SEO Experts Weigh in on the Future of Marketing [INFOGRAPHIC]

Over the past year there have been a lot of changes in the SEO world, with the Panda, Penguin, and Hummingbird updates the game has changed for all marketers. SEO is now the life force behind all marketing efforts, from social media, to content marketing, to lead nurturing all aspects of marketing are interconnected. But, with changes to the marketing landscape happening at every corner, many marketers are looking for advice on how to prepare for the future. Luckily, now all marketers can get advice from the experts on the future of SEO, social media, and marketing with the following infographic.  Continue reading

How to Create Your Own WordPress Blog: A Video Tutorial

We all know that content is king, and its empire is growing by the minute. This is more true now more than ever since Google’s Hummingbird algorithm update. One of the best ways to add content to your website is to create and maintain a blog focused around topics relevant to your company’s industry. A blog is also a great way for professionals to build their personal brand by writing about industry topics and trends.  Continue reading

us search ranking factors 2013 correlation

Search Ranking Factors: Rank Correlation for 2013 Infographic

With regular algorithm updates, search engine optimization is a game with ever changing rules. What helped websites achieve top position in search rankings last year (sometimes even last quarter) is frequently no longer a high priority or even relevant to current SEO strategies. To help digital marketers better understand the factors that determine which websites rank higher in search results than others Searchmetrics, a leading search analytics technology company,  recently published their Ranking Factor – Rank Correlation study. The study evaluated factors that differentiate better-positioned websites from pages placed further back in the Google.com organic search results, and compared those factors to rankings in 2012 to current rankings in 2013  to determine changes and trends. Continue reading

5 Tips For Creating Traffic Driving Blog Posts

There has been a lot of buzz in the marketing world the last couple of days about an update to the rankings section of Google’s Webmasters Tools. The update reads:

In general, webmasters can improve the rank of their sites by creating high-quality sites that users will want to use and share.

Prior to this update, Google encouraged marketers to focus on link building for improving site rankings:

In general, webmasters can improve the rank of their sites by increasing the number of high-quality sites that link to their pages.

This is not a big surprise because the importance of unique and well written content on websites has been steadily increasing over the past few years.  This update does not mean that other factors, such as site structure, internal and external link building, Author tags, and social signals are not important. But, in level of importance, unique and well-written content is definitely at the top of the pyramid. Continue reading

seo copywriting 2013

SEO in 2013: 10 Tips for Writing Content that Ranks

Many factors contribute to a website reaching and maintaining high positions in search results for target terms. These factors include user experience, site structure, alt tags on images, site maps, and more. Above all content is definitely still king.  However, not all types of content can rule over the kingdom of SERPs. The following are 10 tips for writing content that will help your website rank higher in search results: Continue reading

How to Use YouTube Annotations

In my first YouTube optimization article, 5 Steps for Optimizing YouTube Videos, I focused on:

  1. YouTube LogoFile name of your YouTube videos
  2. Search engine friendly video titles
  3. Keyword optimization and link building opportunities of video descriptions
  4. Best practices for adding tags and categories to videos
  5. Categorizing videos into playlists

As promised,  I want to discuss other ways to optimize your videos for greater viewer engagement. In this article I will focus specifically on annotations, interactive elements that can be added to your video after it is uploaded. At this time, there are six types of annotations that you can add to your videos. Continue reading

How Social Media Impacts SEO: Infographic

Search engine optimization has not been dependent on a minimal number of factors for a long time now, such as number of times a keyword appeared on a page, and it continues to become a more complex web of on and off-page factors every month. One of the more recent factors that has had an impact on search ranking is social media.

The following infographic breaks down ways that social media influences the visibility of your website in search results, including: Continue reading

5 Steps for Optimizing YouTube Videos

Not sure if your business should have a YouTube channel? Did you know that YouTube is the 2nd most popular and used search engine, with more searches than both Bing and Yahoo?

YouTube Logo

So yes, your business should most definitely have well branded presence on YouTube. YouTube can be one of your most powerful  tools for reaching and engaging with customers. To reach your customers, you not only have to create a YouTube channel and add videos, you need to make sure that your customers can find your videos and even drive them back to your website. Continue reading

5 Steps to Optimizing Your LinkedIn Profile

LinkedIn Networking

LinkedIn profiles are one of the best tools available for professionals to start developing their personal brand. Think of it as your online resume for both future employers and industry leaders to learn more about you. However, to grow your professional network, you need to optimize your profile so that industry professionals can find you. The following are five steps to increasing the visibility of your LinkedIn profile and highlighting your personal brand. Continue reading

Impact of Content on SEO

The Impact of Content on SEO: Infographic

Unique and frequently updated content written with the user in mind is a critical component of any search engine optimization strategy. The following infographic from Brafton, an online news and content agency based in Boston, explains how content impacts the visibility of a website in search results. It delves into several factors that impact how search engines determine the relevancy of content, including:

Continue reading