Dot-Com is so 20th Century

Will the dot-com go the way of the Dodo in the light of ICANN’s decision to open up top-level domain names? Not likely, but it would be entertaining to own ".enquiro".
 

FYI, there are currently 21 top level domains (TLDs) that we’re all used to seeing, including .com, .ca, .gov and .edu.
Important highlights of the ICANN decision:

Applications will be accepted starting in April 2009 and likely cost ~$100,000 to register to help offset ICANN’s cost
 
Top level domains will be available in non-Latin languages such as Arabic and Cyrillic
 
Applicants must “demonstrate their technical capability [...]

The Quest for Information

The third in the series in looking at how we search and how it might impact our brand relationships. Today, I look at how the emergence of web search marks a dramatic leap forward in our quest for information.
The Great Library of Alexandria, built in 300 BC, was designed to hold all the knowledge of man. The dream of Ptolemy II was to assemble all the scrolls of the world in one place. Last week we explored why we sought knowledge. The Ptolemaic library was the first attempt to create one single repository for that information. Unfortunately, the media for recording [...]

Google Launches Google Ad Planner

Google has been on a roll with some major announcements in the past week.  First there was the announcement of the addition of the new layer to Google Trends with Google Trends for Websites, a fun tool that gives you a view of how popular your favorite websites are, including your own! It also compares and ranks site visitation across geographies, and related websites and searches.
Now today there was an announcement about Google Ad Planner, a "research and media planning tool that connects advertisers and publishers."  Basically how Ad Planner works is that it lets users enter their demographics and [...]

Google Adwords Phishing Attempts

 
A word of Caution to Adwords Advertisers:
Recently, we have seen a notable increase in the number of what appears to be phishing (A.K.A spoofing) attempts targeting Google Adwords Accounts. These attempts mirror the same strategy that was used to steal account information from bank accounts; where the email appears to be from Google Adwords, yet the URL is a different variation to the Google Adwords link. Google does attempt to contact you through emails; however, should you receive an email alert, please look into your account through the user interface directly. A valid email from Google will include your Customer [...]

Why Do We Search?

THIS IS THE SECOND in a series exploring the question of how we interact with search pages and the impact on brand relationships. Today we look at why we search in the first place.
Let’s begin with perhaps the most fundamental question ever asked in this industry. Why do we search? I’ve been in this industry for over 12 years now, and I’m not sure I’ve ever heard an answer to it. Why do we seek information? Is this need cultural or inherited? Is how we seek information changing?
The Roots of Curiosity
We search because we are curious. And curiosity comes from [...]

SEO Benefits of Using Microsites

We have received a number of questions regarding the use of microsites and the SEO benefit they may bring for site owners.  Karen from California asked, "What is your feeling about microsites……people in our company want to build lots of microsites… On each site we will have some (limited) content. Good idea or bad idea?  Is this the best use of our resources or is it better to build up our main site?"
Great question Karen.  The answer is… well as clear as mud….as is the case with a number of SEO strategies, the answer to these questions is…. it depends.  It depends [...]

Using Heading Tags for SEO

We’ve had a number of inquiries about using heading tags lately, so we thought we would highlight a few tips when incoporating the use of heading tags into your page content.  The purpose of a heading tag is to provide an indication as to the outline of a page.  Typically your most important content should be found higher up on the page, thus the H1 tag becomes important for the title of this content.  Use <h1> for your top-level headings.  Use only one <h1> heading tag per page. 
The heading tags consist of six elements: H1, H2, H3, H4, H5, H6 header [...]

Instant Noodles, Burnt Pot

 
What’s the best thing about instant noodles? It’s that they’re instant. Would you still like them if they took all day to prepare? Probably not. But we love instant noodles because they’re quick and they’re satisfying.
Sponsored search, aka PPC, can be kind of like instant noodles, too. You can get satisfying results fairly quickly. That’s because with PPC you can measure your results, figure out what’s working and what’s not, make adjustments, measure again, and keep focusing your ad campaign until it’s working the way you want. For marketers, it’s an awesome tool because you can measure the results on [...]

Digging Still Deeper Into The Search Branding Question

I love debate. I love defending my ideas, and in the process, shaping, refining and sometimes discarding them as they prove to be too unwieldy or simply incorrect. My last two columns have generated a fascinating debate around the concept of branding in search. Fellow Search Insider Aaron Goldman, comScore Chairman Gian Fulgoni, his senior vice president of search and media, James Lamberti, Erik du Plessis, Millward Brown executive and author of  “The Advertised Mind” (fascinating book, by the way), as well as a host of others, have taken up the debating gauntlet on this particular topic.
As luck would have [...]

#1 on Google is not a global constant

 
After Jody’s excellent article on dealing with search engine algorithm updates we received a number of questions by folks who had noticed that their rankings change depending on where they are. You are likely seeing different results at work than you do at home; the same will often happen when you’re travelling.
Google serves different results in two important ways right now:

Geo-targeting: Enquiro is located in Kelowna, BC, about a 5-hour drive from Vancouver. I get astonishingly different results (both organic and sponsored) between [...]