Make sure that your SEO is ready to go in 2012 with these 4 tips:

1. Revisit your keyword research
Very few sites nail keyword research perfectly the first time. Just because a certain keyword gets X amount of search volume each month that doesn’t guarantee you’ll reap the benefits. Contrarily, a keyword you didn’t have much faith in when you started out might be over delivering. While certain keywords may look like they should have performed well for your site, now is the time to see if they really have. What keywords are performing as you expected them to? Which ones are underperforming? Are you seeing any trends that indicate new keywords (ones you didn’t purposefully target) are delivering a steady amount of traffic to your site?

Search behavior evolves over time, which means keywords that worked well in 2011 might not behave the same in 2012. Don’t be afraid to retarget new keywords, but make sure you are making changes based on your site’s analytics! You don’t want to remove a keyword that was working well by accident because you wanted to try something new.

2. Update your website content
What is your company doing new in 2012? Are you launching a new product? You need to make sure that new product page is up and running and connected via internal links to the rest of your site. Is your marketing department getting a new VP? You might need to add their bio to the “About Us” or “Management” page. Are you going to create a social profile for them that is associated with your company? Maybe you’re running a few end-of-the-year deals. These specials need to be added and removed from your site at the right time; you don’t want to be promoting your Thanksgiving Special well past Christmas. Now is the time to make sure your website and content accurately reflects the current position of your company.

3. Brainstorm blog/article topics
The number one problem most companies have with content marketing is coming up with topics. Start 2012 off right and start brainstorming now! If you feel like your own topic well is running dry, don’t be afraid to turn to your coworkers and employees for inspiration. For example, your customer service or sales team members deal with your target audience on a daily basis. Ask them to write down every question they get asked from a current or potential client. Each of those questions can be the starting point for a blog post.

You could also signup for your competitor’s newsletter or blog’s RSS feed. Since they target the same audience as you, those topics are probably right on point. What nuggets can you extract from their posts (never just copy!) and take your own, unique stance on. You can also get a good idea for what they aren’t writing about, an opportunity for you to dominate an unclaimed niche!

You can also ask your customers directly. Post questions on your social profiles and see what your target audience is interested in learning more about.

4. Run a link audit
A link audit is a good way to get an in-depth look at the link portfolio you’ve built up in 2011. Where are the majority of your links coming from? Are you top heavy in one category and light in another? Remember, the search engines like to see a diverse approach to link building. Not only does it demonstrate your commitment to white hat link building, it also protects your site in the long run. The more sources of traffic you have the less vulnerable your site is. For instance, is Google were to decide that all blog comment links were black hat, would your site lose the majority of its link portfolio?

1. Write blog content for your target audience, which is not necessarily yourself. This happens with startups a lot. They blog about being entrepreneurs, which is great – if your target audience is entrepreneurs. Blog about the things that your community wants to know about. (Source: Mark Suster)

2. If you’re going to use social media for customer service, mirror your hours of operation on Twitter to the hours of operation you have for your support team. (Source: Jeff Esposito)

3. Measure social media ROI by analyzing how it performs compared to more established channels or advertising methods. It’s not comparing apples-to-apples when it comes to cost, but you can compare the quality of traffic they drive to your website. (Source: The Next Web)

4. Mobile check-in deals aren’t just for restaurants and bars. See how one medical practice creatively offered a special to his tech-savvy patients for checking in. It’s something any small business marketer can learn from. (Source: Mashable)

5. How frequently you blog does count. Businesses that blog daily generate 5 times more traffic than those that post only weekly or daily. (Source: Social Media Examiner) Bonus tip: need ideas for all that content? Here’s 100 of them to get you started.

