Ryder's Fireside Corner #1

"The HOTTEST search blog on the net"

Greetings wary travels, come gather 'round for a healthy dose of search marketing knowledge nuggets. I will be unleashing my search geek supreme powers each month in an effort to quench your thirst for information on all things search. ~ Enjoy.

How MSN (Dumb) and Yahoo! (Dumber) Are Falling Behind in the Search Marketing Game.

Those bad boyz at Google just keep giving MSN and Yahoo! a digital snap kick to the head in the paid search battle. Not only does Google crush the competition in volume:

But Google AdWords empowers a search marketer in ways only kings and maybe Craig T. Nelson could understand. When an engine provides great research tools, a powerful user interface (UI), and customizable reporting options it allows search advertisers to be smarter about their campaigns which ultimate leads to a better user experience and large advertiser budget allocation.

For those not in the U-BOATS (Unquestioned Boorish Overlords of All Things Search) refer to some of the capabilities available and ratings for each engine:



Google has left the competition behind over the recent year with tools like AdWords Editor, a desktop application that allows for bulk account changes and unbeatable account visibility. Additionally, only Google pushes the envelope with innovative search outlets like video and click-to-call. Now if they could just work on their chatzkies.

- - - -

Excel-erate your Productivity!

Are you taking your Excel game to the next level or are you just getting Excel-cuted? If you use Excel with regularity like most of us data jockeys then you might appreciate my list of shortcut keys: Download Here. Other than that if you are ready for some advanced add-ins then pimp your Excel with ASAP Utilities. My favorite four ASAP functions:
* Columns/Rows > Merge Column Data
* Text > Convert to lowercase
* Fill > Copy values to empty cells below
* Web > Clean web imported data

More great Excel functions:
=len(reference cells here) > counts characters withing reference cells
=concatenate(cell 1, cell 2) > merges cell data into one cell
=if(data test, if true, if false) > more uses than you can shake a stick at, ask any AM for details.