1. People are creating even more fluff in terms of web content
2. People are revisiting their overall approach to content creation and promotion.

1. There is no magical formula - first you should know that there is not set rule for how you should present your content.  Depending on the subject matter, content that is 100-300 words that answers a common question may prove highly engaging.  An in-depth article that is 1500-2000 words may provide the level of detail that users are looking for.  At the end of the day there is no specific content template that you can use to create high quality content.  One thing can be stated about this however is that richer, deeper content will perform better in the search results.
   


2. Optimizing your content for relevant keyword is still important - each piece of content that you produce should focus on a primary key phrase and be supported with a couple of secondary phrases to help communicate the topicality of the page.  What you need to remember is that "over-optimizing" your content can also work against you.  Write for the users first and search engines second.
   


3. Allow users to share/promote your content - you spend so much time and resources producing high quality content, yet people are still not engaging with it.  Is it simply a matter that people do not know about your content?  You need to promote your content and there is no better way than word of mouth.  Use social sharing and social bookmarking options to let people promote your content for you.  If your content is truly of value, users may link to it, tweet it, Like it or share it via a social book marking options such as StumbleUpon or Delicious.  Both Google and Bing are factoring social signals into their ranking algorithms.  Ensure that these options are  available on your site's content.
   


4. Revisit your old content - the idea of repurposing your content to become more up to date can help make your content more engaging and useful to both repeat and new visitors to your website.  Pay attention to engagement metrics such as time spent and bounce rates as these items can provide great insight into how users are actually engaging with your website.
   


5. Pay Attention to your top content -  regardless of which analytics platform your are using, understanding which content on your site is performing well with users and which content is not can illustrate important things such as the type of content to deploy, the page dynamic to deliver and whether you possibly have too much of the same type of content.  Each and every page on your site is a landing page that users may enter your site on, make sure that they find what they are looking for.
   


6.  Content Freshness - timeliness of content can prove highly engaging.  Keep in mind that Internet is a very competitive place, so try to make your content stand out from the rest.  If you are lucky enough to be the first to present a new release, a new piece of content or a news story, be sure that it is communicated as such via mechanism such the rel=author tag to let the engines know that you are the original creator of the content.  Consider adding to the content after the original release so that on subsequent crawls from the search engines, they crawl, index and hopefully rank the content accordingly.
   


7. Listen to you users- pay attention to any areas that users can provide feedback.  This could be a forum or blog comment, this could be a testimonial, this could be in your social channels such as Google+, Facebook or Twitter.  Review the search terms that they are using from the internal search functionality on your site.  Ultimately it is your users who will determine what content should be featured on your website.  Pay close attention to their needs and what they are looking for.  Do not just focus on yourself and your own products and solutions, make reference to other industry happenings to build trust with your audience.

Labels: content marketing, site engagement

1. Realignment
2. Mobile Marketing
3. Turnkey Solution
4. Leverage
5. Social Engagement
6. Lead Gen
7. Content Marketing
8. Personalization
9. Hybrid Marketing
10. Segmentation
11. Online Maturation
12. Long-Tail
13. Proactive
14. Digital Integration
15. Viability
16. Digital Marketing
17. Benchmarking
18. Brand Extension
19. Article Marketing
20. Bundling
21. Customer Centric
22. Organic Campaigns
23. Tablet Marketing
24. Siloed
25. Lean
26. Algorithm Anxiety
27. Content Promotion
28. Brand Partnering
29. Trending
30. Online Marketing
31. User Generated
32. KPI
33. Brand Loyalty
34. Minimalism
35. Multi-Channel Push
36. Game Changer
37. Web-Spam
38. Tipping Point
39. Reversion
40. Near Field Communication (NFC)
41. Ultrabooks (i.e. super-slim laptops)
42. Monitor Shopping (online version of window shopping)
43. Neuromarketing
44. Push the Envelope
45. Transparency
46. Rich Media Promotion
47. More for Less
48. Social Graph
49. Bandwith
50. Semantics
51. Market Segmentation
52. Hyper-Competitive
53. Low-Hanging Fruit
54. Globalization
55. Remove the Ladder
56. Customized Solutions
57. Diversification
58. Content Freshness
59. Workflow
60. Value Driven
61. Retention
62. Win-Win
63. Content Enhancement
64. Realignment
65. Solution Based
66. Blog Marketing
67. Syndication
68. Search Marketing Maturation
69. Conversion Analysis
70. Value Proposition
71. Viral Campaign
72. User Generation
73. Integrated Marketing
74. Visibility
75. Market Penetration
76. Relevance
77. In-house
78. Facebook Marketing
79. Agency Integration
80. Global Focus
81. Online Advantage
82. Outsourced
83. Pandacized
84. Local Targeting
85. Brand Identity
86. Value Stream
87. App Marketing
88. Strategic Alliance
89. Keyword Research
90. Innovation
91. Consumerization
92. Crowd sourcing
93. Web 3.0
94. Apple-Like
95. Technology Fragmentation
96. Synergy
97. Evolution and Re-Evolution
98. Hyperconnectivity
99. Re-Purposing
100. Restructuring

