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SEO Search Engine Optimization

Strategy in Motion – Mobile, Video, and Feed Control

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As digital platforms evolve, strategic marketers must stay ahead of new tools, user behaviors, and platform priorities. September reveals five emerging themes that shape digital content and visibility: mobile-first indexing, expanded video capabilities, social ad access, audience feed control, and influencer marketing compliance. This convergence demands clarity of strategy, fast content adaptability, and ethical promotional structure.

Instagram Stories Ads Open to All

Instagram now allows all advertisers to access Stories Ads through Facebook Ads Manager. This move brings full targeting and analytics to one of the fastest-growing mobile formats. For brands, Stories now become an accessible space for creative, fast-moving, full-screen content—placing pressure on marketers to develop immersive, time-sensitive messaging strategies designed for vertical video.

Facebook’s ‘Snooze’ Test: User Control Rethinks Engagement

Facebook begins testing a ‘Snooze’ option that lets users temporarily mute friends, Pages, or Groups. The feature provides users with more control over their feed without unfollowing. For brands, this reinforces the importance of relevance—content must earn space, or it gets silenced. Engagement strategies must shift from frequency to value-driven interactions.

Mobile-First Indexing Begins Rolling Out

Google starts the initial phase of its mobile-first indexing shift. For websites, this means the mobile version is now the primary content source for search ranking. Businesses still relying on desktop-optimized content or slow mobile sites risk visibility losses. This change emphasizes responsive design, page speed, and mobile content strategy as non-negotiables for search success.

LinkedIn Launches Native Video Sharing

LinkedIn introduces native video uploads for all users, expanding beyond links or external embeds. This change brings business professionals into real-time, in-feed storytelling—giving thought leaders, consultants, and B2B marketers a direct way to demonstrate value. Expect short, authentic videos—from expert tips to product demos—to dominate feeds.

Influencer Marketing Faces FTC-Driven Realignment

After earlier FTC warning letters to brands and influencers about disclosure violations, September sees a shift. More businesses are revising contracts, requiring standardized disclosures, and rethinking influencer strategy. Authenticity, transparency, and long-term trust now sit at the center of effective influencer campaigns—not just follower counts.

Strategic Insight

What’s your story? A brand’s story must now reflect its adaptability to platform standards and user control.
What do you solve? You provide clear, accessible, and ethical digital content experiences that earn attention.
How do you do it? With mobile-optimized design, vertical and native video content, transparent influencer partnerships, and targeted Stories-style advertising.
Why do they care? Because audiences increasingly curate their digital world—and only brands delivering ease, value, and trust earn continued engagement.

Fictional Ideas

A nonprofit focused on nutrition education rolls out a mobile-first blog redesign in response to Google’s indexing shift. They supplement this with weekly native LinkedIn videos featuring a registered dietitian offering tips. On Instagram, they run Stories Ads showing healthy snack recipes using vertical how-to videos. Their influencers are required to disclose sponsorships with hashtags like #sponsored and link to transparent landing pages—improving both reach and trust in their message.

References

Facebook Business News. (2017). ‘Instagram Stories Ads Now Available to All Businesses’. https://www.facebook.com/business/news
TechCrunch. (2017). ‘Facebook Tests Snooze to Let You Temporarily Mute Friends, Pages, Groups’. https://techcrunch.com
Google Search Central Blog. (2017). ‘Mobile-First Indexing Rollout’. https://developers.google.com/search/blog
LinkedIn Blog. (2017). ‘Native Video Uploads Now Available to All LinkedIn Members’. https://blog.linkedin.com
Federal Trade Commission. (2017). ‘FTC Staff Reminds Influencers and Brands to Clearly Disclose Relationship’. https://www.ftc.gov

The Video, Speed, and UGC Shift in Digital Strategy

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Digital marketing is entering a sharper phase of evolution. In August 2017, we’re seeing a convergence of trends around video content, mobile ad performance, and user-generated content (UGC)—each reshaping how brands approach visibility, engagement, and trust. This month, Facebook, Google, Snapchat, and Adobe are all contributing to a larger narrative: performance and participation now sit at the center of strategy.

Facebook Watch: Episodic Content with Discovery Built In

Facebook officially launches Watch, a platform built for episodic content. More than just a video tab, Watch invites brands and creators to develop content series with built-in discovery tools. The interface encourages audience followings, comments, and reactions—positioning Facebook to rival YouTube and offer marketers a new route for long-form storytelling within an already engaged audience.

