At Half a Bubble Out we sometimes make up our own words – known as “seussing” (think Dr. Seuss). A couple of examples include: using the word “funner” in a tagline for a client; and combining the words “simple” and “uncomplicated” for another client to create “simplicate,” helping explain how their business helps people easily navigate the health insurance industry.

Internet marketing uses its own vocabulary too, and new terms are popping up constantly. So we decided to look up some of the terms we frequently heard in 2013 to understand exactly what they mean.

If you are at all familiar with link building services or in need of them, then the terms Google, page rank, link building, Penguin, Panda, and now Hummingbird are probably familiar to you as well (if they aren’t, keep reading!)

Christmas is 19 days away! That’s it! Then comes the New Year. Looking back on this year and your business, what have you done to improve your marketing and get new business? For some of us 2013 is a blur; you had no time and no resources to even think about marketing for your business, or changing any of your current marketing. This is why I am proposing a New Year's Resolution free of gym memberships and making promises to lose 10 lbs.

Landing pages are an extremely important part of your internet marketing strategy as a business. Having landing pages is how you bring in leads and eventually (well, hopefully) convert them down the funnel and turn them into customers. But, unfortunately there are some mistakes that can destroy even the best landing pages out there. Read on to find out what those mistakes are so you don’t make them!

Provide marketing people want. Be honest. Just try. It will make for a better world and a happier inbox.

I know that you probably get as many spam emails as I do in your business from anonymous folks who claim they have reviewed your website and can solve all your traffic problems in 30 days with their genius methods! I typically just delete them, but this one came on a day when I was feeling particularly snarky and I just can’t let it go. We’ve been working hard on our own marketing so I am sensitized to this, but I also know our clients get stuff like this all the time and it drives me nuts! Here was the meat of it:

You’ve heard the phrase “it’s better to give than to receive,” and while this may be true when it comes to the well-being of our souls, it may not be the case when it comes to content marketing. St. Francis of Assisi said, “For it is in giving that we receive” and the same can be said for giving away free content to consumers – because offering quality, custom content that they find relevant and helpful could help you get new business. Here are some internet marketing tips for why you should offer free content.

Engage on Social Media

If you are in business you probably hear the term SEO, or Search Engine Optimization quite a bit. While there are some technical pieces and parts to SEO services for small business, the fact is that anytime you do anything related to your website to try to help it rank better, you are engaging in SEO. Getting found by search engines is the single goal of any type of SEO work. Whether you are changing the title tag on your website home page so it ranks better, or you are writing blogs to create new content, you are engaging in SEO.

Small Businesses often fall prey to scammy SEO companies and people who are essentially hiding under a black hat when it comes to the way they offer SEO services for small business. In the last couple of years Google has cracked down on these black hat tactics like keywords stuffing, and will block your site if it looks like your SEO strategies are even in a grey area. It is important to note that Goggle doesn’t care if you hire someone and they do the black hat SEO strategies, you and your business will still be held responsible. Not to mention you will see your customers and sales drop drastically because you will likely be pushed well past the first page of search results.

In a world where a lot of people are less than happy with their jobs, coworkers, clients and overall lives, I want to give a shout out for gratitude and happiness this week. Here are my five W’s on work. I hope reading these causes you to pause and take stock of the reasons you have to be grateful.

As I sit here, the day after Thanksgiving, enjoying a day off work, not out shopping at Black Friday Extravaganzas, I am thinking up ways to enjoy the plethora of leftovers in my refrigerator. (Yes, that means we go overboard in our house with holiday dinners).