The Week in Review
4 Tips for Success in Marketing to Mobile Users
Mobile users make up 20 percent of the search market, and that figure will grow. In order to take advantage of these potential customers, here are 14 tips. Among them are to be Siri-friendly, use a shortened URL and consider running an opt-in SMS campaign. (Internet Marketing Ninjas)
Twitter’s User Growth Trumps Facebook’s
According to eMarketer, Twitter’s user growth in the U.S. was 31.9 percent in 2011. This figure is expected to be 20.7 percent this year. Facebook’s user growth was 13.4 percent last year and is expected to be 6.6 percent this year. (eMarketer)
Google Play Replaces Android Market
Google’s digital media services are now being offered by Google Play, the replacement for Android Market. “Google has spent months and months building out the Android Market into a digital media hub, but constantly invoking the Android name seems to have led to a sense of exclusion for some users.” (TechCrunch)
How to Explain Social Media Outside of Facebook and Twitter
“Whether you’re selling a company Google+ page or trying to open your boss’s eyes to the joys of Pinterest, here’s your ultimate guide to explaining the likes of Tumblr and StumbleUpon to your technophobe boss” Here are rundowns of LinkedIn, Pinterest, Google+, Foursquare, StumbleUpon and Tumblr. (Search Engine Journal)
The Definitive Guide to AdWords Display Targeting
The reach of Google’s display network is impressive, but what makes it truly awesome is “the ability to burrow down to very targeted users that gives this method of display advertising the edge.” Here’s a thorough look at the types of ads, types of websites, targeting ad groups and topic targeting, among other pieces of the puzzle. (Search Engine Watch)
Why I Quit SEO
This SEM manager shares his story of why he left the world of SEO. In the beginning, he enjoyed manipulating pages to have them immediately show up high in search engine results. But as search engines caught on and as white-hat SEO was more prominent, it stopped being enjoyable. He asserts that ethical paid search “still shares a number of characteristics of ‘Early’ SEO.” (PPC Associates Blog)
Social Media Icons Affect Online Buying Decisions
According to a study from the University of Miami School of Business, Empirica Research and StyleCaster Media Group, consumers who saw a social media icon near a product that might embarrass them were significantly less likely to buy that product than those who saw the same product without the icon. On the flip side, consumers who saw products they would be proud to show off were significantly more likely to buy it than those who saw the same product without a social media icon. (University of Miami School of Business)
OverShareMe: Tweet All Your Google Searches
OverShareMe is a Google Chrome extension that will tweet everything you’re searching for on Google. The app allows you to set a hashtag for your searches to be sent out via the Twitter account @PlzOverShareMe. (The Next Web)
A Marketer’s Guide to Mobile Video Advertising
“Now that the consumer has arrived, advertisers need to understand the subtleties and unique qualities of mobile.” Here are five basic rules to know: 1) all mobile video ads are not equal, 2) context matters, 3) consumers watch mobile video throughout the day, 4) targeting and interactivity capitalizes on the engaged mobile user, and 5) executing mobile ad campaigns well isn’t easy. (iMediaConnection.com)
A Scientific Approach to Writing Page Titles
Here’s a slightly more scientific approach to page titles, in five steps: 1) keywords, 2) look at competitors’ titles, 3) look at competitors’ posts, 4) build a cracking page title, and 5) learn and improve. (ProBlogger)
5 Display Advertising Metrics You Should Know
Clicks are an inadequate way to measure the effectiveness of online campaigns. Reach, engagement, life in site visits, search and display overlap, and conversions and ROI are five measurements to look at instead. (iMediaConnection.com)
4 Reasons Why SEO Will Never Die
SEOs have survived thus far and will be here to stay for the foreseeable future. The four reasons why are: 1) SEO makes money, 2) SEOs bridge the gap, 3) SEO communicates with customers and prospects, and 4) SEO benefits users. (Search Engine Watch)
Pingram: Pinterest Meets Instagram
Pingram is a new site that mashes Pinterest and Instagram, two of the hottest social media services today. “The site essentially allows you browse your Instagram feed (and other popular Instagram photos) as if you were doing it on Pinterest.” (VentureBeat)
Key Takeaways From the Facebook Marketing Conference
Reach Generator, Timeline for brand pages, new ad units and real-time insights were big topics at the Facebook Marketing Conference. (TechCrunch)
Bing Buys the First Huge Facebook Log-out Ad Placement
The first Facebook “logged out” ad placement has been purchased by Microsoft. “This high-pixel ad space was announced at fMC last week, and is only displayed to those users who log out of Facebook.” (Marketing Land)
The Top 5 Facebook Advertising Tips
Advertising on Facebook can get expensive if you don’t know how to monitor, track or analyze data. Here are five tips to use: 1) test and split ads, 2) use Facebook Sponsored Stories, 3) utilize CPM Action Optimized, 4) use local targeting, and 5) hyper-target by profession. (Intense Blog)
11 Google Analytics Tricks
Google Analytics is so much more than page views or visitors. To utilize the tool more, read about these 11 tricks. Among them are setting up goals, connecting your Google Webmaster Tools account and enabling site search. (SEOmoz)
78 Resources for Internet Marketers
“As one who both loves testing new ways of looking at data and also being a business owner who enjoys finding the best possible ROI on hardware and software alike I thought I’d put together my 78 favorite resources based on what they yield and what they produce from a dollar-in-dollar-out perspective.” These resources are divvied up into nine sections, including coding tools, conversion tools, forums and social profiles. (Search Engine Watch)
Bing Tests New Local Search Results
Bing Local is testing a new look for its local search results, which look similar to Google’s. The new look steps away from the “pack” of listings and map atop the page, instead showing these results anywhere in the search results. The “pack” may be replaced by blended listings, too. (Search Engine Land)
Facebook Introduces Real-Time Analytics for Pages
Facebook is set to unveil real-time analytics for Page administrators. “Such administrators will have instant access to real time results for People Talking About This, and Page post metrics including Reach (Organic, Paid, Viral) and Engaged Users.” (Mashable)
How to Use Facebook Timeline for Brands
“What does the launch of Facebook Timeline for Pages mean for your brand? Unprecedented control, an opportunity to boost engagement, but also lots of initial work.” Here’s a look at activating Timeline for pages, how to handle the cover, the about section, page apps, pinned posts and more. (TechCrunch)
Facebook Unveils Ads That Show up When a User Logs out
Facebook announced Wednesday that ads will pop up on mobile News Feeds and when a user logs out of the site. The log-out ads will reach the 37 million people who log out of Facebook every day. (Mashable)
The New Features in Bing Webmaster Tools
The Markup Validator (Beta) and Bing Keyword Research Tool are two new features in Bing Webmaster Tools. The Markup Validator extracts microdata, microformats, RDFa, Schema.org and pen Graph from a specified URL. The Keyword Research Tool isn’t yet available via an API. (SEOmoz)
The Marketer’s Guide to LinkedIn
LinkedIn offers a lot to marketers. This rundown covers profiles, applications, groups, LinkedIn Answers, advertising and more. (KISSmetrics)
7 Free or Low-Cost Tools for Improving Landing-Page Conversion Rates
Here are seven low-cost or free tools to help improve your landing pages’ conversion rates. (If you have $157, you can try them all.) Included are ClickTest, UserTesting.com and Balsamiq. (Search Engine Watch)
