Build Backlinks Online has posted a new item, 'The Illustrated SEO Competitive
Analysis Workflow'
Posted by Aleyda
One of the most important activities for any SEO process is the initial
competitive analysis. This process shouldcorrectly identify your SEO targets and
provide fundamental input to establish your overallstrategy.
Depending on the type, industry, and scope of the SEO process, this analysis
canbecome quitecomplex, as there are many factors to take into considerationmore
now than ever before.
In order to facilitate thisprocess (and make it easy to replicate, control, and
document), I've created a
step-by-step workflow with the different activities and factors to take into
consideration, includingidentifying SEO competitors, gathering the potential
keywords to target, assessing their level of difficulty, andselecting them based
on defined criteria:
If you prefer, you can also grab a
higher resolution version of the workflow from here.
The fouranalysis phases
As you can see, the SEO analysis workflow is divided into four phases:1.
Identify your potential SEO competitors
This initial phase isespecially helpfulif you're starting with an SEO process
for a new client or industry that you don't know anything about, and youneed to
start from scratch to identify all of the potentially relevant competitors.
It's important to note that these arenot necessarily limited tocompanies or
websites thatoffer the same type ofcontent, services, or products thatyou do,
but can beany website that competes with you in the search results for your
target keywords.2. Validate your SEO competitors
Once you have the potential competitors that you have gathered from different
relevant sources it's time to validate them, by analyzing and filtering which of
those are really already ranking, and to which degree, for the same keywords
that you're targeting.
Additionally, at this stage you'll also expand your list ofpotential
targetkeywords by performing keyword research. This should usesources beyond the
ones that you had already identified coming from your competitors and your
current organic search datasourcesfor which your competitors or yourself are
still not ranking, that might represent new opportunities.
3. Compare with your SEO competitors
Now that you have your SEO competitors and potential targetkeywords, you can
gather, list, and compare your site to yourcompetitors, using all of the
relevant data to select and prioritize thosekeywords. This will likely
includekeyword relevance, current rankings, search volume, ranked pages, as well
asdomains' link popularity,content optimization, andpage results
characteristics, among others.
4. Select your target keywords
It's finally time to analyze the previously gathered data for your own site and
your competitors, using the specified criteria to select the best keyword to
target for your own situation in the short-, mid-, and long-term during your SEO
process: Those with the highest relevance, search volume, andprofitability.
Thebest starting point isin rankings where you are competitive from a popularity
and content standpoint.
Tools & data sources
The data sources and toolsbesides the traditional ones from search engines,
like their keyword or webmaster toolsthat can help you to implement the process
(some of them mentioned in the workflow) are:To identify competitors: Alexa Top
Sites, SimilarWeb Websites Ranking & Sites Profile.
To identify keywords: SEMRush for keyword data, SuggestMtrx (you can also use
Ubersuggest or SEOchat Suggestion Keyword Finder) to gather Google suggestions
for your keywords.
To identify rankings: Authority labs, Positionly, Advanced Web Ranking, among
others.
To identify popularity: The Moz SEO Toolbar SERP overlay view, OpenSiteExplorer,
CognitiveSEO Backlink Explorer and MajesticSEO for link related data and easy to
develop popularity analysis.
To identify page optimization: Moz On-Page Grader, SEOchat's Page Comparison
tool and Web page SEO analysis tool for a quick on page content optimization
analysis.
To semi-automatize the process: There are tools that have already automatized
some of the phases in the process that can help you to advance faster: Moz
Keyword Difficulty and SERPs analysis tool, SERPIQ, SEMRush Keyword Difficulty
Tool.
Hopefully with these resources you'll be able to develop more and better SEO
competitive analysis!
What other aspects do you take into consideration and which other tools do you?
I look forward to hear about them in the comments. Sign up for The Moz Top 10, a
semimonthly mailer updating you on the top ten hottest pieces of SEO news, tips,
and rad links uncovered by the Moz team. Think of it as your exclusive digest of
stuff you don't have time to hunt down but want to read!
You may view the latest post at
http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/seomoz/~3/Q243R9GxP68/illustrated-seo-competitive-analysis-workflow
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Best regards,
Build Backlinks Online
peter.clarke@designed-for-success.com
Thursday 29 May 2014
[Build Backlinks Online] A PSA From The TSA On Instagram: #TSACatch Shows Photos Of What Not To Pack
Build Backlinks Online has posted a new item, 'A PSA From The TSA On Instagram:
#TSACatch Shows Photos Of What Not To Pack'
Think you can sneak that bejeweled lipstick taser past the TSA? Think again. The
TSA is nearing its one year anniversary of using Instagram to educate travelers
on what not to pack by featuring photos of real items confiscated from airports
across the country.
You may view the latest post at
http://feeds.feedblitz.com/~/64913526/0/convinceandconvert~A-PSA-From-The-TSA-On-Instagram-TSACatch-Shows-Photos-Of-What-Not-To-Pack/
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Build Backlinks Online
peter.clarke@designed-for-success.com
#TSACatch Shows Photos Of What Not To Pack'
Think you can sneak that bejeweled lipstick taser past the TSA? Think again. The
TSA is nearing its one year anniversary of using Instagram to educate travelers
on what not to pack by featuring photos of real items confiscated from airports
across the country.
You may view the latest post at
http://feeds.feedblitz.com/~/64913526/0/convinceandconvert~A-PSA-From-The-TSA-On-Instagram-TSACatch-Shows-Photos-Of-What-Not-To-Pack/
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Build Backlinks Online
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[Build Backlinks Online] TITLE
Build Backlinks Online has posted a new item, 'New Webinar: Test Your Way to More Leads from PPC' 
You may view the latest post at http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/WordStreamBlog/~3/u8a_2cAwosI/a-b-testing-webinar You received this e-mail because you asked to be notified when new updates are posted. Best regards, Build Backlinks Online peter.clarke@designed-for-success.com
If you've been attending WordStream's recent webinars (or reading the blog), you already know some of the secrets to hacking AdWords – like how Quality Score is really calculated, and the secrets behind "unicorn" ads with super-high click-through rates.
Now it's time to learn our best A/B testing hacks – the changes, big and small, that can help you drive way more leads (not just clicks) though PPC, without giving Google more of your sweet, sweet cash.
In our next webinar, "7 Powerful A/B Tests That Drive More Leads from Paid Search," WordStream will team up with Optimizely to reveal the secrets of A/B testing that will help you drive more leads from paid search.
Join WordStream and Optimizely on Wednesday, June 4, 2014 at 1 p.m. EST (5 p.m. UTC) – register now!
WordStream's testing and web optimization expert Toni Pace will show you how to leverage each stage of the funnel to increase your lead volume. Toni will be joined by Ryan Lillis, a Conversion Optimization Strategist at Optimizely, who will explain how to test each level of the funnel, as well as how to increase visitors to your site AND increase your conversion rates with the same number of clicks.
As if that weren't enough, during this hour-long webinar, you'll also learn how to:
- Maximize the effectiveness of your A/B tests
- Optimize ad copy and offers to improve conversions
- Apply the principles of conversion flow to your landing page design process
- … And much more!
To illustrate these principles, Toni and Ryan will walk you through seven real examples to demonstrate how effective A/B testing can be. After the webinar, you'll have a deeper understanding of the paid search lead gen funnel, and come away with actionable steps that you can apply to your PPC advertising campaigns that will result in more leads for the same budget.
Register for "7 Powerful A/B Tests That Drive More Leads From Paid Search" today to reserve your spot!
This post originated on the WordStream Blog. WordStream provides keyword tools for pay-per click (PPC) and search engine optimization (SEO) aiding in everything from keyword discovery to keyword grouping and organization.
[Build Backlinks Online] Are You Overlooking the Most Valuable Real-Time Marketing Strategy?
Build Backlinks Online has posted a new item, 'Are You Overlooking the Most
Valuable Real-Time Marketing Strategy?'
Real-time marketing is not just about one-off timely delights - it's about
ongoing service to your customers. Why not make 2014 the year that your company
excelled at social customer service?
You may view the latest post at
http://feeds.feedblitz.com/~/64938332/0/convinceandconvert~Are-You-Overlooking-the-Most-Valuable-RealTime-Marketing-Strategy/
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Build Backlinks Online
peter.clarke@designed-for-success.com
Valuable Real-Time Marketing Strategy?'
Real-time marketing is not just about one-off timely delights - it's about
ongoing service to your customers. Why not make 2014 the year that your company
excelled at social customer service?
You may view the latest post at
http://feeds.feedblitz.com/~/64938332/0/convinceandconvert~Are-You-Overlooking-the-Most-Valuable-RealTime-Marketing-Strategy/
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posted.
Best regards,
Build Backlinks Online
peter.clarke@designed-for-success.com
Wednesday 28 May 2014
[Build Backlinks Online] Why Great Marketing Isn’t Always Done “At Scale”
Build Backlinks Online has posted a new item, 'Why Great Marketing Isn't
Always Done "At Scale"'
Contrary to popular belief, marketing doesnt necessarily need to be a scalable
operation. In fact, the reason influence marketing often works so well is
because it's focused on a close relationship between the brand and handful of
influential people. Here are some examples of why small succeeds.
You may view the latest post at
http://www.convinceandconvert.com/social-media-case-studies/why-great-marketing-isnt-always-done-at-scale/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=why-great-marketing-isnt-always-done-at-scale
You received this e-mail because you asked to be notified when new updates are
posted.
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Build Backlinks Online
peter.clarke@designed-for-success.com
Always Done "At Scale"'
Contrary to popular belief, marketing doesnt necessarily need to be a scalable
operation. In fact, the reason influence marketing often works so well is
because it's focused on a close relationship between the brand and handful of
influential people. Here are some examples of why small succeeds.
You may view the latest post at
http://www.convinceandconvert.com/social-media-case-studies/why-great-marketing-isnt-always-done-at-scale/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=why-great-marketing-isnt-always-done-at-scale
You received this e-mail because you asked to be notified when new updates are
posted.
Best regards,
Build Backlinks Online
peter.clarke@designed-for-success.com
[Build Backlinks Online] Why visuals are the most important element of content marketing
Build Backlinks Online has posted a new item, 'Why visuals are the most
important element of content marketing'
Johnny Don't Read. In every social network and content marketing outpost, photos
and visuals now dominate. What impact does this have on content? Jay Baer weighs
in.
You may view the latest post at
http://www.convinceandconvert.com/content-marketing/why-visuals-are-the-most-important-element-of-content-marketing/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=why-visuals-are-the-most-important-element-of-content-marketing
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Build Backlinks Online
peter.clarke@designed-for-success.com
important element of content marketing'
Johnny Don't Read. In every social network and content marketing outpost, photos
and visuals now dominate. What impact does this have on content? Jay Baer weighs
in.
You may view the latest post at
http://www.convinceandconvert.com/content-marketing/why-visuals-are-the-most-important-element-of-content-marketing/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=why-visuals-are-the-most-important-element-of-content-marketing
You received this e-mail because you asked to be notified when new updates are
posted.
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Build Backlinks Online
peter.clarke@designed-for-success.com
[Build Backlinks Online] Take the SEO Expert Quiz and Rule the Internet
Build Backlinks Online has posted a new item, 'Take the SEO Expert Quiz and Rule
the Internet'
Posted by Cyrus-Shepard
You are master of the keyword.
You create 1,000 links with a single tweet. You rank for the word "rank."
Google engineers ask for your approval before updating their algorithm.
You, my friend, are an SEO expert.
Ready for fun? Here at Moz we gathered our wits (it didn't take very long) and
created a new quiz to test our SEO knowledge.
Based on a quiz thatour co-founder Rand first published back in 2005, at the
dawn of electronics and lighter-than-air travel, we now present to you the new
and improved
SEO Expert Quiz.
The quiz contains
50 questions and takes about 15 minutes to complete. The questions are
randomized so no two people will get the exact same quiz with the same order of
questions.
Here's what to expect.1. The quiz is hard!
Like, astronaut training hard. Very few people score 100%. The breakdown of
performance looks like this:0-40% SEO Newbie: You rank on page 7, but are aiming
tomove up.
41-60% SEO Novice: Young, but strong in the ways of the Force, you are.
61-75% SEO Pro: The traffic is pouring in!
76-90% SEO Expert and Formula One race car driver
91-100% Lord of the Internet, Master of the SEO Realm2. For fun only!
The Expert Quiz isn't meant to be a rulebook of the Internet. You may even
disagree with some of the answersand you may be right!
We work in a constantly evolving field with lots of room for interpretation at
the top levels. Discussion and debate between very smart people is how we learn
and grow our expertise.
