The Best Digital Marketing Articles of 2017

2017 was an exceptional year for content. From start to finish, we had creators posting great insight that only added to the already rich database for all that is internet marketing. As you might already know by now, our team spends numerous hours every week researching and getting educated on the latest trends, strategies and online marketing news. This means that we have a rather large number of articles in our arsenal we can go back to anytime a question rises.

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So, while the Holidays are technically over, we are still in the spirit of giving, that is why we’ve compiled what we thing are 42 of 2017’s bests posts for you to learn from and gather insight for a prosperous year ahead.

Content Marketing

Today it’s all about proper timing. The best time to post on social media, the best time to send an email, but did you know there's a best time to publish content too? In this post, Paul Mergenhagen shares his insight on how to discover the optimum time to publish content

Think of content marketing as a fine tuned machine. Everything needs to be in perfect order in order for it to operate properly. In this article Greg Snow-Wasserman, of WooRank, shares 6 common mistakes that tank content marketing plans and shows you how to avoid them.

It is not uncommon to spend hours on a post we are really proud of, only to see it underperform. Let’s join John Rampton as he shares his thoughts on why our content is failing and how we can fix it.

While often overlooked offsite SEO is as important as onsite. In this article Steve Rayson from the Content Marketing Institute shares his insight on building amplifying content and building links.

When it comes to learning or educating ourselves with a new topic, the first person we turn to is an expert or influencer. When it comes to content marketing, did you know we could learn from Netflix? Dennis Williams explains how.

As audience needs evolve so should our content. It is no longer about just writing about pains and interests; today we must also consider audience intent when creating our next post. Here are 7 facts you need to know about intent behind the ways users search today.

The goal for content marketing is to educate your target audience enough for them to make a purchase (product, service, subscription, etc.). In this article by Michele Linn, we see how content can influence the purchasing process.

By now you might have noticed that we are huge fans of marketing tools. Although there’s not enough time in the world to try each and every one of them out, Neil Patel shares, 82 Content Marketing Tools to Make Your Life Easier.

The old saying “a picture is worth a thousand words” can easily be carried over into the world of digital marketing as well. In this article we join Kristin Twiford as she dives into 16 Visual Storytelling Tips to Give Your Content Marketing a Boost.

By now it is common knowledge that duplicate content is harmful to your rankings, but how can you overcome this issue? In this article, columnist Chris Long shares how he addressed duplicate and similar website content to ultimately improve his clients’ organic search performance.

Differentiation is one of the most important things you must achieve in order to make your brand and your content stand out in today’s saturated market. But how do you know you are indeed unique? You conduct a competitive analysis. This is exactly what Ellie Mirman focuses on in her article “How to Do a Competitive Content Marketing Analysis.”

According to Smart Insights, content marketing was rated as the most important technique for driving incremental sales in 2017. In this article, we explore the most prolific content marketing trends of 2017 and their potential to carry over into the new year.

SEO

SEO is one of the most important aspects of digital marketing, but how many of us are doing it correctly? Let’s join Tarek Riman over at Social Media Today as he shares an easy SEO guide to audit our own site.

Meta descriptions are a key part of SEO, but how does one master the art of writing meta descriptions? Check out this post by Dan Shure.

Do you spend hours and hours just strategizing a plan and when you execute, there are no results? You might be falling into one of these six SEO traps. This expert shares his insight on SEO strategies that are hurting your online business.

We all want to rank on the first page of Google but try as we may, sometimes its just not enough. In this post, Nital Shah shares the 5 best practices that will help you rank of page one of Google.

SEO is not a “one and done” deal; it is constantly evolving process encompassing numerous factors that need consideration. In this post, Andre Dennis shares his strategy and how to grow visits by 300% in one year.

With the new year making its first steps, it would be a good idea to keep a lookout for, and leverage, emerging trends before our competition. In this article by Kyleigh Fitzgeraldwe take a look at 8 easy SEO best practices for 2018.

For those who wanted something a little more in-depth, here are6 effective SEO strategies for 2018 [with case studies] presented by Kaiserthesage.com

SEO best practices have constantly been evolving to cater to businesses and users alike. Today the biggest focal point is the shift towards the consideration of user experience (UX). Join columnist Sherry Bonelli, as she explains how SEO and UX work together to help both search engines and users.

For those of you who want to sit back and just listen, be sure to check out this Q&A webinar recording of Hootsuite’s Zak Ramdani. In this #SEJThinkTankwebinar, Ramdani shares how Hootsuite was able to surpass their organic traffic metrics for seven consecutive months and how he deployed an SEO mindset throughout all communication channels within the company.

