SEO content marketing roundup, week ending April 18th

So where is that crystal ball when you need it? This week’s latest and greatest Web-writing news is ripe with speculation and projections. Perhaps inspired by comScore’s recent release of 1st quarter industry data, internet marketers of all persuasions seem focused on trends and the future. Content marketers discuss where they’re heading, SEO & search pro’s assess their state and forecast trends of their calling, while social media marketers digest big numbers and speculate away…Enjoy this especially thoughtful, forward-looking collection of links to the best of the marketing web!

Content Marketing

Rebecca Lieb discusses “Publishing in Today’s Digital, Social Reading Environment” with thoughts on the future of e-reading, at Marketing Land.

And speaking of publishing, Lee Odden talks about his newly-released book, “Optimize…” at Top Rank.

Ian Lurie and Geoff Livington discuss “how to save marketing from itself” with Matthew Grant via MarketingProfs’ Marketing Smarts (podcast).

Gabriella Sannino discusses developing a web presence with strategic content development, branding, and more with “What’s Your Branding Power?” at Level 343.

So where is the internet going in the next three years? Douglas Idugboe considers the question at Smedio.

Lyena Solomon summarizes Matt McGee’s thoughts on content creation strategies and more from the weekly Twitter #SEOchat, at Search Marketing Weekly.

In his third of a series on content development, George Aspland posts “9 More Content Development Ideas For Increased Visibility” via user-generated content, at Search Engine Land.

Gilad de Vries posts “7 Lessons From Content Marketing’s Greatest Hits” at Mashable.

Shelly Bowen posts “5 Great Starting Points for a Content Recycling Program” at Content Marketing Institute.

Sharon Hurley Hall discusses content curation with “How to do Content Marketing ‘Without’ Content – Be a Curator!” at unbounce.

Rand Fishkin discusses overcoming content creation fatigue with the latest SEOmoz Whiteboard Friday presentation, “Overcoming Your Winter of Dis-Content.”

Ian Lurie discusses the three elements comprising a core marketing formula with “Three principles of internet marketing,” at Portent.

Sean McGinnis posts marketing mistakes to avoid (and how to fix them) at his blog.

Mack Collier discusses building trust with “5 Reasons Why You Need to Stop Marketing and Start Teaching.”

Robert Rose posts “How Asking ‘Why’ Helps Us Get to Our Larger Story” at Content Marketing Institute.

Marketing Sherpa’s weekly research chart depicts the top-rated B2B tactics for “developing value propositions that resonate and convert.”

One for the bookmarks: Lee Odden lists 2012’s top UK internet marketing blogs at Top Rank.

Gini Dietrich generously shares her own blogging process at Spin Sucks.

Per Schmitz shares “6 Tools That Help Bloggers Manage and Monitor Their Online Reputation” at Kikolani.

MarketingProfs’ considers whether you should host your blog on-site or off in its “short articles.”

So “Does Website Design Impact The Bottom Line?” Zach Bulygo explores the question in detail at KISSmetrics.

Tim Ash shares an interesting case study in landing page conversions with “It’s Not Over Till the Stragglers Convert” at ClickZ.

Seth Godin talks perception with “Money scales but emotions around money don’t.”

Events:

• MarketingProfs University is offering a live, online “Marketing Writing Bootcamp” from May 10^th thru the 23^rd (with on-demand access to the recordings thru April of 2013). Use coupon code SUCCESS to save $200!
• The Content Strategy Conference, ConFab 2012, scheduled for May 14^th thru the 16^th, is completely sold out, but you catch live coverage via blogs, updates, and the @confab2012 Twitter stream.
• Usability Week 2012 Conferences, hosted by the Neilsen Norman Group, are scheduled for May 14^th thru the 18^th in Washington, D.C., and for June 25^th thru the 29^th in Chicago.
• Marketing Sherpa’s Optimization Summit 2012 will be held in Denver from June 11^th thru the 14 ^th. Register by April 30^th for early bird savings of $300!
• Content Marketing Institute’s Content Marketing World 2012 is scheduled for September 4^th thru the 6^th in Columbus, OH.

