WebMarketCentral

APRIL 20, 2009

Once you've optimized the list of keywords in your search engine marketing campaign, tweaked the bids and crafted stellar ad text to bring visitors to your site, landing page design is critical to converting those visitors into sales or leads. Here are a few of the best posts about SEM landing page design from last year. Good and bad landing page examples by CDF Networks Chad Frederiksen gets right to the point with this brief but helpful post on what separates bad landing page design (e.g., clu

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Landing Pages SEM Best Practices Search Engine Marketing 27

WebMarketCentral

DECEMBER 10, 2009

Judy Grundstrom at the Just JudyJudyJudy blog yesterday announced the Twin Cities Top Ten Titans In Social Media 2009 , chosen by a distinguished group of judges. It's a very interesting list. The winners come from a variety of backgrounds, including politics ( Dusty Trice ), broadcast media ( Jason Matheson and Alexis Thompson of FM 107.1, Jason DeRusha of WCCO TV), the arts ( Kate Iverson ), corporate marketing ( Kelly Groehler of Best Buy), and PR agencies ( Blois Olson and David Erickson fro

Social Media 26

Social Media Web 2.0 Media Tagging 26

WebMarketCentral

NOVEMBER 3, 2009

It seems like so much of what is written about search engine optimization (SEO) assumes that you're writing a blog post, or a news story, or the next great "how to" article that's going to be syndicated far and wide on article marketing sites. Sometimes that is what you're doing, but often writing for the web—and SEO—involves less glamorous pages like product or service descriptions.

SEO 26

SEO Product Digg Tagging 26

WebMarketCentral

FEBRUARY 26, 2009

Note: this is a guest post from Cece Salomon-Lee , social media relations expert and author of the PR Meets Marketing blog. Cece has previously guest-posted here on best practices in PR and blogging outreach. Virtual events have received a lot of attention recently as an effective way to communicate with your audiences without the costs associated with an in-person event.

Social Media 26

Social Media Media Web 2.0 PR 26

WebMarketCentral

AUGUST 24, 2009

Signs that you need a break from SEO. Poking fun at Web 2.0 naming conventions. Copywriting mistakes to avoid—and tips for writing better copy from a standup comedian. How not to use PowerPoint. Search engine rap (oxymoronic, but true). Clueless tech support. What do these have in common? They're all here in this collection of amusing, creative and strange posts from the last year.

Web 2.0 25

Web 2.0 Creativity Copywriting Best Practices 25

WebMarketCentral

JUNE 4, 2009

As new technologies evolve, so do the etiquette standards of accepted behavior associated with them. Ever gotten an email in ALL CAPS, from someone not realizing they were virtually shouting? What about talking loudly on cell phones in a quiet train car or other public place? Today these seem like obvious etiquette missteps (well, to most people anyway) but early on, when people were learning the rules, they weren’t as apparent.

Video Marketing 25

Video Marketing Tips Privacy Conference 25

WebMarketCentral

JANUARY 30, 2009

Is there SEM life beyond AdWords (and if so, where?)? How do you write a killer search ad? What should you look for when hiring a paid search agency? Which metrics are most important for measuring PPC success? What steps should take to optimize SEM campaigns—and which mistakes should you avoid? Discover the answers to all of these quandaries and more below, in some of the best blog posts and articles on search engine marketing from 2008.

Search Engine Marketing 25

Search Engine Marketing Cost per Acquisition Paid Search Agency Search Marketing 25

WebMarketCentral

JANUARY 7, 2009

Welcome to the first post in the official Best of 2008 series, which will summarize and link to some of the best blog posts and online articles about SEO, social media, online marketing strategy and more. In this inaugural post, you can find out what prominent figures like Matt Cutts and Aaron Wall have to say about the future of SEO, how to perform a website health checkup, where to find the best SEO and online marketing videos produced last year, the truth about common SEO myths, the merits of

SEO 25

SEO Microsite Best Practices SEM 25

WebMarketCentral

AUGUST 17, 2009

Which social media sites are most helpful for SEO? What common mistakes should you avoid when optimizing a site for search? Which factors do search engine algorithms weight most heavily in determining search position? How can you generate more clicks even when your site isn't in one of the top three spots in search results? Get the answers to all of these questions and others here in the final(!

