The New Year is upon us, which means that a new crop of web trends is about to unfold.  Although we can’t make any concrete predictions about what will definitely happen in 2012 (heck – think back to January 2011 and try to think of anyone who predicted the enormity of the Panda updates!), there are a few trends we’re pretty confident will influence website success, now and in the future.

Here’s what you need to know to stay on top:

1 – Further Panda rollouts

Whether they come out under the name “Panda” or pick up a new name throughout the process, there’s no doubt that further changes will be made to Google’s search algorithm in order to punish low quality content and low quality link profiles.

We’ve discussed what constitutes bad content and poor quality links pretty thoroughly here on the Single Grain blog, and we’ve already talked about why these things matter to Google from a profit standpoint.  So instead of rehashing all of this, let’s get to the point…  Google isn’t going to stop until they’ve eliminated spam sites from the SERPs, so if your site doesn’t meet their quality guidelines, you will be punished at some point.

To Do – If you have duplicate content issues on your site that haven’t yet been addressed, make them a priority in 2012 (check out Yoast’s article on duplicate content for more info on how to identify and remedy these issues).  Also, make sure that any content you publish to your site in 2012 meets Google’s quality guidelines, as demonstrated in Amit Singhal’s 23 Questions post.

2 – Increased mobile access of websites

It’s already pretty much a given that smartphone penetration and usage is growing throughout the cellular marketplace, with no signs of slowing down any time soon.  But what’s really interesting is how people are using this increased mobile access.  A recent study by Google and consumer research organization IPSOS OTX uncovered some very interesting information about how people use their smartphones to access the internet and the role they play in making purchase decisions.

The study found the following trends about general smartphone usage:

• 81% browse the Internet, 77% search, 68% use an app, and 48% watch videos on their smartphone
• 72% use their smartphones while consuming other media, with a third while watching TV
• 93% of smartphone owners use their smartphones while at home

But even more interesting was the data relating to how smartphones are used when making buying decisions:

• 71% of smartphone users search because of an ad they’ve seen either online or offline
• 82% of smartphone users notice mobile ads
• 74% of smartphone shoppers make a purchase as a result of using their smartphones to help with shopping
• 88% of those who look for local information on their smartphones take action within a day

In the past, we’ve recommended pursuing mobile marketing in limited cases, where consumers specifically access and interact with your website via mobile platforms.  But given the way mobile usage is shifting and expanding, it’s safe to say that more companies than ever can benefit from providing mobile access options to their customers.

To Do – First, check Google Analytics to see if you’re getting traffic from mobile devices.  If you are, look into creating a mobile version of your site using tools like MoFuse, WireNode and MobiSiteGalore.  If not, keep an eye on this metric throughout the year.  If you see your number of mobile users increasing, revisit this suggestion to create a mobile version of your website.

3 – Keep an eye on Tumblr

Though it seems strange to take internet marketing advice from a presidential campaign, the Obama campaign – widely recognized as leaders in social networking – launched on Tumblr at the end of 2011, and you should be paying attention.  Tumblr is growing like a weed in the otherwise stagnant microblogging market, making it a potentially viable option for website owners who have never ventured into blogging to explore in 2012.

According to SEOptimise:

Why is Tumblr such a success? It’s a bit like Facebook, a bit like blogging and a bit like Twitter, but it combines the best of all of them. In 2011 many high level bloggers even moved their blogs from WordPress to Tumblr for the sake of simplicity and ease of use. Also, never underestimate the huge Tumblr audience.

To Do – Follow a few different Tumblr blogs to get a feel for how the site works.  If you like what you see, consider creating your own Tumblr blog to support your main site.

4 – New metric tracking models rise to prominence

To be honest, anyone can measure number of visitors to a page or the average time these visitors spent consuming your content.  The future of SEO relies on entirely different metrics, which strive to capture more than just past performance by understanding real-time impact and the value of intangibles (like social networking ROI).  The big two that you need to be aware of are real-time analytics and social networking value scores.

• Real-time analytics – Google Analytics expansion into this territory (previously only occupied by third-party script and software vendors) highlights the importance of being able to understand how users are behaving in real-time and initiate immediate changes based on this data.  For example, if you launch a new promotion and market it via social networking sites, you’ll be able to see immediately which networks – and even which specific tweets or status updates – result in the most traffic.
• Social networking value scores – Social networking value is notoriously difficult to track, but that hasn’t stopped companies like Klout or Venulabs from attempting to create structured influence metrics.  In 2012, we’ll likely see more competitors in this space, different factors being added to their algorithms and an increased importance of these scores in real-world activities (for example, when applying for new jobs).

To Do – If you run a website, start experimenting with real-time analytics as soon as you’re able to using either Google Analytics (though the new version hasn’t rolled out to all users yet) or a third-party program to make data driven decisions.  It’s also a good idea to follow both existing and upcoming social networking value programs and optimize your profile accordingly on them.

