Today, Fasturtle’s Digital Pros Eric Olsen and Graham Ware caught us up with the most current trends in generating ROI from SEO and content convergence. We also talked about the FCC’s move to repeal net neutrality rules and what that could mean for digital marketing strategy.

Internet Service Providers Comment On FCC Website Using Fake Accounts

First, the FCC has started the process of reversing Obama-era rules concerning net neutrality. Nothing is set in stone yet, and if you have an opinion on the matter you have until July 17 to file comments on the FCC’s website.

If implemented, this rules change would alter the way we do business on the Internet by giving ISPs (Internet Service Providers) the power to drive traffic to certain sites and away from others. Proponents argue the change will create jobs and improve service, while opponents counter that less regulation will hurt consumers and competition.  The ISPs haven’t exactly been fighting fair. They were caught using consumer data to post fake comments:

So how far will ISPs go to remove net neutrality?  Several people have reported ISP’s like Comcast using their customer information to submit these unauthorized comments to the FCC. That doesn’t portend well for ISPs doing the right thing if the rules change in their favor.

SEO Content Convergence Best Practices

Second, we covered the latest in shifts in SEO strategy. We highlight these trends all the time, but the new rules bear repeating until they change (at which point we’ll repeat those rules, because we’re in it to win it). To sum up: engagement, engagement, mobile-first, engagement, voice search, hyperlocal, and engagement. Also, machine learning.

You could say that in our media-saturated society, consumers are getting smarter, filtering out information that isn’t relevant or exciting to them. To get signal through all that noise, you have to understand what they are searching for (i.e. the questions they’re asking) and how they are searching (i.e. from mobile devices, for places “near me”, with voice search, with personal assistants, etc.). The machines are learning too: search engines provide a service and they want to make consumers happy. Our robot overlords are more than happy to deliver content that meets the parameters of what consumers find helpful and interesting. Anything else: don’t expect to see it at the top of SERPs.

As digital media pros, it’s our job stay ahead of what consumers are looking for by analyzing data and metrics. A little intuition and oldschool marketing savvy combined with technological tools for success makes us unstoppable. We could talk about this for hours, which is why we show up every week to do the show. Tune in Mondays at noon to hear the dulcet tones of our digital pros, or listen to the full podcast any time.