SEO Roundup: July 2014

Updated: October 27, 2015

As promised last week, today we’ve got a month-long SEO Roundup covering the entire month of July. The SEO and online marketing community created tons of great content, advice and guides this month, so I probably missed a few. Be sure to hit me up on Google+ or Twitter if you wrote something awesome I missed.

Lots to go through this month, so let’s get straight to the links . . .

Analytics:

• Great tips here on being an analytics power-user.

Consumer Psychology:

• It’s all about the conversions, and the best way to get them is to understand consumers.

Content Marketing:

• So much great blogging advice in this article!
• Guest blogging can still work, if you know how to approach it.
• The greatest content in the world won’t help you if no one reads it. Here’s how to write great headlines that get people reading.

E-Mail Marketing:

• Here’s a fantastic interview with AWeber’s Hunter Boyle.

General SEO and Online Marketing:

• Really interesting perspective on SEO’s relationship with Google in this piece. Love the analogy, and the author makes some pretty valid points.
• Automation can save time, but it shouldn’t be done at the expense of quality. Here’s some great advice to help you determine when you should and shouldn’t automate marketing tasks.
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• Great points in this piece about the benefits of hiring agency assistance for your marketing.
• Get the details on Google’s latest updates to search quality guidelines.
• Do you know Google’s ranking factors? All of them? Grab some coffee before you delve into this one.
• Looks like the folks at Google were busy in July. Here’s the rundown.

Link Building:

• I think we’re probably all guilty of at least one of these bad link building habits.
• Be sure to take a listen to this excellent edition of the Visible HQ podcast featuring  David McSweeney, then go his battle with negative SEO.
• Find out how to get links that truly generate traffic.
• Check out this wonderful long-form read on the state of link building.

Local Search:

• Everything you need to know about what the latest Penguin update means for local search results.

Social Media:

• Next time someone tries to tell you social media is a waste of time, show them this.
• Excellent advice on how to optimize your personal Google+ account.

Just for Fun:

• This is just so great! I really have no words, and you should probably experience it for yourself, anyway. Click the link!