60 (OR SO) DIGITAL MARKETING RESOURCES FOR YOUR TOOL KIT
Over the years I've amassed a pretty sizeable list of important works and resources developed by various authors. Many of these have to do with SEO, but there's a handful that reach out into social media, content strategy and marketing, etc. Hopefully you can find as much value in some of these pieces as I have no matter what digital marketing discipline(s) you call your own.
Bonus: I've included some works from that many of these authors have found valuable as well.
Last Updated: 1/17/2014 - Added in some good basic articles on landing page design.
SEO:
- http://moz.com/blog/how-to-rank - great introduction on how to rank from @cyrusshepard and @moz
- http://www.seoskeptic.com/key-search-marketing-takeaways-from-semtechbiz-2013/ - discussion on the future (as of summer 2013) and challenges of SEO
- http://searchnewscentral.com/20130324400/Technical/4-tools-to-review-google-algorithm-impacts.html - discussion of tools that allow you to review your site against algo updates
- http://moz.com/blog/lda-and-googles-rankings-well-correlated - introduction to LDA and ideas on how search engines work (advanced)
- http://nlp.stanford.edu/IR-book/html/htmledition/irbook.html - introduction to information retrieval
- http://moz.com/blog/100-free-seo-tools - list of inbound marketing tools that are largely if not all free
- http://www.seobythesea.com/2013/08/relationships-search-entities/ - nice stuff from @billslawski on how search engines can rank pages on top of classic signals
- http://moz.com/google-algorithm-change - The curated list of algo updates and times from moz
- http://www.seobythesea.com/2006/10/20-ways-search-engines-may-rerank-search-results/ - understand how search engines can mess with your o-so-perfect rankings with relative ease
- http://www.seobythesea.com/2007/09/20-more-ways-that-search-engines-may-rerank-search-results/ - more thoughts on why seo is a challenging and changing discipline (to put it kindly...)
- http://www.virante.org/blog/2013/06/14/relauthor-or-relpublisher-which-should-i-use/ - an introduction to rel=author and rel=publisher (UPDATE: AJ Kohn put out a new post on the topic that is worth reading - http://www.blindfiveyearold.com/authorship-is-dead-long-live-authorship )
- http://www.blindfiveyearold.com/author-rank - introduction to AuthorRank
- http://www.blindfiveyearold.com/time-to-long-click - AJ Kohn discusses the long click and how you can optimize to show conversions to Google even if you're not the last stop
- http://moz.com/blog/the-new-seo-process-quit-being-kanye - Michael King talks about a new seo process - older but a goodie
- http://justinbriggs.org/entity-search-results-the-on-going-evolution-of-search - introduction to entities and how search is evolving
- http://moz.com/blog/seo-in-the-personalization-age - post from Gianluca Fiorelli covering personalization and it's impact on search
- http://www.davidmihm.com/blog/google/local-search-ranking-factors/ - local search rankings factors (vol. 5) - this will help you get into the flow of what matters for local
- http://moz.com/blog/weighting-the-clusters-of-ranking-factors-in-google-analytics-whiteboard-friday - weighting ranking factors (september 2013 WBF) great stuff from Rand Fishkin discussing the complexity of ranking factors
- http://www.blindfiveyearold.com/build-your-authority-not-your-author-rank - more good stuff from AJ Kohn on building authority and not worrying about authorrank
- http://training.seobook.com/google-ranking-value - Aaron Wall discusses how to calculate potential value of a google ranking - old but the thinking is good
- http://searchenginewatch.com/article/2166543/How-to-Get-the-Most-Out-of-SEO-Extensions-Add-Ons - Great details on SEO extensions for browsers from Ben Goodsell
- http://searchenginewatch.com/article/2287606/Google-Webmaster-Tools-Search-Query-Data-is-Accurate-and-Valuable - exploring GWT and understanding the query data their and how to use it
- http://www.google.com/patents/US6285999 - learn about PageRank and how it functions in this patent