The only reward for finishing in first place is supreme bragging rights. If you
win your office pool, you may get free lunch for the next month. Please
participate and help our knowledge grow, but don't take it too seriously.3. MVP:
next steps
We built this out of passion for testing our SEO knowledge. If you like the
quiz, we'd love to build a more robust version that saves your score, and even
gives you a badge to display on your user profile. Let us know what you think.
Ready to get started?
Take the SEO Expert Quiz
Don't forget to show off your score when you finish. Let us know in the
comments below! What surprised you, whichquestion did you totally ace, and what
should we ask next time?
Rock on, SEO Sensei.Big thanks to Devin, Derric, Josh, Carin, Shelly and Rand
for the hard work putting this together.Sign up for The Moz Top 10, a
semimonthly mailer updating you on the top ten hottest pieces of SEO news, tips,
and rad links uncovered by the Moz team. Think of it as your exclusive digest of
stuff you don't have time to hunt down but want to read!
You may view the latest post at
http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/seomoz/~3/rtBR4mTAYi0/new-seo-expert-quiz
You received this e-mail because you asked to be notified when new updates are
posted.
Best regards,
Build Backlinks Online
peter.clarke@designed-for-success.com
the Internet'
Posted by Cyrus-Shepard
You are master of the keyword.
You create 1,000 links with a single tweet. You rank for the word "rank."
Google engineers ask for your approval before updating their algorithm.
You, my friend, are an SEO expert.
Ready for fun? Here at Moz we gathered our wits (it didn't take very long) and
created a new quiz to test our SEO knowledge.
Based on a quiz thatour co-founder Rand first published back in 2005, at the
dawn of electronics and lighter-than-air travel, we now present to you the new
and improved
SEO Expert Quiz.
The quiz contains
50 questions and takes about 15 minutes to complete. The questions are
randomized so no two people will get the exact same quiz with the same order of
questions.
Here's what to expect.1. The quiz is hard!
Like, astronaut training hard. Very few people score 100%. The breakdown of
performance looks like this:0-40% SEO Newbie: You rank on page 7, but are aiming
tomove up.
41-60% SEO Novice: Young, but strong in the ways of the Force, you are.
61-75% SEO Pro: The traffic is pouring in!
76-90% SEO Expert and Formula One race car driver
91-100% Lord of the Internet, Master of the SEO Realm2. For fun only!
The Expert Quiz isn't meant to be a rulebook of the Internet. You may even
disagree with some of the answersand you may be right!
We work in a constantly evolving field with lots of room for interpretation at
the top levels. Discussion and debate between very smart people is how we learn
and grow our expertise.
The only reward for finishing in first place is supreme bragging rights. If you
win your office pool, you may get free lunch for the next month. Please
participate and help our knowledge grow, but don't take it too seriously.3. MVP:
next steps
We built this out of passion for testing our SEO knowledge. If you like the
quiz, we'd love to build a more robust version that saves your score, and even
gives you a badge to display on your user profile. Let us know what you think.
Ready to get started?
Take the SEO Expert Quiz
Don't forget to show off your score when you finish. Let us know in the
comments below! What surprised you, whichquestion did you totally ace, and what
should we ask next time?
Rock on, SEO Sensei.Big thanks to Devin, Derric, Josh, Carin, Shelly and Rand
for the hard work putting this together.Sign up for The Moz Top 10, a
semimonthly mailer updating you on the top ten hottest pieces of SEO news, tips,
and rad links uncovered by the Moz team. Think of it as your exclusive digest of
stuff you don't have time to hunt down but want to read!
You may view the latest post at
http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/seomoz/~3/rtBR4mTAYi0/new-seo-expert-quiz
You received this e-mail because you asked to be notified when new updates are
posted.
Best regards,
Build Backlinks Online
peter.clarke@designed-for-success.com
[Build Backlinks Online] TITLE
Build Backlinks Online has posted a new item, '21 Expert Content Marketing Tips from the Best Inbound.org AMAs'
Ask Me Anythings, or AMAs, have long been a popular conversation format on Reddit. More recently, they’ve really taken off on Inbound.org, giving marketers of all stripes the opportunity to pick the brains of industry influencers and thought leaders.
Annie Cushing, Brian Clark, Avinash Kaushik and other thought leaders in our industry have participated in AMAs on Inbound over the last 18 months. Typically, it’s announced a few days ahead of time and participants come back over several days to answer questions from the community. The content tends to be laser-focused and super-high-quality – they don’t go as off-track as you might see on Reddit, probably due in large part to the fact it’s a niche site and the audience tend to be well-versed in the basics.
Not a lot of questions like "Would you rather fight a horse-sized duck or 100 duck-sized horses?"
Here are some of the most valuable content marketing tips and tricks to come out of the Inbound AMAs, from the generous industry leaders who have given us a chance to ask them just about anything. (Also check out Larry Kim’s best PPC tips from his own Inbound.org AMA and our collection of the best SEO tips from Reddit AMAs.)
What Works Today in Content Marketing?
When you’re just starting out
Choose who you want to reach, and find out everything you can about them. Their problems and desires. The topics that relate to those problems and desires. The language they use when searching Google and social media for those topics. Who else is serving the needs of these people, both with content and with products and services. This is where you always start.
- Brian Clark, CEO of CopyBlogger Media
On the value of content
A piece of content is worth a lot. A year ago or so, we actually came up with a formula: A guest post would give us around 100 signups in the lifetime of the article. We have a 2% conversion from free to paid for Buffer. So that means 2 people will pay. Our lifetime value for a paying user is around $250. So a piece of content was around $500. We don’t use that anymore, but just as an example along which lines we are thinking. Rand Fishkin taught me that content isn’t for direct signups – it’s to create loyalty, branding and familiarity. That’s very much an idea I’ve come around to. So I would rather pay you consistently up front, and have you as a writer create awesome content every week, then always charge per result!
- Leo Widrich, co-founder of Buffer
Why most content is still crap
As long as people see content as a means to an end (getting higher rankings and distracting people so you sell more stuff) instead of part of the end itself (building strong relationships and an enduring audience who will ALWAYS buy your stuff) it’ll stay this way.
- Ian Lurie, CEO of Portent
On SEO copywriting
What we call SEO copywriting is actually reflecting the language of the audience back at them (when done correctly). This has been the secret to effective copywriting in general for decades before search engines. The key is to quit worry about gaming an algorithm (that’s getting more “person like” all the time) and focus on the language of the audience in order to connect with them, first and foremost.
- Brian Clark, Copyblogger
Do long single-page sales pages actually convert?
Long-form stuff definitely works. But not for complex stuff – it is usually consumer-focused and impulse-buy. It is not against best-practice. It is actually in a long and battle-tested tradition of direct response copywriting. The stuff has been around for many decades with people like Eugene Schwartz. I wouldn’t use it for expensive B2B stuff though.
- Tim Ash, CEO of SiteTuners and Chair of Conversion Conference
Long-form stuff works!
Different Types of Content: Where to Focus Your Efforts
On when to use infographics
I love infographics IF – and only if – they’re done well. I think infographics have been abused and have gotten a bad rap as a result. But when we’re analyzing data from thousands of advertisers and looking at billions in spend, charts are boring. Infographics can really help break down complex issues and visually demonstrate concepts if they’re done right.
- Larry Kim, CTO at WordStream Inc.
The downside of visuals
People misunderstand the power of visuals. Basically they distract the visitor and make it hard for them to prioritize. There is a hierarchy – motion, visuals, text – and stuff at the higher levels will prevent the visitor on focusing on more subtle stuff at the lower levels. So cut back on the motion and the window-dressing – boring works.
- Tim Ash, Sitetuners
On using content for e-commerce
To most e-commerce sites, content feels almost like a distraction. They’re there to sell products, and can’t make a good, data-verified connection between content and sales. So content gets shunted off to the blog, separated from the products, which of course reduces the impact, and makes it seem more like a distraction. Woot.com does the best job by far. Appsumo is purely information stuff but I love their tone and style. Amazon is clearly in the lead when it comes to using user-generated content.
-Ian Lurie, Portent
Effective Content Creation Tips & Tactics
On getting better at content creation
Remember high school English? That’s where you learned how to write (or, you were supposed to—heh). And you learned from doing it over and over again. So in terms of getting really good at producing amazing content:
- Figure out (research, analytics, what’s got you all excited) what you want to focus on.
- Make an editorial calendar for yourself.
- Set aside writing time for yourself. Honor it.
- DO IT. Over and over. Ask for feedback. That’s it.
- Kristina Halvorson, Brain Traffic CEO
On the writing process
In general, I write in a 2-step process. The first step, normally in the morning starting at 6:30 is the sourcing process. I find lots of research studies on a topic. Write a few sub-headings and basically make a big mess in a word document. I intentionally jot down lots of things that don’t flow well. This helps me to break the “blank page” syndrome. I do this for around 1 hour or so. Then I go and do other tasks. Then in the afternoon, around 3-4 pm I get back to the post. The great thing is that my brain has by then normally made sense of all the different sections. I then edit and write the actual content in a concise form. In this 2nd phase I’m very focused on the actual wording, the flow and ordering all the research I’ve collected. I then publish that post next thing in the morning after doing a few final tweaks, like adding images, and so on.
- Leo Widrich, Buffer
On repurposing content
Reworking content – something I’ve been thinking about a lot recently – because I think that I’ve been too guilty of always moving onto the next thing rather than seeing all the different ways that a piece can be repurposed. A few top tips:
- Focus heavily on design (this is my favourite article on the importance of design recently).
- Think about channels – so for B2B I love repurposing things as blog posts / articles, slide decks, videos, emails etc.
- Incorporate feedback *explicitly* – i.e. reference the person who gave the feedback – this is a form of ego-bait and it’s worked really well for me in the past.
- Will Critchlow, co-founder of Distilled
Referral Candy repurposes curated content for infographics, like this one
On passion
Don’t pump content. Pump out passion. Passion comes from two things: 1. What you are knowledgeable about and 2. What you love. Big companies stink at both. They are not knowledgeable about local unique situations, people, issues. They are not passionate about it because they don’t live where you live. They have to be generic and passionless. Exploit that. Only write about what comes from the intersection of #1 and #2. Sure, you are not going to outrank Mr. Humungo. But slowly but surely you will build a local and relevant audience and in the end it is not about attracting 1 million people, it is about attracting the 1,000 that are in your area that want to give you money.
- Avinash Kaushik, Digital Marketing Evangelist at Google
On getting people invested in content creation
If you can go to people and say, look, you’ve told us about the time constraints of your job, we know you’re hesitant to commit to anything, but here is an editorial calendar that takes into account your time limitations, and here’s the kind of support we can offer you during the process … and here is WHY we want you to create this content … then you have a solid business case that also seems manageable to the individual.
- Kristina Halvorson, Brain Traffic
On influencing influencers
The key is to start producing content that is useful and interesting to your target audience. You have to give them a reason to come to your website. Without that, outreach to influencers isn’t going to be effective. In terms of finding influencers, you can use a tool like SEOmoz’s FollowerWonk – or even Twitter search.
- Dharmesh Shah, CTO of HubSpot
Promoting Awesome Content
5 principles for content promotion
- Spend at least as much time on planning as you do on the actual promotion.
- Broaden the list of people you reach out to by segmenting your “content market.”
- Leverage easier to acquire links to help get the more difficult ones.
- Engage in your community prior to outreach.
- Automate low-value tasks (finding contact info, collecting metrics, etc.).
- Paul May, CEO of BuzzStream
On the best inbound strategies for start-ups
Strategically, I believe that start-ups should be building permission assets – groups of people who are excited to hear what they have to say (tactically, I’m a big fan of email marketing). The best ways of building those groups is typically some combination of activity (content production, community management) and channel (search, social).
- Will Critchlow, Distilled
On finding promotable topics
Go to followerwonk and look at the word cloud of the all the followers of the biggest player in your space and then use those keywords to build co-relevant content ideas. Push the content at their followers through outreach and ads. Build the site so that it rewards profile creation, newsletter signups and follows. Keep the conversation going through the relevant social channels and continue to push out shareworthy content. Your community will grow.
- Mike King, ipullrank.com
On email promotion
I. Love. Email marketing! Check out this post that compiles everything I could possibly share with you about it – Email Marketing Campaign Analysis, Metrics, Best Practices. If you are not thinking about the transformative nature of mobile on email consumption and engagement, you are making a BIG MISTAKE.
