tests a months how many more times is Amazon learning and optimizing over their competitors. The key is the Amazon.com understands that optimization is not a tactic or a project but it is a strategic competitive advantage woven into the management of their business and it's ultimate reponsibility lies with the CEO.

DG: Amazon and Google have become competitors in a few areas of late, such as shopping, entertainment, tablets, and so forth. Where do you see this fight going over the next few years, and who do you think would ultimately win in an Amazon vs. Google fight?

JE: Amazon and Google will both be winners. However Amazon, to a greater degree than Google, has a Bias for Action among their core values:

"Speed matters in business. Many decisions and actions are reversible and do not need extensive study. We value calculated risk taking."

Their teams are organized for execution. They have small, cross-functional teams (like Apple where teams are not larger than two pies of pizza could feed) that are able to execute on things independently end-to-end without needed to gather resources from anyone other team. They have clearly communicated group goals and the means for all to see the data to understand how they are performing in real-time.

So when events happen like the death of a celebrity or the FAA allowing electronics to be on during takeoff and landing of planes they can and do act on it in minutes and can be live within a couple of hours. While most companies struggle with their corporate metabolisms to call a meeting in two hours, Amazon's culture allows them to completely reconfigure parts of their business to react in near real time.

DG: Is Amazon just so far ahead of everyone else it's game over? Or can companies compete with Amazon.com? If so, why? If not, why not?

JE: The game is not over. Nevertheless, most companies will not be able to compete; they won't even be able to catch up.

The Four Pillars of Amazon's success can be adopted by other companies, they will be other winners, too. I'll cover some of that in my presentation. If I tell you everything right now people might decide to take an extra coffee break during my presentation.

6 Tips to Protect a Large and Complex Website From Google Panda [Case Study]

Since February 2011, I've had the opportunity to help a number of companies deal with Panda hits. As part of that work, I've assisted several large-scale websites (sites with more than 1 million pages).

Many of those companies got blindsided by Panda, as they mistakenly saw the misleading surge in traffic as a positive signal SEO-wise. Unfortunately, that sinister surge led to Google seeing a boatload of poor user engagement due to thin content, duplicate content, tech problems causing content issues, etc.

Poor user engagement is Panda's best friend. Low dwell time in particular can be a killer for sites in the gray area of Panda. That gray can turn black in a hurry.

The Panda Trouble with Large-Scale Websites

As I conduct comprehensive audits through the lens of Panda, companies that have been impacted gain solid look at the various problems they need to fix. Addressing those problems can be completed in the short-term, and that can help those companies recover.

But this post is about the long-term danger that large-scale websites face from a Panda standpoint. Sure, the technical and content teams I'm helping are often very smart and can usually implement changes at a fairly rapid pace. But the long-term problem is upstream from the grunt work. You see, the problem is the site itself.

Large-scale websites with more than 1 million pages often have complex site structures, many sections, multiple subdomains, etc. All of this leads to a tough situation when you're trying to break out of the Panda filter.

For example, problems can easily roll out that impact parts of a site you aren't necessarily focused on. And if you're focusing on problems A, B, and C, but new problems like X, Y, and Z arise, then you might miss dangerous Panda-inducing issues.

It isn't fun when you have serious content problems pop up across a site. That's especially the case when you find out about those problems after a Panda update rolls out.

Surprise! Your Order for Panda Food Just Arrived

If that happens, the site could easily stay in the gray area of Panda, never recovering from the downturn in traffic (if it's been hit already). Or, it might only recover to a fraction of where it should recover.

All of this can lead to serious webmaster frustration. Or worse, a site that's battling Panda might actually see a downturn after previously seeing a recovery or partial recovery. It can easily take the wind out of a marketing team's sails.

This post will cover an actual example of new and hidden problems causing a second Panda hit. Then I'll provide some recommendations for making sure this situation doesn't happen to you.

The problem I'll cover caused serious problems from a content-quality standpoint and lured Panda back from the Google bamboo forests. It's a great example that demonstrates the unique challenges of Panda-proofing large-scale websites.

A Quick Snapshot of the Panda Victim

The website in question has battled Panda for about one year. It's a complex website with several core sections, multiple subdomains, and various teams working on content. It has a long history, which also brings a level of complexity to the situation.

For example, my client barely remembered certain dangerous pieces of the site that were uncovered during audits I conducted. Yes, large-scale websites can contain skeletons content-wise.

The site was chugging along nicely when it first got hammered by Panda. That's when the company hired me to help rectify the situation.

After several audits were conducted (both comprehensive and laser-focused), a number of changes were recommended. My client was ready to rock and roll and they implemented many changes at a rapid pace.

The site ended up recovering a few months later and actually surged past where they were previously from a Google Organic perspective. That's not often the case, so it was awesome to see.

The Gray Area of Panda

But about six months later, another Panda update rolled out and surprisingly tore a hole in the hull of the website, letting about 30 percent of Google organic traffic pour out.

My client was surprised, deflated, and confused. Why would they get hit again? They worked so hard to recover, surged in traffic, and all was good.

Why would the mighty Panda chew them up like a tasty piece of bamboo? Good question, and it was my job to find answers.

I've written several times about the maddening gray area of Panda. It's a lonely place that confuses webmasters to the nth degree.

Here's the trouble with the gray area. Most websites have no idea how close they are to getting hit by Panda. And on the flip side, companies negatively impacted by Panda don't know how far in the gray area they sit (not knowing how close they are to recovery).

It's one of the reasons I'm extremely aggressive when helping companies with Panda recovery. I'd rather have a client recover and then build upon a clean platform than struggle with Panda, never knowing how close they are to recovery. That's a maddening and frustrating place to live.

This client was walking a fine line between recovery and impact. And that was due to the complex nature of the site, the long history it has, and the various types of content it provides.

This mixture had taunted the Panda one too many times. And now twice in a year, the site got hit (once extremely hard and the other being a moderate hit). Regardless, both have impacted traffic and revenue.

Audits Reveal a Battery of New Problems, But One Big One Caught My Eye

So I dug in. I put on my battle gear and jumped into yet another serious Panda audit.

My hope was that I would uncover a smoking gun. Remember, this site is in continual flux, with new content being added on a regular basis (and across several sections). And then there was a long history of content production prior to me helping them. So we were fighting a Panda battle on several fronts.

I wasn't sure what I would find during my audit, but I was looking for areas of the site that would attract Pandas. For example, low quality content, duplicate content, thin content, affiliate content, scraped content, technical problems causing content-related issues, etc.

My audit yielded a number of problems that needed to be rectified (and fast). The fact that I found a number of new problems underscores the challenges that large-scale websites face.

