Content trends: six things everyone’s talking about
We're nearly halfway through 2012 and there are some clear content trends emerging.
Here are the top six hot issues we’re discussing with content owners…
Successful content marketing doesn’t require a zoo
Content marketing requires many things to be successful; luckily a Zoo isn’t one of them.
That said, you can definitely learn a thing or two from “We bought a Zoo” author Benjamin Mee.
I won’t bore you with all the details of who Benjamin is, but if you’re interested you should visit the Dartmoor Zoological Park website or watch this short video.
Benjamin’s book was published in 2008. Since then it has become a film and the Zoo has enjoyed a significant amount of interest from the world’s media.
This isn’t a typical content marketing story and it’s true to say Benjamin had a huge advantage having been a professional writer, however you can learn a number of things from his success.
Is SEO a science?
Is SEO a science, Yes, says Mike Baxter, Lead Consultant on Econsultancy's Digital Certificate in Search Engine Optimisation
Econsultancy recently launched the UK's first university accredited Digital Certificates, which focus on strengthening digital marketing skills for those looking to begin or develop their careers in this industry.
Here, Mike discusses the value of the certifcates, and explains why SEO is a science, not an art...
What I've learned from writing 2,000 blog posts
Since this is my 2,000th article on Econsultancy, I thought it was an opportunity to share what I've learned over the past five or six years writing for this blog.
I started out as a relative novice, but I've learned a lot along the way, and hopefully my 2,000th post is much better than my first.
Here are 20 tips for other bloggers...
Q&A: TopRank CEO Lee Odden on integrating SEO, social media and content
As more businesses are jumping on the content train, we had a chance to talk to Lee Odden who just released his first book Optimize: How to attract and engage more customers by integrating SEO, Social Media and content marketing.
Odden gave us the scoop on why he wrote Optimize, how we can start integrating search, content and social media across our organization and how we can get the buy in we need for it to be a success.
Feedback fail! How too many stakeholders spoil the content...
Does your content quality take a nosedive at stakeholder signoff rounds? Here's how to avoid 'content by commitee'.
"What’s the biggest obstacle to better quality content in your organisation?" I ask at the start of each content strategy seminar. And somebody (often several somebodies) will reply, with a sigh, “stakeholders”.
Six tips for an effective online press room
What happens when a journalist comes to your web site and tries to find information? Can they easily find what they need or instead, do they click off, and visit one of your competitors to get the info they need?
Your online press room should be an important component of your PR, sales and marketing plans. Your press room is open and working for you 24/7. Editors and writers often work late at night, on the weekends and holidays when your PR and marketing teams are not available. Your website and its press room have to be able to provide all the info needed.
Recent Google updates: blood, SERPs and tears
Yesterday, the SEO forums were buzzing with the news that some major link building networks had been effectively shut down by having sites de-indexed by Google.
These type of sites, that publish short posts across a network of blogs, had been seen as an easy and time-effective way of getting a large number of anchor-text rich links pointing back at a target site.
Despite trying to up their game in terms of relevance and content however, most of these sites suffered from having a large number of clients saturating the network.
This meant each site hosting these entries would be featuring a lot of different topic posts that did not correspond to an overall theme or subject of the site.
Site search and merchandising: seven key takeaways from Digital Cream
Last week at the Emirates Stadium in London, Econsultancy's Digital Cream event invited client-side Marketers to learn from their peers across a breadth of topics, from Customer Experience, Conversion Rate Optimisation to Social Media Monitoring.
I was pleased to moderate the Site Search & Merchandising roundtable, sponsored by SLI Systems. The roundtable was in the form of three in-depth peer-led discussions regarding the issues most faced by marketers regarding site search.
Attending the roundtables were a mix of companies, most importantly, not just those with a traditional e-commerce arm.
This meant that the conversation had to be abstracted to cover several different types of content; not just product, but Guides & Help, Technical Specifications and Entertainment & Video.
However, what these companies had in common was the concept of using content to aid conversion. Several attendees from content-driven & entertainment sites had complex attribution models to link conversion back to the content viewed.
What you should really do on Twitter
Business users coming to Twitter receive some advice that may not help them in the long run. Here’s an alternative view.
I have now composed over 12,000 Tweets. Laid end to end, they’d make a decent-sized book. A really boring, intensely repetitive book about eating soup, last night’s TV and, from time to time, a little bit of copywriting.
When it comes to Tweeting, I’ve earned my stripes.
I’m not saying I’m a ‘social media expert’. But I do find that my experience clashes with some of the received wisdom about using Twitter for business. Here are five pinches of salt to go with some of the stuff you might read online.
