2008 Search Quiz Winner

I am happy to announce to everyone that I won the 2008 Search Quiz organized by Matt McGee at Small Business SEM.

I must say that even if I won the contest, the quiz itself is a difficult one, as Matt himself would admit.

This year’s quiz was difficult, to say the least.

That meant I had to guess a few of the questions and cross my fingers that my guesses were the best and that I hurdle into the next question. But getting the hint is key. For example, I figured Barack Obama was the most tech-savvy among the US Presidential hopefuls, and therefore has the highest likelihood of posting a online marketing expert at Search Engine Watch job board.

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Telling Customers What Search Queries To Use

I saw a Sony Blu-ray ad somewhere near the Central Library in Causeway Bay. In addition to the product models and features, there is also an invitation to go online and visit the Sony website. But what attracted me is that the ad also included an illustration to go to a search engine and type in “Sony Blu-ray” in the search box. This is a good attempt to make a connection between an offline ad (in this case a billboard) and online presence of the brand.

I would expect Sony is pretty certain that it ranks well for such branded keyword.

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Chrome about: Pages

In case you have started to embrace Chrome, you would definitely be curious about its features. One of which are its about: pages. They’re not exactly what I call Easter Eggs but somehow they feature some of the hidden (or not so hidden) abilities of this Google built browser.

Open your Chrome browser and try each of these entries in the URL box:

about:
about:cache
about:crash
about:dns
about:hang
about:histograms
about:internets
about:memory
about:network
about:plugins
about:stats
about:version

Frustrated Small Business Owner or Simply an MSNBC Link Bait?

I didn’t encounter a small business owner that’s as frustrated as Gene Marks. At least that’s how he portrayed his article Tech Solutions that Your Small Business Can’t Use.

He confesses of having problems with many things, from vitamins to teeth whiteners. And the list doesn’t stop even when he goes online.

By listing ten technology solutions that doesn’t suit him well, one can easily portray him in a negative way. Among the things he said were bit of a scam is search engine optimization.

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Healthy Ways to Start Search Marketing in 2008

Disclaimer: This article doesn’t and will not try to portray search as an unhealthy industry.

Being in the search marketing industry doesn’t mean we’re all sitting on our PCs all day long, reading SEO articles, analyzing client sites and making recommendations.

Of course we have to be mentally fit to tackle issues that pertain to our work, but we also have to ensure our physical health is not compromised. And so as we start 2008, let’s be mindful of having healthy bodies and sound minds.

While the following tips are essentially important to search marketing professionals, it is equally applicable to everyone else:

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