Our Top Four Web Marketing Highlights of 2012

From Smart Solutions

2012 has come to a close, and we’re taking a look back at some of the things that stood out to us this year. A LOT happened last year in SEO and social media—and we can’t wait to see what 2013 has in store for us!

Each of these items made a huge impact on web marketing in their own way. And each of them will have a continued impact that we need to be aware of! What should we do about each of these changes? Read below:

The Pinterest Explosion

2012 may forever be known as the year Pinterest took over the world. Since January of 2012, Pinterest users have increased DAILY by 145%. The site gained visitors and users like crazy, and businesses picked up on it pretty quickly. Most major brands now sport a Pinterest page and a large amount of traffic from the website.

The Pinterest Explosion

What can we learn? Although the Pinterest rush will slow down, it’s a website that many brands should have a presence on. Even if you’re only pinning a few pictures a week, it’s worth it to claim your brand name and keep up to date on things happening there.

Google Author

This new feature that followed behind Google+ has made an astounding difference in search results. That little picture that shows up beside listings on Google’s SERP has increased click-through rate, rankings and engagement for people implementing it.

Where do we go from here? Google is going to continue integrating the Google Author results, and making Google+ more prominent. Get involved by getting the code on your site and becoming more active on Google+!

And you can add the Smart Solutions Google+ page to your circles, as well!

Mobile Usage Skyrockets

And once again, the numbers are astounding on mobile usage! On our own website, mobile was up 4.9% from last year, taking over 11.3% of our visits. Our customers’ websites ranged anywhere from 8% to 22% more mobile visits over last year.

Mobile Traffic Skyrockets

On the “to do” list for this one is this: get responsive design or a mobile site! Make sure your website looks good, no matter what size of browser is visiting it!

Google Penguin

Google Penguin first reared its head in April of this year, and affected sites that had gone overboard with linkbuilding and keyword stuffing. Many sites saw a downfall in visits from search traffic when this algorithm change was implemented.

Going forward, the most important thing we learned from this update was this: the importance of a quality site. Keep your code clean, your title optimized and your content fresh and Google will smile on you. Over-optimize, keyword stuff and build sketchy links and Google will knock your site down in their index.

One response to “Our Top Four Web Marketing Highlights of 2012”

  1. Shane K writes:

    Hi,

    Thanks a lot for sharing the insights with us. This is definitely going to help us plan our next steps accordingly.

    Looking forwards for your upcoming posts.

    Best regards,