SEO & Search

From Search Engine Watch: Miranda Miller reports on Google’s record-setting $10.65 billion first quarter revenue and its proposal for a “new class of stock” to allow the behemoth “…to remain focused on the long term.”

Meanwhile, Matt McGee reports that Blekko’s traffic shot up nearly 400-percent in the first quarter – and Blekko CEO’s five reasons as to why – at Search Engine Land.

Citing comScore data, Greg Sterling reports that Yahoo’s first quarter revenue actually exceeded expectations and its traffic increased by 8-percent – also at Search Engine Land.

State of Search posts its 88^th podcast in which Bas van den Beld and Roy Huiskes discuss the state of (re-structuring) Yahoo, Google’s performance under Larry Page, and the potential for Google Analytics for Google+.

First-generation SEO expert Jill Whalen shares her 15+ years’ perspective of the SEO/search industry, including her take on Google’s latest round of updates, via her interview with SEO Copywriting.

Following up on SES New York, Eric Enge posts his interview with Adobe’s Warren Lee on “How To Structure Your Organization For SEO Success” on the enterprise level at Search Engine Land.

Hugo Guzman also discusses enterprise SEO strategy with the astute “When it comes to SEO, diplomacy often trumps technical ability.”

Google vs. Facebook: Jeroen van Eck compares numbers with the (admittedly speculative and) provocative post, “Facebook Might Be Going After Google, And They Could Just Win,” at State of Search.

The next step in the “ever-evolving” SEO industry – semantic search – and Google’s “rich snippets” update(s) are the subject of WebPro Tech’s Bharati Ahuja’s post: “Is Your Website Markup Enriched To Support The Rich Snippets Updated By Google?”

Semantic search and Google’s rich snippet updates are also the subject of Bob Meinke’s post, “Why Is Google Allowing Rich Snippet Spam?” at Bruce Clay’s blog.

Neil Patel posts a how-to on improving your rankings with semantic keyword research at SEOmoz.

Peter van der Graaf discusses the seasonal trending, hype spikes, and search volume life-cycles of keywords with “Timing Your SEO Efforts to Rank During Traffic Peaks & Spikes” at Search Engine Watch.

Trond Lyngbo discusses social search spam and the future of social signals with “Social Search: Dead On Arrival? Or On Life Support?” at Search Engine Land.

So is personalized search getting too personal? At Search Engine Journal, Melissa Fach posts “User Thoughts on Personalized Search” which features an (MDG Advertising) infographic suggesting users think so.

At Search Marketing Standard, Rebecca Appleton posts the second of a two-part series, “Six Top SEO Tips Straight From the Horse’s (Google’s) Mouth” (and here’s the link for part one).

Heather Lloyd-Martin offers perspective and tips for panicked site owners on Google’s latest Panda slap, the “over-optimization” penalty, via her weekly video post at SEO Copywriting.

Anthony Verre posts a helpful guide to DIY site audits, sharing his favorite tools, with “Down and Dirty Audits for Quick Wins” at Search News Central.

With “Real SEO Specialists: Finding the Needle in the Hay Stack,” Level 343 shares the questions their clients most often ask and the answers a legitimate optimizer should give.

Andy Crestodina posts how to get your picture in search results via Google’s Authorship Markup at KISSmetrics.

Tom Anthony posts “How Authorship (and Google+) Will Change Linkbuilding” at SEOmoz.

SEO Hacker’s Sean Si features a Matt Cutts’ video on white-hat link building with “Yes we Can! Says the White Hat SEO Hacker.”

Sujan Patel posts a how-to on tracking off-site clicks as goals using Google Analytic’s Event Tracking feature, at Search Engine Journal.

For beginners, Glenn Gabe posts a detailed guide to conversion goals in Google Analytics, also at Search Engine Journal.

Erez Barak discusses “7 Ways to Use Visitor Intelligence in SEO & Marketing” at Search Engine Watch.

In the global market? Tom Schmitz posts “11 Considerations For International SEO” at Search Engine Land.

Ending on a light note, Jack Martin posts “The 101 Best Google Tricks, Easter Eggs, April Fool’s Day Jokes and Pranks” at Portent.