SEO 24

SEO Best Practices Adwords Copywriting 24

WebMarketCentral

DECEMBER 14, 2009

There are a lot of great b2b marketers and social media contributors worth following on Twitter, like Ardath Albee , Mark Schaefer , Eric Fletcher , Jennifer Kane and Rob Rose to name just a few. These are people who definitely do not suck at Twitter. They are intelligent, discerning, helpful and social. All have respectable, even impressive, but not gargantuan numbers of followers.

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Twitter Web 2.0 Tagging B2B Sales 23

WebMarketCentral

APRIL 2, 2009

Interest in social media marketing is surging, with several recent studies showing that a majority of companies, of all sizes, are now using social media in some form for business purposes. I've also seen dramatically increased interest in hiring social media consultants. But if most companies are already using social media in their marketing/PR mix, why is a consultant necessary?

Social Media 23

Social Media Consulting Social Marketing Media 23

WebMarketCentral

DECEMBER 31, 2009

With the rapidly increasing use of social media tools for marketing and PR comes growing pressure to demonstrate results. But what metrics are really most appropriate for social media measurement? How can you monitor everything that's being said about your company, competitors and key industry topics across the social media landscape without spending a fortune on monitoring software?

Social Media 21

Social Media Social Marketing Burn Rate Web 2.0 21

WebMarketCentral

OCTOBER 20, 2009

In March of last year, I highlighted Nabbit as a cool online tool for tagging songs on the radio using your cell phone. It still is, though there are now competing technologies available. But what sets Nabbit apart, and makes it interesting to both b2b and b2c marketing professionals, is the tool's ability to serve as a platform for integrated advertising campaigns.

Advertisements 21

Advertisements Advertising Campaigns Mobile Advertising 21

WebMarketCentral

SEPTEMBER 1, 2009

Google's content network can be a valuable addition to any AdWords search marketing program. It gives you the opportunity to very cost-effectively display text or graphical ads across Google's network of AdSense partner sites, many of them industry-specific online publications and blogs. These ads have both branding and direct response value. The click-through rate is typically lower (as it is for display ads in general, as prospects see your ads while reading content rather than specifically se

SEM 21

SEM Adsense Adwords Google 21

WebMarketCentral

JULY 14, 2009

Until recently, I've believed that, for the sake of Twitter etiquette, I should follow back pretty much everyone who follows me on Twitter (as long as they used a real name, real photo, and weren't peddling an "Internet dating site"). I thought it would be rude not to do so. But two items recently got me re-thinking that rule. The first was this post from Soshable, Following on Twitter: Quality vs Quantity.

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Traffic Twitter Web 2.0 Tagging 21

WebMarketCentral

JUNE 3, 2009

What are the real reasons many seemingly-promising business ideas fail? How can you increase customer loyalty? Why do corporate marketing departments often seem so chaotic—and how can they operate more like a well-oiled machine? What do sales people need from marketing when launching a new product? Read about all of this and more in some of the best articles and blog posts from the last year on marketing strategy and branding.

Brand Identity 21

Brand Identity Branding Marketing & Strategy Best Practices 21

WebMarketCentral

MARCH 24, 2009

In It Came from Facebook! The Social Media Marketing Challenge that Can't be Ignored , I quoted a few interesting statistics—such as that Facebook is now used by one out of every three people who have Internet access, globally, and that 69% of B2B decision makers use social media for business purposes—to get across the point that companies of all sizes need to figure out how to incorporate social media in their marketing and PR plans.

Social Media 21

Social Media Paid Content Paid Search Agency Web 2.0 21

WebMarketCentral

MARCH 16, 2009

Several recent studies have put the challenge that social media presents to marketers into stark relief: social media is huge. It's growing at an astounding rate. And most marketers still haven't figured out how to capitalize on it. While there are some social media brand success stories , such as Blendtec and Starbucks on the B2C side, and Sun and IBM in B2B, most companies still struggle with optimizing their social media strategy and implementing tactics and measurement.

