Are you hip to the current state of search engine optimization, internet marketing, and the marketing profession? In partnership with HubSpot, SEOmoz will soon release the results of its 2012 SEO & Internet Marketing Survey, in which more than 6,400 online marketers answered 54 questions about the state of the industry, their companies, and their work.
But even as the broader economy seems to falter, many companies leveraging internet marketing are growing and thriving, and the survey gives marketers a deeper look into the current state of a fast-moving industry. In fact, HubSpot Founder Dharmesh Shah and SEOmoz CEO Rand Fishkin will join forces for a live webinar this Monday, August 20 at 1 PM EST to discuss the full survey results (will you be joining them?). But before they do, we wanted to give you a sneak peek at some of the survey data to wet your appetite. In this post, we'll share some of the survey's key findings.
Social Media Is Going Strong
Not surprisingly, social media is a hot topic for online marketers in 2012. When asked about the services in most demand over the past year, social media led the way, with 72% of respondents reporting increased demand.
Social media actions topped the list of tactics, too. The most popular inbound marketing action for 2012 was setting up a Facebook business page (76% of respondents). And setting up a Google+ business page was close behind (64%).
Google+ Is Holding its Own
While Facebook leads the way among the top social media sites used by marketers (88% of respondents) and Twitter isn’t far behind, Google+ also makes a strong showing, pushing itself into the #3 spot.
Another newcomer, Pinterest, also worked its way up, making it into the #7 spot (21% of respondents). And video is clearly still alive and well in 2012, with YouTube coming in as the 4th most popular social network with our audience.
Content Classics Still Rule
Of course, not everything changes. Despite the hype over infographics and other new content categories, traditional forms of inbound marketing content still ruled the top 5.
In fact, infographics came in at #8 (26% of respondents), trailing behind video and traditional, image-based content (such as photographs). Old standbys like guides and press releases are still popular in 2012.
Did any of this data surprise you? To learn about the full survey results, be sure to join Rand and Dharmesh for their live webinar, "The State of SEO and Internet Marketing in 2012," this Monday, August 20 at 1 PM EST. Register here!
This is a guest post written by Dr. Peter Meyers (“Dr. Pete”), a cognitive psychologist, online marketer, and occasional rogue scientist at SEOmoz. You can find him on Twitter @dr_pete, because he still doesn’t understand how Pinterest works.
Inbound Marketing Blog Feed
Zoe Geddes-Soltess 5:40 PM on August 17, 2012
It's nice to see that Google+ is holding its own, but I'm still seeing a lot of brands who don't have any Google+ presence or have signed up for Google+ but are not active. It will be interesting to see how this grows/changes over the next few months.
Zoe Geddes-Soltess
Community Engagement, Salesforce Radian6
Dana 7:28 PM on August 17, 2012
Google + is holding its own but is still 33% and 28 % behind FB and Twitter respectively. I hope gGoogle + local continues with a steady growth and gains more market share. And kuddos for adding the + Local Biz Page...
Grant Crowell 8:19 PM on August 17, 2012
Why no mention of video in service growth areas? Many SEO people seem to narrowly think about video in terms of YouTube, which here is only listed as a social network; and neither as a content type nor as a marketing strategy. That seems like a really big oversight.
Jen Lew 8:04 AM on August 18, 2012
What was the 6th growth area, if Pinterest was 7?
Ignite Visibillity 5:54 PM on August 18, 2012
Wow! Social media is overtaking SEO! That is really interesting, but it makes sense. Also, i was surprised to see that pay per click was not on there. That seems to be gaining steam and Google shopping is really big right now too. But i guess those are fairly niche when looking at SEO and social. Good post!
Thomas 8:09 PM on August 18, 2012
Blogs and Social Media too strong, its gonna be a really interesting webinar and report!
Jose Darrel Bella 12:22 AM on August 19, 2012
Google+ is just too complex for non-techie people to use. Even installing the g+ hangout takes so much work. I love g+, but really google has to do something to make it easier to use for the mass.
cincinnati museum 8:27 AM on August 19, 2012
In my opinion social media is better than blog because there are many facebook users!.
Facebook pro 9:31 AM on August 19, 2012
The user experience on FB is about to start falling, however google is getting a bit aggressive with social seo..
Digby Green 5:04 AM on August 20, 2012
Wow that data is interesting.
It certainly goes against all the so called professionals who look at Facebook and Pinterest with disdain and carry on with their Adwords and SEO campaigns.
website marketer 12:40 PM on August 20, 2012
Press Releases on #4 and Infographics on #8?!
Exchange Linkbuilding with Information Transport, dear Marketer.
Chris L 6:44 AM on August 21, 2012
I think Facebook does not have long left as the king of the social networks, they are struggling to make money, lie about the userbase plus lots of Facebook users are leaving in their droves.
Nazmul Alam 1:29 AM on August 24, 2012
Nice article and very important data posted here which would be very helpful for the online marketers and search engine optimizer & experts who are working on it for long time. Social media players like Facebook, Twitter , Google+ and new comer Pinterest are offering great tools and services for SEO and inbound marketing and its marketers turn to optimize their marketing strategy and gain more traffic for more profit and generate leads.