5 – It’s all about conversions, baby!

If 2011 was the year of content quality following the massive Panda updates, we predict that 2012 is going to be all about conversion rate optimization (CRO).  After all, it doesn’t make sense to pump hours and hours of work into a site to meet Google’s nebulous and ever-changing content and navigation structure requirements if your website isn’t making any money or generating any leads in the first place!

Conversion rate management refers to the process of ensuring a website is meeting its intended goal as effectively as possible.  If your site sells products, CRO is about removing the barriers that prevent people from putting items in their shopping carts and ultimately completing the sale.  If you generate leads for an offline business, it’s about demonstrating value as quickly as possible in order to get people to opt-in.

To Do – If you don’t yet have a conversion rate optimization plan in place, create one ASAP, as focusing on improving your conversion rates can make a tremendous difference in your company’s bottom line.  To get started, read up on principles of good conversion rate management and the split testing techniques you’ll need to implement worthwhile conversion rate tests.

Despite the growing prevalence of business-related social media, many people still want to have one place to go for all their business-related correspondence: their email. Whether you’re sending out promotions, coupons, or just news, email newsletters are a great way to keep in touch with your customer base, and encourage them to come back to your company for purchases down the line.

If you’re convinced you want to start using email marketing, but you don’t know where to start, read on. If you have an existing newsletter, you might still find some helpful hints!

Before you begin

Hold your horses – deciding you want to start email marketing isn’t the only thing to do before you send out your first newsletter! Start with this checklist:

• Choose an email service provider (ESP). It looks amateurish to send bulk mailings from your email client, and too many BCC recipients usually flag your message as spam.
• Decide which email addresss your newsletter will come from. Make sure it’s an account that someone checks regularly.
• Decide what content you’ll be sending, and how often. Will you send out coupons monthly, or news weekly, or a link roundup every day? There’s no right way, but you might want to pay attention to what other lists in your niche are doing.
• Pick a template to use. Many email clients deal with HTML differently, so finding and personalizing a robust template is often a better choice than trying to design one yourself.
• Create a promotional product. If you give away a free whitepaper, ebook, or report in exchange for a newsletter signup, you will grow your list fast and establish your authority with your readers.
• Create sign-up forms with minimal required information – just name and email address is typical. Make sure the sign-up forms are benefit-centered and well-tested before they go live.
• Write and schedule a welcome letter, introducing every new reader to your newsletter and what to expect from your newsletter (frequency, your writing style, etc.). Be sure to use your best online copywriting skills.
• Set up analytics, or learn to access those provided by your ESP, and decide what your successful email marketing campaign will be measured by.

Getting started

Now that you’re all set up, it’s time to start building your list and sending out your first mailings. Make sure you put yourself on the list so that you can check that the emails come through well for you.

• Put sign-up forms on your website. Make sure the form is on the homepage at least, and many sites display it on every page in the sidebar, so that visitors always have access to it.
• Make sure your list is double opt-in. People will need to enter their email address in the form, then click a link in their email to activate their registration. This is the law (in the US), and will reduce the number of people dropping off the list in the future. Don’t forget to make it easy for customers to opt-out, too.
• Email contacts. Send one email to previous customers or contacts giving them a link to opt-in to the newsletter. Include a link to receive the newsletter in the checkout screen or after new customers complete a purchase.
• Create great headlines. Make sure people are interested enough to open the newsletter, and don’t use a title that might be picked up by spam filters.
• Write regularly and ahead of time. Make sure you have plenty of time before the newsletter goes out so that you can make its content useful and high-quality.
• Make the most of your template. Don’t forget to include alt text for pictures, charts, and buttons, in case a recipient has images turned off.
• Have someone else review it. Fresh eyes can give you feedback about the design and writing quality.

Keep it going

It might take weeks or months to set up an email marketing campaign – but once it’s up, it can go for years. Keep it from getting stale by continuing to improve it and gathering new leads.

• Take responsibility. Make sure writing, reviewing, and formatting the newsletter is someone’s responsibility, and have plans for coverage so that the newsletter always gets out on time.
• Keep testing. Try A/B testing your newsletter to find the best headlines and design, and be sure to experiment with ways to boost your conversion rates.
• Ask for input once in a while. Run a survey by adding a link, or just by asking readers to reply to the email with their feedback on a specific question.
• Encourage recipients to forward the email. An interesting newsletter could lead a new reader back to your site, so make sure there is a link to your homepage in every newsletter!
• Set up a newsletter computer at conventions. Let people sign up on the spot.
• Include a link to opt in in your email footer. Make sure everyone you correspond with hears about your newsletter.
• Advertise in your print material. Send people to your site specifically for the newsletter sign-up.
• Mention your newsletter in social media. Make sure each social media profile includes a link or form to sign up for the newsletter.
• Create new promotional products. If your ebook is getting stale, release a new one to current subscribers and new leads.

