Is Guest Blogging Becoming a Black Hat Tactic?
For the record, let me say that I think guest blogging should be included in any content marketing campaign. Finding relevant industry blogs to become a regular guest author on has many benefits including: increasing your online brand presence, building your brand’s authority, developing quality inbound links, driving targeted traffic to your site and more. But I’ve noticed a disturbing trend in the last few months that is making me nervous. A few years ago, my inbox would be flooded with emails asking for link exchanges, the “I’ll link to you if you link to me” version of link building. Back then, link exchanges were a viable form of link building until Google decreed that they were black hat. As a strictly white hat SEO professional, I take my cues from Google and stopped getting involved in link exchanges with anyone. For me, a few links is not worth the potential long term damage. Now I’ve noticed my inbox is slowly filling up with similar emails. Only this time, instead of “I’ll link to you if you link to me,” the main point being driven is “I’ll let you write for my blog if you let me write for yours.” CLICK HERE TO READ MORE...
3 Essential Tips to Keep Your SEO Under Control
When you actually sit down and map it all out, optimizing a website (even a small one) takes a lot of work! Once you’re done with the actual on-site SEO, there is still link building to contend with, and I would argue that link building never really ends if you want to succeed in the long run. For site owners looking to manage their own SEO, it can get very overwhelming very quickly! But there is no need to panic. Here are 3 ways you can keep your SEO from overrunning your day. 1. Weigh time vs. return. This is a very important tip for e-commerce site owners to think about. Let’s say your e-commerce site has 5,000 pages. I can speak from experience and say CLICK HERE TO READ MORE...
Blog Posts to Read for December 8, 2011
Below you will find our favorite blog posts that are related to SEO, search engine marketing and social media marketing from this past week. Please feel free to visit each, we hope you find them as helpful as we do! Where do you use landing pages? This post questions why landing pages aren’t a huge part of the online marketing discussion. CLICK HERE TO READ MORE 9 Steps to Compelling Contagious Content for Your Social Media Marketing Creating compelling contagious content can be the difference between success and failure of any media marketing venture. CLICK HERE TO READ MORE The Impact of Google Encrypted Search for the B2B Marketer Google’s encrypted search is particularly troublesome for B2B internet marketers since every bit of website traffic information can CLICK HERE TO READ MORE...
Branded Vs. Non Branded Searches
A well-optimized site should target a variety of branded and non-branded keywords. This will help ensure that your site is targeting as many search phrases as possible, increasing the amount of targeted traffic being delivered to your site. Site owners should keep in mind that the amount of traffic they get from branded vs. non-branded searches is not going to be the same and will grow at different rates. Branded searches When the amount of branded searches goes up (people looking for your company directly), it is a good indication that your other online and offline marketing tactics are going well. You are building a strong online presence, increasing your brand recognition and developing a strong online brand and reputation. Someone who conducts a branded CLICK HERE TO READ MORE...
Build Rapport with Your Blog Readers
It’s not enough to get someone to read one of your blog posts once. If you really want your blog to succeed in the long term you want them to keep coming back! Aside from creating great content on a consistent basis (which is a must of any business blog) here are 4 tips for building a stronger rapport with your blog readers. 1. Share the comment love. Even if they were just doing it for the link (although we all hope it’s really just because they love our blog), everyone who leaves a comment on your blog posts took a few minutes of their day to do so. Repay the favor and leave a comment or two on some of their blog posts. I can’t CLICK HERE TO READ MORE...
What’s New in SEO for December 6, 2011
We have compiled the latest news and updates from the big three, Google, Bing and Yahoo as it relates to SEO and the search engines overall. WHAT'S NEW THIS WEEK WITH GOOGLE: The next stage in our redesign Google has launched a new Google bar which will enable you to navigate quickly between Google services. WHAT'S NEW THIS WEEK WITH YAHOO: Calling all iPhone Users: Updated Yahoo! Search App Released Yahoo! has released an update to the Yahoo! Search App for iPhone and iPod touch which will bring the familiar Yahoo! browser experience to the iPhone and iPod touch, along with many other new features. WHAT'S NEW THIS WEEK WITH BING: Bing on Xbox: The Future of Entertainment Search Bing on Xbox allows you to sort through all of CLICK HERE TO READ MORE...
Refresh Your Content Every 1-2 Years – SEO Video Tip
A lot of site owners think that once their site is up and running they can set it and forget it; this is not the case! You want to refresh the content of your website every 1-2 years to keep it up-to-date and relevant. What new products or product upgrades have come out in the last year? What conferences are you going to be attending? How has your company changed? All of this needs to be reflected in your site's content. Watch this week's onsite SEO video lesson here! For more onsite SEO video tips and lessons from Nick Stamoulis, check out the Brick Marketing onsite SEO video lesson archive . CLICK HERE TO READ MORE...
