Jim Yu says, “The value of social signals has been hotly debated for many years, particularly after Matt Cutts of Google said in January 2014 that the search giant does not take social signals into account in its algorithm. Citing issues like cost-efficiency and the frequency with which the information could be updated, Cutts said that social pages were indexed like any other website, but that actual likes or retweets aren’t considered. Content, social and search, however, remain interconnected on multiple fronts. To successfully measure how a website is performing, it’s critical to... [...]

Quinn Whissen says, “You’ve probably heard this before: “Content marketing is hard…Content marketing takes a long time.” Sorry to say, I’m not here to tell you that’s wrong: It is hard, and it does take time. But that doesn’t mean content marketing doesn’t work. It does. It just takes consistency, dedication and yes, time, before you see results. In the meantime, however, you’re going to be sad. You might even get mad. Hell, you may even be full-on depressed. You might offer a cry up to the heavens: “Why is my content not worrrrrrrking!!!” And you hear no booming answers... [...]

Regina Love says, “As a consumer, nothing makes my day like reading or shopping for anything related to arts and crafts (it’s my thing). However, one annoyance we all seem to run into is being sent an email to sell you on a product that you would never want nor need. How can you avoid being that pain in a customer’s inbox? The answer is in targeting your content. It is one of the most important, and sometimes underutilized, elements of email marketing. At the MarketingSherpa Email Summit 2015 Media Center, Courtney Eckerle, Managing Editor, MarketingSherpa, interviewed Jessica Best, Digital... [...]

Jacob Warwick says, “Businesses interested in leveraging the many benefits of content marketing seem to have an ever-growing list of solutions and content strategies to choose from. They can hire freelancers, outsource their content to an agency; or they can even onboard and train their own in-house teams. With so many options, it can be hard to decide which is best for you. Understanding how each of these solutions can best align with your overarching business goals, budgeting restrictions and the needs of your customers is a necessary step before you promote your brand with a content driven... [...]

Greg Brown says, “There are a lot of metrics that you can look at as a publisher to understand how well your content is resonating with audience members—pageviews, returning visitors, keyword performance, referrals, etc. Each of these gives you insight into some form of reader engagement. One metric in particular that is particularly indicative of overall reader engagement, is time on site. Why Time on Site is Important We’ll start with an example. Let’s say you see an average page view count of 4.5 pages per visit. Sounds great, right? But then you take a look at your average... [...]

Al Gomez says, “At some point, you or your content specialist will complain that there are no great ideas left—or the good ones are already published somewhere. If you churn out content daily, finding resources for educational, entertaining, and witty information to share with readers may become a challenge. Such “content block” is akin to writer’s block, except that the former is a broader concept in that “content” can refer to anything useful to your prospects or customers online—articles, whitepapers, case studies, infographics, videos, podcasts… Often,... [...]

Aaron Agius says, “Content marketing takes time, effort and dedication. But you’re pressed for time everyday. You can’t seem to get around to everything on your to-do list — much less invest the time required for effective content marketing. So, you just give up. If you can’t do it 110%, you might as well not do it at all? Right? Wrong. Yes, it would be great if you could spend hours on content marketing everyday. And it’d be even better if you had the budget to hire an expert. However, just because you don’t have that kind of time or money doesn’t mean that you can’t... [...]

Entrepreneur team says, “Nobody likes crafting a stellar press release, blog entry or even social media post, only to watch it disappear into a black hole with little or no exposure. Here are three ways to optimize your online PR content for greater reach, readership and results: 1. Punch up press releases via social media. A/B test your press release headlines on social networks to compare effectiveness using metrics like retweets, favorites, mentions and clicks. The metrics will tell you which is more effective, removing the guesswork and ensuring a more productive release“. 3 Ways... [...]

Mark Gadala-Maria says, “While the concept of relevance has always driven successful marketing efforts, it is a core requirement for effective marketing in today’s cluttered and hypercompetitive marketplace. In fact, the entire premise of all search engines is determining the relevance of any one website to a submitted search query, and matching it with the searcher. Crowdsourcing has served as a premier method for gathering relevant content for centuries, although the actual term for this process wasn’t coined until 2006 by Jeff Howe in a Wired magazine article. The British used an early... [...]

Kerry Jones says, “What do you buy? What makes you loyal to a brand? Where do you spend your time? If you could ask a modern 18-year-old and one from 25 years ago those same questions, you would probably get very different answers. Each generations has its own distinct values and behaviors, so understanding the nuances of different age groups is essential for marketers trying to reach a specific target. This is why marketers fixate on learning about the newest generation, as we’ve witnessed with the present-day focus on understanding what makes Millennials tick. When it comes to content... [...]