Charlene Jaszewski recaps an in-depth panel on ramping up conversions at SES NYC, with insights and commentary from search pros including Future Now's COO Howard Kaplan and Mike Moran, a software engineer with experience at IBM. One key takeaway was that Webmasters need to apply "direct marketing methods" to their Web sites, according to Moran. Instead of just grading a site based on aesthetics and usability, asking questions like: What are the top-selling products, which items aren't selling so well, and what the competition is selling will do more to increase conversions. The direct marketer's eye would also …

If you need to test multiple factors on a Web site, like the main page's title, body copy and product sample, then you need to run a multivariate test. Ian Lurie offers a thorough explanation of what multivariate testing is--complete with screenshots--and explains why it's important to test "every possible combination of the variables" available. "Multivariate testing lets me compare more than variables," Lurie says. "It lets me compare combinations of variables, quickly and efficiently, and then use some mathematical wizardry to find the best possible page configuration." The tests can help end disputes over which …

Miriam Ellis solicits reader feedback with this post, which deals with how to develop a local keyword strategy for a product or service that seemingly has no search traction. "What do you do when you're building a website or doing SEO for a local business and your keyword research shows zero searches for what the service does or sells?" Ellis says. "This is a dilemma we struggle with and, in such cases, it's been our custom to optimize for whatever we discover to be popular broad searches plus the location, but at the end of doing this, it …

Six search firms -- SearchIgnite, Clickable, iCrossing, Covario, Range Online Media and IPG's Initiative -- held a conference call with Citibank analyst Mark Mahaney last week, to talk about advertiser spending and search trends in Q1. The goal was to help gauge what impact, if any, the economic downturn was having on the search industry. Henry Blodget says that it's a glass half- empty/half-full forecast. The firms generally agreed that search advertising trends remain strong. "Search volumes remain robust, and advertising clients continue to shift greater share of ad budgets to search," Blodget said. Still, the group "appeared …

After years of standing on opposite sides of the click fraud fence, Yahoo and Click Forensics have partnered to help tackle the issue for Yahoo Search Marketing advertisers. As Elinor Mills notes, "There have been calls for an independent third party to oversee the business, but advertisers don't want to give up their server data to search engines and vice versa. The Yahoo-Click Forensics relationship seems like a step in that direction." While neither company has detailed exactly what click info they'll be sharing, both Tom Cuthbert, CEO of Click Forensics, and Reggie Davis, Yahoo's click quality czar, …

According to Amber Benedict, there are two main reasons why you should run AdWords Search Query Reports--to gain insights on new keywords and negative keywords. "The search query report will give you a list of actual search queries that customers are typing in the search bar to trigger your ad," Benedict says. "It's good to know this information especially if you find some keywords that aren't currently in your account." These rogue queries were most likely triggered by your broad match keywords--and you can rank higher on, and more precisely target, these keywords if you incorporate them directly …

"Absolutely," says Josh Gampel, vice president of staffing services for Onward Search, which provides search and social media talent for Fortune 1000 companies and interactive agencies. "Direct marketing spending increased in previous recessions because it was the most trackable form of marketing," he says. "And search engine marketing is the most trackable form of marketing this time around. In fact, we expect SEM spending will double by 2011." Combine Gampel's statement with the widely accepted belief that hiring and retaining qualified search talent is difficult, and you can see why search pros--including more junior strategists--may be better sheltered …

Arnold Jasra reviews the top search-oriented Facebook applications--noting that they're less Web search-focused and more geared toward how to find your friends. Still, as Facebook evolves into a whole Web experience, "There's a slew of other useful applications which are no longer limited to friend finding," Jasra says. The top search-oriented app in terms of active users is "Advanced Search," which lets members sift through profiles based on criteria like college, work location, age, gender or relationship status, and includes large profile pics to make sure the correct person is found. "U-Search-Tube" comes up second with over …

The Boston Globe has gone beyond just "porting print news online" for its digital publication strategy--as the newspaper is using search to become a better aggregator of breaking news, local community content and commerce. The most recent change is tapping Google to power "Federated search" for Boston.com, and testing out all of the solution's innovations, including licensed business listings tied to Google Maps, a white-label run-of-site search, as well as the ability to further monetize content through AdSense. But before the Google deal, Boston.com added local events listings (and search) through Zvents, as well as …

Stoney deGeyter reviews Trackur, the latest online reputation management tool that aims to "go beyond Google content" for tracking keywords (like a company's brand or employees' names). Trackur sifts through images, blogs, videos and social media applications like Twitter and Digg, and delivers the constantly updated results via email or RSS feed. During deGeyter's trial run, Trackur produced significantly fewer results than a standard "Google Alerts" search. As deGeyter says, a Trackur search for his own name only produced 22 search results dating back to March 2007, while "a Google search for my name produces about 35,000 …