This week, DSC ran a full day “Spring Surgery” in Manchester for a selection of existing clients, potential clients and, indeed, interested third parties who wished to learn more about search marketing.

As detailed here, it was (even if I do say so myself) a very successful event with a great deal of positive feedback – both in terms of the event mechanics as well as its content.

As the presentations have been redrafted and finessed over recent weeks, it’s been interesting (and an example of confirmation bias, no doubt) how many examples of similar and reinforcing articles I’ve noticed in the Industry as a whole.  This is, of course, quite gratifying as it emphasises that our advice and our best practice are mirrored in the Industry as a whole (and vica versa).  Furthermore, for the benefit of our new followers (attracted by the event and our tweeting thereof), I thought it would be timely to use this week’s digest to revisit some of the topics we covered in the presentations from the day – to underline their importance and, in some cases, to add additional flesh to the advice and exposition.

We touched, on a number of occasions, on how search marketing has changed over recent years – yet it is interesting to compare and contrast this line of thought with an equally compelling one: namely, that so much is still the same:

Of course, whilst many principles are unchanging, there is always evolution and it is comforting to see how many areas mentioned in this info-graphic that were highlighted as our foci (the inevitability that Google’s algorithm will iterate; the growing importance of mobile and responsive sites; Google Authorship; Social Media as an algorithmic factor) for 2014:

As a primer on the importance of Google Authorship specifically, this adds some practical advice to our necessarily broad overview (and entreaties to engage as soon as possible with it):

Similarly, the importance of quality score to the effectiveness of a PPC campaign that was central to our presentation on the Magnificent Seven steps to improved Paid Search  is evidenced clearly by Larry Kim here:

On the subject of the need to focus on the importance of mobile users as 2014 develops (both from the perspective of Google’s algorithm but, moreover, from the perspective of cherishing your traffic), here are fantastic examples of how responsive design can transcend a site’s proposition and user engagement levels:

And lastly, we stressed repeatedly (as indeed we should) the importance of content development to the long-term success of your brand and of your site’s authority.  Here’s one link to give you greater insight into the need for big-puicture planning on this subject and another offering some practical advice on how to join the dots between content and link authority:

As always, we’re keen to hear what you think about the ebb and flow of the search marketing industry.  Please comment below or drop us an email or tweet to join the debate.

Have a great weekend!