SearchFest 2010 Live Blogging

by Kim Toomey on March 10, 2010

The Anvil team was out in full force yesterday live* blogging at SearchFest 2010 (*or close to live – there were wifi issues). Please check out the SEM PDX blog for session recaps from the Anvil team and others, or look for the #searchfest hashtag in your Twitter stream! ... [click to continue...]

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Link Building While You Sleep

by John McPhee on February 11, 2010

If you love link building, raise your hand. Did you raise your hand? I hope not or you’d look awfully silly sitting at your desk with one hand in the air. I have yet to find someone that really loves and enjoys link building. It’s hard work. It’s time consuming and seeing results c... [click to continue...]

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What do Social Followers Want?

by Heather Schwartz on January 29, 2010

That is the ultimate question.  What benefits are followers expecting to get when they follow their favorite brands on Twitter or Facebook?  Well according to MarketingSherpa’s recent study, it’s not just to find deals, specials or sales!  Of course this is the one of the most importa... [click to continue...]

Google’s Moving in on Yelp’s Turf

by John McPhee on January 28, 2010

Back in December TechCrunch revealed that a deal between Google and Yelp was imminent…as they were in the “final stage of negotiations”. This sent the SEO industry into a whirlwind, especially local search marketers, thinking about the possibilities of what this might become. Perso... [click to continue...]

Analytics Ninja Dies from Data Overload

by Mike Nierengarten on January 7, 2010

Although this subject has been breached in multiple blog posts, articles, and tweets, it is worth re-emphasizing.  Web analytics has completely changed marketing as we know it (or in my case, as I have seen it on Mad Men and read about in Scientific Advertising).  Whereas, previously advertisers struggled to gather what little information they could muster through surveys, check boxes, or even “portable people meters”, web analytics provides information overload. [click to continue…]

Google Favorite Places and QR Codes

by John McPhee on December 9, 2009

Google recently began mailing letters to the top 100,000+ businesses that have been cited as “favorites” by Google Maps users. Google has been tracking and calculating CTR on each business’s local listing to determine who exactly those top businesses are. Apparently the results are... [click to continue...]

Finding the Customers You Don’t Want

by Mike Nierengarten on December 4, 2009

Negative Keyword Targeting

Avoiding the Masses

Most marketers push to reach as many people as possible.  Generally, the greater the reach of an ad, viral video, or word of mouth marketing campaign, the more the campaign will sell.  This is why Super Bowl commercials cost so darn much and why Google can charge a premium over Yahoo or Bing.  Reach looks great on the revenue sheet.  Gap, Coca Cola, and Colgate are big Reach proponents, but it is rarely the right approach for the smaller players (realistically, if you are reading this, you fall in this category).  For us, limiting our advertisements’ reach can be our best strategy.

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Google Analytics Spotlight: Custom Alerts (Beta)

by Kim Toomey on December 1, 2009

Google has continued to roll out new features in Google analytics, allowing the program to really compete with some of the enterprise (i.e. expensive) level platforms. One of the newer features to be released – and still in beta – is their Intelligence reporting which allows you to set u... [click to continue...]

Beginner PPC White Paper Available

by Heather Schwartz on November 30, 2009

Anvil is proud the announce the release of our latest white paper, “The Marketer’s Guide to Getting Started with Pay-Per-Click (PPC) Marketing”. Anvil’s free Pay-Per-Click (PPC) marketing white paper is a beginner’s guide to PPC management, which includes PPC strategies, benefits and an ov... [click to continue...]

Three Recent Changes Pushing Local Search Forward

by John McPhee on November 26, 2009

Google Maps is quickly becoming all the rage within the small to medium sized business (SMB) category. Well, Google Maps has been around for a few years now and the savvy small business owner has most likely taken full advantage of what Maps has to offer (i.e. increased visibility, credibility and m... [click to continue...]

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