Brafton's content marketing highlights for July 2012 offer insights on how to reach maximum web audiences through your branded content.

In July, many Americans likely enjoyed summer time outdoors, but there were plenty of internet marketing developments that gave marketers reasons to stay close to their computers.  From the latest Panda algorithm to LinkedIn’s updated content layout, insights on this month’s leading search and social developments can inform your content marketing strategies.

Watch this video (presented by Zach Michonski) or read the full blog post below for Brafton’s take on the content marketing news highlights for July 2012 – and what they could mean for your campaign.

Update: Panda 3.9

  • The latest Google Panda iteration impacts 1 percent of search queries.
  • What does this tell us? The company’s algorithms always evolve, so continuously building quality content is essential to visibility. In its announcements of Panda, Google even shared its longstanding “quality standards” blog post, which Brafton has reported covers quality content marketing tips for SEO. We always encourage our clients to put the reader and relevance to their businesses at the forefront of content marketing campaigns when we build editorial briefs!

Update: Matt Cutts talks on infographics for SEO

  • In an interview, Cutts said graphics have SEO potential, but Google is frustrated by lack of fact-checking and graphics that are irrelevant to the sponsoring site.
  • What does this tell us? Google is working to ensure quality counts for graphics’ SEO merit! For successful infographic marketing, it’s important to marry visual elements with quality research and writing to keep the images relevant to your audiences (and up to search standards).

Update: Marissa Mayer as Yahoo CEO

  • The former Google executive was named chief executive officer for the long-struggling company.
  • What does this tell us? Search marketers may want to look for new ad offerings from Yahoo, and they should monitor the search traffic Yahoo delivers to their sites. Mayer’s leadership could really turn things around for the company, as she contributed heavily to the clean, user-friendly Google interface. Additionally, there may be ample opportunities to showcase local content on the new Yahoo.com as Mayer was in charge of many of Google’s local products.

Update: Facebook Scheduled Posts

  • Marketers can schedule Facebook posts to go live when it matters most for their brands.
  • What does this tell us? Facebook recognizes your audiences aren’t always on the network during business hours. It’s important to find the ideal times to reach your prospects and customers with shared content. Buddy Media research sheds light on the times when audiences for different industries are most active, and Brafton’s social marketing teams always advise clients to time posts based on the industry trends they identify.

Update: LinkedIn’s new content layout

  • The new homepage prioritizes relevant content (over recent content).
  • What does this tell us? Sharing relevant content is an increasingly viable way to get in front of prospects’ eyeballs. This change makes clear that B2B social marketing is now mainstream – and you can read more in our blog post about B2B marketing for the social skeptic!

None of the search or social updates offer “magic bullets” on how to succeed with content marketing, and good campaigns will focus on the user first, anyway! But it’s important to take advantage of new opportunities that the evolving webscape offers to maximize reach for your content.

Stay tuned for next month’s installment of the content marketing recap.

Katherine Griwert is Brafton's Marketing Director. She's practiced content marketing, SEO and social marketing for over five years, and her enthusiasm for new media has even deeper roots. Katherine holds a degree in American Studies from Boston College, and her writing is featured in a number of web publications.