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Here’s my roundup of the best search/marketing posts I found and read during August. If you’re new to this blog, this is a monthly feature that began way back in 2007. You can find earlier “Best Of”s for each month in the Link Roundups category archive. I never include my own posts in these end-of-month recaps.

Local Search

• Shagun Vatsa/Powered by Search: Canadian SEO IYP Rankings Report 2010
• Andrew Shotland/SEL: 10 Great Local Search Tools That Don’t Exist Yet
• Miriam Ellis/SEO Igloo: Are These Reviews Authentic? You Be The Judge.
• Scott Clark/buzzmaven: 15 Tips for Responding to Google Place Page Reviews

Small Business

• Andrew Shotland/Local SEO Guide: Are New SMBs Creating Facebook Pages Before Google Place Pages?

SEO

• Vanessa Fox/Nine by Blue: Bad SEO Advice

Link Building

• David Sottimano/Distilled: Free Directory Submission: What to Avoid, Tips & Tricks
• Paddy Moogan/SEOmoz: Market Research for Link Building – Who You Can Get Links From
• Garrett French/Ontolo: 44 Local Link Building Queries for Citation Prospecting and Opportunity Analysis

Blogging

• David Harry/Fire Horse Trail: Google Blog Search; under the hood
• Justin Kownacki: What I’ve Learned From Blogging Weekly Instead of Daily

Social Media

• Ann Smarty/Blueglass: How to Update Your Facebook Page: Vary, Schedule and Automate
• Amy Porterfield/Social Media Examiner: 7 Facebook Marketing Tips From World’s Top Pros
• Taylor Pratt/SEJ: Facebook Marketing: There’s More to it Than Just Your Fan Count
• Michael Vreeken/Speckyboy: 40 Highly Effective FaceBook Business Pages
• Angie Nikoleychuk/Site Reference: 885 Social Sites, SEO & Marketing: Fine Tuning Your Marketing Strategy

Analytics

• Brendan Regan/FutureNow: Analytics How-To: Segment for Sticky Content

Copywriting

• Karon Thackston/Marketing Words: 5 Common Mistakes That Will Kill Your Web Copy
• Karon Thackston/Marketing Words: The Seven-Step Process for Writing Enticing Product Descriptions

Online Marketing/General

• Brian Clark/Copyblogger: The Three Key Elements of Irresistible Email Subject Lines
• Glen Allsopp/ViperChill: Living Self-Employed Online: The Manual They Forgot to Give You
• Kim Krause-Berg/SEL: How To Rescue Poorly Converting Web Sites
• Sam Rosen/Copyblogger: 60 Ways to Increase Your Influence Online

This is a post from Matt McGee’s blog, Small Business Search Marketing.

August ’10: Best Search/Marketing Posts

Related posts:

1. August ’07: Best Search/Marketing Posts
2. August ’08: Best Search/Marketing Posts
3. August ’09: Best Search/Marketing Posts

View full post on Small Business Search Marketing

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Much has been said about IBM announcing plans to buy Unica.  We thought we’d provide a service to our readers and reduce the clutter by curating some of the most provocative analyses in a single post.  To be clear, these thought-leaders don’t necessarily see the news the same way as Eloqua does, but each makes a compelling point worthy of consideration and discussion.

We’d like to hear what expert blogs we overlooked.  What though-provoking perspectives have caught your imagination?  Lastly, note that the below list is in no particular order. 

1. Jonathan Block of SiriusDecisions

• Title: IBM to Acquire Unica
• Why read it: Jonathan simplifies, without oversimplifying, the logic behind the acquisition. 
• Conclusion: “This could be the tipping point we’ve been predicting.”
• Best line: “So will this acquisition start a domino effect? Most likely, but the row of dominoes is fairly short.”

2. Joe Stanhope of Forrester Research (with Suresh Vittal)

• Title: Suresh Vittal and Joe Stanhope Consider The News of IBM Acquiring Unica
• Why read it: Joe’s decisiveness (e.g., “Let’s make one thing clear from the outset – this acquisition is about Unica’s marketing automation and operations solutions not necessarily about the Web analytics products.”).
• Conclusion:  “The acquisition of Unica absolutely reinforces IBM’s assertion that they committing to marketing solutions and the CMO.”
• Best line:  “As with Coremetrics and many other IBM acquisitions, Unica is a small fish in a very large pond.  A $96 Billion, 400,000 employee pond.”

3. Cristene Gonzalez-Wertz of Covalent Marketing

• Title:  My take: IBM Buys Unica and What it Means
• Why read it: The perspective of a (former) IBM insider.
• Conclusion:  The acquisition could have farther-reaching implications (e.g., “What happens when sensors detect that a power grid is likely to be reaching brownout stages?  Is there a way to alert those affected via SMS, TV messaging, phone call, email?”).
• Best line:  “Connecting Unica to (iLog, Websphere Commerce, social media) is where the big money sits.”