- Avinash Kaushik, Google
Developing a position statement
Make sure you have a really well thought out positioning statement. This should summarize very succinctly the sets of feelings that you want to engender among your target customer. Having this will not only position you in the customer’s mind, it will help you focus your efforts. Here’s the template that I use for a positioning statement:
- For (target segment)
- Who wants (problem to solve)
- The (solution name) provides (solution to the problem)
- Unlike (primary competitor)
- The (solution name) (primary differentiator).
The key is making this very short…that focuses you and makes it really clear why you’re the right solution. Developing this first will help drive your content strategy and promotion strategy.
- Paul May, BuzzStream
Measuring the Effects of Content Marketing
What metrics can you trust?
There’s a hierarchy of metrics that can be measured. The “best” metric is raw “dollars in the door” (getting customers). If you can’t measure customers, measure leads (which is a proxy for future customers). From there, the further out you get (using proxies for future leads/customers), the more dubious the metric. The motivation behind measurement is to figure out what is working and what is not. Most of the time, we measure things that we think are indicative of the thing we actually want. Because often, it’s hard to measure the thing we actually want.
- Dharmesh Shaw, HubSpot
Dwell time
For sites like my blog (or my BFF Thomas’ most excellent fantastic must read by any digital person site) a very large percentage of people will just come to read the latest post or one post to solve a specific problem. Dwell tells you what that engagement looks like because all web analytics tools stink (natively) at capturing time for single page view visits. I use the data to figure out what content is causing people stay and read. Is there a dwell time that leads to higher conversation rate. Is it correlated to social sharing. Does page speed cause higher or lower dwell time. And at least in some cases to see if dwell time causes me to make more repeat visits (and money!).
- Avinash Kaushik, Google
On monitoring and analyzing advanced analytics metrics
Aside from forensic data dives, webmasters should only spend their time monitoring key performance indicators (metrics on ‘roids) that they care about. So for one webmaster, this might be just the basics. For another, they might be a brick and mortar who only cares about traffic from their sales regions, let’s just say. That will require a custom report using some advanced(ish) metrics. But I also think that when it comes to analytics, a reporting dashboard should be created that pulls in the data they need (preferably using the GA API), and then formatted in a way that helps key decision makers see what they need to effortlessly. But all too often marketers don’t automate this process and do the same repetitive tasks week after week, month after month.
- Annie Cushing, Annielytics
This post originated on the WordStream Blog. WordStream provides keyword tools for pay-per click (PPC) and search engine optimization (SEO) aiding in everything from keyword discovery to keyword grouping and organization.
Tuesday 27 May 2014
[Build Backlinks Online] 5 Tips to Increase Traffic to Your Blog With Pinterest
Build Backlinks Online has posted a new item, '5 Tips to Increase Traffic to
Your Blog With Pinterest'
Still not on Pinterest? If you're a blogger it might be time to get serious
about marrying Pinterest with your blog. Pinterest can provide a hand full of
benefits for those that are ready to take their blog to the next level.5 Ways to
Increase Blog Tra...
You may view the latest post at
http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/BasicBlogTips/~3/XCQd4xbAJ24/increase-pinterest-blog-traffic.html
You received this e-mail because you asked to be notified when new updates are
posted.
Best regards,
Build Backlinks Online
peter.clarke@designed-for-success.com
Your Blog With Pinterest'
Still not on Pinterest? If you're a blogger it might be time to get serious
about marrying Pinterest with your blog. Pinterest can provide a hand full of
benefits for those that are ready to take their blog to the next level.5 Ways to
Increase Blog Tra...
You may view the latest post at
http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/BasicBlogTips/~3/XCQd4xbAJ24/increase-pinterest-blog-traffic.html
You received this e-mail because you asked to be notified when new updates are
posted.
Best regards,
Build Backlinks Online
peter.clarke@designed-for-success.com
[Build Backlinks Online] 50+ Things You Should Learn About Your Client
Build Backlinks Online has posted a new item, '50+ Things You Should Learn About
Your Client'
Posted by RobOusbey
Six years ago I stood in a client's board room with a list of SEO
recommendations that I was convinced would earn me big smiles, firm handshakes,
and and maybe even a celebratory slap on the back. Instead I was met with icy
stares and nonchalance to my suggestions.
This was despite all my preparation to understand various intricate SEO
bestpractices, as well as the quirks of their website and CMS. I just had no
idea what this team believed in, or what angle I should use to persuade them to
get things done.
It was July 2008, and I decided:
SEO is easy. Consulting is hard.
Every day that I've been at Distilled, I've had the pleasure of learning more
about online marketing, but I've also been able to learnthrough research,
practice, observation and teachinglots about the skills that make someone an
effective consultant.
There are many
manytraits of a greatconsultant that can be developed, but one necessary skill
is:getting to know your client and understanding how you can be effective for
them. This knowledge is how you unlock your ability to talk to them about the
problems they're facing, discover the problems they didn't know they had, and
lets you be best set up to deliver solutions that they will actually understand
and implementand which will make a real and impactful change to their business.
Obviously this getting-to-know-youphase is important enough to invest real time
into, but I've found there are a bunch of hacks' that can help you get up to
speed on an organization and its individuals. I want to share these quick tips
and tricks with you, as well as a bunch of other questions that are worth
answeringeither through research, by observing the client, or by asking
outright.
Throughout this post, I've shared examples and anecdotes from my own consulting
experiences.
If you'd just prefer the TL;DR version,the top two or three questions in each
section are highlighted, or you can see the full list of my'50+ things to learn'
in this downloadablecheat sheet.
How much profit does the company make from each additional customer?
How are the company's financials; are they profitable, or making a loss?
We'll begin with this section because it's so cut-and-dry that it's little more
than business 101'. However, some of the seemingly obvious money-orientated
questions can be overlooked; I met with one marketer last year who had
absolutely no idea what the profit was on each sale he made, or which sales he
was making or losing money on; it reminded me that sometimes you do have to make
sure to ask the right questions and then go digging for the answers.
It's worth approaching this at two distinct levelsfrom the perspective of
individual transactions, and the overall view of the company or department.
On a transactional level, we want to know the revenue & profit. For a retailer,
that usually means understanding the average revenue associated with each
purchase. For some businesses, there may also be a lifetime value' (LTV) for
each new customerwhich takes into account repeat purchases or the average length
of time a user stays signed up (for a subscription product, or a SAAS company
like Moz).
For those businesses, it's also important to understand the the marginal
profit' of each purchase. (The amount made on each sale, after the cost of
actually providing the product.) Since most marketing teams also have a good
handle on their cost per acquisition' (the amount they spend to attract each
conversion, etc) it's particularly important to view this in the context of the
marginal profit from each sale. Where marginal profit is significantly higher
than CPA for a particular marketing channel or tactic, it might indicate an
opportunity to increase investment in that channel.
As well as understanding profit margin, CPA, etc, for your client's
transaction, it's worth getting to know what these look like for similar
companies or others in their niche. This maytake some hunting around and
research online, butwill give you an insight into how aggressive your client can
afford to be when it comes to beating their competitors.
On a business level, it's worth making sure you have a handle on certain
financial metrics such as revenue and operating profit. For larger / public
companies, I typically prefer to research these sorts of things myself. If you
have the time and interest to read through financial statements, Google is
usually the fastest way to find these documents. (Search for the company name
plus annual report' or 10k'.) However, various sources have done a good job
making financial information easily digestible; I'm fond of MSN Money (e.g.:
their page for Yelp, showing an $7.9m loss ) or simply Wikipedia (e.g.: their
page on Dell, showing a $2.3b profit.)
For anything other than a fast-growing startup, knowing the company's current
profitability is usually more interesting to me than revenue, as it can often
guide their approach to marketing investment. A company with very little profit
(or who is making a loss) is likely to be interested in very strategic spending,
with a well understood path to return. A company that is flush with profits
might be more able to include some more risky tactics in their marketing
strategy.
Does your POC have more of an analytical or emotional personality type?
How does your POC prefer to communicate on project matters?
Above everything else, the relationship between a consultant and the people
within a client organization is perhaps the biggest factor in determining how
successful the engagement will be. Although building any relationship takes
time, there are a few things I like to uncover (or just directly ask about) in
order to speed up that process.
Beyond just knowing each person's role in a team, I want to understand whatthey
are responsible for (what do they actually do from day-to-day?) and what they
are accountable for. The accountability' includes what they are measured on.
(Which is the most important thing to happen or improve so that they would be
celebrated/rewarded; what would they be criticized for if it didn't happen?)
For my main point of contact inside an organization, we often phrase this as
"what would make you look good to your boss?"which can help set at least one
clear objective for the engagement. Plus, helping your contact to be successful
has a fantastic side-effect: as they get promoted and move up their
organization, it can give you greater access, wider influence, and bigger
budgets to work with.
There are many frameworks for how people view situations and make decisions,
such as
Myers-Briggs, the learning modalities, etc. I love the incredibly simplified
approach of assessing whether someone is analytical (driven by data, talks about
facts, wants to know about ROI) or emotional (driven by personal connections,
talks about vision, wants to hear stories.) Although categorising people in such
a binary way is clearly a gross oversimplification of human nature, I've found
the value in this is that you can make an assessment of someone within justa few
minutes of meeting them, and immediately better tailor your approach to them.
As part of getting close to your client', I also like to ask (to individuals or
a team)
what they have been excited about recently. When you have to start making
recommendations to them, knowing what excites them gives an insight into the
kind of answers they'll respond well to, or what is most likely to get
implemented quickly.
Working quickly to understand how different individuals like to communicate can
reduce friction and repays the time invested very quickly. I've worked with
people who will reply to emails within minutes, people who prefer you to pick up
the phone and call them, people who are great at running meetings, even people
who always respond to messages on GChat / Skype. (And conversely, some people
will have an out-of-control inbox, some never listen to voicemails, and some
never get anything done in meetings.)
Related to communication styles, it's valuable to understand how people like to
receive reports & updateswhether from consultants or their own team-members.
Find out how often you're expected to prepare reports, the style (lots of data,
bottom line metrics, written explanations?), the formats (email, spreadsheets,
slide deck format, online dashboards?) and the audience (a project lead, a whole
team, executives, juniors?).
From a reporting perspective, I've worked with a branding guy who
"left the numbers up to other people", and was more interested in a monthly
face-to-face where we recapped the status of each initiative & campaign, and
I've known a successful CMO who reviewed a three-page spreadsheet/dashboard each
morning and would chase down different team members to ask about the story
behind changes in different numbers. In both cases, providing metrics & updates
in a way that fit their existing process let them understand my information and
respond to me more effectively.
Who will be making the decisions that affect your project?
What constraints does the team have to balance when making decisions?
Early on in my consulting career, I overlooked the value of investing time in
how organizations make decisions. Naively, I would deliver the right answer' for
a client, and be frustrated when they didn't decide to immediately put all hands
on deck implementing my brilliant ideas.
Through conversation with members of your client's team, you will hear about
decisions that have been madeat both the high/strategic level, and down at the
tactical level. Within those stories is the information about what criteria were
important, and who the influential people were. To kick-start these
conversations, you can ask
"which projects were big successes internally?" or "which big decisions do
people still talk about?"
It's easiest to understand the decision making process when you're clear on how
a team's success is measured. I once worked with a marketing team who were
measured and bonused on overall conversion rate of visitors. I failed to
persuade them to invest in SEO because even though it would have brought a fire
hose of new traffic and customers, organic visitors to their site converted at
~6%, which brought down their current ~8% average. I was gobsmacked, but once I
understood their situation, I realized I had to go to the CMO instead to explain
why the teams current objectives were counterproductive.
An aspect of this which can take longer to grok are the constraints, roadblocks
and objections that a team faces. While some are quite easy to ask about (eg:
the team that has a limited budget to invest in marketing activities), some are
only uncovered throughout a project (eg: the boss who wouldn't A/B test pricing
in marketing emails, in case a customer found out that someone else was offered
a deeper discount.) Effective consultants will be respectful of an
organization's history, values and beliefsbut great consultants can balance this
with knowing when to challenge those things.
Finally, a great hack' I learned from one colleague at Distilledis that there's
a lot of discovery value in asking a new client
"what made you hire me for this project?" This forces them to provide insight
into how they made a very real, very recent decision. Plus, by exposing what
they valued in making the decision, it also does a lot to set expectations and
anagenda for the engagement.
What criteria are used to prioritize new tasks or projects?
How does the team tend to run / use meetings?
How risk tolerant is the team?
Beyond just how plans are made, I always want to discover how work is
prioritized, the criteria for that prioritization, and how the plans are shared
with the team. Occasionally, a team will perfectly implement the Agile
methodology, others rely on an odd Waterfall-esqe model, many have something
less formal still. Understanding their processes lets you know, for example,
whether quick & easy wins can be hustled up the backlog, or whether they will
have to wait their turn'.
