Best of Blogs: May 2008 Archives

With a long weekend coming up, let's not spend it in front of the computer! This installment of readable SEM links is short and sweet.

E-commerce spending increases double-digits every year. Expect the trend to accelerate thanks to sky high gasoline prices. More reason than ever to invest in online marketing.

Here's a readable, non-technical overview of Social Media Marketing for Small Business.

Social media is all the rage, but Traffikd warns us not to overdo it trying for social media traffic.

However, if you're embracing social media, here are excellent Tips for Building Communities, Online and Offline.

Overwhelmed by the complexity of search engine optimization? Good news from SearchEngineLand - the most powerful SEO tactic is simplify, simplify, simplify.

A very fine overview from Lidija Davis on How to Be an SEO Rock Star. Again, nothing overwhelmingly complex, but you have to cover all the bases.

From Omniture, five landing page fundamentals.

Jeff Paro makes a strong case for investing in "old fashioned" pay per click marketing. Just because PPC isn't making headlines right now doesn't mean you should overlook it.

From Galen De Young, Six Mistakes B2B Marketers Continue To Make With Organic Search.  Absolute must reading if you're developing a new Web site or upgrading one.

From Matt McGee, a superb search engine marketing case study that demonstrates how a business of any shape or size can succeed online with the right approach.

Jeffrey Smith asks, Should You Target Competitive Keywords, The Long Tail, Or Both? Fortunately he provides clear answers in this technical post.


In another highly detailed post, Steven Brier explains How to Optimize Local Business Profiles for Free Local Directories. Solid, cost-saving advice for local businesses looking to expand their customer base.

List lovers will love this list from Richard Burckhardt, 55 Quick SEO Tips  Even Your Mother Would Love.  What's your favorite? Lately, mine is #45.

Here's an article from USA Today - Circulation continues to fall at most top newspapers. Yet another indication of the importance of integrating new media into advertising and marketing campaigns. Compare these lackluster results to how Google is doing.

Whoast wears a white hat, but we recommend reading Why Whitehats Need to Know Blackhat SEO. Alas, the world is gray, but for those who know that, SEO results can be gold.