Labels: marketing buzzwords

1. Understand and respect the search engine algorithms - pay attention to what Google and Bing are doing.  Constantly perform spot checks for relevant key phrases to your business.  Check out the organic search landscape.  Which sites are consistently showing up?  What are they doing from an optimization perspective to obtain this visibility?  The engines factor in hundreds of items s with their ranking algorithms so pay attention to  key components such as:
• Quality of content
• Uniqueness of content
• Quality of inbound links
• Site engagement
• Social engagement


2. Become technically sound - work on understanding where Google is going with their organic search results.  Take the time to learn how to make your web properties technically sound.  This means evaluating areas such as:
• Architecture and URL issues
• Page Performance and page load times
• HTML 5
• Rich snippet markup
• Indexation of your site
• Canonical issues
• Coding issues


3. Invest in SMO (Social Media Optimization) - there are those out there who say social media is not for every business and while depending on your social media strategy this may be true to an extent, social media can be used by any business to promote your brand and your web properties.  It is one thing to have high quality content, you still need to promote your online content.  Social media is a great mechanism for doing this. 


4. Support your organic search efforts with other marketing efforts - organic search is tough.  With Google doing what they want with their search results from giving big brands preferential treatment (Google Vince Update) to devaluing sites with perceived low quality content (Google Panda Updates) at the end of the day we are at mercy to the algorithms.  Not to state the obvious, but promotion of key pieces of your site's content via social, via news releases, via TV and magazine ads, PPC, email blasts etc.


5. Timely Implementation is key - if your site is not completely well optimized in this day and age you are already behind the proverbial eight ball.  You should have a number of SEO initiatives on the go.  These items should already be prioritized.  Now you need to implement the changes to your website.  The longer it takes you to implement, the longer it takes to get the desired results and the more risk you face of not ever getting the desired results.  To be effective with your online marketing strategies, you must, must, must be able to anticipate and roll with change.  Change in the online landscape, the competitive landscape and the Google landscape.  Failure to implement in a timely manner can quickly seal your online fate.

• proper keyword selection
• fresh, unique and high quality content
• some link popularity
• effective site engagement
• social mention
• the ability to be indexed by the engines

Labels: organic search marketing, SEO

• the start of the year saw Google release what was dubbed the "Farmer Update" in an attempt to address the issue of content farms.  This algorithm update was a precursor to Google Panda which would roll out less than a month later. 
• January 26th saw the first major algorithm update of the year from Google http://www.seroundtable.com/google-content-spam-rollout-12872.html

• February 1st saw confirmation of an algorithm update directed at scraped content as opposed to solely at content farms.  http://www.seroundtable.com/google-scraper-algorithm-12889.html
• February 7th - Google warns of big changes to come.  http://www.seroundtable.com/google-changes-coming-12919.html
• February 24th - Google Panda rolls out and changes Google results forever.  In fact Google suggests that as much of 12% of their search results would be impacted by this update.  http://www.seroundtable.com/google-content-farm-13013.html