Remember, this is a site I already helped once with Panda recovery. Knowing that a number of changes were rolled out that could cause Panda problems again was tough to swallow. More about how to avoid this later in the post.

The one issue that stood out among the rest caused a serious problem content-quality wise. And I think that problem heavily contributed to Panda stomping on the site again.

Upon analyzing the site manually, it wasn't easy to pick up the issue. But when combined with a crawl analysis (crawling a few hundred thousand pages), the problem was readily apparent.

Webmaster-Induced Search Results Pages = Unlimited Thin Pages to Crawl and Index

During a crawl analysis, I found thousands of extremely thin pages in one section of the site. The pages contained just a sentence or two, and sometimes less. Having thousands of these pages crawled and indexed was extremely problematic.

Upon checking out the pages, I was scratching my head wondering how they were created in the first place. I initially thought this could be a technical problem, where a glitch ends up creating an endless number of thin pages (which I have seen before). But once I dug into the data, it was clear how the pages were being generated.

It ends up that user-generated searches on the site were being captured and then listed on related pages (as hyperlinks). The links led to new pages that contained a small amount of content about that search (and often linked to even more search-related pages).

We had a perfect storm of endless user queries that could generate pages with very little content. And those pages linked to more search-related pages. So on and so forth. This all led to massive amounts of Panda food on the site.

Needless to say, I presented the findings to my client as quickly as possible. The good news is that they moved fast. The tech team knocked out the work within a week. And as I explained earlier, there were other content-related changes I recommended as well. But most were not as severe as the unlimited number of thin pages I uncovered.

Panda and the Waiting

So now my client must wait as Google recrawls the site, evaluates the overall quality of content, etc.

This highlights another issue with Panda attacks. You could possibly recover quickly (within few months), or it could be much longer. For example, I had a client that did everything right and waited six months to recover. That's a long time to wait for a solid website that fully corrected recent content quality problems. Just when they almost gave up, they bounced back (and in a strong way). But they sat in the gray area for a long time.

This is why I tell companies wanting to push the limits of Panda not to. If they get hit, they might not recover so fast (or at all). It's simply not worth it to test the Panda waters.

Recommendations for Avoiding Unwanted Panda Problems on Large-Scale Websites

I wanted to explain the example above so you would get a good feel for some of the challenges that large websites face. And based on my work helping large and complex websites with Panda, I have provided several recommendations below for avoiding situations like the one I explained above.

Hopefully you can start implementing some of the recommendations quickly (like this week). And if you do, you can hopefully keep the Panda at bay. And that's a good thing considering the impact it could have on your business.

1. Continually Audit the Website

Initial audits can be extremely powerful, but once they are completed, they can't help you analyze future releases. To combat this situation, I recommend scheduling audits throughout the year. That includes a mixture of crawl audits, manual analysis, and auditing webmaster tools reporting.

Continually auditing the site can help nip problems in the bud versus uncovering them after the damage has been done.

2. Google Alerts for the Technical SEO

From an SEO standpoint, it's critically important to know the release schedule and understand the changes being rolled out on a website. As the person or agency helping a company SEO-wise, new content or functionality being released to production could either help or hurt your efforts.

With large and complex websites, knowing all the changes being rolled out is no easy feat. I recommend speaking with the tech team about getting notified before each release is pushed to production.

Think of this as Google Alerts for the technical SEO. They just might help you catch problems before they cause too much damage.

3. Gain Access to the Test Environment

My February post explained the power of having access to staging servers. Well, it can help with Panda protection as well.

Understanding the release schedule is one thing, but being able to crawl and test all changes prior to them going live is another. I highly recommend gaining access to your client's test server in order to check all changes before they are pushed to production.

When I'm given access to test servers, I catch problems often. But the good news is the changes can't hurt anything SEO-wise while sitting on a test server.

As long as those problems are fixed prior to being pushed to production, then your client will be fine. Work hard to gain access. It's definitely worth it.

4. Educate Clients

I've seen a direct correlation between the SEO health of a website and the amount of SEO education I have provided clients. For example, the more I train tech and content teams SEO-wise, the less chance they have of mistakenly rolling out changes that can negatively impact organic search performance.

Developers are smart, but sometimes too smart. They can get themselves in trouble SEO-wise by coding a site into SEO oblivion. You can avoid this by providing the right training.

5. Create an Open Environment for Tech Questions

Along the same lines, I try and keep an open communication channel with any person that can impact a website I'm working on.

I want clients to email me with questions about ideas they have, topics they are confused about, content they are thinking about developing, questions about link building, etc.

Similar to the SEO training I mentioned above, quickly answering those questions can go a long way to avoiding a nasty Panda bite (or Penguin if the questions are link-focused).

6. Be an Extension of the Engineering Team

Change is constant with many large-scale websites. This is why it's extremely important to help clients engineer new sections, functionality, applications, etc.

If you're involved from the beginning, you can make sure all new projects pass the SEO test. I can't tell you how many times I have caught issues in the beginning stages of a project that would have caused serious SEO problems down the line.

If you can, I recommend being involved from the conceptual stages of a project and following that project all the way through to production. Guide the project, crawl it, analyze it, and refine it. That's the only way to ensure it won't hurt you down the line.

Summary – Avoid Costly Rollouts to Avoid The Mighty Panda

There are many benefits to having large-scale websites, but at the same time, their size and complexity provide unique challenges. There are often many moving parts to keep track of, several core teams working on the site, and multiple sections and subdomains to monitor.

Due the complex nature of large-scale SEO, it's easy roll out changes that can negatively impact a website. That's why it's ultra-important to take the necessary steps to protect the site from unwanted problems.

Each month, companies that are Panda-susceptible must face the music. Panda rolls out once per month and can take 10 days to fully roll out.

If your large and complex website is in the gray area of Panda, then you need to pay particular attention to all changes rolling out on the site. If the scales tip in the wrong direction, then you could be dealing with months of recovery. I recommend following the steps listed earlier to avoid that happening.

Make your site the anti-bamboo. Good luck.

Reflecting on a Successful ClickZ Live New York & A Fond Farewell to Mike Grehan

The inaugural ClickZ Live New York kicked off with a bang earlier this month as more than 2,000 digital marketing participants gathered at the Marriott Marquis in Times Square to listen, learn, and exchange ideas with fellow industry colleagues.

A culmination of several months' work and a year’s planning, ClickZ Live is the rebranded conference of the former SES and recognizes the ever-evolving changes taking place in the digital marketing industry, which has moved far beyond just search.