Related to processes are the tools a team uses for project management. They may
rely on Trello/Basecamp/MS Project, or a wall full of sticky notesand it'll be
up to you to integrate yourself.
I'm always fascinated by the meeting culture' at different companies. I've seen
companies where the most effective work happens during impromptu five-minute
stand up meetings, and organizations that are crippled by the archetypal
terrible' meetings (too long, too many people, no agenda, no actions, etc.)
Understanding whether I need to be in the room' to help make decisions, or
whether to avoid any unproductive time-sinks, improves my effectiveness as much
as my sanity.
There are myriad other cultural factors worth picking up on relatively quickly.
How you behave with them, and the recommendations you make could be influenced
by:a team's degree of risk tolerance (eg: a marketing team might be happy with a
PR story that raises some controversy around their brand, butwouldn'tdo anything
that puts their rankings at risk of a Google penalty)
their bias to action (are they in the Facebook-esque mold of move fast and break
things'?)
their hunger for success (how invested are the team members in the
organization's achievements, or to what degree is this just a job for them?)
For some cultural factors, you just need a trusted person who can give you the
inside track, rather than waiting to recognize them yourself. For example: I've
seen everything from companies that were run like non-stop frat parties,
tocompanieswhere bad language was highly frowned uponso it's good to know which
sort of team you might be talking to.
What is the company's mission / vision?
Does the team you're working with believe in these things?
There are bunch of very straightforward questions here, which typically don't
have simple answers. What is the company's vision? (IE: what do they believe
about the future and their place in it?) Do they have an explicit mission' or
purpose'? What are their stated values? (For instance
Distilled, Moz and Amazon are all very public about these.) Do they have a
BHAG?
Beyond these things, do they have a company strategy (or marketing strategy)
that is congruent with the vision/mission/purpose?
However, beyond the
presence of things like a mission statement or values, I like to understand how
much the team members have bought into all of these things, or whether the CEO
is alone in believing these things. This tells me how much to rely on those
values in working with the team. For example: I've seen Amazon employees make
certain decisions explicitly because "this demonstrates a bias for action", but
that buy-in' doesn't exist at every company.
Does everyone in the the team have a good understanding of the company's USP,
customers, etc?
How much knowledge of your niche (SEO, social media, etc) does the client's
team have?
With each new client, you may have to invest time in reading and learning about
an industry that you're unfamiliar with. (The client can obviously explain lots
to you, but probably shouldn't be your only source; they may be snowblinded, or
only viewing the niche through the lens of their own organization.)
But as a sense-check: don't be afraid to get your client's team members talking
to youabout the company's work and their industry. A memorable experience was
being in the room with the marketing department from a tech company, where 50%
of the team admitted to not really understanding the industry, or their
company's services.
In the other direction, don't skip over getting a sense of the team's
understanding of your industry, whether that's marketing, social media, SEO, UX,
etc. I overlooked this with one of my early clients, and realized far too late
that I was talking to a room split between experienced marketing people, and
product people who didn't know the first thing about SEO. (One quote that stuck
in my head, maybe 45 minutes into the session:
"so you're saying that links are good?" I learnt mylesson very quickly at that
moment.)
Research senior people and your point-of-contact online to find their favorite
concepts or metaphors.
Sign upto all of theirmarketingemails.
Beyond just asking questions or reading about the things I've mentioned, I also
like to do a bit of stalking to see how a company's leaders talkfor exampleabout
their industry and how they use their values when speaking.
The company's CEO, CMO and your point-of-contact are great people to research;
Twitter feeds, blog posts and bylined articles are easy places to start, but you
can usually find webinars, keynotes or presentations to watch as well. Framing
concepts using their own favorite words, phrases and metaphors can be a quick
route being better understood.
In terms of ongoing research of a client, there's an old (but still worthwhile)
recommendation to set up a Google Alert for their nameboth to watch the organic
chatter that exists around the brand, to make yourself look very on-the-ball,
but also justto find out about the other marketing/PR activity that your
contacts may not have known enough about to mention it to you.
In addition, I suggest signing up for all of the client's email marketing
lists, in order to see a side of their content that is hidden from the web or
search engine spiders.
One of my colleagues will routinely go through the customer process' for every
new client, to learn more about how they manage their funnel. (She now has
everything from insurance quotes for her fake grand piano, to a contractor
listing for her fake plumbing companybut always find insights that would have
been missed otherwise.)
Finally, spending time in a client's office can be an expensive, but worthwhile
endeavorparticularly early on in a relationship. While trying to discover the
answers to everything I've talked about above, it's illuminating to have a room
with a good mix of team members. While one person is talking, watch everyone
else for their reactions. A nod of approval, a roll of the eyes, pursed lips, or
a deep breath can all mean different thingsand it's worth catching that person
later to ask their opinion, or (if you're feeling really confident) mine for
conflict there-and-then with the group.
I hope you've been able to find at least one new question or shortcut here, to
give you extra insight into new clients. The
summary cheatsheetis here, and can even be downloaded in PDF formatso you can
load it onto your phone/tablet/Kindle and take it with you to client
meetings.Download it now!Sign up for The Moz Top 10, a semimonthly mailer
updating you on the top ten hottest pieces of SEO news, tips, and rad links
uncovered by the Moz team. Think of it as your exclusive digest of stuff you
don't have time to hunt down but want to read!
You may view the latest post at
http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/seomoz/~3/g1tD3oKLtYQ/50-things-you-should-learn-about-your-client
You received this e-mail because you asked to be notified when new updates are
posted.
Best regards,
Build Backlinks Online
peter.clarke@designed-for-success.com
Your Client'
Posted by RobOusbey
Six years ago I stood in a client's board room with a list of SEO
recommendations that I was convinced would earn me big smiles, firm handshakes,
and and maybe even a celebratory slap on the back. Instead I was met with icy
stares and nonchalance to my suggestions.
This was despite all my preparation to understand various intricate SEO
bestpractices, as well as the quirks of their website and CMS. I just had no
idea what this team believed in, or what angle I should use to persuade them to
get things done.
It was July 2008, and I decided:
SEO is easy. Consulting is hard.
Every day that I've been at Distilled, I've had the pleasure of learning more
about online marketing, but I've also been able to learnthrough research,
practice, observation and teachinglots about the skills that make someone an
effective consultant.
There are many
manytraits of a greatconsultant that can be developed, but one necessary skill
is:getting to know your client and understanding how you can be effective for
them. This knowledge is how you unlock your ability to talk to them about the
problems they're facing, discover the problems they didn't know they had, and
lets you be best set up to deliver solutions that they will actually understand
and implementand which will make a real and impactful change to their business.
Obviously this getting-to-know-youphase is important enough to invest real time
into, but I've found there are a bunch of hacks' that can help you get up to
speed on an organization and its individuals. I want to share these quick tips
and tricks with you, as well as a bunch of other questions that are worth
answeringeither through research, by observing the client, or by asking
outright.
Throughout this post, I've shared examples and anecdotes from my own consulting
experiences.
If you'd just prefer the TL;DR version,the top two or three questions in each
section are highlighted, or you can see the full list of my'50+ things to learn'
in this downloadablecheat sheet.
How much profit does the company make from each additional customer?
How are the company's financials; are they profitable, or making a loss?
We'll begin with this section because it's so cut-and-dry that it's little more
than business 101'. However, some of the seemingly obvious money-orientated
questions can be overlooked; I met with one marketer last year who had
absolutely no idea what the profit was on each sale he made, or which sales he
was making or losing money on; it reminded me that sometimes you do have to make
sure to ask the right questions and then go digging for the answers.
It's worth approaching this at two distinct levelsfrom the perspective of
individual transactions, and the overall view of the company or department.
On a transactional level, we want to know the revenue & profit. For a retailer,
that usually means understanding the average revenue associated with each
purchase. For some businesses, there may also be a lifetime value' (LTV) for
each new customerwhich takes into account repeat purchases or the average length
of time a user stays signed up (for a subscription product, or a SAAS company
like Moz).
For those businesses, it's also important to understand the the marginal
profit' of each purchase. (The amount made on each sale, after the cost of
actually providing the product.) Since most marketing teams also have a good
handle on their cost per acquisition' (the amount they spend to attract each
conversion, etc) it's particularly important to view this in the context of the
marginal profit from each sale. Where marginal profit is significantly higher
than CPA for a particular marketing channel or tactic, it might indicate an
opportunity to increase investment in that channel.
As well as understanding profit margin, CPA, etc, for your client's
transaction, it's worth getting to know what these look like for similar
companies or others in their niche. This maytake some hunting around and
research online, butwill give you an insight into how aggressive your client can
afford to be when it comes to beating their competitors.
On a business level, it's worth making sure you have a handle on certain
financial metrics such as revenue and operating profit. For larger / public
companies, I typically prefer to research these sorts of things myself. If you
have the time and interest to read through financial statements, Google is
usually the fastest way to find these documents. (Search for the company name
plus annual report' or 10k'.) However, various sources have done a good job
making financial information easily digestible; I'm fond of MSN Money (e.g.:
their page for Yelp, showing an $7.9m loss ) or simply Wikipedia (e.g.: their
page on Dell, showing a $2.3b profit.)
For anything other than a fast-growing startup, knowing the company's current
profitability is usually more interesting to me than revenue, as it can often
guide their approach to marketing investment. A company with very little profit
(or who is making a loss) is likely to be interested in very strategic spending,
with a well understood path to return. A company that is flush with profits
might be more able to include some more risky tactics in their marketing
strategy.
Does your POC have more of an analytical or emotional personality type?
How does your POC prefer to communicate on project matters?
Above everything else, the relationship between a consultant and the people
within a client organization is perhaps the biggest factor in determining how
successful the engagement will be. Although building any relationship takes
time, there are a few things I like to uncover (or just directly ask about) in
order to speed up that process.
Beyond just knowing each person's role in a team, I want to understand whatthey
are responsible for (what do they actually do from day-to-day?) and what they
are accountable for. The accountability' includes what they are measured on.
(Which is the most important thing to happen or improve so that they would be
celebrated/rewarded; what would they be criticized for if it didn't happen?)
For my main point of contact inside an organization, we often phrase this as
"what would make you look good to your boss?"which can help set at least one
clear objective for the engagement. Plus, helping your contact to be successful
has a fantastic side-effect: as they get promoted and move up their
organization, it can give you greater access, wider influence, and bigger
budgets to work with.
There are many frameworks for how people view situations and make decisions,
such as
Myers-Briggs, the learning modalities, etc. I love the incredibly simplified
approach of assessing whether someone is analytical (driven by data, talks about
facts, wants to know about ROI) or emotional (driven by personal connections,
talks about vision, wants to hear stories.) Although categorising people in such
a binary way is clearly a gross oversimplification of human nature, I've found
the value in this is that you can make an assessment of someone within justa few
minutes of meeting them, and immediately better tailor your approach to them.
As part of getting close to your client', I also like to ask (to individuals or
a team)
what they have been excited about recently. When you have to start making
recommendations to them, knowing what excites them gives an insight into the
kind of answers they'll respond well to, or what is most likely to get
implemented quickly.
Working quickly to understand how different individuals like to communicate can
reduce friction and repays the time invested very quickly. I've worked with
people who will reply to emails within minutes, people who prefer you to pick up
the phone and call them, people who are great at running meetings, even people
who always respond to messages on GChat / Skype. (And conversely, some people
will have an out-of-control inbox, some never listen to voicemails, and some
never get anything done in meetings.)
Related to communication styles, it's valuable to understand how people like to
receive reports & updateswhether from consultants or their own team-members.
Find out how often you're expected to prepare reports, the style (lots of data,
bottom line metrics, written explanations?), the formats (email, spreadsheets,
slide deck format, online dashboards?) and the audience (a project lead, a whole
team, executives, juniors?).
From a reporting perspective, I've worked with a branding guy who
"left the numbers up to other people", and was more interested in a monthly
face-to-face where we recapped the status of each initiative & campaign, and
I've known a successful CMO who reviewed a three-page spreadsheet/dashboard each
morning and would chase down different team members to ask about the story
behind changes in different numbers. In both cases, providing metrics & updates
in a way that fit their existing process let them understand my information and
respond to me more effectively.
Who will be making the decisions that affect your project?
What constraints does the team have to balance when making decisions?
Early on in my consulting career, I overlooked the value of investing time in
how organizations make decisions. Naively, I would deliver the right answer' for
a client, and be frustrated when they didn't decide to immediately put all hands
on deck implementing my brilliant ideas.