- http://blog.rightstartwebsites.com/2013/abcs-of-semantic-search/ - very quick introduction to semantic web - easy to read and understand
- http://www.stuntdubl.com/2013/07/16/seo-site-audit/ - nice article from Todd Malicot on performing site audits with tools, subject matter and resources
- http://searchengineland.com/google-hummingbird-172816 - SEL covers a very significant change from Google - a complete algorithmic update/change known as "Humming Bird"
- http://www.searchenginejournal.com/google-hummingbird-means-online-marketers-seo/71577/ - more info on Humming Bird update
- http://www.seobythesea.com/2013/09/google-hummingbird-patent/ - potential Humming Bird patent
- http://searchengineland.com/killer-seo-string-entity-optimization-171094 - introduction to entity optimization
- http://searchengineland.com/future-seo-understanding-entity-search-172997 - deeper info on entity optimization and semantic search
- leveraging search in a semantic world - http://searchengineland.com/leveraging-search-algorithms-in-a-semantic-search-world-166815
- http://www.seobythesea.com/2013/08/google-substitute-query-terms-co-occurrence/
- http://www.slideshare.net/RossHudgens/link-building-by-imitation - excellent ideas here on maximizing the value (for you!) based on the efforts of others
- http://moz.com/blog/top-20-local-search-ranking-factors-an-illustrated-guide - Great visual guide to local ranking factors with suggestions on tools for help
- http://www.seerinteractive.com/blog/screaming-frog-guide - excellent look into how to use screaming frog and when
- http://www.poweredbysearch.com/top-local-seo-infographics/ - great set of data around local SEO/Businesses
- http://www.boom-online.co.uk/searchlove-london-2013-round-up/#axzz2jQDETqhh - search love London 2013 - some excellent items in here and it's a great recap.
- http://moz.com/blog/determining-relevance-how-similarity-is-scored - understanding relevance and similarity scoring at Google
Local SEO
- http://moz.com/blog/top-20-local-search-ranking-factors-an-illustrated-guide - great update on top local seo ranking factors
- http://moz.com/blog/2013-local-search-ecosystems 2013 local seo eco system update from the local man himself.
Inbound Marketing - While I realize many of the tactics listed here would fit under inbound marketing, these posts specifically deal with the practice at a higher-level.
- http://moz.com/blog/competitor-research-in-an-inbound-marketing-world - some input on performing competitive research in an inbound marketing world
Social Media:
- http://www.toprankblog.com/2013/07/social-media-strategy-start/ - Great piece of developing a social media strategy
- http://moz.com/blog/meta-data-templates-123
Analytics:
- http://www.kaushik.net/avinash/multi-channel-attribution-modeling-good-bad-ugly-models/ - learn from the master how to THINK not just DO with analytics and specifically attribution modeling here
- https://support.google.com/analytics/answer/2790010?hl=en - an introduction to Google's next level of analytics
- https://support.google.com/analytics/answer/1308626?hl=en - introduction to analyzing SEO efforts in GA
- https://support.google.com/analytics/answer/1191204?hl=en&ref_topic=1191164 - learn how to proper analyze channel contribution in GA
- https://developers.google.com/analytics/devguides/collection/gajs/gaTrackingSocial - tracking social sharing in GA
- http://www.slideshare.net/mobile/dohertyjf/building-your-marketing-funnel-dfwsem - nice post from John Doherty on building a marketing funnel
- http://moz.com/blog/building-your-marketing-funnel-with-google-analytics - more on building a marketing funnel in GA
- http://www.lunametrics.com/blog/2012/11/13/track-form-abandonment-google-analytics/ - tracking form abandonment
- https://support.google.com/analytics/answer/1034324 - Utilizing regular expressions
- http://aladata.co.uk/segment-google-analytics-data-age-gender/ - Instructions on how to build gender and age segements in GA
- https://developers.google.com/analytics/devguides/collection/gajs/gaTrackingSocial - tracking social interactions with GA
