Blog Radar: Web Content Strategy, Twitter Marketing, Search Marketing & SEO Fundamentals

Great Internet marketing blog posts are always on my radar and I have four I’m highlighting here that can provide some great education, examples and ideas for any business working to succeed on the web.

Each one has some great takeaways you can plug into your business strategy online. Better fundamentals, better content, better use and better marketing.  Great reads!

+ The SEO Pyramid Fundamentals
SEOmoz and the fabulous Whiteboard Friday video’s are a must for any beginner/intermediate in the SEO world. I keep waiting for them to put their SEO video series out on DVD so that small business owners can rent it at Blockbuster or Netflix. This video covers the fundamentals and needed areas of SEO in a way that makes sense to us all, a pyramid. Watch it and you can’t help but understand the importance of valuable content that is beneficial to the user, accessible by search engines and worthy of inbound links.

Speaking of content …

+ The Discipline of Content Strategy
Minneapolis’s own Kristina Halvorson writes a great article on web content strategy that appears on the A List Apart blog. Her breakdown of website content disciplines is darn near a step by step guide to success with content strategy for both your users and SEO. It’s not a bad idea to keep an eye on her staff’s musings on the Brain Traffic blog as well.

Speaking of a vision …

+ Pancheros Gets Twitter … Kinda
The always entertaining and idea factory Ted Murphy throws out his visions for burrito chain Pancheros on their current use of Twitter and how they can deepen their use of the social media tool. Ted gives great examples and photos on how the restaurant chain can take their Twitter marketing use to a whole new level by bleeding it down to each location and employee. First read the post, then follow @pancheros and then go eat at Pancheros.

Speaking of what to do first …

+ 73% Of Business Owners Would Do Taxes Themselves Before Search Marketing
Yikes! What is the fear? This article surveyed 400 business owners and found that 73% of them preferred taxes to search marketing. Is paid search marketing really a great unknown to fear? I guess so. The article highlights the following as reasons why:

• Nearly nine in 10 (89 percent) feared keywords may become too expensive.
• Eighty-one percent questioned if paid search marketing is the best use of their marketing budgets.
• One quarter of respondents believe paid search marketing is too complex.
• Twenty-one percent thought it would be too time-consuming.
• Thirty-five percent felt they would need an agency to help set up a search marketing campaign.

I can’t disagree with the last bullet.  I think engaging a SEM professional is a good idea to maximize your goals and budget. From the right keywords, to the right landing page, a pro can really make a difference.  Having an expert as a service partner also alleviates many of the other fears listed.  Funny how that works.