Through conversation with members of your client's team, you will hear about
decisions that have been madeat both the high/strategic level, and down at the
tactical level. Within those stories is the information about what criteria were
important, and who the influential people were. To kick-start these
conversations, you can ask
"which projects were big successes internally?" or "which big decisions do
people still talk about?"
It's easiest to understand the decision making process when you're clear on how
a team's success is measured. I once worked with a marketing team who were
measured and bonused on overall conversion rate of visitors. I failed to
persuade them to invest in SEO because even though it would have brought a fire
hose of new traffic and customers, organic visitors to their site converted at
~6%, which brought down their current ~8% average. I was gobsmacked, but once I
understood their situation, I realized I had to go to the CMO instead to explain
why the teams current objectives were counterproductive.
An aspect of this which can take longer to grok are the constraints, roadblocks
and objections that a team faces. While some are quite easy to ask about (eg:
the team that has a limited budget to invest in marketing activities), some are
only uncovered throughout a project (eg: the boss who wouldn't A/B test pricing
in marketing emails, in case a customer found out that someone else was offered
a deeper discount.) Effective consultants will be respectful of an
organization's history, values and beliefsbut great consultants can balance this
with knowing when to challenge those things.
Finally, a great hack' I learned from one colleague at Distilledis that there's
a lot of discovery value in asking a new client
"what made you hire me for this project?" This forces them to provide insight
into how they made a very real, very recent decision. Plus, by exposing what
they valued in making the decision, it also does a lot to set expectations and
anagenda for the engagement.
What criteria are used to prioritize new tasks or projects?
How does the team tend to run / use meetings?
How risk tolerant is the team?
Beyond just how plans are made, I always want to discover how work is
prioritized, the criteria for that prioritization, and how the plans are shared
with the team. Occasionally, a team will perfectly implement the Agile
methodology, others rely on an odd Waterfall-esqe model, many have something
less formal still. Understanding their processes lets you know, for example,
whether quick & easy wins can be hustled up the backlog, or whether they will
have to wait their turn'.
Related to processes are the tools a team uses for project management. They may
rely on Trello/Basecamp/MS Project, or a wall full of sticky notesand it'll be
up to you to integrate yourself.
I'm always fascinated by the meeting culture' at different companies. I've seen
companies where the most effective work happens during impromptu five-minute
stand up meetings, and organizations that are crippled by the archetypal
terrible' meetings (too long, too many people, no agenda, no actions, etc.)
Understanding whether I need to be in the room' to help make decisions, or
whether to avoid any unproductive time-sinks, improves my effectiveness as much
as my sanity.
There are myriad other cultural factors worth picking up on relatively quickly.
How you behave with them, and the recommendations you make could be influenced
by:a team's degree of risk tolerance (eg: a marketing team might be happy with a
PR story that raises some controversy around their brand, butwouldn'tdo anything
that puts their rankings at risk of a Google penalty)
their bias to action (are they in the Facebook-esque mold of move fast and break
things'?)
their hunger for success (how invested are the team members in the
organization's achievements, or to what degree is this just a job for them?)
For some cultural factors, you just need a trusted person who can give you the
inside track, rather than waiting to recognize them yourself. For example: I've
seen everything from companies that were run like non-stop frat parties,
tocompanieswhere bad language was highly frowned uponso it's good to know which
sort of team you might be talking to.
What is the company's mission / vision?
Does the team you're working with believe in these things?
There are bunch of very straightforward questions here, which typically don't
have simple answers. What is the company's vision? (IE: what do they believe
about the future and their place in it?) Do they have an explicit mission' or
purpose'? What are their stated values? (For instance
Distilled, Moz and Amazon are all very public about these.) Do they have a
BHAG?
Beyond these things, do they have a company strategy (or marketing strategy)
that is congruent with the vision/mission/purpose?
However, beyond the
presence of things like a mission statement or values, I like to understand how
much the team members have bought into all of these things, or whether the CEO
is alone in believing these things. This tells me how much to rely on those
values in working with the team. For example: I've seen Amazon employees make
certain decisions explicitly because "this demonstrates a bias for action", but
that buy-in' doesn't exist at every company.
Does everyone in the the team have a good understanding of the company's USP,
customers, etc?
How much knowledge of your niche (SEO, social media, etc) does the client's
team have?
With each new client, you may have to invest time in reading and learning about
an industry that you're unfamiliar with. (The client can obviously explain lots
to you, but probably shouldn't be your only source; they may be snowblinded, or
only viewing the niche through the lens of their own organization.)
But as a sense-check: don't be afraid to get your client's team members talking
to youabout the company's work and their industry. A memorable experience was
being in the room with the marketing department from a tech company, where 50%
of the team admitted to not really understanding the industry, or their
company's services.
In the other direction, don't skip over getting a sense of the team's
understanding of your industry, whether that's marketing, social media, SEO, UX,
etc. I overlooked this with one of my early clients, and realized far too late
that I was talking to a room split between experienced marketing people, and
product people who didn't know the first thing about SEO. (One quote that stuck
in my head, maybe 45 minutes into the session:
"so you're saying that links are good?" I learnt mylesson very quickly at that
moment.)
Research senior people and your point-of-contact online to find their favorite
concepts or metaphors.
Sign upto all of theirmarketingemails.
Beyond just asking questions or reading about the things I've mentioned, I also
like to do a bit of stalking to see how a company's leaders talkfor exampleabout
their industry and how they use their values when speaking.
The company's CEO, CMO and your point-of-contact are great people to research;
Twitter feeds, blog posts and bylined articles are easy places to start, but you
can usually find webinars, keynotes or presentations to watch as well. Framing
concepts using their own favorite words, phrases and metaphors can be a quick
route being better understood.
In terms of ongoing research of a client, there's an old (but still worthwhile)
recommendation to set up a Google Alert for their nameboth to watch the organic
chatter that exists around the brand, to make yourself look very on-the-ball,
but also justto find out about the other marketing/PR activity that your
contacts may not have known enough about to mention it to you.
In addition, I suggest signing up for all of the client's email marketing
lists, in order to see a side of their content that is hidden from the web or
search engine spiders.
One of my colleagues will routinely go through the customer process' for every
new client, to learn more about how they manage their funnel. (She now has
everything from insurance quotes for her fake grand piano, to a contractor
listing for her fake plumbing companybut always find insights that would have
been missed otherwise.)
Finally, spending time in a client's office can be an expensive, but worthwhile
endeavorparticularly early on in a relationship. While trying to discover the
answers to everything I've talked about above, it's illuminating to have a room
with a good mix of team members. While one person is talking, watch everyone
else for their reactions. A nod of approval, a roll of the eyes, pursed lips, or
a deep breath can all mean different thingsand it's worth catching that person
later to ask their opinion, or (if you're feeling really confident) mine for
conflict there-and-then with the group.
I hope you've been able to find at least one new question or shortcut here, to
give you extra insight into new clients. The
summary cheatsheetis here, and can even be downloaded in PDF formatso you can
load it onto your phone/tablet/Kindle and take it with you to client
meetings.Download it now!Sign up for The Moz Top 10, a semimonthly mailer
updating you on the top ten hottest pieces of SEO news, tips, and rad links
uncovered by the Moz team. Think of it as your exclusive digest of stuff you
don't have time to hunt down but want to read!
You may view the latest post at
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[Build Backlinks Online] TITLE
Build Backlinks Online has posted a new item, 'Why You NEED Social Media Landing Pages (Not Just a Homepage!)'
With so much traffic being driven these days via social media, it's important to implement designated social media landing pages as part of your marketing strategy. Remember, folks who click your ads and links from social media sites are valuable visitors – they've actively engaged with your brand on a social network. In fact, J. Crew found that:
"customers who engage with us via our social media outlets (Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, or Instagram) generally spend approximately 2x more than the average J.Crew customer"
Twice as much is a pretty big deal! So roll out the red carpet, and don't you dare just send your social fans to the homepage.
Many of the same rules that are used with PPC landing pages apply to social media landing pages as well, the core essentials being:
- Landing page content mirrors ad content (for text and images)
- Clear value prop and call to action
- Keep text simple and concise
- Consider where the visitor is coming from
That last point is where the situation really changes for social media landing pages, and it's a major deviation to consider. Your social media landing pages need to cater to the unique needs and mindset of someone coming from a social network.
The best way to learn is through examples, so let's go!
Feel free to jump ahead to:
- Facebook Landing Pages
- Twitter Landing Pages
- Pinterest Landing Pages
- LinkedIn Landing Pages
- More Landing Page Resources
Facebook Landing Pages
We'll start with the most obvious social network – Facebook. A lot of businesses pour advertising dollars into Facebook, but based on the examples I've seen, many still don't seem to be doing Facebook advertising the way it needs to be done.
Let's start things off by looking at a Facebook ad and landing page by JibJab.
Clicking the ad takes us to…
This is a pretty good landing page. We're taken right where we belong, and the sample video featuring the empty face explains the offer concept without the need of extra text.
What Works:
- Minimal text as the page's video explains the insert-your-face video concept (even just the thumbnail before playing the image shows the empty face, so users can understand the concept without even playing the video).
- Bright green button with a "make your own" call to action.
- Good related content – while it's not always recommended to promote other offers on a landing page, the idea works well here and gets visitors excited about making additional JibJab videos.
What Needs Work:
- While it's great that the Facebook ad text is being recycled in the landing page text field, I'd like to see the Facebook ad headline, Add Your Face to "Happy" repeated as well. It's another element to solidly the connection between the ad and landing page, and it also serves as more interesting copy than the "Dances" "Happy" or "video" headline and sub-headlines.
- The "tags" section seems unnecessary, and is probably an element that should be hidden and just used for site structure and filtering. Instead, this space could be used for some social proof elements (such as: 4,327 people have made themselves "Happy!" Are you next?).
Grade: B
Next we have a Facebook ad by Health Line First, with the ad text "providing information that is usually hard to find." Not very helpful, but they earn a few points for being mysterious.
Clicking the link, we're taken to their Facebook page.
What Works:
- Not much. At least they have a profile picture.
What Needs Work:
- Their Facebook page doesn't give us any details explaining what the company is all about – just that same ad text that now seems more silly than mysterious. We see their logo again, although it remains unclear what the number 7 has to do with Health Line First. They haven't even bothered to add a cover photo. This is pretty much as bad as it gets – a terrible ad followed by a terrible landing page.
Grade: F
Next we have a social media landing page example that comes from The Honest Company, beginning with this Facebook ad.
Which takes us to this Facebook landing page…
What Works:
- A short form field with a bright button and relevant button text (the "order your trial" is much more appropriate for the offer than a simple "submit").
- Great use of color – the color pallet is very nice, and the orange button on the blue form background naturally draws attention to the button and its connected offer.
- Ideally it'd be great to see the same photo from the ad repeated here on the landing page, but here we're getting the next best thing – a very similar photo that continues the feel of the first. The ad photo and the landing page photo seem to go hand in hand, using similar lighting and colors.
What Needs Work:
- Where is the offer from the Facebook ad? As a visitor we're pretty disoriented. Sure, we see the offer for a free trial, but the ad we clicked was offering two free sample kits – a very different offer than this vague "free trial" which we are told nothing about. This is a huge problem and I'd take a guess than this social media landing page is receiving very few conversions due to the conflict and confusion between the Facebook ad offer and the landing page we see here.
Grade: C
This page could have scored higher, but we docked points for the misaligned offers.
Next we have a Facebook ad from Lumo.
What Works:
- The scarcity element is a smart way to push visitors into a purchasing decision (19 unites left).
- The social proof elements, albeit small, are a smart inclusion (16,000 unites pre-ordered).
- Using video is a great way to explain more about a product.
What Needs Work:
- The overall design feels a bit off and there is a lot of wasted space. I would choose one powerful product photo and ditch the white on white photos, in which the product is barely visible against the white background.
- We really need some basic bullet points. The video is great, but it shouldn't be mandatory for understanding your product. The video should be a bonus way to learn more, not be relied on as a crutch for transmitting details. Remember, you only have 8 seconds before users decide to stay on or leave your page! There absolutely needs to be solid info above the fold.
- While I appreciate the scarcity element on this page, the bar is confusing – is it a visual element to accompany the scarcity number? If so, a meter showing a low value should be orange or red, but certainly not green, which implies that unites are plentiful. I'd recommend just scrapping the bar as it seems unnecessary.
- Make those social proof points larger! If you have awesome numbers, show them off with style.
If we scroll down below the fold, we'll see some additional info.
I would love to see those trust signals moved above the fold, and maybe the mini-illustrations as well. Visually this section is a lot more powerful than what currently sits above the fold.
There is a big trend these days to have a minimalist homepage featuring one powerful image, and while there are certain advantages to that style, it has major pitfalls and won't work for everyone.