Opening the conference on the first day was keynote speaker Randi Zuckerberg. Perhaps best known as the sister of Facebook founder Mark, Zuckerberg spoke about her experiences in the world of technology, her journey through entrepreneurship, and the new media trends that are affecting the lives of consumers today, including the maker culture, wearables, and visual mediums such as Pinterest.

Andy Beal, author of the book Repped, was another featured keynote speaker, inspiring attendees to really think about their online activities in order to manage reputation and create a solid business foundation. Beal shared a number of reputational blunders that he had witnessed and gave tips on how these can be avoided. He encouraged the audience to challenge themselves to a higher standard of social marketing, which in turn would strengthen their bottom lines.

The presentations over the entire three days struck chords with attendees, with some remarking that it was a "captivating" event, and others commenting that it was "truly thought-provoking." All seemed to enjoy the opportunity to interact and network with key industry experts. For the speakers, too, the show proved a valuable experience. "ClickZ Live has been wonderful. There’s been so much energy and it’s been a great opportunity to learn from other marketers," said Michelle Killebrew, program director, Strategy & Solutions, Social Business at IBM.

With the resounding comments of the event’s overall success ringing loud and clear, some of you may have heard that Mike Grehan, group publishing director of ClickZ, Search Engine Watch, and ClickZ Live, has decided to leave Incisive Media on this high note and step down from his role.

Grehan has been with Incisive Media (ClickZ, Search Engine Watch, and ClickZ Live’s parent company) since July 2009. Through his strong leadership, collaborative spirit, and invaluable knowledge of the industry, Grehan has been a pivotal figure for all three brands from the get go.

A seasoned SES speaker, Grehan joined the group as one of the most respected contributors and personalities in the industry, and took it from its search roots to where it is today. Grehan oversaw the evolution of the content at SES to serve the broader digital marketing community.

Commenting on his decision to leave, Grehan said: "This has been a very hard decision for me to make. But, after five years at the helm with three of the most prestigious brands in the digital marketing industry, it’s time for a change, a new direction and new captain. I've loved every moment working as publisher with Incisive Media, but I'm a marketeer at heart and the call is loud. I wish great success to my old team. And no less to the new team I’ll be working with next. But you haven’t seen the last of me yet and there is no doubt that I’ll be catching up in person with everyone at the industry’s leading digital marketing event, ClickZ Live."

Though Grehan was unable to confirm his next move he did say that he would be going back to his roots as a digital marketing practitioner. And while no longer serving as group publisher for the brands, he will still be writing as a regular contributor to ClickZ and speaking at the ClickZ Live events.

"Mike has been instrumental to the success of our interactive marketing and search brands and his expertise knowledge and connections in the industry have helped us successfully move to our new name and format ClickZ Live. It is a very exciting time for these brands and Mike has made the next chapter of their development a thrilling reality. We will all miss him but are delighted that he will continue his longstanding involvement with the show and websites as both a valued speaker and expert contributor," said John Barnes, managing director, Digital, Tech, and Interactive Marketing, Incisive Media.

We'll be looking forward to building on the success of New York and seeing many of you at our next ClickZ Live event in Toronto, where Kirstine Stewart, managing director of Twitter Canada, will be speaking in May.

This article was originally published on ClickZ.

Report: Google Now Master Of Lobbying, Backroom Dealing

An article in the Washington Post asserts that Google has now become a master lobbyist and behind-the-scenes manipulator in Washington. It details the company’s increase in campaign contributions and outreach efforts to influence legislators.

The message of the lengthy article is that Google is now buying influence and policy outcomes that favor the company.

Source: Washington Post

There are numerous concrete examples cited for the idea that Google has manipulated policy outcomes or bought influence through contributions to individuals, third party groups or academic institutions.

A prominent discussion in article concerns a conference on antitrust and search sponsored by George Mason University (GMU) in 2012. I was actually a speaker at that event and wrote up some of my observations.

The Post article says that Google worked behind the scenes with GMU to get the relevant regulators and speakers into the room and persuade everyone that an antitrust action against Google was a bad idea or even futile. The article further asserts that Google sought to conceal the level of its involvement with the forum:

Even as Google executives peppered the GMU staff with suggestions of speakers and guests to invite to the event, the company asked the school not to broadcast its involvement.

�It may seem like Google is overwhelming the conference,� Zhang fretted in an e-mail to the center�s administrative coordinator, Jeffrey Smith, after reviewing the confirmed list of attendees a few weeks before the event. She asked Smith to mention �only a few Googlers.�

Smith was reassuring. �We will certainly limit who we announce publicly from Google,� he replied.

At the time of the conference I wrote the following:

In general about 70 percent to 80 percent of the speakers were skeptical of success against Google or thought it was simply inappropriate to apply antitrust rules to Google�s situation. A minority of speakers argued that the rules would apply and that case law did provide a cause of action against the company.

Even though multiple Google speakers were present, as an attendee I didn’t have a sense of the degree to which Google helped organize the event.

One can credibly argue that the conference probably didn’t bias the outcome of the FTC antitrust investigation. That’s because the weight of case law was arguably in Google’s favor. However The Post’s perspective is that Google helped itself tremendously that day.

Reflecting on a Successful ClickZ Live New York & A Fond Farewell to Mike Grehan

The inaugural ClickZ Live New York kicked off with a bang earlier this month as more than 2,000 digital marketing participants gathered at the Marriott Marquis in Times Square to listen, learn, and exchange ideas with fellow industry colleagues.

A culmination of several months' work and a year’s planning, ClickZ Live is the rebranded conference of the former SES and recognizes the ever-evolving changes taking place in the digital marketing industry, which has moved far beyond just search.

Opening the conference on the first day was keynote speaker Randi Zuckerberg. Perhaps best known as the sister of Facebook founder Mark, Zuckerberg spoke about her experiences in the world of technology, her journey through entrepreneurship, and the new media trends that are affecting the lives of consumers today, including the maker culture, wearables, and visual mediums such as Pinterest.

Andy Beal, author of the book Repped, was another featured keynote speaker, inspiring attendees to really think about their online activities in order to manage reputation and create a solid business foundation. Beal shared a number of reputational blunders that he had witnessed and gave tips on how these can be avoided. He encouraged the audience to challenge themselves to a higher standard of social marketing, which in turn would strengthen their bottom lines.

The presentations over the entire three days struck chords with attendees, with some remarking that it was a "captivating" event, and others commenting that it was "truly thought-provoking." All seemed to enjoy the opportunity to interact and network with key industry experts. For the speakers, too, the show proved a valuable experience. "ClickZ Live has been wonderful. There’s been so much energy and it’s been a great opportunity to learn from other marketers," said Michelle Killebrew, program director, Strategy & Solutions, Social Business at IBM.

