SEO 'gives longer-term rewards'

An industry insider has claimed that businesses who want a better return on investment should choose search engine optimisation over paid search.
Using search engine optimisation (SEO) to build up traffic to a website gives a much longer-term reward than paid search campaigns, according to an industry expert.
Sam Tiston, online marketing director of Zoombits.co.uk, claimed that using paid search is similar to "renting the traffic", since companies are paying for all the business they receive.
In comparison, he commented that concentrating on SEO can offer a better return on investment.
Mr Tiston explained: "You're investing up front for a longer term, but after six months or so you're going to have those positions and you're going to get the constant flow of traffic."
He suggested that online retailers will use traffic through the website in order to sell their product and SEO and paid search will be two of the main ways of doing this.
Recently, Econsultancy announced that 45 per cent of companies are planning on increasing their paid search budget in the future.

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SEO "like creating a masterpiece"

Undertaking search engine optimisation (SEO) strategies on a website is similar to the creation of a beautiful painting, according to one sector commentator.
Carrying out search engine optimisation (SEO) strategies on a website has a number of similarities with the creation of a masterpiece, one sector commentator has asserted.
In an article for online resource SEO Consult, a user known only as Michael said that an SEO strategy needs a solid foundation upon which to be based, in the same way that a masterpiece painting requires a blank canvas.
"Doing SEO on your website is like creating a masterpiece. If your canvas is moth-eaten and stained, your masterpiece is not going to come out as such. On the contrary, you will end up with a half-cooked job instead," he stated.
As such, he recommended taking SEO into consideration when a site is just a blank canvas and ensuring that it permeates every element of its design and structure.
Earlier this month, Matt McGee, editor at Search Engine Land, told web resource SmallBusinessComputing that SEO is not as complex an idea as some might think.

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Yahoo! identifies possible retail SEO spikes

With the holidays just around the corner, Yahoo! has told marketers to begin their preparations for potential spikes in SEO.
Yahoo! has pointed out several potentially positive windows in retail search engine optimisation (SEO) coming up soon and warned advertisers to prepare well.
Writing on the Yahoo! Search Marketing blog, content quality analyst Noah Belson claimed that the holidays give marketers plenty to cheer about.
He highlighted Black Friday and Cyber Monday either side of Thanksgiving weekend as established shopping days.
Also, the first or second Monday of December has been coined by eBay as Green Monday, which Mr Belson commented is widely accepted as a very popular day for online retail.
"Advertisers need to get started now, to make sure that their campaigns are ready when consumers are," wrote Mr Belson.
He claimed another important day is known as Brown Monday, when retailers offer their biggest discounts and last-minute deals before Christmas.
This week, White Hat Media reported that SEO has been vital in raising online awareness of its client The Gym Group, as it drives web traffic.

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SEO 'vital to gym advertising campaign'

The marketing specialist at the centre of an advertising campaign for The Gym Group has said that SEO and social media are the key drivers of online awareness.
The marketing company which helped launch a new promotional campaign for a gym has highlighted the importance of search engine optimisation (SEO) in attracting customers.
White Hat Media designed the website and the SEO campaign for The Gym Group, which currently offers budget gym facilities in London, Surrey and Liverpool, but is planning major growth in the near future.
Jeremy Spiller, managing director of White Hat Media, commented that SEO is a key factor in generating web traffic and the online awareness that the organisation is aiming for.
He said: "We are working together on various ongoing online marketing activities to further drive sales and increase brand awareness."
Social media was also used to get the attention of consumers, added Mr Spiller.
This week, editor-in-chief of Search Engine Land Danny Sullivan bemoaned the criticism that SEO often receives and claimed that it is different to spam because it is more content-focused.

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Search engine's marketing campaign "very focused"

Google's new advertising campaign looks very effective and should not be considered a scare tactic by the search giant, says an industry insider.
Following the release of a new marketing campaign by Google, an industry insider has commended the search engine.
Ray Jones, head of communications and external affairs for the Chartered Institute of Marketing, dismissed the idea that these latest adverts are a scare tactic to show rivals the extent of their influence and financial muscle.
He suggested that the search engine is just trying to stay ahead of its competitors, as he claimed Google has been "exemplary" in the nature of its advertising in the past.
"For people on increasingly scarce budgets a campaign like this, focusing on the problems people endure every day, makes it seem like a very focused campaign on a clear market," explained Mr Jones.
In its official blog, Google stated that its applications are used across two million businesses in more than 100 countries.
Mr Jones added that there is a huge market for search and display advertising online, so it is likely that the company is trying to extend its influence with this latest advertising campaign.

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SEO 'not the same as spam'

Search engine optimisation is different to spam and should not be treated as the same sort of content, according to an expert.
An industry commentator has stressed that search engine optimisation (SEO) should not be confused with spam.
Danny Sullivan, editor-in-chief of Search Engine Land, wrote on the website that too often people who complain about SEO are not aware of how it differs to spam content.
He claimed that saying all SEO is spam is like declaring that all advertising and email marketing is spam, when in fact the basis of it is ensuring relevancy to what users are searching for.
Mr Sullivan pointed out that effective SEO will be based on top quality content, with everything else built on top.
"They should have good content. Trust me, a good search engine optimiser would love nothing more than to deal with a site that has outstanding content from the get-go," he wrote on the website.
In his view, the problem is that there is always going to be spam due to the lack of moderation online.
Last week, Marketing Sherpa advised search marketers that keywords which produce the most effective SEO will change over time.

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Relevancy 'vital in PPC marketing'

Pay per click advertising can be expensive so people must make sure that they carry out the process as efficiently as possible, says a commentator.
It is essential that website operators utilise their keywords in all parts of their advertisement page if they are going to employ pay per click (PPC) marketing, according to an industry commentator.
Peter Kolat, a representative from Realestateids.com, wrote in a Bigger Pockets blog post that PPC adverts can cost a lot of money if the process is not carried out correctly.
He suggested studying the topic or hiring someone else to organise a campaign if possible.
However, if people decide to do their own PPC marketing then he stressed the importance of making all content relevant.
Mr Kolat informed readers that no matter what the keywords are, "make sure that the phrase appears in the ad headline, ad body, ad destination url and the headline of the landing page itself".
Last week, Yahoo! announced that it is aiming to improve relevancy in its search results pages by allowing users to select specific providers when they look for a product.

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