Guerrillas know that marketing is just a fancy word for selling. It's more common sense and patience than anything else. It's a process and not an event.

Marketing is any contact that your business has with anyone who isn't a part of your business. Marketing is also the truth made fascinating.

Unfortunately, often it's not the truth and it's anything but fascinating. Marketing is the art of getting people to change their minds.

Many business owners think marketing is a bunch of things that it isn't. Let's examine the silliest of them:

Marketing is not advertising. Don't think that because you're advertising, you're marketing. There are more than 200 forms of marketing. Advertising is one of them. If you're advertising, you're advertising. You're doing only one half of 1% of what you can do.

Marketing is not direct mail. Some companies think they can get all the business they need with direct mail. Mail-order firms may be right about that. But most businesses need a plethora of other marketing weapons for their direct mail to succeed.

Marketing is not telemarketing. For business-to-business marketing, few weapons succeed as well as telemarketing. Telemarketing response can be improved by augmenting it with advertising. But don't kid yourself. Marketing is not telemarketing alone.

Marketing is not brochures. Many companies rush to produce a brochure, then pat themselves on the back for the quality of the brochure. Is that brochure marketing? It's an important part when mixed with 10 or 15 other very important parts, but by itself? Forget it.

Marketing is not the phonebook. Many companies run a phonebook ad and figure that takes care of their marketing. In 5% of the cases, that's the truth. In the other 95%, it's a disaster of marketing ignorance.

Marketing is not show business. There's no business like show business, and that includes marketing. Think of marketing as sell business, as create-a-desire business, as motivation business. But don't think of yourself as being in the entertainment business, because marketing is not supposed to entertain.

Marketing is not a stage for humor. If you use humor in your marketing, people will recall your funny joke, but not your compelling offer. If you use humor, it will be funny the first and maybe the second time. After that, it will be grating and will get in the way of what makes marketing work -- repetition.

Marketing is not an invitation to be clever. If you fall into the cleverness trap, it's because you don't realize that people remember the cleverest part of the marketing even though it's your offer they should remember. Cleverness is a marketing vampire, sucking attention away from your offer.

Marketing is not complicated. It becomes complicated for people who fail to grasp the simplicity of marketing, but marketing is user-friendly to guerrillas. They begin with a seven-sentence guerrilla marketing plan, then commit to that plan. Not too complicated.

Marketing is not a miracle worker. More money has been wasted by expecting miracles than by any other misconception of marketing. Marketing is the best investment you can make if you do it right, and doing it right requires patience and planning.

Marketing is not a Web site. And if you don't know marketing in the first place, you're going to lose a lot of money online. The Web helps with the job, but it's not the whole job.

Marketing is an opportunity for you to earn profits with your business, a chance to cooperate with other businesses in your community or your industry and a process of building lasting relationships.

Now, like the guerrilla, you know what marketing is and isn't and you can make it work a lot harder for you.

Marketing is a three-syllable word that seems so simple, yet encompasses so much. Marketing is a multi-faceted approach to promoting a product or service. Both traditional and unconventional marketing methods have a place in the small business world. Marketing helps small businesses focus on building their brand and identity.

There are few limitations to marketing options, and the opportunities listed here are just a few that will generally result in a decent ROI (Return On Investment) for most small businesses. That said, do not be afraid to be creative -- no one knows or understands a small business like its owner, so think outside of the box and don't be afraid to experiment.

Identity Continuity

Create continuity between an online website, logos, letterheads, business cards, and packaging. Create an identity that will make your business stand out from the competition, and leave a good initial impression on potential customers. A professional image associated with your company or product will remind customers of their past brand experiences, and will reinforce your product line.

Trade Publications

Niche publications are journals or magazines that focus on a specific market. If your product or service is appropriate for a specific market, then advertising in their trade publications will allow you to immediately drill down and target that very specific audience.

Promotional Items

Branded giveaways have long been used by marketers to attract potential customers. Products that have a long shelf life will help keep your business in the forefront of a customer's mind. Weeks, months, and even years after a product is purchased or service is performed, promotional items will remind the customer of your brand.

Reviews

Solicit product reviews from reputable industry sources, magazine reviewers, bloggers, or industry journalists. Product reviews lend credibility to a product or company.

Keyword Advertising

In order to help your website's search engine ranking, use keyword advertising. Focused and targeted keyword advertising will drive web traffic that has a genuine interest in your product or service.