4. David Raab of Raab Associates

• Title: IBM Buys Unica: Will Acquisitions Now Shift to B2B Marketing Automation?
• Why read it: David’s attitude.  He challenges other big thinkers (“I’m looking at you, Jonathan Block of SiriusDecisions ”) and explores fresh angles (“…this acquisition may spur Web content management vendors to accelerate their own acquisition of marketing automation capabilities”).
• Conclusion:  “(This) acquisition is basically the completion of the consolidation of (the B2C) space, not the start of consolidation among B2B marketing automation vendors.”
• Best line:  “This is wholly unsurprising: as the last and only big independent left in its space, Unica was obvious acquisition bait.”

What’s my personal favorite analysis?  Well, of course it’s Stanhope’s comment, “The multiple IBM is paying for Unica is also encouraging. Why? Follow up deals, renewed interest from mainstream media that generates broader awareness, follow up investments that spur innovation all make this acquisition good news for Unica’s competitors and the adjacent categories.”

Which thought leaders do you agree (or disagree) with most?  Do you have an analysis of your own?  Share it here.

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Here’s my roundup of the best search/marketing posts I found and read during July. If you’re new to this blog, this is a monthly feature that began way back in 2007. You can find earlier “Best Of”s for each month in the Link Roundups category archive. I never include my own posts in these end-of-month recaps.

Local Search

• Mike Blumenthal: Google Tags – Do They Help? An Anectdotal Review
• Garrett French/Ontolo: Phone Number Co-Citation Analysis for Local Link Builders
• Andrew Shotland: Dead Fingers Walking?

SEO

• Lee Odden/Online Marketing Blog: 4 Steps to Social SEO Success
• Paul Carpenter: Why SEOs are Hated
• Tony Adam: Site Speed: Reducing Page Load Times and Increasing Pages Crawled
• Wil Reynolds/Seer Interactive: The 17 commandments of setting expectations in SEO (interview)
• Christina Keffer/LunaMetrics: 5 Signs Your Web Designer Knows Nothing About SEO
• Tony Verre/Fire Horse Trail: Google vs. Bing Part II: Link Analysis
• Tom Critchlow/SEOmoz: Using Google’s Webmaster Tools Search Queries Report To Identify Low Hanging Fruit
• Peter DaVanzo/SEObook: The Inside Line On SEO

Link Building

• Nichola Stott/SEW: Are We Over-Engineering the Link Graph?
• Rae Hoffman/Outspoken Media: Link Building with the Experts – 2010 Edition

Blogging

• Stacey Harmon/Agent Applause: Forget Google – Realtor Uses Local Strategies to Win Blog Visibility
• Lisa Barone/Outspoken Media: What Do You Love About Your Favorite Bloggers?
• Chase Sagum: 7 Visual Tips for Creating a Great Blog Post
• Donna Fontenot/Famous Bloggers: 5 Steps To Impressing A Longtime Jaded Blogger With Your Comments

Social Media

• Marty Weintraub/aimClear: 7 Ways To Make More Social Media Friends Who Matter
• Tim Soulo/SEOmoz: Facebook Marketing: Ultimate Guide
• Jennifer Laycock/SEG: How to Know When Your Site Needs Social Media Before SEO

Viral Marketing

• Ken Yeung/Network Solutions: Look At Your Video Campaign. Now Look At Old Spice. Why Has The Old Spice Man Captivated Us?

Copywriting

• Miriam Ellis/SEO Igloo: Copywriting For Causes – Getting People To Care

Design & Usability

• Kristine Schachinger/SEW: Don’t Let Your Web Site Design Become a Nightmare

Online Marketing/General

• Linda Bustos/Get Elastic: 5 Reasons You Should Copy Amazon
• Linda Bustos/Get Elastic: 10 Reasons Not to Copy Amazon
• Janie Coffey/Agent Genius: Cheap & easy way to dominate your farm using video

This is a post from Matt McGee’s blog, Small Business Search Marketing.

July ‘10: Best Search/Marketing Posts

Related posts:

1. July ‘08: Best Search/Marketing Posts
2. July ‘07: Best Search/Marketing Posts
3. July ‘09: Best Search/Marketing Posts

View full post on Small Business Search Marketing

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It’s been a very good year for content marketing. In fact, visitors searching our site for the phrase “content marketing” increased by 85% in 2009 over 2008.

Social media certainly loomed larger in the past 12 months but interest in content marketing strategy accounted for the majority of the most popular posts.

Here is the Cliff’s Notes bullet point version with more detail and links to the full articles following:

• How To Create the All-Important Elevator Speech For Your Presentations and for Your Content Marketing
• 5 Reasons an eBook Should be a Core Component of Your Content Marketing Strategy
• 5 Twitter Tips to Strengthen Your Content Marketing Strategy
• Want to Attract and Retain Great Customers? Become Their Online Content Concierge!
• Six Steps to a Successful Small Business Content Marketing Strategy
• 6 Reasons Why Your Blog Is Your Most Important Social Media Tool
• Why Being Visual Can Bring Beautiful Business Results
• 6 Reasons to Embrace Social Media Today
• Top 10 Lessons Small Businesses Can Takeaway from Smart Content Marketers
• 6 Secrets to Making Online Video Work for Small Business

A more detailed look at the top 10 with links to each complete article is just below.  Kick back and enjoy.

