For BtoB or BtoC companies that want to make smart decisions about their search marketing strategy based on research and case studies, then buy Marketing Sherpa's 2009 Search Marketing Guide.

I downloaded the Executive Summary and it's pretty good. I'd say if you're a client side web marketer or working for an agency and you're asking yourself any of the following questions, this year's SEM Guide would be a good investment ($397).

1. Am I budgeting enough or too much for SEM in relation to the rest of my marketing budget?
2. What is the real impact of landing pages on conversions?
3. What's the first thing consumers do when they land on a retail site?
4. How can a change in my internal search engine improve my site's conversion rate?
5. How are merchants policing affiliates and search?
6. Why would I want to bring SEM in-house and why would I want to continue to outsource it?
7. If I want to do business in China or India, is click fraud something I should worry about? Also, is it important to translate my site?
8. What should my conversion rate be for PPC vs. SEO listings?
9. What do mobile internet users search for? What response should I expect from a mobile ad?
10. Is the search marketing salary boom slowing?

MarketingSherpa ran their regular survey plus they included reports from 50 other online research sources. Tables, charts, graphs and eyetracking heatmaps plus 2 new special reports: "The Branding Effect of Search Advertising" and "Heatmapping Baidu to Understand Chinese SERP Viewing".

Here's a mini review of the 2009 Marketing Sherpa Search Marketing Guide for more info.

Labels: 2009 search marketing guide, marketing sherpa, search marketing guide