Digital Marketing Essentials

Chas Begley: All websites need inbound links but building them takes time, effort and not a little thought.

Michael King, the author of this guide, is one of the best SEO experts around and this article covers all the bases from creating a link building philosophy, suggesting tools to use and a schedule.

If you are running your own link building rather than outsourcing to an agency this is highly recommended reading.

The full post is here:
http://goo.gl/gvtUC

Chas Begley: With the Penguin update Google has started to carry out its threat to penalise over optimised websites. Although much of the attention in the SEO industry has focused on the effect of ‘over enthusiastic’ backlinking strategies, excessive on-page optimisation is also being targeted. Matt Cutt’s stated in his original notification of the penalties. That sites that used too many keywords and engages in other dubious practices would also be hit.

But what does that mean?

In this Slideshare presentation, digital agency, Steak London takes you through the steps to get the best out of your page without incurring Google’s wrath.

The presentation can be views here:

http://goo.gl/Qu8I2 ;

Chas Begley: Many people work hard to build social credibility on their websites in terms of likes, +1s and tweets but what happens if you migrate a page or website to a new url or domain?

Most people assume that a simple 301 redirect will ensure that the social media authority signals follow to the new page and are surprised when they discover that it is emphatically not the case.

However site owners who are looking to migrate need not despair. In this excellent post Michael King details the procedures to follow to ensure social credibility follows the page. Michael deals in turn with Facebook, Twitter and Google Plus social signals.

The post can be seen here on Search Engine Watch:
http://goo.gl/SxmYf

Highly recommended

Chas Begley: Google has been updating its search algorithm at an unprecedented rate over the past year. The speed and extent of the changes have thrown the world of SEO into confusion and paralysis as optimisers try to work out what needs to be done to attain and retain top rankings.

In this post on Search Engine Land, Kerry Dean gives some advice on his finding after months, 'practically living in an analytics dashboard'.

The post gives some sage advice for link building and content creation.

The post can be read here:
http://goo.gl/ol90d

Chas Begley: A blog post by Don Bulmer, a Vice President of Communication Strategy at Royal Dutch Shell that articulates the reasons a supermajor oil company has turned to social media to engage with the public.

Shell established their Facebook page just ten weeks ago (February 15th 2012) and have already surpassed 900,000 followers. The company have adopted social media as a communications channel to reflect the reality on a digitally connected world and the necessity of engaging directly with the public.

Interestingly, Don concedes that while direct communications with the general public has led to more purposeful engagement it has also exposed the company to greater vulnerabilities. This is an acknowledgement that the growth of connected consumers has fundamentally altered the balance of power between corporations and the public.

Throughout the post Don concedes that Shell are learning as they go with social media (as we all are) and concludes by sharing some early lessons that the company has learned from their participation in social media.

An enlightening post that can be read on Don's blog here: http://goo.gl/eroum

Chas Begley: We all know the value of good content but for busy marketers there are never enough hours in the day. 

This thoughtful article by Roger C. Parker helps content producers organise themselves to become more productive. 

Roger organises his advice under three headings:

1. Studyingthe Right Examples

2. Choosing the Right Tools

3. Mastering the Right Habits

In each section he goes into quite a lot of detail which I found enlightening and useful.

The full article is on the Content Marketing Institute website:

http://goo.gl/yTRU6 ;

Chas Begley: The speed with which the SEO landscape is changing and the rise in social media has a lot of people asking is SEO finished. In this excellent article Krista LaRiviere states categorically the 'SEO is not dead and nor will it die in the foreseeable future', a viewpoint with which I wholeheartedly agree.

However there is also no doubt that SEO has changed and here Krista presents her new theory: The Hierarchy of Web Presence Optimisation.

The theory proposes 5 tiers and allocated a percentage importance to each. From the bottom up are they are:

1. Technical SEO fundamentals and foundations - 10%
2. Keywords and competitive research -25%
3. Optimised content marketing plan -55%
4. Social Media signals - 5%
5. Measurement and improvement - 5%

While I am not sure that she has her percentages quite right I think she is absolutely correct in allocating central importance to good content.

The value of Krista's theory is that it gives a more complete view of what is required for SEO and emphasises to those wanting to optimise webpages that there is more to it than on-page technical work and backlink strategies. Those days are clearly gone forever.

You can read Krista's article on Search Engine Watch here: http://goo.gl/Egtlp

Highly recommended

Chas Begley: This article on All Twitter draws on data from The Center for Marketing Research at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth which suggests that for the first time that blogging is in decline among Fortune 500 companies as they switch their resources to social media.
For me this begs the question: can the majority of companies pursue a digital marketing strategy on social media without content as the focus?
My personal view is that the majority of meaningful social media engagement is based around some form of content. That could of course be content other than blogs such as video, but without some form of content base I think a social media strategy based solely on Facebook or Twitter updates will lack any depth and the rewards will be limited.

Chas Begley: What converts traffic into sales?

This article by Zach Bulygo and Sean Work demonstrates the fine margins between getting the sale and losing it. For example tests show that just a single second delay in site speed can cause a 7% reduction in sales.

The article gives some stats to provide food for thought on what improves conversions before using case studies to highlight best practice for improving conversions including:

1. Making unique value propositions
2. Testing calls for action
3. Testing headlines
4. Keeping forms short
 

The article also suggests over a dozen other techniques to try for improving conversions.

Highly recommended reading.

The full article is available here:
http://goo.gl/q7D8l

Chas Begley: We return again to the subject of how to build subscribers and visitors to your blog. 

Blogs are probably the most widely used form of content for businesses but it is no good if you are not getting traffic and building a regular suscriber base. 

This post by Pamela Vaughan gives 20 tips for boosting blog subscribers.

It can be views on Hubspot here:

http://goo.gl/Nz1Jg ;

Chas Begley: Jeremiah Owyang has been researching companies that use advanced data analysis the scrutinise social media.

In this article he introduces about a dozen companies and looks at the tools and methods they use to make the analysis of social media into a science and as a result are able to offer services that can increase traffic and influence.

However he believes these companies might pose a threat to Facebook and explains how under the following headings:

1. Alternative social networks might emerge
2. Brands could integrate paid, owned, and earned
3. Social media agencies might get in the ad game
4. The category could heat up

While automation and accurate prediction models may help companies, Jeremiah concludes by flagging up a potential concern; that companies using these techniques may find the audience will realise that genuine engagement has been replaced by automation and will simply look elsewhere for authentic connections.

The full article is on Mashable here:
http://goo.gl/nYKdI

Chas Begley: I make no apology for scooping yet another piece from the excellent Brian Solis.

This post is from an interview Brian gave with a Turkish Magazine. Brian answers 8 questions on social media in some depth to, in his words, 'provide clarity and guidance for those seeking substance and not fluff'.

The answers epitomises what I like about Brian's approach in that he takes a step back and looks at the deeper issues that underlie the initial question and as a result provides a much greater level of insight.

The questions cover success and other issues in socialmedia but I won't summarise them here, much better if you read the article.

The article is here on briansolis.com:

http://goo.gl/vH5DM ;

Chas Begley: Brian Solis posts on the nature of engagement and argues that companies need to move away from simplistic measurement of KPIs (likes, comments, RTs etc) as a measure, which he says is, 'potentially a distraction away from developing more meaningful connections and relationships'.

Brian redefines engagement as something much deeper; 'doing something together that makes belonging matter'.

He argues that accepting a deeper definition of engagement will lead to more meaningful initiative that will have significantly enhanced results.

Brian is enlightening as always.
You can read the article here on Brian Solis’ blog:
http://goo.gl/LVCPq

Highly recommended