25 Marketing Resources that Drive Inbound Traffic from Around the Web

Originally published on Up City on March 20, 2015 By Adam Polaszewski.

Search Optimization
Are you prepared for the algorithm changes aiming to take place on April 21st? Not to worry, as even some of the best SEO companies can quit yet pass the Google mobile-friendly requirements. However, don’t use this as an excuse to take it easy. Agencies all over (like us) are hard at work, making sure we rework our site for improved optimization. Diptimayee Mohanty lists the companies that aren’t quite making the mobile cut as of now.
As we all know, organic search is a tremendous channel for traffic. Each year, more and more visitors are flocking to search engines, looking for the services and content they really want. If you’re smart, you’ll take advantage of this ever-growing surge in search engine activity. Herndon Hasty gives us a brief overview of the benefits of search in 2015.
If you’ve been thinking about becoming an SEO, certain things are required. One, you must understand SEO. Two, you have to be able to communicate to your customers in a clear language what SEO means and what it can do for them. You also want to be constantly learning about the landscape and testing for yourself. Giuseppe Pastore collects the wisdom of SEOs to tell you what it takes to become a search expert!
Google is certainly a reliable search engine. However, that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t expect it to have a few bugs here or there. In this example, Bill Sebald talks about his case of index bloat, how it keeps your site data from indexing correctly, and how he remedies the situation in this awesome post.
Social Optimization
Having been in the online industry for years, there are plenty of things we see working well with social media marketing and a lot more things that don’t. For one, forget about likes and followers (there are plenty of those you can buy to assuage your ego). Next, use more images. The digital world is becoming increasingly more visual, so it helps to stand out any way you can. Zoe Summers has the rest of the list of things she would change about social media marketing.
To get noticed on Twitter, stay focused on what has worked and what always will work in regards to social media and content. Share quality content. Network with some of the best authorities and brands in your industry. Samuel Edwards shows us more tactics to boost your awareness on Twitter.
Claire Grayston gives travel agents a proper guide to making the most of social media marketing. Well worth the read!
Don’t break the nine rules of social media etiquette! Don’t assume every social network can work for you. Don’t repeat posts too often (your audience WILL get bored). Post a few times a week, but no more and no less. Zoe Summers fills us in with another stellar article.
Local Optimization
Four out of five local search users search with mobile devices. That means the services best optimized for mobile are going to crush it in the local space. To prepare, keep accruing more reviews and increasing social relevance in your best social network. Learn more from Laurence Soucy’s post.
We’re certain your local strategy could use a boost. Make sure your citations, links, and content are at their best if you want to succeed on a local level. Also, there’s really no difference between local marketing for enterprises and SMBs, except scale. Kelsey Jones has the rest of the comments from Greg Gifford regarding local SEO.
Here’s some grand insight from 10 local marketers compiled into a terrific post by Paul Chaney!
Email Marketing
To increase your email signups, discover the art of the content upgrade. Your blog is the basic first level of content access. However, what if you could put your mind to creating higher tiers of content your audience could sign up for? Jeff Bullas has the complete guide to content upgrades in this smart post.
There are a number of ways you can re-engage your audience through email. You educate them, create a deadline, or simply remind them of the value you offered that sparked their initial signup. Bidisha Gupta offers seven strategies to reach back out to your subscribers.
Drive conversions with the next generation of email applications! Ankit Prakash lists seven of such apps for you to go through and try out right here.
Content Marketing
Events can prove to be some of the best sources of insight for both yourself and your audience. There are a few types of data you want to collect for this to prove useful: paint points to build your bank of understanding, contact information for potential networking opportunities, and image and video content for later use. Peter Symonds does an excellent job in this post to help us get the most out of trade show experiences.
You are legally required to disclose sponsored content. As uptight as that sounds, all it takes is a little mention to clear things up for your readers. Trust us, they’ll be glad you shared that information with them, as opposed to taking part in some shady influencing. Kerry O’Shea Gorgone goes into more detail about the significance of content disclosure.
When it comes to managing content, Trello is an excellent tool to use. It’s easy to create lists, group projects into boards, and create a system to bookmark and research content regularly. The Uprise team goes through this process in a post.
There’s a lot you can learn from more than 10 years of content marketing. One such lessons is that people will ignore ads as if they’re nothing, but they will search high and low for good content. The more quality content you produce, the better your conversions become. Hiten Shah, the Co-Founder of Kissmetrics, gives us a wonderful overview of his past ten years and the lessons he’s learned in the space.
Mobile Optimization
Maybe you get why agencies need mobile sites, but why do small businesses? Simply put, it makes it easier to access your site. Streamlining your access makes it easier for customers (in turn, making it easier to buy from you). Gabriel Shaoolian gives us the complete story on why SMBs need mobile websites more than you might think.
Keren Lerner walks us through the difference between mobile-friendly and the two types of responsive sites for those new to mobile optimization.
Adding plugins to your blog or website can help you especially beat the odds, as well as your competition. Ataul Ghani shares five of the top mobile plugins for WordPress you should use.
Conversion Optimization
It never hurts to return to the basics of landing page creation. Remember to not ask too much of first-time visitors. Be clear and concise in your communications in order to maximize conversions. Inbound Rocket gives us a lesson in landing pages with this article.
To increase your conversion rate immediately, just follow these key simple steps. One, know your audience. Two, write for people, not search engines. And three, highlight the value of your product. Irina Weber provides much more assistance in improving conversions in the full article.
Here’s a quick intro to conversion rates and impressions with Lauren of Bannersnack.
Reputation Marketing
This A-Z guide of influencer marketing is really just a very important overview of what digital marketing in general is all about. Tamar Weinberg helps us with our reputation with influencers right here.
The list above includes some of the most interesting articles we caught in our streams this week.