SEO content marketing roundup, week ending July 4th

In the U.S., today’s a holiday – Independence Day – like no other. It’s extremely loud, lasts more like 3 days before folks run out of their favorite explosives, and is responsible for the perennial flight of countless domestic animals from their domiciles out of sheer terror. But we still light off the fireworks – and earn our share of ER and local jail visits – in that annual spasm of patriotism reliving that war of independence from the British. (No offense, British friends – think we’re past that now – and besides, we’re the ones stuck with an impossible national anthem.)

So if the obligatory BBQ and the cacophony of jolting booms are getting to be tiresome, why not hole up with your terrified pet and check out this week’s web gems? Enjoy!

Content Marketing

Chelsea Blacker posts a bookmark-worthy list of the “Top 37 Content Marketers & Strategists on Twitter” at Quaturo.

Joe Pulizzi discusses “The Power of Content Strategy” at Convince & Convert.

Lee Odden pens a five-star post on content marketing and curation with “Content Marketing: Curation, Repurposing & Collective Social Wisdom” at Top Rank.

Mark Schaefer discusses “Why Crowdsourcing is the Future of Content Marketing” at Businesses {Grow}.

Neil Patel posts “The Ultimate Guide to Creating a Positive Brand Image for Online Reputation Management” at KISSmetrics.

Heather Lloyd-Martin discusses website content fails with “3 Web writing no-no’s to avoid” at SEO Copywriting.

Shelly Bowen discusses “Writing Content for Your Website (Without Fear)” at Pybop.

Jahnelle (J.R.) Pittman walks readers through the process of “Setting Up Your Self-Hosted WordPress.org Site for Business” at Level 343.

Citing research by Dynamic Logic, eMarketer reports that “Women Embrace Contextually Relevant Ads.”

Predatory online advertising: it’s not just for Google anymore. Check out this first-hand account of Angie’s List’s bad behavior by Marianne Sweeny at Portent.

Greg Jarboe posts the most interesting “eHow Shows Critics How to Create a High Quality Content Farm” at Search Engine Watch.

Michael Silverman posts a case study on finding an audience for your online community pre-launch, at Content Marketing Institute.

Jonah Deaver posts “Content Creation: Why You Should Stop Thinking Customer First” at Vertical Measures.

Events:

• HubSpot & HootSuite team up to host “the world’s largest webinar, The Science of Inbound Marketing. This free online event is scheduled for July 12^th at 1 pm EST.
• Marketing Sherpa’s B2B Summit 2012 will be held in Orlando, August 27^th thru the 30^th.
• Content Marketing Institute’s Content Marketing World 2012 is scheduled for September 4^th thru the 6^th in Columbus, OH.

SEO & Search

Barry Schwartz reports that Google has announced that it will be discontinuing iGoogle (“Once Google’s Fastest Growing Product”) on November 1, 2013, among other “spring cleaning” Google product removals, at Search Engine Land.

Schwartz also reports on Blekko’s announcement of its “Fresher Index For SEO Purposes,” and touting of its free SEO tools, again at Search Engine Land.

Nichola Stott posts “9 Questions to Shape and Future-Proof Your Link Building Strategy” in the “post-Penguin world” at Search Engine Watch.

Heather Lloyd-Martin addresses the small business owner with limited resources with “9 SEO copywriting questions every small business should ask” at SEO Copywriting.

Citing a new report from Monetate, Marketing Charts posts “Search Still Dominates Social, Email as E-Commerce Traffic Driver.”

Marketing Sherpa’s weekly research chart compares marketing wisdom with actual marketing practice with “Does your organization have an inbound strategy?”

Wanna know “what is really going on over at Google?” Jennifer Horowitz posts a smartly-written “Farmers, Pandas, Penguins Oh My!” at Level 343.

Ben Goodsell discusses Google’s “specific SEO friendly recommendations” for a mobile SEO strategy at Search Engine Watch.

David Angotti reports that “Google Claims $80 Billion of Economic Impact on [the] U.S. Economy” at Search Engine Journal.

Jenny Halasz reviews “Three Free Keyword Research Tools” at Search Engine Land

Lee Odden posts wise words with “Break Free of Bad SEO Advice – Optimize for Customers” at Top Rank.

What does the FDA have to do with SEO? Sarah Clacher posts “Great keyword phrases you can’t use: FDA regulations & SEO” at SEO Copywriting.

Eric Enge discusses “Simplifying the Tasks of Pruning Links” at Search Engine Watch.

Events:

• MozCon 2012 is scheduled for July 25th thru the 27th (in Seattle, of course).
• SES (Conference & Expo) San Francisco is scheduled for August 13^th thru the 17^th.
• SMX (Search Marketing Expo) East is returning to New York, October 2^nd thru the 4^th.  Register now for super early bird rates!
• PubCon Las Vegas 2012 is on for October 15^th thru the 19^th at the Las Vegas Convention Center. Register now for early bird rates!

Social Media Marketing

Twitter’s social (API) snobbery? Jon Mitchell astutely discusses how “In Closing Its Platform, Twitter Risks Destroying Its Community” at ReadWriteWeb.

Citing Facebook’s Q2 earnings report (disclosed in The Wall Street Journal), Jim Edwards posts that “Facebook Says That It Can Take A YEAR To Get Results From Its Ads” at Business Insider.

Josh Wolford reports that “Post-IPO, Five Times As Many Advertisers Say They’re Pulling Money Out Of Facebook” at WebProNews.

Jason Falls posts the most interesting “Infographics and the Science of Visual Communication” at Social Media Explorer.

Kipp Bodnar posts “21 Internet Marketing Stats That Will Blow Your Mind” at HubSpot.

Tim Gray post “5 Creative Ways Businesses Are Using Google+ Hangouts” at Social Media Examiner.

Citing a recent industry report, Heidi Cohen discusses the key findings with “Premium Brands Don’t Get Social Media,” at her blog.

Jeff Bullas posts “5 Simple Steps to Marketing your Blog’s Content with Social Media.”

Vic Drabicky posts “ROI: The Most Dysfunctional Metric In Digital Marketing” at Marketing Land.

Events:

• Social Media Examiner’s Michael Stelzner will hold an online workshop on business blogging, “Blogging Fundamentals for Business,” beginning July 10^th and running thru July 20^th.

Trying to build your own copywriting business? Consider enrolling in the next Turn Content Into Cash Copywriting Business Bootcamp, at a special summer rate  of 30% off! Hurry, space is limited – the business-building begins Monday, July 16th!

photo thanks to bayasaa