Now you’re ready to create, start, and sustain your email campaign. Would you give other internet marketers any other advice about email marketing?

Google is no longer just a search engine. Even if you aren’t counting all the services owned by Google (Picasa, Blogger, YouTube), or all the different versions of the search engine (Knol, Scholar, Books), you can do a ton of things besides search on Google’s search page. Try using it as a calculator or converter or earthquake notification, or add operators to create very specific searches. Here is a list of 42 different things to do with Google that you might never have thought of.

1. Remember all the operators
   There are plenty of operators to remember – use Google Advanced Search to add a number of terms.
2. Calculate
   Just type in an equation: anything from 1 + 1 to sin(90) / cos(30) can be calculated by Google.
3. Convert currency
   What is 10 US dollars in Australian dollars? Or do they use dollars in Australia, anyway? Just type 10 dollars in Australian money, and the search results will show the amount and they type of money used in Australia.
4. Convert measurements
   The same conversion metrics also show you 10 tsp in Tbsp, 100 km in miles, and 8 pints in quarts.
5. Follow stocks
   See how well your (American) stocks are performing by typing stock:INFY (or the appropriate stock exchange abbreviation)
6. Tell time
   What time is it in Moscow? Type time Moscow, and the top of the results will show the time in a given timezone (including an accurate graphic). What time is it in Moscow works too.
7. Track the sunrise and sunset
   Look up sunrise Los Angeles or sunset Seattle.
8. Get the weather
   Find out what it’s like outside by typing weather 94103 (or your ZIP code, or city name).
9. Convert temperatures
   How many degrees Celsius is 100 Fahrenheit? Just look up 100 F in C, or 100 degrees F in C, or 100 Fahrenheit in Celsius.
10. Search a domain
    Want to see what Single Grain has to say about SEO? Search site:singlegrain.com SEO. The site: operator restricts the search to that domain.
11. Keep a domain out of search
    Tired of seeing wikipedia articles? Search -site:wikipedia.org to remove results from that site.
12. Search .edu sites
    If you know you’re looking for a site with a .edu address (or .net, or .com, for that matter), you can use the site operator to restrict the end of the domain, too: scholarly research site:edu.
13. Search the URL
    If you’re looking for pages originating in 2009, use the inurl: operator: inurl:2009.
14. Find out about a URL
    Use the info: operator to see what information Google knows about a website. Find out info:singlegrain.com.
15. Track a package
    Just type in the tracking number to see when a UPS package will arrive.
16. Keep up with a game
    If sports are your thing, while a game is in progress, type in the names of the two teams who are playing.
17. See how tall someone is
    Weird? Yes. But if you type Arnold Schwarzenegger height, Google will guess 6’2″ (best guess, of course).
18. Check on a flight
    Waiting for someone on United flight 900? Just type United flight 900, and the results will show if the plane is delayed or not.
19. Find a flight
    If you haven’t bought a ticket yet, try looking up flights between two US airports by entering the two airport codes. For example, to go from New York to LA, enter JFK LAX.
20. Find local info
    Often, Google can tell where you are based on your preferences or IP address. To search local information for somewhere else, like for a restaurant on vacation, type italian food 94103.
21. See where a ZIP code is
    If you see an unfamiliar ZIP code, look it up to see a map of where it represents, like 94103.
22. Find patents
    Enter a patent number with the word patent to find which invention holds that patent. Try Patent 5123123.
23. Look for files
    If you remember reading a census report in pdf, you can search for filetype:pdf census report. The filetype: operator works with other file types, too.
24. See downed websites
    Use the cache: operator to see Google’s cached version of a site. If Single Grain goes down, at least you can search cache:singlegrain.com.
25. See links to your site
    Use the link: operator to find out who is linking to you. Just enter link:singlegrain.com.
26. Find related terms
    If you can’t think of the right word, add a tilde to search for related words as well. A search for ~computers will also highlight words like software and laptop.
27. Define a word
    If you don’t feel like paging through a dictionary, use the define: operator. For example, define:operator.
28. Enforce the right word
    Sometimes Google removes simple words like and or to. To force Google to search for those words, too, include a plus: peanut butter +and jelly (not necessary if your search is in quotes).
29. In the title
    If you want to make sure the title of your page includes your keyword, try intitle:keyword.
30. Multiple word title
    If you have multiple keywords to find in the title, you need to use the allintitle: operator. For example, allintitle:Single Grain.
31. Keep a word out
    Use a dash to remove words from your search. If you’re looking for Schwarzenegger, but not Arnold, enter Schwarzenegger -Arnold.
32. Find one of two words
    If you want to find out about seals or sea lions, make sure you capitalize the OR to make it an operator. Enter seals OR sea lions.
33. Check facts
    Look up population data by typing population Los Angeles.
34. See recent earthquakes
    Just type earthquake to see a list of recent earthquakes, or add the location if you’re interested in a specific quake.
35. Range of numbers
    Search a range of numbers, including when shopping, by using two periods: laptop 100..300 to search for a laptop that costs between 100 and 300 dollars.
36. Search images by color
    Use Google image search, and select the color of image you’re looking for by using the color selections in the left-hand navigation.
37. Search images by size
    You can also select the image size, from large to icon, and everything between.
38. Search images by type
    Select what type of image you are looking for: face, photo, clip art, or line drawing.
39. Search by text
    If you don’t have a browser on your phone, just text a simple query to 466453 (which spells Google).
40. Search by voice
    If you do have a browser on your phone, you can search by simply speaking into your phone.
41. Create an alert
    If you’re running the same search over and over again, set up a simple Google alert to have the results emailed to you.
42. Know the meaning of life
    Just search for the answer to life, the universe, and everything. If you’ve read The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, you might know what to expect.

