The Week in Review

Is Facebook Advertising for You?

Committing to making Facebook a significant source of leads and traffic for your business requires some considerations. For instance, are you a local business with a physical location? If so, Facebook is a good way to go. Also, are your products fun? If so, Facebook is the place for you. (Entrepreneur.com)

U.S. Search Ad Spending in 2012: $19.5 Billion

According to eMarketer, search ad spending in the U.S. will reach $19.5 billion in 2012, up 27.0 percent from the $15.4 billion mark last year. This figure is expected to grow to $29.1 billion by 2016. Google’s search ad revenue is set to grow 33.0 percent this year. (eMarketer)

Link-Building Tool Review: Wordtracker Link Builder

Wordtracker has been around since 1998, most known as a keyword-research tool. About two years ago, Wordtracker added Link Builder to help users with link-building efforts. Here’s a thorough overview of the tool. "If time is not an issue, you are new to SEO or you are a single site/small business owner with minimal social media interactions, Link Builder is an affordable tool option." (Search Engine Land)

4 Tactics for Becoming a Must-Follow Twitter Account

Among the things you can do on Twitter are connect with and listen to your customers and prospects; help others and answer their questions; and establish your Twitter account as a must-follow in the industry. Regarding the last point, here are four tactics to use: 1) use Twitter search to connect with prospects; 2) find content ideas for your blog via a Twitter search; 3) be the best local resource for industry Twitter lists; and 4) become a must-follow person in your industry. (MarketingProfs)

3 Keys to Optimizing Your PPC Campaign Structure

Here are the three main areas of PPC campaign structure you should focus on: 1) relevancy, 2) budget control and 3) advanced targeting options. "Campaign structure should be living and breathing during the course of a campaign." (Search Engine Watch)

8 Ways to Increase Your AdWords CTR

If you care only about raising click-through rates, regardless of the impact on other metrics, here are eight ways to go about it: 1) adding an extension, 2) adding sitelinks, 3) extending headlines, 4) considering the display URL as marketing copy, 5) using seasonal headlines, 6) using trademarks, 7) removing prices and ad discounts, and 8) giving something away for free. (Search Engine Land)

Making Cross-Channel Emailings Work

Here are three tactics to make cross-channel emailing more effective: 1) integrating cross-channel data, 2) leveraging data for segmentation and 3) testing. (ClickZ)

Twitter Offers Enhanced Profiles to Advertisers Spending More Than $25K

Advertisers on Twitter with more than $25,000 in active orders are eligible for enhanced profiles beginning Feb. 1. The rollout could be "substantial." (Search Engine Watch)

The World of Fake Reviews

Fake online product reviews on online commerce sites are drawing the attention of regulators. "Advertising disguised as editorial is an old problem, but it’s now presenting itself in different ways," says an FTC official. (NYTimes.com)

Pinterest Is Doing What Facebook Doesn’t

Pinterest is doing what Facebook isn’t: engaging consumers. Facebook is focused on the social graph, while Pinterest is focused on the interest graph. (ReadWriteWeb)

All About Ad Position in AdWords

Ad position is “the forest containing all your account metric trees.” Here’s a rundown of the basics of ad position, how to find your optimal position and optimizing your account toward a specific position. (PPC Hero)

5 Reasons You Should Start Using Q&A Sites

After differentiating between top-quality and poor-quality Q&A websites, you should start using the top-quality ones to fulfill a variety of goals. These include keyword research, connecting with industry expert and knowing about your competition. (StayOnSearch)

The Most Popular Conversion Tests

This infographic makes the case for running more conversion tests: agility, relevance and competitive edge. The top tests are for call-to-action buttons, test-page layout and test navigation. (Monetate)

Twitter to Unveil Analytical Tools

Twitter is set to introduce new tools in the coming months, including sophisticated analytical tools. The company’s manager for news and journalism said the analytical tools will help publishers track the reach of tweets sent through the service. (ReadWriteWeb)

Affiliate Marketing Tips

If you’re looking to get started in the world of affiliate marketing or are a veteran in the industry, here’s a helpful list of crucial aspects you must consider. For instance, before starting you should consider it a real business and conduct thorough market research using a variety of free tools. (FamousBloggers)

6 Ways to Get the Boot From Twitter’s Search Results

All murmurs of darker deeds of censorship and such aside, Twitter does have public practices for filtering certain tweeters out of its search results. Here are six things to avoid if you don’t want to be one of those filtered users. Among them are aggressively following and unfollowing people, abusing trending topics or hashtags, and sending automated tweets and replies. (HubSpot)

The Myth of the Relevant Link

Indulge your inner-geek with this post on relevant links. The bottom line is that while you shouldn’t avoid getting links from related sites, you shouldn’t give up a link just because the content isn’t textually similar to the content on your page. “If the link is good for the user, it is good for Google.” (Virante Orange Juice)

25 Things Email Marketers Must Avoid in 2012

Some email marketers have already fallen back into bad habits. You should have a “list for big picture initiatives and blocking-and-tackling measures,” then figure out how to accomplish both sets of tasks within a reasonable timeline. Among the 25 things email marketers must void this year are: little to no exposure to the C-suite, treating all subscribers equally and ignoring what competitors are doing via the email channel. (ClickZ)

Behavior-Based Email Triggers

Adding or expanding the number of behavior-based triggered email programs should be on the to-do lists of email marketers for 2012. Here’s a simplified look at the process: 1) pre-opt-in/regular opt-in activities; 2) email behavior; 3) offline/social/mobile behavior; 4) conversion activity/inactivity and abandonment. (MediaPost)

How to Track Social Links on Google+

Here’s a look at how some major brands are tracking links on Google+. For instance, The New York Times uses a consistent parameter across all links posted, while Time Magazine uses a bit.ly-branded link. (Marketing Land)

Google Changes the Definition of the Average Search Ranking Position

Google has changed how they define the average position in the search engine query report in Google Webmaster Tools and search optimization report in Google Analytics. “The new definition will take the average of the top ranking of your site for all searchers, as opposed to all URLs listed and average that.” (Search Engine Land)

Using Blogrolls to Expand Your Link-Prospecting Lists

Advanced search queries and using curated lists are two ways to time-consuming ways to find and qualify link prospects. Blogrolls offer another way to reach out to more bloggers after you have a curated list of blogs. “Because blogroll inclusion can be a vote of confidence from a trusted person, it can be a great source for finding high value blogs.” Of course, even this approach has challenges. (Distilled)

69% of U.S. Mobile Users Access the Internet on Their Phones Daily

According to research from Google and Ipsos, 69 percent of U.S. mobile users access the Internet on their phones daily. This figure is 54 percent in the U.K., 36 percent in France, 49 percent in Germany and 88 percent in Japan. (Marketing Land)

The Best WordPress SEO Plugins for 2012

If you use WordPress, you might want to check out this list of SEO plugins. Included are WP SEO By Yoast, Headspace 2, Google Site Verification and SEO Friendly Images. (iBlogzone)

The Ultimate Checklist for Integrated Marketing

“Successful inbound marketing requires a hand in a number of different marketing channels, from blogging, to social media, to email, SEO, PPC, and even live events.” However, marketers must avoid separating each of these channels in individual silos. Here’s a list of eight ways to take on a more integrated approach – for example, by using email and social media, email and other email, and SEO and blogging. (HubSpot)