SEO content marketing roundup, week ending August 29th
Of patents and penalties…In this week’s latest & greatest Web-writing news, Google gets the SEO & search industry buzzing once again, this time with its dubious “rank-modifying spammers patent.” Meanwhile, content marketers digest the Apple v. Samsung verdict and its implications for mobile, and social media marketers discuss Twitter and their industry’s increasingly visual trend, and speculate about its future. Enjoy this week’s selection of internet marketing Web gems!
But first, we have our own exciting news!
After much deliberation, the SuccessWorks SEO Copywriting team finally selected the winning entry to our contest for a full scholarship to the SEO Copywriting Certification training program….and that was written by…
Nancy Tierney! We loved the fact that she expressed skepticism about SEO copywriting – but yet a willingness to learn. That’s a FANTASTIC attitude! Congratulations Nancy!
You can view all 50+ entries at Win an SEO Copywriting Certification Scholarship!
This was by no means an easy decision. In fact, it proved so tough that we decided to extend a 30% discount on the SEO Copywriting Certification training to the four runners up for their compelling entries. And these four contestants are…John Agoglia, Davanna Cimino, Don Sturgill, and Trish!
Our thanks and congratulations to all who entered the contest – you certainly earned your 20% discount off the SEO Copywriting Certification training! Well done!
Content Marketing
With all the news surrounding the Apple vs. Samsung trial – including great coverage by The Next Web – Bilal Jaffery posts “Apple vs. Samsung Trial Verdict: Why It’s Still a #WIN for Samsung” at Social Media Today.
Another interesting take is “The Apple v. Samsung Decision: What it Means for Mobile Content” at Rich Content Daily.
Arnie Kuenn posts “Creating A Content Marketing Strategy For Your Website” at Marketing Land.
Brad Shorr discusses “How to Make Content Do a Better Job of Converting” at Content Marketing Institute.
Danny Iny shares “4 Proven Strategies for Finding a Wider Audience for Your Content” at Copyblogger.
Ian Lurie shares “21 Utterly Random Ideas for Content” at Search News Central.
Level 343 posts “Consumption | What It Is, Why It Matters And How It’ll Help Your Bottom Line.”
Brian Solis features a video by the CEO of Federated Media Publishing about “Why Brands are Becoming Publishers.”
Pam Moore posts “3 Easy Steps to Maximize and Organize Your Content Marketing This Week!” at The Marketing Nut.
Laura Crest shares “Killer time-saving content curation strategies” at SEO Copywriting.
Striking marketing factoid via Pew Research Center: “68% [of] Internet Users Don’t Like Targeted Ads” (“…because they do not like having their online behavior tracked and analyzed.”)
Website usability expert Jakob Nielsen discusses “Tunnel Vision and Selective Attention” at his Alertbox.
Al Bonner posts “Mission Critical: A Mobile Friendly Version of Your Website” at V3 Integrated Marketing.
Nathan Richter posts “4 Ways to Maintain Consistency from Inbound Marketing Channels” at ClickZ.
Recapping an SES San Francisco session, Greg Jarboe posts “Keys to Success with Business to Business (B2B) Video” at Reel SEO.
Anticipating Content Marketing World, Lee Odden interviews Joe Pulizzi with “Secrets of Content Marketing World: Agent Joe Pulizzi, Content Marketing Institute” at Top Rank.
Events:
- Content Marketing Institute’s Content Marketing World 2012 is scheduled for September 4th thru the 6th in Columbus, OH.
- iMedia Brand Summit is scheduled for September 9th thru the 12th in Coronado, CA.
- MarketingProfs’ B2B Forum is scheduled for October 4th & 5th (Workshops on October 3rd) at Westin Copley Place, Boston.
- Tim Ash’s (East Coast) Conversion Conference will be held in Ft. Lauderdale (FL) October 9th & 10th
- The Usability Week 2012 Conference, hosted by the [Jakob] Nielsen Norman Group, will take place September 23rd thru the 28th in San Francisco, October 28t thru November 2nd in New York, November 5th thru the 9th in Seattle, and December 2nd thru the 7th in Las Vegas.
SEO & Search
From a ~15 year perspective, Danny Sullivan discusses “How Google Went From Search Engine To Content Destination” at Marketing Land.
As originally discussed by Bill Slawski at SEO by the Sea, Google’s “rank-modifying spammers patent” is the subject of Barry Schwartz’s more recent post on the subject, “Patent: How Google May Trick Search Spammers,” at Search Engine Land.
Further insights into Google’s SERP-shifting patent are gathered from Danny Sullivan, Will Critchlow, Barry Adams, Rand Fishkin and Aleyda Solis by Shaad Hamid at SEOptimise, with “How will Google’s ‘transition rank’ patent affect SEO?”
Eric Enge shares wise counsel with “Bad Link Building Recovery After Google Penguin” at Search Engine Watch.
Citing a recent blog post by Matt Cutts (“Why did our PageRank go down?”), Barry Schwartz reports “Google Reminds Webmasters: Selling Links Can Lead To Pagerank Penalty” at Search Engine Land.
