SEO content marketing roundup, week ending August 21st

This week’s latest and greatest online marketing news finds the internet inching ever closer to complete monetization.

Content marketers discuss spending and conversion priorities, and how to accomplish more with less. The SEO and search community discusses the commercialization of the internet and Google’s monetary chokehold on the industry. Meanwhile, social media marketers note that they too have to pay to play anymore, if they’re to effectively compete.

Other highlights include a lively discussion among SEO and search professionals about the relationship between social signals (specifically Google +1 votes) and search rankings – with Matt Cutts weighing in – as well as the continued trend towards mobile dominance in content, search, and social media marketing.

And Happy 10th Birthday, SEMPO!

Enjoy this week’s picks! They’re free.

Content Marketing

Lee Odden discusses “The Future of Content on the Search and Social Web” at TopRank.

Referring to B2B marketers, Kate Maddox posts “Budgeting for 2014: Technology, content and social to be top spending areas” at BtoB.

Citing data from a BrightEdge Mobile Share report, Jessica Lee reports “Mobile Traffic Up 125% but Conversions Lag Behind Desktop” at Search Engine Watch.

It’s all about capturing and funneling web traffic for conversions with “Is your home page doing its job?” at SEO Copywriting.

Jim Sterne discusses “Conversion Optimization Prioritization” at ClickZ.

Luke Clum posts “The Dangers of Dark Patterns” at distilled.

As part of his Q & A series, Seth Godin posts “Q & A: The 14 revolutionary trends and the Meatball Sundae.”

Matt Gratt posts “Making Big Content Work – 4 Experts Weigh In” at BuzzStream.

Jakob Nielsen discusses “Mobile Intranet Design” at his Alertbox.

Joshua Steimle posts “Online Marketing: When To Outsource, When To Do It In-House” at Forbes.

Michael Freeman discusses “Enabling Partners for Online Marketing Success” at Conductor.

Citing a recent eMarketer report, BundlePost reports “Companies With A Formal Content Strategy Nearly Double.”

Heidi Cohen posts “Are You Winging Content Marketing Strategy?”

Steve Ollington shares “Online Marketing Tips for Nonprofits” at Moz.

Mike Spear posts “Did You Make an Impact? How to Tell Your Nonprofit’s Story” at HubSpot.

iMedia Editors post “4 brands that made magic with small budgets” at iMediaConnection.

Joe Lazauskas posts “What One Thing Do The Best Brand Publishers Have In Common?” at Content Strategist.

J-P De Clerck posts “Thought leadership: content marketing and management at service” at Content Marketing Experience.

Gini Dietrich posts “Content Marketing: Get New Content Without Tons of Work” at Spin Sucks.

Neil Patel discusses “How to Create Marketing Copy… Without Actually Writing” at Quick Sprout.

Jayson DeMers discusses “5 Common Content Marketing Mistakes – And How to Fix Them” at Search Engine Journal.

Ginny Soskey posts “The Go-to Guide to Creating Email Newsletters People Actually Read” at HubSpot.

Olivia Rose shares “5 Easy to Use Tools to Effectively Find and Remove Stolen Content” at KISSmetrics.

Five of Heather Lloyd-Martin’s “freelance business smarts” posts are featured with “5 essential business survival lessons for the freelance SEO content writer” at SEO Copywriting.

Brian Furey shares “Portent’s Top 10 Posts of 2013 (So Far…) at Portent.

Lee Odden shares free access to his Content Marketing World 2013 eBook with “36 Content Marketers Who Rock…”  at TopRank.

Brittan Bright discusses “Overcoming Client Objections” (Whiteboard Friday) at Moz.

Veronica Siverd posts “Unlock the Potential of Your Most Valuable Customers: Encourage Loyalty”at SweetiQ.

Events: 

• The Neilsen Norman Group’s Usability Week 2013 conferences will be held in New York City from August 25^th thru the 30^th, and Minneapolis from September 9^th thru the 13^th. (Deadline to save $200 on NYC is Friday, the 23^rd).
• Content Marketing World 2013 returns to Cleveland, OH, September 9^th thru the 12^th.
• The Publishing Business Conference & Expo is scheduled for September 23^rd thru the 25^th in New York City.
• Marketing Sherpa’s Lead Gen(eration) Summit 2013 will be held in San Francisco from September 30^th thru Oct 3rd. Register by August 31^st to save $100!
• MarketingProfs B2B Marketing Forum 2013 will be held October 9^th thru the 11^th in Boston.
• BtoB is holding Digital Edge LIVE October 23^rd in New York City.

(John Hall lists a number of great conferences for online marketers, businesses, and entrepreneurs at Forbes).

 

SEO & Search

Ian Lurie posts “Want to find new online customers? You’re gonna need new metrics” at The Hub.

Daniel Cristo posts “SEO’s: Time to Revolt Against Google?” at Search Engine Journal.

Gabriella Sannino and Doc Sheldon, as Level Headed Marketing, interview the SEO industry’s “Black Knight”, Ammon Johns, in part one of “Commercialization of the Internet” (video) at Level 343.

Ben Norman shares “3 steps to getting your in-depth articles ranked in Google search” at SEO Copywriting.

Rebecca Churt discusses “What Google’s ‘In-Depth Articles’ Algorithm Update Means For Your Content Strategy” at HubSpot.

In the first of a series on the subject, Jennifer Slegg posts “Google’s Pure Spam Manual Action: Matt Cutts on How to Fix it” at Search Engine Watch.

Cyrus Shepard posts “Amazing Correlation Between Google +1s and Higher Search Rankings’ at Moz. (Shepard updated his article, noting a Hacker News post by Matt Cutts) (below).

