Mark Jackson recommends blogging to many of his search engine optimization clients. Among subjects he discusses are leadership and building depth to the Web site, adding inks, and fresh content. He also points to an earlier post that could help marketers structure their blog.

Brian Prince takes a look at black-hat SEO and some of the practices marketers may way to avoid when outsourcing services to a firm. He speaks with a couple of malware research experts at security firms to get the lowdown. Topics include ways black hatters exploit search index algorithms and use practices like keyword stuffing and cloaking. Prince also points to a white paper released in March titled "Poisoned search results: How hackers have automated search engine poisoning attacks to distribute malware" from Sophos.

As the old saying goes, you can't make a first impression twice. Potential customers sometimes see paid search ads first and then click through to the Web site. Erin provides some ad writing and landing page advice to help attract consumers and close the deal without sending the wrong message. She discusses writing headlines and copy, and also gives advice on call-to-actions and dynamic keyword insertions.

Ann Donnelly questions why site owners pay out for PPC advertising each month when they could spend a portion of the budget on professional SEO services and likely maintain good organic results at no or very little ongoing cost. To find the answer, she provides a list of fears and myths marketers have that could hold them back. For example, fear of pissing off the Web designer by questioning their reasoning for doing something. Or, keeping up with the Jones when you really need to find the answer with the Smiths.

Imelda Khoo, blogging from SES in San Francisco, gives us the rundown on a presentation discussing how large advertisers accelerate their SEO campaign with social media. Folks from Covario and Well Fargo participated. The group talks about how social media impacts SEO, how to determine budgets for social media vs. SEO, and if the value's in organic or paid search.

Google releases the 1.3.6 version of App Engine for Java and Python. The release includes several new features such as relaxed quota and datastore limitations, along with added various issue fixes. A little techie, but the App Engine team details the features, and offers up links for additional information on how to use the technology.

Google has launched a feature in Gmail Buzz that suggests whom you should follow. It's called Automatic Following Suggestions. The rationale: those with a large contact list might have missed some friends when choosing people to follow in Buzz. The Gmail team provides an example of how it works and why GMail Buzz users might want to use it.

Google has introduced Enhanced CPC, an automatic bidding feature meant to improve return on investments on Max CPC campaigns, according to Dan Friedman. He provides insight on how to get started using the tool, and adds that advertisers cannot use AdWords Editor to modify campaigns using Enhanced CPC. Google is working to ensure compatibility in the near future.

Rand Fishkin wants to give SEO professionals a chance to vote on the next big tool for Web App SEOmoz builds. Fishkin tells us the group has a long list of features to build into the tool, but needs help prioritizing. What should SEOmoz concentrate on first?

Julie Batten tells us about some available tools for advertisers, including a variety of bid management tools and features, and Web analytics suites. She also reminds us that most companies offer free 30-to-60 day demos, so advertisers can try them with little commitment to see if they're worth the investment.