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At the 2010 Inbound Marketing Summit in Boston, Bernie Borges was a panelist on the topic of "Driving More Qualified Leads into your Funnel." One of the questions from the audience was from a marketer who shifted his 2010 online marketing budget from paid to organic inbound marketing. He said that his lead performance had declined and asked for input on how to address it. He didn't give any other details, so Bernie gave his input from both a B2B and B2C perspective. Read more...

Great insight on changes coming to Google's algorithm. This has the potential to have huge impacts on your SEO and overall Web Strategy

Google's about to make search engine optimization (SEO) into marketing, for good. How? They've been slowly adding user behavior to their ranking algorithm. Bet on far bigger changes after January 1st.

Google Analytics is a very useful free tool for tracking site statistics. For most users, however, it never becomes more than just a pretty interface with intersting graphs. The resources below will help anyone, from the beginner to those who have been using Google Analytics for some time, learn how to get the most out of this great tool.

Bloggers like numbers. Big numbers. Yes, we want a lot of traffic. But, we also want the usual status indicators: (1) Big RSS count, (2) Big Email List, etc. So, how do you go about converting a random visitor to your blog into a subscriber who will continue to come back? Here are some simple tips that you should probably execute.

If you've read this post thus-far, you know that Target can join feedback loops (though not for Gmail) and clean its list, which it's already doing. It can also look into optimizing its HTML design for "images off." Beyond this, Target can also: 1. Become authenticated 2. Segment non-responders and market less frequently 3. Segment non-responders and attempt to re-activate them through a "win-back" email, otherwise remove them from the list

Great points on getting your emails past spam filters. Our suggestions... Don't be too flashy.. Be succinct.. Use only Opt-In Lists... And Use aWeber!

Pancheros, a burrito restaraunt, is briding the gap between social media and its brick and mortar operations. Excellent web strategy

As far as I know Pancheros has become the first national chain of fast food restaurants to integrate Twitter promotion with their physical store locations. I am pretty happy about it, I feel like I helped get the effort going. I wonder how long it will be before McDonalds, Burger King and Taco Bell follow their lead.

At a recent social media workshop a participant asked me to reveal my social media routine - how I track, converse, communicate and otherwise curate all my various social media activities. I paused to think about it for a while because I never really considered what I do a routine, but it occurred to me that, in fact, I do have a systematic approach to social media. (No surprise really, I'm a systems thinker and I just do it habitually - ask my wife, I have a system for making the bed and loading the dishwasher.)

It's a great idea to create social media systems, or "processes" that allow you to automate some research and setting time and tasks for different aspects of social media - whether listening or interacting.

Hyperlocal search strategy is an often underlooked market for many local businesses - especially the local service industry. If you are a plumber in Des Moines, IA and you aren't in the "local listings" when you search "des moines, ia plumber" - than the people companies listed are stealing business from you... Even if you are the #1 organic search result

The top web search results are buried by three local search results. If you're a local business, and you want to get traffic, you'd better get placement in that 'three box' (or in some cases, 'ten box') that shows local results. On the bright side, this version of universal search gives you yet another way to hop, skip and jump right past all the other web search results. All you need to know is how to best position your site for a local search listing.

Marketers must adopt an entirely new strategy -- more than that, an entirely new mindset. They must get away from trying to create new desires in people, trying to push and force themselves on people, trying to control people. Instead, find a more natural way. Find out what people want, and then give it to them. Offer them value, and they will appreciate that. Be a resource. Give things away. Don't force -- let them come to you, because of all the value you offer. Here's how:

Bounce rate has these attributes: 1) It is really hard to misunderstand. It measures the number of people who landed on your site and refused to give you even one single click! 2) It is available in most web analytics tools, including our own Google Analytics. 3) It is quick and easy to use. Bounce rate will help you understand where and how to make changes on your website in under an hour.

Great tips from Google on reducing your website bounce rates

Great tips on using twitter for social media marketing

Follow these ten basic strategies for improving your marketing effort on Twitter and you will notice a big difference in how much traffic Twitter can bring to your business. Marketing on Twitter is not difficult, but there are some basic rules that you need to follow if you want to be successful in such an endeavor. Whether you are selling a product or a service, or just trying to gain attention for your web presence, Twitter is an advantageous way to attract interest in who you are and what your company is all about.

How Wal-Mart got social media wrong and how they fixed it

Rather than forcing the message with their own branded community, fake blogs, and corporate blogs, Walmart gets it right by creating a platform for customers and pundits to tell their story

Andy, you may want to add the tag "groundswell" to your bookmark.

Great post from Michael Fruchter on getting started in Social Media... Everything from personal branding to blogging to Twitter

Getting started with social media, whether for personal or professional use, requires learning the basic fundamentals. Social media is more than just creating a blog or Twitter account. The tools are great and give us big advantages, but they are simply extensions of how we engage and participate in social media, they are not the answers. The social in social media is all about the human element. This post touches upon 40 key elements to aid your success.

Interesting details on a Web Strategy Survey.. Some interesting details include: - More than 60% had a web strategy that looked at least 6 months out - Only 57% of respondents can say they are confident their existing strategy is effective - Most effective strategies were planned six months in advance

More than 130 internet stakeholders were surveyed in December of 2008 on how they are approaching their web strategy in the upcoming year. Survey respondents represented internet professionals at corporations of all sizes, non-profit organizations and agencies.

Jeremeiah once again gives us indispensible tips on web strategy. He is spot on with his sentiment that many corporate blogs are untrusted.. This is because many of these blogs are just tossed up there to have one online. Most are filled with stuffy corporate marketing copy with no human voice and no outbound linking... Read this for tips

Today, I'm going to play doctor, in fact, I'm a specialist: A corporate blog doctor. Most corporate blogs aren't trusted, and here's a very simple heuristic health check to gauge whether your corporate blog is going to be trusted by your readers.

So now you can NOT ONLY read these influencer's blogs, but know what other blogs THEY read - and what's on their minds. Why wouldn't you do this? It's all about relevancy, recency and respect: by reading their own recent blog posts as well as their recent comments on other blogs, as a PR pro you show a true interest in your "target." You learn how to not waste their time.

It's fantastic that interest in social media is so high, but I'm alarmed at the number of brands and agencies that are ready to jump into social media to take "advantage" of audience concentration in Facebook, Twitter, and other fast-growth outposts. What's lacking in most social media programs is an actual strategy. If you don't know precisely why you're in social media, with whom you want to engage, and how you're going to measure success, you're not ready to start.

You're responsible for the direction of your online strategies for your company or organization, specifically using social media and computing tools to reach, connect, and build communities around your brand. Most folks at your company know this space is important, but don't know how to do it, they are relying on your expertise to think holistically, integrated, and strategically.

Google Analytics tips - ESSENTIAL knowledge for an effective web strategy

So you've just gotten access to the shiny new version of Google Analytics? Here are the 27 essential features of the best analytics software money can buy (it's free, of course), and how to utilize them to your advantage.

The influence of search visibility as well as word of mouth on social media sites (the social web) is too significant for companies with any kind of brand equity to ignore. Lucky for readers of this blog or those you pass it on to, there are two upcoming opportunities to learn in depth about how to tackle online reputation management.