With the resounding comments of the event’s overall success ringing loud and clear, some of you may have heard that Mike Grehan, group publishing director of ClickZ, Search Engine Watch, and ClickZ Live, has decided to leave Incisive Media on this high note and step down from his role.

Grehan has been with Incisive Media (ClickZ, Search Engine Watch, and ClickZ Live’s parent company) since July 2009. Through his strong leadership, collaborative spirit, and invaluable knowledge of the industry, Grehan has been a pivotal figure for all three brands from the get go.

A seasoned SES speaker, Grehan joined the group as one of the most respected contributors and personalities in the industry, and took it from its search roots to where it is today. Grehan oversaw the evolution of the content at SES to serve the broader digital marketing community.

Commenting on his decision to leave, Grehan said: "This has been a very hard decision for me to make. But, after five years at the helm with three of the most prestigious brands in the digital marketing industry, it’s time for a change, a new direction and new captain. I've loved every moment working as publisher with Incisive Media, but I'm a marketeer at heart and the call is loud. I wish great success to my old team. And no less to the new team I’ll be working with next. But you haven’t seen the last of me yet and there is no doubt that I’ll be catching up in person with everyone at the industry’s leading digital marketing event, ClickZ Live."

Though Grehan was unable to confirm his next move he did say that he would be going back to his roots as a digital marketing practitioner. And while no longer serving as group publisher for the brands, he will still be writing as a regular contributor to ClickZ and speaking at the ClickZ Live events.

"Mike has been instrumental to the success of our interactive marketing and search brands and his expertise knowledge and connections in the industry have helped us successfully move to our new name and format ClickZ Live. It is a very exciting time for these brands and Mike has made the next chapter of their development a thrilling reality. We will all miss him but are delighted that he will continue his longstanding involvement with the show and websites as both a valued speaker and expert contributor," said John Barnes, managing director, Digital, Tech, and Interactive Marketing, Incisive Media.

We'll be looking forward to building on the success of New York and seeing many of you at our next ClickZ Live event in Toronto, where Kirstine Stewart, managing director of Twitter Canada, will be speaking in May.

This article was originally published on ClickZ.

Google’s Matt Cutts Lobbying To Reward Secure Sites With Better Rankings

Rolfe Winkler on the Wall Street Journal blog reports on “private conversations” that Google’s head of search spam, Matt Cutts has within Google about rewarding sites with higher rankings in the search results that have better security.

This is news that has come out of SMX West, as we covered just about a month ago with our story Ranking Benefit To Making Your Site SSL? Not Yet But Google�s Cutts Would Like To Make It Happen. But apparently, Cutts has been talking about this internally even more now, likely even more so since the OpenSSL exploit, Heartbleed.

Heartbleed was a huge security exploit impacting over a half a million web sites out there. It is known as a “catastrophic” bug that may be considered the most serious bug in the history of the web. With it, sites with sensitive data were like an open book to anyone who tried to use the loophole to acquire that data.

Winkler said:

Cutts also has spoken in private conversations of Google�s interest in making the change, according to a person familiar with the matter. The person says Google�s internal discussions about encryption are still at an early stage and any change wouldn�t happen soon.

Google would not comment on this at this time, but as we know from the SMX West show, Matt Cutts himself said he would love to see Google reward web sites that deploy better security. Although back then, he said it was his personal opinion and not everyone within Google agreed with him at this point.

For more on that, see our story from last month.

What is SEM? Depends on Who You Ask

In the early 2000s, search engine marketing (SEM) was originally defined as the umbrella under which both paid and organic search would fall. This made perfect sense, as marketing naturally incorporates a wide array of tactics, including advertising.

Over the years, however, the term "search engine marketing" has come to mean different things, depending on who you ask.

When an industry can't come to common consensus about what a high-profile term really means, how can the business and brands shopping for, purchasing, and relying upon the performance of, these services possibly make informed decisions?

Why is There No Consensus on the Definition of SEM?

The definition of SEM is surprisingly different, even contradictory according to the search engines, within the industry, and throughout the business marketplace.

Soon after the term SEM came onto the digital scene, it became synonymous with paid search, at least to some authorities and many professionals working in the industry.

An entire industry has been built under the context of SEM as the practice of paid search. Yet, to others, SEM is still defined as a broader topic, incorporating SEO, paid search, and other techniques to impact search engine visibility.

Wikipedia

Wikipedia definition of SEM a comprehensive approach to increasing visibility of websites in search engine results pages (SERPs) through optimization and advertising, including search engine optimization (SEO), pay-per-click (PPC), and even includes SMM (social media marketing).

SEMPO

SEMPO defines SEM as:

A form of internet marketing that seeks to promote websites by increasing their visibility in search engine result pages (SERPs). SEM methods include: search engine optimization (SEO), paid placement, contextual advertising, digital asset optimization, and paid inclusion.

Search Engine Watch

Search Engine Watch defines SEM as both paid and organic search. However, SEM posts, training, and ads are frequently related to paid search.

Search Engine Land

There are two posts on Search Engine Land that define SEM slightly differently.

It's unclear which was posted first. However the first post defines "search marketing" as paid and unpaid.

The second post, however, defines the acronym SEM, short for "search engine marketing" as being paid search. It does reference the legacy of SEM as paid and unpaid, stating that the acronym has been adopted by many to refer solely as paid search. They reinforce the separation in site navigation, presenting advertising topics only under SEM.

CIO

CIO.com recognizes SEM as a combination of paid advertising, search engine optimized design, marketing copy, involvement with the online community, and keywords.

The inability of the industry to come to terms on a definitive understanding of what SEM really is has drawn unsuspecting victims into thinking they are getting something they are not.

Let's be honest. SEM services rarely incorporate SEO. In the wake of Google algorithm updates, Penguin, Panda and Hummingbird, many have shifted from offering SEO services to focus on paid search via search engine marketing services.

How Do the Search Engines Define SEM?Bing

Bing appears to view SEM as paid search as demonstrated on the landing page below, where "search marketing" links directly to a page to get users started on Bing Ads.

However, Bing Webmaster Archive offers the following answer to the question "What is SEM?"

SEM encompasses all of the various ways site owners can use search engines to attract more traffic to their websites. SEM is all about helping users of search engines find your website. SEM is comprised of two major parts: SEO and Pay-Per-Click (PPC) advertising.Google

In a "Learn with Google" online vocabulary reference Google defines SEM as:

The use of online advertising on search engine results pages to help visitors find your website. SEM often uses pay-per-click (PPC), a bidding model that charges advertisers only when someone clicks on their ad (also referred to as cost-per-click, or CPC)."

