American shoppers spent more than $186B online in 2012. Retailers (including general retail, consumer electronics, home and gar…
Tag Archives: seo
Google AuthorRank and Authorship Implemented for a Large Pool of Content Creators
Quality content drives traffic. This simple proposition is clearly understood by businesses and brands that continue to invest …
5 Tips for Social Media Promotion
I recently read an article titled “I’m a Freelance Writer, Not a Social Media Expert,” and it made me stop and wonder how many freelancers feel similarly about social media promotion. Is knowing how to write web content enough, or is it fair to expect writers to come up with content marketing strategies? I agree with the author of the article that being upfront with clients about your level of social media comfort is key, but I do think that Read more
Search and Social: How Are Your Customers Finding You and How Are You Keeping Them?
Marketers today know that if they have any hope of reaching their Internet-using customers (which is everyone but my grandma these days—and she’s starting to catch up), they have to implement both search and social strategies. Most people today use organic search to find products, and they also turn to their various social media channels for insight into how their friends and fellow customers interact with brands. It’s not only because companies are trying to reach customers that both types Read more
“Content is King”: A Retrospective
If you’ve dabbled in marketing, PR, or business, you’ve probably heard the phrase “content is king,” which was coined by Sumner Redstone (founder of Viacom) in the mid-’90s. It was an exciting era for electronic communications and marketing; Japan began to manufacture DVDs, a little auction company called “eBay” took off, and the number of Internet host computers jumped from 1 million to 10 million. In 1996, Bill Gates wrote a column by the same name. At the time, it Read more
Kick-Start Your Content Marketing: Seven-Step Approach to Reach and Engage Customers
The formula for success in content marketing seems simple: Provide people the information they want, when they want it, and where they want it. However, in reality, following this formula can be incredibly difficult. Skyword recently launched an e-book with a seven-step approach that some of today’s leading brands, including IBM’s Midsize Insider, are using as a roadmap to guide their content strategies. With insight from 21 experts and influencers, including C.C. Chapman, Joe Pulizzi, Leslie Poston, and Lee Odden, Read more
Quality Content: Tricks to Avoid Becoming an SEO Hack
Many authors have turned SEO writing into a surgical procedure, assuming that when a client requires brevity, the only way to provide it is through a litany of staccato, rehashed sentences. My question for these authors is “Who in their right mind wants to read this kind of isometric nonsense?” Gaming the system might feel like a winning strategy to optimize an article, but to keep your audience coming back, you must create something worth reading. Creating quality content is Read more
I Love When Your SEO Content Strategy Fixes My Dishwasher
OK, I am an idiot. In my defense, our guests were arriving in half an hour. I had promised that we would grill together, and, with the wine uncorked, I thought to open the grill for the first time. I was horrified to find phosphorescent blue mold feasting on year-old grease. Afraid of poisoning my guests, I picked up the grill cover, dropped it into my dishwasher, and put it on the Pots and Pans cycle. Hours later, after they Read more
6 Tips for Driving Local Web Traffic to Your Site
It might sound like a cliché, but the Internet has truly flattened the world! Digital marketers need to implement effective strategies that allow them to reach extremely localized audiences with high-quality, search-optimized content. However, driving local web traffic to your website without discouraging other potential visitors is another story. National media companies, agencies, and brands could significantly improve their ROI if they found a way to reach a local audience with custom local content. Unfortunately, not every company wants or Read more
Image SEO: Pictures Can Increase Your Readership [Photo From Research]
Let’s be honest: In this day and age, readers of web content are more likely to look at a picture instead of reading through pages of information. Additionally, readers are more likely to find your content if your images contain the following best practices for SEO. Pictures in articles add pop to your articles and can also increase the chances that readers will find your content. You’ve heard the old adage “A picture is worth a thousand words,” but I’m Read more