Events:

• SMX (Search Marketing Expo) Toronto (conference, workshop and training) is just a week away, on April 25^th and 26^th.
• SMX (Search Marketing Expo) Advanced Seattle 2012 is scheduled for June 5^th and 6th. Early bird rates expire April 28^th!
• SES (Conference & Expo) Toronto is scheduled for June 11^th thru the 13^th. Register before May 11th to save up to $300!
• MozCon 2012 is scheduled for July 25th thru the 27th (in Seattle, of course).
• PubCon Las Vegas 2012 is on for October 15^th thru the 19^th at the Las Vegas Convention Center. Register now for early bird rates!

Social Media Marketing

Citing data from a variety of sources, Christian Arno notes some astounding numbers as well as geographical diversity in platform preferences with “Worldwide Social Media Usage Trends in 2012” at Search Engine Watch.

Among the sources cited (above), is the eMarketer post, “Facebook Helps Get One in Five People Worldwide Socializing on Online Networks,” and its prediction that 1.43 billion people will use a social networking site this year (up 19.2-percent from 2011).

Heidi Cohen also cites a number of sources in her post, “Where is the Future of Social Media Marketing?” noting that 70-percent of marketers are looking to expand their mix of social media platforms, at ClickZ.

Brian Solis discusses “Disruptive Technology and How to Compete for the Future” at his blog.

Gabriella Sannino offers an industry veteran’s viewpoint on social sharing, conversions and optimization with a thought-provoking post at Search News Central.

John Lewis speculates on “The Next Phase of Social Media” at Sexy Social Media.

At Marketing Land, Greg Finn discusses Google+’s new format with “Google+ Gets A New Look With Interactive Navigation & ‘Timeline-esque’ Profiles.”

Citing Google’s slick PR spin in announcing Google+’s new look, Danny Sullivan weighs in with “If Google’s Really Proud of Google+, It Should Share Some Real User Figures,” also at Marketing Land.

Noting the anemic business and news community support of Google+, as well as Google’s lack of G+ branding on offline media, Debra Mastaler asks “Where’s the G+ Beef?” at LinkSpeil.

Pamela Vaughan discusses the importance of social proof in consumers’ purchasing decisions with “10 Ways to Instantly Amplify the Social Proof of Your Marketing” at HubSpot.

Chris Brogan speaks to the value of working for your content’s social sharing with “Earning Attention” at his blog.

Bas van den Beld issues a warning to Groupon with “Facebook Slowly Rolling Out Facebook Offers, Watch Out Groupon,” featuring an embed of Facebook’s video on its Offers, at State of Search.

Following up on her recent webinar on Facebook’s Timeline, Sarah Schager posts “15 Facebook Timeline Tips to Bring You Up To Speed” at Vertical Measures.

Andrea Vahl illustrates “5 Ways Businesses Are Using Facebook Timelines” at Social Media Examiner.

Pamela Vaughan posts “35 Statistics That Fuel the Battle Between Pinterest and Google+” (along with a free download comparing the two platforms) at HubSpot.

Jason Miller video-interviews B2B “thought leaders” about “their interest in Pinterest” at Marketo.

Anna Maria Virzi contemplates whether Pinterest will push into e-commerce at ClickZ.

Ashley Zeckman shares “3 Pinterest Tools That Will Have You ‘Pinning’ In No Time” at Top Rank.

Rich Brooks posts a how-to on “4 Ways to Grow a Twitter Following That Matters” at Social Media Examiner.

And finally – remember Foursquare? Rick MacManus posts “Just Checking…How Many of Foursquare’s Reported 20 Million Users Are Active?” at ReadWriteWeb.

Events:

• Social Media Success Summit 2012 – Social Media Examiner’s Online Conference begins May 1^st and runs for four weeks.
• BlogWorld & New Media Expo 2012, NYC is on for June 5^th thru the 7th in the Big Apple.

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And psssst –  head’s up! If you’ve been thinking about becoming certified in SEO Copywriting best practices, you have until May 15^th to register for Heather Lloyd-Martin’s SEO Copywriting Certification training at its original price! Sign up now and save $170!

photo thanks to Outdated Productions (Courtney)