Small Business Ecommerce Link Digest – May 9, 2008

If it’s Friday, it must be time for enhancing efficiencies through learning from links. Here’s what’s shaking ’round the Web this week to help you excel at ecommerce and build your business.

• Lots of goings-on about getting more from pay-per-click campaigns on the GOOG from Search Engine Land and Linda Bustos this past week. While I’m a big believer that brand awareness is not a goal, Search Engine Land’s Seven Tactics For Leveraging Paid Search To Build Brand Awareness still represents a great set of tactics for helping your company excel. And the forever-fabulous Linda Bustos’ 9 PPC Advertising Crimes Caught On Screen gives great examples of what not to do with your PPC campaigns. Plus, it’s got LOLCats. How can you go wrong?
• Maps and local search: what’s the connection? Jonah Stein gives one view, asking whether Google is using location to rank sites on his The Art Of SEO – The Science Of PPC blog and Mike Blumenthhal looks at how maps and coupons impact your business. I could insert a “plot a roadmap to your success” joke, but that would be lame. Instead, just check out the articles, OK?
• Lisa Barone at Bruceclay.com has a great piece on creating a web optimization culture. Lisa’s tips make sense for any business looking to create a culture of continuous improvement in any field, not just SEO.
• Search Engine Land gives another of its Small Business Marketing Success Stories with its profile of florist Avante Gardens. These folks planted not just flowers, but the seeds for their success, too. (Sorry, I just had to sneak one in).
• One path to success for all small businesses is keeping costs down. Newseek offers a quick overview of free, but powerful, business software to help. And since few costs are as expensive as health care, BBC News has a great article on how sitting straight is bad for your back. Ah, yes, we here at thinks wants to help your body, soul and bottom line.
• And, finally, looking at the bigger picture, Blink author Malcolm Gladwell takes a look at innovation that’s worth checking out. Because, sometimes, the right way to get the best out of your business is to change the game completely.

Happy Friday, folks. See your right back here on Monday for more ecommerce and interactive marketing madness.

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