Yet, a 2013 Google Analytics Blog "Organic Search Engine Marketing" addresses ways to measure ways to measure organic search engine marketing.

Search Engines Promote SEM as Paid Search

While SEM definitions are accompanied by editorial that appear to promote SEM as a combination of paid and organic, a search results on Google or Bing predominantly present search engine marketing as paid advertising campaigns.

How Do Industry Professionals, Businesses, Brands Define SEM?

No surprise, industry professionals and the clients they serve also have varying perceptions on the definition of SEM.

Below is how professionals in the industry answered the following two questions:

When you hear SEM do you think of organic or paid search?What do you think most marketers and businesses think of when they hear SEM?

"SEM = Paid only" according to Bruce Clay, President of Bruce Clay Inc., a leading authority in search that provides search engine services, tools and training.

"Businesses are split, considering SEM to be either PPC or (PPC + SEO)," Clay said. "I do not think anyone considers SEM to include social. Those in the Internet marketing industry probably think mostly PPC."

"When I think of SEM, I think of paid search or PPC," said Bill Hartzer, senior SEO strategist at Globe Runner SEO, who is also an industry speaker and blogger. "When referring to organic search it really is SEO. From what I recall, this distinction began around 2005 or 2006."

"I generally think organic or a combination," said Krista Neher, marketing strategist, author of "Social Media Field Guide", professional trainer, and founder of "Boot Camp Digital". "I think most businesses probably don't know what SEM stands for. I train thousands of businesses a year, and most of them think of search engine marketing as organically getting traffic from search engines."

"I tend to think of both organic and paid since the acronym stands for 'search engine marketing," said Adam Proehl, founding partner of NordicClick Interactive, industry speaker and trainer. "It varies across the board for business and marketers I come across. I'd say (anecdotally) that about 50 percent think of it as paid. About 25 percent think of it as both. Another 20 percent confuse it with SEO and the last 5 percent has absolutely no idea."

"To me, SEM covers the whole gamut of marketing via search engines, both organic and paid", said Mark Traphagen, senior director of online marketing at Stone Temple. "The best SEM strategies are built around coordination between the two sides."

"I used to only think of organic, because I live in an editorial-based public relations world. But today I look at it as a blended force of paid and organic working together and tag teaming the branding, marketing and influencing online public relations," said Lisa Buyer, author of "Social PR Secrets", industry speaker, coach, and trainer. "Most businesses are still figuring out what SEM means. I think most look at it as some sort of Internet marketing or digital marketing probably skewed towards the paid side."

"I think of organic, expanded," said Kristine Schachinger, CEO of The Vetters, industry speaker and consultant; who added that she thought it could cover PPC and expanded marketing services covered in organic search. "I think businesses say "SE…What?" Oh, you rank stuff on browsers, right?"

"I think most in 'the biz' think paid when referring to SEM," said Elmer Boutin, associate director of search strategy at Rockfish, and marketing and IT blogger. "I think it's both paid and organic. The idea is to use search engines to market your products or services. To do it best involves both paid and organic in many circumstances."

So there you have it. Search engines, leading authorities, and industry professionals fail to agree on the definition of "search engine marketing".

What is the Correct Definition of SEM?

As illustrated above, there is a great variety of interpretations of SEM across the industry. It's no wonder that businesses and brands are confused, challenged, and frustrated when attempting to communicate effectively and make informed decisions about how to allocate resources.

There appears to be no right or wrong answer.

But, shouldn't there be just one definition of SEM? What's your definition of SEM?

Social Media Smarts Interview: Justin Levy, Global Social Media at Citrix

When I first met Justin Levy a number of years ago, he gave me a business card for a Brazilian steakhouse and I didn’t quite make the connection with the social media conference we were at. Following him online and running into each other at numerous conferences since, I’ve learned three things about Justin: �1. He’s incredibly fit. �2. He’s an amazing cook. �3. He’s equally intelligent and passionate when it comes to social media.

In this Social Media Smarts interview, Justin covers everything from how he came in to the social media world to how marketing and PR work together with social media programs to what he really thinks of Facebook. He also offers practical tips, insights, tools and resources that he uses to stay social media fit in his role in charge of Global Social Media at Citrix.

Whether your a corporate marketer, agency or consultant, I would recommend taking his advice.

You have an interesting background and journey into the corporate social media world from Caminito Argentinean Steakhouse to New Marketing Labs. Please share about your journey to Director, Social Marketing at Citrix.

I always had an interest in how technology allowed us to connect, whether it be forums, instant messaging or social networks. In the early days of platforms such as Twitter, Facebook and YouTube, I was convinced that these tools could be leveraged to build community, impact organic search and, ultimately, lead to increased revenue.

Around this time my best friend had risen through the cooking ranks and had become the Executive Chef and owner of Caminito Argentinean Steakhouse. The steakhouse was losing revenue at 30-35% per month even though the product, wood-fire grilled steaks, were among the best I had ever tried. The steakhouse simply wasn�t receiving the amount of foot traffic it needed. Though I already had a full-time job, I would occasionally travel the 50 miles to the restaurant to help serve tables or discuss strategy. After a while I took a minority role in the steakhouse, focused on marketing efforts.

We revamped the website with a focus on organic search and visuals, started building an email list, launched a food blog and an educational food video show. Within the first 30 days or so post-launch of these efforts, sales grew upwards of 50%, bringing the steakhouse 20% into the black. For the next 30 months straight we successfully grew a minimum of 20% per month as compared to the same month the previous year. This strategy brought more customers into the steakhouse to taste the incredible food that my best friend was cooking. This increase in customer growth brought several awards and case studies written about our successes.

Chris Brogan and I became friends over the course of a few conferences and we had a chance to drive together to an event being hosted by Jeff Pulver in New York. Over the few hours drive each way we began talking about where we thought social media was headed and that there was a big opportunity to help large companies. Chris was being approached by large companies such as Citrix and was working on launching New Marketing Labs. Citrix became the first client and I became the first employee of New Marketing Labs.

We worked hard to be helpful and provide value to the amazing clients that we were able to work with, including Citrix. Working closely with the Citrix team, I began to see why the company is regularly rated one of the best places to work. The culture and innovation was unlike anything I had seen elsewhere.

I left New Marketing Labs to take on a role at Citrix leading divisional social communications. That role expanded over the past few years to the point where I�m at now, leading social media globally for the company.

In your tip for the SMMW14 Social Media Marketing eBook, you mentioned the importance of social media guidelines. How practical is it to enforce guidelines? Recently, a very high profile employee at a major B2B brand was released due to violating social media guidelines. How often should companies revisit and revise?

