Search Engine Marketing

With demand for "PC plus" products (e.g., smartphones and tablets) growing by the day, Lenovo realized it had a tremendous opportunity at hand to capture market share. The problem was the brand suffered from a lack of awareness within the PC industry, with companies like Dell and HP top of mind for most consumers. To address this problem, Lenovo invested time and resources into improving its SEO. 

Product Listing Ads (PLAs) are an exciting online marketing campaign that continues to evolve. These image-based search ads have proven to deliver strong clickthrough and conversion rates by capturing users’ attention with product-specific images and pricing information. They allow advertisers to promote individual items within their feed quickly and efficiently, and require less hands-on management than search and display campaigns. 

Customer service data startup StellaService is getting a nice of nod of approval from Google, which is going to start integrating the startup's customer service data into some of its products. The first Google product to get powered by StellaService's data will be the Google Trusted Store badge program, the companies announced. As its name indicates, the Google Trusted Store program aims to signal to online shoppers which online merchants are the most trustworthy.

Ever wonder how much retailers spend on paid search? Look to the stars! Or rather, check out AdGooroo's new infographic to see the top 10 spending retail categories in 2012 as well as the top players in each category based on impressions

Charming Charlie, a Houston-based fashion, jewelry and accessories retailer, launched a local search marketing program late last year that helped its local first-page Google search rankings nearly double on average in the more than 240 cities where the retailer has brick-and-mortar locations.

As adoption of the tablet approaches its tipping point, more and more retailers are looking to create an optimized experience for the tablet shopper. This article explores some ways that retailers can improve this experience and ultimately drive sales.

Global e-commerce marketplace Rakuten Inc. has rebranded Buy.com, which it acquired in May 2010, to Rakuten.com Shopping. Between now and Jan. 30, merchants and consumers will still be able to go to Buy.com to access Rakuten's U.S. subsidiary. Starting Jan. 31, however, the site URL will change to Rakuten.com. Anyone going to Buy.com will be redirected to the new URL.

EmpireCovers.com, a Philadelphia-based online retailer that manufactures and sells automotive, marine, patio and power sport protective covers, has seen new customer acquisition as well as its clickthrough rate increase since launching a program on Google's new Shopping platform earlier this year. In addition, EmpireCovers.com's cost-per-acquisition (CPA) and cost-per-click (CPC) rates have declined since it began using Google Shopping.

This week's top article of the week (as determined by readers’ clickthroughs) focuses on search, specifically the search options you offer consumers on your website. While shopping cart abandonment has become somewhat of a sexy topic in the retail industry, the more prevalent issue of site abandonment — consumers are unable to locate their desired product and quickly exit the site — is often overlooked. Ofer Alt, CEO of Celebros, addresses the issue of site abandonment in his article by detailing four ways that an effective site search program can turn site visitors into paying customers. 

PROBLEM: Bedroom Furniture Discounts (BFD), a cross-channel retailer of furniture, wanted to optimize its paid search program.
SOLUTION: Hired a third-party provider of online interaction management tools, including a Google AdWords-based conversion solution.