WordStream today announced the release of WordStream Keyword Management for SEO, which has an important new feature: the WordStream SEO for Firefox Plug-in. This new plug-in provides seamless access to your keyword research data as you author or edit Web content in your CMS or blog. In this post, I'd like to talk a bit about the underlying design philosophy behind the product, and show how we've developed features that try to simplify various best practices for on-page SEO.

Target the Head When authoring content for SEO, it's critically important that you: Pick a specific, primary topic that is both popular and relevant to your business. Author content that specifically targets your selected topic, making your page more likely to show up in organic search results for those keywords. Word... > Read more

Every year Always On puts together a list that "recognizes companies with game-changing approaches and technologies that are likely to disrupt existing markets and entrenched players. " This year they've included WordStream on the list. As a young company, being included on these sorts of lists is validating for a number of reasons, but most notably we're impressed by: The Company We Keep - There are some very, very smart companies on this list solving some incredibly challenging problems.

Included in the list is a series of fellow Sigma Partners backed companies like Nasuni, oDesk, Responsys, and Zetta. The Process - Always On has a very discerning process for the selection of this list, which always makes inclusion more gratifying. Consistent Validation - Winning multiple awar... > Read more

SES New York will be the first time WordStream's had an opportunity to exhibit at a Search Engine Strategies show, so hopefully you’ll stop by and say hello to us at Booth 125 if you’re attending. We’ll have lots of goodies like water bottles, desk paraphernalia and official WordStream couture, plus the chance to win an eMachines Netbook!  If you know you’re attending and would like to set up dedicated time to speak with us, don’t be shy.

We’ve even created a special offer for SES attendees to get two months of WordStream pay per click management software for free! We’ve attended our fair share of industry conferences and tradeshows, and we’ve put together some of our most valuable tips for any conference newbies: Dress warm because convention centers are notor... > Read more

We meant to announce this before it happened, but the pesky time difference got the better us of ... WordStream presented at SES London, and earlier this morning, on a panel on search advertising tools moderated by Andrew Goodman. From the SES agenda: The competition is fierce in paid search! From small in-house accounts to ones with millions of keywords, it's the new advances in SEM technology that might just make the difference between success and failure.

Are there tools you could be using right now to help double your conversions, lower your costs, or save your team hours of time every week? At this panel, top paid search tool vendors will showcase their latest features in bid management, campaign workflow efficiencies, and reveal what the future holds for the industry. As well, t... > Read more

It's been a really exciting first year for WordStream, and the WordStream team is growing (so much so that we had to move to swanky new digs to accomodate all the new hires), and we're looking to add a few more. Since most of our blog's audience is in the sales and marketing space, I thought we'd throw the job here to see if anyone's interested in applying.

And, to try to make the post a little more interesting for any of you who aren't looking to move right now (and because I'm poring over resumes and it's fresh in my head) I thought I'd put out a few tips that will help get you hired the next time you go to look for work (or at least would if you were applying for a job with the WordStream marketing team). How to Get a Job in Search Marketing (and Other Industries/Disciplines) We'll sta... > Read more

Repeat after me. This year, I resolve to... 1. Get More Organized Is your idea of "keyword research" just a bunch of keywords jammed into in a spreadsheet? Effective keyword organization and keyword management is a foundational component of paid and organic search marketing. In PPC, it means grouping together similar keywords and matching them with targeted ad text and landing pages.

And in SEO, it means effectively targeting keyword niches in order to create and link together original themed content about specific topics, which in turn are more likely to rank highly for targeted organic searches. Start the new year off with strong organizational footing by checking out our Definitive Guide to Keyword Organization. 2. Lose Weight Trim the fat from your PPC campaigns! Negative ke... > Read more

Well well well, if it isn't Friday once again. Since next Friday is Christmas, and the following is New Year's Day, this is my last Friday roundup of the year (and decade!). And I'd like to use it to say THANK YOU to everyone who helped us spread the word about our new free tools, the Keyword Niche Finder and the Free Keyword Grouper.

