In regular Google SEO, paid links and advertising are negative link-building signals, but sometimes Google works with double standards. It seems both Google Play and the iOS App Store love all your installs, paid or not. Effectively, buying your app install base makes you rank in popularity lists, rank for great keywords in app search, and gets you the attention of popular review sites. Each bought install will get you at least two free organic installs as an indirect result. Time your app promotion well! [Source: SearchEngineWatch.com] More

From Social Media Examiner... Do your headlines capture the attention of the right people?Need some good ideas to enhance your headlines? A great headline gets your audience to stop, read and share your content. More

Here's an interesting new study posted on Business Insider about what type of posts get the most engagement on Facebook. The data shows that photos are the worst types of posts; this is even more surprising considering the recent study that came out that said the opposite--that photos were the best way to get your audience to engage The thought is that Facebook has changed their logarithm, yet again, that determines what gets shown to who and how many. Read their full story:

Data provided to Business Insider by social media analytics company Socialbakers shows just how badly photos perform compared with videos, links, and even simple text-only posts in terms of reach on Facebook.

What makes this data so remarkable is that it wasn't so long ago that posting photos used to give brand page owners the best chance of their posts being seen by their fans (Indeed, a Socialbakers study dated April 2014 declared "Photos Are Still King On Facebook.) Now the algorithm has changed, punishing photos, perhaps in response to page owners trying to game the system by constantly posting photos, or maybe because Facebook has been shifting its strategy ever more toward video in recent months. More

Stuck in a creative rut? We’ve all been there. Luckily Entrepreneur teamed up with the infographic design agency Lemonly to create an inspiration-packed infographic. [Source: SociallyStacked.com]
To unlock your creative genius right now, start by doing a few of the following things:

• Get moving. Walks help boost creative thinking.

• Let yourself play and discover. Not all daydreaming is bad, folks!

• Rest your goals. When you do this you’re able to reevaluate what you really want to accomplish.

For the rest of Entrepreneur’s creativity-unlocking tips, check out their infographic below.
  More

Have you started preparing for the holidays yet? If you have, smart on you! Twenty-eight percent of consumers plan to spend more than 50 percent of their holiday shopping budgets in less than six short weeks, November 28 through December 1 (Black Friday weekend), according to today’s featured infographic from the online rewards company Splashscore. [Source: ShortStack.com] More

Do you keep text and image updates separate? Have you considered how text and visual content complement each other? Pairing visual content with clever, descriptive text can create a true marketing force that leads to more interaction. In this article I’ll show you seven ways companies are using visual content to get better overall engagement. [Source: SocialMediaExaminer.com] More

If you've found this, you already know how important visual content marketing is. I mean, we live in a digital world, and one of the best things about it is that pictures are clearer than ever and it's easier than ever to take those photos and get them online within seconds. But maybe you're still a little unclear about what makes for the best visual content. Well, look no further. Here's three key ways to make your picture count.

As companies mature in their use of content marketing from simply creating “more” content for SEO purposes to creating really useful content designed to reach specific customer segments to influence business outcomes, the importance of content differentiation becomes paramount. [Source: TopRankBlog.com] More

Designing a logo is simple, right? Think again. There's more to crafting a brand's visual identity than just placing a name in a square and calling it a day. Logo designers are in high demand, and it's for good reason — a logo is often a company's first impression, one that can impact a customer's brand perception, purchase decisions and overall attitude toward a product. [Source: Mashable.com]  More

This excellent post from Hubspot.com goes over us three classic marketing methods that you may have forgotten about in this new age of instant social media.

Reactive content creation is creating content for creation’s sake, feeding off whatever is trending at any given moment.

Through newsjacking and trend manipulation, reactive content creation displaces the need for quality—generating a torrent of information about everything, in the hope that something will stand out among the noise. More

We've all heard the mantra most social media marketeers take to heart, "Content is King", and it makes sense. Content is what you're putting out into the digital world that is picked up by existing and potential customers and followers. Content is what people are reading, watching, sharing and liking; without it there wouldn't be anything to tweet about. 

In this blog post from Social Media Today, a new perspective is given to the "King" of the digital realm, content. After reading this, you'll be pausing before hitting any submit buttons to ask yourself this: is this going to change anyone's mind? More