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Over the past couple of weeks a number of new tools and helpful articles have been published so I thought I’d put together a post rounding up the main developments…

First up, Google has been active over the past couple of weeks, releasing a Google Analytics Online Tutorial and new expandable AdSense ads.

Improving conversion is essential to gain a competitive edge online and analyzing your analytics is one of the best ways to achieve this. Google’s online course looks very good - similar to its AdWords tutorial - and at the end you can take the Google Analytics IQ Test (for $50) and receive the Google Analytics Individual Qualification (IQ) certificate.

Expandable ads potentially offer excellent brand exposure for companies. In Google’s own words:

“Expandable ads are rich media ads that can expand beyond the original size of the ad unit, following a user-initiated action. This creates more real estate for the ad, allowing for more interaction from interested users. For instance, expandable ads may stream a movie trailer, show video game clips, or display various views of an item for sale.”

However, personally I won’t be rushing to add them to my sites. Website owners only get paid on a per click basis when users actually view the expandable ad and then click through to the advertiser’s site. I can see the click-through rate being very low, with users viewing the expandable ads before closing them and continuing to browse the site they’re on. Further down the line I wouldn’t be surprised to see Google introduce CPM rather than CPC pricing for these ads

If you’re looking to participate heavily in social media marketing and benefit through cross-branding then a great tool has been designed which automatically checks whether a username is available across 104 top social media sites.

Moving over to PPC - if you’ve ever tried advertising on Google’s content network and been disappointed with the results then take a look at this new AdWords Content Strategy, based around building themed ad groups.

Finally, if you’re looking to step up both your link building and link bait plans then check out the link building stimulus plan over at Search Engine Land.The article includes an excellent list of Web 2.0 elements which make your site more ‘linkable’.

Have you come across any useful new tools or great articles from the past couple of weeks? Feel free to mention them in the comments below.

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