• many Webmasters and SEOs are experienced one of Google's largest algorithm updates ever.  Still being referred to as the "Farmer Update", Google hints that there are more changes to come.  http://www.seroundtable.com/google-content-farm-tweak-13031.html
• March 4th ish - The birth of Google Panda?  http://www.seroundtable.com/google-panda-13068.html
• March 8/9th - Google warns Webmasters to remove low value content from their sites as a first step in addressing Panda issues.  In an ongoing Google Webmaster Help thread, Googler Wysz suggests "...if you were hit, review your content and any content you think Google would classify as "low quality" get rid of by deleting it or moving it to a new domain..."  Reports continue to pour in from innocent site owners claiming they were unfairly hit by Google Panda.  http://www.seroundtable.com/google-farmer-advice-13090.html.  We followed this up with a list of 7 items to address post Panda update.
• March 11 - 40-50% of SEOs polled say that Panda has impacted sites that they work or have worked on.  Reports continue to come in suggesting that some sites have lost as much as 70-80% of their traffic.  http://www.seroundtable.com/poll-results-google-update-13102.html
• March 21 - 28 - early reports suggest that the Panda Update was spotted in Google UK results although not confirmed by Google as this point.  http://www.seroundtable.com/google-panda-status-13181.html.  Still massive complaints about the "negative impact" from Panda and no stories about many sites recovering.  Questions continue to mount wondering if we are better off with the Panda Update?

• April 11th. Google announces that the Panda Update has been rolled out worldwide.  Many Webmasters claim devastating results are challenging their businesses.  Google goes on to state that "The impact of these new signals is smaller in scope than the original change: about 2% of U.S. queries are affected by a reasonable amount, compared with almost 12% of U.S. queries for the original change."  People are still questioning whether or not Google's results have improved.  http://www.seroundtable.com/google-panda-worldwide-13259.html
• April 14th - some Webmasters (very few mind you) are stating that they have finally seen some improved results since the original launch of Panda.  http://www.seroundtable.com/google-panda-improvements-13271.html

• May 6th - Google attempts to offer some advice for sites hit by Panda with a definite focus on improving the quality of content. 
• May 9th - reports suggest that Google Panda 3.0 is underway, this update is later confirmed as Google Panda rollout 2.1.
• A site known as Pandalized http://pandalized.com/ is launched with examples of sites that have been negatively impacted by the Panda Updates.

• June 7th Google Panda 2.2 takes place http://www.seroundtable.com/google-panda-22-13532.html still 85% of sites polled say that have not recupurated from the original Panda launch.    Google's Matt Cutts confirms that another Panda Update has been approved but not yet rolled out.
• June 16th ish - Google Panda 2.2 is officially launched.  Still very little feedback from sites that have recovered from the original launch in February.  http://www.seroundtable.com/google-panda-22-hits-13586.html

• July 12 - ex-Googler Vanessa Fox shares some of her additional thoughts on Google Panda in an interview with Eric Enge.  Fox states that "Panda is updated on a periodic basis, as opposed to in real time. This is similar to updates to the PageRank displayed on the Google Toolbar, except it is a whole lot more important!"  Shes goes on to say "It’s important to look and see what other sites are ranking for. What are you offering that is better than other sites? If you don’t have anything new or valuable to say then take a look at your current content game plan."
• July 14 - reports begin to surface that some sites have seen a Panda recovery by using subdomains to remove low quality content from the main site. 
• July 22 - Google 2.3 confirmed by Google http://www.seroundtable.com/panda-23-13766.html.  some webmasters begin claiming some recoveries after this rollout of Panda.

• August 12 sees Google confirm the roll out of Google Panda 2.4 signifying the roll out in different languages.

• September 28 - Google Panda 2.5 is launched
• September 29 - Search Engine Roundtable releases a poll of the types of sites most impacted by Panda.