Google AdWords Adds Landing Page Speed: Performance Now Equals Experience

Google’s latest AdWords update includes landing page speed as a formal quality metric. This shift highlights how mobile usability is now a competitive differentiator—not just for SEO but also for paid performance. If your ad leads to a slow or poorly optimized mobile page, you’re paying more and converting less. Marketers are now forced to address load times as a conversion issue, not just a technical concern.

Snapchat Crowd Surf: Real-Time UGC Becomes a New Form of Storytelling

Snapchat’s Crowd Surf tool uses artificial intelligence to stitch together multiple user-submitted videos from live events, producing a single coherent multi-angle experience. This innovation takes user-generated content from raw material to editorial product. For brands hosting live experiences—concerts, launches, festivals—this opens a door to collaborative, immersive marketing that feels native to the platform.

Facebook Marketplace Ads: Contextual Commerce Arrives

Facebook expands ad placement to its Marketplace tab, which is already being used for local product discovery and second-hand selling. The move merges intent-based browsing with ad targeting. Unlike news feed ads, these placements happen when users are actively searching or browsing by category. It’s a sign that intent marketing is extending far beyond Google’s search box.

Adobe Leans Into UGC with Livefyre Integration

Adobe’s acquisition of Livefyre continues to unfold. The platform enables aggregation and moderation of user-generated content from across the social web. For businesses using Adobe Experience Manager, this means easier access to curated UGC for landing pages, product galleries, and campaigns. It’s a direct response to the rise in content authenticity demands from consumers.

Strategic Insight

What’s your story? Your content must now reflect speed, value, and involvement.
What do you solve? You help customers find what they want quickly and connect emotionally with your brand.
How do you do it? Through optimized mobile experiences, consistent episodic content, and tools that elevate audience participation—like UGC integration and multi-angle live video.
Why do they care? Because today’s audiences want content that’s not just fast or entertaining—they want content that feels like it includes them.

Fictional Ideas

A regional theater company uses Facebook Watch to stream behind-the-scenes mini-episodes of upcoming productions. Their landing pages, optimized for mobile, include embedded Crowd Surf-style fan reactions captured on Snapchat. Adobe’s Livefyre integration pulls in social posts with the hashtag #LocalStagePass, which appear in an interactive UGC gallery that helps new visitors connect with the community vibe—and ticket sales rise accordingly.

References

Facebook Newsroom. (2017). ‘Introducing Watch, a New Platform for Shows on Facebook’. https://about.fb.com
Google Ads Help. (2017). ‘About Landing Page Experience’. https://support.google.com/google-ads
TechCrunch. (2017). ‘Snapchat Crowd Surf Can Stitch Together Snaps Into One Concert Video’. https://techcrunch.com
Facebook Business. (2017). ‘Marketplace Ads Now Available to Advertisers’. https://www.facebook.com/business
Adobe Blog. (2017). ‘How Livefyre Helps Brands Connect with Consumers’. https://blog.adobe.com

Speed and Relevance: The AMP and Personalization Push in Digital Strategy

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This year continues to highlight the shift in digital marketing toward smarter, faster, and more personalized experiences. Two important developments are shaping this momentum: the growing use of Google’s AMP for Ads and the rise of content personalization tools. Both technologies reflect a commitment to reducing friction in digital engagement—whether by loading faster or speaking more directly to the user’s behavior.

Google AMP for Ads: Acceleration with Purpose

AMP, or Accelerated Mobile Pages, began as a way to load mobile web content nearly instantaneously. Now, advertisers are using AMP technology to deliver ads with the same speed and clarity. The result is fewer abandoned sessions, faster path to conversion, and better mobile experience. With mobile now dominating how people access content, speed is no longer a luxury—it’s a competitive advantage.

AMP Ads are stripped of slow-loading code and deliver a secure, consistent layout, making them ideal for publishers and advertisers targeting mobile users. Businesses benefit from higher engagement and lower bounce rates, while users enjoy cleaner and quicker experiences. Google reports that AMP Ads can load up to five times faster than standard HTML ads—an important factor when trying to reach attention-limited audiences.