Companies need to consistently evaluate and update, when necessary, their social media guidelines. Because there is little precedent in social media, federal organizations are constantly reviewing cases and providing guidance to companies.

For example, in 2011 and 2012 the National Labor Relations Board issued three separate memos reviewing approximately 27 cases where there had been complaints where employees had been dismissed for violating social media guidelines. The Federal Trade Commission has also recently investigated a well-known brand for a Pinterest campaign they executed.

Reviews like this will continue and it is important for social media managers to stay aligned with their Legal and HR teams to ensure that they�re protecting the company.

What are some great examples of companies or organizations� social media policies?

There are several companies that have excellent social media guidelines. One of the companies that I often reference is Coca-Cola.

Coca-Cola is a global company operating in 200+ countries with 150,000+ associates and over 500 sparkling and still brands. They have boiled their guidelines down into 15 main points – 5 company commitments, 5 personal use exceptions and 5 spokespeople expectations.

I would be remiss if I didn�t mention our Citrix social media guidelines which we have successfully scaled to all 10,000 employees in 6 languages (English, Spanish, German, French, Mandarin and Japanese) as mandatory compliance training.

As the Director of Social Media, how does the intersection between PR and marketing social media work? How is it structured? Any tips? for other companies deciding �Who owns social media?�

We work in tight coordination with a number of teams including PR, internal communications, product marketing, demand marketing, legal, HR, IT and many others. To be effective, social media has to be integrated throughout the fabric of the company, not just within a single function. That means that social media team members will be involved in key projects, announcements and other planning cycles.

At Citrix social media reports into Corporate Marketing but works across the entire company. We recently launched a company-wide Social Media Center of Excellence to help as a centralized hub providing strategy, resources, training and enablement in order to provide company-wide standardization, increased efficiency, effectiveness and reduced costs.

Regardless of who �owns� social media, it is imperative that the social media team puts a priority on building relationships and understanding how social media can be helpful to overall business objectives. Focusing on these partnerships help drive more business impact rather than focusing on where social media is situated within a company.

Waynette Tubbs of SAS & Justin Levy of Citrix discuss big brand blogging.

Do you consider blogging to be social media? Why or why not?

Yes, I do consider blogging to be a form of social media and is one of the only platforms that a company or individual can own. A blog should be a main driver of inbound traffic to a company�s website, while social media channels serve as outposts.

What do you think about the emerging trend of removing comments from blogs?

The decision whether or not to remove comments from a blog is a business decision that each business has to consider for themselves. The Copyblogger team made a decision that was right for their business at this time. That might change or evolve over time if they think it is right for their business. Companies considering removing comments also have to realize that their blog is likely not to the size of Copyblogger. Not every blog, just like not every business strategy, is created equal.

For many companies, encouraging employees to blog is a LOT easier said than done. At least in a way that fosters self expression, serves customers and brand goals – all at the same time. What�s your take? Any words of advice?

Absolutely agree! Maintaining a multi-author blog is a LOT harder than it might seem especially for companies where employees may not have experience writing. It has been my experience that many are intimidated by writing on behalf of the company. It is uncomfortable for them. It takes longer to work with these employees on drafting a blog post and educating them. However, though it is hard, it benefits not only the company but also the employees who take part.

For those just getting started, I�d recommend developing a blog guidelines document. Provide a framework for employees to work within. Include tips and resource links that they can reference throughout the process.

Another effective method is to encourage employees to record their thoughts. No or minimal prep. Hit record and share thoughts on a topic that they�re passionate about or have specific expertise. They can then work through transcribing those recordings and then editing that down from there into a blog post (or even several!).

Does SEO play any kind of role with your social media and social content efforts? How?

I am a strong believer in the impact of SEO. We have continually worked to partner closely with our Search team. We are constantly interfacing with them on projects ranging from our video strategy to evaluating updates to social media platforms and their potential impact on search rank. We regularly monitor social referrer traffic to our key domains or key sections and work on projects to improve the joint impact of search and social.

What are some of the social media tools that you rely on for social media monitoring, analytics, or reporting?�

Three tools that we regularly rely on for social media monitoring, analytics and reporting are:

Radian6Simply MeasuredGoogle Analytics

Each of these tools provide a different layer or level of metrics to help us with listening and determining the effectiveness of our social media efforts.

Let�s play elevator tips: You�ve just met a small business owner on the 1st of 36 floors and they ask you for that one thing to help make the most out of their social media marketing. Go!

I would ask them what their business goals and desired outcomes are of using social media. Social media efforts must be tied to business objectives. If the business owner wasn�t able to answer that on the spot, I�d recommend that they work on that.

While they were working through that, I�d also recommend, as a basic step, they secure their brand name across the most important social media channels. Hopefully a consistent name is available across all platforms so as to not confuse prospects, customers and fans!

What are some of the information resources, events and networks that you draw from to stay current with industry news and best practices?

This blog is one of them! (Thanks!) I rely on the smarts of folks like Jay Baer, Tom Webster, Christopher Penn, Scott Monty, C.C. Chapman, Ann Handley, Mark Schaefer, Jason Falls, some guy named Lee Odden and many, many more. Through these friendships, writings, podcasts, speeches, books and multitude of other content they create, I am constantly learning and evolving.

The best social media conferences to attend are Social Fresh, Social Media Marketing World and Dreamforce. Jason Keath, Mike Stelzner and the Salesforce team put on different style conferences that are both excellent and provide incredible attendee value. And while I have not had an opportunity to speak at or attend either Conference Marketing World or Marketing Nation Summit, I have heard great feedback about these conferences that Joe Pulizzi and Marketo run, respectively.

We are also members of SocialMedia.org, a membership that allows us to connect with other brands to learn from each other and discuss changes happening in the industry.

Let�s play social media word association. I�ll list social networks and media sites and you reply with what comes to mind first:

Facebook – pay to play
Vine – fun videos
LinkedIn – business/work evolving into a focus on content
Twitter – engagement, customer support, continuing to evolve
Google+ – a great platform that struggles for adoption
Snapchat – glad I don�t have kids!
YouTube – an important platform that will only grow more important
Instagram – visuals!
Pinterest – food, recipes and fitness
MySpace – Justin Timberlake

As always, fantastic stuff Justin. Thank you!

You can connect with Justin Levy on the social web �at Twitter�@justinlevy, on�LinkedIn�in/justinlevy�and his website JustinRLevy.com.