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Social Media Facebook Social Marketing Web 2.0 21

WebMarketCentral

MARCH 4, 2009

Social media is a bit like art—most of us are pretty sure we know what it is, but articulating a common definition can be challenging. There are many definitions of social media floating about of course, they just aren't consistent. Social media "are primarily Internet- and mobile-based tools for sharing and discussing information" according to Wikipedia.

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Social Media Web 2.0 Media Wiki 21

WebMarketCentral

FEBRUARY 27, 2009

A panel of social media experts will discuss how business-to-business organizations can effectively use social media strategy to help achieve business goals MINNEAPOLIS--( BUSINESS WIRE )--The Minnesota chapter of the Business Marketing Association ( BMA-Minnesota ) will host a panel discussion on how business-to-business (B2B) marketers can use social media to boost their performance metrics and support a customer-centric business model.

Enterprise Management 21

Enterprise Management Social Media Work Management Marketing Management 21

WebMarketCentral

JANUARY 28, 2009

It's been obvious for some time that social media has an increasing role in b2b marketing , and that b2b companies will increasingly invest marketing dollars there as social media marketing practices become more standardized. Still, most of what's being done today, from creating a company Facebook page to using a social media email signature , is extremely tactical.

Enterprise Management 21

Enterprise Management Social Media Paid Content Marketing Management 21

WebMarketCentral

DECEMBER 28, 2009

What are the four stages of Twitter enlightenment? How important is Twitter for business? How can you get more retweets and efficiently manage unfollowers? How exactly did Dell generate so much revenue by Twittering? What are the "secrets" of top corporate Twitterers? Learn the answers to these questions and others here in more of the best blog posts and articles from last year on Twitter techniques, tools and tactics.

Twitter 20

Twitter Tactics Web 2.0 Tips 20

WebMarketCentral

DECEMBER 21, 2009

SEMRush offers a powerful suite of SEO and search marketing tools , particularly for those who've already done the basic SEO work and perhaps have an AdWords program running, but want to take efforts to the next level. The suite includes tools for: Google Keywords (shows what terms a site shows up for on Google, along with search position, search volume, AdWords CPC cost for those terms and other stats) AdWords Keywords (for sites already running SEM campaigns) Competitors in Google (helpful for

SEO 20

SEO Tools SEM Advertising Agencies 20

WebMarketCentral

DECEMBER 17, 2009

How can you help SEO clients, whether internal or external, understand what SEO (and isn't) and set proper expectations for an SEO project? What are the key signals of SEO quality on a website? How does the increasing use of social media affect SEO efforts? What common SEO mistakes should you avoid, and what myths to dispel? Find the answers to these questions and others here in more of the best blog posts and articles on search engine optimization from the past year.

SEO 20

SEO Marketing Analytics Tools Best Practices PageRank 20

WebMarketCentral

DECEMBER 9, 2009

While most marketers have now embraced social media for monitoring and participating in brand conversations, questions still abound. Sure, online video is hot, but how you optimize video assets? How are b2b buyers actually using social media in their research and buying decisions? What's the best method for approaching social media marketing? Which sites are most important to participate in?

Social Media 20

Social Media Social Marketing Web 2.0 Forrester 20

WebMarketCentral

DECEMBER 3, 2009

What's the real the optimal cost per lead for your SEM program? How can you improve conversion rates? Keep your search marketing program growing? Assure you that aren't overlooking any important opportunities for optimization? Discover the answers to these questions and others here in some of the best posts on search engine marketing (so far) this year.

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Search Engine Marketing Search Marketing Adwords SEM 20

WebMarketCentral

NOVEMBER 30, 2009

Is Big Brother watching you? Books like George Orwell's classic 1984 and films such as Minority Report and Eagle Eye present a nightmarish vision of an omniscient government watching our every move. The reality is far different story, paranoia about the Patriot Act notwithstanding. As recently as 2004, FBI agents still used laptops with Intel 286 processors.

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Social Media Web 2.0 Eye-Tracking Media 20

WebMarketCentral

NOVEMBER 23, 2009

Looking for a more powerful way to share presentations online? Consolidate your online profiles and social networking presence? Create a cool Twiiter background even if you're not the artistic type? Generate word-of-word referrals? Use social media more effectively for research? You'll find tools for all of those tasks and others in this collection of more of the best cool online tools.

