There are several ways to block pages from appearing in the index of search engines. Rand Fishkin provides insight into one after noticing several Webs sites seeking to block bot access to pages on domain have been using robots.txt. He calls the practice "fine," but tries to clarify a few misunderstandings about what blocking Google/Yahoo!/MSN/other search bots with robots.txt does. Fishkin suggests conserving link juice by using nofollow when linking to a URL that is robots.txt disallowed. And, he writes, if disallowed pages have acquired link juice, particularly from external link), consider using meta noindex, follow instead so …

Linus Gregoriadis asks Warren Cowan, CEO at Greenlight, how closely SEO and social media work together to get a different perspective provided by bigmouthmedia, iCrossing and Guava, which promote the marriage. Cowan plays down the importance of social media for search engine optimization, and makes it clear that his agency will stay focused on "traditional SEO." What's the biggest issue? Cowan doubts whether social media can drive valuable link equity. The shortened URLs used on Twitter to stick to the 140 character count undermine the anchor text benefits of links and reduces the ability to rank for anything …

The recently released Ecommerce Benchmark Report from MarketingSherpa suggests "perpetual carts" riding along with the shoppers as they move through a site have a significant impact on conversion, which varies by the type of perpetual cart. Some show dollar totals that update as items are added, while others show product details, thumbnail images, estimated shipping costs and recommended accessories/related products. Optimizing internal search results may work best for some sites. The design of the site and the navigation tools influence internal search functions. MarketingSherpa points to testing results to optimize the site. Some suggestions include testing the last …

Marty Weintraub caught up with Chris Sherman to talk about SEO and the Search Marketing Expo (SMX) Advanced in Seattle, June 2 and 3. In the Q&A, Weintraub asks Sherman to describe what has changed most and least since the first conference. Sherman replies "Google." Sherman tells Weintraub he's been observing the search industry since about 1994, and "by far the most revolutionary change was the advent and rise of Google." During the past 10 years, Google has evolved into "a fairly conservative organization." The transformation has made it "difficult for anyone trying true innovation," Sherman says. Weintraub …

Search Engine Journal and its client services division headed by Loren Baker will merge with Search & Social, the company founded by Dave Snyder and Jordan Kasteler. The two companies have formed a new online marketing and media firm called Search & Social Media that will offer, well, search and social media marketing services. The company also will host a network of media properties built on the Search Engine Journal media network. Baker writes that services will include social media marketing and promotion across Digg, Stumble, Delicious and other niche targeted social media networks, on-site SEO and …

Harvard Professor Ben Edelman has released a report suggesting Google and its partners inflate conversion rates and thus increase advertising costs. Edelman cites four cases that can be read in his report. Although Barry Schwartz writes that he doesn't agree 100% with the allegations, he presents a summary of Edelman's findings in a matrix.

Fifty-five percent of survey respondents planned to raise SEO spending, and 45% said the same for paid search, according to a joint study by Econsultancy and search engine optimization firm Guava. EMarketer encapsulates stats from the study that reveal marketers' perceptions about search have basically stayed the same from last year. David Hallerman believes more marketers are gravitating toward SEO to improve organic listings. That's because optimization appears to work similarly across all search engines. He emphasizes that an optimized site does not drop off the first results page even when marketer spending slows or stops.

Marketers that plan to buy trademarked keywords will want to know that Google announced a change to its trademark policy in the United States. Effective June 15, the company said it will allow you to "use trademark terms in your ad text in the U.S. even if you don't own that trademark or have explicit approval from the trademark owner to use it," under "certain criteria." Dan Friedman writes that to help advertisers understand whether their landing pages meet Google's trademarks guidelines, the company has added some new functions to Search Based Keyword Tool. Visit www.google.com/sktool and enter …

Jennifer Slegg believes optimizing campaigns too frequently could have a negative effect. For instance, optimizing a campaign that only has five clicks won't provide the kind of data required to make an educated guess on the tweaks that should come next, unless you want 25,000 impressions to get those five clicks. Slegg provides metrics to determine how often marketers should optimize campaigns. She suggests things to consider include changes when updating products information, during market shifts, and seeing a drop in conversions, among others.

Brian Carter attempts to find the statistical correlation between local search factors and actual rankings. The search factors he analyzes include number of reviews, instances of the keyword in the title, photos and videos, user content, in-bound links, and Web pages. Several scatter graphs provide insight. From those scatter graphs, Carter found R2 values. "I suspect someone from Google will read this and laugh at my non-PhD-ish bafflement," he writes. "Nonetheless, I know where to go next, so there will be a part two."