SEO/PPC

“In general, I’d try to avoid that.” Avoid what, you ask? Linkbuilding. That was the advice Friday morning from Google’s John Mueller when asked, “Is link building in any way good?” (you can find the complete transcript here). “We do use links as part of our algorithm but we use lots and lots of other factors as well. So only focusing on links is probably going to cause more problems for your web site that actually helps.”  Google’s John Mueller is probably having a good chuckle at this one: http://t.co/OF7v70RQb7…

As 2015 begins to move along, we continue to see technology change and users adapt. In turn, businesses need to adapt their websites and online marketing tactics to the changes that come from users. Let’s review three major trends that will increasingly be a part of today’s online world. Mobile Growth (Still) Skyrocketing Rising mobile traffic is certainly not a new topic. Every “year in review” post for the past four years has proclaimed the growth of mobile ad nauseam. But within the past year, we’ve seen mobile and tablet…

In any digital marketing agency, you’ll inevitably run into clients well-versed in traditional marketing tactics but cautious about the web. A CEO who has built a company from the ground up may prefer to keep a budget for TV ads, paper brochures and direct mail campaigns, but his head of marketing wants to invest in an AdWords campaign and has come to you for help. Your job is to convince the CEO of the need to invest in digital marketing. Are you ready? Are you confident? Let’s address three common…

As a marketer involved in online advertising, the majority of your spend will go to Google AdWords. No one is denying this and, with Google claiming nearly 68 percent of U.S. search engine market share, this makes a lot of business sense. However, as effective as AdWords can be, you should always be open to using other ad platforms, as well. Spreading your paid marketing spend can help you diversify your traffic and reach new customers. For example, Bing Ads and Facebook Advertising have both proven effective for many marketers….

Maybe you run a small business. Or you’re part of a small team. Either way, search engine optimization is often the thing that falls to the wayside first when you’re a little fish. And I get that. You’re busy doing what you love, serving your customers and trying to grow your business. But proper attention to SEO is how you’ll grow that business and earn your visibility in your market. So don’t ignore SEO, create a plan for it. From the very beginning. As an SMB, how do you get started…

I’ve been hearing some people in the search engine optimization industry say that links aren’t important anymore. That the search engines are moving away from links in favor of other signals. It makes for interesting conversation, unfortunately, recent moves by Google say the exact opposite is true. Just recently we saw guest blog posting once again devalued and two high-profile guest blogging communities slapped with severe penalties. If links weren’t still key, Google wouldn’t be spending the time and effort to combat them. Matt Cutts, the head of Google’s webspam…

Maybe it’s because so many SEOs spent their formative years being picked on and shoved into walls, I’m not sure, but we seem to have a penchant for killing things. Or at least calling them dead. We killed guest blogging We killed links We killed link building We killed keywords And, of course, SEO itself has been killed numerous times, leaving poor Danny Sullivan to bring it back to life in one of his many blog outlets. The latest victim of SEO killing? The harmless blog category. In an article…

Since its release, Google Tag Manager has helped make the lives of online marketers easier one tracking code at a time. If you are in involved with tracking data on a site large or small, Tag Manager can help save time and ensure proper setup. Here are a few ways Tag Manager can benefit your site. Insert Tracking Tags The convenience of inserting tags through a tag management solution as opposed to directly via a site’s code cannot be overstated. You can insert and remove standard Google Analytics tracking, AdWords…

Not long ago, I called out a few PPC offenders among big brands and highlighted some of the silly mistakes we should all stop making. To follow up with a more positive note, I’ve decided to point out some advertisers who are doing PPC right. With the proper thought behind a campaign, you can stand out from all the generic clutter in the paid ad space, whether in video, search results, or display placements. You can use PPC to not only get your brand seen, but maybe even loved. Now,…

Times have changed. Dramatically. Gone are the days of relying on the Yellow Pages to help customers find you. Today, creating a web presence is crucial to businesses large and small and is easily one of the most important things you can do for your brand. Of course, just building a website isn’t enough. Sure, in a perfect world the “build it and they will come” mindset would work, but the truth is, there are many other factors that need to be considered. This is where search engine optimization (SEO)…