Content Personalization Gains Serious Attention

Digital strategy isn’t just about putting content out—it’s about tailoring it. Tools that dynamically adjust email or on-site content based on the user’s preferences, behavior, or past interaction are now key to increasing conversion. Platforms like Adobe Target, Evergage, and Mailchimp are helping businesses personalize content blocks, CTAs, product suggestions, and even subject lines. When users feel content is made for them, they’re more likely to respond—and stay engaged.

Email marketing, landing pages, and even blog articles are now being served in real-time variations, depending on audience segments. This shift from ‘one-size-fits-all’ to ‘custom-everything’ is a sign of growing maturity in marketing automation and AI-driven content.

Strategic Insight: Optimize for Both Speed and Relevance

• What’s your story? You’re a brand that understands attention spans are shrinking, but expectations are growing.
• What do you solve? You reduce friction—making it easier for people to load, view, and connect with your message.
• How do you do it? Through AMP-powered delivery and real-time personalized messaging that adapts to the viewer.
• Why do they care? Because when content loads fast and feels relevant, people are more likely to engage, convert, and return.

Fictional Ideas

A boutique eCommerce store selling home decor uses AMP Ads to run fast-loading Instagram Story ads featuring product collections. Each click leads to an AMP-optimized landing page personalized based on prior site visits. The homepage shows color schemes the user viewed previously and recommends matching items—building on familiarity to drive sales.

References

Google AMP Project. (2017). ‘AMP for Ads.’ https://amp.dev/about/ads/
Adobe Target. (2017). ‘Personalization and Testing Platform.’ https://www.adobe.com/marketing/target.html
Evergage. (2017). ‘Real-Time Personalization Engine.’ https://www.evergage.com
Litmus. (2017). ‘Personalized Email Marketing Trends.’ https://litmus.com/blog
Think with Google. (2017). ‘Why Mobile Speed Matters.’ https://www.thinkwithgoogle.com
Mailchimp. (2017). ‘Dynamic Email Content.’ https://mailchimp.com/help/dynamic-content/
MarTech Today. (2017). ‘AMP for Ads expanding into Google’s DoubleClick.’ https://martechtoday.com
Campaign Monitor. (2017). ‘Behavioral Triggers in Email Marketing.’ https://campaignmonitor.com
eMarketer. (2017). ‘How personalization is shaping content delivery.’ https://emarketer.com
MarketingLand. (2017). ‘AMP and user experience in advertising.’ https://marketingland.com

Mobile Matters: Why Marketing Must Move With Your Audience

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Mobile isn’t the future—it’s the present. As of September 2016, the majority of online activity happens on smartphones. From Google search queries to Facebook usage, mobile is leading how and where people engage. Marketers who fail to optimize for mobile-first behavior risk falling behind—and fast.

The Shift in Behavior

Consumers now browse, search, shop, and share primarily through mobile devices. Google has confirmed that over half of its searches globally come from mobile. Social networks like Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter report that more than 80% of their traffic originates from mobile apps. This isn’t just a trend—it’s a behavioral shift that demands responsive experiences and thumb-friendly design.

Ad Strategies Evolve

Mobile ads are now more than just smaller versions of desktop banners. Platforms are offering immersive options: Facebook’s Canvas ads, Instagram Stories, and YouTube’s vertical pre-rolls are designed to integrate natively into the mobile experience. Marketers must focus on speed, clarity, and concise calls to action.

It’s not about shrinking content—it’s about restructuring it. Mobile users have limited patience, so relevance and quick value are essential.

Local & Geo-Targeted Impact

Mobile marketing also empowers real-time location-based targeting. Facebook’s expanded offline conversion tools and local awareness ads allow businesses to tie impressions to foot traffic. Search ads on Google Maps and Waze offer branded pins and call-to-action buttons that direct users from screen to storefront.

Geo-targeting is no longer just a feature—it’s a fundamental strategy for service providers, restaurants, and retailers.

Strategic Insight: Think Pocket-First, Then Platform

• What’s your story? You’re a brand built for moments—reaching people on the go, when decisions are made fast.
• What do you solve? You help busy customers get what they need without delay or friction.
• How do you do it? By using mobile-optimized landing pages, short-form content, and localized ads.
• Why do they care? Because they expect answers now—and mobile gives you the power to deliver in real time.

