Happy two weeks before Christmas! Q4 is always a busy time for marketers, but hopefully you’re finding some downtime to hang out with your family, remember that life is pretty darn good, and do some good reading!

I read this Jim Rohn quote recently that resonated:

“Poor people have big TV’s. Rich people have big libraries.”

On to the links!

How To Rank In Google

Normally I reserve this spot for an article that I’ve written, but this post by Matthew Barby that goes deep into rankings is a must read for digital marketers. He finds a few interesting takeaways such as:

• Backlinks matter. On average, the top 2 results on page 1 of Google equated to having 38% of all the backlinks from pages on page 1.
• On average, the higher up page 1 the result is, the greater the number of linking domains that the webpage has. Webpages ranking #1 had an average of 168% more linking domains than those ranking #5.
• Webpages on HTTPS had positive correlation with higher rankings, with 33% of all the sampled URL that ranked either #1, #2 or #3 using HTTPS.

Check It Out!

Here are some of my favorite reads and listens from the last week. Enjoy!

1. David Mihm’s 2017 Local Marketing Predictions (Tidings.co) – David Mihm is one of the smarter minds in the local marketing space. His 2017 predictions are well worth examining and thinking about!
2. Why the SEO Tools Industry Should Develop Technical Standards (SEL/iPullRank) – if you’re in digital marketing you probably know Michael King. He’s once again trying to shake up our industry in the best way possible, and after a year of shopping around a deck on technical SEO he’s taking it a step further.
3. Make Your Own oLark Feedback Form without oLark (Levels) – sometimes you need to take your destiny into your own hands and remove your dependencies from other services. Pieter Levels (NomadList, RemoteOK, others) is amazing at this, and walks you through how to build your own feedback form on your site.
4. If You Get Rich, You Won’t Quit Working For Long (BBC) – ever wonder why you see retired people greeting others at WalMart? Or why so many take up hobbies like gardening? Work helps us feel productive and like a contributor to society. The same psychology takes hold when you get fabulously wealthy.
5. My Emails Are Going To Spam (SendGrid) – Have issues with your transactional emails going to spam? I’ve been dealing with this recently, and this guide has been mega-useful.
6. The secrets to authentic networking (GrowthLab) – I hate networking. It feels cheap, and no one likes that guy just handing out all of his business cards. But this guide to actually connecting with others is fantastic for those of us who have to go to conferences for our jobs.
7. The Scammers Of The Blogging World (ConvertKit) – Nathan Barry is someone I respect a ton in entrepreneurship circles. He’s real, friendly, and humble. I love this post about doing the real work and only teaching what you know.

As always I’d love to know your thoughts on the content I’m sharing here, and if you have ideas for blog posts you’d like me to write, hit Reply and you’ll get me via email directly!

Until next time –

John