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As mobile usage drastically increases, advertisers are staking their claim. According to Smart Insights, mobile Internet is set to exceed desktop Internet usage by 2015. Google stated that mobile searches quadrupled in the U.S last year as well. With this kind of growth rate, advertisers everywhere are constantly seeking out the latest trends and best ways to reach users on their mobile devices.

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Widespread misconceptions that marketing strategies for the online realm are quick, easy, and require minimal effort abound in the business world. While the Internet has made access to almost any kind of content practically instantaneous, the strategy and process of making that information available takes time and effort. With that in mind, more and more companies are starting to show interest in exploring content marketing but are hesitant to invest in it due to a variety of misapprehensions.

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Consistent with everything online, SEO tactics and best practices are evolving quicker than Taylor Swift is moving on to her next boyfriend. SEO trends are similar to fashion; a popular, widely used tactic could lead to first page positioning one year, and be considered spammy the next, just as the craze of Crocs fizzled out faster than it arrived.

With the ever-transforming world of SEO, there’s one thing that every website owner should live by: if you’re developing content simply to have more pages on your site, you’re already behind the times. To kickoff the new year in style, make this must-do SEO resolution to yourself: remember that while content is key, newsworthy, sharable content is a must.

Without a doubt 2012 was a big year for digital marketing. There were several new advances to search alone, including the ability to get facts quicker with Google’s Knowledge Graph and the implementation of Google’s “Search Plus Your World,” which brought social into search results. Bing kept up by adding a social sidebar and their Snapshot feature, similar to the Knowledge Graph. The introduction of high-impact algorithms with cute animal names are also on a mission to improve the quality of Google’s search results.

While these items have had a significant impact on the evolution of search, one of the biggest changes to search in 2012 was the increased focus on local search. Local search will be a huge focus for every digital marketer in 2013. In order to get a head start on local search this year, here are some key things you need to know.

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Including a strong call-to-action (CTA) in pay-per-click (PPC) text ads has long been considered a best practice for marketers. The idea is that, with limited space to get a message across on a crowded results page, it’s important to ask prospects to take action. Otherwise, advertisers run the risk that their customers will see their ad and do nothing at all.