Fictional Ideas

A boutique clothing store wants to boost weekday foot traffic. They launch geo-targeted Facebook ads between 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. showing an exclusive lunch-hour discount. The ad includes a mobile-friendly coupon and a tap-to-call button for in-store pickup. Customers nearby see it, stop in, and the store builds a loyal lunch crowd by simply marketing when and where it matters.

References

Google Inside Search. (2016). ‘Search on the Go: Mobile Milestones.’ https://www.blog.google/products/search/
Facebook Business. (2016). ‘Measuring Offline Conversions.’ https://www.facebook.com/business/news/measuring-offline-conversions
Think with Google. (2016). ‘How People Use Their Devices.’ https://www.thinkwithgoogle.com/
Adweek. (2016). ‘Mobile Marketing Trends to Watch.’ https://www.adweek.com/
Marketing Land. (2016). ‘Location-Based Marketing Is Maturing.’ https://marketingland.com/

Owning the Map: Why Local Search Strategy Is Now Your Best Digital Investment

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The Local 3-Pack Is the New Front Page

Mobile search is reshaping how consumers find local businesses. Google’s Local 3-Pack—those top three map listings that appear when someone searches nearby—is now the prime real estate for local visibility. In early June, updates to mobile search and Maps show Google is continuing to favor map-based, location-relevant results above traditional organic listings.

For small businesses, this changes everything. If you’re not showing up in the 3-Pack, you may not be seen at all. With mobile search dominating, visibility now depends on local reviews, proximity, and how well you’ve optimized your online presence.

The Rush to Geo-Domains

This shift is creating a new digital gold rush: businesses are snapping up domain names with local modifiers—’dentistnewport.com’, ‘plumberbrooklyn.net’, and so on. The idea is simple: appear relevant to both users and algorithms by owning a domain that matches the search.

But domain names alone aren’t enough. Google uses dozens of signals to build local rankings, from the consistency of your NAP (Name, Address, Phone) to reviews and citations across local business directories.

Google Maps Is the New Homepage

A user searching for a coffee shop might never even see your website. If your Google Business profile is optimized—with good photos, updated hours, and recent reviews—you’ve already made a great first impression.

Maps is now where decisions happen. It’s where people read your reviews, call your number, or get directions. Think of your Maps profile as your homepage—and treat it with the same strategic care.

Strategic Insight: Think Local, Act Found

• What’s your story? You’re a trusted solution for your local community.
• What do you solve? You help people make fast, informed decisions in the moment they’re ready to act.
• How do you do it? By optimizing local listings, encouraging real reviews, and showing up when it counts—on mobile, on Maps, and on the move.
• Why do they care? Because when urgency meets location, convenience wins—and you want to be the business that shows up first.

Fictional Ideas

A local HVAC company realizes they’re missing out on summer calls. They invest in geo-targeted landing pages and optimize their Google Business listing. They start encouraging happy customers to leave reviews and use tools like Moz Local and BrightLocal to clean up NAP inconsistencies.

They also claim a set of geo-domains for nearby towns and forward them to service-specific landing pages. By the end of the month, they’re appearing in the top 3-Pack across five zip codes. Leads spike—not from ads, but from being present in the place customers are searching most.

References

Google. (2016, June). ‘Improving Local Search for Mobile Users.’ https://blog.google/products/maps/local-search-updates/
Search Engine Land. (2016, June 7). ‘Google’s Local 3-Pack Updates and What Businesses Should Know.’ https://searchengineland.com/googles-local-3-pack-updates-249527
Moz. (2016). ‘How to Optimize Your Google My Business Listing.’ https://moz.com/blog/optimize-google-my-business-listing
BrightLocal. (2016). ‘The Importance of NAP Consistency in Local SEO.’ https://www.brightlocal.com/learn/local-seo/nap-consistency/
Search Engine Journal. (2016, June). ‘Geo-Targeted Domain Names: Do They Still Work?’ https://www.searchenginejournal.com/geo-targeted-domains-seo/155778/

The Unspoken Shift: What Google’s February Shake-Up Tells Us About SEO

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What’s Really Going On

Earlier this year, digital marketers notice something’s off. Rankings shift. Traffic dips. Visibility dances across devices. Google offers no official update to Penguin or Panda, but the tremors are undeniable. SEOs begin calling it a ‘core update’—and that term sticks.

