This content has been moved to Marketing Automation: Like Bringing a Gun to a Knife Fight on the Webbiquity blog. ***** technorati tags: b2b marketing lead nurturing marketing-automation software demand-generation software Steve Woods Eloqua hosted-email-services email-service-providers ESP Constant Contact VerticalResponse ExactTarget shorten sales cycles del.icio.us tags: b2b marketing lead nurturing marketing-automation software demand-generation software Steve Woods Eloqua hosted-email-services email-service-providers ESP Constant Contact VerticalResponse ExactTarget shorten sales cycles icerocket tags: b2b marketing lead nurturing marketing-automation software demand-generation software Steve Woods Eloqua hosted-email-services email-service-providers ESP Constant Contact VerticalResponse ExactTarget shorten sales cycles Contact Tom Pick: tomATwebmarketcentralDOTcom

Every company wants their website to show up well in search engines, and their marketing teams understand the importance of search engine optimization. And after the thousands of articles and blog posts written about search engine optimization , SEO is no longer the black art it once was. It's still a blend of art and science, but the basics should be well understood at this point by web marketers and designers. To their credit, many have integrated this basic knowledge. Yet there are still a surprising number of sites that violate some of the most basic principles of SEO, and pay a penalty in poor search position. Here are a few still-common mistakes that are easy to avoid. Header Tag Abuse: Although header tags have declined somewhat in SEO importance , they still have somewhat of an impact on rankings—and they are an easy thing to get right. Sites that use words and phrases like "Overview," "About Us" and "Our Services" in their h1, h2 and h3 h...

As I recently passed 400 posts on this blog, here is a look back at the 10 most popular items here of all time. The list has changed considerably since the last look back after 300 posts . #10: Best of 2007: Website Design , February 4, 2008 Reviews of articles and tools on website design, including a couple of pieces from the brilliant and frequently cited Stoney deGeyter . Not sure exactly why this one remain so popular, but here it is at #10. #9: How to Create a Social Media Marketing Strategy , March 4, 2009 A summary of research from MarketingSherpa , Eloqua's Steve Woods , and green marketer Lorna Li on how marketers should approach social media strategically. As the old saying from the financial world goes, no one plans to fail—but many people fail to plan. #8: Web 2.0 Social Tagging Sites, Part 4: B2B Traffic Building , May 15, 2007 Original research on the quantitative impact of social bookmarking on b2b site traffic. Much has changed since then, and social media is now a...

This content has been moved to A Better Method for New Product Launches – Rolling Thunder on the Webbiquity blog. ***** technorati tags: Schneider Associates b2b product launches Rolling-Thunder social media advertising public relations Rebel Brown del.icio.us tags: Schneider Associates b2b product launches Rolling-Thunder social media advertising public relations Rebel Brown icerocket tags: Schneider Associates b2b product launches Rolling-Thunder social media advertising public relations Rebel Brown Contact Tom Pick: tomATwebmarketcentralDOTcom

This content has been moved to Best of 2008: Social Media Marketing on the Webbiquity blog. ***** technorati tags: online video SEO reputation management social bookmarking social media marketing SEO and reputation management Search Engine Journal Loren Baker Google Video ClipShare PHPmotion 30 largest social bookmarking sites Anything Goes Blog Stuntdubl social media can increase revenue Social Media Today Jacob Morgan increase blog traffic How To Make My Blog Marko Saric what not to do in social media Interactive Insights Group Robin Broitman social media gaffes Target Motrin Starbucks Whole Foods FedEx del.icio.us tags: online video SEO reputation management social bookmarking social media marketing SEO and reputation management Search Engine Journal Loren Baker Google Video ClipShare PHPmotion 30 largest social bookmarking sites Anything Goes Blog Stuntdubl social media can increase revenue Social Media Today Jacob Morgan increa...

This content has been moved to Genoo Aims to Shake Up Marketing Automation Market on the Webbiquity blog. ***** technorati tags: marketing automation software demand generation software microsites content marketing Marketo Eloqua Silverpop B2B Engage HubSpot Genoo marketing automation platform landing pages lead scoring Salesforce.com SaaS content management system CMS pricing del.icio.us tags: marketing automation software demand generation software microsites content marketing Marketo Eloqua Silverpop B2B Engage HubSpot Genoo marketing automation platform landing pages lead scoring Salesforce.com SaaS content management system CMS pricing icerocket tags: marketing automation software demand generation software microsites content marketing Marketo Eloqua Silverpop B2B Engage HubSpot Genoo marketing automation platform landing pages lead scoring Salesforce.com SaaS content management system CMS pricing Contact Tom Pick: ...

