Dan Barker says, “I am in a slightly odd position when it comes to Britain’s exit from the European Union. Among the various roles I currently hold, most will be strongly impacted by Brexit in one way or another: – I am an independent consultant, and have worked with numerous ecommerce companies across Europe & the world (as well as publishers, tech startups, etc). – I’ve had a couple of specific projects that focused on helping companies to meet the requirements of new EU directives. – I am also CMO of a multinational ecommerce business based in Germany, where... [...]

Kelly Exeter says, “If you’ve ever had the pleasure of purchasing a diamond, you’re probably familiar with the four Cs that determine its value: Cut, Clarity, Color, and Carat. As the Editor of a national online publication, I’m faced with the task of assessing the “value” of articles that are submitted to me every day. The value of an article depends on its ability to resonate with readers. Any editor will tell you that predicting what will strike a chord with an audience is an inexact science. But, over the years, I’ve developed my own system of three Cs that help me effectively... [...]

Cyrus Shepard says, “How fresh is this article? Through patent filings over the years, Google has explored many ways that it might use “freshness” as a ranking signal. Back in 2011, we published a popular Moz Blog post about these “Freshness Factors” for SEO. Following our own advice, this is a brand new update of that article. In 2003, Google engineers filed a patent named Information retrieval based on historical data that shook the SEO world. The patent not only offered insight into the mind of Google engineers at the time, but also seemingly provided a roadmap for Google’s algorithm... [...]

Patrick Kulp says, “Twitter is looking to get small business owners more involved in its service with its latest standalone app. Similar to tweet-tracking platforms Tweetdeck and Hootsuite, the new Dashboard app lets businesses monitor chatter about products, key words or hashtags that might escape direct “@” mentions. They can also schedule a lineup of tweets, see a more detailed readout on how tweets perform and even get auto-generated suggestions for potential messages. For instance, the app could surface a praising tweet from a customer that a business might have otherwise... [...]

AJ Agrawal says, “Young people have always been a problem for marketers. They don’t respond to traditional advertising and they have little interest in listening to brands. Therefore things like TV and radio are off the table. You need a certain cool factor, but when companies try to do this with millennials it often comes off looking awkward and forced. StickerRide is one brand that has changed this around through issuing a marketing strategy designed to attract younger people. The concept is simple. Put branded stickers on your car, drive around, and the app will track how many miles... [...]

Tony Edward says, “Spammy link building practices, which Google refers to as “link schemes,” may seem tempting, but they can ultimately result in a loss of search engine rankings. Google considers link schemes to be an attempt to fool the search engine algorithms. If lower-quality content can rank high just because it has amassed a high quantity of backlinks, that is not a great experience for the user. So Google strives to rank quality content that will meet user needs. I am actually surprised that this type of activity is still happening, given how many Penguin algorithm updates have... [...]

Tim Peterson says, “Remember bookstores. Remember how if you wanted a book you had to put in the extra effort required to physically go somewhere to get it. Then remember when you started buying books online and it was so much easier and the bookstores started going away because it was cheaper for them to sell the books online. The same thing is happening to desktop display advertising. LinkedIn has decided it will officially start auctioning off its desktop-only display ads because it will be easier for brands to buy those banners and more cost-effective for the social network to sell them.... [...]

Ellen Bartolino says, “As of just last week, Instagram hit a major milestone: the platform doubled its monthly active users to 500 million in just two short years. What’s more, over half of those monthly users — 300 million, to be exact — are active on the platform daily. That’s a whole lot of action. All that said, it should come as no surprise that Instagram has become a place of interest for businesses. And with the massive potential audience in mind, those businesses are looking for ways to create meaningful, quality experiences through Instagram’s ad solutions. You... [...]

Heather Baker says, “Some things you just know you need, like a house or food in the fridge. But there are other things that one might consider a luxury, say a Nespresso coffee machine or underfloor heating, that you believe you’re OK without. That is until you get one and then flummoxed, you ask yourself: “How the heck did I ever survive without it?” Inbound marketing is a lot like that. Outbound strategies still have their place. Some people still sit through the ads on TV, and cold calling apparently still yields results. Though not a lot mind you. According to the Harvard... [...]

Ben Davis says, “With modern business so defined by customer centricity, it seems an absurd statement of common sense to suggest that the way to get customers back on side after a poor experience is to make them happy again. That’s obvious right? Sort of, except that many companies simply apologise for downtime and then carry on regardless. ASOS must be credited for turning a crisis into an opportunity with its email marketing. The crisis The ASOS website and app were down for more than 12 hours on Friday, prompting many to suggest Brexit had begun its wrathful decimation of business... [...]