Social Media Marketing

LinkedIn was built to be the “go to” platform for professionals. It allows users to network and learn more about those within their industry. But with more and more professionals turning towards Facebook, is it possible that Facebook could be replacing LinkedIn as the new professional network? Andy Beohar of SevenAtoms shares his thoughts.

We’re constantly looking for tips, tricks, and tools to help us become the most effective digital marketers. Lucky for us, Michael Stelzner over at Social Media Examiner, shares 23 cool tools for social media marketers.

Looking for in depth social media marketing guidance? Here are 50 amazing ideas, tips and strategies by Carlo Pacis.

Many companies today still seem to underutilized social media. Either because they lack the knowledge and resources for a strategy or they just willingly neglect it. Kiran Ross is here to share 8 essential reasons social media is essential for businesses today.

Social media is an integral part of digital marketing. It’s also one of the toughest to get right. Susanna Gebauer from TheSocialMs shares 9 mistakes she learned from social media marketing.

One of the biggest attributes of a great marketing team is having an effective distribution plan backing any form of content. If you’re struggling to come up with an effective plan John Hall has your back, as he shares 5 things every social media distribution team needs.

Contests are an exceptional tool when it comes to stimulating social media growth. It’s helped businesses increase followers, engagement, and reach across all their social channels. In this post, Jack from Vyper.io shares 13 ways to growth hack using viral leaderboard contests.

With the recent decline in organic reach and growth, many marketers have been contemplating on going after paid ads, but is it necessary? In this post, MarketingZen give us their take on, Paid or Organic Social Media Marketing? Do You Know Which to Use . . . And Why?

When using social media, marketers could always use a hand with additional tools to help achieve their goals. In this post by our team, we share 10 LinkedIn Tools Marketers Need To Be Using.

Social media marketing is exciting, and if done correctly, it can be very prolific. Getting it right, however, can often be hard, stressful even. In this article, Jeremy Goldman tries to make our lives a bit easier entering the new year, as he takes us through the steps for an efficient and effective social media marketing campaign.

With the new year making its first steps, lets join Jessica Wade as she takes us through the top 5 social media trends you will want to be leveraging in 2018. As an added bonus she also adds 10 predictions by industry experts regarding how social media marketing will change in the next 12 months.

Retargeting campaigns are a great addition to any sales and marketing strategy but can often become time-consuming and costly. In this article by David Christopher, you’ll discover seven ways to organize, analyze, and optimize your retargeting campaigns for more effective and efficient results.

Email Marketing and Lead Gen

Whether you're trying to reach an influencer, connect with your audience, or just sending out your weekly emails, expecting a response is always stressful, as they are definitely not guaranteed. In this article Richard Feloni tries to make our lives a bit easier as he shares his 6 tactics to get a response from even the busiest people.

The success of our marketing efforts is ultimately measured in terms of ROI. Today however, many marketers struggle to develop email funnels that can fruitfully produce satisfactory levels of ROI for their business. In this article by Steve Olenski, we see why this might be, and how to fix it.

While the Holidays might have passed it is never late to learn from tactics used. In this article Rustin helps us learn how to write an effective holiday marketing email without leaving money on the table.

B2B lead generation emails are being utilized more than ever in marketing. Here’s how you can write effective B2B lead generation emails.

Once you capture a lead, it’s important to push them through your email funnel. This however, might be a struggle for many businesses. For that reason we’ve compiled 13 Email Marketing Tips for Killer A Campaign.

We constantly hear success stories of businesses that managed to generate hundreds of leads per week, but none of them ever wanted to explain how they did it. In this post, expert Mike Allton shares 3 Steps To Gain Hundreds Of New Subscribers With A Lead Generation Machine.

In a Utopian marketing world, leads would be easily attainable and free but unfortunately that is not the case. It is not impossible however. Join Tim Dearlove as he explores 3 Ways to Generate Free Leads for Your Business.

Lead generation trends are heavily impacted by buyer behaviors and technological advancements. With changes to social and content marketing being anticipated in 2018, it is highly probably that we will see lead gen trends evolve as well. Join Salesgenie, as they share their take on what might be coming in the new year.

For those that might just be relatively new to the concept of lead gen, you’re in luck. Marketo has created a simple but in-depth guide, concisely covering all you need to know about lead generation and its tactics.

One more bonus one... Everyone loves easy tips and tricks to improve their marketing efforts. In this post by Sam Oh, Founder of Money Journal; the expert shares 6 super simple content marketing hacks to double your lead generation

We all hope 2017 was a great year for all of you, and we hope 2018 brings nothing but more success!

Also, here are some more articles you might find interesting:

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