Mobile Marketing:
- http://www.smartinsights.com/mobile-marketing/mobile-marketing-analytics/mobile-marketing-statistics/ - Data points on mobile usage to help inform your thinking
- https://support.google.com/analytics/answer/2731565?topic=2524483&ctx=topic - Understanding how clicks are actually calculated in GA
- http://searchengineland.com/the-definitive-guide-to-mobile-technical-seo-166066 - Definitive guide to technical mobile SEO
- http://www.google.com/think/research-studies/creating-moments-that-matter.html - Movile search moments and data from Google
Market Research:
- http://www.geekwire.com/2011/marketing-research-tactics-grow-startup/ - introduction to market research tactics
- http://www.stuffedweb.com/3-great-tools-to-monitor-your-brand-mentions/ - monitor your brand mentions
- http://news.cnet.com/8301-17939_109-10272370-2.html - great sites for searching Twitter
- http://www.web-strategist.com/blog/2008/04/25/companies-that-track-discussions-in-forums-and-communities/ - discussion tracking in forums and communities (tools)
- http://www.register.com/learningcenter/marketing/8-easy-ways-to-track-your-online-reputation/ - tips for tracking your online reputation
- http://blogs.hbr.org/2013/06/a-new-framework-for-customer-s/ - A framework for customer segmentation beyond the standard
- http://www.adaptivepath.com/ideas/the-anatomy-of-an-experience-map/ - experience mapping
- http://marketingbeforefunding.com/2013/02/26/complete-guide-to-creating-a-customer-persona-for-your-startup/ - Persona development
Tools/Tips on Tools:
- http://seogadget.com/scraping-schema/ - advanced scraper walk through that allows pulling of competitive schema markup
Content Marketing:
- http://www.kaushik.net/avinash/see-think-do-content-marketing-measurement-business-framework/ - excellent content strategy and marketing breakdown matching this marketing methodology to business
- http://alistapart.com/article/pricing-strategy-for-creatives - learn about pricing creative strategies
- http://www.slideshare.net/Altimeter/the-converged-media-imperative - covering paid owned and earned media
- http://moz.com/blog/how-to-build-and-operate-a-content-marketing-machine - one of my favorite posts on setting up for content marketing and matching content to personas
- http://marketingland.com/your-necessary-three-pronged-approach-to-content-promotion-55504 - A nice written introduction to paid, owned, and earned media concepts
- http://www.curata.com/blog/content-marketing-tools-ultimate-list/ - large list of content marketing tools divided into different situational needs
- http://www.slideshare.net/melissarach/content-cash-the-value-of-content-capetown-edition - estimating content marketing value
- http://moz.com/blog/measuring-and-increasing-the-roi-of-your-content-resources - more on evaluating ROI for content
- http://www.slideshare.net/contentstrategyworkshops/audit-workshop-distro - content audit and strategy presentation
- http://www.slideshare.net/ShawnPrenzlow/shawn-prenzlow-strategists-toolbox-lava-con-2013 - tools for the content strategist
- http://www.jonathoncolman.org/2013/02/04/content-strategy-resources/ - killer list of content strategy resources from Jonathon Colman of Facebook.
PR
- http://moz.com/blog/92-ways-to-get-and-maximize-press-coverage - Fantastic list of tips for getting press coverage
Email Marketing
- http://www.simplybusiness.co.uk/microsites/email-marketing-guide/ - Great visual guide to building an email marketing system (specifically targeted at SMB's)
Internal Organizational Structuring
- http://lms.ctl.cyut.edu.tw/sysdata/user/79/9722616/blog/doc/7b2108c94528ce0a/attach/98738.pdf - Silo busting
Paid Advertising
- http://moz.com/ugc/a-comprehensive-guide-to-facebook-ads-a-30-minute-crash-course-in-facebook-advertising-17132 - Great introduction to the different types of Facebook ads
- http://searchengineland.com/are-you-undervaluing-adwords-call-tracking-to-the-rescue-173033 - understanding call tracking in Paid campaigns on Google
- Landing Page Design