SEO Content Marketing Roundup, Week Ending March 28th, 2012

In this week’s latest and greatest web-writing news, internet marketers from all corners are buzzing up the web like frantic bees. Content marketers talk site conversions, optimization and visibility, the SEO and search community discuss highlights from SES New York, linking, and (of course) Google’s semantic search and over-optimization penalty, while social media marketers chirp up Facebook’s Business Timeline and Google Analytics social reports. Take a coffee break and catch up with this week’s best of the web…Enjoy!

Content Marketing

“So what would you do if Google disappeared tomorrow?” So asked Lee Odden in his SES New York presentation, “Customer-Centric Content Optimization.” Highlights of Lee’s presentation are posted at Top Rank.

Gabriella Sannino addresses content conversion with “How Do You Convert Readers to Buyers?” – with resources and in-depth discussion of conversion factors – at Level 343.

Following up on that article, Sannino delves deeper into the matter with “Buyer Psychology and the Effects of Influence”, at Level 343.

Derek Fredrickson lists the “12 Best Online Marketing Strategies for 2012” at SitePro News.

Matt McGee takes on harsh criticism of small business websites with “Are Small Business Websites Really This Bad?” at Small Business Search Marketing.

Following up on an earlier post, George Aspland posts “10 More Content Ideas To Improve Organic Visibility” (and thereby site conversions and social engagement) at Search Engine Land.

Corey Eridon also discusses visibility with “9 Ways to Increase Visibility for Your Best Blog Content” at HubSpot.

Niall Devitt shares “10 Kick Ass Content Marketing Ideas” at tweak your BIZ.

In an unusual deviation from their content-marketers-as-publishers mantra, Content Marketing Institute posts “3 Lessons to Help Content Marketers Stop Thinking Like Publishers” by publishing veteran Rob Yoegel.

So “is content marketing overrated?” A thoughtful post by Stacey Acevero at PR Web, from a public relations perspective.

Rob Ousbey discusses creating an editorial calendar for content marketing at Distilled.

Marketing Sherpa’s Weekly Research Chart centers on how marketers must now wear multiple hats, but have few guidelines to work with.

More from SES New York, with B.Larson’s post, “Expert Video Marketing Strategy…” – featuring tips and insights from leading video marketing folks – at TopRank.

Daniel Dannenberg, Vertical Measures’ Web Designer, takes you inside the infographics studio with “Part 1: Research and Design”, at (of course) Vertical Measures.

Seth Godin talks money and dreams with “Making big decisions about money.”

Jakob Nielsen looks at the relative costs, benefits and risks among “A/B Testing, Usability Engineering, [and] Radical Innovation” (“What Pays Best?”) at his useit’s Alertbox.

SEO & Search

Danny Sullivan questions whether Google has jumped the shark with its over-optimization penalty, at Marketing Land.

Eric Siu posts “The One Question Google Panda Has Taught Us To Ask Ourselves” at Search Engine Journal.

So the Big G has some big, deep pockets: Matt McGee cites a report showing that Google spent $213 million on advertising itself last year, at Marketing Land.

Yet more search data encryption? David Angotti posts “Keyword Not Provided Percentage to Grow: Firefox Adding Default Encryption for Google Searches” at Search Engine Journal.

From SES New York, Miranda Miller reports that categorical keyword repository Zenya unveiled its new keyword database categorized by searcher intent, at Search Engine Watch.

Lauren Litwinka shares aimClear’s “killer link library” to all of their SES New York live coverage blog posts, and lists other live coverage blog sites, at (of course) aimClear.

Say what? Ted Ives of Coconut Headphones posts “How to Unoptimize Your Content for Maximum Rankings.”

Scott Krager posts “Winning The Rank Tracking Game in 2012 and Beyond” at Search Engine Journal.

Citing data from SEOmoz’s 2011 Search Engine Ranking Factors Survey, Nathan Safran discusses “How the Web Uses Anchor Text in Links…”  at Search Engine Watch.

From SES New York, B.Larson shares highlights from Debra Mastaler’s solo presentation on link building, “Linkbuilding Essentials”, at Top Rank.

Julie Joyce posts “Why A Diverse Link Profile Is More Critical Than Ever” at Search Engine Land.

Jacob Klein posts “Building Links with Video Content” at SEOmoz.

Nick Stamoulis discusses why offsite SEO can’t save a bad website, noting the three components of a website that define a quality user experience, at Brick Marketing.

The first-generation of women who built the SEO and search industry are honored at SEO Copywriting, with “The women who made SEO great.”

Aaron Friedman posts “What People Do Is The New SEO” (about “the lies we tell”) at Search Engine Land.

More from SES New York: B. Larson reports on key landing page optimization tips for conversions, as shared by industry experts, at Top Rank.

Have you noticed anything different about the Google navigation bar? Danny Sullivan did, discussing Google’s new “play” feature at Marketing Land.

Eli Goodman posts “Optimizing News for Searchers, Search Engines & News Publishers” at Search Engine Watch.

Social Media Marketing

Google Analytics social reports headlines Social Media Examiner’s weekly news.

Brafton News reports that at SES New York, Google Analytics team “insiders” shared insights on using social reports to maximize social media marketing efforts.

Reporting from SES New York, Lauren Litwinka covers a “social commerce” session with “Social Commerce Psych: The Whys & Hows of Consumer Behavior #SESNY”, at aimClear.

Jason Miller posts an infographic of “the anatomy of a [Facebook] timeline page for businesses” highlighting those new features important for B2B marketers, at Marketo.

Nan Dawkins discusses Facebook analytics with “…3 Killer Metrics To Calculate Using Data From Facebook Insights” at Marketing Land.

Unbounce posts three ways to make Quora your “secret marketing weapon.”

MarketingProfs shares a (fun) comprehensive infographic on Pinterest by Maxymiser, “Pinterest Deconstructed” for e-tailers and content marketers.

Heidi Cohen discusses spring cleaning – of your digital life, including social media.

Brian Solis discusses what “influence” is – and is not – with “The Pillars of Influence and How to Activate Cause and Effect.” (He also offers a free download of the Altimeter Group report, “The Rise of Digital Influence.”)

Rick DeJarnette discusses “The Double-Edge Sword of Social Media” at Search Engine Land.

Dave Thomas discusses the many benefits of social media marketing, asking whether social media professionals can “have their cake and eat it too,” at Search Engine Journal.

In a highly astute post, E.J. Schultz discusses the comeback of the mascot as “…brands’ best social media accessories” at Advertising Age.

Jason Shah shares five tips for getting more tweets (and boosting you site’s virality) at KISSmetrics.

Charlene Kingston shares “8 creative ways to use embeddable tweets” at Social Media Examiner.

Allie Townsend posts Time’s 140 picks of the best Twitter feeds of 2012 at its Techland.

photo thanks to scrumpyboy  (Mark Shirley)