1. How To Create the All-Important Elevator Speech For Your Presentations and for Your Content Marketing
   It is so hard, but so important to explain what it is that you do and how it will benefit the person to whom you are communicating. Not at length.  But so concisely that it can be communicated in less time than it takes an elevator to go up a few floors. And, so compellingly that your listener will remember and repeat it to others. Click to read more.
2. 5 Reasons an eBook Should be a Core Component of Your Content Marketing Strategy
   Of course, I’m assuming that you already have a website and are probably doing some business blogging.  You may also do a regular eNewsletter to inform your customers and prospects about the great content you have created recently online.  Your next step is to create an e-book that targets your ideal customers. Click here to read more.
3. 5 Twitter Tips to Strengthen Your Content Marketing Strategy
   You may be wondering why something as seemingly simple as Twitter causes so much confusion and consternation among business people.
   Perhaps, it best likened to a tool like a hammer which is simultaneously simple and powerful.  After all, a hammer can be used to put up a basic bookshelf or to build an entire home that will house a family for a lifetime. Click here to read more.
4. Want to Attract and Retain Great Customers? Become Their Online Content Concierge!
   Think of yourself as the ultimate knowledge resource like those concierges serving fine hotels such as the Ritz-Carlton or the Four Seasons—But Available 24/7. Click here to read more.
   
5. Six Steps to a Successful Small Business Content Marketing Strategy
   How to go from clueless to compelling to transform prospects into buyers
   In 2007, the mention of content marketing brought as many blank stares from small business owners as the mention of a website did 10 years before. In fact, in 1997 when we started our small business magazine in Southwest Florida, few owners had websites, let alone an online marketing strategy.
   In 2009, most small businesses do have websites and the term, ‘content marketing,’ has gone from obscure to fashionable. When I say fashionable, I mean that the usage of the phrase has skyrocketed in the past two years. For example, the number of visitors to our website who arrived because they had done a search for ‘content marketing,’ has increased by a factor of 10. Click here to read more.
   
6. 6 Reasons Why Your Blog Is Your Most Important Social Media Tool
   It’s much more powerful than those young whippersnappers–Twitter and Facebook
   Thanks to free or inexpensive blogging tools, any individual can be on the same technological footing as the New York Times or Business Week.  That may seem relatively obvious to many of you.  What I think is less obvious is that your blog is every bit as much a social media tool as Twitter, Facebook or MySpace.  In fact, I believe that a blog is the most important social media weapon in your arsenal. Click here to read more.
7. Why Being Visual Can Bring Beautiful Business Results
   Inspiration from ‘Visual Blogger’ Mark Smiciklas of Intersection Marketing
   It’s hard to make things easy. And, it’s even harder to be amusing at the same time.
   But the very best visuals take a complex idea or series of connected ideas and make them instantly understandable. Just the right visuals make those ideas even more memorable when they are funny as well. In the case of the Intersection Marketing blog from Mark Smiciklas, he manages to do both consistently. Click here to read more.
   
8. 6 Reasons to Embrace Social Media Today
   Social media marketing is a trend, not a fad. But,  most small to medium-sized businesses have yet to participate fully and enthusiastically.
   We have just written about a powerful new research study that paints a picture of how thousands of smart companies are already benefiting from the inclusion of social media.  What’s clear from that research is that when we evaluate social media, we are not talking about the marketing longevity equivalent of the hula hoop or the Lambada.
   Social media marketing is here to stay.  Because you want your organization to be here for the long haul as well, you need to move now.  Not next week. Not next month. But now. Click here to read more.
   
9. Top 10 Lessons Small Businesses Can Takeaway from Smart Content Marketers
   This week, several client meetings reinforced a vital truth:  Content marketing isn’t an arcane theory taught in expensive graduate schools that only billion dollar companies can use. In fact, great  content marketing is much more about brains than big bucks.
   Those client conversations took me back to lessons learned from more than a dozen case studies we featured in Get Content Get Customers. What came through loud and clear was that content marketing requires discipline, patience, and persistence, but it doesn’t require an enormous budget.  Click here to read more.
   
10. 6 Secrets to Making Online Video Work for Small Business
    Kathy Saenz of Neighborhood America Shares What It Takes to Make Video an Effective Content Marketing Tool
    Even a micro business can use video effectively to communicate with its customers online.
    But, as we amateur carpenters know, you can wind up with a mess instead of a masterpiece unless you understand how to use a potentially powerful tool well.   In that spirit we’re happy to can share with you six terrific tips for using video successfully from talented Southwest Florida professional, Kathy Saenz. Click here to read more.

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