Welcome to the ineedhits Search Engine Marketing blog, where we share the latest search engine and online marketing news, releases, industry trends and great DIY tips and advise.

Have you visited the Opportunities Tab in your Google AdWords account recently?
Over the last few months, Google has been building a range of insights in the Opportunities Tab to help AdWords users optimize their Google advertising campaigns.
In the Opportunities Tab, AdWords users can find customized keyword and budget ideas to help refine the performance of campaigns.
Budget Ideas:
Your Opportunities tab shows budget ideas when a campaign is repeatedly…
Whether you’re just starting out, or re-evaluating your website strategy, it’s important for you to get your plan and budget right.
The rule “Build it and they will come” rarely works in the online space. For you to be successful with your website marketing strategy – you need to have a solid plan and be realistic about the real costs of doing it properly.
Too many business owners spend…
It’s a new year, and accordingly the resolutions have begun. So if yours is to boost your website traffic via search engines – then Google’s Search Based keyword tool will be a valuable part of your toolset.
Google launched the Search Based Keyword Tool about 12 months ago as a beta service. The aim was to remove much of the guess work in selecting keywords for your AdWords…

As I mentioned last week, Google has spent a large part of 2009 testing various changes to their Search Engine Results Page, and the AdWords area is no exception.
Where AdWords was once easily recognized as the simple text ads at the top and right hand side of the organic results, over the last few years – this common description has become less and less correct.
This week, Google…

As momentum builds for the holiday season, Google has timed the launch of their new AdWords driven Product Listing Ads to perfection.
Given they’ve had a very tough year, online retailers will be looking to rev up sales this festive period to make a mends for the poor performance of 2009. Google’s Product Listing Ads could provide the additional exposure for retailers.
The Product Listing Ads have been spotted…

Cyber Monday (the first Monday after Thanksgiving), marks the start of the online holiday shopping season for most retailers. With a flurry of online activity expected on this day, it’s important to ensure your website’s going to capture the attention of as many shoppers as possible.
In 2008, Cyber Monday spending hit a record high, with consumers spending a whopping $846 million online. The good news for…

In August, we reported on Google moving AdWords listings closer to the natural (free) results. At the time, we speculated this may have been a sneaky way to increase Google’s revenue by encouraging more people to click on AdWords listings.
Did this change help to increase Google’s revenue? The short answer is Yes.
At the recent Google earnings report, a spokesperson confirmed that the change did result in an…

Ever wondered if the position of your ad on the Google search results page effects your conversion? Well, logically you would think that the higher your ad is positioned in the SERP’s then the more clicks you are likely to receive, resulting in a higher conversion.
But apparently this isn’t the case…
Google’s Chief Economist, Hal Varian and his team have studied the AdWords data and have concluded…

Google’s started yet another test with their AdWords listings, by experimenting with a new layout for product specific ads. Google’s been testing specific product listings in their AdWords platform for a while now and it appears that this is yet another variation of this test.
Here’s what the new layout looks like:
Google has been exploring various ways to integrate products from Google Base into AdWords listings since around…

Microsoft Bing’s paid click share has risen 44 percent since their launch in June, according to a new report released this week by Efficient Frontier.
The firm previously reported a 13% lift in paid search clicks in late June, so these new figures further cement that the launch of Bing has had a positive impact for Microsoft. The graph below indicates the rise in clicks since launch:
Efficient frontier…