As a new and inventive product, Lumo can't successfully use a minimalist page style because they really need to dedicate space to explaining their original product and concept behind it. Many landing pages fall victim to this ultra-minimalist trend, and it's important to understand why it won't always work, despite being a popular style. In discussing landing page best practices, we often say that you want to avoid a landing page that is very text-heavy, but going the opposite direction, with almost zero explanation, is just as dangerous.
Grade: C
Next we have a Facebook ad and landing page for Downy Wrinkle Releaser.
Right away it's clear that this ad has a lack of intent. It's stating what the Wrinkle Release product does, but where is the offer? The call-to-action? Let's see what the landing page looks like…
This social media landing page is actually its own Facebook tab as part of Downy's larger Facebook page. Creating custom Facebook tabs is a popular technique for running contests or special promotions. However, this one is quite problematic.
What Works:
- The scarcity element of the countdown clock is a nice way to remind visitors that they have a limited time to enter the contest.
What Needs Work:
- This offer – a promotional video contest – feels totally random. There was no mention of any kind of contest in the Facebook ad. Why didn't the ad include a "enter our video content to win a free vacation" call-to-action? This whole situation doesn't make any sense.
- I think we can assume that the main point of this page is to get visitors to enter the Downy contest. Then why are the entry instructions so tiny? It's way too easy to ignore them. Text size is a main method of disclosing which sections of text are more important than others. In this case, the contest instructions are the smallest type on the page, leading the visitor to quickly gloss over them. Instead we see the voting instructions in a larger text, even though getting visitors to vote is not the main goal of the page. This text is also largely unnecessary – you don't need to tell people to click on a video in order to watch it.
- The contest entry problems are exacerbated by the entry button, whose color and text matches the non-clickable submissions header below. This makes the button at first glance appear to be another non-interactive header element. That's definitely no bueno.
- We've really torn this page apart already, but there's one more thing that needs calling out, and that's the lack of entries. This poor contest has no existing entries. Who knows why – maybe this is the first day of the contest. However, having that filtering system makes the lack of entries seem all the more pathetic, especially coupled with the huge expanse of white space. How to remedy this? Don't include the voting section at all until there are at least a handful of entries, or at least move the submissions below the fold and use more space to promote entering the contest in the first place! At the very least, include a sample video or even a Downy promo video so that space doesn't look so darn empty and sad.
Grade: D+
The Facebook ad and landing page offer don't match at all, and even if they did match, the landing page would still be in need of way too much renovation to earn a passing grade.
Unfortunately our Facebook landing page examples aren't scoring very well. I feel a bit like a jerk for picking apart so many problem pages, but honestly, there just aren't many people doing a good job with social media landing pages. Let's move on to Twitter landing pages, where hopefully things will improve.
Twitter Landing Pages
With Twitter landing pages, you'll want to match that Twitter mindset – quick, clever, and to the point. Most links shared on Twitter are articles and blog posts, so the idea of having a designated Twitter landing page won't always apply. However, as Oli Gardner of Unbounce notes, Twitter visitor intent can be pretty specific when it comes to your Twitter profile link.
If a Twitter user is clicking the link embedded in your personal Twitter profile, chances are they're looking to learn more about you and your web identity. Create a tailored page specifically with these visitors in mind. Include a welcome message calling out the fact that the visitor came from Twitter, a mini-bio reminiscent of an About Me page, as well as links to your other social media profiles. You also might consider including links or references to your most popular blog posts/content – show off a little.
A great example comes from blogger Darren Rowse.
What Works:
Note how right off the bat, Darren's headline includes his Twitter @username. The first line directly connects with the visitor's point of entry with the line "Thanks for clicking the URL in my Twitter profile…" Below these sections he talks about his ProBlogger Twitter account and what followers can expect to see him tweeting about. Darren also mentions his book and how to connect with him via other social sites.
What Needs Work:
One could argue that the page is on the lengthy side, but it's broken up with several headings, so not much to complain about here.
Grade: A
Next let's look at another kind of Twitter landing page that looks more like the other social media landing pages we've looked at, via paid Twitter ads directing the user to a guide or resource. Take this example from HootSuite.
What Works:
- HootSuite's pretty big on content marketing, so it's no surprise that their social media landing pages look good. The bulleted points make the text easy to scan, and the trust signals in the lower right corner boost visitors' confidence.
What Needs Work:
- Ideally the form would be shorter, and the "submit" button would have more appropriate text. In this case, even "download" might be more enticing than "submit." After all, the visitor isn't excited to submit their information to you, they're excited to download their guide. Landing pages should always focus on the offer and the wants of the visitor.
Grade: B
Next we have SendGrid.
What Works:
- SendGrid is following a lot of landing pages best practices, with the smart inclusion of bullet points, images (even a mini guide image like the one here is a huge improvement over nothing), and trust signals.
- The form button's bright orange color stands out nicely against the blue background (contrast is key), and the "Start Reading" button text, along with the mini-image inside the button, is a nice touch.
What Needs Work:
- The "6 kickass emails that leverage marketing" from the Twitter post aren't mentioned anywhere on the page. If we're really customizing this page as a Twitter landing page, let's re-use that eye-catching tweet text in the offer description.
- The main headline really shouldn't be on more than two lines.
Grade: B
That initial tweet was so grabbing – don't throw it away when it could add further value on the landing page.
Pinterest Landing Pages
Official Pinterest ads are on the horizon and looking pretty darn pricey. However, plenty of businesses use Pinterest for marketing purposes without dishing out the big bucks, and these are the kinds of pins and landing pages we will be looking at today.
So what should be included in the perfect Pinterest landing page? Well, Pinterest is an image-heavy site, so you'll certainly want some powerful visual elements included on your Pinterest landing page. Also keep your audience in mind – Pinterest users are predominantly female, making up 80% of the user-base.
Let's take a look at some examples of Pinterest pages, starting with this lovely necklace from Stuff 4 Multiples.
The pin takes us to an order landing page.
What Works:
- These are great looking images, and the on-neck image helps show the length of the chain.
- The savings discount and sale marker add buying enticement.
What Needs Work:
- So… how do I order this necklace? The biggest problem with this page is that the order option is below the fold (under Choose Options). This is a major foul – the order button is the very last page element you'd ever want to hide below the fold. It's the point of the page after all!
- I'd recommend moving the email, review, and question options further down on the page, especially if it means making more room for the order button.
Grade: C-
The below the fold order options is what drove this landing page into the ground.
Let's go to another Pinterest ad example from Human.
This Pinterest post takes us to…
What Works:
- Everything is pretty clear cut here – it's your standard online apparel page with a nice bright "Add to Cart" button.
- I like that they have the same shirt design shown on different clothing styles underneath the main photo. These "you also might like" recommendations work here because they are extensions of what we're already seeing, not just random gateways to other pages that might drive us away from a purchase.
- The inclusion of social proof via buttons is a nice touch, although I might consider ditching the lesser known "Fancy" and "Wanelo" buttons.
What Needs Work:
- There are a few things we don't need – the search tags aren't necessary and sizing options could be hidden behind a link.
- The elephant in the room is the bright green "What's your favorite color?" banner. Is it an ad? A link to another page? It's very distracting and strange. There's already an option to see more styles & colors in the link above, so there's no need for this huge green banner.
Grade: B-
LinkedIn Landing Pages
LinkedIn ads and landing pages aren't as popular as they are with Facebook, but as the #1 professional social networking site that's always growing, they can't be overlooked. Since LinkedIn is a more professional setting, your LinkedIn landing pages should match with a sophisticated design and professional feel.
Let's go ahead and check out some LinkedIn landing page examples.
This LinkedIn sponsored post by CallidusCloud offers a free guide on marketing automation.
What Works:
- The design on this page mirrors the feel of LinkedIn – clean, crisp, professional.
- The image featured on this page matches the image shown on the LinkedIn ad.
What Needs Work
- The form button used here is unattractive, and the "get it now" text feels uninspired – I think some A/B testing could go a long way here!
- The text on this page could benefit from some variety with color or bolded text.
- I'd suggest working a bit with that form headline. Even changing the form headline to "Download the free marketing guide" might be preferable. It should always be obvious to the visitor what they are about to download.
Grade: B
And finally, one more landing page example from All Covered:
What Works:
- This guide image looks great and matches the ad image. The bullet points are strategically used to break down the main topics the guide will cover.
- Using the color red for the sub-heading establishes its importance – bold text or powerful text colors helps readers interpret your information hierarchy (aka which lines of text are more important than others).
What Needs Work:
- The form is too long – remember to only ask for what you really need. Can more intimate details like the phone number be fished for on the "thank you" page? Asking for too much information can increase your drop-off rate to nearly 70%, so consider if getting those digits is really worth the loss. Do you really need the Company Name AND Website URL? One will inevitability give you the other, so don't bug the visitor by asking for both when it's not essential.
- Many lines of text break onto second lines when they shouldn't – it makes the page feel messy. I would shorten the red header so it rests on one line, and then make the image a bit smaller so that the bullet points each take up only one line, rather than two.
Grade: B-
We've Got a Ways to Go With Social Media Landing Pages
Lots of bad grades were dished out during this social media landing page evaluation – clearly marketers are still learning when it comes to creating custom social media landing pages for relevant ads. Let's hope that you score better – use the lessons we've learned today to surpass your predecessors.
Want to learn more about landing pages? Check out…
- 24 Tips for Creating Great Landing Pages
- WordStream's Free Landing Page Grader Tool
- More Landing Page Examples
This post originated on the WordStream Blog. WordStream provides keyword tools for pay-per click (PPC) and search engine optimization (SEO) aiding in everything from keyword discovery to keyword grouping and organization.
[Build Backlinks Online] How PassionRoses Reached Out to the Right Celebrity at the Right Time
Build Backlinks Online has posted a new item, 'How PassionRoses Reached Out to
the Right Celebrity at the Right Time'
Something old and something new is a great philosophy with which to power an
awesome outreach marketing strategy. Hollywood Branded hit that nail on the head
with a project they recently did for their client, PassionRoses. Hollywood
Branded used a more traditional marketing tacticworking with a celebrityand
morphed their strategy to fit snugly with the []
You may view the latest post at
http://www.convinceandconvert.com/social-media-case-studies/how-passionroses-reached-out-to-the-right-celebrity-at-the-right-time/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=how-passionroses-reached-out-to-the-right-celebrity-at-the-right-time
You received this e-mail because you asked to be notified when new updates are
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peter.clarke@designed-for-success.com
the Right Celebrity at the Right Time'
Something old and something new is a great philosophy with which to power an
awesome outreach marketing strategy. Hollywood Branded hit that nail on the head
with a project they recently did for their client, PassionRoses. Hollywood
Branded used a more traditional marketing tacticworking with a celebrityand
morphed their strategy to fit snugly with the []
You may view the latest post at
http://www.convinceandconvert.com/social-media-case-studies/how-passionroses-reached-out-to-the-right-celebrity-at-the-right-time/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=how-passionroses-reached-out-to-the-right-celebrity-at-the-right-time
You received this e-mail because you asked to be notified when new updates are
posted.
Best regards,
Build Backlinks Online
peter.clarke@designed-for-success.com
[Build Backlinks Online] 7 Ways to Lighten Up Your Marketing and Generate Conversation
Build Backlinks Online has posted a new item, '7 Ways to Lighten Up Your
Marketing and Generate Conversation'
As the importance of great content grows, so too will the experimentation with
fun marketing for B2B companies. Here are seven ways to add humor and get
results with your content marketing.
You may view the latest post at
http://www.convinceandconvert.com/content-marketing/7-ways-to-lighten-up-your-marketing-and-generate-conversation/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=7-ways-to-lighten-up-your-marketing-and-generate-conversation
You received this e-mail because you asked to be notified when new updates are
posted.
Best regards,
Build Backlinks Online
peter.clarke@designed-for-success.com
Marketing and Generate Conversation'
As the importance of great content grows, so too will the experimentation with
fun marketing for B2B companies. Here are seven ways to add humor and get
results with your content marketing.
You may view the latest post at
http://www.convinceandconvert.com/content-marketing/7-ways-to-lighten-up-your-marketing-and-generate-conversation/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=7-ways-to-lighten-up-your-marketing-and-generate-conversation
You received this e-mail because you asked to be notified when new updates are
posted.
