Search marketers are always looking for new optimization opportunities, be it through keyword research or search trends or newly identified personas, and more. Google has started a video series called Google Beat where they explain the week’s trending searches, using data from Google Insights and Google Trends. These tools are available to the public and can be used at anytime to identify upcoming popular topics worth optimizing. The videos are also further evidence of the increasingly critical need for video content online.

Google’s also on the cutting edge of SERP speed with the release of Google Instant. A predictive search engine results experience that displays results based on each additional letter typed by a searcher, Google Instant has an effect on SEM. Search suggestions will cause new keyword optimization opportunities and PPC campaigns will gravitate away from the long-tail terms. Google Instant may also reduce ORM needs as negative suggestions seem to be censored in the search enhancement.

Then Paula, Susan and Virginia return to the topic of online video to discuss technical implementation from hosting to on-page optimization. YouTube is a powerful platform for getting your video in front of viewers, but YouTube has been blamed for cannibalizing a business’s site traffic by adding additional steps to the conversion process. Some tactics to make YouTube work for a business include making the URL for the company website copyable and including an easy to see link in the description as well as posting a shorter version of a video on YouTube in order to entice viewers to see more and then including the full-length video on the business site.

The third quarter of 2009 is over and many companies have released their quarterly results. Bruce Clay, Susan Esparza and Virginia Nussey examine the results reported by Google, Yahoo!, Microsoft and IAC for a measurement of the health of the search engines and a reflection on consumer behavior. Google reported revenues of $5.94 billion for the third quarter, an increase of 7% compared to the third quarter of 2008. Yahoo!‘s net income nearly tripled to $187 million in the third quarter. Microsoft Corp.‘s stock fell 14% to $12.9 billion, topping analysts’ forecasts of $12.3 billion. IAC, which owns Ask.com, reported a year-over-year revenue growth of -9%.


Topher Kohan, SEO Coordinator at CNN, then talks to Virginia about the news organization’s newly redesigned Web site. One of the most notable enhancements to the design is the prominence of video, and Topher shares his thoughts on why video is such an important site element today. He also gives his tips on how to involve SEO in online initiatives from the ground up as well as how he has been able to evangelize on behalf of SEO within the large media organization.

While CNN is one of the first to focus on video integration on the site, they aren’t the only one that has prioritized videos online. TurnHere, an online video advertising and production company, recently conducted a survey on trends in online video among brands and marketing agencies. Susan doesn’t take the survey at face value because TurnHere provides online video marketing services. However, useful lessons are contained in the insights about top reasons brands develop online video and what prohibits some companies from creating online videos.

The major search engines’ verticals are an important piece of the search engine optimization puzzle. Bruce, Susan and Virginia look at video and image search and methods of optimizing such content for the general search engines. Much of the benefit of using images and videos within your site is the fact that such features are engaging content that may attract user interest and interaction. The increased visibility within SERPs is another SEO advantage of video.


With video viewing at an all-time high, Virginia talks to Mark Robertson, creator and publisher of ReelSEO. Mark shares research by TubeMogul that show where people are looking for videos as well as the keys to video search engine optimization. While he specializes in optimization for self-hosted video, he also has a number of pointers on YouTube optimization as well.

To close out the show, Susan, Michael and Virginia discuss a few of Google’s other search verticals: book, news and blog search. Book, news and blog search is an additional way to brand your company or product and help users discover your content. Submitting content to these verticals is free and allows for increased targeting.