This content has been moved to Best of 2008: Amusing, Creative and Just Plain Odd on the Webbiquity blog. ***** technorati tags: Charlie Brown Ad Agency Peanuts gang Conversation Marketing Cracked.com Joe Russo SEOmoz Jane Copland Rebecca Kelley Jessie Spano client Saved by the Bell fans AdFreak zombie dads del.icio.us tags: Charlie Brown Ad Agency Peanuts gang Conversation Marketing Cracked.com Joe Russo SEOmoz Jane Copland Rebecca Kelley Jessie Spano client Saved by the Bell fans AdFreak zombie dads icerocket tags: Charlie Brown Ad Agency Peanuts gang Conversation Marketing Cracked.com Joe Russo SEOmoz Jane Copland Rebecca Kelley Jessie Spano client Saved by the Bell fans AdFreak zombie dads Contact Tom Pick: tomATwebmarketcentralDOTcom

In SEO `Best Practices' Are Bunk , Adam Audette rants about the supposed uselessness of these tactics, and by extension the concept of best practices in any realm. Audette writes that "`Best practice' is a stale buzzphrase that offers zero competitive advantage...best practice in the enterprise? To me, that is nothing but useless marketing-speak. It doesn’t say anything about creating a competitive advantage." The larger point of this article is spot on, namely that adherence to any set of static practices will, over time, erode the competitiveness of any enterprise. But, with no disrespect to Mr. Audette, who is a very smart guy, he sets up somewhat of a strawman definition of best practices when he writes: By definition, a best practice: is a static ruleset is a standard to be followed has worked in the past (read: is old) has been popularized (read: is average) limits judgement, evaluation, and strategy (cornerstones of quality search marketing) That i...

This content has been moved to Best of 2008: Cool Web Tools on the Webbiquity blog. ***** technorati tags: cool web tools online project collaboration create animated GIFs DeskAway Basecamp Projjex Gickr Lexical Freenet OnlyWire Problogger Darren Rowse Digsby Camtasia SnagIt PeaZip Modern B2B Marketing Jon Miller Marketo Search Engine Journal Ann Smarty del.icio.us tags: cool web tools online project collaboration create animated GIFs DeskAway Basecamp Projjex Gickr Lexical Freenet OnlyWire Problogger Darren Rowse Digsby Camtasia SnagIt PeaZip Modern B2B Marketing Jon Miller Marketo Search Engine Journal Ann Smarty icerocket tags: cool web tools online project collaboration create animated GIFs DeskAway Basecamp Projjex Gickr Lexical Freenet OnlyWire Problogger Darren Rowse Digsby Camtasia SnagIt PeaZip Modern B2B Marketing Jon Miller Marketo Search Engine Journal Ann Smarty Contact Tom Pick: tomATwebmarketcentralDOTcom

For anyone doing interactive PR , PitchEngine has become a vital tool for creating, distributing and promoting social media releases. It's simple, fast, powerful and gets results. Here are three more specific reasons to love it: Features —it's all there, the ability to easily add social networking links; links to other resources such as white papers, product sheets and webinars; branding elements; keywords; images; and online video. Exposure —even for clients in very niche b2b markets (e.g. high-volume automated web publishing ), these social media releases often get 100+ views in just the first few hours. Search —based on experience, it can take weeks for Google to pick up a press release posted on a client website. PitchEngine releases are typically picked up with half an hour of posting. PitchEngine is the most no-brainer, must-have PR investment my clients make. (And no, Jason Kintzler didn't pay me to write that! But I will let him quote me.) ***** technorati tags: i...

This content has been moved to Best of 2008: Blogging for Business on the Webbiquity blog. ***** technorati tags: targeted blog traffic Rules for Business Bloggers Conversation Marketing Ian Lurie successful business blog ProBlogger Darren Rowse turn any RSS feed into an iPhone app social media Daily Blog Tips Daniel Scocco Sridhar Katakam Andrew Timberlake Mark Alves Writing On The Web Patsi Krakoff SEOptimise Glen Allsopp blog commenting del.icio.us tags: targeted blog traffic Rules for Business Bloggers Conversation Marketing Ian Lurie successful business blog ProBlogger Darren Rowse turn any RSS feed into an iPhone app social media Daily Blog Tips Daniel Scocco Sridhar Katakam Andrew Timberlake Mark Alves Writing On The Web Patsi Krakoff SEOptimise Glen Allsopp blog commenting icerocket tags: targeted blog traffic Rules for Business Bloggers Conversation Marketing Ian Lurie successful business blog ProBlogger Darren Rowse turn ...

