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"When consumers hear of a local business that is not well known, it's only natural that they conduct some research before making a purchase," writes Nathan Hanks in an article at MarketingProfs. And when they do, they're most likely to choose results that appear first. "Thus," Hanks continues, "'owning' the first page ... more
In today's noisy business listing landscape, it's important that your online anchor be consistent and visible throughout the local search ecosystem. Here are five essential rules to keep in mind when managing your online listing. more
Increasing your online sales isn't quick or easy, and it involves a lot of trial and error. Learn three steps that'll help you skip some of the guesswork and boost your website's conversion rate. more
No doubt about it: 2011 was a big year for content marketing. Twice the number of marketers implement content marketing vs. the number of those who use print, television, and radio advertising. But what's in store for 2012? more
"While Google has ended its Realtime Search deal with Twitter, search engines are still using social media sites for ranking purposes," says Jillian Stira at the Scholes Marketing blog. And Twitter remains a critical part of your search strategy, she notes: "Twitter has pulled ahead of many other social media platforms, ... more
Adam Singer has heard his share of unimpressive SEO agency pitches over the years. "When reviewing their plans I'm frequently amused by just how ignorant many are to a truly effective online marketing program," he writes at the Future Buzz blog. So how do you separate those who know what they're doing ... more
Paid-search spending among high-tech and consumer-electronics advertisers grew 28% in the fourth quarter of 2011 over the same quarter a year earlier, and up 7% over strong spending in 3Q11, according to a report by Covario. more
Many marketers approach SEO by targeting the keywords in their industries with the largest monthly search volumes, but they often neglect the "long-tail" or low volume keywords, which when combined with multiple keywords can total, or exceed, the volume of the one desirable search term, according to a study by ... more
Facebook was the most popular search term and the most popular website in the US in 2011, according to an Experian Hitwise analysis of the top 1,000 search terms for 2011. more
More than three-quarters (77%) of the Top 100 global brands had a Google+ page as of December 19, 2011, up 16 percentage points from the 61% that did so a month earlier, according to research by BrightEdge Technologies. more
Link building is probably the most difficult aspect of SEO. Quality links that bring results are hard to get... unless you have a link-building strategy that targets specific, meaningful market segments. more
Writing at the Daily SEO blog, Brian Patterson highlights a problem many companies are starting to encounter: "As you began to type our client's brand name into Google Search, Google Suggest displayed our client's brand name + the word 'scam' as the second option, directly below their brand name." Patterson's ... more
Picking your brand name is crucial, and making sure that it's Google-friendly is even more important. Before you choose your brand name, learn three major facts about how Google rates and ranks personal and business names. more
More than four in five marketing executives (82%) say they expect campaigns to be measured, yet few can effectively evaluate the ROI of key channels such as public relations (18%), search engine optimization (24%), and social media (26%), according to a survey from Ifbyphone. more
"Not too many years ago, content was produced by analysts, researchers, writers and journalists who spent a great deal of time developing well-written, thoughtful and provocative material," writes Joellyn Sargent at the Fresh Sprouts blog. Sadly, that level of attention to the written word is often lacking these days. With the ... more
Do you want to improve the performance of your Google AdWords campaigns? Here are five quick checks that'll help you gain valuable insights into your campaigns—and save you money. more
Among Facebook wall posts related to Black Friday (Nov 25) and Cyber Monday (Nov 28) in 2011, those containing the word "coupon" were far more engaging than other posts about the year's most celebrated shopping days, according to a report by Buddy Media, which explores how brands used Facebook during ... more
On-page SEO is critical because it gives search engines an informative snapshot of each Web page—and of your site as a whole. "Think of these signals like the dust jacket of a book," writes Tom Pick at the Webbiquity blog. "[Y]ou can discern quite a bit about what a book is ... more
"Search engine optimization ... seems likes alchemy to the uninitiated. But there's a science to it. Search engines reward pages with the right combination of ranking factors." So begins the succinct and lighthearted "Periodic Table of SEO Ranking Factors" created by Search Engine Land. And whether you're an SEO newbie in ... more
"Spelling plays an important role when it comes to the SEO of a website," notes a post at the Brandignity blog. "Google claims it is not a direct factor they use but it does have some weight when determining the SEO power of a Web page." To clarify Google's stance on ... more
Interactive marketing budgets are forecast to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 17% over the next five years, but not all industries will invest at the same pace, according to a new report by Forrester Research. more
With the rise of mobile search and social media, local Web-presence optimization is crucial for small businesses. Learn how to secure a top spot on Google's search results—and knock out the competition. more
Google Sites led the US explicit core search market in October 2011 with 65.6% of search queries conducted, up 0.3 percentage points (PPs) from September, followed by Yahoo Sites with 15.2% (down 0.3 PPs) and Microsoft Sites with 14.8%, according to data from comScore. more
"Despite some predictions that mobile SEO will be of negligible importance, mobile search has grown 5x in the past 5 years—far outpacing PC searches—and the growth is only set to continue with the rapid uptick in smartphone sales," writes Lior Levin in a guest post at HubSpot. That means if you ... more
2011 ushered in a host of changes in marketing, affecting social media, search, and customer relationships. What digital changes and trends should forward-thinking marketers anticipate in 2012? more
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