The Best of Advice 2012

Top Tips from Digital Development, Marketing and SEO Experts

Looking back on 2012, it’s astounding how much has happened in the world of Internet marketing over the past 12 months. From Google+ and Panda to Penguin and Pinterest, there has been a whirlwind of activity. All these developments added up to a lot of growth, excitement and recognition for Advice Interactive Group.

Our fearless leader Bernadette Coleman has kept a firm hand on the wheel with her eyes steadfastly fixed on a bright future for the company. We recently welcomed Jonathan Kaufman as president, made the INC. 500 list of top ranked U.S. companies (#155 overall, #21 in Advertising and Marketing) and we were recognized with an Outstanding Achievement  award in marketing from the Interactive Media Council. All this while simultaneously working on approximately 100 client websites and producing our first eBook “How to Holiday-Proof Your Web Presence.” That means we did sales, customer service, strategy, planning, web development, design, programming, content, search engine optimization, social media, branding, reputation management, pay-per-click advertising, and so on.

Our top priority is keeping clients happy with outstanding results, of course, but in order to do that everyone here must work to educate themselves about an ever-changing, dramatically expanding industry. In my opinion, our website’s blog provides a great snapshot of what may be our crowning achievement last year – and what I hope has come to be the signature of our corporate brand – good, solid, dependable, smart ADVICE. Our team wrote some amazing blog posts and the Internet is a smarter place because of it!

Here are my picks for the Advice Interactive Top 10 of 2012.

1. For business owners unsure about how to approach the process of having a website built, Ryan Nielsen wrote a great primer to get you started with confidence.
2. As you work to design a great performing website, it helps to know something about “usability.” That’s why I liked this recent post by Kaitlin Hawkins about how user experience affects SEO success.
3. On the critical issue of search engine optimization, digital marketing pros know how tricky link building can be. To help others follow the best practices Advice is pioneering, Rachel Kopp wrote an entertaining blog about “parenting” your website links.
4. For those not familiar with graphic design, Allison Parkyn offered a nice overview of how to select your font style.
5. Going to the next level of design advice for business owners, Jeffrey Powell presented a fascinating look at branding and logo selection, along with a guide to artwork formatting.
6. Content is my bread and butter, so it was tough to select just one from that category. I really liked the creativity in Raven Vela’s post about fantasy/web content writer Dr. Seuss.
7. Our social media team are the experts when it comes to blogging for clients, but content writer Katie Ritter Walsh shared some great DIY tips for business owners in her two-part series here and here.
8. For those who may think all the creativity happens on the marketing and content side, you haven’t met our dream team of web developers. They are fast becoming a vital source of practical information for others in the field. For example, Lynn Porzio’s two-part series clarifies the crucial relationship between web developers and SEO professionals here and here.
9. Always on the cutting edge of web development trends, Kim Crowder educated herself about responsive web design and shared her knowledge in a four-part series that covers the basics, CSS media queries, fluid grid and fluid images.
10. Last but not least is pretty much any web development advice passed along by Andrew Taylor, who’s in danger of making himself indispensable. His latest blog post provides a detailed, informative look at the creation of WordPress directories (template vs. stylesheet), which were an expansion of his original tutorial on WordPress child themes.

I hope you enjoy checking out these Advice blog highlights from 2012. I know I did, and I learned a lot in the process. Check back frequently to see more great advice from Advice Interactive Group in 2013.