Niche Directories

Use online niche directories to promote products or services. Visitors who frequent topical directories have a strong interest and are more likely to purchase.

Viral Marking

Once known as "word of mouth" marketing, viral marketing has taken on a life of its own. Encourage product buzz, as well as customers referring customers.

Opt-In Email Marketing

Use email as a marketing tool to notify your existing customers about specials, new products or services, or product releases and updates. While some say email marketing is dead, others say that measured results of email marketing tell a very different story. Opt-in, targeted email marketing works, and produces results when done correctly.

Partnerships / Strategic Relationships

We see large companies leveraging their assets every day, and small online businesses should too! Whether it be as a partner, an affiliate, or a strategic relationship, all of these relationships can benefit small businesses. Businesses can use strategic relationships to penetrate niche markets. Affiliates can expand their reach and tap into the customer bases of similar products. Partners can provide additional value to existing products or services. Determine what types of relationships could be beneficial to your small business.

Online Classifieds

Craigslist is likely the best known online classified system. Classified systems increase visibility and are often overlooked by small businesses. Consider posting classifieds that relate to product or services, and monitor the results.

Sponsorship / Contests

Contests not only encourage customers to have fun, but also generate publicity and draw attention to your company and brand. Sponsor industry events, run contests, or donate prizes to industry contests in order to increase visibility and generate goodwill.

Newsletters

Communication is critical to all businesses, and small businesses are no exception. Be sure to establish a communication channel with customers and potential customers. Newsletters are a very popular communication channel for software developers.

RSS

RSS is growing in popularity. It is an alternative communication channel that has the benefit of reaching a larger audience through syndication. Supplement and enhance email and newsletter campaigns by providing an RSS channel for their content.

Forums / Newsgroups

Participation in newsgroups and forums will result in building credibility. Business relationships will often result from online dialogue in industry forums and newsgroups. Actively participate and always behave in a professional manner.

Forum / Email Signatures

All forum posts and emails you send should contain a "signature" that advertises your business name, tag line, and URL.

Blogs

Blogging and posting comments on blogs can result in an increase in web links and traffic. Socialization and engaging others with well thought out comments can establish a business reputation and generate product interest.

Videos

YouTube is a boon to business. If you are creative, consider compiling an educational or humorous video. YouTube is a huge distribution channel and can generate product or industry interest.

Press Releases

The avenue to inexpensive press! Write a press release to promote new products or services and reap the benefits with media attention.

Article Syndication

Writing articles can help lend credibility to your product line and improve your business reputation.

Local Newspapers

Contact local newspapers and pitch a unique story to them. Publicity is free and can generate discussions and interest.

Consider exploring alternative channels for advertising and marketing. Keep in mind that advertising need not be costly; creative marketers can often find inexpensive avenues that will result in a great return.

About the Author: Sharon Housley manages marketing for FeedForAll http://www.feedforall.com software for creating, editing, publishing RSS feeds and podcasts. In addition Sharon manages marketing for RecordForAll http://www.recordforall.com audio recording and editing software.

There are so many websites on the internet nowadays, so if you want a great website that stands out from the crowd, you are going to have to have brilliant web design incorporated into it.

A website that is badly designed will be remembered for all the wrong reasons. If you want a website that is remembered for the right reasons, you are going to have to have a design that makes your website unique.

Your web design is the first thing that people notice when they arrive at your website. If you have an untidy website with bad graphics and terrible navigation, you are going to lose your readers and viewers right from the start. That is why web design is important in the process of creating a successful website. Whether it is a personal website or one that you intend to use for business purposes, it needs to be well designed and well maintained.

If you can grab the reader's attention by graphics that are relevant and useful, text that is of a very high quality, colors and layouts that are easy on the eye, then you are half way there! Research has shown that more people buy from websites that are designed professionally and look trustworthy, rather than quickly made and with badly thought out designs.

So, you can see how important your web design really is now. There are many ways to improve your web design, both for free and by hiring someone else to do it for you. Which you choose will depend on your budget and your time frame. A busy web designer may not be able to fit you in for months.

How you layout your website is also very important. You may have lots of great content on your website that people would love to read, but what if they can't find it? If you haven't clearly and easily laid out your website in the web design process, your readers won't be able to find any other pages. This could be disastrous if you are selling some kind of service or product.

All in all the web design aspect is only a small part of getting your website up and running, however, it is very important. When you are designing your website, remember to make it easy to navigate, concise and clear.

