SEO Campaigns for Halloween, Mobile Marketing Trends, Search Alliance Update

Posted by Optify Team on October 25th, 2011

Brafton's Infographic: Why Content for SEO?
This week on the blogosphere review we look at four posts on the latest trends in online marketing.  Check out the following recaps:

Online Halloween Spending Can Drive SEO Campaigns

Brafton News | Staff | 10-17-11

Halloween spending in the United States totals more than $70 per adult in the United States, as people stock up on costumes, candy and other supplies, according to the National Retail Foundation. For web marketers, developing a keyword strategy that integrates the popularity of Halloween and other seasonal holidays into content can help boost SEO campaigns.

Key Takeaways:

  • Consumers are spending more money online for party suppliers than ever before.
  • As searches for terms pick up at certain points of the year, businesses using content marketing campaigns to drive traffic can take advantage of these trends if they find the right angle to make the topics relevant to their target audiences.
  • Even before October 1st, Halloween became a trending topic, according to Google Trends.


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SMBs Put Mobile Marketing on the Front Burner

Business Insider | Greg Sterling | 10-18-11
Just nine months ago, the overwhelming majority of small business (SMB) owners didn’t consider mobile an important marketing channel. Most surveys showed limited interest and widespread neglect of mobile. It was a very low marketing priority. But as SMBs and their customers have adopted smartphones in increasing numbers, merchant interest in mobile marketing has grown — very rapidly. In February 2011, an online survey of more than 7,000 SMBs by Opus Research showed limited understanding and usage of mobile.

Key Takeaways:

  • Roughly 83% of respondents said they were not doing any form of mobile marketing, while the small remainder who answered in the affirmative reported a variety of promotional efforts including mobile websites, coupons, search and apps.
  • The largest group of those who said they were doing some form of mobile marketing (5.8%) claimed to have a mobile website, while just over 2% said they had a mobile app. The next largest group (4.5%) said they were involved in mobile paid-search advertising. Very small numbers of SMBs said they were using SMS-based marketing or mobile coupons (2% or less).
  • However, a  June 2011 survey by SMB portal Manta, of 1,000 US small business owners, found increasing awareness of the importance of mobile. In addition, two recent SMB surveys by Borrell Associates showed more concrete interest in mobile and even a willingness to specify budget commitments.

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Infographic: Why Content is King for SEO

ReadWriteWeb | Joe Brockmeier | 10-19-11

The three most important things for SEO are content, content, and content. To drive that point home, Brafton has put together an infographic that should be hanging on the wall of every marketing department. The “Why Content for SEO?” infographic looks at the effect of Google Panda and how content is converting searches to sales. According to Google Fellow Amit Singhal, the four keys to good content are:

  • Provide original content or information, original reporting, research or analysis.
  • Content needs quality control.
  • Content should provide complete and comprehensive coverage of the topic.
  • The content should be something you’d want to share, recommend or bookmark.

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Yahoo-Bing Integration Complete Everywhere but Korea

Search Engine Watch | Rob D. Young | 10-20-11

Yahoo has finished transitioning to a Bing back-end in every country except Korea. The near completion of the global transition should signal improved profitability for both Bing and Yahoo. When it comes to search, Bing and Yahoo are essentially the same entity in most countries. That’s thanks to a 2009 partnership and the gradual integration of Bing’s back-end functionality (algorithms, ads, etc.) with Yahoo’s established front-end. As of the most recent Yahoo update, Bing runs Yahoo in every country but Korea (where Bing will take over by the end of the year) and Japan (where the independently run Yahoo Japan chose a Google partnership).

Key Takeaways:

  • When Yahoo and Bing joined forces in July of 2009, both knew that it would be costly, which is why the companies were to split the costs of the global transition.
  • As far as long term returns, Bing would be able to pick up 25 percent of the profit from all Yahoo searches and would gain significant appeal to search optimizers and marketers. Meanwhile, Yahoo would be able to focus on its profitable elements while cutting costs and keeping 75 percent of their profits from search.
  • Now, the benefits for both companies continue, but the cost of operations will subside. Yahoo will be able to safely let go or reassign those working on the transition and the support of current services, while Bing can stop paying for transition costs while gaining access to a greater share of the global market.

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