Everyone has struggled with procrastination and distraction, and working on the internet doesn’t make it any easier to focus. Boost your productivity levels by checking out this list of recommendations: ways to get more done, in less time, with less stress. Getting things done is a win-win situation for everyone involved.

Clear out the clutter. Delete icons off your desktop. Archive your email. Clean off your desk. Put on headphones and listen to white noise or simple instrumental music.

Don’t get disturbed by others. Get out of your cubicle or office, wake up early, or put up a sign or signal to let others know that you are busy. Recognize when others’ needs are a priority, but it’s less often than you might think.

Set aside specific amounts of time for specific tasks. Though you might not want a schedule, know what tasks can be accomplished in 20, 30, or 60 minutes – and then set a time limit for yourself to keep yourself working. Sometimes the half hour before lunch becomes the most productive time of the day!

Give tasks purpose. For one person, engaging people on Facebook, Twitter, or in blog comments is a meaningful part of their outreach strategy. For another, it’s just wasted time. If that’s your favorite procrastination method, find ways to make it profitable for your business, too.

Prioritize important tasks. Keep yourself from responding to urgent things. Instead, let things that really are important rise to the top.

Plan before you go into action. Sketch out a design, outline a blog post, or read the ideas of others on similar topics for inspiration. The more prepared you are, the better.

Do things well the first time. After you have prepared, go ahead and start working on the final copy. This will save you time in editing or rewriting at the end.

Let yourself take a break. We can get so worried about productivity that we forget about stretching, eating, or relaxing. Getting yourself stressed might make you work faster in the short-term, but will only hurt you in the long-term.

Use a routine to start your work time. Psychologically, a routine can help you realize that it’s time to go to work. My passwords for work-related websites or accounts is a (coded) phrase that helps me remember that it’s time to get down to business. Others always listen to the same music at the beginning of the day, or check news on the same site first.

Write down future to-dos instead of interrupting yourself. It can be tempting to pause whatever you’re doing to take care of that thing you forgot – but you might discover that one thing leads to another and it keeps you away longer than you planned. Instead, write down a list of non-urgent things and then go right back to the task at hand. Then, when you’re done you can just check your list and start working again, instead of wracking your brain for all the tasks you forgot about.

Create a checklist for every event. In hospitals, infection rates drop dramatically when doctors and nurses use a checklist, even for procedures they have done hundreds of times before. We all assume that repetition will ensure we do things right every time – but a checklist prevents us from dangerous assumptions.

Create a template for regular projects. If you are often doing the same type of work, help keep the formatting consistent and give yourself a quick start by making a template. You’ll save more time each time you use it.

Just work for 5 minutes. When procrastination really slows you down, everything is tempting. Give yourself a quick win and a boost of energy by deciding to just work for 5 minutes. Better yet, just open the document.

Do the minimum. Don’t answer with a 10-sentence email when a 5-sentence one will suffice. Simplify your expectations and get things done instead of being stuck in perfecting things.

Notice your productivity. If you end the day (or the hour) satisfied with how much you have accomplished, take a minute to reflect on what made the time successful. Do you work better at a certain time of day, in specific surroundings, or with fewer tabs open on your browser?

Begin or end the day with easy tasks. This can help you feel like you’ve really gotten something done – let it kick-start the rest of your day, or make you content to go home and rest.

Do nothing to excess. Checking analytics, reading RSS feeds, even worrying – be able to recognize when you’ve spent too long on something and move on.

Group similar tasks. Respond to all your email at once, then make all your phone calls, then write all your blog posts for the week. This can keep you from needing to get “into the zone” over and over again.