About the Author: Daniel Millions

If you are not familiar with web design and all the aspects that go into creating a website, it may be worth your while looking for a professional web designer or a pre made template. Web designers come with different price tags all depending on where you get them from and what you need doing.

If you want a relatively simple design you will be looking at a fairly cheap price. If you are looking for a complex website with many features you can expect to pay a fair amount of money for it. A good designer will include you all throughout the process. You will be able to approve the website as many times as required.

Ready-made templates are great if you don't have the budget for a professional designer and don't have the time to learn how to create one from scratch. There are many free ones that you find on the Internet or ones that you can buy for a small amount of money.

Do you know what your target audience wants and how they are looking online? As an Internet Marketing Consultant I am often surprised that many website owners don't know who their market is, and how to target them with web copy and SEO.

Keywords are the words that web surfers enter in search engines to find websites about their search terms. If you want to get in front of your potential audience, it's important your website has good search engine rankings for your keywords that are related to the theme of your website. Knowing what your target audience wants and how they are looking online is crucial to your online success.

Optimizing your web pages for keywords that nobody uses in the search engines is useless. In addition, in order to get targeted visitors, the keywords must not be too broad or too general. Your copy and metatags should also support the keyword phrases your market uses and entice them with copy that meets their needs and compels them to action. The First Step to Internet Marketing - The Right Keywords for Your Website The first step in successful SEO copywriting is choosing the right keywords to make them very specific to your market. You can survey your target market for their keyword usage or use more thorough keyword research tools.

When conducting the keyword research and analysis:

1) use keyword phrases containing two to four words

2) be specific - geographically, topically, or by product

3) only use the keywords that are important to your web business

4) avoid very competitive keywords or general keyword phrases

Use focused and targeted keyword phrases that are common enough so the web searcher will use them, but selective enough that they don't return millions of matches. Most web surfers use a two to four word phrase when they search online, so phrasing is very important. For example, if you are offering a service like dog training or Internet Marketing, you wouldn't target the key phrase "dog training" or "SEO", but something more specific like "Chicago dog trainer" or "Vancouver Search Engine Optimization". Very specific keywords generate highly qualified, targeted traffic that increases your sales opportunities. The Wrong Keywords for Your Website Single words cannot promote ranking or sell effectively, for example you wouldn't want to target "dog" as a dog trainer in Chicago. Avoid the most popular keyword phrases or general keyword phrases because you'll be competing with millions of other web pages for a search engine ranking. It's unrealistic to think that a new web site could rank number one on a popular phrase like "Marketing". You are better to target "Internet marketing strategies" or even better, "Internet Marketing Strategies Vancouver".

More established companies who have been on the Internet for several years will have the advantage of link popularity and a high Pagerank and therefore better rankings in the search results for these broader or general keyword phrases. Search Engine Optimization - Feeding the Search Engine Machines Another critical factor to help drive the targeted traffic to your site is optimizing the site using metatags. Metatags, often overlooked and misunderstood, are elements of HTML coding on a website. Search engines use these metatags to help them determine what the site is about and assist with indexing a website. Most metatags are included within the 'header' code of a website.

The most important tags are the title tag, description tag and the keywords tag. Different search engines have different rules about how these tags are used and how many characters they should contain. Of importance to the process is if you know how the big three - Google, Yahoo and MSN - review the tags, then you'll be targeting 90% of potential web surfers. To make good use of your metatags use your targeted keywords that you found during your keyword research and analysis in the site copy and the metatags. By reviewing or crawling your website content and metatags, search engines will find out what your web site is about. As soon as search engines consider your web site relevant to the topic or search, the easier it is to get high rankings for your keywords and key phrases.

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About the Author: Keith Raymond is a Vancouver Internet Marketing and Search Engine Optimization Specialist. Internet Marketing includes keyword research and analysis, search engine optimization (SEO), creating compelling web content, and producing online marketing strategies. Visit Netsurf Marketing to learn more about Internet marketing strategies to turbo charge your web presence.

Internet marketing strategies involve driving targeted (people who are interested in what you have to offer) traffic to your website, blog, or sales page.

That traffic then has to be converted into sales. This simple formula illustrates this process:

Traffic + Conversions = Sales

Keeping this formula in your mind will help you in your internet marketing efforts because you will realize that you not only have to generate traffic, but also turn those visitors into buyers.

Furthermore, here are 7 basic rules to follow when applying this formula. These rules are relevant to all forms of marketing but are especially important for online marketing where inexperienced people can "burn" a lot of money quickly and become very discouraged.

