2010 saw its share of remarkable online marketing content, amongst tumultuous industry changes that left many second rate practitioners in the dust. It takes lot of reading and study to keep cutting-edge-current. We bookmark literally thousands of articles each year for use in daily training. The online marketing industry is unique, for the many accomplished professionals who willingly share their specialized knowledge. We’re so very grateful.
Last year we released AIMCLEAR‘s entire 2009 Daily Training Link Library. To celebrate the conclusion of yet another stellar year of content, here we highlight 22 of our favorite 2010 non-AIMCLEAR posts and the bloggers who wrote them. “Deep” does not necessarily mean “detailed” or “long,” rather we’ve aimed for posts that mattered to us. We had to choose from over 2400 articles in this year’s link training library, and our selections are admittedly subjective. There were many other wonderful posts penned by hundreds of bloggers in 2010, so don’t bum out if a post you love is not included. We hope you enjoy our selections, and Happy New Year!
Is SEO Science or Art?
Aaron Wall, SEOBook December 31, 2010 2009
Posted on New Years Eve and discovered on New Year’s Day 2010, this post set the content-bar for the New Year to come. It’s just an outstanding essay by Aaron Wall, who contends, “The issue of “proving” things with SEO publicly is typically a misguided one.”
Facebook’s Zuckerberg Says The Age of Privacy is Over
By Marshall Kirkpatrick, ReadWriteWeb, January 9, 2010
This post set the stage for 2010 Facebook privacy road rage. ‘Zuck was not lying either. The ReadWriteWeb post added a lot of value, from a fabulously cynical perspective, and includes a video of Zuckerberg making the now infamous statement.
Social Media Myth No. 1 “It’s About the Conversation”
Lyndon Antcliff, Cornwallseo, January 26th, 2010
If glib is romantic, Lyndon is Romeo. He’s also spot-on here with succinct thinking. This is a fabulous post from one of the best and most provocative writers in the UK. It’s progressive stuff folks, in all it’s brilliant austerity, so pour a Cosmo’, drink half of it and get ready to crack a wry smile.
5 Ingredients For Going Viral (Or Catching A Cold)
Lisa Barone, Outspoken media, January 27, 2010
We love the way Lisa Barone wraps crucial concepts up in clever metaphors. This one’s about the concept of “viral” and is a truly worthy read.
Facebook COO: 175 Million People Log Into Facebook Every Day
Michael Arrington, TechCrunch, Feb 1, 2010
There were a number of “Facebook has become Godzilla” posts in 2010. This one was totally a favorite.
11 Characteristics of Highly Influential Blog(ger)s
Tamar Weinberg, techipedia, February 23, 2010
Run; don’t walk, to read this one. Tamar is my social media muse and this was my favorite post from techipedia in 2011.
Facebook Will Allow Users to Share Location
Nick Bilton, New York Times, March 9, 2010
Whenever Facebook does anything these days, it’s bound to be news somewhere. This post foreshadowed Facebook’s “Places” rollout and is an interesting news read in light of how FB Places actually unfurled.
30 SEO Problems & the Tools to Solve Them (Part 2 of 2)
Rand Fishkin, SEOmoz April 28th, 2010
From comparing relative traffic levels of multiple sites to seeing sites the way search engines do, this post is Rand at his best. There’s something in this for SEOs at all levels.
The Twitter Search Revolution: Popular & Promoted Tweets Mature The Service
Danny Sullivan, SearchEngineLand, May 3, 2010
This flavor of levelheaded practical analysis is what makes Danny Sullivan such a special online marketing journalist. Read his take on Twitter’s expansion into advertising.
Turning off Personalization… Can Anyone Prove it Works?
Webmaster World Thread, May 22, 2010
Really, if you can’t have fun in a barrel full of dubious webmasters, discussing whether it’s impossible to disable personalized search, then what CAN you have phat phun with?
The Best Local Search Directories For Vertical SEO
Andrew Shotland , May 24th, 2010. LocalSEOGuide
This popular post by LocalSeoGuide offered direction for SEO types interested in leveraging local search directories for SEO. We’re hoping, now that Google “Places” has changed things a bit, that Andrew will update this post for us. Are you listening Andrew? 🙂
View From The Other Side Of The May Day Update
Dave Davis, Redfly, June 1st, 2010
A terrific breakdown of myth, madness and reality surrounding wild claims about traffic after Google’s May Day Update
Local Search Ranking Factors, Volume 3
David Mimn, davidmihm.com, June 7, 2010
David, along with Mike Blumenthal, Andrew Shotland, Steve Espinosa and a few others, is considered to be one of the brightest minds in local search. This post is David’s annual ode to local search ranking factors, studied with the help of many of the most-accomplished local SEOs in the biz. This was published right before “Places” blew the lid off things. We’re hoping for an early update in 2011.
31 Top Cultural Factors to Consider for International Search
Andy Atkins-Krüger, SearchEngineWatch, July14, 2010
From Search Engine Watch, we loved this post from International Search Summit Impresario, Andy Atkins-Krüger. He touches upon basics and other salient points you might not expect.
Google Power User Tips: Query Operators
Stephan Spencer, SearchEngineland, Aug 5, 2010
Use this post to teach employees, or just for the fun of being a seriously powerful search engine user. Really, this is required reading if you’re not an exert on advanced query operators already.
Using Excel for SEO – the Grand Collection of Tips
Ann Smarty, SearchEngineJournal August 5, 2010
In 2010 Ann continued on her 2009 tear, continuing to crank out wonderful posts highlighting tools, tips, techniques. We love her work and this post is required reading for Excel junkies and wannabies.
SEO “correlations” and Reverse Engineering Google
John Andrews, Johnon.com, September 1st, 2010
Some writers have more guts than others. Our friend John is fearless and totally gets it. There was some buzz in 2010 about how effective certain SEO firms, known for correlation studies, are at reverse engineering Google’s algorithm. This post from John Andrews is the definitive one to our mind, and challenged other thought leaders in respectful and compelling ways.
22 Social Media Marketing Management Tools
Lee Odden, TopRank, September 2010
This is real meat and potatoes Minnesota sharing stuff from Lee Odden. In the case of this article, he introduced a couple of tools that could have been competitive advantages, kept closer to the vest. This may seem like just another tools post, but Lee’s giving speaks to the ethic of sharing that I love so much about our industry.
How one company games Google News
Tom Krazit, CNET News, November 4, 2010
CNET blows the cover on, “cleverly designed collection of links and headlines meant to game Google News rankings.” This post was one of several 2011 rants that trashed obvious spammers.
3 Important Ecommerce Trends To Watch
Adam Audette, SearchEngineLand, Nov 29, 2010
Portland Oregon’s own Adam Audette shared some great insight in this SEL post.
Thinking Out Loud: What’s Driving Groupon?
John Battelle, John Battelle’s Search Blog, December 17, 2010
A short, sane and pragmatic look at Groupons drivers, from search industry vet’ John Battelle. Enjoy.
Are We Over-Engineering the Link Graph?
Nichola Stott, SearchEngineWatch December 31, 2010
This detailed post, shedding light on technical ramifications surrounding link building, is a really good read to end the year.
