What about Yahoo and Microsoft?

You can bet Yahoo and Microsoft aren't letting Google's results go unnoticed. Google's latest stock price($198) makes them worth more than Yahoo. And Yahoo has email, Hotjobs, mapping, financial news, banner advertising etc. in addition to their own search engine. What makes Google worth more?



The search engine and database. Google currently has a better search algorithm, and has indexed more pages. You could argue Yahoo has more content in their portal and that it's organized better, but the simple fact is, more people find the search results in Google more relevant, and easy to find.



Information is power in the information age. Relevant information is a powerful weapon in this age, when you can get it when you NEED/WANT it FAST. That's what Google does better right now. Watch out Microsoft!?

Search engine Mavericks

Surprisingly, there a number of companies we know that use seach engine marketing almost exclusively to generate new sales. The common thread is that it works. And it doesn't matter if its B2B or B2C. The comment usually is that it is much easier than other forms of marketing, not to mention lower in cost. I'm rather awed by these Mavericks, as they put aside traditional marketing and risk the future of their new sales (and customers) all on Internet and search engine marketing.



But perhaps they know something we don't - it works so well for them, it isn't a risk. They probably made incremental steps, measuring the ROI along the way and finally deciding that, at least for now, search engine marketing is the best way to approach their market.



Today, Google reported its 3rd quarter results. The mighty search engine that could, doubled its revenue from the same quarter last year from $400 million to $800 million. It blew by its revenue and profit forecasts. Not bad for a 6 year old company. Why? Maybe because it works... CBSMarketwatch commentary.

Beyond the numbers

I often hear people tell me how many clicks they get on their websites per month. Sometimes all they care about is having more traffic go to their website. Getting more traffic is good, but is that traffic doing any good? Do you get more sales or value from those visitors?



Any site metric can give you the number of visits you received in a period of time. Some can even give you a nice chart of statistics, telling you the kind of web browsers and operating systems they were using. Unless you are Microsoft, do you really care if 80% of the visitors are using Windows XP and Internet Explore 6 with JavaScript enabled?



You need to know more than these numbers. Do they know why people go to your website and how they use your website? Do you know where they came from and what were they looking for? Do you know why you are not getting any sales from certain products/services on your website?



If you want to learn to improve your customers' experience, pinpoint buyers' exact interests and reach prospects at every phase of the buying cycle, the above questions are very critical to your website's success.



Luckily, this data is often available in your server log. You just need the right web analytic software to mine this information. Not all web analytic/statistic software is created equal. And free software is usually not the way to go for something this important. Also, even with the right data, you still need a search marketing expert to help you understand the data and implement solutions.

eBay-like efficiency will drive search engine marketing

Search engine marketing has the potential to revolutionize how products and services are bought and sold around the world. It's a heck of a lot easy to sell something when you can deliver the possibilities to those that are looking for it. As I've heard it described, it's a 'virtuous cycle', because the buyer likes it this way and rewards the seller. Imagine, getting choices when you want, rather than being bombarded with choices when you're not.



I've marketed a lot of things, and I can definitely say it's easier for the seller too. Marketers get tired of spending time and money trying to reach customers, hoping that they reach them just as they are looking to buy. Might work sometimes but it's pretty dicey the rest of the time.



That's my story and I'm sticking to it. And by the way, eBay uses search engine marketing extensively, both paid and natural.