1. All marketing involves RISK.

Whether you are trying something new or "copying" a strategy that has brought good results for others, there is still an element of risk.

When speaking of risk, you tend to think of gambling which makes for an appropriate analogy here.

For internet marketing, we try to reduce the risk and swing the odds in our favour by doing keyword research, learning skills like ad writing, article marketing, and pay per click, and other general marketing activities such as knowing what your target market is interested in.

2. Test small first.

Reduce your risk by testing a marketing approach on a small scale first. If it works, then increase the scale and create momentum.

This is how to make money!

3. Be consistent.

Successful marketers do something to propel themselves forward everyday. That is their secret.

A good practice is to create a to-do list every night featuring 5 actions that you must complete the following day.

By doing this at night before you go to sleep, you engage your subconscious mind and the next day you will know what you have to do and be on target to complete these tasks.

This is a very powerful process. Try to do this, one day at a time, until it becomes a daily habit.

4. Set a budget.

Determine what you can afford to spend on advertising on a monthly basis. In this way you can set and manage your expectations.

This should also prevent you from trying things you cannot afford.

5. Diversify.

Spread your efforts as much as you can over many different sources. This will also reduce your risk and help you to discover what works.

Remember that if one internet marketing method that you try does not produce results, you have not failed. This just means that you are one step closer to finding something that DOES work.

6. Learn how to write effective copy.

The skill that will make or break you in internet marketing is copywriting.

It is especially important to learn how to write headlines. There is a ton of good information online that is free regarding headlines and copywriting. Just do a Google search.

7. Take action, test, and track.

Tracking is essential because you absolutely need to know the results of your marketing efforts.

Once you start getting results, you can employ simple tests to see if you can improve. Often this testing involves strategies that are free.

One such strategy that comes to mind is split testing. You can do this for free, and it can provide incredible returns. Generally speaking, split testing involves making slight changes to a landing page or adwords ad, often just the wording of the headline, and testing it against a current version.

I have seen very simple changes DOUBLE the productivity of an ad. It's not only amazing, but also a lot of fun! Marketing takes work. You simply cannot get something for nothing. Massive action creates massive results.

So take action and do not be afraid to fail. Remember to minimize your risk.

About the Author: Mark McCullagh is the author of the internet marketing strategies that work, especially for network marketing.

I'm going to ask you to use your imagination for a moment.

Think of a topic that interests you. Maybe it's your favorite sport or hobby, for example. Now imagine that you're searching the Internet for information on that topic.

The first article you come across is related to the topic you're researching, but it doesn't offer much in the way of value. It's too general and full of pointless "fluff." It makes obvious points that a third-grader could grasp. And it fails to offer any related information or resources.

The second article you come across is much more in-depth. It explains several aspects of your topic with refreshing insight. It is helpful and useful, and it links out to many related articles and resources on the subject.

If you could only bookmark one of these pages for future reference, which one would it be? It would be the second page, right?

You, like most people, would probably prefer the second page to the first. It's an easy choice, and that's because the author of the second article understood (and delivered) the most important concept of website content development -- the value factor.

5 Benefits of High-Value Web Content

This kind of content has value for the reader, obviously. But it also benefits the author / publisher. Here are the top five benefits of creating high-value website content for your small business website:

1. It keeps people on your website longer.
2. It makes people more inclined to trust you.
3. It encourages readers to recommend the site to others.
4. It encourages other webmasters to link to your content.
5. It helps you improve your search engine ranking and visibility.

All of this sounds great, you say. But how do I create that kind of small business website content? Here are the top five guidelines for creating high-value website content.

5 Steps to High-Value Web Content

1. Choose the right author.
2. Choose the right topic.
3. Address all sides of the topic.
4. Add supporting graphics, pictures, etc.
5. Link to related resources, both on your site and elsewhere.

Let's look at each of these steps in greater detail.

1. Choose the Right Author

I once worked for a company who let their web programmers write the instructions for their online ordering process. Big mistake. If their audience were programmers as well, this might be okay. But most of their customers had limited technical skills. So when these people encountered online instructions such as "Validate parameters before advancing" ... the customers would often become dead in the water.

This is a prime example of choosing the wrong author for web writing. Sure, the programmers' input is important. After all, they built the thing. But they should not be the voice of customer guidance. A skilled web writer (someone with usability experience) would have "translated" these instructions to say something like "Please fill in all required information before moving to the next screen."

