ServiceMaster Solutions, a commercial cleaning and janitorial service, drove a 9% conversion rate and a 150% increase in lead generation through a direct-response marketing model. David Kirkpatrick explains how, starting with the willingness to try -- and possibly fail -- as long as it leads to a lesson learned. The tactical steps include testing and tracking internal responses to leads. The outcome produced a 1,500% return on investment for search engine optimization and 200% ROI on paid search.

Google provides more information about the URL Parameters feature in Webmaster Tools designed for webmasters who want to help Google crawl their site more efficiently. Maile Ohye explains the configuration parameters in a video. By telling Google how parameters behave and the recommended action for Googlebot, webmasters can improve your site's crawl efficiency. If configured incorrectly, webmasters may accidentally recommend that Google ignore important pages.

Neil Davidson begins with a philosophical debate on whether marketers can create viral content, or whether the reaction to the content creates the effect. He analyzes the meaning of viral and why people share content, looks at ways to charm customers, and suggests processes that could increase the likelihood that people will share the content.

The goal to increase conversion rates remains top of mind for all marketers. Sean Quadlin delves into a case study highlighting the importance of showing how a new landing page can improve performance and conversion rates. He provides a look "behind the scenes" of an account to demonstrate a point. It all starts with trying to fix a landing page that only converts 0.22% of the time -- turning it into one, by month four, that converts 4.86% of the time.

Bring your own device (BYOD) to connect could become a major threat to companies. Nitin Bhas tells us that the number of employee owned smartphones and tablets used in the enterprise will more than double by 2014 -- reaching 350 million, compared to almost 150 million this year. While productivity can rise, the threat from unprotected employee mobile devices becomes significant. It raises the threat of financial loss, legal liability and brand damage.

Some 62% of people participating in a study of 150 said they do not want social content in their search engine results, compared with 19% who do and the remainder who had no preference. When asked for an opinion comparing the way Bing and Google present a universal layout preference, 53% said Google, 31%, Bing, and 16%, no preference.

Research competitors, create a plan, estimate the benefits, and pull data from other completed conversion rate optimization (CRO) tests to help clients see the benefits. These are some of the points Kayla Kurtz discusses in a five-step plan to help get clients on board with CRO and testing. For example, Kurtz suggests researching the top three paid-search competitors for the company's highest-converting keywords and analyzing their landing pages and conversion path. This can provide insight into better-optimizing company Web site pages.

Designing a landing page that produces high conversion rates can become tricky. The old saying one size doesn't fit all applies. Colleen provides five landing page best practices to consider to maintain high quality on the site. She reminds us to avoid sensational or unsubstantiated claims that can turn off potential or long-standing customers, along with other insights.

Adam Sohn, Bing's general manager, tells Mary Jo Foley about data and cloud assets that have emerged around Bing. Not a surprise that about 100 Bing developers have been writing apps for Windows 8 tablets, Windows phones, and the Xbox entertainment console. The series of Bing apps built by the Application Experience team seems like just the beginning.

Andrew Goodman takes us through ad relevance related to Google's new quality scores guidelines, also analyzing click-through rates and landing page experience. He explains that ad relevance is less about ads mapping to keywords and more about what -- if any -- ads are shown to specific queries based on query request. He calls "ad relevance" a "fluid concept" when it comes to reporting, and shows how to look at the concept as a benchmark.