The truth is, this quiet shift says more than any formal announcement. It reminds us that SEO is increasingly about understanding user behavior, not just indexing pages. And it reinforces a growing truth: performance and user intent are the pillars of digital search.

The SEO We See—and the One We Don’t

Surface metrics still matter: keyword relevance, on-page markup, meta structures. But underneath, Google’s driven signals are becoming harder to track. From content depth to site architecture and mobile responsiveness, the invisible SEO wins are the ones rooted in experience and value.

Pages that are mobile-optimized, load fast, and actually deliver on the query tend to do better—whether Google tells you why or not.

Strategic Insight: Build with Intent in Mind

• What’s your story? You’re not just trying to rank—you’re trying to answer questions and be found by people who need what you know.
• What do you solve? You reduce friction in search: faster sites, clearer navigation, and honest content that matches intent.
• How do you do it? You structure your content with headings and schema, you optimize for mobile, and you ensure your value is visible without gimmicks.
• Why do they care? Because your visibility matches their need—and that kind of connection builds trust beyond a single visit.

Fictional Ideas

A local legal firm notices a drop in search visibility. They’re unsure whether it’s due to a Google core update or rising competition. Instead of chasing algorithm chatter, they lean into local search strategy.

They revamp their Google Business profile, update all directory listings with geo-tags, and publish a set of blog articles tied to nearby towns and common legal concerns. They use structured data to signal location, service area, and reviews.

Within weeks, search traffic stabilizes and begins to climb—not because they gamed the algorithm, but because they focused on being discoverable by the right audience in the right area.

References

Barry Schwartz. (2016, Feb 8). ‘Google Core Ranking Update Happening Now.’ Search Engine Roundtable. https://www.seroundtable.com/google-core-ranking-update-21696.html
Moz. (2016). ‘Google Algorithm Update History.’ https://moz.com/google-algorithm-change
Search Engine Land. (2016). ‘SEOs Spot Signs Of Google Search Update.’ https://searchengineland.com/googles-search-results-shaking-february-2016-241963
Google Webmaster Central Blog. (2016). ‘Evaluating Page Experience.’ https://webmasters.googleblog.com
Neil Patel. (2016). ‘The Most Overlooked SEO Strategy.’ https://neilpatel.com/blog/overlooked-seo-strategy/

Writing Smart – How To Write For The Robots In A Post-Panda And Penguin World

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Back in the day when everyone was keyword stuffing we talked about writing for Google, and how many people would opt to do that over writing for their actual traffic. Thanks to the big changes brought about by Google Panda and Penguin. However, this is something that rarely happens any more, the general consensus being that the best way to please Google is now ironically to actually write for the people.
In other words then not much has changed other than Google’s accuracy and sensitivity. That was always the plan over at Google HQ, but a predictable algorithm that relied on keywords meant that many people started abusing the system.
So sure writing for people is definitely the best way to please Google, the best business sense, and the best way to future proof your marketing. But at the same time it’s also worth noting that for the foreseeable future at least, Google is always going to have to use some kind of algorithm to identify the content of a site and to find new pages to crawl, which means it doesn’t hurt to think about the way Google will view your content.
So how can you write smart and help make your content Google-friendly and good value for your readers?
Synonyms
One thing to bear in mind is that precise keywords are pretty much useless these days. Partly this is to do with the simple fact that Google is coming down hard on sites that stuff keywords into their content (meaning you risk being penalised) but it’s also due to the new semantic search that means Google will second guess what users are looking for anyway. So if someone searches for ‘types of chair’ (I do not know why that was the example that came to mind…) then there’s a good chance that Google will bring up results for ‘kinds of furniture’ anyway.
So if you want to increase your chances of your search coming up, then you should attempt to include some synonyms and some slightly different versions of the same phrases in order to communicate to Google what your site is about with using the same exact line over and over. In this way, Google is almost celebrating a good vocabulary…
Length
The word on the street is that Google prefers longer articles, and reading around various SEO blogs research seems to support this. Partly this is because longer articles tend to mean greater depth/more research and of course more content for them to crawl. On the other hand though, most people find that if an article is too long then it can be a little daunting and off putting for readers. A good compromise then might be a long page, but with lots of headers and sections that readers can dip in and out of or skim over.
Style
While Google won’t be able to analyse style too much, I wouldn’t be surprised if it was biased against poor spelling and grammar so good writing should obviously be a priority. At the same time they also like opinion and reflection, which means a first person style (like this one) with lots of ‘Is’ and ‘we’s’ peppered in for good measure could be another way to get in their good books.