Here's the key to this. The best author for your small business website content is not always the person who knows the most about the product or service from a technical standpoint. Often, it's best to have an in-house writer who plays the go-between role of "consumer advocate," getting the information from one group and translating it for another group.

2. Choose the Right Topic

If your small business only offers one product or service, then that will likely be the topic of your web content. In this case, I would focus on choosing the right angle as well. Don't tell people what you want them to know -- this is an outdated way of thinking about public information, especially when it comes to small business website content. Instead, find out what people want to know about the types of products you offer, and use your web content to address those questions or concerns.

If you are writing web content for a company that has many products or services, you will have to spend more time choosing topics first and choosing your angle second. In this case, it becomes more about topic organization than anything. Large websites with many topics are ideally suited for a category and sub-category system: These are our products >> And this is product 'A' >> And this is a web page that explains product 'A' in detail.

3. Address All Sides of the Topic

Whether you're writing about one of your products, or you're creating a tutorial of some kind, you need to cover all the angles. There's nothing worse than website content that leaves the job only half-done, telling you why a certain thing is important but not pursuing that lead.

When you are close to a certain topic -- as is the case with people who create a product or service -- it's easy to assume everyone else understands it as well as you do. But the opposite is usually true, so you need to explain all sides of a topic when you write content for your small business website.

Want to keep your pages relatively short for easy reading? You can do that while still offering complete information. That's what hyperlinks are for!

4. Link to Related Resources

Here's the key to developing great content for your small business website. Try to create authority documents that others in your field would link to and recommend to others. One of the key criteria for a resource document is that it links to plenty of supporting information, both on the same website and elsewhere on the web.

In addition to being good for your readers, this kind of useful content will make other webmasters more inclined to link to your website. This adds to your link "popularity" and can further improve the search engine ranking of your small business website.

When writing a particular web page, try to think of it as "the ultimate guide to [blank]." This is the first step to creating the kind of authority documents that eventually dominate the search engines and drive endless web traffic for the authors. But it's rarely possible to create an "ultimate guide" to anything in just one page, so be liberal about linking to other sources on your own website and elsewhere (as long as their not direct competitors).

5. Add Supporting Graphics, Pictures, Etc.

Reading online can be hard on the eyeballs. You can make the reader's job easier in two ways. First, you can format your content appropriately for web reading (short paragraphs, narrow text columns, lots of bullet points, headers, sub-headers, etc.). Secondly, you can add supporting images and helpful graphics.

Well-placed graphics can improve website content in a number of ways. Images are more enticing than text upon first glance, so they can help attract and retain readers. They also help you clarify your message with visual reinforcement.

Conclusion: I have a motto I use regarding website content. "If it's not worth putting online, don't put it online." This is my reminder to myself that I need to use the techniques outlined above to create superior website content. Because that's the kind of content that leads to online success. Apply these lessons to your small business website and watch your own success increase!

About the Author: Brandon Cornett operates an web marketing firm in Austin, Texas and is a web writer at large for dozens of websites and blogs. Learn more by visiting http://www.austinseoguy.com.

At the Consumer Electronics Show a few weeks ago, Yahoo! (YHOO) Chief Executive Jerry Yang kicked off his keynote speech with a vow: "It is time to get Yahoo yodeling again." But on Jan. 29, after Yang issued a muted outlook for the coming year, including the layoffs of 1,000 employees, it became clear that the turnaround he wants to bring about won't happen for at least another year.

Yahoo said its fourth-quarter profit fell 23%, to $206 million, on a 14% rise in sales, to $1.4 billion, excluding commissions to marketing partners. But even though that met or outpaced expectations, the company's outlook for 2008 didn't. Yahoo expects revenue of $5.35 billion to $5.95 billion, missing the expectations of many analysts, whose average forecast is for sales of $5.88 billion. "The outlook was the real disappointment," says Rob Sanderson, an analyst at American Technology Research. "They threw in the kitchen sink in terms of reducing expectations."

The stock reeled in extended trading, dropping more than 10%, to $20.81. Even before the report was released, Yahoo's shares were trading at their lowest level in more than four years.

Even as top-line growth fails to meet some projections, spending on efforts to keep visitors glued to the portal could crimp bottom-line growth, too, at least in the near term. Yang expects to continue investing in such areas as Yahoo's home page, its personalized MyYahoo service, e-mail, and mobile features. He also plans to keep spending to improve search as well as to create better technology for marketers to buy both search and display ads on Yahoo. "This sort of transformation takes time," Yang said on an earnings call with analysts. "We are taking an aggressive investment posture. Increased investment is the only appropriate measure at this time."