Show yourself how far you’ve come. Using a checklist or a calendar, check out how much you have gotten done, overall or on a particular project. Keep yourself motivated by celebrating your small wins.

Save interesting things for later. Use Instapaper, Delicious, or your browser’s bookmarks to help yourself remember what to come back to. Tabs work, too, but they can be just as distracting as actually reading the article.

If you are new to the world of internet marketing, you might feel like you are surrounded by people speaking a different language. Is your SEO and SERP placement improved more by deep linking or by keyword stuffing? No wonder you’re confused! Well, if you want to keep up, or brush up, check out this vocabulary list:

301 (redirect) : A code that tells search engines and browsers that the page they are looking for has been moved, and directs them to the new page. Use this whenever you change the URL of a page.

404 : A code that tells search engines and browsers that the page they are looking for is missing. Companies can (and should!) customize their 404 page so that users know that the page is missing, and gives them the opportunity to search your site for a similar page.

Affiliate marketing : A marketing technique that allows third-party representatives to market a company’s products in exchange for a percentage of any resulting sales.

Anchor Text : The words that you link to. For example, if I linked to the SingleGrain blog by writing my favorite search and social blog, then the words “my favorite search and social blog” are that link’s anchor text.

API : Application Program Interface. A set of rules that allow programs or websites to communicate with each other. For example, Facebook can recognize Flickr photos because of a specific API.

Bot : A nickname for the programs which are used by search engines to “read” the content of websites.

Browser : The program you use to access the internet. Internet Explorer, Safari, Firefox, Chrome, and Opera are all popular browsers (and there are many more). Some websites work best in certain browsers, but your site shouldn’t be biased against any user (or their browser). Some browsers have extensions or plugins.

Cache : The copy of a website stored by a search engine.

Cloaking : The act of displaying different content to search engines and to users. Though extreme examples of this can get a site banned from search engines, small differences are fine (for example, displaying region-specific information to different users).

CMS : Content Management System. A tool used to make creating and updating content easier, usually through an online interface.

Co-citation : In many search engine algorithms, words or links placed near each other on a page are assumed to be related to each other.

Cookie : A small data file that is created when you visit some pages, usually in order to customize your experience later. Your browser will let you delete cookies.

CSS : Cascading Style Sheets. A type of code used in making websites. CSS primarily influences how the site looks, and well-implemented CSS makes it easy to change how the whole site looks by only changing the code a little.

CTR : Click Through Rate. The percentage of people who click on a given ad. Higher is better for advertisers.

Deep linking : linking to a page that is not a site’s homepage. Getting links to different parts of a website is a good thing. This is another reason blogging is powerful: very targeted blog posts can link to and be linked to by other articles or posts on the same subject.

Domain Name : The name in the site’s URL. “Example” is the domain name for www.example.com or example.org. You can buy domain names for as low as $5 or $10, and they are seen as being more authoritative than sites hosted at third-party services, like example.blogspot.com.

Extension : (see Plugin)

External link : A link to a page on a different domain. Also known as an outbound link.

Favicon : The small (16×16 pixel) icon displayed next to the URL or page title in a browser. Another little touch that makes your site look more professional and branded.

Firewall : A tool that keeps unwanted access (including things like viruses) out of your computer.

Google bombing : Artificially inflating a page’s ranking on Google by using specific keywords in the anchor text of hundreds or thousands of (usually low-quality) links.

Google dance : In the past, Google would update its caches every month or so in a “Google dance.” However, since then, Google has moved to a constant update pattern (everflux), so there are no more “Google dances.”

Google site links : When Google groups multiple results from one website into one entry on the results page.

HTML : Hyper Text Markup Language. A type of code used in making website. HTML is the most basic type of code, and is used to divide texts into paragraphs, designate titles, and make links. Some websites are created only in HTML, and other sites can be created and edited without using HTML at all, using programs like Dreamweaver or CMSs like WordPress.

HTML5 : The most modern version of HTML, which has added some new code functionality, and made other code obsolete. This code is still a work in progress, and is an update from HTML4, which was finalized in 1997.

HTTP : Hyper Text Transfer Protocol. The communications protocol which allows information to be transferred over the internet.

Hyperlink : Anything on a website that you click to go to a different page. Text hyperlinks are often blue and underlined.

Internal link : A link to a page on the same domain. Opposite of an External or Outbound Link.

IP Address : Every machine connected to the internet is assigned a specific number. You could type that number into your browser instead of the domain name and still get to the website successfully. These are usually displayed as strings of numbers separated by periods or colons (123.45.678.9 or 2001:0db8:85a3:0000:0000:8a2e:0370:7334). IP addresses are usually associated roughly with a physical region, which is how local search is enabled.