6. Hashtag-stuffing tweets doesn’t work. A study from Argyle Social shows that (in their sample) tweets with hashtags got 5% fewer click-throughs than those without hashtags. (Source: Social Media B2B)

7. If you follow more people than are following you, you could harm your Twitter account’s SEO potential. Search engines “trust” those with more Twitter influence, and following many more people than follow you isn’t always an indicator of that. (Source: Marketing Profs)

8. Building an online community? Show your power users that you appreciate their contributions. Do this by asking them for feedback, offering prizes and giveaways, and actually saying “thank you” for their interactions, mentions, and good content. (Source: Social Media Today)

9. Blog about the problems your product or service solves – not about the product or service. No one cares about you (yet.) Everyone cares about their own problems and if your product or service can help. (Source: Social Fresh)

10. Think of marketing as storytelling, and think of your customers as the characters. Think about what motivates them. Measure what patterns they display. Let their actions, wants, and needs drive the story. (Source: Joey Strawn)

11. Depressing tweets, vague tweets, tweets about your weight loss – and of course, our favorite, the humblebrag – these are all messages that are better kept to yourself. A little personality is fun. But for the most part, stay professional and positive. And always, always stay classy, of course. (Source:BostInnovation)

12. What does your social media strategy really need? It needs to answer simple questions. Who am I speaking to? What do they want from me online? How will this strategy evolve? It’s not tools or tactics or having the perfect definition for either one. It comes down to these basic ideas that are all about tying social media to your businesses needs. (Source: Smart Blogs on Social Media)

13. Publishing a blog post on your company blog? Post several tweets of that post and track the success of different times and keywords for your followers. (Source: Social Media B2B)

14. Stop talking about yourself if you want more retweets. Want to get more RTs? Of course you do. They drive traffic to your blog posts, can boost SEO, and connect you with with more followers. According to Social Media Scientist Dan Zarrella’s latest research, tweets with self-reference get fewer retweets than those with other information. So be relevant, share good information, and don’t make it about yourself. (Source: Dan Zarrella)

15. The medium isn’t the message. Remember that Twitter, Facebook, or whatever platform you’re using isn’t the strategy; it’s a tool to distribute your message. (Source: Entrepreneur)

16. Choose to measure social media metrics that tell you how you’re doing based on why you’re doing social media in the first place. This will require you to step back and think about why you are tweeting, or why you have a Facebook Page. Is it because you want sales? Then measure conversion rates. Is it for market research? Then monitor trending topics. (Source: Clickz)

17. Use geo-location Twitter searches to identify local prospects to connect with. In Twitter’s advanced search, you can refine your search by keyword and location. (Source: Jeff Bullas)

18. Use social media data to find your key influencers, outline your media plan, and develop your messaging. By listening to customer conversations on social media, companies can learn a lot of information about their competitors and industries that will help them better craft their marketing programs. (Source: Mashable)

19. Create a Facebook group to stay connected with those you meet at conferences months after the last panel. The new Facebook groups aren’t the old “I lost my cell phone number” most people have been invited to at some point. New groups allow you to email content, use collaborative group docs similar to Google Docs (perfect for sharing Twitter usernames or other contact information), and message the whole group at the same time. (Source: Social Fresh)

20. Consider the timing of your social media posts – time of day, time of week, and time of year. If you’re posting to your Facebook Page in the mornings but your audience isn’t looking until after office hours, your updates are lost in the mix. If you work for a seasonal brand (think snowboards), how do you need to better tailor your content during the summer vs. the “on-season?” (Source: Search Engine Optimization Journal)

21. You don’t need the voice of influencers – you need your brand advocates. Engaging with influencers just for the sake of having someone with 100,000 Twitter followers talk or blog about your product isn’t useful because they aren’t invested in your product. Your brand’s existing advocates are. An influencer might get you quick buzz, but your brand advocates offer longevity. (Source: Danny Brown)

22. Have a common name? Use checkusernames.com to test personal brand monikers that will work for your social media handles and domain. It’s likely that DanTaylor.com is already taken, but you can check to see what variations are available so you can create a cohesive personal brand across all social networks. (Source: The Next Web)

23. Plan your editorial calendar for what ebooks can result from your blog posts.  Cranking out content for a company blog each day isn’t easy, but if you approach your content creation strategically, you can do it in a way that scales for your business. (Source: Social Media B2B)

24. If you’re going to tell people to “like” your company on Facebook, have something of value waiting there for them. Give them a reason why they should “like” you. (Source: Outspoken Media)

25. If your company makes a mistake on social media – think rogue tweets – step out and own up to the mistake. Don’t pull any tricks and pretend you were hacked. (Source: Smart Blogs on Social Media)

