“Landing pages with fewer click options, fewer path decisions, nearly always get far higher response rates.” “Bullet points work. Marketing Sherpa has just published a free whitepaper titled Business Technology Marketing Benchmark Guide 2007-08: Practical Data for B2B Software, Hardware & Services Marketers. While experienced B2B IT marketers won't find any shocking revelations here, there are some minor surprises, and even the confirmatory data make it well worth the quick read. actually wind up registering to use these resources. It's the hunter concept turned sideways. MORE >>

Lead generation playbook: 5 steps to a 375% conversion lift by Marketing Experiments Blog Hunter Boyle and Brian Carroll provide a helpful, educational online clinic on "what happens after prospects hit the 'submit' button, and how marketing and sales teams can work together more effectively to expand their customer base and get the most revenue per lead." What's in A Name? by MediaPost Online Publishing Insider Kory Kredit explores the inexact science of business naming, from descriptive ( AdBuyer.com ) to ont-quite-real words ( Aquisio ) to misspellings ( Personifi ) to WTF? MORE >>

As prospects work their way through the research process, from general how-is-this-problem-being-solved-today research to specific types of products or services, make sure that your content fits their needs—and that the search engines can find it. ** technorati tags: search engine optimization SEO article marketing sites product pages keyword research tool product descriptions del.icio.us Sometimes that is what you're doing, but often writing for the web—and SEO—involves less glamorous pages like product or service descriptions. So how do you add life, and SEO value, to a product page? MORE >>

This site is a collection of real help desk tickets compiled over time by a technician who had the misfortune to work with an IT minion identified here only as "George." While we worked together, George was responsible for turning out some of the most mangled, garbled, and just plain screwed up help desk tickets ever before seen by mortal man." Signs that you need a break from SEO. Poking fun at Web 2.0 naming conventions. Copywriting mistakes to avoid—and tips for writing better copy from a standup comedian. How not to use PowerPoint. Search engine rap (oxymoronic, but true). MORE >>

Among his recommendations: think about your goals and budget first, so your needs are clear; think about the size of agency you'll be most comfortable working with ("Do you want to be a big fish in a small pond, or a small fish in a big pond?"); and finding an agency that has experience solving your specific type of challenge is sometimes more important than finding one with similar industry experience. Is there SEM life beyond AdWords (and if so, where?)? How do you write a killer search ad? What should you look for when hiring a paid search agency? and MSN. MORE >>