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For webmasters, e-marketers and e-merchants...

We seem to have finally reached a point where the issues relating to search engine optimization (SEO) are becoming increasingly familiar with just about everyone in the industry. As a result, I am finding more and more that people contacting me by phone and email have a greater understanding and awareness of SEO today than they did just two months ago. I've also noticed that articles about website promotion are getting progressively more detailed, with the implicit assumption that readers have a higher level of knowledge than they did previously.

I would be interested in hearing other people's feedback on this. Do you find the world of website promotion as confusing as ever, or do you feel that you now have a better understanding of the different options available to you and the strategies required for optimal web performance? Please send me your comments at: news@redcarpetweb.com. We'd really appreciate hearing from you.

I hope that you enjoy this issue of our newsletter.

- Jason Campbell

Search Engine Navigator

Yahoo SM vs. Google AdWords Yahoo has announced its new pay-per-click product: Yahoo Search Marketing (SM). This product was formerly known as Overture, but you may also recognize it as Goto.com, the name it went under prior to 2001. In our experience, advertising with Google AdWords has resulted in higher conversion rates than with Yahoo Search Marketing (SM). However, both programs have advantages and disadvantages. How does Yahoo SM compare with Google's AdWords? Let's start by looking at how they differ (all amounts are in USD). Bidding Yahoo SM Yahoo places your bid at 1 penny over your next lowest competitor. Thus, if you bid $3.00 per click, and the next highest bid is $1.95 per click, you will only pay $1.96 per click. Yahoo allows you to see who you are bidding against and what they are bidding, so you know exactly where you will rank, and how much you will pay. Yahoo's maximum bid is $999.99 Yahoo's minimum bid is $0.10 Google AdWords Google doesn't tell you how much you will pay per click. Thus, if you bid $3.00 per click, you will pay anywhere from $0.05 to $3.00 per click. Google does not allow you to know how much your competitors are bidding per click. An advantage with Google is that you will rank higher if your click-through rate (CT rate) is better (a CT rate is the ratio of clicks on your ad to the number of times your ad is shown). Thus, you may have a better rank than your competitor, even if he or she bids more than you (because of your CT rate). Google's maximum bid is $100.00 Google's minimum bid is $0.05 Low CT rate dropping Yahoo SM Yahoo will drop your keyphrase if the CT rate is ranked very low for a significant period of time. In actuality, this rarely happens. Your keyphrase has to perform quite dismally for it to get dropped. Google AdWords Google drops keyphrases with POTENTIALLY low CT rates. If Google deems that your keyphrase has done poorly for other customers, then your keyphrase won't even get the chance to make a single (first!) impression. This can be very frustrating when your keyphrases are very relevant, but Google won't even let them see the light of day. The flip side, of course, is that if your keyphrase's CT rate is good, you will get a higher ranking (even if you bid lower than your competition). Showing ads by country and language Google AdWords Google allows you to choose your country and language by selecting them in a dropdown box. Very simple, very efficient, and very effective. The language is based on the language setting of the visitor's computer. For example, if you are targeting Spanish Americans, than you will want to target the Spanish AND English languages because many Spanish Americans use English computers. Just make sure that you choose Spanish-only keyphrases. Yahoo SM Yahoo's system for countries and languages is downright miserable. You have to re-register for every country (and only twenty countries are available). Worse, you have to re-submit all your keyphrases and reset all your bids. What's more, each country has different criteria for submission. This means you have to rebuild your campaign for the USA, UK, and Australia. Canada is there, but you are not allowed to submit English keyphrases (?!?), only French (FYI: Canada's workforce is 73% English, 22% French). In Switzerland, you can submit in Italian, German and French; there is no language differentiation. Notable missing countries: Mexico, China, English Canada (which is grouped with the USA), South Korea, India, Russia... Reports Yahoo SM Yahoo offers many useful reports. And while you can find just about everything you might need, it's left up to you to figure out which report contains the information you were looking for. Google AdWords Google offers customizable reports. You can ask for anything you want, and you will get it. They also offer to email you your customized report on a regular basis. Keyphrase comparison I have bid on some keyphrases from February 1st to April 30th, and held them in similar positions during that time. These numbers are for search related impressions only. These campaigns were not involved in content advertising. "Okeeffe print(s)" #3 position Yahoo: 1 click 8 impressions 12.5% CT rate $0.10 cost per click Google: 63 clicks 1642 impressions 3.8% CT rate $0.13 cost per click "Ansel Adams photo(s)" #5-6 position Yahoo: 20 clicks 2401 impressions 0.8% CT rate $0.05 cost per click Google: 25 clicks 2529 impressions 1.0% CT rate $0.06 cost per click Conversions Our client February Point counted emails + contact forms as conversions. Here is a comparison from February 1st to April 30th. "Real estate Bahamas" #3 position Yahoo: 1037 clicks 19 879 impressions 5.2% CT rate $0.34 cost per click 3 conversions 0.30% conversion rate Google: 1557 clicks 35 348 impressions 4.4% CT rate $0.45 cost per click 13 conversions 0.84% conversion rate Clearly then, Google AdWords is a better choice if you are interested in clicks, impressions, and conversions. If you want the lower cost per click for the same position, it would seem that Yahoo is the better choice (though conversions are lower). Competition - FindWhat is possibly the third biggest pay-per-click (PPC) search engine, although there are a few that might be its equal: Kanoodle, GoClick, 7Search, Search123. - E-spotting is very big in the UK, and competes heavily with Google and Yahoo in the PPC marketplace. - MSN is getting ready to launch its own PPC engine to compete with Google and Yahoo (MSN currently uses Yahoo SM on its site). No date yet, but watch out for it. Overall To sum up, you will definitely have more control over your money with Yahoo's system. It is more open and honest, and you will pay less per click than with Google's system. Google does not tell you why you are paying what you are paying, but it does have the added bonus of rewarding you with rank for a better converting ad. Of course, Google does get more traffic and it converts better than Yahoo, and in the end, isn't that what we're all looking for? Thus, Google should be the winning choice for anyone that is looking to convert clickers into buyers. Because after all, who doesn't want to increase their sales? Shawn Campbell Shawn Campbell is the co-founder and Chief Search Engine Optimizer at Red Carpet Web Promotion, Inc. www.redcarpetweb.com