Attached Images:

Today’s guest post was submitted by Todd Ramos, Founder of PenTech Consulting. He is a part of one of the topmost SEO companies in CT. You can read more about PenTech Consulting and the work they do from their website or follow them on twitter @pentechconsult.

SEO and Social Guide for Travel Niche

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The travel niche is a fast-growing one where the web is concerned, presenting a slew of opportunities to talented writers given the wide range of people interested in learning more about the places they plan to visit.
Like any unique niche, being a travel blogger requires that you stay up on the latest in SEO, social media and other marketing tactics, helping you to rank among the best of your peers when it comes to attention from both search engines and potential subscribers.
Take your travel blogging game to the next level with this SEO and social guide for the travel niche:

The Devil is in the Details

seo-and-social-guide-for-travel-niche-01
Before you can get down to the business of writing compelling, engaging content on the world’s wonders, you’ll need to set yourself up with the best platform to support your words. This will include focusing on a few key points:

  • Choosing a domain name. Any travel blogger worth their salt should register a top-level domain name for their website, giving it an air of professionalism along with a memorable address to get visitors to their home on the web. Try to find a good compromise between a name that clearly lets potential visitors know that travel is what you’re about, and a name that is catchy enough to find its way into their memory banks.
  • Choosing a host. Trusting your publishing efforts to someone else is as big a deal as it sounds, and this means that you should choose a host that you have reason to trust and depend on. Luckily, this trail has been blazed by millions of bloggers before you, so the web is rife with reviews on every hosting service imaginable, corporate giants and small-scale businesses alike. Take the time also to identify and cover your needs, ensuring that your host is offering the features that you require at a palatable price.
  • Choosing a publishing platform. Truth be told, this section can more or less be summed up with a recommendation of WordPress, the world’s favorite publishing platform. It’s free, trusted by hundreds of millions of people and offers every feature imaginable that a blogger could require, offset by millions of plugins that allow for even more functionality.

Determine Your Keyword Focus

Given the stiff competition that you’re up against in such a busy niche, you’ll need to pick and choose the keywords that you want to target very carefully, helping you to land the visitors best suited to the content that you’re offering. This doesn’t require scientific precision, but you will need to take the time to identify keywords and terms that people are actively looking for, using that knowledge to tailor your content to serve those needs.
The simplest way to do this is by using Google’s AdWords Keyword Tool, a handy search function for webmasters to narrow down the most popular terms being searched for among the more than three billion that take place on Google each month. This will allow you to identify some of the more narrow travel niches that are underserved, helping you to focus your content on the minute, but ever-so-important aspects of travel blogging that your readers will thank – and reward – you for.
The second aspect to keyword research is staying on top of things. While Europe may have been all the rage in 2012, it could be that current events sway the average traveler to interest in visiting Asia in 2013; when your visitor’s needs change, so should your content creation endeavors. In order to make sure that your travel focus is always cutting edge, set a weekly schedule of taking 30 minutes to use the AdWords Keyword Tool so that you can keep up with the changing tastes and areas of interest of your readers.

Great Content = Great SEO

seo-and-social-guide-for-travel-niche-02 seo-and-social-guide-for-travel-niche-03
Even while you’re investigating and implementing the many particulars involved in properly optimizing your website for Google and friends, it is important to keep in mind that the most important aspect of SEO is good, quality content. This will encourage readers to share your content via social media, talk about it in online discussion forums and link back to it from their own websites, all crucial aspects of getting search engines to notice and reward your efforts.
Use the keywords you found by using the tips above to choose your focus and, for the sake of helping Google and friends to properly rank your blog, include those keywords in your content, but never lose sight of the fact that enjoyable, engaging and fun-to-read content is the best SEO of all.

