SEO Content Marketing Roundup, Week Ending December 1st, 2010

The Black Friday/Cyber Monday shopping frenzy turns in plump numbers for online retailers in this week’s latest and greatest web writing news, while plenty of tasty leftovers are served up in SEO, content, and social media marketing.  It seems the discussion about SEO being dead refuses to die, Google’s gobbled Groupon, and Facebook promises to be in your face big time next year.  So pull up a chair and sample this week’s mixed buffet of select side dishes from the holiday feast, and kindly pass them on!

Content Marketing:

Mashable details the robust online retail numbers and notes Black Friday’s biggest winners, while Retail Online Integration reports its own Black Friday e-commerce news in the perennial numbers crunchfest.

Content Marketing Institute discusses cultivating internal allies to make your case to the boss, and Junta Joe throws in no less than 30 commandments for content marketing for good measure!

Finally, some marketing acumen from Marketing Profs with a brief piece on what you must know about your prospects, and from Copyblogger with a post by Sonia Simone on the need for a protagonist in your marketing story.

SEO & Search:

Making the headlines, of course, is Google purchasing Groupon.  What it means to search marketing is explored at SEObook.

In local news…how Google’s new local SERP impacted your rankings is discussed at SEOmoz, and in a related post, Search Engine Journal offers up a whole bunch of local places search advice.

A more temperate tone is taken in this Emarketer article, reporting that with the 2011 forecast being all about Facebook, U.S. advertisers are making social media their priority in search marketing efforts next year.

Search Engine Journal posts two delightful pieces: the life cycle of a website experience and using up your leftovers, the link building edition.

Recommended read at TechCrunch, exploring how we are moving from strictly search to discovery, with the influence of social media.  A second recommended read is Eric Ward’s musings on link curation (and so much more) at Search Engine Land.

Want to attract more SEO clients?  Find out how at SEOmoz.

Want to boost your blog’s SEO?  Check this post at Social Fresh.

Finally, the big G’s Orwellian tendencies are the subject of David Harry’s guest post at Search Engine Journal (Google wants to know all about you).

Social Media Marketing:

In a related post, responding to Facebook privacy concerns, a preliminary attempt at a Facebook alternative, Diaspora, is examined at Mashable.

At Top Rank, Lee Odden explores the slippery issue of measuring social media success, and provides tips on the art of developing social media personas in defining your social market.

Social Media Examiner looks at social media trends that are impacting businesses, and discusses the 3 pillars of social media readiness.

Finally, in sync with the e-commerce blitz of the past week, the question of mixing social media with commerce is pondered at Top Rank.