A Big Ax in Europe

Investors also may be disappointed that Yang, who took over last July with the departure of longtime CEO Terry Semel, didn't make deeper cuts in Yahoo's staff. Some press reports suggested the cuts would affect as many as 2,500 people. The layoffs will mean a charge of up to $25 million in the first quarter, but they could save the company $100 million a year in expenses.

Yang said the cuts, which will come in mid-February, will be not across the board, but selective, focused on areas that aren't doing as well as others. One Yahoo executive told BusinessWeek that sizable cuts probably would come in Europe. Yahoo also has already deemphasized or closed lagging operations such as music subscriptions, photos, and a social-networking service called Yahoo 360.

Analysts had hoped that Yahoo's results might offer clues as to whether the economic slowdown will hit online advertising. The concern is that companies such as Yahoo and Google (GOOG) will suffer from pared marketing budgets. Some analysts also fret that cash-strapped consumers will reduce spending, in the process clicking on search and other ads less often, which also would mean less revenue for the likes of Yahoo and Google. Indeed, this possibility, coupled with small declines in Web search activity in December, prompted investment bank Stanford Group in Houston to cut its Google stock rating to "hold" from "buy" on Jan. 24. "Advertising-driven media typically slows down in a recession, so online advertising should decline in a recession, ultimately," says Stanford analyst Clayton Moran.

Online Resilience?

Others, however, believe online ads are at least somewhat insulated from a slowing economy. The idea is that an influx of marketing dollars, redirected from television and print, would more than compensate for any economy-related slump. For instance, chipmaker Intel (INTC) expects to spend at least half of its marketing budget online this year, compared with just 15% two years ago, because the Web helps it better reach people who buy computers with Intel chips in them. "We really want to get close to that sale" with search and online display ads, says Corey Carrillo, Intel's worldwide search-engine marketing manager. Historically, the company has emphasized its brand.

Yahoo executives said there were some areas of weakness in display advertising, such as finance, travel, and retail. President Sue Decker implied that was probably due to the slowing economy. But she said the weakness was largely offset by strength in other areas. Yang said display-ad revenues strengthened in the second half of last year, growing 20%.

Yahoo said its search advertising grew 30% from a year ago. What's more, Decker said revenues per search query grew 20%, about the same gain as in the third quarter. She attributed the bulk of the growth to improvements in the rate at which users click on search ads, thanks to Project Panama, the company's search-ad effort launched about a year ago. But none of that has kept Yahoo from falling further behind Google.

With Yahoo failing to attract a larger base of searchers, advertisers hesitate to spend significantly more on its search ads. "We give them every dollar we can," says Kevin Lee, executive chairman of digital marketing firm Didit. "But if they don't have the traffic, there's nothing for us to spend the money on." Indeed, Yahoo keeps losing ground in search to Google. According to Nielsen Online's numbers, usually the most conservative measure of the market, Google's share of searches in December was 56.3% to Yahoo's 17.7%, and Google got 70% more searches per searcher than Yahoo.

Marketers know it, and that's why they're still not spending big on Yahoo search. A new analysis by search marketing firm Efficient Frontier says overall search ad spending on Yahoo fell 3.8% in the fourth quarter from a year ago. As a result, Google's share of search ad spending rose to 76.6% from 70.5% a year ago, essentially capturing 97¢ of every additional dollar spent on search advertising in the past year. "Google continues to be the big engine that could," says Efficient Frontier CEO Ellen Siminoff.

Cuts Alone Aren't Enough

Yahoo also faces challenges in other areas of its business. A deal with AT&T (T) had given Yahoo a monthly fee for each broadband subscriber it attracted. Now, Yahoo will get only a share of revenue for ads it sells on AT&T sites. Although it gets a one-time payment of $300 million to $400 million from AT&T this year, the new deal will cut Yahoo's guaranteed revenues, which analysts had estimated at about $250 million a year.

As Yang's vow to keep spending on some initiatives indicates, Yahoo's hope remains coming up with new services that catch people's imagination as Google, MySpace (NWS), Facebook, and other sites have. "You can't cut your way to prosperity," notes Siminoff. But when Yang took over as CEO last July, he promised he'd spend the next 100 days crafting a new plan for the company. At nearly 200 days and counting, investors clearly believe he needs to pick up the pace.

Hof is BusinessWeek's Silicon Valley bureau chief .