Here's a roundup of all the coverage around the Web: On Search Engine People, Terry Van Horne talks about getting back to the "roots of SEO" with keyword research, calling the Keyword Niche Finder "simply one of the best tools I've seen for quite some time." Ann Smarty reviewed the tools on Search Engine Journal: "WordStream, a must-have keyword management tool for PPC marketers we reviewed earlier, has just launched two really nice... > Read more

Today WordStream has launched two new, powerful, patented, and totally FREE keyword suggestion tools. The Free Keyword Niche Finder – To use this tool, just enter a keyword and get back structured pockets of keyword suggestions ready to use in paid and organic search marketing campaigns.

The Free Keyword Grouper – Drop in a list of keywords or analytic data and this tool segments your keywords into tightly related semantic groupings. I'd like to talk a little about why we created these tools and why I believe that the future of keyword research for both pay-per-click marketing and search engine optimization will involve thinking of keywords in terms of niches, rather than individual keywords. What Is a Keyword Niche? A keyword niche (or keyword grouping), as oppo... > Read more

Hello world! I was interviewed today by Sarah Worsham (sazbean).Sarah is among other things, a Web Strategist, Geek, Mother, Wife, Webgrrl, Computer Engineer and MBA! She runs a website that focuses on helping companies and organizations use the Internet to reach their business goals. The topics are focused around business & entrepreneurship and you can read the article here.

... > Read more

Keyword research as we know it suffers from a major disconnect. On one hand, you have keyword tools, which provide keyword suggestions and associated keyword frequency estimates. On the other hand, you have web analytics applications, which provide you with the actual search queries that are driving traffic to your site, and the true relevancy of your keywords based on real conversion data.

But there is no reason for these two types of tools to be divorced from each other. In fact, in my experience, successful keyword research largely depends on your ability to leverage and manage data from both keyword tools and web analytics in a continuous fashion. Let's take a look at why neither keyword tools nor web analytics alone is sufficient for complete keyword research, and how the future of ke... > Read more

There's big news in WordStream World. We've moved to shnazzy new digs! It's pretty exciting and we all love the new space in Boston's Back Bay, just across from the Prudential Center. We're on the 16th floor of the Christian Science Monitor building and the views are incredible. What's more, our new space is a big step up from the last place.

See that "WordStream is that-a-way" sign above. Yes, that was the actual sign that greeted visitors at our previous office, so you can imagine what the rest of the place looked like. Actually, you don't have to imagine. I've taken some pics of the new WordStream office and I've also got some photos of the old space (evidence is what the police are calling them now), that way you can witness our ascent from outhouse to penthouse. So sit bac... > Read more

Despite billions of searches month in and month out (more than 9 billion in July alone), Google continues to report that nearly 20% of all search queries each month are unique—that is, they have never been searched on before. To help address this challenge, we launched a free keyword suggestion tool last week for specialists and agencies providing pay-per-click (PPC) marketing and search engine optimization (SEO) services.

Initial market adoption and feedback have been overwhelming. In the first week we have provided more than 100 million keyword ideas to early adopters of the tool. The Free Keyword Tool’s database of over a trillion search queries, the tool’s ease and speed of use, and advanced features such as related keywords and filters have search experts favorably c... > Read more

Today WordStream released what I and numerous other industry experts believe to be the most comprehensive and accurate keyword tool ever. The best part is that we're giving it away for free – no strings attached! WordStream's Free Keyword Tool is quite different from other keyword tools – we've partnered with ISPs, search engines and other data providers to aggregate and weight over one billion unique keywords, representing well over a trillion search queries, and hundreds of millions of related terms from diverse keyword sources.

This video shows how it works: And this Keyword Tool FAQ explains how we've made it more comprehensive, accurate and faster than other keyword tools out there. But you can see for yourself by trying it out now – type some test queries into t... > Read more

Hey, All. I thought I'd take this opportunity to update everyone on a number of opportunities to hear our founder and VP of Product Development, Larry Kim, speak. Larry Kim LIVE! Larry was a featured guest on Bruce Clay's SEM Synergy last week. Larry was interviewed by @VirginiaNussey on the subject of Inbound Marketing.

For anyone who missed it, you can catch the interview in full here: SEM Synergy interview with Larry Kim on Inbound Marketing SEM Synergy airs on Webmaster Radio every Wednesday at 3 p.m. (EDT), and the show always books great guests while offering commentary from search marketing legend Bruce Clay and his team on the latest goings on in the world of search. Boston SEO Meetup Also, if you're in the Boston area, come check out Boston SEO Meetup event in Arlington, startin... > Read more