Selena Blue says, “When looking to generate more leads from a landing page, make sure your objective is well defined on the page. A small, hidden call-to-action may not be seen by visitors, leaving potential leads unsure of the next step. If this is the case, you may not need a radical redesign on the page. Instead, a simple and small change — highlighting the form as the next step in the visitor’s thought sequence— could increase the number of leads you capture. Wanting more prospective students to fill out its lead gen form, American Sentinel University worked with MECLABS as a Research... [...]

Alan Coleman says, “Being a digital marketer, I spend my day knee-deep in data. The time I don’t spend analysing it, I spend explaining its significance to a client or junior colleague or arguing its significance with a client or senior colleague. But after many debates over the importance of bounce rate, time on site, mobile conversion rate and the colour grey for buttons (our designer partook in that last one), we’re never much closer to an agreement on significance. Our industry is swimming in data (thanks Google Analytics), but at times we’re drowning in it. Numbers... [...]

Ginny Soskey says, “Putting together an A+ landing page can be tricky. There are so many elements that a top-notch landing page needs, and making those elements the “best” they can be often depends on what your landing page goals are. Take form length, for example. It’s just one of the many components you need to optimize, but best practices will tell you that both short and long forms perform well — it all depends on whether you want to generate a lot of (potentially) lower quality form submissions, or a smaller number of higher quality submissions. So if you’re... [...]

Adam Hansen says, “Have you noticed the popularity of one-page websites these days? They seem to be popping up everywhere, and for good reason. Done right, one-page websites can look super creative, clean and classy. These sites also help keep users engaged because they never have to click around a site and risk hitting a dead end that makes them bounce back to the search results. But before you start remodeling all of your websites, there’s a little secret the one-page evangelists aren’t telling”. Is Your One-Page Website Killing Your SEO? Mark Ling’s  ’Affilorama’ Blog  [...]

Erica McGillivray says, “Slide decks are a powerful way to back up any type of presentation from team meetings and sales pitches to conference keynotes and workshops. We’ve all seen presentations with poor design that takes away from talks, and at worse, completely distracts the intended audience. However, most presenters aren’t graphic designers. Slide decks can be frustrating to build, and great slide decks help communicate what an audience needs to hear. At Moz, I’ve had the pleasure of working with many speakers on their decks, whether for a  biweekly webinar or for MozCon.... [...]

Samantha Murphy Kelly says, “The Internet of Things is headed to Washington, D.C. Congresswoman Suzan DelBene (D-WA) and Congressman Darrell Issa (R-CA) are launching the Congressional Caucus on the Internet of Things (IoT) to help educate people on the development of web-connected products. The Internet of Things refers to products (i.e., things other than smartphones, tablets and computers) that are web-connected and often work with an app. This includes everything from smart thermostats and garage doors to toothbrushes, tennis racquets and even your bed. They collect data about how you use... [...]

Cyrus Shepard says, “How big is local SEO? Our latest Industry Survey revealed over 67% of online marketers report spending time on local search. We’ve witnessed demand for local SEO expertise grow as Google’s competitive landscape continues to evolve. Last year, Moz introduced the SEO Expert Quiz, which to date over 40,000 people have attempted to conquer. Today, we’re proud to announce the Local Search Expert Quiz. Written by local search expert Miriam Ellis, the quiz contains 40 questions and only takes less than 10 minutes to complete”. Local Search Expert Quiz:... [...]

David Moth says, “While compiling our annual end-of-year round up of search trends I noted that several of our esteemed experts mentioned negative SEO.  This refers to a sneaky tactic where people create a load of spammy links to a competitor’s site so they end up being penalised by Google. It can be seen as a reaction to Google’s success in clamping down on dodgy linkbuilding – it’s now more difficult for spammers to game the system in their own favour so they have to attack the competition instead. One of the contributors to the search trends article was Nick Fettiplace, SEO director... [...]

John Lincoln says, “In online marketing, having the right analytics tools and software can make a major difference. A good program can save you time and help demonstrate the value of your work to supervisors or clients. Over the last couple of months, while preparing the syllabus for my next UC San Diego class and doing research for clients, I compiled and reviewed an extensive list of analytics programs for SEO and social media. I’m sharing what resulted in this column. (Editor’s note: be sure to check out the 2015 Martech landscape for the latest developments in software for marketing.) A... [...]

David Moth says, “There appears to be a knowledge gap in email and search marketing, according to data taken from the Econsultancy Digital Skills Index. The survey is designed to test and benchmark digital marketing knowledge, with results broken down by seniority and sector. Respondents posted the lowest scores for digital channels that might be considered more technical, such as search and email, while the highest scores came for strategy, content and customer experience. Senior staff will be pleased to know that they are outscoring their junior colleagues overall – but only just”. Is... [...]