JavaScript : A type of code used in making websites. Usually, JavaScript is used to make sites that have “moving parts,” like dropdown menus or buttons that press. Most JavaScript information is not indexed by search engines.

Keyword : A word or phrase which describes the contents of a webpage. The words someone might use in a search engine are the keywords for the pages found in the results (or pages aspiring to be in the results).

Keyword stuffing : An SEO tactic that is generally frowned upon, keyword stuffing involves adding a lot of extra words to your site to make them rank well in search engines. Try to avoid content that is so full of keywords that it is difficult or boring to read.

Link : (see Hyperlink)

Link bait : Something created to attract people’s attention and encourage them to show their friends, creating more links back to the original content. Link bait often takes the form of blog posts, videos, and infographics.

Link farm : A site whose sole purpose is to be the home of links to other websites. Often, websites pay to be listed on a link farm site in hopes of improving their search engine ranking.

Meta Tag : A specific HTML tag that is not visible to users visiting a page, but helps search engines know what the page is about. Sometimes meta tags are used for the page description on SERPs, so they should include a few full sentences about the content of that particular page. Using keywords is encouraged, but keyword stuffing is not.

Nofollow : A descriptor that can be added to a link to prevent bots from following it and giving the page authority. Generally used in advertisements and blog comments.

Outbound link : (see External link)

PHP : PHP: Hypertext Preprocessor (recursive acronym). A type of code used in making websites. This is used to make more dynamic, interactive webpages, and can generate HTML to be read by a browser.

Ping : Sending a signal to a website and measuring how long it takes for the signal to bounce back. Generally this is done by webmasters to check if a website is still active or if it has gone offline for some reason.

Plugin : A small application that can “attach” to a browser or other program in order to provide more functionality.

POP : Post Office Protocol. A way to get email messages from one program to another. For example, POP allows users with a Gmail account to check their email using Microsoft Outlook.

PPC : Pay Per Click. This is a type of advertising online in which the advertisers pay a certain rate each time someone clicks on their ad. Though the most prominent example is Google’s AdWords, PPC ads can be either text-based ads or images, like banners.

Quality Score : A variable used by major search engines to calculate the cost of PPC ads. Calculating the Quality Score of an ad includes variables like the CTR and the ad and landing page relevance. Geographical and other considerations are also included.

RSS : Rich Site Summary or Really Simple Syndication. This is a way to publish new updates to a site (especially a blog or podcast), notify people of the new updates, and allow people to read the updates on a feed reader.

SEM : Search Engine Marketing. This is the marketing practice of reaching consumers through search engines, both using SEO techniques and PPC advertising.

SEO : Search Engine Optimization. This is the practice of making your website more available to search engine bots,

SERP : Search Engine Results Page. The pages that appear after you type your search into a search engine. The aim of most websites is to reach the top of the SERPs.

Spider : (see bot)

SSL : Secure Socket Layer. A method of encrypting the information sent over the internet to keep it private. Sites using “https” instead of “http” in the URL are using SSL.

Tag : Generally, a specific unit of code, like a “meta tag” or a “paragraph tag” (both pieces of HTML code). Social bookmarking is also occasionally called tagging.

Web Bot : (see bot)

Widget : A small, simple, and easy-to-use application or program.

Wiki : A type of website which can be read and edited by users. Wikipedia is the largest example, but wikis can also be created for private groups or on intranets.

XML : Extensible Markup Language. A text format especially good at formatting information for RSS.

Have more words you want to define? Leave a note in the comments, or check the SEO Glossary from SEOBook.

<a href="http://www.singlegrain.com/blog/the-state-of-wikipedia" target=”_blank"><img src="http://www.singlegrain.com/wp-content/2011/05/StateOfWikipedia.r5.600px.jpg" alt="The State of Wikipedia/></a><br /> Via: <a href="http://www.singlegrain.com/blog/">Single Grain</a>

After all, what should every marketer know? If you ask ten different people, it’s guaranteed you’ll get more than ten different answers! But we compiled some of the best lists for marketers from different fields to give you a high-level picture of everything marketers should know! From the human to the technical, from data to emotion – look at ways to engage people, analyze and optimize conversion, attract users with SEO, and make sure the legalities are still being followed. Each link is followed by a summary and an excerpt, but click through to the full lists to learn more.

Engage

What Seth Godin thinks you should know: you are marketing to people, who will make human decisions from human motivations. Find ways to show how human you are, too, and anticipate what they will want and why.

• Marketing is the way your people answer the phone, the typesetting on your bills and your returns policy.
• You can’t fool all the people, not even most of the time. And people, once unfooled, talk about the experience.
• Good marketers tell a story.
• Marketing is not an emergency. It’s a planned, thoughtful exercise that started a long time ago and doesn’t end until you’re done.