Until a couple days ago, Google's stock looked recession proof. Despite mounting talk of an advertising slowdown, shares hit an all-time high in November. Now, it finally seems that recession concerns are catching up with the web giant.

Although Google and Yahoo are in different competitive positions (Google could eat Yahoo for a mid-afternoon snack), they are both dependent on advertising for the majority of their income, and as a result, both are poised to take a thunderous hit in the event of a recession.

The key difference between Yahoo and Google is that nobody has high expectations of Yahoo. Its problems have been widely chronicled: Former CEO Terry Semel was sacked last spring; its search business is troubled; and now Yahoo is reportedly planning layoffs to keep its finances in check.

On the other hand, investors and customers alike expect great things of Google. The tight-lipped, overachieving company is notoriously uncommunicative with the financial community, but its silence is usually interpreted to mean that business is growing at mind-blowing rates. Over the last two years, Google's earnings handily exceeded analysts' expectations in six of the eight quarters. Now, with a looming recession and nervousness surrounding the online advertising market, at least a couple analysts think that Yahoo's woes are not unique to the company and could drag on Google, too.

"Advertising is linked to the economic cycle, and the market has come to the conclusion that Google will not be immune to a recession," says Laura Martin, an analyst with Soleil - Media Metrics. "I think what's going to happen is [on the earnings conference call,] somebody will ask about the outlook, and I would expect [Google management] to be conservative. And the market is not going to like that."

The market may already be anticipating the bad news: Over the last two days, Google shares have dropped more than $58, closing at $548.62 on Tuesday. How long before the stock drops below $500? At this rate, it'll be a day or two.

Having high rankings on search engines is a great thing. However, it's also important that your web pages are displayed with an attractive description in the search results. If the description is not appealing to web surfers then they might not click the link.

How do Google, Yahoo and MSN/Live create the descriptions and snippets that are used in the search results?

How Google creates descriptions and snippets

Google seems to use the description from the meta description tag if you search for a page by its URL, or if the searched keywords do not appear within the found page.

If the found web page doesn't have a meta description tag then Google seems to use the sentence that contains the searched keyword as the description.

If a web page is listed in the Open Directory Project (DMOZ.org) then Google might also use the description that is used in the DMOZ directory.

How Yahoo creates descriptions and snippets

Yahoo seems to use only the first part of the meta description which is complemented by a text snippet from the searched page that contains the searched keyword.

If a web page doesn't have a meta description, Yahoo will use the description of the web page from Yahoo's directory (if the page is listed there).

If a web page has no meta description and is not listed in the Yahoo directory, then Yahoo will display sentences from the found web page that contain the searched keywords.

How MSN/Live creates descriptions and snippets

MSN/Live seems to use the first sentence that contains the searched keyword as the description. If the searched keyword does not appear on the page, MSN/Live seems to use the first sentence that appears on the page.

If available, MSN/Live will also use the DMOZ directory description in the results.

If you want to make sure that your web pages are listed with an appealing description in the search results, you should use meta descriptions on your web pages. If you don't want to use the description that is used in the Yahoo directory and on DMOZ.org you should use the corresponding tags that prevent search engines from using these descriptions.

Vigilance, micromanaging and attention to detail can help you avoid some common and costly mistakes of PPC advertising. What are those mistakes?

Here are the terrible 10 that are typical to most pay per click campaigns.

Too Many Keywords Per Ad Group

It's important to target your ad to be as relevant as possible. Don't group all your keywords into one or two ad groups. Break them out. Keep them tight. This gives you more control over ad variables so that you can be as relevant as possible.

Not Using Negative Keywords

Negative keywords reduce unwanted impressions, and more importantly, unwanted click throughs. However, with increasing priority given to "quality scores" and click through rates in the PPC engines, it's key to trim the fat from your keyword campaigns. If your company sells "widget management software" then be sure that you have keywords like "-serial" or "-free" assigned as negative keywords (unless, of course, you offer it for free in some manner). You can find good negative keywords in your log files or when you build your lists.

Weak Testing

Split-testing your ads is critical. Even the smallest of changes can boost results. In addition to testing your ad copy's "call to action" or value statements, every ad has multiple variables to test. The titles, the two lines of copy, and display url all can be optimized. If you don't have time for hands-on testing, a good professional pay per click management company can run daily split testing for you. You'd be surprised how well this can pay off.