Barry Adams addresses (revisits) the subject of “The Adversarial Relationship between Google and SEO” at his site.
Heather Lloyd-Martin discusses “How to stop worrying about Google updates (…and learn to love writing really great SEO copy!)” via her weekly video post at SEO Copywriting.
Simon Penson asks “Is Google Afraid of the Big Bad Wolfram?” in an intriguing post at Search Engine Watch.
Peter Da Vanzo discusses SEO-friendly site structure with “Getting Site Architecture Right” at SEO Book.
Bob Tripathi posts “How to Conduct a Technical SEO Site Audit” at Search Engine Watch.
David Portney posts “3 SEO Deal Killers You Need To Fix Right Now” at Portent.
Jenny Halasz discusses “The Difference in Keyword Research for SEO vs. PPC” at Search Engine Land.
At WebProNews, Chris Crum reports that “Removal Requests [‘valid copyright removal notices’] Are Actually Down, Following Google Algorithm Change” aimed at penalizing serial copyright offenders.
Distilled’s Will Critchlow examines the question “Do Improved Social Signals Cause Improved Rankings?” at SEOmoz.
Pamela Parker reports that “Google To Strip Doubleclick Adplanner Of Significant Functionality” at Marketing Land.
Matt McGee posts parts 2 and 3 of his 5-part series on blog SEO with “Getting Started with SEO & Small Business Blogs,” and “Blog SEO: How to Optimize Your Posts” at Small Business Search Engine Marketing.
Julie Joyce posts “How to Find Authority Websites & Get Links From Them” at Search Engine Watch.
Aleyda Solis shares “4 Tips For Your Mobile SEO Strategy – Whiteboard Friday” at SEOmoz.
Need a good laugh? Melissa Fach devoted Search Engine Journal’s most recent search and social meme Monday to Matt Cutts (and he even tweeted that he laughed!) Great stuff!
Events:
- SMX (Search Marketing Expo) East is returning to New York, October 2nd thru the 4th.
- PubCon Las Vegas 2012 is on for October 15th thru the 19th at the Las Vegas Convention Center.
- SES Chicago is scheduled for November 12th thru the 16th. Save $800 on an All Access Pass with the pre-agenda rate through September 14th!
Social Media Marketing
Richard MacManus posts “The Future of Streams: Twitter Looms As Biggest Obstacle” at ReadWriteWeb.
At Social Media Today, Chris Voss posts “Twitter Kills Tumblr Access. To Users: ‘It’s not personal, it’s just business.’” (Twitter as Godfather character?)
Miranda Miller reports “Pinterest, Instagram, Niche Social Networks Global Market Share Grows” at Search Engine Watch.
Stephanie Sammons discusses “3 Ways Marketers Can Leverage the New LinkedIn” at Social Media Examiner.
So “Is Google+ turning us into spammers?” Heather Lloyd-Martin poses the question at SEO Copywriting.
Level 343 posts “5 Reasons Why Guest Posting is Essential for a Blogger’s Success.”
The “Top Small Business Facebook Page Finalists” headlines Social Media Examiner’s weekly news.
Anum Hussain posts “33 Stats That Paint a Picture of the Future of Marketing” at HubSpot.
Citing a Harvard Business Review article that said as much, Gini Dietrich posts “Marketing is Dead?” at Spin Sucks.
Ekaterina Walter discusses “The Rise Of Visual Social Media” at Fast Company.
Jeff Bullas posts “How to Tap Into The Marketing Power of the Visual Web – Infographic.”
Matt McGee posts “Facebook’s New iOS App Represents Company’s New ‘Mobile-First’ Focus” at Marketing Land.
Ellen Gipko entertains the question, “If a Small Business Tweets, Is Anyone There to Read It?” at Social Media Today.
Arnie Kuenn posts a video answering the question, “Is Social Media a Waste of Company Time?” at Vertical Measures.
Reporting on a (Minneapolis) presentation by Lee Odden, Shawna Kenyon posts “Evaluate & Energize Your Social Content Marketing Strategy #SMBMSP48” at Top Rank.
Events:
- Social Examiner and the Online Marketing Institute will be hosting the live, virtual event, Digital Marketing Strategy Summit, September 17th thru the 28th.
- SMX Social Media Marketing 2012 will be in Las Vegas, December 5th & 6th
Image thanks to ElectronicFrontierFoundation (EFF)
Turn your copywriting business around before the end of the year! Sign up for the Copywriting Business Bootcamp by September 24th at a 30% discount – a value of $300! Hurry – class size is limited and at this nice price, it will fill up fast!
Congrats to Nancy and everyone who entered the SEO Certification contest. Choosing a winner was tough! Great stuff in the roundup this week, Laura!
Good job, Nancy, and an excellent point: If there’s not more to effective SEO copywriting than stuffing keywords, we should turn off the lights and all go home.
Congrats to Nancy and the runners up.