SEO Content Marketing Roundup, Week Ending November 23rd

A recipe for gratitude makes up this week’s Web writing news: there is a smidgen of expertise, a pinch of analysis, oodles of how-to’s and tips, all mixed in a delightful holiday e-commerce sauce. Oh, and a big helping of Google+ ‘taters and gravy. From content to social media marketing, SEO and search, here’s a delightful spread of some really good stuff! Season to taste and eat up…

Content Marketing

The power of 3: SES Chicago 2011 gang of three (Lee Odden, Arnie Kuenn, and Aaron Kahlow) gang up on the content-search-social marketing triad, at Top Rank.

And, 3 tips to help your blog content “pop” for your readers are shared by Heather Rast at Content Marketing Institute.

A quick and dirty guide to content marketing is offered up by Neil Patel at QuickSprout.

Speaking of quick and dirty (sans dirty): Ann Smarty shares five quick and easy ways to re-package your content into a viral image at SEO Smarty.

Search Engine Land posts an infographic of tips to avoid e-commerce shopping cart abandonment.

Melissa Fach lists websites and social media resources for Black Friday and Cyber Monday at Search Engine Journal.

Jeff Bullas uses men’s clothing as an example of content being “the heart and soul of your online brand.”

How to use data to create “awesome” marketing offers is posted at HubSpot.

A practical how-to on using Aweber’s automation tool to better manage your email lists is posted by Aman Basanti at Search Engine Journal.

Vertical Measures posts a great infographic featuring the three key cogs/tactics of the “authority-building machine.”

Twelve steps to starting a business blog are posted at Level 343.

Eight factors to consider when (re)launching a business blog are posted at Webbiquity.

Meeting Google’s (newest) quality standards for content is explained in a how-to by Anna Ritchie at Content Marketing Institute.

Jakob Neilsen discusses accuracy vs. insights in quantitative usability – or, “better to accept a wider margin of error in usability metrics than spend the budget learning too few things to precision.”

On another eclectic note, Seth Godin speaks to overcoming fear and your lizard (reptilian) brain to your competitive advantage.

It’s begun…Top of this, best of that…and here’s HubSpot’s: The Top 10 Marketing Infographics of 2011 (from HubSpot).

SEO & Search

A helpful how-to on analyzing your content performance in Google Analytics can be found at Search Engine Land.

Google Analytics’ self-described “intuitive” visitor flow visualization is elaborated upon with a great post at Vertical Measures.

Avinash Kaushik discusses five steps to smarter data analysis in light of Google’s search encryption change at his site, Occam’s Razor.

In the spirit of Thanksgiving, Brian Klais posts that we should give thanks that Google hasn’t extended its encryption to mobile search data – yet – at Search Engine Land.

Bill Slawski posts how human evaluators might help determine Google search rankings at SEO by the Sea.

Based on Michael DeHaven’s SES Chicago presentation, Top Rank posts seven principles for facilitating user-generated content for SEO.

HubSpot posts the “ultimate guide for mastering longtail (keyword) search.”

Mapping keywords to content for maximum impact is the subject of the latest Whiteboard Friday presentation at SEOmoz.

A solid post on the fundamentals of organic link-building is at SEO Hacker.

Marketing Sherpa’s weekly research chart shows SEO tactics used by organizations, those with and those without strategic processes in place.

Ten stats to justify SEO to the powers-that-be in your organization are posted at Search Engine Journal.

Byrne Hobart discusses the art of the follow-up post in news and article publishing (in light of Google’s “freshness” algo update) at Search Engine Land.

Top Rank re-publishes five press release optimization posts plus 10 tips for better Google Rankings.

Joe Hall posts “gaming social media signals for fun and profit” at SEOmoz.

Ian Lurie posts a smart (and of course, amusing) read offering 10 tips for “minimal mayhem” come an agency website redesign at Conversation Marketing.

How to design a “killer keyword strategy” for paid search is posted at HubSpot (an excerpt from another free HubSpot e-book, available for download).

Barry Schwartz (Rusty Brick) reports that Google search for the iPad has been updated with a whole new set of features, at Search Engine Land.

Not big on Google? You’re not alone. A scathing indictment of Google (“Google is not a search company!”) is posted at FantoMaster SEO.

Finally, Lee Odden posts a wrap-up of SES Chicago 2011 at Top Rank.

Social Media Marketing

Google+ integration headlines Social Media Examiner’s weekly news.

Matt McGee reports that Google+ has expanded its search options, adding trending topics to search results, at Search Engine Land.

So is Google+ is a plus for brands? Citing a report from SEO firm Bright Edge, Power Retail suggests perhaps not.

Citing the same (Bright Edge) report, TechCrunch posts that while 61-percent of top brands have created Google+ pages, no one is following.

Meanwhile, Chris Brogan posts a shining example of a real estate company that has made great use of Google+ for its business.

So what about Google+ hangouts? Social Media Examiner posts a how to on holding your own G+ hangout (and why you should).

Jeff Bullas posts a good read on the seven top trends in social media.

Kaila Strong discusses using social media to build site authority at Search Engine Watch.

Recalling a discussion from BlogWorld, Mack Collier addresses the missing ingredient in the influencer vs. fan debate at his blog.

Jay Baer posts an example of “how to effectively bottle social media and product integration” at Convince and Convert.

HubSpot discusses Facebook’s launch of its revamped Insights tool for business pages.

Social Media Examiner posts a how-to on finding and adding Facebook apps to your Facebook page.

Heidi Cohen shares research findings indicating five ways to maximize your impact on Twitter.

As it has with other social media platforms, Sexy Social Media discusses the history of Twitter.

Five tips for using the new LinkedIn company pages are posted at Social Media Examiner.

Eleven reasons why your LinkedIn company page sucks are posted at HubSpot.

Finally, Top Rank posts a read on local social media marketing based on a presentation at SES Chicago.

photo credit to: ReneS’