Using SEO to Connect with B2B Decision Makers
In B2B industries, the decision makers are the ones that pull the trigger on all purchasing decisions; that makes them your target audience. You need to develop a B2B SEO campaign that allows you to connect with those decision makers via multiple platforms, numerous touch points and at every stage of the buying cycle to get their attention and earn their business. The competition to win the hearts, minds and dollars of those B2B decision makers is fierce, so a drop in the bucket isn’t going to get you anywhere. If you really want to earn their business, you have to take your B2B SEO campaign up a notch. Start with your content marketing How can you take your content marketing CLICK HERE TO READ MORE...
Don’t Let Debbie Downers Ruin Your Confidence!
As I’ve mentioned before, I’m a big proponent of LinkedIn Groups as part of your content promotion strategy. But just because I see the value in submitting your content to LinkedIn Groups, that doesn’t mean I haven’t hit a few bumps in the road along the way. When working with social media you are going to have to deal with people (gasp!) and those people might have different opinions than yours (double gasp!). Some of them aren’t going to be afraid to express their opinion. But you shouldn’t let a negative comment send your entire social media marketing strategy into a tailspin! I’m lucky that this blog can cover a wide range of topics and still be relevant to my target audience. CLICK HERE TO READ MORE...
The Differences Between a 301 and 302 Redirect
One of my biggest pet peeves as an SEO provider is being kept in the dark by a client. I’m not sure if they think I’ll be mad at them because they are redesigning their site or what (for the record, I think most sites could stand a redesign every few years) but on more than one occasion in my 12+ year career in the world of SEO and online marketing, I’ve had a client launch a new site without telling me about it. Why does that bother me? Because more often than not they forget to redirect all their old inbound links to the new site! Years of link building and site trust go down the drain in an instant. There is no way CLICK HERE TO READ MORE...
Blog Posts to Read for December 1, 2011
Below you will find our favorite blog posts that are related to SEO, search engine marketing and social media marketing from this past week. Please feel free to visit each, we hope you find them as helpful as we do! SEO Tactics for 2011/2012 This post includes six ways to improve your search rankings in the next year. CLICK HERE TO READ MORE Just an Average Day on Facebook [Infographic] This post includes an infographic which takes a look at what the average statistics are for the social network on any given day, including number of friends, private messages and comments. CLICK HERE TO READ MORE Why Your PPC Campaign Needs SEO Businesses often have the misconception that investing in PPC or SEO is mutually exclusive but in reality, these CLICK HERE TO READ MORE...
How Is SEO Like a 401(k)?
On first glance, it’s hard to draw any correlations between developing an SEO campaign and investing in your 401(k). The two have nothing to do with each other, right? Actually, your business’s SEO campaign and your personal 401(k) have a lot more in common than you might think. Diversify your portfolio Most financial advisers will talk about the importance of “diversifying your portfolio” when it comes to your 401(k). Basically, they want to invest small portions of your money into many different stocks and bonds. That way, if one or two stocks take a nosedive you don’t lose all of your money in one fell swoop. The same holds true for your SEO. You never want to rely on just one source of traffic to your CLICK HERE TO READ MORE...
Ranking First Isn’t Enough to Get New Business
Yes, I realize the irony of an SEO firm telling you that ranking first in Google and Bing isn’t going to make a difference for your business. Shouldn’t I be shouting the value of rank from the rooftops? Here’s the thing though, while ranking well is important (there are plenty of reports detailing the percentage of clicks the top ten sites get), it isn’t the only thing you should be worrying about. Today’s Internet user is smart; they know that just because a site is ranked first that doesn’t automatically mean it’s the best site for them. 1st ranked sites may get the lion’s share of clicks, but clicks do not automatically equate to conversions. When it comes to inbound marketing, SEO is only a piece CLICK HERE TO READ MORE...
What’s New in SEO for November 29, 2011
We have compiled the latest news and updates from the big three, Google, Bing and Yahoo as it relates to SEO and the search engines overall. WHAT'S NEW THIS WEEK WITH GOOGLE: More spring cleaning out of season Google provides details about the latest product updates that will provide a simpler, more intuitive user experience. The evolution of search in six minutes This post includes a video that provides a short history of the evolution of search and what’s coming next. WHAT'S NEW THIS WEEK WITH BING: The Top 2011 Searches from Bing: A Year of Breakthroughs and Heartbreaks Bing highlights the “most searched” people, places and moments in time in 2011. So there you have it, the latest news in search CLICK HERE TO READ MORE...
Never Make Your SEO Goal about Rank – SEO Video Lesson
The goal of your SEO program should be to generate visitors to your site, not just about ranking well. It's not as important as visitor growth and the return you are getting from your SEO campaign. Site owners that fixate on rank tend to make black hat SEO decisions that could potentially undermine their SEO in the long run. For more SEO video tips and lessons from Nick Stamoulis, check out the Brick Marketing SEO video lesson archive . CLICK HERE TO READ MORE...
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