By Ben Fremer

This is my third marketing pilgrim search marketing scholarship entry. Previous small-business related Marketing Pilgrim Search Marketing Scholarship articles we have submitted in the prior two competitions include Dominating the long tail of local search with databases & The Ultimate Internet Marketing Article (overview of search marketing for small businesses. We have done dozens of SEO and link building campaigns for small businesses, and that is where these insights come from ( this isn’t just theorizing or speculation ).

Introduction to typical small business Link Building needs, and how they differ from other businesses

By Mike Morabito

Did you see it? I feel like I was there when it happened.

As we begin watching the YouTube video Kobe Bryant (the best basketball player in the game) puts on his shoes and against advice of his friend standing near by he gets into position to jump over a moving Aston Martin car that is speeding in his direction.

As you hear the car’s engine off screen begin to roar your heart starts to beat as you get pulled into the action. Kobe who is staring at the car off screen speeding in his direction with a fixed gaze is ready in jumping position then the doubts begin to fill our mind as the car races toward the current NBA MVP who is prepping himself to jump. Every moment as we watch the engine gets louder and louder before finally at the last moment the Aston Martin comes into view right before he jumps over the car as it passes under him. Amazing, he did it! Kobe Bryant really jumped over a moving car!

By Paul Steinbrueck

At a small college a group of incoming freshmen marketing majors gathered for their first class. As the wise, old Professor of Search Engine Marketing made his way to the front of the room, one of the students asked him, “Professor, what is SEO?”

The professor looked over the classroom full of young students and replied, “Let me tell you a story…”

There once were 5 families that lived in a rural valley where the soil was rich, the weather was harsh, and the best apples in the whole world grew wild.

One day at the first home the man of the house said, “My family is hungry. I know there’s an apple tree on the ridge. I’ll go and see if I can get some apples for my family.”

By Kristoff Doneit

Most social networks are geared towards a younger age demographic of users, between the ages of 16 and 30. Even though this is the largest age demographic of social networking users online, the conversion ratio is the lowest. The reasons for this being fairly obvious. Most people between the ages of 16-25 are going to school and possibly even living at home or being supported by their parents. Most of them do not have a steady income or a full time job. So in essence, this age demographic has little or no buying power or is living “on the cheap”, and are much less willing to make large or frequent purchases online. So why are more social networks not targeting an older age demographic? Because they see the sheer volume of adolescent to young adult users online and assume that mass quantity equals more money. This is simply not the case, and for some reason, most of the major social networks (myspace, facebook, bebo, etc.) still have yet to catch on to this factor. If you look at almost all case studies conducted on age demographics and their spending habits, you will notice that the older or “grey” internet users tend to spend much more as they usually have a stable income and are generally in a much higher bracket. This means that the conversion ratio of an older demographic would be much higher, than their current target market.

How can social networks capture an older generation of computer users?

By Asif Anwar

When people realized the potential of email marketing, they thought that this is the future of internet marketing. Then came in Search Engine Marketing (SEM) with more liberal approach. As the social media evolved with Web 2.0, we are steadily seeing the shift of visitors from popular internet services like search engines and free email services to the newborn Online Social Media. We are seeing that the present of Internet Marketing is changing rapidly. So, why not the future?

The changes in the internet marketing will evolve around the technology. And marketers have to go where all the people are heading. To give a bit of hint, I’ve compiled some of my prophecies that are based on future of internet marketing.

By Andy Beard

When you set out to climb a mountain, or rank for a competitive keyword term, some methods are effective.

This is a simplistic look at climbing the heights of Mount Google.

Human Pyramid

A human pyramid might be suitable for those low hanging fruit, but this method is unlikely to help you scale great heights. Not only is it hard to gain great height, but the weak construction is easily eroded by competitors.

Photo credit: >S@TS<

Belay or Blogroll

Whilst exchanging blogroll links can help lift you up to a certain level, they can effectively anchor you to your peers. From an SEO point of view they are more about securing your position than lifting you higher.
If you have achieved a certain height, there is nothing wrong with pulling up a few team mates. They can then aid in a push for the summit, which can be a very lonely solo trek.

By Michael Kraft

Versioning has long been a necessity in forming online marketing strategy and making correct business decisions. Versioning helps to answer questions like:

• What is the best price to charge for your products?
• Which page layout is the best for conversions?
• Which options should I present my customers with?

Most companies need to version their pages to find answers; the question then becomes, how do you version your pages in a way that doesn’t affect your organic search results, or better yet, improves them?