Bill Faeth says, “Over the weekend Google released another search algorithm update, this time to their Local Search Algorithm.  An article by Search Engine Land, the updated has appropriately dubbed this the “Pigeon” update, which will most likely stick, as this appears to be a significant update. The algorithm update will provide more accurate and relevant local search results that are linked to organic search results within the Google Maps feature, also know as Google Places.  This is critical for local businesses and SEOs as it appears that the two sets of search queries will... [...]

Jo Hill says, “Earlier this year I wrote about how to start formulating a digital marketing strategy. Getting the strategy right is of course paramount. But even when the strategy is right, if it’s not understood, supported, and turned into action then it’s barely more than an academic exercise. Ella Fitzgerald was on the money when she sang “tain’t what you do, it’s the way that you do it… that’s what gets results”. Here are some actions to take when creating your digital marketing strategy that will also help to build the foundation for its success”. How... [...]

Erica Cerulo says, “When you own a small business, you never have enough of two things: Time in the day or money in the bank. For the last four years, my business partner Claire Mazur and I have runOf a Kind — a website that introduces up-and-coming designers to the world through a combination of ecommerce and storytelling — and along the way, we have unearthed a slew of tools that make our lives easier and our workloads more manageable. Better even? They are cheap or free. Though we are super-fans of a few standalone platforms — see: Help Scout for customer service and Slack for... [...]

Ricky Mataka has just released new software to improve SEO for your site. He calls it Weblify. This new software is a new update of software Mataka has been using for years. And he has sold it to a limited number of clients who paid $297 for itand were glad to do it because they have also found it helps them benefit their own sites. Now Mataka is opening this solution to a broader group of marketers for a much reduced price. With Weblify, you can build sites with: • Silo structures that you control • Backlinking that you control • Content that you control • Monetization that... [...]

Jason Acidre says, “It’s obvious that the technology behind search engines’ ability to determine and understand web entities is gradually leaning towards how real people will normally perceive things from a traditional marketing perspective. The emphasis on E-A-T (expertise, authoritativeness, trustworthiness) from Google’s recently updated Quality Rating Guide shows that search engines are shifting towards brand-related metrics to identify sites/pages that deserve to be more visible in search results”. Using Modern SEO to Build Brand Authority MOZ Blog  [...]

Brian Clark says, “If you’ve been following Copyblogger for any length of time, you know we teach people online marketing. Specifically, something that is now known as content marketing. I’ve been a practitioner of “content marketing” since 1998. And we’ve been preaching it since 2006, years before that sexy terminology became the norm. Here’s the main thing you need to understand about online content that builds a business: It’s different from traditional marketing, but it accomplishes what marketing is supposed to do”. How to Fix the Problem With Content Marketing... [...]

This is a reminder for the Website Magazine webinar scheduled on July 31. Website Magazine is hosting a webinar on Thursday, July 31 at 2.00 pm EDT. The topic of the webinar is “Did Google just penalize me?”. The WM team says, “That’s the first question everyone asks when their traffic drops. The mystique of search engines, and how they do what they do, lends itself to sensationalism. Mainstream media fans the flames with reporting about websites violating terms of service, with results ranging from penalties to page rank downgrades. The truth is, today few businesses... [...]

Ginny Marvin says, “While the United States has seen programmatic audience development — the practice of automating digital advertising sales based on audience data — surge over the past few years, publishers and ad tech companies are eying global markets for opportunity. A new survey and whitepaper from the Interactive Advertising Bureau and Winterberry Group looks at the developments and roadblocks of programmatic’s expansion in markets around the world by US based companies“. IAB Study Looks At Programmatic’s Global Expansion Opportunities Marketing Land  [...]

Shannon Johnson says, “Has anybody — perhaps by a colleague or client — ever asked you what exactly “inbound marketing” means? Have you ever asked anyone that question? Even though “inbound marketing” as a term has been around for nearly a decade and grown immensely in popularity, there’s still some confusion about what it is or what it means, or how it differs from other digital-marketing-related words like: search engine marketing content marketing permission marketing internet marketing online marketing digital marketing”. The Fundamentals of Inbound... [...]

Bill Faeth says, “Optimize Your LinkedIn Personal Profile and Business Page Each time I get a connection request via LinkedIn, the first thing I look at is the sender’s profile, especially if I don’t know them personally. One thing I see all too often is that the person has not optimized either their profile or their business page. Now, you may be wondering why this profile optimization is important, even when you aren’t looking for a new job. For starters, LinkedIn is used for more than just recruiting; it’s an extremely valuable platform when it comes to search engine optimization,... [...]