Marketing Pilgrim's "Search Marketing" Channel

Marketing Pilgrim's Search Marketing Channel is sponsored by Blurbpoint which is a full service and link building company dedicated to assisting our customers by enhancing their online presence and search engine ranking. Our teams of Internet marketing professionals are well versed in every aspect of online marketing and web advertising. Learn more now! blurbpoint.com
by
24 Comments

Arbitrage Defined

posted on December 20, 2006

Arbitrage is a hot topic these days. American Heritage Dictionary defines arbitrage as “The purchase of securities on one market for immediate resale on another market in order to profit from a price discrepancy.”

A YouTube video titled Adwords Abuse which was uploaded back in April has begun re-circulating. The video highlights some of the issues surrounding arbitrage but it only discusses one form of the problem. Arbitrage is not a one size fits all practice.

So let’s look at the different types of arbitrage.

PPC / Adsense Arbitrage 1.0
A website or web page which contains no content. The page is filled with PPC ads such as Adsense or Yahoo Search Partner Ads. This is the most blatant form of Arbitrage and the one the majority of people are talking about.

by
7 Comments

PayPal Has No Answer to Google Checkout

posted on December 20, 2006

The NYT takes a look at Google efforts to take market share away from eBay’s PayPal. The two are in a battle for the right to process credit card payments of companies looking for an alternative to merchant accounts.

What’s interesting is that PayPal doesn’t appear to be concerned with Google’s onslaught. Despite Google offering free payment processing until the end of 2007 and consumer incentives such as $20 off a $50 purchase, PayPal isn’t responding. Why? Well for one thing, it doesn’t need to…

Checkout’s gains have not necessarily heralded a PayPal decline. A Goldman Sachs report this week said that based on conversations with various merchants, Checkout appeared to be making gains against traditional payment options and that PayPal’s share of online transactions was also growing.

by
7 Comments

Avoiding Google’s Duplicate Filter When Syndicating Your Blog

posted on December 20, 2006

Rand pointed to Adam Lasnik’s – yep Dr. Google himself – guide to avoiding duplicate content filters at Google. I know some of you are thinking at this point, “duplicate content is Google’s problem, not mine”, but Adam has some great advice.

One suggestion that caught my eye…

If you syndicate your content on other sites, make sure they include a link back to the original article on each syndicated article. Even with that, note that we’ll always show the (unblocked) version we think is most appropriate for users in each given search, which may or may not be the version you’d prefer.

by
3 Comments

How to Own an SEO Firm

posted on December 19, 2006

Andy has covered how to make your SEO company more profitable, but understanding the inner workings and personnel management of an SEO firm is also an important facet of owning an SEO firm. In light of the recent acquisitions of SEO companies, here are some tips on what to do after acquiring an independent SEO company.

  • SEO requires a certain amount of creativity, flexibility and uncertainty—pretty much anathema to the corporate world. But without these things, your company’s services will become outdated and stagnant.

  • SEO requires research and experimentation. Don’t expect to be able to devote 125% of your resources to slaving away solely for clients, unless your clients are willing to be guinea pigs as your SEOs try out new things—things that may or may not work.

by
4 Comments

Google AdSense Bans Images Next to Ads

posted on December 19, 2006

I must admit, I’ve been tempted to experiment with adding images next to Google AdSense ads. I have seen other bloggers use them and heard them gush over how they can help increase click-thru-rates. Unfortunately, Google has just decided that they are not fair to the users (and the advertiser) and have banned images alongside AdSense.

We ask that publishers not line up images and ads in a way that suggests a relationship between the images and the ads. If your visitors believe that the images and the ads are directly associated, or that the advertiser is offering the exact item found in the neighboring image, they may click the ad expecting to find something that isn’t actually being offered. That’s not a good experience for users or advertisers.

by
4 Comments

The “Long Copy” format: can it work for you?

posted on December 18, 2006

The new SEO Book sales letter has been live for a little while now. (I’d love to know how it’s doing so far!) Although I think pretty much all Internet marketing sales letters are eerily remniscent of Kevin Trudeau infomercials, this is a definite improvement.

Brian Clark at Copyblogger, who rewrote the page for Aaron, unveiled the letter with an explanation on why the copy is so long (emphasis added):

  • This is not a John Grisham paperback. It is specialized and continually-updated SEO knowledge with a $79 price tag. Most people desire and require a lot of information before they will make this type of purchase.

    • …

by
5 Comments

My Interview with Lee Odden

posted on December 18, 2006

Lee Odden has an interview with me posted on his blog. Lee know’s how to ask some interesting questions, and one question in particular got me fired-up…

Competition is increasing in the search marketing industry and despite some questionable analysis (Marketing Sherpa) and characterizations (Dave Pasternack) what are some of the most significant opportunities for companies that still have not yet embraced SEO into their marketing budgets?