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Build Backlinks Online
peter.clarke@designed-for-success.com
Sunday 25 May 2014
[Build Backlinks Online] How to Be More Creative in Your Online Campaigns
Build Backlinks Online has posted a new item, 'How to Be More Creative in Your
Online Campaigns'
Posted by ShellShockThis post was originally in YouMoz, and was promoted to the
main blog because it provides great value and interest to our community. The
author's views are entirely his or her own and may not reflect the views of Moz,
Inc.The SEO landscape has changed so much in the last few years in the wake of
the Penguin and Panda apocalypse that the discipline is now considered in the
broader terms of online marketing or digital marketing. The one element that is
common is the requirement for new skills such as PR, classic marketing and most
importantly: creativity. Agencies and freelance individuals who can't adapt,
evolve and embrace the new mode of thinking/operating are vulnerable with
nowhere to hide behind mediocre work and outdated tactics.Be more creative, is a
phrase often used within business and marketing with little consideration given
to its meaning. But, what does it mean to be creative? There is much confusion
about what creativity is and a general misconception of mistaking style for
creativity. Most designers are stylists: they make things look good. Creativity
is about concepts, ideas and innovation. In art school, I was always taught that
being able to justify the concept was the most important element of creativity.
You had to argue your reason for why the design piece was a solution to the
problem. I can still recall how nervous I used to get before a group critique
session (the phrase blood bath comes to mind) even though it was over 20 years
ago. It's not about how good it looks - it's how well it answers the
questions.Creativity is a skill we can all access. Everyone has the capacity to
generate ideas. Admittedly, some people are more inclined towards creative
thinking, just as some are able to figure large maths calculations in their head
or swim like Michael Phelps. But anyone can increase his or her level of
creativity by learning the skills of thinking and exercising their idea muscle.I
recently published a free ebook called 'What is Creativity?' and the following
are six ideas extracted and expanded from the book to increase your creative
thinking and improve your online campaigns:Creativity is not a talent, it's a
way of operating. John CleeseLearning to switch into open modeEx Monty Python,
John Cleese understands and defines the creative process as learning to switch
between two states or modes: open and closed. When we are under pressure and
stress to deliver, such as in our everyday working lives, we are in closed mode.
When we are relaxed, detached from problems and playful, we are in the open
mode. Open can be considered playful (lateral thinking) and closed logical
(vertical thinking). Just as we need both lateral thinking and vertical
thinking, we need open and closed states to solve a problem: the open state
allows us to develop creative ideas and then the closed state to plan and
implement the idea. These are similarly aligned to vertical and lateral thinking
processes.1: How to achieve an Open stateSchedule time to avoid being distracted
and remove the pressure to instantly generate ideas; your brain needs time to
open up. The optimum amount of time is 90 minutes, it takes a minimum of 60
minutes for the brain to focus on a task and after 90 minutes will be prone to
distraction and need a break. Place of work is essential for creatives to get
into state - most writers and artists will follow a routine and often have
isolated spaces such as garden offices to minimize distraction. Some artists
need to be surrounded by ephemera such as the collection of memorabilia that
Paul Smith surrounds himself with for inspiration. Others, like Maya Angelou,
prefer minimalism and, like myself, need an uncluttered desk and space for an
uncluttered mind to be able to think.Agatha Christie preferred to work in a
large Victorian bath whilst eating apples. Benjamin Franklin would work naked
for an hour every morning. Maya Angelou preferred the isolation of a hotel room
and requested everything removed from the walls; she would bring her own sherry
and ashtray. The eccentric poet Dame Edith Sitwell would lie down in a coffin
finding inspiration in the claustrophobic and restrictive space.You don't need
to go to the extremes of a coffin but find a space which is conducive to
relaxation and without distraction, anywhere that removes you from association
with work or pressure (preferably not home). Try a coffee shop (JK Rowling
famously wrote Harry Potter in her local coffee shop), the library, a hotel or
even a camper van (Breaking Bad style). Removing yourself from the usual place
of work will remove yourself from distraction, help the brain to break pattern
which in turn will switch into a more receptive state for ideas. To access open
mode if you are in a group:The open state thrives in humor and play so try the
dinner party technique: create the dream dinner party guest list, such as
Einstein, Da Vinci, Churchill, Kennedy or even fictional characters such as Don
Corleone, Jack Sparrow and Luke Skywalker. Each person should take a persona and
become their character - they must answer questions and think like they would
imagine that character to think. The perfect warm up exercise; it is huge fun,
encourages humor, it breaks awkwardness and forces the brain to break pattern
from your normal style of thinking. Keep this game going for a minimum of 20
minutes before your brainstorm.To access open mode if you are alone:Research has
shown a correlation between increased dopamine and creativity. Dopamine is a
pleasure chemical which the brain releases to signal success but this chemical
is not as straight forward and predictable as a reliable tool. The increase of
endorphins will elevate our mood and help us achieve our open state: physical
exercise is one of the easiest ways to access a rush of endorphins although,
spicy food, sexual activity and pain can also trigger release - so whatever gets
you going!Try a walk, swim or bike ride to stimulate feel good. You want to
ensure a careful balance of feeling exhilarated but also avoiding energy
depletion. Opt for a route that you haven't been on before to break any
automatic behavior patterns. Walking in a new part of town and observing the
unfamiliar territory or running backwards will stimulate new thought and
movement patterns thus putting you into a more creative and receptive state.
"Creativity is just connecting things. When you ask creative people how they did
something, they feel a little guilty because they didnt really do it, the just
saw something. It seemed obvious to them after a while. Steve Jobs2: Make
connections with an ideas wallThe ability to make connections and see
relationships between seemingly random elements is the secret to creativity.
Combining old elements to create something new.Idea walls solve crimesIt's no
coincidence that you see examples of ideas walls on TV dramas and movies such
as: Homelands, Sherlock Holmes, A Beautiful Mind and Three and a Half Days
Later. Detectives have long used this technique to assist solving crimes.
Placing photographs of the known or suspected perpetrators, victims, crime
scenes and evidence on a wall enables items of evidence to be repositioned and
grouped; string can link items together for visual affect. A detective can then
stand back and mentally take in a great deal of information at once. The brain
begins to process and use its natural ability to seek the connections between
the items, find the clues and answers to the case.images from Crazy WallsWhen
the BBC conducted a site redesign in 2010 they printed out the entire site and
mounted on a wall affectionately known as 'the wall of shame'. To enable them to
better visualize what they had and to unify the visual and interaction design of
the desktop and mobile sites.How to create a content strategy ideas wallTools
needed: paper, colored pens, highlighter pens, print outs of all reference
material, colored string and push-pins, post it notes, blu tack or tape, and a
large wall space, pin board or sheets of foam board.Organize your reference
material into themes or groups and pin/stick to the wall.Devise a color code
system for your different groups with the pen color you have and use the colored
pens and highlighter and mark and highlight relevant pages and sections of
information. (Homelands style, see above)For example, if you are working on
content strategy for your site group into:Influencers - list influencers who
could help to broadcast your content and sub group in different social media
channels, newsletters and authority sites (eg Guardian, Huffington Post, Fast
Company)Audit - audit current site contentIdea sources - places to mine ideas
from such as offline periodicals, online Q&A sites like Quora, social media
channels and Google trendsHost Locations - potential sites to target for
exposure, shares and links: authority hub sites, bloggers, online
magazines/publishers, email newsletters and social media sitesBy grouping
related themes we start to see patterns. If you have a piece that doesn't fit
into a group this 'outlier' could in itself give ideas.Stand back from the wall
and look for potential relationships or connections between the information.
Using push pins and colored string make a visual link between the two. (See
photos above)The key here is flexibility: move pieces of paper round, create new
string links, devise new groups - by repositioning, regrouping and relinking
this is where your ideas will start to form and generate as you begin to make
the connections.If wall space is an issue or you prefer a digital version,
Mural.ly is an online alternative to creating an ideas wall; describing itself
as "an online whiteboard designed to visually organize ideas and collaborate in
a playful way." Mural.ly allows collaboration of team members and you can drag
and drop your reference material onto the white board and reposition items and
make notes. I have only just begun to play with this tool and it has huge depth
and potential to assist in creative projects.image from Mural.lyPinterest is one
of my favourite scrapbook tools for collecting visual information as an
alternative. I use Evernote extensively for collecting information and research
material. Quora is my favourite site for finding ideas for content.4: How to
brainstorm the right way:Generating ideas for content, marketing strategies or
even creative use of data can all be more productive if tackled in a group - the
synergy from more than one person will bring fresh perspective, new ideas and
energy. But, brainstorming is such a common term that most people don't consider
how to undertake a session effectively.One of the most important elements within
team idea generation is trust and harmony. The group must be able to work well
together through respect for each others' opinions and ability and a general air
of amiability. Any disagreeable personalities, critical individuals or large
egos are not conducive to successful creative brainstorming and should be
excluded from the group.image from Atomic SpinThe following rules should be set
to deter any fear or negativity that can squash creativity so that you can
encourage a safe space to open up:A diverse range of skills present in the group
works well in bringing alternative approaches, as does varying levels of
experience, age, gender and personality.Allocate enough time to warm up and to
focus. Between an hour and 90 minutes is preferable - after this the brain loses
focus and needs a break. I recommend the 'dinner party' game above or another
icebreaker to create an open state.Allow the most junior person in the room to
speak first and in turn to most senior. This removes any pressure from a junior
member who may be intimidated to follow an experienced authority.Stay focused on
the topic. It is natural in group discussion to lose focus and drift into other
subjects. The moderator must be vigilant in this area.An experienced moderator
is essential to the process and should be able to direct and manage the group
without obstructing and keep the group on track and focused and ensure everyone
follows the rules (such as not being negative or overbearing). The moderator
will take notes (on a white board) and assist as an objective opinion to draw
connections between ideas.Above all else no judging, criticism or rejection of
any idea anything is valid and can be considered."Creativity is the process of
having original ideas that have value. Sir Ken Robinson5: Change your thinking,
change your lifeIf your natural disposition is not creative a creative thinker
you can become more creative through repeated action, discipline and learning
new ways to think. Repetition and discipline The more the brain processes a
routine or skill, such as a new language or driving a car, the deeper the
synapses physically carve a channel in the brain. Which explains to some degree
why when we first learn a skill we have to concentrate intensely; it takes a
great deal of energy, but through applied discipline it eventually becomes
almost automatic and we dont appear to think about what we are doing, the
subconscious takes over. Ten ideas listsOne of my favorite exercises to train
your brain and develop your idea muscle is to generate lists of ideas everyday.
I have to credit James Altucher and I recommend his article on how to become an
idea machine here:The concept is simple but challenging: think of ten new ideas.
These can be for anything such as ten new business ideas, ten new ways to obtain
quality earned links, ten new ways to improve conversion on a page or ten new
ways to save energy, ten new ways to make a better cup of coffee or ten new ways
to travel to work. For example:Ten new ways to travel to work for free:WalkPush
bikeRunRoller bladesHitchhikeHorseSkate board tied to a car (do I need to
explain why this is a bad idea?)Get a job next to a canal and kayak to workMove
to the Caribbean, live in a beach hut and swim to workMove to the top of a hill
and go kart - makes the home journey a challenge (next list?)The purpose is not
to create ideas you will act on or even sensible, rational or reasonable ideas.
This is gym training for the mind only so don't get precious with your lists.
Your first few lists may appear deceptively easy but as you begin to run out of
obvious ideas you have to work hard just to think of list ideas and ten new
ideas for my ten new ideas list is going to make your brain work for it. Don't
make the mistake of underrating this exercise; everything improves and becomes
easier with practice and repetition.6: Garbage in: Garbage outMy advice above
all else is to read as widely as possible as I believe this feeds a creative
mind more than any other activity. Just as athletes can only achieve their
personal best if they eat a highly optimized diet, creatives need quality brain
food and mental stimulation on a regular basis to operate at their creative
best. You get out what you put in.This article is an extract from 'What is
Creativity?' a 76 page free ebook which offers an introduction to creativity
with actionable tips to improve your thinking skills. The second part of the
book is dedicated to thought leaders interviews who were posed the question:
"what does creativity meant to you?". Contributors include: Rand Fishkin, Bas
Van Den Beld, Paddy Moogan, Neil Patel, Dave Trott, Lee Odden and Chris Brogan.
You can download a free copy at creativity101 here... Sign up for The Moz Top
10, a semimonthly mailer updating you on the top ten hottest pieces of SEO news,
tips, and rad links uncovered by the Moz team. Think of it as your exclusive
digest of stuff you don't have time to hunt down but want to read!
You may view the latest post at
http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/seomoz/~3/eY_bZd-x1XU/how-to-be-more-creative-in-your-online-campaigns
You received this e-mail because you asked to be notified when new updates are
posted.