26. Use social media contests as an opportunity to learn more about your customers. Ask them how they heard about your promotion to get a sense of what channels people use to learn more about your brand. (Source: Mashable)

27. Here are three universal content blueprints to include in your company’s blogs: offer a new opinion, create a killer list, or teach your customers how to do something. (Source: Social Fresh)

28. Leverage social search and boost your rankings for target keywords by offering content (ebooks, webinars, etc.) and having community members pay with a tweet. Use hashtags.org to find hashtags that matter to your audience and work them into your pay with a tweet offering to tap into prospective community members on the web. (Source: SEOmoz)

29.) Include social sharing and follow buttons on your site, your blog, and in your emails. Use this how-to guide to learn how you can create them for all the major social media networks. (Source: HubSpot)

30. It seems obvious, but an often disregarded quality of great community and social media managers is great social skills. Tact and discernment go a long way. (Source: SocialFresh)

Subscribe to these blogs and websites via email or add them to your favorite RSS reader to stay on the cutting edge of all things marketing!

11 Must-Read Marketing News Blogs/Sites

1. Marketing Pilgrim (Subscribe via RSS | Subscribe via Email): Launched by internet marketing consultant Andy Beal, this blog brings you the latest news, rumors, and reviews of all things related to internet marketing and online advertising.

2. eMarketer (Subscribe via RSS | Subscribe via Email): eMarketer offers data, statistics and analysis on digital marketing, media and commerce by weighing and analyzing information from various sources.

3. The Forrester Blog – Market Insights (Subscribe via RSS): Geared toward market research, this Forrester blog features a roll-up of posts from analysts serving market insights professionals.

4. TechCrunch (Subscribe via RSS | Subscribe via Email): Follow TechCrunch to stay on top of new technology developments and the latest tech news.

5. Search Engine Land (Subscribe via RSS | Subscribe via Email): Covering topics related to search engine optimization and search engine marketing, this blog will keep you in the know about search news.

6. Mashable (Subscribe via RSS | Subscribe via Email): Mashable is your go-to website for social media news and tips.

7. Official YouTube Blog (Subscribe via RSS): Get a heads up on any new features or updates about YouTube.

8. The Official Google Blog (Subscribe via RSS |Subscribe via Email): Be notified of the latest Google news from the powerful search engine giant.

9. LinkedIn Blog (Subscribe via RSS | Subscribe via Email): Stay abreast of new features on LinkedIn and learn tips and tricks for effectively using the social network.

10. Official Facebook Blog (Subscribe via RSS): Be the first to know about the latest and greatest from the world’s top social network.

11. Twitter Blog (Subscribe via RSS): Get all the breaking news about features, updates, and tips for Twitter.

Currently, the only option for discovering new pages is to choose a general category such as parenting or marketing. With Explore, you can drill down to a specific keyword like “strollers” or “email marketing software.”

The problem with StumbleUpon traffic is that it’s never been highly targeted so it results in a large number of junk hits. But with the Explore feature, the results are so much more relevant that they could actually turn into conversions.

The feature is currently being beta tested and it has some holes. As you type, you’re given choices in a drop-down. If your word or phrase doesn’t return any results, it won’t appear as an option and you can’t move forward. I searched the names of my favorite TV shows and got nothing, but when I typed in the names of the stars of those shows, the results were excellent. Cities also fared well, as did food items like Chocolate Chip Cookies.

With the Explore feature, StumbleUpon goes from being a fun, time waster to a useful search engine. How about that?

If you haven’t Stumbled your current blog post, web update or Facebook page, go do it now and you may be singing the praises of StumbleUpon come Monday morning.

BY CYNTHIA BORIS ON JULY 22, 2011

Check out how these websites achieved a great vintage look and use them as inspiration while crafting a new, yet old looking website design!

Vintage Website Designs

What they found is that more than half the NAI member companies did not remove tracking codes after someone opted out.

NAI member companies pledge only to allow opting out of behavioral ad targeting, not tracking. Of the 64 companies we studied, 33 left tracking cookies in place after opting out.

Ah, but we all know how stats can be twisted, so let’s keep reading. The next line says:

At least eight NAI members promise to stop tracking after opting out, but nonetheless leave tracking cookies in place.

I take that to mean that the other 25 companies never actually said they would remove tracking cookies, it’s just that they belong to a fellowship that wishes they would.

