In an ongoing effort to improve conversion rate optimization processes, Shane Cassells give us some tips from experts on critical planning and research. She starts with creating content to test, along with wireframes of the new pages, and provides tips on completing the experiments and then transferring the campaigns that work to other media.

Well -- not totally good-bye, but darn near. It appears that search engines don't have the same respect for backlinks as they once did. Really -- we're only talking about a dozen years. Even if marketers generate links by Google's guidelines, through reaching out to site owners and requesting them without compensation, or high-quality guest posts, they don't always generate the best possible signal for search engines. Eric Enge provides insight into what he believes will become the future of link building.

Google will launch the Good to Know ad campaign in two dozen U.S. newspapers and magazines and in New York and Washington subways to encourage people to protect themselves and their information on the Web. The campaign -- which will run in a variety of newspapers, such as the Los Angeles Times -- serves up advice like how to manage data people share with Google and Web sites, according to Jessica Guynn.

Google doesn't view building new links on old pages the same as building new links on new pages. So Cyrus Shepard serves up three strategies to help search experts maximize the value of new links on all types of pages. Shepard discusses factors that make a difference, such as internal versus external links, authority and trust, position on a page and attributes versus text links. 

Meta description can improve click-through rates from search engines, keep visitors coming back to Web sites looking for relevant content, and tie pages to social networks like Facebook, Google+ and LinkedIn, according to Kristi Hines. She tells us how search engines use meta description and outlines some of the benefits earned in search engine optimization (SEO) strategies. She also provides a list of social bookmarking networks that use meta descriptions.

Google apologized after the Kenyan company Mocality, which hosts an online directory and provides services for 170,000 businesses, accused Google of using its database to steal clients, and then presented evidence. In a detailed blog post and link to a written transcript, Mocality CEO Stefan Magdalinksi detils how Google contacted their customers without permission and made untrue allegations regarding Mocality business practices.

Combining social and search features, Foursquare added an Explore function that it says turns its Web site into a social search engine. It helps people using the tool to find "interesting things nearby." The company explains that check-ins power Explore, and each time someone checks in it helps to personalize recommendations. There are check boxes that help people searching for stuff discover new places. For example, checking the box for "I haven't been to yet" will help users find new restaurants.

Google last year made an announcement that it would, by default, encrypt search queries entered by anyone who signed into their Google account --which as Paul Burani puts it, made things a little blurry for marketers. But rather than speculate on the implications of those changes, Burani makes some suggestions on how to work with -- rather than against -- them. For starters, in the detailed post, he suggests that marketers need to start thinking about searches as user-generated content.

Facebook is now testing Coupon Posts and Ads on a select group of existing advertisers, according to Mary Hayes. She tells us that it works similar to Sponsored Stories, explaining that the ad offering capitalizes on user behavior and gives advertisers another opportunity to target brand-loving users looking for a bargain. Josh Peters also lays out useful guidelines for those who want to give the coupons a try.

Microsoft will begin testing in January paid-search ads from adCenter in the United Kingdom, France and Ireland on a small percentage of Yahoo's search engine traffic. The goal is to have the project completed by the end of Q1 2012. The two companies have also begun to simplify location targeting capabilities to help reach more relevant users with new language and location targeting options that will automatically replace the option to target by language and market.