[read more]

Optimize Conversion

What Digital Scientists think you should know: one you are getting visitors, you should be able to convert more and more of them into being customers. You can, and should, test everything, and you should be able to keep improving – improving what  you offer, and helping people respond to what they want.

Conversion optimization isn’t really about improving just one conversion rate – it’s about many.
When you think about it, there are lots of different conversion rates on your site. As a visitor turns into a prospect, then into a customer, and then ideally into a repeat customer – there are many steps along the way. Each one will have an important rate for you to consider.

[read more]

Understand SEO

What InsideView thinks you should know: search engine optimization, and the terms that go along with it. Make sure you can at least follow a conversation about SEO, spiders, inbound links, and PageRank.

PageRank – Is a link analysis algorithm, assigning a numerical weighting for the total value and trust accumulated by your entire site (all pages) based on the quantity and quality of the links pointed at your site. Links are used by the search engines as the main factor determining trust, relevancy and the importance of a page and domain based on the quantity and quality of the links that point to it. Every link on the web is treated as a “vote” and that the more votes a page has, the more value its vote’s pass.

[read more]

Stay Legal

What an Arizona Internet Marketing Lawyer thinks you should know: make sure you know where you stand legally and how to represent yourself online. Don’t forget about the little things, like copyright notices and double opt-in email lists.

Your site should have a Digital Millenium Copyright Act Notice that allows people to contact you, or your service provider, if they believe there is anything infringing on your site.

[read more]

Is this everything a marketer should know? Of course not, but it’s a great start. What are tips (or articles) that you think were missed?

Clearly, I’m hinting at keeping up with blogs: lengthy, up-to-date information about the latest marketing trends, and encouragements and reminders of the classic tips that still work wonders. Here we’ve taken a few different sources and mashed together their best advice in a decidedly un-scientific way to give you the top 25 marketing blogs to follow this year

1. TopRank Online Marketing Blog
   Social Media and content marketing is the name of the game at this blog with a lengthy history of success — it started in 2003! 
2. Brian Solis
   Brian Solis has set himself apart with his thoughts about new media and how companies can use it to engage their audiences. The blog also regularly features infographics and other great visualizations
3. Web Ink Now
   The Author of “New Rules of Marketing and PR” writes about just that at this blog about… you guessed it… marketing and PR!
4. Convince and Convert
   Another advocate of social media, this blog by Jason Baer emphasizes that companies don’t just have to be on social media, they have to be social.
5. Copyblogger
   A great go-to resource for anything involving the content part of content marketing. Specific articles have been written about any kind of writing you might find useful.
6. Social Media Examiner
   Can it be more obvious that this blog focuses on social media? With long articles, often profiling different products and services that could make your social media life easier, this is definitely a resource to hold onto.
7. Grow
   Grow promises to help grow your company’s impact and voice – including a number of resources on B2B, social media, and a pretty regular supply of videos.
8. Ads of the World
   Advertising! The cornerstone of this blog is the plethora of links to interesting advertising strategies which are awarded prizes each month, in categories including film, print, outdoor, and online.
9. chrisbrogan.com
   Entrenched in both the business and blogging worlds, Chris is great at inspiring people to take action both on- and off-line.
10. PSFK
    A trends research and innovation company, PSFK stays on top of the leading news in a number of industries. The primary purpose of the blog is to inform and inspire individuals and businesses.
11. Search Engine Watch
    SEO only scratches the surface of what’s available here: mobile search, search marketing, link-building, and other lengthy, factual articles.
12. Marketing Pilgrim
    Keeping an eye on internet marketing and online advertising, plus a host of other sites, tools, and news, Marketing Pilgrim keeps abreast of the latest happenings with multiple posts each day.
13. Search Engine Land
    More search engine optimization information, including news, features, and regular columns. Also the creators of sphinn, a community-contributed collection of SEO and SEM links.
14. brandflakesforbreakfast
    “We read the internet so you don’t have to.” You can definitely do a study on what catches people’s attention by checking out some of the fun and random links curated by this creative agency.
15. SEOmoz
    When looking through this blog, you might be struck by the variety of contributors, which offers a very broad, comprehensive look at the SEO industry and techniques.
16. Search Engine Round Table
    If you want to keep abreast of both blogs and forums centered around SEO, let the Search Engine Round Table be your hub. Interspersed with informative articles are daily digests of the most interesting conversations in a number of forums.
17. Seth’s Blog
    Some thoughts from the one and only Seth Godin. This is a great collection of snippets of what’s going through his mind, whenever he feels like posting – and it’s usually inspiring or thought-provoking, and often marketing- or customer service-related.
18. TrendHunter
    Just keep scrolling and scrolling through photographic eye-candy and intriguing new ideas, complete with a “hot” bar beneath showing exactly how the trend is taking off.
19. Social Media Explorer
    Social media (of course) plus publications, communications, marketing, and more. Plenty of quality authors keeps this blog consistently informative.
20. I Believe in Advertising
    If all you want to see are good advertising campaigns – no explanation, no fluff, just ads – you have come to the right place. Scroll through the archives to get inspired and entertained.
21. Influential Marketing Blog
    “Reflections on creating compelling marketing, advertising, and PR strategy” – a subheading that says it all. The blog does focus on online markets and social media as part of the larger marketing whole.
22. Search Engine Journal
    You can expect to find plenty of informative articles and lists about search engine marketing here. With a polished, professional look, Search Engine Journal comes off as more of a journal than most blogs, even though it is updated daily.
23. HubSpot Blog (Inbound Internet Marketing Blog)
    Here’s some great insight into everything from Facebook fans to B2B marketing online – definitely more similar than you might think!
24. Conversation Agent
    If having conversations is more about the conversations you’re having than the media you’re using, check out the thoughtful advice from the conversation agent herself, Valeria Maltoni.
25. John Chow dot Com
    As “a dot-com mogul,” John Chow certainly has a lot to share, but he prefers to call his updates “miscellaneous ramblings.” Either way, there’s plenty of blogging advice here!