• October 5 - Google's Matt Cutts reports to expect a "weather change" with tweaks to Google Panda in upcoming weeks.  Google 2.5.2 is released on October 13th
• October 18th - more complaints about Google's latest Panda update.  Perception arises that Google downplayed this most recent update.  http://www.seroundtable.com/google-panda-252-level-14182.html
• October 19/20th another minor Panda Update?

• November 1 - Google hints/confirms that recent Panda Updates incorporate Google Vince algorithm (brand bias) changes.  http://www.seroundtable.com/google-vince-2-14233.html
• November 4th - Google Freshness algorithm update is announced.  Separate from Panda.
• November 18 - another minor Panda Update, later confirmed by Google.
• November 21 - another refresh Google Panda Update said to have impacted less than 1% of results.

• December 6 - a Webmaster World thread explains how one site appeared to have recovered from Google Panda by simply shifting their content.
• December 14 - Google tweeted that there would be no more Panda updates until after the holidays with the last official update occurring on November 18th.  Could that mean that the next update. post holidays will be a major one?  I have a feeling that it might be significant.

Labels: algorithm updates, Google Panda

1. Content Enhancement - establish a process for ensuring that your content is of the highest quality possible.  Avoid things like those lame articles that you have been polluting the Web with.  Any time you create a piece of content for your audience, it should be of high value.  Work on enhancing your content in 2012.  You won't be sorry.
   
2. Site Engagement - as part of your digital marketing strategy you should be monitoring the engagement on your site.  I have yet to come across the perfect site.  Usability has a direct impact on how people engage with your site.  Make your site experience a pleasant one.  Test out new features and content pieces.  While you cannot please eveeryone all of the time, focus on the masses and improving the engagement factor of your site.
   
3. Content Promotion - creating great content is one thing.  Getting it out there to the masses is another thing.  Work on getting your content to your potential prospects.  Leverage social media and social bookmarking options to allow people to promote your content for you.  Content promotion should be big on your to do list for 2012.
   
4. Monitoring of Page Performance - by now, you should be running some clean code on your web properties.  While Google has communicated that they actually use things like page speed as part of their algorithms, I continue to see numerous sites who fail to address their site's performance from a coding perspective.  Monitoring of page performance should be a regular occurence with your monthly maintenance activities.
5. Microdata - with the launch of Schema.org in June 2011, we can see how important richer coding and microdata will be.  Leveraging rich snippets in the search results can mean occupying more of the results page real estate making it more enticing to attract that click.  Who wouldn't want to leverage this?
6. Mobile - we have been talking about mobile for a few years now.  Still surprsing to see the number of sites who have not yet tapped into the mobile arena.  Whether it is setting up a mobile friendly site or creating a mobile App, mobile traffic is only going to increase.  Time to pony up and establish your mobile strategy.
7. Social Engagement - look for social signals to play an increasingly important role in what the major engines decide to show in their search results. 
8. Revisit the fundamentals - it may be time to revisit some of the fundamental optimization of your site.  Things like page titles, meta descriptions, and other on-page elements.
9. Keyword Trending - your keyword research should be ongoing.  In 2012, you will want to revisit some of the keyword trends that present opportunities for driving residual traffic to your site.
10. Take a deeper look at analytics - yes I know we can get the numbers to pretty much tell any story we want, but it mat be time to revisit your KPIs to ensure that you are really monitoring what is the most important to your bottom line.  Keep it simple, you really do not have to get too complicated.
11. Learn how the algorithms work - while we do not know exactly how Google's algorithms work, it does benefit to understand key factors as to how they crawl, index and rank a webpage.  Pay attention to algorithm updates, even if your site has not been impacted, monitor how other sites that have been impacted are reacting to the updates.  Why have the sites that have improved in rankings done so?  Why have sites that have been hit in a negative manner been impacted the way that they have?  Be aware of the timing of algorithm updates and be proactive with the optimization of your site.
12. Take inventory of your site pages - 2012 is as good as time as any to gain an understanding of just how many pages your site consists of?  Which pages are performing well?  Which ones are not driving qualified traffic?  Take inventory of your site's pages to identify areas of strength and areas of opportunity.

Labels: digital marketing, SEO