Citing a Hacker News post by Matt Cutts, Shaun Anderson posts a counter-argument to Shepard’s post (above) with “Matt Cutts Debunks Google Plus Votes as Important Ranking Factors” at Hobo Internet Marketing.

Barry Schwartz summarizes the Moz – Matt Cutts exchange with “Google’s Matt Cutts: Once Again, +1s Have No Direct Impact On Rankings” at Search Engine Land.

Dustin W. Stout shares his series of link-sharing experiments with “This Changes Everything: Social Signals, Your Website and Google+” at Dustn.tv.

Citing Stout’s post (above) and others, Steve Rayson posts “The Social Media Optimization (SMO) of SEO: 7 Key Steps” at Social Media Today.

Lenka Istvanova shares “18 Useful Social Media Tricks To Boost Your SEO potential” at Koozai.

Eric Enge discusses bringing distinction and value to search results themselves with “The Concept Of Sameness & Why It Should Matter” at Search Engine Land.

Michael Gray discusses “Why Simple Websites Will Always Lead to Better SEO” at Graywolf’s SEO Blog.

Kristine Schachinger reports on “5 New Website Vulnerabilities Straight from Black Hat & DEF CON” at Search Engine Watch.

Adam Connell shares “A Quick Guide To The Metrics and Quality Signals To Use When Link Prospecting” at Search Engine Journal.

In a follow-up to her post of a year ago, Julie Joyce posts “50+ More Things Every Link Builder Should Know” at Search Engine Land.

Ann Smarty posts “Types of Link Removal Requests and Where are We Heading?” at SEO Smarty.

Jennifer Van Iderstyne discusses “The 5 Stages of Google Update Grief” at Search Engine Watch.

Zach Bulygo shares “54 Google Analytics Resources – The 2013 Edition” at KISSmetrics.

Andre Alpar posts “Google AdWords Keyword Planner vs. Keyword Tool: SEO & PPC Feature Comparison” at Search Engine Watch.

Discussing Google’s Enhanced Campaigns and Account Managers, Martin MacDonald posts “#GoogleGate – Can you Trust Google?”

Elisa Gabbert discusses “Quality Score Hacks: 3 Sneaky Ways to Increase Your Quality Score” at WordStream.

Joseph Ruiz discusses “Search Marketing – How customer reviews make a difference” at Marketing Insights.

Tom Pick shares “Nine More Expert Guides to Local SEO” at Webbiquity.

Events:

• TechCrunch Disrupt SF 2013 will be held September 7^th thru the 11^th (in San Francisco).
• SES San Francisco is set for September 10^th thru the 13^th.
• Conductor Collaboration Conference (C3) 2013 is set for September 17^th thru the 19^th in New York City.
• SMX East 2013 returns to New York City, October 1^st thru the 3^rd.
• PubCon Las Vegas 2013 is on for October 22^nd thru the 25^th.  Early bird savings schedule of up to $600 thru September 15^th, then $400 thru October 20^th!

 

Social Media Marketing

Marty Weintraub posts “The Great 2013 Social Media Buzz Kill, & How Early Adopters Dominate” at aimClear.

eMarketer reports “Mobile Gains Greater Share of Search, Display Spending” (“More digital spend shifts to mobile, especially in search”).

“Facebook Reveals Most Users Are Mobile” headlines Social Media Examiner’s weekly news.

Greg Finn reports “Your Facebook Post’s Lifespan May Be Shorter Than You Think, 50% Of Post Reach Is Achieved In 30 Minutes” at Marketing Land.

Gini Dietrich shares “Six Tips to Run the Branding Marathon” at AllBusiness Experts.

Michael Brito posts “The Socially Empowered Employee = Brand Journalist” at Your Brand.

Ryan Harris posts “Instagram Video vs Vine Video: Which Is Better For Your Brand?” at Search Engine Journal.

John Anyasor shares “20 Successful YouTube & Vimeo Channels for Local SMBs” at UpCity.

Chris Atkinson reports “ComScore Releases July 2013 Online Video Rankings” at ReelSEO.

Rebekah Radice posts “7 Point Checklist to Dominate Your Personal Brand Using Google Plus.”

Mary C. Long posts “When It’s Time To Hire A Digital Strategist, Beware Social Charlatans” at Social Media Today.

Heidi Cohen discusses social media ratings & reviews success with “7 Ways to Wow Prospects on Social Media.”

Elliot Morrow shares “5 Cool Apps to Save You from Social Media Overload” at Jeff Bullas’s Blog.

Andrew Beaujon posts “Twitter launches new ‘related headlines’ section on [embedded] tweets” at Poynter. [added]

Anum Hussain posts “10 Brands’ Twitter Marketing You Can’t Help But Love” at HubSpot.

Belle Beth Cooper shares “10 Surprising New Twitter Stats to Help You Reach More Followers” at The Buffer Blog.

Neal Schaffer posts “Professional LinkedIn Profile Tips: A Checklist of 17 Must-Have Items” at Maximize Social Business.

Events:

• Social Fresh West 2013 will return to San Diego August 22^nd and 23^rd.
• The fifth annual (online) Social Media Success Summit begins October 1^st and will run through October 23^rd.
• Social Brand Forum 2013 will be held in “Iowa’s Creative Corridor” in Coralville, October 24^th and 25th.

(For an all-in-one listing and description of social media, content & inbound marketing events, check out Neal Schaffer’s “The 12 Best Social Media Conferences to Attend in 2013” at Social Media Today.)

photo thanks to epSos.de