On the positive side, ten companies went beyond what their privacy policy promises (say that three times fast) and two companies were “taking overt steps to respect Do Not Track.”

The Standford boys do emphasis that these are preliminary findings with “experimental software” so they could be way off the mark. They probably aren’t, but we can hope.

There’s probably a small percentage of companies who will blatantly ignore any attempts to stop tracking. For the rest, it’s more likely a case of not having procedures in place. Their intentions are good, but lack of manpower and the proper tech is probably what’s keeping them from following through on those good thoughts.

Since they can’t go after them with big guns, the Stanford study went with public embarrassment. They’ve published a list of the websites showing which ones are compliant and which ones aren’t. If you’re working with an ad network, you might want to check it out.

BY CYNTHIA BORIS ON JULY 15, 2011

#1 Content

Content is key
All the search engines scan a sites content now – almost ignoring things like meta tags. The more content you have on your site the more the search engines can scan – but there is more to it then that: people like content too. Many people measure a web site’s success by the number of visitors it gets – so ask yourself – why would people come to your web site? do you offer them interesting and informative information that relates to your product or service? if not, why would they come?

Relevant content and lots of it is a key for a successful web site. There is always room for more content on a web site, and you can never have too much.

Take this article for example, while it’s fairly useful information for many of our visitors, it’s also additional content for our web site – and will serve to help our site do better. Writing articles about aspects of your industry is a great way to generate content.

Set asside an hour a day (or at least an hour a week) to devote to adding new content to your web site.

1. Fast Loading web site designs - This is the number 1 tip that every web designer should follow. You might design a web site that looks fantastic but few people are going to see it if it takes a long time to load. Your designs should be optimized for the web and should not take more than 15 seconds to load. Remember, you might have a great design but very few people are going to see it if it takes a long time to load. Click here to for 10 tips to fast-loading web pages.
2. Clear Navigation - Once a visitor has come to your site you need to make them go through your site. To do this you need to have clear navigation. Make sure all your important links are at prominent places. Preferably right on top – that’s usually where a visitor first looks. Make use of menus on the right and the left. Try to link to as many pages of your site. Let your information be accessible from all parts of the site. You never know what a visitor may be interested in. Try to also use the footer for your important links. Click here for navigation tips.
3. All Resolutions - Today, there are computers with all kinds of resolution. They range from 640 x 480 to 1024 x 768 and go even higher. Your job is to design your site for all these resolutions. The best way to do this is to design your site in terms of percentage and not pixels. Click here to learn how to design websites for all screen resolutions.
4. Browser Compatibility - Make sure your site is browser compatible. Your web site should look good in Netscape as well as in Internet Explorer. Don’t stop designing your site as soon as you find that it looks great on IE. Usually Netscape gives some problems, especially when you try doing complicated HTML designs. But don’t give up too soon, usually with patience these problems can be easily fixed.
5. Readable and professional looking fonts - Don’t ask me how many times I’ve clicked out of a site just because the font is in Comic Sans and the color is a bright pink or green. Just by looking at the font you feel that the site is not a professional site. Don’t use Comic Sans and other fancy fonts that may not be available on most computers. If the font you use is not available in a visitors computer the web site will use the default font of your computer which is much worse. So try to keep to common and professional web fonts. The fonts that I always stick to are Arial and Verdana.
6. Minimize the use of images - I believe that sometimes simple designs are the most effective for the web. Keep your site simple but neat. Don’t clutter your page with big, bulky images that take ages to load. Instead use tables creatively and design eye – catching icons that will draw a visitor’s attention to a particular section of your site. Tip – Visitors are usually more interested in content than in design.
7. Use of white space - Try not to clutter up your page with too many images, backgrounds and colorful fonts. Again use the Keep It Simple principle by minimizing the use of graphics and using a lot of white space. White space gives a sense of spaciousness and overall neatness to a site. Notice the white space in our site.
8. Check for broken links - Always check for broken links within a site before uploading it to your web server. In Dreamweaver you can check for broken links by right clicking on any file in the Site Files Window and then clicking on Check links – Entire Site. If you don’t have this facility you need to upload your site and then check it using online tools like Net Mechanic.