New look. Fresh Content. Check the SEM Valet blog here

Since January 2010, the blog moved to a new home. 


What has changed? 
Not much. You will just get a better look and feel, at least one post a week and more emphasis on Search Engine Marketing. 


Why this change? 
The new blog is now integrated into a new launched SEM agency, called SEM valet. If you are a small and medium business owner looking for help on Search Engine Optimization, Pay-Per-Click, banner advertising or social media, we would love to hear from you. 

YouTube keyword suggestion tool

The YouTube keyword tool was launched in March 2009. For those of you familiar with the Google AdWords Tool, it works pretty much the same way. Instead of using web queries as the AdWords tool does, the YouTube tool tracks keywords that trigger videos on a particular topic. These keywords can then be saved and used to edit 'tags' when uploading videos. The example below shows keywords that were returned by the tool in relation to 'search engine marketing. The tool generated 33 keywords. Some of them are a bit out of place but other like 'internet marketing training' or 'sem' can be useful. This tool is probably more directional and I would think it will become more targeted as the number of videos and queries on YouTube increase.

Another feature offered by the tool is the video id or URL feature. I looked for a popular video on 'search engine marketing' and the tool returned keywords YouTube users entered to find this video. The functionality generated 46 keywords.

 

Google Adwords new advertising exam - is this good news?

According to Google AdWords blog, ''As part of our ongoing efforts to improve training materials and the Google Advertising Professionals program, we have updated the certification exam and learning center. Th new test became available on November 13. The four main changes are as follow:

1) The test will cover a wider variety of questions. I took the old exam in which the breadth and depth of materials was already strong. I wonder why they would make it even broader. The previous exam has an entire section on campaign paid in non US currencies or mobile advertising. I would think these topics might not all be relevant to a broad audience. One possible improvement might be to offer a basic training supplemented by concentrations in particualr areas (such as mobile advertising for example).

2) From what I read in the various AdWords forum, the new test is a lot more conceptual. It requires a fair amount of thinking. The previous test was essentially interface questions for which mosts answers could be found by referring to the AdWords guide.

3) The passing score is now higher. It used to be 75% and is now 85%. The test is really no hard (see my previous post here) however it does require to memorize (or at least organize answers) to a lot of questions across a variety of topics.

4) The training center is now all in text. Previously you could choose either text or video. The tutorial videos did a very good job explaining the bits and pieces of each topic. For those people like who memorize visual elements better, it will be hard to read all this content, mostly on a screen. Too bad the videos are gone.

With this, good luck in passing the exam. Glad to know I don't have to pass mine for another two years.

Government 2.0

I ran across this neologism for the first time while reading an interview by O'Reilly. The man came-up with web 2.0. I figured gov 2.0 had to be another revolution I did not want to miss. According to wikipedia, Government 2.0 is an attempt to provide more effective processes for government service delivery to individuals and businesses. Integration of tools such as wikis, development of government-specific social networking sites and the use of blogs, RSS feeds and Google Maps are all helping governments provide information to people in a manner that is more immediately useful to the people concerned. More on this topic as I continue investigating what it actually means for us.

Digital Assets Optimization - how little things such as PDFs can make a big difference in SEO

In a previous post, I discussed how all types of digital assets such as videos, documents, podcasts etc ... can help add relevant content to a company website and increase the web site visibility to search engine crawlers.

One of the things I discovered is Google can ready PDF almost the same way it reads HTML. Companies that have a lot of product sheets, technical documentation, white papers etc should be made available online.

According to Search Engine Land, there are a few tips to follow. Here's a summary:

1) PDFs must be text based

2) Add a title to the document properties

3) Optimize the copy (the same way you would optimize HTML pages, i.e. at least 300 words per PDF and watch out for keyword stuffing)

4) Include backlinks in PDF

5) Ensure the file is no too big so that Search Engine can read it easily. If necessary break the PDF into various elements

6) Have one or two sentences describing what the PDF is abut on the very top of the document

For more information, go to:

Google Adwords for Small Businesses

This insightful article from the New York Times is a great intro to Google Adwords (or paid search) for small and medium businesses. Anyone can create a paid search campaign by bidding on a handful of keywords. The danger is this space is highly competitive and small businesses should be looking at a more comprehensive campaign with thousands of longer, more specific keyword (keyword granularity). This will increase reach and minimize costs. Running a successful campaign takes a lot of time and expertise, as the author pointed out.

Inside Google Adwords

I just discovered this blog from the Google Adwords team. Good stuff.

This is what you can find

• The latest industry trends and information
• Google insights and news
• Relevant product information and updates

It gets a bit technical and for those of you who do not spend a few hours a week on Google Adwords, you may loose patience quickly. For the others, here's the latest article on Google new keyword tool.