Be the Epitome of Linkbait

One of the keys to good ranking and visibility on the web is backlinks – that is, obtaining a link to your website from another location on the internet. While there are a myriad of ways of obtaining backlinks, the best way is to encourage others to do the work for you.
“Linkbait” is often used as a negative term to refer to deliberately misleading article titles, but it also describes the ability of a writer to entice readers to get excited about their content by publishing words that generate passion. As a travel blogger, you can achieve this by provoking commentary with in-depth locale reviews, recommending destinations that are typically off of the charts of most travelers, or focusing articles on specific, exciting aspects of a given potential holiday; the possibilities are endless.

Let’s Get Social

seo-and-social-guide-for-travel-niche-02
Once you’ve got a site structure in place that houses a good amount of quality content, it’s time for you to get the word out about who you are and what you have to offer, and social media platforms like Twitter, Facebook and others offer you a fast, free and user-friendly way to do this. The ever-evolving social landscape will keep you on your toes with the new opportunities it presents over time, but here are a few key ways to take advantage of social media:
1. Gather Your Readers on Facebook
With more than one billion users, Facebook is the world’s biggest meeting place, virtual or otherwise. This means that almost all of your readers are probably already active there, making it a simple thing for you to encourage them to talk about your travel blog’s content in a natural, viral way.
The easiest way to achieve this is with a Facebook fan page, providing a platform-within-a-platform for people to seek out your content and share it with friends; given the general popularity that the travel niche enjoys, you’re certain to find new potential subscribers every single time someone publicly “likes” your links on Facebook.
Be sure to be personally active on your page, engaging readers and initiating conversation and debate that will help to draw attention to what you have to say!
2. Be a Travel Tweeter
Twitter has emerged as a strong number two to Facebook, providing you with a unique way to alert interested readers about your new posts. While you’re unlikely to find yourself in deep debate about a visitor’s favorite holiday destination here, the mere volume of Twitter’s user base will help you to get noticed, quickly and easily.
3. Pinterest for Travel Beauty
A relative newcomer to the social media world, Pinterest has quickly become one of the most talked about platforms on the web. With its unique focus on the sharing of photographs, it’s a particularly useful place for travel bloggers, allowing you to link your written content with the sheer beauty of the world’s endless list of travel destinations, making it much easier to entice visitors to your Pinterest board to continue on to your blog in order to learn more about what they’ve seen.

Conclusion

Everyone loves to travel, whether in reality or only in their mind’s eye, giving you a great head-start before you’ve even come out of the blogging gate! With an eye for detail, a solid plan for success and a good effort to produce enjoyable, reader-worthy content, you’ll find your blog a trusted source for travel news and opinions before you know it!
Jessy Troy is the social media consultant and enthusiast who love the freedom of working while traveling. Her favorite destination is Paris.
Image Credits: 1, 2, 3.

Google AdWords, Part 2 [Internship]

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As you read in the Google Adwords part one, pay per click (PPC) is one of the options Google offers as an advertising feature. However, PPC is not the only feature. Cost Per Impression (CPI) is another online advertising tool that Google offers. CPI usually is in the form of a banner ad on a website and advertisers pay for every time their ad is displayed. CPI is different from PPC because CPI is only when the ad is displayed on a website, not clicked like PPC. Cost Per Mille (CPM) is the most common marketing practice used on the internet. CPM advertising is the way a marketer can be more certain about the revenue they generate from their website traffic. When the amount paid for every thousand earning impressions served, this is said to be CPM or CPI.
Some of Google Adwords advanced features include location options. In the previous Google Adwords article, it talked about setting your location to make your ads visible to a certain area. Advanced location options allow a marketer to reach people viewing pages about your targeted location. This will help because you will not only be seen in just your targeted area anymore. The only catch is that this feature is only available for certain campaign types that have “all features”. The good news is that you can switch your campaign type whenever you like.
Google had recently been trying out a new feature called Google Email Subscription Ads. This allows companies to buy ads that automatically fill in a newsletter slot. This allows users to sign up more easily for email subscriptions or other free newsletters. A cool feature on this allows your Google email address to be displayed next to your ad.
A new revolutionizing feature that Google Adwords set up is calling Pay Per Call (PPC). Pay Per Call is simply the process of an advertiser paying the publisher every time their phone number is clicked off a Google search page. This is another good way a marketer can establish their advertisements and see how their PPC option really works.
Google offers many different features for businesses to choose from. Google Adwords is a great beneficial step for your business to take. The set up is easy, and Google is kind enough to show you a step by step process. Even though Google is testing out some features, it’s easy to see that they are thriving and will go into good use.
Read: Google AdWords Part 1
Sources:
http://www.allbusiness.com/marketing/advertising-internet-advertising/2646-1.html#axzz29NUBY4iJ
http://support.google.com/adwords/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=1722038
http://www.crunchbase.com/product/google-adwords-2
http://paypercallexchange.com/mobile-marketing/google-mobile-adwords/
 
The content in this article is part of Digital Ethos’s Digital Media Education in the Higher Education Internship Program, the content was created by @KaylaMarzo, a Student at Suffolk County Community college, intern at Digital Ethos.

