Marketers should test projects, invest in landing pages to maximize marketing spend, and integrate messaging strategies based on both search engine marketing and email data. These three tips from Ram Krishnamurthy and Brad Neelan are just part of their five suggested strategies for driving return on investments in search and email marketing. Krishnamurthy and Neelan also suggest paying close attention to keyword search terms to understanding customers better. They write that analyzing data both from online and offline campaigns provides a "holistic view" and lets companies better drive targeted email communications and marketing offers.

Alan Bleiweiss has put together a detailed guide on leveraging niche sites and building a solid back-link strategy. He believes it's better to have content split up among multiple Web sites -- like several micro sites that all feed traffic into one very large Web site (or vice versa). He explains this multi-site strategy can pay off big, because it's a great way to control back-link numbers. Since proper planning can help prevent poor performance, Bleiweiss provides a long list of key considerations that SEO professionals and marketers need to think through. Among those, Bleiweiss suggests getting buy-in …

David Carberry explains that bounce rates are measured not by the length of time spent on the site, but rather by whether or not visitors move on to another page within the site. Carberry serves up numerous reasons for visitors jumping ship and ways to identify the problems through Web analytics. He points to poor Web site design and improper use of SEO and paid search campaigns as possible contributors to a high bounce-rate problem. He also suggests paying attention to entry points from search engines or referrals into the site, which could help drive more traffic.

Google released a new version of AdWords Editor, version 7.5.1, for Windows and Mac. Austin Rachlin writes that the latest version can save time by allowing the user to download or update select campaigns. Among the changes meant to streamline processes, are the ability to import CSV files in AdWords Editor, and the ability to quickly pinpoint keywords most relevant to the account through the "Search-based keywords" tab. Other changes to the Keyword Opportunities tool aim to make it easier to manage keyword data.

Aaron Goldman shares some thoughts on Microsoft's new "decision engine," Bing. While several search engines have already been labeled "Google-killer," it's important to note these engines have attributes that could complement instead of send Google packing or reverse its dominance in search. Goldman does, however, point to several Bing features that outshine Google's. Take, for example, video and image search, as well as verticals like entertainment, travel, auto, sports, and, dare I say, news and shopping. The real differentiator becomes the image on the homepage. With a click it leads the searcher to more information about the …

Those optimizing video search should focus on keyword research, landing pages, tracking and analytics, along with other traditional SEO best practices, according to Ron Jones. Jones believes optimization begins long before producing the video. Identify keywords and phrases before getting started. Jones points out that some search engines have the technology to convert speech to text and then index the results. Marketers should use those keywords in the title, description of the video, file name and URL whenever possible.

Professional-looking reports, the ability to work across multiple search engines, and quick optimization of campaign results are some benefits small-to-midsize companies can gain from Acquisio's new PPC bid rule management tool, according to Brian Carter. Carter summarizes a handful of features in the tool such as the ability to log all changes and allow you to roll back to specific dates in the process when projects get sidetracked. Acquisio also lets users simulate changes or approve optimizations with the bid rule tool before taking them live.

SEO professionals might want to choose keyword search terms more wisely. A McAfee report analyzed risks from searching on more than 2,600 popular keywords in 2008. It turns out globally, "free," "screensavers," and "lyrics" and "Bebo" are most likely to contain malware. The study suggests "screensavers" was a risky term last year, with six out of 10 search results containing malware, while the keyword "lyrics" had a risk factor of one in two. Searchers clicking on the word "free" had a 21.3% chance of encountering an infected Web site. Among the top terms in Britain that led to …

Track traffic, value and opportunity in data to build out a long-lasting SEO program because once you're given the "green light to proceed" with a project you will need the numbers to support the bottom line. If you can't prove the project's worth, David Roth said it will "die a quick and quiet death." His advice: Put in place some Web analytics to determine how much profit projects drive into companies and where to invest additional dollars. Roth also spends time explaining how search affects data, calling it "vertical search reporting," and also provides insight on building "opportunity …