And, if you’re still running out of options, here are some even more extensive lists (which actually don’t overlap as much as I expected):

• 2010′s Top 50 Marketing Blogs from Evan Carmichael
• Top 42 Content Marketing Blogs at Junta42
• AdAge Power 150 (A Daily Ranking of Marketing Blogs) at AdAge
• TopRank BIGLIST of SEM and SEO Blogs at TopRank

Happy reading!

<a href="http://www.singlegrain.com/blog/a-world-without-google/”><img src="http://www.singlegrain.com/wp-content/2011/04/world-without-google-small.jpg" alt="A world without Google" /></a><br /> [Via: Single Grain <a href="http://www.singlegrain.com/blog/"><em>Internet Marketing Blog</em>]</a>

What’s cool? Hip? Trendy? Hot? Talked about?

Want to ride the wave of consumer opinion? Well, you have to find the trends before you can understand them! Here are a few sites that will give you some insight into what people are talking and thinking about. With all of this new information sitting at your fingertips, you’ll be able to focus your efforts entirely on your customers and community.

Search Trends – What are people looking for?

We couldn’t begin this list without mentioning Google Trends and Google Insights for Search. Great for keyword research, these tools help you to understand what people are looking for and also, how they express it in their long tail keywords.

Microsoft AdCenter Labs hosts a variety of tools to help you get into the mind of the person behind the search. The best tools for our purposes include Demographics Predictions, Detecting Online Commercial Intention, Keyword Forecast, and Search Funnels. For more on this, check out the complete list.

Oh, and let’s not forget that there are other search engines out there besides Google! AOL Hot Searches shows what’s hot on AOL search engines, and the Bing Search Blog often profiles what’s happening on Bing search. Yahoo! Buzz and Ask.com also chart their top overall searches.

Want it all aggregated? SEOmoz Popular Searches brings together a variety of tools that track popular tags, searches, and more. These results are both aggregated and listed separately. Your data mining has struck gold!

Shopping Trends – What are people buying?

In case you couldn’t tell by the name, trendwatching.com keeps an eye on consumer trends for you! Get free monthly digests, or sign up for their premium service to take advantage of even more options. And if you want to know what to do with trends once you find them, check out their Trend Watching Tips.

You can also go to online retailers. Find out what’s new on Amazon and eBay with Amazon’s Hot New Releases and eBay What’s Hot, or look over some more specific information with Amazon’s Most Popular Tags and eBay Pulse. For unique and handcrafted items, keep up with Storque (the etsy.com blog).

Naturally, Google has something to add here with Google Checkout Trends. And you can find the top searches in hundreds of categories at the Shopping.com Consumer Demand Index.

Human Trends – What are people thinking about?

You can see what information is being sought out at ‘question and answer’ sites like Yahoo! Answers and Quora. If you see a question you have an answer for, try taking a few more minutes and turning your answer into a blog post!

To understand more about individual’s stories and experiences, try taking a look at the goals they are setting for themselves at 43 Things. Or stay current with what popular bloggers are blogging about at Technorati. This can sometimes allow you entrance into a conversation! Twitter’s trending topics also gives you a chance to jump into the conversation – just don’t try to turn a serious news topic into joking self-promotion!

And if you just want to be amazed by how much information is available to people online, check out HowStuffWorks.com for interesting tutorials and the directory of About.com sites, About.com: Sites A to Z to see how other people are talking to each other.

Do you use all 25 sites? Are there any you want to add to the list? How do you research the trends in your market? Leave a comment and let us know!