How Google’s Panda 4.0 May (or May Not) Affect You
We all know Google has openly said it would stop informing us about Panda updates, but the latest one is a little different. For those who aren’t tech heads, Panda updates generally happen at least once a month, but these are data refreshes. Usually, the changes that occur over refreshes are minimal and don’t affect overall rankings much, so there’s really no need for a major announcement. Panda 4.0 is different. It’s…
Google’s Getting Ready to Twitch
It’s been a crazy week for acquisitions. Last week, we were reading about Apple acquiring the headphone giant, Beats, and this week seems to be playing out with more of the same. AT&T officially announced that it’s going to buy DirecTV, and the newest on the bandwagon is Google/YouTube’s plan to buy Twitch. If you haven’t heard of Twitch, chances are you aren’t a gamer. Twitch is a social media platform for…
Taking a Bite Out of Apple’s Potential Beats Purchase
If you haven’t heard, there’s been a lot of noise surrounding Apple’s potential purchase of Beats headphones. Apple is expected to announce whether or not the purchase went through (all signs indicate that it did) in the upcoming week, and the hullaballoo around the acquisition is thick. For those unaware, Beats is the producer of Dr. Dre’s headphones, and a lot of the controversy is aimed at their target demographic. However, there…
Pizza Hut and Hulu: Creating a Couch Potato’s Dream
Pizza commercials make us all wish we could reach into the screen and pull out a yummy pizza. Hulu and Pizza Hut have now made that a reality – almost. Hulu has added in-stream purchasing to its array of fabulous offerings, and Pizza Hut is its first partner. Last year, Hulu raked in over $1 billion in advertising revenue, and a partnership with Pizza Hut is likely to keep that number strong.…
Will Your Web Design Survive the Five Second Rule?
You’ve heard of the five second rule for food. When your toast hits the ground, you’ve got five seconds to pick it up before it’s lost to whatever bacteria is coating the floor. There’s also a five second rule that good web designers use when creating effective content. The basic rundown is if you can’t grab the attention of your site’s visitors in five seconds or less, they’re probably gone for good.…
How New Balance Ran Away With the Boston Marathon
While this year’s winner of the Boston Marathon was actually American Meb Keflezighi, the first American to win the marathon in more than 30 years, some may argue that the real winner was the company New Balance. The company, a maker of athletic shoes and other athletic apparel for men, women, and children, was not the official race apparel and shoe sponsor of the marathon. That role was reserved for Adidas, with…
The Difficulties of Duplicate Content
For companies trying to get viewers to see their posts, press releases, and advertisements, there are several factors and difficulties that must be taken into consideration. One of the most prevalent is the issue of duplicate content. Duplicate content is, just as it sounds, multiple postings of identical content in different places across the web. Where this becomes a problem is when someone searches for a portion of that content. Due to…
You might not have heard about Volusion’s run in with Google Penguin 2.1, this is primarily because the mega e-commerce site has a powerful PR team and knows how to work Google search results. However, a study from Link Research Tools provides a very nuanced look into what happened to cause Volusion to essentially disappear from SERPs due to Penguin. While Volusion is a powerhouse brand that was able to bounce back,…
The Little Black Box: Amazon’s Latest Product
Amazon has released its latest innovation – a small box called the Amazon fireTV, an Internet streaming device. It allows users to access online services, such as video games and Amazon Prime subscriptions, via their televisions. Of course, music and photos are easy to access via the fireTV as well – photos and videos that have been saved to the cloud can be viewed and even used to create screensavers. The new…
Chips, Salsa, and Content Marketing
With 1500 locations and growing, Chipotle Mexican Grill is quickly becoming one of America’s favorite choices for fast, fresh, quality Mexican cuisine. It was founded on the principles of friendly customer service, fresh ingredients, transparency, and innovative marketing. The latter has particularly stood out in the past couple of years and provides an excellent case study for companies of all sizes. Content Marketing Calendars Jim Joseph of Entrepreneur.com recently posted an article…
SEO Is About Profit Maximization, Not Cost Cutting
Last week, strategist Trond Lyngb wrote about SEO’s return on investment. He made a number of great points, but none may be more important than this: “Your aim as a business owner should be profit maximization, not cost cutting at the expense of lost sales and revenue.” While this idea can be applied to any area of business, it is particularly true in the case of SEO. A business cannot possibly pursue…
Basic Internet Marketing Tips for Small Businesses
Internet marketing can be an intimidating subject for small business owners. But for those hoping to reach a bigger audience, cultivate existing customer relations, and improve the overall image of the company, it is an enormously effective method of marketing. Depending on the type of business you run, it could be the most effective method. To reap the benefits, first learn the basics of developing a solid foundation. Just Relax – The…