SEO 

15 checks you should make when choosing a link partner

When inbound links occur naturally, you don’t look to see if the site linking to you is a good linking partner. They just link in, and eventually, you look if you need to. Most websites don’t “just” accrue links on their own if they are focused on ranking; they use some sort of link-building tactic to attract them. Link-building companies like mine offer these services and start all projects with a look and evaluation of the sites we’ll be contacting for links. Good link partners are key to a good linking…

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Latest News 

Google Releases ‘No-Nonsense Guide to In-App Ads’

Google announced the release of a new ebook called The No-nonsense Guide to In-App Ads, which is designed to give you a comprehensive overview of in-app advertising. It covers eCPM, Fill Rate, Demand, Inventory, how businesses make money from advertising, how PPC works, a basic explanation of ad networks and how they can help you monetize your app, and how to choose the right ad network. This is the latest in Google’s “No-nonsense” series, which also includes ebooks on growing your app and app monetization. This one is obviously an…

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Marketing 

Former Facebook and Google Employees Form Coalition Against Tech Addiction

If there’s one group of people who best know the negative effects of tech addiction, it would be the Silicon Valley technologists who helped companies like Facebook and Google implement methods to steer the public’s attention. Now, former employees of these tech companies have banded together to speak against the addiction they had a hand in creating. “We were on the inside, we know what the companies measure,” former Google in-house ethicist Tristan Harris explained. “We know how they talk, and we know how the engineering works.” Harris is the co-founder…

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Bing 

SMX Advanced Recap: Bing’s Fabrice Canel keynote

For the opening session of SMX Advanced, we were treated to a keynote by Bing’s Fabrice Canel. Here are my notes from that session. Fabrice started by pointing out that search is becoming more intelligent. For example, search engines are getting better at sentiment analysis. If you search on whether video games are good for you, you’ll get one set of results, and if you search on whether they are bad for you, you’ll get a different set of results. You can also get multiperspective answers offering different opinions. Bing…

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google 

Google Posts adds ‘call now’ button

Google My Business has added the ability for businesses to add a “call now” button to their Google Posts. Before, the call-to-action options on the Google Posts for the “What’s New” box included “book,” “order online,” “buy,” “learn more,” “sign up” and “get offer.” Now Google has a new option that lists the business’s phone number. Here is a screen shot: When I tested the “call now” button, it put in my business’s toll-free 800 phone number. I did not have the ability to change it to a different number.…

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Social 

Can’t Tell if Your Social Media Campaign is Really Working? Here’s What You Need to Know

The number of companies integrating social media into their marketing campaigns has been growing steadily over the past decade. Some businesses even rely solely on platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter to promote their goods and services. However, measuring the impact these campaigns have on their business remains a challenge. A 2015 CMO survey underlined this difficulty, with only 15 percent of participating marketers being able to quantitatively measure the effectiveness of their social media marketing plans. Meanwhile, a recent MDG Advertising infographic shows that not much has changed with…

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SEM 

PPC’s #fakenews: 9 ways bad numbers might look good

Today’s news landscape makes it tough to separate truth from fiction. Between news hackers and special-interest propaganda, it’s harder than ever to find a source of information you can trust. Search marketing should be immune to it all. After all, we’re a metrics-first business. We count clicks, we tally conversions and we do difficult math to calculate return on investment (ROI). But did you know it’s super-easy to fake your way to seemingly good performance, due to rookie errors, bad habits or dirty tricks? Here’s how to arm yourself against…

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SEO 

How to be proactive and prevent a negative SEO campaign — Part 3

In previous articles, we discussed what is and isn’t negative SEO and how to determine if you’ve actually been hit by negative SEO. With the basics out of the way, it’s now time to look at how you can keep your website safe from negative SEO (search engine optimization) campaigns. To start, I have some bad news: There is no such thing as being hackproof. And there is no such thing as being negative SEO-proof! All you can reasonably do is take action to lessen the probability of becoming a victim…

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Latest News 

4 Accounting Software to Consider Using for Your Small Business in 2018

Small business owners understand how crucial it is to have a handle on their finances. Unfortunately, most small businesses can’t afford to hire a full-time accountant. However, a good accounting software makes it easier to monitor business accounts. It can also track expenses and bills, creates invoices, manages inventory and generates reports that help evaluate how a business is doing. There are several factors that one should consider when choosing accounting software. An interface that’s easy to navigate and understand is one such factor. Small business owners should also consider…

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Marketing 

5 Ways to Establish Core Brand Values

Your brand is more than just your company or product name. It’s one of the best ways of setting yourself apart from your competitors. Unfortunately, many business owners are confused as to what “branding” really means and how it affects their company. In a nutshell, your brand value reflects the values your company holds. It embodies your company’s history, vision, and mission. It also stands as your promise to your client with regards to what they can expect from the products and services you offer. Consider brands like Nike and…

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