Top PPC, SMM & SEO Blog Posts of 2013

In 2013 alone, Bruce Clay, Inc. published 183 posts on this blog for our tens of thousands of readers. All this content that details SEO, PPC, SMM and content marketing best practices comes free of charge and without strings — why?

Because BCI is committed to thought leadership and knowledge transfer. Here, we’ve rounded up the most popular blog posts of 2013 in the following categories:

• Basic SEO
• Advanced SEO
• Content Marketing
• Social Media Marketing
• Paid Search
• Liveblogging

The Best of Basic SEO Blog Posts

1. How To Do Keyword Research In 6 Steps
   Learn the basics of keyword research, from brainstorming to refinement to analytics.
2. 100 SEO Tips: Takeaways from 100 Days with Bruce Clay
   When you work for Bruce Clay, Inc., you learn a lot — discover 100 exclusive lessons learned in 100 days behind the scenes at BCI — with special appearances by Matt Cutts and Ryan Gosling.
3. New to SEO? Start with Google Places for Business
   This Google Places guide takes the guesswork out of creating and optimizing your local business listing.

The Best of Advanced SEO Blog Posts

1. 10 Video SEO Tips to Improve Rank and User Experience
   Drive traffic to your videos with these SEO strategies, including language optimization, captions, script inclusion, sitemaps and more.
2. How to Build a Google Analytics Tracking Code
   Implementing Google Analytics tracking codes affords you a granular snapshot of your referral traffic — learn how to create them.
3. The Good, Bad, and the Mobile: SEO Tips for your Mobile Site Right Now
   Discover Google’s preference when it comes to mobile sites, how to implement it and why it matters.
4. How to Create a Thank You Page that Engages and Converts
   Learn five strategies that keep visitors on your site via an optimized Thank You page.

The Best of Content Marketing Blog Posts

1. The Ultimate Content Marketing Plan Outline
   With this outline, learn to think like a content strategist and identify opportunities for growth and engagement.
2. Create an Infographic for Free (Seriously)
   Learn how to make engaging infographics using Piktochart — without spending a dime.
3. 5 Ways to Improve Blog Visibility ASAP
   Get in front of your readers and increase traffic with these five community-minded strategies.

The Best of Social Media Marketing Blog Posts

1. Twitter 101: 10 Basic Steps to Increasing Your Twitter Following
   New to Twitter? Get the 411 on the best practices that get you started and get you followed.
2. 4 Ways to Optimize Your Facebook Page For Search
   Learn how to analyze your Facebook Page’s performance, and what influences a Facebook Page’s ranking.
3. Adding Videos, Photos & Links to Your LinkedIn Profile
   In July, LinkedIn rolled out its rich media tool, which allows users to create portfolios within their profiles with photos, videos and links — learn how to optimize your own LinkedIn profile with this new functionality.

The Best of PPC Blog Posts

1. PPC Optimization: 5 AdWords Features to Strengthen your Campaign
   Discover how to leverage five AdWords features that will take your PPC campaigns to the next level.
2. A Beginner’s 4-Step Guide: Delicious PPC Tips for Small Businesses
   With this guide, learn how to amplify your PPC by establishing your budget, strategizing your keywords, creating relevant ad copy that sparkles and monitoring your goals.
3. What Is SEM, and Does SEM Include SEO?
   Delve into the difference search engine optimization and search engine marketing.

The Best of Liveblogging Posts

1. Matt Cutts Keynote at #Pubcon Las Vegas 2013
   Find out what Matt Cutts had to say at the recent Las Vegas Pubcon — and how Google is thinking bigger than ever.
2. #SMX East Conversation: Where’s SEO Going in 2014?
   The liveblog of this session includes wisdom from Danny Sullivan, Brian White, Greg Boser, Duane Forrester and Rhea Drysdale.
3. The Periodic Table of SEO Ranking Factors: 2013 Edition
   Find out how the Periodic Table of SEO Success Factors was updated for 2013.

What was your favorite SEO Blog Post of 2013? What would you like to see written about in 2014? Share with us in the comments.

Kristi Kellogg is a journalist, news hound, professional copywriter, and social (media) butterfly. Currently, she is a senior SEO content writer for Conde Nast. Her articles appear in newspapers, magazines, across the Internet and in books such as "Content Marketing Strategies for Professionals" and "The Media Relations Guidebook." Formerly, she was the social media editor at Bruce Clay Inc.

See Kristi's author page for links to connect on social media.