Statistics Market share of the search engines The percentage of online searches done by US home and work web surfers in March 2005 47.3% Google (Google.com, Google image search) 20.9% Yahoo (Yahoo.com) 13.6% MSN (MSN Search) 4.5% AOL (AOL Search) 1.8% Ask (Ask Jeeves) 1.7% My Way 1.5% Netscape 1.0% iWon 0.9% EarthLink 0.8% My Search 6.1% Others Statistics are by Nielsen//NetRatings

Stay on Top Jason's picks - For each newsletter I review articles from leading industry magazines and newsletters. The following articles are the most interesting. Click on the links below to read the full articles. MSN To Launch Its Own Paid Listings Program http://searchenginewatch.com/searchday/article.php/3490346 SearchEngineWatch - March 16, 2005 - MSN will enter the paid search arena with a full-blown self-service paid listing program similar to those run by Yahoo and Google. It will be tested in France and Singapore within the next six months. The date for a worldwide rollout has not been set. Press Release Optimization for Search Engines http://www.isedb.com/news/article/1146 ISEDB.com - March 22, 2005 - Getting the release out there is simple enough but getting it read and republished by other websites, ezines, online journals and blogs should be your goal. The more people that read your release, the better. The longer it stays online, in various forms, the better. The more links you have pointing back at your website as a result of the PR, the better. Overture Becomes Yahoo Search Marketing & Comparing Listing Products At Yahoo To Google http://blog.searchenginewatch.com/blog/050418-094844 Searchenginewatch - April 18, 2005 - The rebranding promised in March has happened. Overture has officially become Yahoo Search Marketing, marked by the launch of a new Yahoo Search Marketing site that lists all of Yahoo's search-related listing products. But with rebranding can come confusion, so I thought it would be helpful to look at all the products listed at the new site and also compare them to Google products Search Engine Algorithms & Research http://searchenginewatch.com/searchday/article.php/3496586 Searchenginewatch - April 14, 2005 - As a searcher or search engine optimization specialist, do you really need to understand the algorithms and technologies that power search engines? Absolutely, said a panel of experts at a recent Search Engine Strategies conference. A special report from the Search Engine Strategies conference, February 28-March 3, 2005, New York, NY. Gold Mine Found in Web Searches http://beta.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/nm/20050417/bs_nm/bizpaidsearch_dc_1 Reuters - April 17, 2005 - Includes some nice stats comparing search to other forms of advertising, from a cost per lead perspective. Citing Piper Jaffray, is says the cost to acquire is $8.50 for search, $20 for yellow pages, $50 for online display ads, $60 for e-mail and $70 for direct mail. Costs for television leads were not covered. website Check-Up in 10 Easy Steps http://www.searchengineguide.com/bailey/004018.html Search Engine Guide -April 07, 2005 - Give your website a quick check-up with this list of the top ten items most often overlooked during website maintenance. Facts of the week: Google ranking secrets revealed - Part 1 http://www.axandra.com/news/newsletter154.htm#facts Axandra - April 5, 2005 - How Google views links: Google heavily relies on links when it comes to specify the ranking of a website. In addition to the sheer number of links and their anchor texts, the patent specification shows possible ways how Google might use historical information to further specify the value of links. Google SEO Support Given To Advertisers http://blog.searchenginewatch.com/blog/050406-214347 Search Engine Watch - April 6, 2005 - Google & SEO Support For Advertisers looks at how increased editorial listings support being given to large advertisers is raising concerns with search marketers and threatening the "church and state" division between ads and editorial results that Google has long sought to maintain. SES NY 2005 Recap http://blog.searchenginewatch.com/blog/050406-135128 SEW Blog, Apr. 6, 2005 - There was an overwhelming amount of information and news that came out of the Search Engine Strategies show in New York last month. Looking to do some catching-up? Here's a guide to things you might review. Lessons Learned from Eye Tracking Studies http://searchenginewatch.com/searchday/article.php/3490486 SearchEngineWatch - March 17, 2005 - But what happens if you've created a great, search friendly page that shows up at the top of search results, yet when people click through to that page they don't see your important marketing messages? Or their eyes are drawn to elements on the page that aren't central to the behavior you hope to elicit by attracting them to your website in the first place?

Letters to the Editor Send your questions and comments for our next issue to news@redcarpetweb.com. Be as specific or general as you want -- other subscribers are probably wondering the same things you are. You should also let us know of any promotions, sales or new products on your website.

Next Issue - New feature article - More on how Search Engines work - Stay on top: Articles from industry newsletters and magazines - And more... To subscribe to the Promotion Press, go to the subscribe page and fill in your email address. To unsubscribe from the Promotion Press, go to our unsubscribe page and fill in the address you subscribed with. This Newsletter is produced and published by Red Carpet Web Promotion, Inc. © 2000