SEO Content Marketing Roundup, Week Ending March 2nd, 2011
And the winner is…(and the losers are…?) As with any big change, whether in politics or on the web, there are winners and losers on either side of the equation. This week’s latest and greatest web-writing news centers on the newest (and apparently devastating yet ineffective) Google tweak (“Farmers Update”) of its quality-seeking algorithm, as the fallout is scrutinized and analyzed by SEO and SEM thinkers. Meanwhile, Facebook gains momentum and its own lofty influence in advertising dollars (sans Google’s cooperation), while content marketers focus on business blogging and mobile marketing.
Enjoy and share – there is definitely something for everyone here in this week’s SEO content marketing roundup!
Content Marketing:
Brands that have mastered content marketing are featured at iMedia Connection, noting Kodak and Hubspot.
Speaking of Hubspot, David Meerman Scott’s latest Hubspot “Marketing Cast” video post addresses how to keep up with the competition while not obsessing about them.
Content Marketing Institute posts a very smart read, listing a dozen solid reasons to keep blogs at the center of your content marketing strategy.
eMarketer posts its own stats showing that social media is not killing email, while Jay Baer posts a brief case study showing how using a social FAQ can kick-start your content marketing at Convince and Convert
Lee Odden posts the seven key elements to a successful business blog at Top Rank, and Jim Connolly’s Marketing blog advises SMB’s to think first before using WordPress as their business blogging platform.
Going mobile? How to design and develop your site for mobile marketing is the subject of this iMedia Connection article, while Hubspot discusses preparing your business for “the mobile browsing takeover.”
The psychological take on content marketing: Neuromarketing posts how to beat “border bias.”
SEO & Search:
It started with Google’s latest algo change posted on its official blog February 24th (a.k.a. the “Farmers Update,” coined by Danny Sullivan in reference to content farms) stating that it is seeking to reward quality sites and discourage the trash, and the stuff’s been hitting the fan ever since:
Search Engine Land’s Danny Sullivan wrote one of the more immediate and authoritative posts explaining the change, having interviewed Google sources (and baptizing it the “Farmers Update”).
A second insightful post about the Farmers Update followed at Search Engine Roundtable, penned by Barry Schwartz.
SEO Book’s Aaron Wall posted a provocative article that examines the economics driving it all. (Highly recommend this read, as it reads between the lines and behind the headlines).
Sistrix posted a list of the 25 biggest “losers” resulting from Google’s housecleaning efforts.
Citing the Sistrix data, Danny Sullivan posted “Who Lost in Google’s Farmer Algorithm Change” at Search Engine Land, while Search Engine Roundtable posted a “support group” for those webmasters/sites unfairly suffering collateral damage by the Farmer Update.
Of those hit hard by the Farmer Update are EZine Articles (its own blog) and Mahalo (via Mashable).
Onto less dramatic, but nonetheless notable, SEO & Search News:
Gabriella Sannino (of Level 343) posted a great read sharing actionable tips on how to build your online business (and keep it alive) at Search Engine Journal.
Speaking of Level 343, a great (guest) post to check out is “Identifying the Main Objective of Your SEO Campaign.”
Jon Rognerud shares time-saving tips for cutting 18 labor-intensive hours off your keyword research.
And wrapping it up with some honorable mentions (links only):
Search Engine Land: Yelp: Google Told Us Our Way or the Highway
Six Revisions: Anatomy of an Effective Product Page Design
Search Engine Watch: Google: New Navigation Bar is for Your Privacy
Search Engine People: Three Tips to Avoid Duplicate Content
Search Engine Journal: Google Encourages Nuanced Approach to No-Follows
Search Engine Land: Eight Necessary SEO Steps During a Website Redesign
Social Media Marketing:
From Search Engine Land: citing Facebook advertising guidelines, Google doesn’t sign up as a Facebook ad provider, and that’s got Facebook advertisers grumbling…
However, eMarketer forecasts Facebook will surpass Yahoo! in display ad revenues this year. And speaking of Yahoo, its “Mybloglog” platform will be no more come May as reported by Mashable.
Kristi Hines pens a smart post for bloggers on using the power of LinkedIn for personal brand-building, authority, and traffic.
The top marketing book authors on Twitter – 70 of them — are posted at Social Media Marketing Magazine.
Brian Solis was busy, posting “Behaviorgraphics: Discovering the Me in Social Media,” reporting from last fall’s PivotCon on how brands are pursuing the social consumer, and sharing his perspective on the state and future of social media via video interview while in Geneva.
Into history without all the words? John Soares of Productive Writers posts an infographic on the history of social media and social networking.
More Facebook: Social Media Examiner posts what you need to know about Facebook Promotions, and Hubspot discusses Facebook’s own latest update of its comments platform to socialize blogs.
Finally, the last Facebook tidbit, from Mashable: “Facebook Like Button Takes Over Share Button Functionality.”
Editor’s Note: Egads! Google, Facebook: you’re killing me! ;-)
Laura, thanks so much for including one of my post in this roundup. I recognize many of the sites, but there are some I don’t know, and many of the article titles are intriguing.
Hi John! My pleasure :-) This weekly roundup is my own pet project that feeds my journalist’s hunger for sharing the most relevant information with my readers. I enjoy discovering and including folks worthy of mention, like you! Thank you :)
Hi Laura
This is a great roundup. Looks like a lot happened in the last week especially the algo change over at Google.
Had already seen some of these posts but some of them I hadn’t caught up with, so thanks for bringing them to my attention
Hi Steve! Thanks so much for the feedback — it is truly appreciated! Yes, it was a busy week. Google keeps us all on our toes, and beyond that, there is so much great content out there to capture and share. It’s hard to decide what to include and what to cut; my editor’s woe! But my writer’s joy. Thanks again, Steve :)
It’s great when people pull lots of great articles together so you can get to them all at once. Good for SEO too. :)
Thanks Jim! As a voracious content consumer, I do enjoy pulling it all together — every Wednesday! Glad you enjoyed the roundup :)