Marketing & Webmarketing

" If SEO is dead, social media will be, too, in another five years. So, keep calm and tweet on.

 

Hold that thought for a second – I can explain.

 

In today’s search world, there’s a lot of talk about how social is “taking over,” how “content is king,” and how search engine optimization is “dead” – with search updates like Penguin and Panda hitting the final nails on the coffin. Sounds very dramatic, doesn’t it? ..."

" When starting a new website, one of the first and most important decisions you have to make is choosing a domain name. That choice will impact the website’s success in nearly every area, included search engine optimization (SEO) and social media marketing (SMM). Let’s examine how a domain name impacts SEO and SMM and then analyze the factors that make a good domain name.

 

Should I Choose A Keyword Domain?

For years SEOs and Search marketers have often purchased domains that contained their targeted keywords in order to increase CTRs and to help gain higher rankings on Google, Yahoo and other search engines. Let’s examine this strategy to determine if it is still effective.

Many SEO strategists would purchase exact match domains (EMDs), which are domains that exactly match the keyword phrase they are targeting. For example, if they want to rank for “buy green widgets” the person might purchase BuyGreenWidgets.com. EMDs offered two advantages.

The presence of the keyword phrase in the domain was itself a ranking factor.The presence of the keyword phrase in the domain encouraged other webmasters to includeThe keyword phrase in the anchor text when linking to the site..."

Should SEO or Social Media come first when launching new online initiatives? There's certainly nothing to stop you from doing both, but synchronizing your goals, strategy, and tactics are key to a successful launch.

This chart breaks down mobile ad impressions and mobile ad revenue by device type/mobile platform.

It’s a must to stay current on latest trends in the design world, especially Web Design. The people from designzzz brought us this infographic showing what the latest trends in web design are, which include responsive design, oversized images, metro designs, interactivity, and speed just to name a few.

"Do you use title tags and meta description tags? Well of course you do because you already know about the meta tags that can help boost your search engine rankings

 

But did you know that meta tags actually affect your social media traffic? Sure, there is Google’s authorship tags, but what about Facebook and Twitter. They actually both have their own social media meta tags that can help you boost the amount of social traffic you’re getting.

 

They’re called Facebook Open Graph and Twitter Cards. Here’s how you can leverage both of them..."

" The evolution of search engine algorithms has added to the complexity of search engine optimization. More significantly, it has impacted the level of integration that is needed with other forms of Web optimization. SEOMoz has a great page that shows the updates year by year.

 

Search engine optimization is no longer strictly about publishing quality content and building the authority of the content. SEO now involves engaging consumers and building relationships.

 

The new paradigm of SEO is that it must be implemented in tandem with other website optimization efforts. These include user experience design and social media marketing..."

" In today’s complex digital landscape, a solid content strategy won’t see success without three core components: search, social and discovery. Many companies focus on just one or two areas without considering how individual tactics can be integrated into one overarching content strategy. It won’t be enough to get your content the exposure it deserves if only one area is emphasized.

 

Whether it’s time, resources, or budget, investments need to be made in each area, and departments need to be on the same page..."

Read more at http://www.business2community.com/content-marketing/maximize-content-search-social-syndication-0486146#aW0aqQtFfAv5eyX6.99

" It is painfully cliché to talk about “the rise of social” and “the power of social media.” That happened a long time ago. Now it’s settled, and we can make some real progress.

 

The power of social lives on beyond its ubiquity, and wields a transformative impact on SEO. Please understand that I’m not going to propagate any myths about how to increase your rankings via social media. Nor am I going to propose that SEO-is-dead-so-long-live-social. Instead, I’ll attempt to demonstrate how social is infringing upon the traditional realm of SEO as a major factor in how people find information, convert, and interact with the Internet.

 

The argument over the correlation of social likes and search rankings is moot. 

First, social likes are important. Their impact upon search rankings, however, is not relevant to this discussion.

Bloggers and pundits love to discuss the search ranking value of an active social presence. “Do Facebook ‘Likes’ Increase Search Rankings,” asks one author. (Her answer, interpreted:  ”Uh, we’re not sure.”) Groupon explains “How to Improve Your Search Rankings with Social Media.” Others croon that Facebook comments can improve one’s rankings.

There’s little value in debating such claims. The studies are inconclusive. What we need to do now is determine what real changes have taken place that actually affect searches.

 

Social Factors That Impact SEO

Keep in mind that SEO is alive and well. Yet along with the continued impact of SEO is the increasing dependence upon social for how people search, find, and respond to information. Here are the major factors that are forming this social search trend..."

" There's a movement happening in our industry, and many folks are changing their practices and titles from "SEO" to "online marketing, inbound marketing, and/or earned media marketing." Where did this shift originate from, and where is it taking our industry as a whole? Is it enough to just be an SEO in today's game, or are we missing the bigger picture?

 

In today's Whiteboard Friday, Rand shares his take on the shift from "SEO" to "inbound marketing" and what the future holds for our industry at large..."

Emails that include social sharing buttons have a click-through rate 158% higher than those do not (6.2% vs. 2.4%), according to a new study from GetReponse. That represents

This Sunday will bring the long awaited return of HBO’s acclaimed series Game of Thrones. Avid fans will tune in to see rival houses plot, scheme, and battle for power and position. However, you don’t need to be watching the season premier to see a rivalry like the Starks and Lannisters. A similar struggle for power and recognition is happening in the modern office everyday: between sales and marketing.

 

With different goals, motivations, and tools, aligning your company’s sales and marketing departments can be a daily challenge. With each staking their claim to different areas of the business process, it can be hard to find any common ground with which to bring them together. However, when sales and marketing work together to generate leads, nurture relationships, and close deals, a company can thrive. There is a lot at stake in this struggle...

"A Forrester Research survey[download page] of almost 60,000 US online adults and more than 15,000 European online adults reveals that few trust common types of digital advertising and promotions such as social media posts, ads on websites, and text messages from companies or brands.

Looking solely at US respondents, only 15% trust social media marketing, 12% information about companies on mobile applications, 10% ads on websites, and 9% text messages from companies or brands..."

There is no doubt that Google is revisiting their Ten things we know to be true quite frequently in the past couple of years. With the all the new algorithm updates and the attention they are putting on cleaning up search, you can bet that Google’s focus is and always will be to “provide the best user experience possible.” This goal is the reason behind Google’s algorithm changes. Google believes it’s best to do one thing really, really well and their one thing is search. Google wants to be a search engine that “understands exactly what you mean and gives you back exactly what you want.” To be able to accomplish this, Google and other search engines are integrating social media influence into their algorithms.

For this reason I believe the Future of Search will become less about what we can control and more about our ability to create valuable content that others will want to share..."