Why use Google AdWords? – Part 1- [Internship]

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Ever search something on Google and wonder what makes the first search result better than the next? With a little help from AdWords it can help you achieve a higher rank in the search results. AdWords bid on keywords that will help trigger their sponsored ads. How much they bid is one of the things that determines their position on the page of search results. The more their ads are clicked, the less they have to pay for each click.
Google AdWords is Google’s pay per click (PPC) advertising platform. This tool is used to direct traffic to your website. Every time your ad is clicked in the PPC option, the advertiser pays the website owner on the terms that the agreed on. The budget can determine how often ads can appear on Google. PPC’s content usually takes form in advertisements such as sponsored links or ads. They appear either above your search results or along the side.
There are many beneficial factors when taking using the AdWords tool. When someone clicks on your ad, this will take them to your website where they can learn more about your business and make a purchase.  Advertising on Google can direct more traffic to your website as you are using the most widely used search engine in the world.
When you first come across Google AdWords, you’ll want to narrow down your audience and attempt to target just your customers. Google AdWords allows you to narrow down your audience by choosing from hundreds of languages, and specific cities and regions. For example, if you own a furniture store in New York City, you don’t want your ads to be seen in Colorado. Set your campaign ads to be read in English throughout the New York City area. Making your ads visible within a ten miles radius of the city or using the zip code targeting can’t hurt either.
After you targeted your audience, you then want to create your ad that will appeal to them. You want your ad to stick out like a sore thumb. In a world full of furniture stores, you want someone to click on your website instead of your competitors. In order for the searcher to click your ad, you want to be able to provide them with the one they think provides the most beneficial information or drives the highest value. In order to make an ad the most effective for your website, you want to choose keywords that are relevant. Choose keywords that relate the most to your site, service or offer. For example, if you are a business that sells furniture, your keywords might include couch, futon, or recliner. You’ll also find it useful to create long tail keywords, like NYC furniture store, or park slope furniture store. The long tail keywords use more terms to narrow your target and often have less competition.
There are a couple of types of keywords, one being negative keywords. A negative keyword is a phrase or word that prevents ads from appearing when a searcher types it in. For example, if your business sells furniture, but doesn’t sell bed frames, you would add the negative keyword but put a hyphen before it like so –bed frames. This eliminates your ads from appearing on irrelevant searches. Another type of keywords include exact match. You want to use exact match when you are using keywords that are exactly what a customer would be looking for when searching on Google. Exact match means that the ad shows for searches only when the search query is exactly the same as your keyword. When using exact match, chose your keyword and put it in square brackets. When someone is looking to buy a love seat, and you own a furniture company, you may want to use [love seat] as an exact match.
After you created your ad, you want to set a pricing. Set your daily budget and cost per click up. You can spend to as much or as little as you want. The average cost per click with Google AdWords is around $3.50 per click but in some cases skyrockets to $20. A useful feature on AdWords lets you change your budget at any time. When you are finally all done with setting up your ad, you want to launch the campaign.
Signing up for Google AdWords can be a good move for your business. It can direct traffic straight to your website which can mean more purchases. Google AdWords generates more visitors, followers, and customers. When you have an effective ad on Google’s search results page, your website will see a whole new world. The tool is one of the best advertising options when you want to track ROI and be able to reduce or grow on the fly. While there is still a lot of other options, using the PPC campaigns in Google AdWords can be a great source for new business.
Coming In Part 2 – Google AdWords, Advanced Options, CPM, Newsletter, Calls, DisplayNetwork
Sources:

The content in this article is part of Digital Ethos’s Digital Media Education in the Higher Education Internship Program, the content was created by @KaylaMarzo, a Student at Suffolk County Community college, intern at Digital Ethos.