Welcome to the winter edition, of what is now becoming a monthly roundup of what I consider to be some of the best SEO and internet marketing article. Without much ado, here are some of the most exciting and informative articles I came across during the month of December 2017.
“Matt Cutts Dislikes How Google Links To Search Results” by Barry Schwartz on SE Round Table. Matt Cutts posted on Google+ community how he is not happy with how Google is linking to the core search results:
“I wish the “10 blue links” in Google’s search results were direct links instead of links like https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct= j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=4&cad=rja&uact= 8&ved=0ahUKEwjJpuvXgejXAhURSt8KHRUJDl8QFgg7MAM &url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.speedtest.net% 2F&usg=AOvVaw0szRo_9l-4_h8tA3oKB8NJ.” (note I broke up the URL a bit so it wraps in this blog post)”
“5 Ways to Use Online Profiles for Link Building” by Kevin Rowe on Search Engine Journal. Many modern SEO gurus consider online profiles as grey link building technique. Here are some interesting ways to use online dating profiles for link building:
- Outreach with an Executive’s Profile for Better Response Rates
- Forum Profiles Can Be Used to Build Relationships with Highly Technical People
- Use LinkedIn to Share Your Content with the Right People
- Reach out to the Social Profiles of People Who Are Authorities
- Promote Your Content with Facebook Ads to Drive Traffic, Shares & Links
“The Complete Guide to Direct Traffic in Google Analytics” by Tom Bennet on Moz blog. Probably everyone knows what is direct traffic. This is very deep post containing probably the all causes for direct traffic like manual address typing, https to http etc.
“How Different Color Schemes Can Impact Sales on Your Website” by Neil Patel on his blog. The right colours can lead to conversion. Researches say that if your site colour scheme is not attractive you may be using potential leads.
“21 Great (And Not So Great) Value Proposition Examples” by Fomo on usefomo blog. This is very nice post which includes real examples with pictures. Here are the things that makes a great proposition:
- Avoids hype or sleaze
- Every word is chosen carefully to be as precise in the messaging as possible. No corporate jargon.
- Can be read and understood within 5 seconds.
- Tells the customer the concrete result they’ll get after using the product
- Communicates how they are different from the competition
“7 Mighty Customer Experience Trends for Retention in 2018” by Sam Hurley on postfunnel blog.
Trend #1: Experience Above All
Trend #2: Proactive Engagement
Trend #3: Real-Time Personalization (At Scale)
Trend #4: Service On Demand
Trend #5: Connectivity & Integration
Trend #6: AR & VR Enrichment
Trend #7: Seamless Customer Journeys
“5 Productivity Hacks to Become a Better Marketer” by Ivan Kreimer on campaign monitor blog.
- Wake up early
- Focus on the right things
- Block your distractions
- Have a morning routine
- Get out and exercise
“5 Reasons Your Emails Fail That Have Nothing to Do with the Email Content” by Brad Smith.
- You don’t follow up
- You don’t consistently send cold emails
- Your emails are going to spam
- You don’t have a system for handling leads
- Your prospect list is trash
“13 Visual Elements That Can Improve Your Landing Page Conversion Rate” by Robert Katai.
- Data-driven visuals
- Quotes/testimonials
- Video content
- Video testimonials
- Screenshots
- Photos
- Illustrations
- Flipbooks
- The logos of your clients
- A prototype
- Icons
- Social media logos
- Specs/Technical data
“Google Search Ranking Algorithm Update: The Maccabees Update” by Barry Schwartz on SE Round Table. It seems that on December 12th was Google search ranking algorithm updated. Here are the quotes from Webmaster World forum:
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