Kalena Jordan doesn't like "gymbos" or people who hit the gym in snazzy new workout gear, only to just go through the motions while on the treadmill or stationary bike. She thinks it's a waste of time and money -- and argues that businesses that invest time and money on a Web site and don't follow through with analytics, usability testing, and other upgrades are just as worthless. Jordan serves up a list of 20 checkpoints that Webmasters can use to see if their site is working hard enough -- from checking for broken links, to having a …

Enid Burns posts September's search ad impression and overall ad volume charts courtesy of Nielsen//NetRatings, providing a vertical- and company-specific look at online advertising's biggest spenders last month. "Who has a Crush on You" (a somewhat shady company that is most likely promoting SMS- or email-based SPAM) took the top spot when it came to sponsored link impressions, with more than 3.7 million -- up almost 19% from August. Meanwhile, Google came in second, with 2.3 million (up nearly 57% from the previous month), and IAC/InterActiveCorp came in third, with over 2.2 million (up by about 2.5%). …

Using analog (read: print yellow pages) rationale, the "Local Search Hound" urges local businesses to drop the practice of using 800 numbers for search campaign tracking and analytics. Studies have shown that print YP advertisers who listed multiple numbers received more calls from searchers than businesses who had just one 800 number -- and the Search Hound argues that offline YP benefits can be translated to IYP or other local search options.

Yes, Google rules the search world (and just released ridiculous earnings), and yes, Yahoo and MSN just launched major upgrades to their crawlers. Let's not forget about Ask.com, the search engine that seemingly gets no credit for the whole "Universal Search" craze ... But searchers are constantly exploring the Web, and while the big three (or four?) engines snag the majority of traffic, there are an infinite number of choices users have for search -- and getting listed with these "alternative engines" can give one site a previously unknown advantage over competitors. This post is a …

Baidu is China's reigning search champ -- though contrasting reports have recently been published with regards to how much market share the Chinese leader has over rivals like Google. In today's TechCrunch post, Duncan Riley poses one possible reason for discrepancies when it comes to China's search volume reports -- namely, that certain Chinese ISPs are redirecting attempted Google visits to Baidu. Riley pastes a screenshot from a Shanghai-based developer who says that he typed in blogsearch.google.com into his URL bar and was sent to the Baidu homepage. The user was on China NetCom, the country's …

Rich Ord recaps blogger Steve Rubel's recent post on 5 reasons why PPC advertising is in trouble -- and asks WebProNews readers if they agree (or disagree, of course). Rubel argues that Google's AdSense has made text ads so ubiquitous that users are becoming blind to them -- essentially driving CTRs for sponsored links way down. (Sounds oddly familiar to what happened when the Web became full of banner ads, right?). Together with decreasing or flat conversions (not just CTRs) and the influx of video, some would say that this signals the death knell for paid search advertising. …

Sara Holubek highlights a decision that many medium- to large-sized marketers struggle to make: whether to hire a search agency or build a team to work on search in-house. Holubek first tries to dispel some common anti-in-house search myths, including the idea that there's no way to grow a team that has the wealth of experience that an outside search firm has, and that marketers don't have access to the same bid management and tech that search agencies do. While she's not arguing for or against outsourcing search (acknowledging that agencies may sometimes be the best …

Given the myriad ways that users can choose to sample a site's content, absolute metrics of page views and unique visitors don't tell the whole story when it comes to a site's overall health. But neither do the number of feed subscribers or widget uploaders. In fact, Ruud Hein argues that if a Webmaster only focuses on any of those concrete, absolute metrics, he or she could actually be grossly misinformed on the site's effectiveness. It's about looking at the trends -- from traffic growth to conversions, to user engagement times -- and even abstracts like how many …

Search theorist and strategist Michael Martinez' list of 20 SEO tips is not for the faint of heart. No, suggestions like "stop using keywords in your URLs" and "redesign your Website at least once a year" might actually throw logical, experienced search pros for a loop, as they seemingly fly in the face of what seems like common sense SEO. But Martinez' piece is about going beyond the boundaries of "common sense SEO" and getting hardcore - by doing things that force continual learning about SEO as a craft. From gaining the competitive edge that comes from observing what …

User reviews and ratings are creeping into every major local search engine --and with good reason. Consumers like the opinions of their peers when it comes to a restaurant's ambiance, a boutique's sales staff, or a real estate agent's knowledge and friendliness. But while accumulating user-generated recommendations should be part of a local business' SEO strategy, keeping a close eye on those reviews and how they're ranking is even more important. Greg Sterling's piece explores the experience that one small coffee shop in Oakland has had with the local listing and review service, Yelp. Café Rooz currently has …