Tools 20

Tools Best Practices Adwords Word of Mouth 20

WebMarketCentral

NOVEMBER 17, 2009

Marketing automation / demand generation software provider Manticore today announced the release of Manticore Technology VII, which includes a fully customizable user interface, email and landing page folders, an email delivery wizard, and drag-and-drop list building functionality. The company made the announcement at Salesforce.com's Dreamforce conference in San Francisco.

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Manticore Marketing Automation Services Marketing Automation Automation 20

WebMarketCentral

NOVEMBER 16, 2009

What two simple words answer almost every SEO question? What common SEO mistakes should you watch out for? How do you create a 301 redirect? Better yet, how can you avoid having to create one? What key trends in search should you be aware of, and how can you adapt to them? Discover the answers to these questions and others here in more of the best articles and blog posts on the practice of SEO so far this year.

SEO 20

SEO Forrester Best Practices Adwords 20

WebMarketCentral

NOVEMBER 11, 2009

I recently did a little test to determine whether Twitter or LinkedIn was more effective at driving traffic to a few specific posts on this blog. While the results aren't scientific by any means, they are enlightening. Various posts were promoted on Twitter (with retweeting encouraged) and to three relevant and popular LinkedIn Groups focused on social media, PR and b2b lead generation.

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Traffic Twitter Linkedin Web 2.0 20

WebMarketCentral

NOVEMBER 9, 2009

Content marketing is all the rage. Check out Joe Pulizzi's Junta42 blog , pick up a copy of Ardath Albee's wonderful new book eMarketing Strategies for the Complex Sale (which builds upon the foundation laid by David Meerman Scott and others), follow @Mike_Stelzner on Twitter—it's everywhere. Marketers are becoming publishers, writing valuable thought leadership and how-to content in order to build name recognition, credibility, and even sales pipelines.

Marketing Management 20

Marketing Management B2B Thought Leadership Microsite Planning 20

WebMarketCentral

NOVEMBER 5, 2009

Social media, and discussions of its value for PR and marketing, have become ubiquitous. But which social media tool do marketers find most valuable? What's the best tool for social media research and learning? How can you maximize the business value of tools like LinkedIn and Twitter? How can you explain the value of social media to skeptics? Find the answers to these questions and others here in more of the best articles and blog posts on social media marketing from this year so far. 11 Reason

Social Media 20

Social Media Social Marketing Web 2.0 Paid Search Agency 20

WebMarketCentral

NOVEMBER 2, 2009

Given the continued high unemployment rate and uncertain prospects for economic recovery, marketing budgets will be tight heading into the new year. Most B2B marketers are likely to find themselves with fewer dollars to spend but more pressure to spend them carefully. In this environment, what are the three or four areas where marketers should focus scare resources ?

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Marketing Budget Budget Programs Allocation Emarketing 20

WebMarketCentral

OCTOBER 26, 2009

Despite a recent dip in users, Twitter remains a hot social media platform (and arguably a better venue for b2b marketers than Facebook). Bloggers not only use Twitter to promote their content, but writing about Twitter frequently is their content. Want to learn more about how to use Twitter for marketing, which mistakes to avoid, and learn from brand that are using the microblogging platform successfully?

Twitter 20

Twitter Web 2.0 Marketing Analytics Tools Tips 20

WebMarketCentral

OCTOBER 22, 2009

Social media marketing is a hot topic, with 75% of marketers planning to initiate or increase social media use next year. With larger budgets and more time devoted to social media will come increased pressure to demonstrate ROI. While it's not necessarily difficult to show an ROI from social media, accurately measuring the return on investment is challenging for at least three reasons.

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Social Media ROI Web 2.0 Media 20

WebMarketCentral

OCTOBER 19, 2009

How do you determine who your competitors really are for top search engine position? How can you get new pages indexed by Google more quickly? What key aspects of SEO should you consider when doing a site redesign? Which SEO tactics should you avoid? What can SEO professionals learn from traditional marketers? Find the answers to these questions and others here in the first set of the best blog posts and articles on search engine optimization (SEO) from 2009 (so far).

SEO 20

SEO Best Practices Tagging Internet Marketing 20