Best Wireless Telecom Stocks To Invest In Right Now

Best Wireless Telecom Stocks To Invest In Right Now: KongZhong Corp (HOA)

KongZhong Corporation, incorporated on May 6, 2002, is a provider of digital entertainment services for consumers in the People's Republic of China. The Company operates in three main business units: Wireless Value-Added Services (WVAS), mobile games and Internet games. In addition to developing and operating its self-developed Internet games, such as Loong, Demon Code and Kung Fu Hero, it is an operator of the World of Tanks game for the People's Republic of China Internet games market. In addition, it is also the licensee in the People's Republic of China for the Guild Wars 2 game developed by ArenaNet, Offensive Combat game developed by U4iA Games and Hawken game developed by Meteor Entertainment.

The Company conducts substantially all of its business in the People's Republic of China through its wholly owned subsidiaries KongZhong Beijing, KongZhong China and Simlife Beijing. It operates WVAS, mobile games and Internet games through Beijing AirInbo x, Beijing WINT, Beijing Chengxitong, BJXR, Mailifang, Xinreli and Dacheng, all of which are based in the People's Republic of China.

Wireless Value-Added Services (WVAS) Business

The Company provides interactive entertainment, media and other interactive services to mobile phone users in China through various second generation (2G) standard, technology platforms, including short message services (SMS), Interactive Voice Response services (IVR) and color ring back tone (CRBT), and through various second and a half generation standard (2.5G), technology and operating platforms, including wireless application protocol (WAP) and multimedia messaging services (MMS), which offer graphics, richer content and more interactivity than 2G wireless services. Its WVAS are tailored to the technical or other requirements of its telecommu! nications operator partners, through whom it deliver most of its WVAS, and to various billing systems for WVAS. Its WVAS are a lso delivered and marketed through various media partners, i! ncluding handset manufacturers, television stations, radio stations, print media and Internet sites. Its WVAS revenues accounted for 41.7% of its total revenues during the year ended December 31, 2012.

The Company offers a variety of WVAS, such as mobile games, pictures, karaoke, electronic books, mobile phone personalization features, entertainment news, chat and message boards. It provides its services mainly pursuant to its cooperation arrangements with the telecommunications operators and their provincial subsidiaries, the terms of which are generally for one year or less.

Mobile Games Business

The Company is a developer and publisher of mobile games for mobile phone users in the People's Republic of China (PRC). The mobile games it develops include action, role-playing and leisure games. During 2012, it acquired Noumena, a developer of cross-platform smartphone mobile game engines.

Internet Games Business

< p>The Company develops Internet games internally based mainly on its technologies, which include its game engine (Dazzler three dimension (3D)), game development platforms and online game billing system, all developed by its internal team. In particular, its Dazzler 3D game engine enables the Company to create 3D graphics and visual effects, and provides the technical foundation for creating features in its games. Its game development platforms give the Company the capacity to develop Internet games within approximately six to 24 months and to update Its Internet games frequently in response to players' preferences.

The Company uses an item-based revenue model for its games, whether internally developed or licensed, under which players can play its games on the Internet free of charge, but have to pay for purchases of in-game vir! tual item! s, such as in-game currencies, performance-enhancing clothing, weapons, accessories and pets. It distributes its electronic prepaid game cards and game points, which can be used to pur! chase in-! game virtual items, to players through multiple payment channels.

The Company competes with Sina Corporation, Sohu.com Inc., TOM Online Inc., Phoenix New Media Limited, Wireless Arts, Perfect World Co. Ltd, Shanda Interactive Entertainment Limited, Netease.com, Inc., Changyou.com Limited, Giant Interactive Group Inc. and Tencent Holdings Limited.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Konrad Kuhn]

  The company also has a minority interest in the privately-held Hooters of America (HOA), the operator and franchisor of over 430 Hooters restaurants; HOTR's CEO Mike Pruitt is a member of the HOA Board of Directors.

source from Top Stocks Blog:http://www.topstocksblog.com/best-wireless-telecom-stocks-to-invest-in-right-now.html

'Let Me Google That For You' Bill Introduced to U.S. Senate

A bipartisan bill has been introduced in the U.S. Senate under the unlikely but wonderful title, "Let Me Google That For You".

The bill, sponsored by Senators Tom Coburn and Claire McCaskill, has the purpose "To streamline the collection and distribution of government information" and proposes that the government prioritize searching for information via the Internet.

The present protocol for government research involves an organization called the National Technical Information Service (NTIS). It's estimated that at up to $100 a pop, it's a rather expensive way of finding information, especially since the NTIS probably uses Google itself.

Should the "Let Me Google That For You" bill become law, it will ensure that the NTIS becomes a historical footnote. A review of NTIS in 2012 by the Government Accountability Office found that 74 percent of its work could be achieved with a few mouse clicks, and of those, 95 percent of the results were free of charge to the end user, and therefore the taxpayer.

The bill says that the NTIS, which was set up in 1950, has been losing an average of $1.3 million per year over the past decade, largely due to the advent of the Internet.

During the two readings of the bill, the Senate concluded that, "No federal agency should use taxpayer dollars to purchase a report from the National Technical Information Service that is available through the Internet for free."

The bill has been referred to the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.

This article was originally published on the Inquirer.

Twitter Canada MD Kirstine Stewart to Keynote Toronto
ClickZ Live Toronto (May 14-16) is a new event addressing the rapidly changing landscape that digital marketers face. The agenda focuses on customer engagement and attaining maximum ROI through online marketing efforts across paid, owned & earned media. Register now and save!*
*Early Bird Rates expire April 17.

'Let Me Google That For You' Bill Introduced to U.S. Senate

A bipartisan bill has been introduced in the U.S. Senate under the unlikely but wonderful title, "Let Me Google That For You".

The bill, sponsored by Senators Tom Coburn and Claire McCaskill, has the purpose "To streamline the collection and distribution of government information" and proposes that the government prioritize searching for information via the Internet.

The present protocol for government research involves an organization called the National Technical Information Service (NTIS). It's estimated that at up to $100 a pop, it's a rather expensive way of finding information, especially since the NTIS probably uses Google itself.

Should the "Let Me Google That For You" bill become law, it will ensure that the NTIS becomes a historical footnote. A review of NTIS in 2012 by the Government Accountability Office found that 74 percent of its work could be achieved with a few mouse clicks, and of those, 95 percent of the results were free of charge to the end user, and therefore the taxpayer.

The bill says that the NTIS, which was set up in 1950, has been losing an average of $1.3 million per year over the past decade, largely due to the advent of the Internet.

During the two readings of the bill, the Senate concluded that, "No federal agency should use taxpayer dollars to purchase a report from the National Technical Information Service that is available through the Internet for free."

The bill has been referred to the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.

This article was originally published on the Inquirer.

Twitter Canada MD Kirstine Stewart to Keynote Toronto
ClickZ Live Toronto (May 14-16) is a new event addressing the rapidly changing landscape that digital marketers face. The agenda focuses on customer engagement and attaining maximum ROI through online marketing efforts across paid, owned & earned media. Register now and save!*
*Early Bird Rates expire April 17.

