Digital marketing insights.

Not long ago, I posted a piece of unconventional advice: that you shouldn’t necessarily assume every small or local business needs search engine optimization. Despite what a lot of “experts” will tell you, there are some times when it just doesn’t make sense to devote your attention, energy, and resources to achieving a higher Google ranking.

Recently, I earned my 35,000th social media follower.

If you are one of the internet famous set, you might not be impressed those numbers. Although they are significant for me, it’s true that lots of influencers have much bigger networks than I do (and non-influencers have considerably fewer). But, if the size of my following doesn’t blow you away, the kind of engagement I get might.

Where do you find inspiration for your next website design? If you’re like many business owners and marketers we meet with, it might come from studying the competition.

"Do everything you can to rank on Google” is often the first thing we think about when it comes to promoting our websites. Certainly, search engine optimization is important to most website campaigns. But, should we always take it as a given that SEO needs to be our top priority?

If you’ve ever traveled on an airplane, you’ve heard the advice to “secure your own mask before attempting to help another passenger.” That’s a simple reminder we should take with ourselves more often.

It is generally a given that a larger number of mobile web users translates into increased social engagement. The notion is incredibly straightforward: when we all have access to Facebook, Twitter, Google Plus and other platforms on our phones and tablets, it’s much easier to comment, interact, and follow our favourite connections.

If you’ve been following KAYAK’s progress at all, you’ll know that we’ve been growing by leaps and bounds over the past few years, making it onto the pages of mainstream media, including The Calgary Herald, Forbes, The Financial Post, Ottawa Citizen, and even the CTV news for our unique approach.

Just a few mornings ago, I was contacted privately by a colleague on Google Plus. Knowing that I create a lot of content, books and articles, he wanted to get my opinion on an unfortunate situation. Namely, that he’d caught a competitor “borrowing” content from his site… and by borrowing, I mean lifting it word-for-word (try the Copyscape Checker).

Recently, I talked about the hidden costs of PPC management and the companies that deploy a managed/commissioned approach to them. The art of attracting paid search traffic is a huge topic, though, and there is another side to the coin. Use AdWords intelligently, and you can discover a useful tool for bringing valuable visitors to your website.

Ever since Mark Schaefer coined the term “Content Shock,” along with the concept behind it, we’ve been getting steady news of its ever-increasing creep. Can’t get search traffic or engagement on your articles? It must be content shock, so there’s nothing you can do…

If you are like most marketers we meet, the idea of managing pay-per-click (PPC) campaigns on top of your marketing duties might seem a bit overwhelming. So you'll be forgiven if you choose to delegate the task to an PPC/SEO firm. And, you probably have plenty of other things to do, right? (Not to mention the fact you may not feel confident that you can get the same kind of results a professional would.)

To make the most of your marketing efforts for 2016, you'll want to focus your efforts on your very best prospects – the ones who are most likely to do business with you soon, and keep buying from you well into the future. Gain insights into what your prospects are looking for with this free tool from the people at KAYAK.

As many clients and friends already know, I’m a #craftbeerfan. It’s not just that I enjoy drinking craft (although I very much do), but I do love how the brewers offer some pretty out-of-the-box ideas. Craft brewers aren’t afraid to do things differently, and sometimes make seemingly mismatched ingredients work together in fun and interesting ways. Isn’t that really the essence of creativity, regardless of the canvas?

Your blog is the centrepiece of a well constructed content and lead-generation strategy. But making the most of yours involves more than dashing off the occasional article and posting it online. True content marketing success requires focus, consistency, and an eye towards what’s really important for your audience.

Somewhere around a decade ago, I was enjoying one of my regular coffee chats with my elderly uncle Wally. He's an exceptional fine artist who has spent 70-plus years painting some of the most incredibly detailed wilderness scenes you'll ever encounter. We generally talked about family, art, business, and people as well.