Twitter suddenly becomes more important to marketers with the latest integration - now rolled out to desktop as well as mobile
Importance: [rating=5] For Digital Marketers, Social Media Marketers and SEO consultants
Recommended link: Google's original announcement of new Twitter Integration
So, they've made up! You may remember how Google used to partner with Twitter and take their firehose to display tweets in near real-time - I remember it was sub ten seconds. Then they fell out and this feature disappeared back in July 2011. Well a new form of the integration is back as has been previewed over the last few months. I've been taking a look to see how significant it will be for businesses. It looks like a great deal for Twitter to me and an acknowledgment by Google that Twitter, not Google+ is THE source for real-time updates as it had hoped.
What marketers need to know about Google's Twitter integration
1. The…
Simon Swan's interview with Nick Eubanks on mastering keyword research
To ensure the success of any digital plan requires putting the right building blocks in place to guarantee you’re developing your strategy from the ground up. In a recent blog article I discussed the importance of ensuring your website has a sound information architecture and introduced you to the tool Screaming Frog. Another key building block is to ensure your strategy is targeting the right keywords and phrases based on your objectives as well as who and what audience you’re looking to target.
Keyword Research is an essential requirement as part of digital strategy and can be applied for a number of different digital tactics such as SEO, PPC, Affiliate or Social media This visual from Moz.com on SEO fundamentals clarifies the level of importance any digital marketer should give to mastering the art of keyword research for SEO.
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A summary of the 2015 ranking factors analysis
Value: [rating=5]
Recommended link: Moz SEO Ranking factors 2015 edition
SEOs everywhere have now been following the SEOmoz (now Moz) ranking factors for a very long time - I think I start recommending them in training ten years ago in 2005!
Over time, the analysis has become more complex with a move from trusted experts' opinion to additional correlation based analysis. In many ways, I prefer the original breakdown of on and off page factors for its simplicity - as shown below, but there are many more factors to consider now of course.
You can get the full detailed report from the link above. In this summary I highlight the main ranking factors, with a brief analysis of the implications for marketers who aren't full-time SEO.
The Experts' opinions on ranking factors
The best quick summary on ranking factors for non-specialists is, for me, still the Experts' analysis. Here's…
Does branding really matter when it comes to your SEO ranking?
How does brand affect your SEO ranking? This is a question that’s often pondered upon by webmasters. Most fail to make a connection between the two at all. Any webmaster who knows how Google algorithms and indexing work recognizes that there’s no way to measure the popularity of a brand. Yet, there’s constant talk of brand and its relationship to SEO ranking.
Before I start explaining about brand and its relation, let's go through Amit Singhal’s post on building high-quality sites. He mentioned a list of questions that should we keep in mind before creating quality websites. In the below image, most of the questions can be answered in just two points:
1. Brand
2. Expert author
Going through these questions will help you determine whether the site is branded. For instance,…
Research showing the importance of connecting with influencers to support your business goals
Reaching out to 'influencers' who will share your content and be Advocates of your brand is key. It's about finding the influencers who fit your brand, resonate with your content, will be positive and have 'authority' where they are socially hanging out. At the same time, we must be realistic with who we engage with and what we can share. It's not necessarily about following those with the greatest Klout or Followers - its relevance, credibility and fit for your business.
Theshelf.com's research highlights these key points and the importance of connecting with Influencers.
92% consumers trust influencers from third parties and influencers are supporting businesses in achieving their goals; whether it's for SEO, Brand Awareness or to boost their sales.
Read further, to find out their 5 tips to driving a successful influential reach strategy.
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Simon Swan's interview with Danny Denhard, A digital marketing consultant with 13 years experience in the industry, talking about consulting and giving away some great SEO tips
This interview discusses Danny’s views on how digital marketers should consider what are the key elements in maximising the return from the plethora of digital channels now available to sell a produce or service. Danny shares some fascinating thoughts on how brands need to rethink how they position themselves within the digital market and the importance for brands to build an authority, not to chase the Google algorithm but instead look to craft a voice of trust and meeting the needs of your audience through creating a utility and loyal community.
Q. Can you tell us a about your consultancy? What services you offer and the types of business you work with?
I offer three main product lines; consult, train and advise. I work with the full spectrum…
Evergreen content is key to boosting your organic SEO
What is evergreen content?
Content creation is essential in any marketing strategy. It takes time and effort to create good content. If you invest in creating content you want to maximise the return on your investment. You want to see a boost in: traffic to your website, shares on social media, subscriptions to your mailing list and enquires to your sales team. Great content can do all of these and ultimately drive more sales.
Some content will only attract traffic for a brief spurt. For example: an article about a new development in your industry. Such an article can drive a spike in traffic that might diminish in a matter of days.
source: moz.com
However some content can continue to attract…
Best practice tips to give your landing pages better regional reach
The Internet has given us greater power than ever before to reach out to people wherever they are in the world. There’s one problem with that though – sometimes your core group of customers are located virtually on your doorstep, and unless you take steps to connect with these, much of your online marketing efforts may be going to waste.
Who needs regionalised landing pages?
If you’re selling a range of identical products through your website to people right across the country (or even the world) from a central warehouse or depot, you probably don’t need a regionalised landing page. But if your website is used as a means of promoting your bricks and mortar presence, or a service you provide in specific geographic areas, then regionalised landing pages should be…
Businesses must strike the right balance between inbound and outbound techniques to succeed at lead generation
An existing B2B lead generation process may work well with existing products / markets but what happens when a business tries to grow? In this article I present the four most common growth strategies and suggest some associated lead generation techniques.
A Cautionary Tale
To illustrate what can go wrong, an example may help. The company was a dominant force in components for high-reliability markets like oil and gas. Business was good but the company identified the limitations of its existing market and decided there was a need to diversify into commercial markets to grow.
Their approach was to take their most successful products and using different materials and manufacturing methods produce cheaper and simpler variants for the commercial market. They identified potential volume markets for the products, assessed price points and designed and manufactured products to fit.…
Five examples of how retailers and brands are using iBeacons for marketing campaigns
Apple iBeacon gives great opportunities to develop innovative marketing campaigns, particularly for retailers. Beacons are small wireless sensors to connect the online with offline worlds. Their main purpose for a retailer is to enhance the customer experience by offering a new form of proximity marketing which can link to boosting product sales. Apple explains the the approach this way:
"Your iOS device can alert mobile apps when you approach or leave a location with an iBeacon.iBeacon uses a Bluetooth low energy signal, which iOS devices detect. In addition to monitoring location, an app can estimate your proximity to an iBeacon (for example, a display or checkout counter in a retail store)".
Let's now look at five interesting examples of how brands are using Apple iBeacons to create an advantage and added value for their customers.
1. Famous Antwerp Museum uses beacons as…
