There’s a lot of news out of Google this week: the autocomplete API shutdown and the impending Google+ and YouTube divorce are generating a lot of buzz. Also in this week’s roundup are a closer look at the “duplicate content” myth, a note of explanation regarding recent Google Search Console alert emails, and marketing automation trends in social media and mobile.
Search Engine Optimization
- If you received that email from Google Search Console about Javascript and CSS being blocked, you weren’t the only one. The mass email alerts had many of us scratching our heads. At Marketing Land, Barry Schwartz has a reminder that this reflects a move on Google’s part to visualize web pages as users see them.
- Google Tag Manager is the key to tracking ROI and valuable conversion data. If you, or someone you’re training, are new to GTM, then iPullRank’s very thorough Complete Guide To Google Tag Manager is a must-read for you this week.
- A detailed case study on guest blogging for link building purposes appeared this week at LinkResearchTools, and if blogger outreach is part of your SEO or content strategy it’s worth a read.
- One best practice that’s been drilled into every SEO’s head is to avoid duplicate content at all costs. At aHrefs this week, Brian Lang takes a look at nine examples of online businesses whose success flies in the face of the “offsite duplicate content myth”.
- Big news from Google this week includes the shutdown of its autocomplete API, which could affect many popular keyword research tools. Victoria Spall explores the move, options left to marketers, and looks toward a future without the API at Browser Media.
- If you’ve signed up for any Google service in the last five years or so, chances are you’ve made (or ignored, or disabled) a Google+ profile. Google+ was required for Gmail, YouTube, and other products until very recently. At CNet, Richard Nieva has more details about the change.
- In the world of SEO, efficiency is the name of the game. Neil Patel has a great list of 28 browser extensions that can help make the myriad tasks of your average SEO campaign run a little smoother at QuickSprout this week.
Social Optimization
- Reaching the right people on the right social platform can be a challenge. If the engagement isn’t there, it’s probably time to reevaluate your strategy. At the Lab3Marketing blog, Rochelle O’Neil has six things that could be holding back your brand’s reach on Facebook.
- It’s very difficult to ensure that the right content is being posted on the right social platforms at the right times without some kind of post planner or automation system. At Massplanner this week, Johnny Plan posted a guide to successfully automating your social media tasks to keep things moving.
- Though organic reach continues to dwindle for Facebook business pages, there are ways to offset the effects. Priyanka Desai has six marketing strategies to answer a loss of reach on Facebook at the Yourstory blog.
- Get the Fabric.co take on Google’s recent announcement that Google+ profile creation is no longer a requirement to use services like YouTube, Gmail, and Google My Business. What’s next for the search engine’s social offering?
Content Marketing
- What lessons does BlendTec have for content marketers? Gini Dietrich makes the connections at the Spin Sucks blog, and offers four tips for keeping the ideas fresh and production on-track.
- There are many moving parts to a cohesive, successful online brand these days. Content (and its promotion) plays a big part. At Level343, Gabriella Sannino takes us through a very thorough tour of some tried-and-true content-driven brand strategies online.
- What’s the point of a content marketing campaign? At the Ceros blog, Ashley Taylor Anderson walks us through the six most common goals that modern content marketers are trying to achieve.
- If your content doesn’t speak to the user, then it’s not going to do the job you want it to. Without a solid knowledge of the target audience and their needs and interests, content will fall flat. At Smashing Magazine, Marli Mesibov makes the case for thorough user research in copywriting and content marketing.
- We’ve all seen those sites with thin content and terrible (but, admit it—catchy) headlines that inexplicably draw huge user bases and seem to be swimming in ad revenue. How, in the age of “Content is King”, are content farms like these so successful? Carles Buzz takes a closer look at Motherboard this week.
- It’s easy, especially when one is submersed in jargon-heavy environments, to fall into the trap of recycling and repurposing language in ways that doesn’t always make sense. “Synergy” may indeed be happening, but buzzwords (especially when used incorrectly) can alienate your audience and give the wrong impression. At Feld Thoughts, Brad Feld reminds us to avoid “faking the language” and focus on communication instead.
Conversion Optimization
- Stumped by flat conversion rates or a bounce rate you can’t tame? Take a look at this infographic at Your Escape from 9 to 5 highlighting 18 ways to decrease your bounce rate and increase conversions.
Email Marketing
- At Segment this week, learn about three email types that can help you retain customers and increase conversions.
- How can you personalize your email messaging to make it more relevant for your target audience? Chris Hexton has some great advice over at the Vero blog for incorporating user data into email copy.
- If you aren’t happy with email open rates in recent campaigns, then some A/B testing may be in order. At the iMPACT blog this week, Amanda LeClair has a great post covering some A/B testing tactics that can help you diagnose the issue and have more of your emails read.
Local Optimization
- Expanding your business’s (or your clients’) local reach is an ever-evolving task, but there are plenty of tools that can help you along the way. Sig Ueland has 10 local SEO tools at the Practicl Ecommerce blog that are worth checking out.
Mobile Optimization
- You’ve heard a lot about “mobile-friendly” sites by now, and if you’re active in the digital marketing world at all you already know how important it is to connect with mobile users. Grace Hartnett has some practical advice for mobile optimization that cuts through the hype and gets the job done at Kaizen Search.
- Is Snapchat a part of your mobile or social marketing strategies? If not, maybe it should be. Beata Lukasiewicz has a comprehensive guide to the app for those marketers who may not have given it a fair shot yet at Brand24.
- A lot of marketing and advertising dollars are going into mobile, and the potential in this area is huge. Marketing automation may hold the key to unlocking its true potential. At Venture Beat, John Koetsier details recent developments in mobile marketing automation and how it can change the game for digital marketers.
The post Top 25 Inbound Marketing Articles of the Week: July 31st, 2015 appeared first on SEO Software | Inbound Marketing Software | UpCity.