Best regards,
Build Backlinks Online
peter.clarke@designed-for-success.com
Online Campaigns'
Posted by ShellShockThis post was originally in YouMoz, and was promoted to the
main blog because it provides great value and interest to our community. The
author's views are entirely his or her own and may not reflect the views of Moz,
Inc.The SEO landscape has changed so much in the last few years in the wake of
the Penguin and Panda apocalypse that the discipline is now considered in the
broader terms of online marketing or digital marketing. The one element that is
common is the requirement for new skills such as PR, classic marketing and most
importantly: creativity. Agencies and freelance individuals who can't adapt,
evolve and embrace the new mode of thinking/operating are vulnerable with
nowhere to hide behind mediocre work and outdated tactics.Be more creative, is a
phrase often used within business and marketing with little consideration given
to its meaning. But, what does it mean to be creative? There is much confusion
about what creativity is and a general misconception of mistaking style for
creativity. Most designers are stylists: they make things look good. Creativity
is about concepts, ideas and innovation. In art school, I was always taught that
being able to justify the concept was the most important element of creativity.
You had to argue your reason for why the design piece was a solution to the
problem. I can still recall how nervous I used to get before a group critique
session (the phrase blood bath comes to mind) even though it was over 20 years
ago. It's not about how good it looks - it's how well it answers the
questions.Creativity is a skill we can all access. Everyone has the capacity to
generate ideas. Admittedly, some people are more inclined towards creative
thinking, just as some are able to figure large maths calculations in their head
or swim like Michael Phelps. But anyone can increase his or her level of
creativity by learning the skills of thinking and exercising their idea muscle.I
recently published a free ebook called 'What is Creativity?' and the following
are six ideas extracted and expanded from the book to increase your creative
thinking and improve your online campaigns:Creativity is not a talent, it's a
way of operating. John CleeseLearning to switch into open modeEx Monty Python,
John Cleese understands and defines the creative process as learning to switch
between two states or modes: open and closed. When we are under pressure and
stress to deliver, such as in our everyday working lives, we are in closed mode.
When we are relaxed, detached from problems and playful, we are in the open
mode. Open can be considered playful (lateral thinking) and closed logical
(vertical thinking). Just as we need both lateral thinking and vertical
thinking, we need open and closed states to solve a problem: the open state
allows us to develop creative ideas and then the closed state to plan and
implement the idea. These are similarly aligned to vertical and lateral thinking
processes.1: How to achieve an Open stateSchedule time to avoid being distracted
and remove the pressure to instantly generate ideas; your brain needs time to
open up. The optimum amount of time is 90 minutes, it takes a minimum of 60
minutes for the brain to focus on a task and after 90 minutes will be prone to
distraction and need a break. Place of work is essential for creatives to get
into state - most writers and artists will follow a routine and often have
isolated spaces such as garden offices to minimize distraction. Some artists
need to be surrounded by ephemera such as the collection of memorabilia that
Paul Smith surrounds himself with for inspiration. Others, like Maya Angelou,
prefer minimalism and, like myself, need an uncluttered desk and space for an
uncluttered mind to be able to think.Agatha Christie preferred to work in a
large Victorian bath whilst eating apples. Benjamin Franklin would work naked
for an hour every morning. Maya Angelou preferred the isolation of a hotel room
and requested everything removed from the walls; she would bring her own sherry
and ashtray. The eccentric poet Dame Edith Sitwell would lie down in a coffin
finding inspiration in the claustrophobic and restrictive space.You don't need
to go to the extremes of a coffin but find a space which is conducive to
relaxation and without distraction, anywhere that removes you from association
with work or pressure (preferably not home). Try a coffee shop (JK Rowling
famously wrote Harry Potter in her local coffee shop), the library, a hotel or
even a camper van (Breaking Bad style). Removing yourself from the usual place
of work will remove yourself from distraction, help the brain to break pattern
which in turn will switch into a more receptive state for ideas. To access open
mode if you are in a group:The open state thrives in humor and play so try the
dinner party technique: create the dream dinner party guest list, such as
Einstein, Da Vinci, Churchill, Kennedy or even fictional characters such as Don
Corleone, Jack Sparrow and Luke Skywalker. Each person should take a persona and
become their character - they must answer questions and think like they would
imagine that character to think. The perfect warm up exercise; it is huge fun,
encourages humor, it breaks awkwardness and forces the brain to break pattern
from your normal style of thinking. Keep this game going for a minimum of 20
minutes before your brainstorm.To access open mode if you are alone:Research has
shown a correlation between increased dopamine and creativity. Dopamine is a
pleasure chemical which the brain releases to signal success but this chemical
is not as straight forward and predictable as a reliable tool. The increase of
endorphins will elevate our mood and help us achieve our open state: physical
exercise is one of the easiest ways to access a rush of endorphins although,
spicy food, sexual activity and pain can also trigger release - so whatever gets
you going!Try a walk, swim or bike ride to stimulate feel good. You want to
ensure a careful balance of feeling exhilarated but also avoiding energy
depletion. Opt for a route that you haven't been on before to break any
automatic behavior patterns. Walking in a new part of town and observing the
unfamiliar territory or running backwards will stimulate new thought and
movement patterns thus putting you into a more creative and receptive state.
"Creativity is just connecting things. When you ask creative people how they did
something, they feel a little guilty because they didnt really do it, the just
saw something. It seemed obvious to them after a while. Steve Jobs2: Make
connections with an ideas wallThe ability to make connections and see
relationships between seemingly random elements is the secret to creativity.
Combining old elements to create something new.Idea walls solve crimesIt's no
coincidence that you see examples of ideas walls on TV dramas and movies such
as: Homelands, Sherlock Holmes, A Beautiful Mind and Three and a Half Days
Later. Detectives have long used this technique to assist solving crimes.
Placing photographs of the known or suspected perpetrators, victims, crime
scenes and evidence on a wall enables items of evidence to be repositioned and
grouped; string can link items together for visual affect. A detective can then
stand back and mentally take in a great deal of information at once. The brain
begins to process and use its natural ability to seek the connections between
the items, find the clues and answers to the case.images from Crazy WallsWhen
the BBC conducted a site redesign in 2010 they printed out the entire site and
mounted on a wall affectionately known as 'the wall of shame'. To enable them to
better visualize what they had and to unify the visual and interaction design of
the desktop and mobile sites.How to create a content strategy ideas wallTools
needed: paper, colored pens, highlighter pens, print outs of all reference
material, colored string and push-pins, post it notes, blu tack or tape, and a
large wall space, pin board or sheets of foam board.Organize your reference
material into themes or groups and pin/stick to the wall.Devise a color code
system for your different groups with the pen color you have and use the colored
pens and highlighter and mark and highlight relevant pages and sections of
information. (Homelands style, see above)For example, if you are working on
content strategy for your site group into:Influencers - list influencers who
could help to broadcast your content and sub group in different social media
channels, newsletters and authority sites (eg Guardian, Huffington Post, Fast
Company)Audit - audit current site contentIdea sources - places to mine ideas
from such as offline periodicals, online Q&A sites like Quora, social media
channels and Google trendsHost Locations - potential sites to target for
exposure, shares and links: authority hub sites, bloggers, online
magazines/publishers, email newsletters and social media sitesBy grouping
related themes we start to see patterns. If you have a piece that doesn't fit
into a group this 'outlier' could in itself give ideas.Stand back from the wall
and look for potential relationships or connections between the information.
Using push pins and colored string make a visual link between the two. (See
photos above)The key here is flexibility: move pieces of paper round, create new
string links, devise new groups - by repositioning, regrouping and relinking
this is where your ideas will start to form and generate as you begin to make
the connections.If wall space is an issue or you prefer a digital version,
Mural.ly is an online alternative to creating an ideas wall; describing itself
as "an online whiteboard designed to visually organize ideas and collaborate in
a playful way." Mural.ly allows collaboration of team members and you can drag
and drop your reference material onto the white board and reposition items and
make notes. I have only just begun to play with this tool and it has huge depth
and potential to assist in creative projects.image from Mural.lyPinterest is one
of my favourite scrapbook tools for collecting visual information as an
alternative. I use Evernote extensively for collecting information and research
material. Quora is my favourite site for finding ideas for content.4: How to
brainstorm the right way:Generating ideas for content, marketing strategies or
even creative use of data can all be more productive if tackled in a group - the
synergy from more than one person will bring fresh perspective, new ideas and
energy. But, brainstorming is such a common term that most people don't consider
how to undertake a session effectively.One of the most important elements within
team idea generation is trust and harmony. The group must be able to work well
together through respect for each others' opinions and ability and a general air
of amiability. Any disagreeable personalities, critical individuals or large
egos are not conducive to successful creative brainstorming and should be
excluded from the group.image from Atomic SpinThe following rules should be set
to deter any fear or negativity that can squash creativity so that you can
encourage a safe space to open up:A diverse range of skills present in the group
works well in bringing alternative approaches, as does varying levels of
experience, age, gender and personality.Allocate enough time to warm up and to
focus. Between an hour and 90 minutes is preferable - after this the brain loses
focus and needs a break. I recommend the 'dinner party' game above or another
icebreaker to create an open state.Allow the most junior person in the room to
speak first and in turn to most senior. This removes any pressure from a junior
member who may be intimidated to follow an experienced authority.Stay focused on
the topic. It is natural in group discussion to lose focus and drift into other
subjects. The moderator must be vigilant in this area.An experienced moderator
is essential to the process and should be able to direct and manage the group
without obstructing and keep the group on track and focused and ensure everyone
follows the rules (such as not being negative or overbearing). The moderator
will take notes (on a white board) and assist as an objective opinion to draw
connections between ideas.Above all else no judging, criticism or rejection of
any idea anything is valid and can be considered."Creativity is the process of
having original ideas that have value. Sir Ken Robinson5: Change your thinking,
change your lifeIf your natural disposition is not creative a creative thinker
you can become more creative through repeated action, discipline and learning
new ways to think. Repetition and discipline The more the brain processes a
routine or skill, such as a new language or driving a car, the deeper the
synapses physically carve a channel in the brain. Which explains to some degree
why when we first learn a skill we have to concentrate intensely; it takes a
great deal of energy, but through applied discipline it eventually becomes
almost automatic and we dont appear to think about what we are doing, the
subconscious takes over. Ten ideas listsOne of my favorite exercises to train
your brain and develop your idea muscle is to generate lists of ideas everyday.
I have to credit James Altucher and I recommend his article on how to become an
idea machine here:The concept is simple but challenging: think of ten new ideas.
These can be for anything such as ten new business ideas, ten new ways to obtain
quality earned links, ten new ways to improve conversion on a page or ten new
ways to save energy, ten new ways to make a better cup of coffee or ten new ways
to travel to work. For example:Ten new ways to travel to work for free:WalkPush
bikeRunRoller bladesHitchhikeHorseSkate board tied to a car (do I need to
explain why this is a bad idea?)Get a job next to a canal and kayak to workMove
to the Caribbean, live in a beach hut and swim to workMove to the top of a hill
and go kart - makes the home journey a challenge (next list?)The purpose is not
to create ideas you will act on or even sensible, rational or reasonable ideas.
This is gym training for the mind only so don't get precious with your lists.
Your first few lists may appear deceptively easy but as you begin to run out of
obvious ideas you have to work hard just to think of list ideas and ten new
ideas for my ten new ideas list is going to make your brain work for it. Don't
make the mistake of underrating this exercise; everything improves and becomes
easier with practice and repetition.6: Garbage in: Garbage outMy advice above
all else is to read as widely as possible as I believe this feeds a creative
mind more than any other activity. Just as athletes can only achieve their
personal best if they eat a highly optimized diet, creatives need quality brain
food and mental stimulation on a regular basis to operate at their creative
best. You get out what you put in.This article is an extract from 'What is
Creativity?' a 76 page free ebook which offers an introduction to creativity
with actionable tips to improve your thinking skills. The second part of the
book is dedicated to thought leaders interviews who were posed the question:
"what does creativity meant to you?". Contributors include: Rand Fishkin, Bas
Van Den Beld, Paddy Moogan, Neil Patel, Dave Trott, Lee Odden and Chris Brogan.
You can download a free copy at creativity101 here... Sign up for The Moz Top
10, a semimonthly mailer updating you on the top ten hottest pieces of SEO news,
tips, and rad links uncovered by the Moz team. Think of it as your exclusive
digest of stuff you don't have time to hunt down but want to read!
You may view the latest post at
http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/seomoz/~3/eY_bZd-x1XU/how-to-be-more-creative-in-your-online-campaigns
You received this e-mail because you asked to be notified when new updates are
posted.
Best regards,
Build Backlinks Online
peter.clarke@designed-for-success.com
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