Tony Karrer and I launched the B2B Marketing Zone (aka, The BMZ) on July 1 (see New Hub Site Focuses on B2B Marketing Intelligence ). Since that time, it's been steadily growing in traffic and subscribers. The site has also been gradually adding the very best sources of content on B2B Marketing. Here's the list of the sources that represent the Top 40+ B2B Marketing blogs: B2B Sales and Marketing Wondering Out Loud Junta 42 FYIndOut Anything Goes Marketing Beyond B2B Web Strategy Content Marketing Today B2B Marketing Zone Posts Marketing-Gimbal B2B Marketing Savvy B2B Conversations Now WebMarketCentral B2B Lead Generation Blog Modern B2B Marketing Smart Marketing B2B Lead Blog B2B Marketing Blog Smashmouth Marketing grow - Practical Marketing Solutions Buzz Marketing for Technology Measurable Marketing B2B Content Marketing Market2Lead Reputation to Revenue PR Meets Marketing Fearless Competito...

The importance of search engine optimization—helping websites stand out in an increasingly cluttered online world amid rapid growth in global search volume —combined with the fact that search is one of the few growing areas in an otherwise brutal economy has led to an influx of new providers in the space. Nothing wrong with that, competition is good! (Particularly for buyers.) The problem is that any business area or profession that experiences unusual growth (think ad-supported "free" online services in 1999, or real estate from 2002-2008) inevitably attracts, along with some very bright people committed to their new craft, a less savory crowd of opportunistic, incompetent or even unscrupulous entrants as well. Here are seven characteristics to help avoid hiring one of those types for your next SEO project. Irrelevant experience. Given the still relative newness of SEO as a profession, any SEO practitioner over the age of 30 probably did something else before SEO. Mo...

This content has been moved to Best of 2008: Social Media Marketing on the Webbiquity blog. ***** technorati tags: social media marketing Facebook fan pages SEO? Twitter HubSpot Rick Burnes Inside Facebook Justin Smith Mark Walsh Jim Connolly LEADSExplorer Pravda on Media and Technology Kfir Pravda Social Media Today Martin Edic Disqus IntenseDebate BackType del.icio.us tags: social media marketing Facebook fan pages SEO? Twitter HubSpot Rick Burnes Inside Facebook Justin Smith Mark Walsh Jim Connolly LEADSExplorer Pravda on Media and Technology Kfir Pravda Social Media Today Martin Edic Disqus IntenseDebate BackType icerocket tags: social media marketing Facebook fan pages SEO? Twitter HubSpot Rick Burnes Inside Facebook Justin Smith Mark Walsh Jim Connolly LEADSExplorer Pravda on Media and Technology Kfir Pravda Social Media Today Martin Edic Disqus IntenseDebate BackType Contact Tom Pick: tomATwebmarketcentralDOTcom

MarketingSherpa recently published this chart revealing marketers' opinions of where social media fits among what the publication calls the "elite trio" of Internet marketing: social media, search and email. While it's hard to disagree with the 97% of marketers who believe that social media will complement (not "compliment" — a rare MarketingSherpa word usage error !) email and search marketing, the position of the 49% who state that social media will never become as important as the other tactics is more questionable. The confusion stems from where social media fits in the marketing mix. Except in rare cases like Dell, which uses tools like Twitter for revenue generation, social media is primarily a PR-type activity rather than direct marketing. The three tools have much different purposes. Specifically: Social media is primarily a tool for exposure and credibility-building. Like traditional PR, it is a " top of funnel " tool. It's as ...

Google's content network can be a valuable addition to any AdWords search marketing program. It gives you the opportunity to very cost-effectively display text or graphical ads across Google's network of AdSense partner sites, many of them industry-specific online publications and blogs. These ads have both branding and direct response value. The click-through rate is typically lower (as it is for display ads in general, as prospects see your ads while reading content rather than specifically searching for your product or service), but conversion rates are generally similar. However, to avoid meaningless impressions, unproductive clicks and bogus conversions, it's critical to monitor which sites your ads are appearing on and keep the list clean. For whatever reason, Google doesn't seem to apply the same rigor to AdSense ad placements as it does to it's primary search algorithm. Case in point: among my SEM clients are two B2B software companies. Without reveali...