New Facebook Test: Popular Pages In Your Area

Facebook is testing a new feature called "Popular Pages in Your Area". The new section is located to the right of the News Feed beneath the Trending feature, which displays news results that Facebook's algorithms believe users will be interested in.

Here's a screenshot, sent to us by Samuel Edwards from Tenthwave Digital:

Edwards lives in New York City, hence he is seeing local area pages including "The Wendy Williams Show" and "The Game" on BET. When a user clicks on the "See All" link, Facebook redirects to their "Local Places in [City]" page.

The Local Places page is skewed toward pages that have a lot of likes, or have either check-ins or likes from your friends. It doesn't skew based on like numbers, friend likes, or friend check-ins, as scrolling down actually shows other places with higher like counts.

I suspect that this will eventually go the route of being a paid advertising option for local businesses that are looking to get the word out about their business or service to local Facebook users. It's a great opportunity if they do, especially if they allow advertisers to target based on user's interests or even potentially what they recently posted on.

Facebook added trending topics back in January and has been a fairly popular feature with users. As they did when Facebook first introduced trending topics, it's likely that Facebook is either testing this feature or rolling it out slowly.

Twitter Canada MD Kirstine Stewart to Keynote Toronto
ClickZ Live Toronto (May 14-16) is a new event addressing the rapidly changing landscape that digital marketers face. The agenda focuses on customer engagement and attaining maximum ROI through online marketing efforts across paid, owned & earned media. Register now and save!*
*Early Bird Rates expire April 17.

4 Ways to Make Your Blog Stand Out from the Pack

Whether it's attached to a small business, a large corporation or maybe as a business in itself, a blog is a reflection of its owner. But you're not the only one blogging.

There are an estimated 68,124,670 WordPress sites, and for good reason; an active blog is necessary for a successful SEO initiative. Add to the mix the sites that run LiveJournal, Blogger, TypePad or one of the other blogging platforms, and there are easily over 150 million blogs on the Internet; so how do you get yours to stand out from the pack?

Many say that if you write compelling content that people want to read, the visibility and exposure will take care of itself. But in these days of intense online competition and easy access to blogging platforms, social media, and content creation specialists, I'd argue that simply isn't true.

What makes content compelling? Many blogs rehash the same information shared countless other places by adding a bit of their own style. But for the most part, the story, commentary, and information don't vary much from blog to blog.

Take a minute to perform a little experiment. Open Google News in a new tab or browser window. See the Top Story? Check to see how many sources there are for that story alone. There's a good chance you could wind up with over 2,000 different versions to choose from.

Select 10 of these sources at random and odds are you‘ll be reading the same story ten times over. Nothing new or different other than the author's name and maybe an image or two. They may change the wording around a bit, but not enough to really add anything new or exciting.

If someone stumbles across your blog for the first time, what are they seeing? Are they getting something new or just more of the same? Are they going to remember your blog and make a point to come back?

When many people think about this, they may have the feeling that their blog is a bit bland. Think your blog could use a little more spice and uniqueness? Let's take a look at some ways to spice things up for your readers.

1. Be Controversial

If you have ever seen the movie "Private Parts", then you may remember an exchange where Pig Vomit (played by Paul Giamatti) and a researcher (played by Peter Maloney) are discussing Howard Stern's popularity:

Researcher: The average radio listener listens for 18 minutes. The average Howard Stern fan listens for - are you ready for this? - An hour and 20 minutes.

Pig Vomit: How can that be?

Researcher: Answer most commonly given? "I want to see what he'll say next."

Pig Vomit: OK, fine. But what about the people who hate Stern?

Researcher: Good point. The average Stern hater listens for two and a half hours a day.

Pig Vomit: But... if they hate him, why do they listen?

Researcher: Most common answer? "I want to see what he'll say next."

People love controversial topics, regardless of whether they agree with what you have to say. Just look at America's fascination with Sarah Palin. She created controversy with just about everything she did. Some people love her, others hate her, but nonetheless, she's stayed in the news.

Writing controversial content is a great way to get people to read your blog, share your posts, and comment on them, which drives social signals and activity. But you can't just throw anything up on your blog.

Always support your claims with facts. If you make blanket statements with nothing to support them, your blogging efforts will backfire. Controversy and opinions can be tolerated if there's something to back them up.

Additionally, make sure you pick a topic you're familiar with. Lack of knowledge around a controversial subject will stick out like a sore thumb, and hurt your credibility. But most importantly, make sure any controversy that you get involved with adds value. It shouldn't be hateful, spiteful or cheap. You want to get more loyal readers; not drive some quick traffic your way.

2. Top XX Lists

If you flip over to the NFL Network at any given time, there's a good chance you'll see one of their "top 10" shows. They have the top 10 quarterbacks, uniforms, undrafted players, draft busts, and many more.

The reason they air these so often is because people love lists. They're easy to digest and don't require a lot of thought. On the web, they're easy to read as well if you format them with headings, ordered lists, or bold font subheaders.

Lists also attract links easier than other forms of content and are usually shared more often, leading to higher organic search engine rankings, visibility, and traffic.

3. Solve a Problem

Starting a headline with "How To" is one of the easiest ways to capture a reader's attention. If they see that your content can solve their problem, you're much more likely to hook them. They'll come back to your blog time and time again for solutions if you're able to provide them.

Find questions in your field or niche and come up with the best solution for them. Write them down in simple to follow directions, or use video.

Most businesses claim to be industry leaders, or experts. But people want proof; they want to be shown, not told. Being able to solve problems for your readers shows that you are an expert. And that builds trust.

4. Take a Stand

Sometimes you have to cover current events in your blog. But just because everyone else is writing on the topic doesn't mean you have to be as bland as they are. If you're running a business, your blog can't be a personal sounding board for opinions, but it can be strong.

The best way to get noticed is to take a stand. Write the article using objective facts but throw your opinion in the mix.

Not sure how to take a stand? Look at "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart". He interjects his opinions into the news just as much as he is "reporting." Dennis Miller was a master at this as well, and much more overt.

Conclusion

These days, blogs are everywhere; the content marketing trend is on the rise, and competition has become red hot. So, what are you doing to make your blog better than the rest?

Your blog should be your medium through which you build brand awareness, authority, credibility, and trust. It should drive traffic, leads, and sales. If it's not doing that for you yet, it's time to get strategic and competitive.

Outshine your competitors by simply being better than they are. Use these content tactics to achieve that.

Image Credit: Kevin Pack/Flickr

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