TopRank Internet Marketing News

Chicago is known for many things including the arts and being the home of the most well known mob boss of all time. This November we are excited to attend  SES Chicago with guns a’ blazing. This conference is flush with everything from expert advice on PPC, keyword research, SEO, social media, local marketing, mobile marketing, link building, content, optimization, usability, and so much more. With over 70 sessions at November’s conference there is a plethora of information for online marketers eager to learn more about present and future trends in the industry.

If you’re an internet marketing professional looking for the latest in industry trends, practical tools, and tips for executing on your own PPC or SEO strategy, then ad:tech New York is an event that you should not miss.  We are pleased to announce that TopRank CEO Lee Odden will be following in the footsteps of Melanie Mitchell, SVP of Search at Digitas, and serving as the Marketing Master for three sessions at the next ad:tech conference.

The culmination of a deal signed just over a year ago is that Microsoft’s Bing now powers Yahoo! search. The actual search impact remains to be seen, but it’s worth noting that the two search engines together (Yahoo! and Bing) account for only about 30% of U.S. searches – with Google at 65%.

MarketingProfs University

In an ever-evolving age of interactive media, search marketers walk a tight rope.  Between paid and organic search, social media, optimization, search rankings and measuring success, it’s no surprise that this balancing act presents challenges.

MarketingProfs University is offering a 13-class course addressing popular questions on these topics to help search marketers find the perfect balance and be more effective in their careers.

Event details:
MarketingProfs University Search Marketing School
Modern SEO Strategy: Adapt or Die
Monday, Sept. 19, 12:00 – 1:00 p.m.
Register and attend online classes live or access recordings

Search Engine Optimization as an online marketing discipline has been in effect for over 10 years and at the speed the internet changes, that’s multiple lifetimes of change.  The ad:tech conference in San Francisco this week is featuring a series of Marketing Masters sessions, one of which is focused on modern search engine optimization.  What are current best practices and where does SEO fit in today’s social media world?  These questions and more will be answered Tuesday 4/11 by a super panel of SEO experts including TopRank Online Marketing CEO, Lee Odden.

Here’s the official session description:

A common misperception in regards to a Search Engine Optimization (SEO) program is that its value is derived solely from traffic generated from Google.  Traffic from smaller search engines, such as Yahoo! and Bing, holds so little value that it may as well not exist.

Just as no upstanding SEO professional would ever state that Yahoo! and Bing traffic is the primary objective of an SEO program, no upstanding SEO professional would ever state that Google traffic is the only objective of an SEO program.

In reality, traffic from all sources can bring measurable SEO value.

By design, software and technology companies exist to solve long-held problems in new and innovative ways.  And because technology can be so readily customized, by factors ranging from vertical industry focus to specific problems addressed, no two software or technology companies will ever be the same.

In much the same way, no two successful search marketing programs will ever be exactly alike.  Each program will need to customized based on factors ranging from the type of prospects being targeted to specific objectives being achieved.

The three companies below, each having developed a unique software or technology offering, recently launched customized search marketing programs with TopRank® Online Marketing:

What influences an online buying decision?

From a tactical level, news on the burgeoning trend of social commerce tells us:

“Retailers who currently host the ‘like’ button on their site demonstrated 80 percent higher average three-month traffic.” Digital IQ Index Specialty Retail report (download pdf)

From a more philosophical business perspective, however, what this data truly tells us is that while technology may lead to enhancements – little carries more weight over a buying decision than a personal, trusted testimonial.

Online marketing programs are oftentimes designed to focus squarely at the top of the sales funnel, in other words, to bring traffic directly to a client’s virtual front door.  But the best programs expand this focus deeper into the funnel, and concentrate just as much on compelling those already at the front door to come in and buy.  In the Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and conversion optimization case study below, staffing software provider eEmpACT experiences the benefits of a marketing program dedicated to boosting results throughout the sales funnel.

As traditional and online public relations merge to become one all-encompassing PR landscape, the companies that dare to blaze new trails through this wilderness will have the most success. One such company is NewsUSA, a 20-year veteran in the media placement industry.

In 2009, NewsUSA worked to reinvent itself as a thought leading social syndication resource. With help from TopRank® Online Marketing, it built and broadcast its new brand identity to a burgeoning list of prospects in channels ranging from email to Twitter and social media. The results NewsUSA experienced with TopRank included double-digit percentage increases in content views and the attraction of more than 3,000 web influencers to its Twitter feed.