Did you spend all month working on your Halloween costume? If so, we hope you were rewarded with vast amounts of candy last night. Knowing that your attention may have been focused on your preparations, we’ve gathered up the best SEO, content marketing, and social media articles from October for your convenience. If you’re looking for the same great content the rest of the month, don’t forget to check in with us at Twitter, Facebook, and Google+.
SEO
Google Hummingbird Search Algorithm: Challenge Accepted
Have you heard about Google’s 15th birthday present to itself? Last week, the world’s undisputed search giant rolled out an all-new search algorithm, dubbed Hummingbird because “it’s fast and light.” The name is a dramatic departure from the P-theme of their prior Panda and Penguin updates, but the company’s search chief Amit Singhal reports that Google Hummingbird is the biggest rewrite since 2001.
How to do Keyword and Intent Research in a 100% (not provided) Environment
There are no two ways about it – the looming 100% (not provided) is tough for online marketers. It’s tough for SEOs- they will have fewer tools to find opportunities for search term growth, to dissect brand versus non-brand search terms, and to tie search terms to traffic growth.
Five Backlink Metrics to Elude the Dreaded Penguin
Ever since Google released its Penguin algorithm, website owners have been swimming in murky and dangerous waters. It is no longer enough to get lots of good quality links pointing to your site. You also have to avoid the naval mines* lying in ambush – links from sites that Google considers to be toxic.
Recipe for a Quality Link
Every good cook knows that now and then you need to take stock of what’s in your pantry. Otherwise, items can go bad and when used could ruin a dish and possibly make someone sick. Or, you keep buying ingredients when you already have them, which is a waste of space and money.
How to Get High Quality Backlinks (Without Guest Posting)
You already know that the only way to move your site to the top of Google is to build high quality backlinks (and lots of them). That much is clear. But how do you find authoritative sites that might be interested in linking to you? And how do you get them to actually add your link…without bribing them with a guest post, link exchange or cash?
The DOs and DON’Ts of SEO – The Easiest Way To Appear On Google
Google’s new update – Hummingbird has changed Google’s algorithm. Fortunately, there are SEO properties that have and will remain constant. This article will illustrate the easy way to ensure your website is run optimally for both man and machine – the visitor and Google’s bots (crawler).
Need High-Value Links? Blend Social Media and SEO Activities
Social media and search engine optimization are two of the best ways to get traffic and exposure for your website. Combined, they can create impressive results. SEO came to the forefront in the past decade as websites continued to experiment with new methods of boosting traffic and sales.
International SEO: 22 Tools and One Infographic to Help Improve Your Strategy
International SEO is a complex challenge for digital marketers due to the intricacies of local languages and customs. Unfortunately it’s not enough to assume that UK companies can expand into Latin America simply by translating their content into Spanish and Portuguese.
The SEO Value of Discussion Boards
These days when it comes to SEO the name of the game is content creation. It’s no secret that Google privileges sites with lots of fresh, quality content. Plus, if visitors find it useful and engaging they are more likely to become customers, and maybe even loyal brand followers. The need for content is a no-brainer; the problem is creating it.
Top Design Missteps that Will Kill Your Website’s SEO
Designing a website is a complex task. There are a multitude of elements to consider; usability, brand guidelines, user experience and good old-fashioned styling, to name a few. For designers and developers, sometimes, in the attempt to apply the latest and greatest technologies to a new website, it can be easy to forget the implications some of these techniques will have on a site’s search rankings.
Content Marketing
Don’t Let Content Marketing Myths Stifle Your Sales
If you’re a startup struggling to get off the ground or an established business seeking to get a stalled sales pipeline flowing again, there’s a decent chance you could use some content marketing. A recent study from Forbes and IPG Media shows that content helps companies win fans and customers.
Content’s Ten Commandments
Content marketing continues to rise in importance for marketers, with one recent piece of research by Content Marketing Agency Seven claiming that 80% of senior marketers view owned media as either effective or very effective at delivering return on investment for their brands.
Vastly Improving Your Content Marketing
In many situations in life, the less you say, the more effective your words will be. That especially applies to your content marketing technique. It is very important to choose your content words wisely so that people don’t grow impatient and move on.
5 Step Guide to Marketing on Tumblr
The next big thing to hit the shelves of digital marketing is a site called Tumblr. Despite the peculiar name, it pulled a massive amount of news when acquired by Yahoo for over $1 billion earlier this year (yep, that’s a billion).
6 Really Smart Content Marketing Lessons from Vince Gilligan
What wisdom does the creator of “Breaking Bad” have to share with content marketers? Oh, plenty. Vince Gilligan, the “Breaking Bad” showrunner, took the stage at Eloqua Experience to chat about the start of his career, his hit show, and the implications for marketers.
Social Media
Using Hashtags in Social Media is Good for Your Business : A How To Guide
Hashtags are used on all social networks now, becoming a critical way to communicate and link information everywhere from Pinterest, to Facebook and Twitter, Hashtags are the key to discovering, communicating and sharing.
Most Social Networks Are Wrong For Your Brand (Here’s How to Know)
Most social networks are a waste of time. Wikipedia lists almost 200 social networking websites. The list comes with a disclaimer: “This list is not exhaustive, and is limited to notable, well-known sites.” Most of these 200 social networks are wrong for your brand.
4 Reasons Why Social Media and SEO Need Each Other
While the perfect couple may not exist in real life, social media and SEO are the ‘It’ couple in the digital arena. The synergy between the two offers the best of both worlds – quality content and results. The active interaction of SEO and social media can benefit outreach and promotion, content creation, brand management and goal tracking.
28 Tips to Woo Your Followers with Enchanting Tweets
Millions of Twitter users. Billions of tweets. Each week. How can you stand out? How can your tweets get noticed in the endless stream of twitter and chatter? How do you enchant your followers? And get retweeted? First, you need to ensure you don’t sound like a boring old sod or a sleazy salesman.
How to Convert Social Media Followers into Holiday Buyers [Infographic]
I’ve noticed something interesting on Pinterest recently. People have been regularly repinning a DIY wreath I pinned last year – and they’ve been doing this for about a month. What does that mean for you? Only this: That your customers are already thinking about the holidays, and as a small business owner, you should be too.
We’ll finish up this month’s roundup with Matt Cutts answering the question, “How can you guest post without looking like you paid for links?”