Yahoo is not updating their SERPs!
WebProWorld %3A%3A Keeping old pages%2C not visiting new pages: "Posted%3A Fri Aug 20%2C 2004 3%3A51 am %0D%0APost subject%3A %0D%0A%0D%0A%0D%0A%0D%0AMy total sympathy%21 %0D%0A%0D%0AThere%27ve been a couple of threads on associated topics recently. My feeling was that Yahoo SERPs would update this month and earlier on this week there was significant activity. Unfortunately they now seem to have reverted to old cache%2Fold SERPs. %0D%0A%0D%0AHaving said this Slurp has been on my site regularly over the last few weeks. Seems you%27re saying that it isn%27t visiting at all%3F Don%27t really know what you can do. I used to do a site%3Awww.mysite.com search twice a day as I%27d read somewhere that this helped. I suppose it would have been just as helpful if I%27d stood outside in the rain with one foot off the ground shouting for other-worldly intervention. %0D%0A%0D%0AThis problem isn%27t going away anytime soon. %0D%0A%0D%0Apne"

Blogs%3A The Marketing Killer: "August 13%2C 2004 %0D%0ABlogs%3A The Marketing Killer %0D%0ABy Michael Singer %0D%0A%0D%0AThe tried and true marketing and PR departments may one day make the endangered species list thanks to a rush of corporate interest in blogs and RSS feeds. %0D%0AWeblogging -- or blogging -- is taking social networking to new heights. And with the improvements to the technology%2C the personal journals are now supplying tens of millions of bits of information every day. Now multi-million dollar corporations looking for cheap and effective ways of getting their message out are using the technology to their advantage. "

Inside The Searcher's Mind - Live from SES San Jose: "This leads us to data driven search engine marketing. 72% of all clicks occurred in natural results, not the paid results on Google. 60% of clicks on Yahoo occurred on natural. AOL was 50/50, and MSN 29% of clicks were natural. Add these up, 60% of clicks were natural and 40% were paid clicks. Yahoo recently changed the search results page, so you expect more clicks on natural results. An SEM campaign has to include both paid and natural search results."

Inside The Searcher's Mind - Live from SES San Jose: "Inside The Searcher's Mind - Live from SES San Jose



This session is moderated by Danny Sullivan with some of the most recognized SEM individuals in the industry. Danny says he has been looking forward to this session for a while, so have I.

Gordon Hotchkiss of Enquiro was up first. He started off saying he is hoping to make history. This session talks about the big picture, 'users'. We are talking about behavior of the searcher, what is going through the mind of the searcher. Ultimately search is a channel, connecting your business to your target audience. We need to understand the customer and how they react to your business. He said, 'we' as SEMs do not do enough of this. Ask you customers these 10 questions; (1) Which engine they use (2) where do they look in the search results page, (3) looking for product or service (4) when do you look at search during your buying process?, (5) why would you use it? etc...

What an actual search is? Based on a person's search, they might change the search phrases used. Search is circular. The 'Search Funnel' was explained through a focus group. Person one was looking to go on a cruise. She searched for 'cruise' first. Then she refined her search to 'Caribbean cruise' to narrow down the search. She then sees a 'Panama Canal Cruise' in one of the pages that interests her. So she goes back to Google and searches on 'Panama Canal Cruise' and is now looking for 3rd party reviews. Now she learns she likes the Princess cruise line and then does a search on 'Princess Pananma Cruise' and obtains information. Then she purchases offline. That is the 'Search Funnel.' As you get closer to the bottom of the search funnel, conversion rates will increase. 'Cruise' has 1.3m searches per day b"

Creating Compelling Ads & Landing Pages - Live from SES San Jose: "Lee Mills from BeyondClicks is up next. He said include keyword in ad creative always. You also want to include the keyword in the ad landing page and a strong call to action (offer free stuff if you have to). One of his clients is anonymizer. The landing page must have multiple call to actions, multiple ways to buy (top and bottom of the page). He said its also good to put price in your ads (if you are a low cost provider). They are more likely to buy if they know the cost. He stresses, like the other speakers, test continuously!

They did some A/B testing on landing pages. B2B example: Page A had a 3% conversion rate. So they made Page B which was simplified, and its conversion rate was 18%. That is huge! B2C example: Page A had a 3.2% conversion, they made a longer page with multiple offers on Page B and the conversion rate was 9.6%. He said if you have scrolling pages, then put an additional offer (call to action) at the bottom of the page. Do not use pages that do not allow for navigation to your other pages, I see this often with landing pages - he says it doesn't work (causes lack of credibility)."

Creating Compelling Ads & Landing Pages - Live from SES San Jose: "Misty Locke from Range Online Media is up now. How does the ad meet the conversion? She talks about her 6 key reminders. (1) Who are you targeting? Know your audience. (2) Conversions can vary depending on keyword and landing pages AND on CPC engine. (3) Landing pages should directly correlate to keyword and placement. (4) Remember the convenience of the online shopper. (5) Take a deep breath - use the 2 to 3 click rule, don't make the user to click too much. (6) Think conversion not traffic when selecting search terms for interior or product pages."