Author: jr2549a

3 Google Analytics Tips for Content Creators

If creating content is part of your daily routine, the process has likely become as natural as breathing.

You get your cup of coffee, sit down and start plugging away writing posts that would give Shakespeare a run for his money. OK, so that might be a little over the top, but wouldn’t it be nice to have the process flow that smoothly?

It may get difficult at times to find a source of inspiration or even get a good read on what your audience is enjoying. Sure, seeing the count on your social media buttons go up on certain posts can be a fairly useful indicator of performance. But, as we know, social is volatile and finding a coherent pattern for posts achieving success may not be that easy to figure out.

That’s where analytics come in. (more…)

10 Mobile Trends for 2013 (That Brands Need to Embrace)

A revolution is upon us.

Okay, so maybe that’s a little dramatic, but mobile is evolving and its value is growing with it.

With more than a billion smartphones in consumers’ pockets—and more than a billion people now connected 24/7—it’s more important than ever for marketers to adapt their strategy to mobile trends.

The Internet is constantly at our fingertips; we want what we want, when we want it and how we want it. Hear that, businesses? To engage with consumers in the mobile era, you must understand the shift in consumer behavior—immediacy and convenience fuel actions.

Mobile must be a strategic priority, and mobile investment must rise. Seems pretty definitive, right?

Well, it’s nothing a little preparation can’t help your business do to brave this revolution and stay ahead of the competition. Here are 10 tips for embracing mobile from Forrester’s 2013 Mobile Trends For Marketers report. (more…)

Say Goodbye to Google Reader: 4 Alternatives to Keep You Organized

Yes, the rumors are true. Starting July 1, 2013, Google will shut down its reader service, giving us dedicated users around three months to find an alternative.

Many of you might be saying to yourselves, “But I use Google Reader every day. Why would Google do such a thing?”

According to Google, usage for the application has been declining; therefore, it wants to move forward with its strategy to focus on fewer products that could have more impact. So just a little over eight years since its launch, this Google product will come to an end.

But many dedicated users aren’t letting Reader go without a fight.

One New York lawyer started a campaign on Change.org to save this service. As of yesterday morning, it’s gotten over 100,000 signatures. But it doesn’t seem like Google will budge on its decision to shut down the service.

In a few months, if you haven’t switched your RSS feeds to a different platform, your morning routine (and all your years of creating a robust directory of the best readings on the web) will vanish. (more…)

3 Old Tricks for the New SEO

When it comes to the world of SEO, there’s only one constant: change.

A lot of the major ones have already happened with Google’s new algorithm in 2011 and again in 2012, but it appears that there are Panda updates a few times every year. So although the last refresh may not have affected you, why run the risk of lowering your page rank or hurting the credibility of your site?

Old SEO practices like creating thin content, anchor text over-use, and ignoring social signals won’t fly in 2013. Google has gotten much smarter and knows when to call your bluff.

Google can tell when content adds real value and when content has been posted just for SEO purposes.
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7 Easy Steps to Increase Website Engagement

Suppose you visited a website named Girl with a Pearl Earring, thinking it was for the book or movie and found a blog about a girl and her jewelry. How long would you stay?

Your answer would probably be, “Hmmm, not very long.” And because of this, the site would have a high bounce rate and overall low engagement.

Well, let’s assume your website’s name does the content justice and that you’ve already created great content. Yet, you might be having trouble keeping visitors on your site and viewing more pages per visit, and you’re not sure why.

Generating engagement isn’t always easy. Your readers need to be able to find your content, deem it interesting, and go on to read more.

What can you do to make this magical process occur? (more…)

3 Quick SEO Tips to Improve Your Site’s Relationship with Google

SEO: we’ve all heard the acronym a million times by now, but many people still don’t realize the power those three letters can hold for the health of a website.

SEO – aka search engine optimization – can make the content of your site more relevant, more attractive, and more easily understood by search engines and humans. Lack of proper SEO or poorly planned SEO can have some hefty implications for your site that aren’t immediately obvious from looking at the surface.

Of course, some people dismiss the notion of SEO relatively quickly: “Well I don’t care if I rank in search engines, I have loyal customers.” This could be true, but what about all of the potential customers you’re missing out on because they can’t find you?

Think of SEO like your store, it has great products and merchandise but no one can find the location. That means a lot of lost sales and well, a pretty empty store that probably wouldn’t survive very long. This situation is exactly like poor SEO on your website.
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