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The Raven Blog

We write tips for digital marketers and we create beginner through advanced guides for search engine optimization. Improve your SEO and Content Marketing game.

How to be Self-Promotional (Without Being Self-Promotional)

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Insights on Future Search Trends

Written by and published

Bing vs Google: A Comparison Study

Written by and published

Google’s New Search Features Offer More Opportunities for SEO

Written by and published

The Ultimate List of Niche Social Networks

Written by and published

How to Fix a Website with a High Bounce Rate

Written by and published

Social Networking for B2B and B2C

Written by and published

The Search for an SEO Blueprint

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Five Ways to Spot a Dodgy SEO Firm

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Why Twitter is Not About the Numbers

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8 Steps to a Successful SEO Campaign

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7 Social Media Websites and Their Impact on SEO

Written by and published

Create 404 Pages That Market Your Website, Not Turn Them Away

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Linkbait Ideas to Help Your SEO Campaign

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The Importance of Article Distribution and How it Relates to SEO

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The Inner Workings of a Search Engine

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Posts written by Lee Smith-Bryan

How to be Self-Promotional (Without Being Self-Promotional)
By Lee Smith-Bryan

February, 2010

How to be Self-Promotional (Without Being Self-Promotional)

The art of being self-promotional is a natural tendency. In a cutthroat environment, it’s human nature to think of ourselves first. The justification for doing so is that somewhere down the line, we’ll benefit from it – whether it be financially or from a networking standpoint. We want people to like us, and we want […]


Insights on Future Search Trends
By Lee Smith-Bryan

December, 2009

Insights on Future Search Trends

In a recent video on the Google Webmaster Central Channel, Matt Cutts was asked: What do you predict will be the big changes to “search” as we know it today over the next 3 years? What are some of today’s trends that you believe will shape the future of Google search? Matt’s response is fascinating. […]


Bing vs Google: A Comparison Study
By Lee Smith-Bryan

November, 2009

Bing vs Google: A Comparison Study

Previous iterations of Microsoft’s search efforts were often met by many with skepticism. It’s not like they haven’t made the effort – Yukon, MSN, Live and now Bing – but they still haven’t been able to make significant inroads to compete with Google’s search engine dominance. With the newly released Bing, an aggressive advertising campaign, […]


Google’s New Search Features Offer More Opportunities for SEO
By Lee Smith-Bryan

October, 2009

Google’s New Search Features Offer More Opportunities for SEO

While Bing debuted several new features with their updated and rebranded search engine, Google continues to one-up them with new features of their own. Google’s new features are changing the search engine optimization landscape once again, and are also providing new opportunities for Internet marketers that practice SEO. The new features that will have the […]


By Lee Smith-Bryan

October, 2009

The Ultimate List of Niche Social Networks

As participation marketing continues to gain traction as the most effective way to market a website, niche social networks are emerging as a crucial part of that strategy. While Facebook and Twitter can play an integral part in social media campaigns, they don’t always have the best targeted users and groups. Whereas, niche social networks, […]


How to Fix a Website with a High Bounce Rate
By Lee Smith-Bryan

September, 2009

How to Fix a Website with a High Bounce Rate

If you have a high bounce rate on your website, you’re not alone. Analyzing the underlying factors which lead to a high bounce rate can be the difference between hitting your conversion target or consistently losing customers. A high bounce rate should be considered as 80% upwards. To accurately measure the bounce rate metric, you […]


Social Networking for B2B and B2C
By Lee Smith-Bryan

September, 2009

Social Networking for B2B and B2C

Social networking and the establishment and maintenance of relationships isn’t new to marketing. Businesses have been doing that for years. However, only recently have we moved to a new method of interaction – online participatory marketing. Business to Consumer (B2C) and Business to Business (B2B) marketers still have to interact with their audience, but now […]


The Search for an SEO Blueprint
By Lee Smith-Bryan

July, 2009

The Search for an SEO Blueprint

The reporting of ROI for SEO and Social Media services is murky at best. That’s why compiling weekly and monthly reports for clients is one of the most time-consuming, frustrating, and yet rewarding parts of a search engine optimizer’s job. Unless you operate within a certain niche, it’s unlikely that you have two clients who […]


Five Ways to Spot a Dodgy SEO Firm
By Lee Smith-Bryan

May, 2009

Five Ways to Spot a Dodgy SEO Firm

Dodgy: 1. Evasive; shifty. 2. Unsound, unstable, and unreliable. 3. So risky as to require very deft handling. As the SEO Manager at Sitening, it’s important to me that our client needs are not only met, but their expectations are exceeded. If we have to stay until 10 or 11pm to get the job done, […]


Why Twitter is Not About the Numbers
By Lee Smith-Bryan

March, 2009

Why Twitter is Not About the Numbers

At TwitterCon PubCon last week, there was a lot of talk about everyone’s favorite micro-blogging service, Twitter. It’s a high-impact, high-volume platform that every Internet marketer should be using. However, the dependency on just how we are using, and more importantly, how we are measuring this information to our clients, is a grey area that […]


8 Steps to a Successful SEO Campaign
By Lee Smith-Bryan

May, 2008

8 Steps to a Successful SEO Campaign

Every SEO campaign is a process unto itself. It is contrived of many components that, when executed correctly, form the sum of one large piece. Without each component working to its fullest, the benefit of the end product cannot be truly felt. 8 Steps to a Succesful SEO Campaign 1. Keyword Research 2. Competition Research […]


7 Social Media Websites and Their Impact on SEO
By Lee Smith-Bryan

March, 2008

7 Social Media Websites and Their Impact on SEO

“The problem with social media is… there are more people writing it than reading it.” Mixx After being granted a credibility boost from the New York Times recently, it seems like Mixx is here to stay. The underdog of social networking, Mixx has a smaller following than other user generated content (UGC) sites, but was […]


Create 404 Pages That Market Your Website, Not Turn Them Away
By Lee Smith-Bryan

January, 2008

Create 404 Pages That Market Your Website, Not Turn Them Away

From a user experience point of view, 404 pages are not something you want to see. If you reach one, it means the content is gone or has been moved. Also, the average Internet user has no idea what the “404” actually means, even though that’s usually the message they see. For webmasters and search […]


Linkbait Ideas to Help Your SEO Campaign
By Lee Smith-Bryan

December, 2007

Linkbait Ideas to Help Your SEO Campaign

Using linkbait is a great way of attracting traffic to your website or blog. The only factor you’re limited by is your own imagination. Whether you run a sports blog or are part of a corporate website setup, linkbait should be part of your SEO campaign. If executed correctly, it can have a significant impact. […]


The Importance of Article Distribution and How it Relates to SEO
By Lee Smith-Bryan

November, 2007

The Importance of Article Distribution and How it Relates to SEO

Article distribution can be a very effective method for gaining inbound links and traffic to a website. As part of an SEO campaign it can be time consuming, but if completed and carried out correctly, it can make a significant impact on search engine performance. When you using article distribution, you should focus on the […]


The Inner Workings of a Search Engine
By Lee Smith-Bryan

November, 2007

The Inner Workings of a Search Engine

Mention search engines to anyone these days and chances are the first thing they’re going to think of is Google, and rightly so; Google does a great job. However, other search engines do exist, such as Yahoo!, Ask and Bing — just to name but a few. As SEO specialists, it’s important to understand how […]