Poor or Non-Existent Tracking

Of course, testing your ads and fine tuning your keyword lists only works well if you are tracking results. The search engines will tell you what your click-through rates are ... but you need bottom-line results. You need to know your return on investment or what your cost per action is. It's not enough to know that you spend $5,000 and get back $10,000. You might be able to spend only $3,000 and get that same $10,000.

Not Getting Keyword-Level Tracking

Proper and exact analytics or using an experienced pay per click management company is essential to get the data you need. If you have keywords that are not performing and leaking your account on a daily basis, you are throwing money away. Getting results to the keyword level allows you to adjust bids for maximum effect. If you have one keyword with a $1.34 earnings per click and another at 37 cents, this is key information that allows you to maximize profits. Lower one bid if you are above your "EPC" and raise another to eek out more profits from that sweet-spot keyword. Don't waste money on a daily basis.

Not Specific Enough Keywords

Some broad and generic keywords can certainly push a ton of traffic to your site. They may even be very successful. Often, however, they can also do just the opposite -- drain your funds with poor results. A user searching on one of these generic phrases is often doing research in an early part of the buying process. Knowing your keyword-level results and filtering out bad variations with negative keywords can help you get a true read on these generic keywords.

Not Going After Long-Tail Keywords

This follows the above item on generic keywords. Building a list and individual ads for the long-tail keywords can be a major time-sucker. It can also be profitable if the task is performed correctly. Those earnings per click will likely vary widely from a generic keyword like "mp3 player", "sony mp3 player" and "sony 2GB S610 walkman video mp3 player". One consumer is doing research, the other knows what they want and is most likely looking to purchase.

Not Separating Content and Search Networks

An easy way to get scorched on poor performing traffic or even click fraud is to not separate your search network ads from your content network ads. Chances are that if you don't know what the difference is, then they are likely not separated in your account -- and bad keywords are leaking your funds daily. You are better off to build different campaigns for your keywords on the content and search networks.

Not Attracting Local Clients Through Geo Targeting

If you draw most of your business from a local area, the big three PPC engines allow you to geo-target your keywords to that area. This will bring the local market to your doorstep on non-local keyword phrases. This can be hugely profitable.

Not Frequently Monitoring Your Accounts

Not everyone has time to run split testing on a daily basis or frequently checking your EPCs (even though you should...because it's costing you). That said, there are still a high amount of advertisers who seem to ignore their accounts for days ... or even weeks ... or (don't tell me you're doing this!) months. The big PPC search engines are increasingly cracking down on poor performing keywords, smacking advertisers with that "Inactive for Search" status for individual keywords. When this happens, you lose traffic, you lose profits. If you are investing heavily in PPC, you can't just turn your back on your account for days at a time.

The Terrible 10 of Pay Per Click Advertising is a lot to consider, but it's vital for healthy pay per click campaigns. Whether you can actively manage your PPC accounts at this level or you need to hire a pay per click management company to do it, vigilance and precision can make a huge impact on your bottom line.

About the Author: Josh Prizer is a Senior Account Executive and PPC expert for Zero Company Performance Marketing, a pay per click management company. Visit us now to learn more about how to improve your PPC advertising campaigns and performance.

Posted by Elinor Mills

Google just keeps getting more popular for search.

The latest figures from Hitwise, which monitors search market share, show Google with a record 66 percent share of Web searches in the United States for the month of December 2007.

Google had just over 63 percent for the same period a year ago, according to figures released Tuesday. Meanwhile, Yahoo's share dropped from 21.6 percent to 20.9 percent, Microsoft's dropped from 9.8 percent to just over 7 percent and Ask rose from 3.7 percent to just over 4 percent.

Hitwise also found that people are increasingly using the major search engines to locate sites and information for key industry categories. For instance, travel, entertainment, business and finance, and sports categories showed double-digit increases in the share of traffic coming from search engines.

(Credit: Hitwise)

Important Actinic Support and Security information The internet is a fast changing environment where security and technology are under a constant challenge to improve and maintain integrity of your online business. In the last few months Microsoft has released the new operating system Vista, this operating system upgrade is challenging many small businesses who must keep their website compatible and accessible to a new level of security standards set forth in the new operating system.

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Although many website visitors will not experience problems it could be a concern for you as your ecommerce website could be using an older version of the Actinic ecommerce software. We are encouraging all Actinic ecommerce software users to contact us to discuss the potential issues a web site user may experience when shopping on older version of Actinic ecommerce software. Understanding the website environment will help you to build your online business and continue to offer a high quality ecommerce website experience for your users.

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