Slip extender

Just like you, I read all of those blog posts about how to get more Twitter followers. And while these articles all contain great, actionable advice, I definitely acquired a lot of my Twitter followers by accident. Seriously. So without further ado, let me share with you how I accidentally started acquiring Twitter followers, and how you can adapt these methods to start getting followers on purpose. 1.) I Mentioned My Location – How I got more Twitter followers When I started my Twitter account at the end of college, one of the first accounts that I followed was my college’s account. One afternoon I mentioned that it was a glorious day in Naperville at North Central College. The account replied to me, retweeted me, and all of a sudden I had a slew of Naperville-based businesses and Naperville-centric accounts following me. How you can do this on purpose: Even if you’re an internet-based business, you still live and work somewhere. Connect with your local businesses … [Read more...] about Oops! 7 Ways I Accidentally Got More Twitter Followers (and how you can too)

Raise your hand if you work on your WordPress website every day. Keep it raised if you have an embarrassingly large amount of plugins, unpublished blog content from early 2015, too many broken links to count, spam-filled comments, and multiple ugly URLs. Don’t worry; I’m guilty, too. Between my work hustle and 9-to-5 gig, ignoring my WordPress site somehow became the norm. But it doesn’t have to be. Like doing taxes or crafting the perfect business plan, there are some things every small business owner should know how to do. And those must-have skills definitely extend to your website. You don’t need to stress, though — I have you covered. In order to streamline your WordPress site (without ditching the stuff you actually need), I’ve rounded up my favorite SEO tips that pull double or even triple duty — meaning you can do more with less. From choosing an SEO friendly theme that’ll juice up multiple devices to a one-and-done plugins, this … [Read more...] about Don’t Launch a WordPress Site Before You Go Through This Checklist

After spending several years in a media agency, I’ve come to the opinion that link outreach teams have the most difficult job in the agency. Imagine telling a programmatic trader that he had to get impressions for a client, but he wasn’t allowed to pay for any of them. Or imagine telling a TV buyer that they had to get some spots based on some “exceptional” creative. Again, no money was allowed to be exchanged. The life of someone in outreach has become very challenging. Long gone are the days of emailing travel, mommy and lifestyle bloggers and slipping them a cheeky $50 payment to publish a link within their content under the guise of merchandising or a guest post. Compliance with Google Webmaster Guidelines is higher than ever, and outreach teams are expected to deliver the same number of links as they were before. They are expected to get influencers to talk about a brand on the strength of some content that the brand alone has. Following are a few of the … [Read more...] about Why link outreach teams have the most difficult job in the agency

Search engine optimization is a complex marketing discipline, and it can be a challenge to perform high-level, high-quality SEO work every single day. When you’re working hard to get the best results for your client, it can be tempting to cut corners here and there to meet (or even beat) deadlines. While this approach may be effective sometimes, ultimately, it can create more work for you down the line. By taking the time to be thorough, you can anticipate and avoid future obstacles that impede progress and create headaches for you and the client. Let’s discuss a variety of ways that you can think smarter in order to create a more streamlined working experience. Ensure you have all necessary materials before you start the SEO project We’ve all been there: You begin to work on an SEO project and find out that you are missing a critical part of what makes the project tick. If you deal with large teams and international brands, chances are that part of the project … [Read more...] about Take your SEO work to the next level

When Google moved to secure search in October 2011, it was a blow to publishers, who began losing data about the search terms used to reach their sites. It also opened Google up to claims of hypocrisy, in that advertisers continued to receive the terms. Now, Google says it’s reexamining the issue and seeking a better solution. Will clicks on non-paid listings go back to passing along search term data again? Will ad clicks have that withheld? Google didn’t say either way, and there could be other possibilities, as well. Google Looking For Solution The news came out of a keynote conversation with Google search chief Amit Singhal yesterday at our SMX West conference. I raised the issue of “not provided,” as it’s known as a short-hand term search marketers and many publishers in general. I wasn’t really expecting much of an answer — in fact, I’ve written so much about the topic, with relatively little response from Google about the perceived … [Read more...] about Google Reviewing “Not Provided,” Withholding Keywords From Organic But Not Paid Search Clicks