Disclaimer: Consult with your primary care physician before beginning any fitness program. The following recommendations are my own. Your results may vary. Oh, and your physician probably won’t have any valuable advice about your B2B marketing fitness. That’s where I come in.

We’ve all heard the following with regard to the project management triangle: “Price, quality or service – pick two.”  

Littelfuse, Inc., the global leader in circuit protection, has received a 2014 Platinum MarCom Award in the Marketing/Promo Campaign/Special Event category for the planning and promotion of the Speed2Design 2013 campaign. The company earned its second Platinum Award for creating a unique campaign that educated electronics engineers about the importance of circuit protection, while offering them a chance to win a behind-the-scenes ‘EXPLORATION & DISCOVERY’ experience at two NASA facilities.

1. Is there at least one keyword in your title?
   This has significant impact on search engine results. Even better, try to incorporate a long-tail keyword in your title. 
    
2. Is your title length 70-characters or less? 
   The title length should fall in the 70-character sweet spot. If your title is too long, it’s possible that the most important part of the title related to your topic keywords gets truncated in the search engine results.
   
   Body Optimization
    
3. Are relevant keywords used in the body? 
   Common sense. Nuff said. 
    
4. Are there a few links to relevant pages of your website? 
   Including one or more links to other relevant blogs and/or pages of your website will help improve overall SEO. They can be linked within the narrative or added as a ‘Learn More’ or ‘See Also’ list at the end.
    
5. Is there at least one call-to-action (CTA)? 
   When you select your blog topics, do so with CTAs in mind. What action do you want the reader to take? Download an e-book? View a video? Register for a webinar? Make sure you add a CTA that invites them to take that action.
    
6. Have any keywords been repeated too many times?
   If you’ve used a keyword over five times, this can be considered spammy by the search engines. Use keywords naturally, but don’t overdo it.
   
   Image Optimization
    
7. Does your blog include at least one image? 
   The data shows us time and time again that we are visually-driven. A relevant photo, illustration or infographic says 1000 words (and sometime more!). Having the right image can draw the right kind of attention to your blog topic. It can be humorous, fun, witty, impactful -- but be sure to make it relevant to the topic. TIP: Also be sure the image name and the image description are optimized as well.
   
   Meta Optimization
    
8. Is your meta description short enough? 
   Search engines only display the first 150-characters of your meta description. Keep it within that limit for the best SEO impact.
    
9. Are there keywords in your URL? 
   Do your best to include at least one. This will make your blog very easy to find in the search engines.
    
10. Are there keywords in your meta description?
    This has a similar SEO impact as including keywords in your URL, while also establishing the fact for your readers that the topic in which they have an interest is covered in your blog article.

These simple rules for SEO are easily implemented in any blogging tool you use. An added benefit of using HubSpot is the SEO View within the blog tool. It helps integrate these rules into your writing processes and red flags any missing blog optimization, providing you with an SEO sanity check.

With a bit of extra effort, you can guarantee every blog post you release upon the world is in top form for being found by the search engines, and more importantly, will be ‘virtually heard as it falls’ by those dream customers you’re trying to reach.

There’s no question about it: CASL is a new frustration for legitimate marketers. 
In Understanding the CASL Hassle, we’ve addressed a number of the FAQs related to the new Canada Anti-Spam Law. Now that you’re informed, the next step is to decide what to do about it.  

Congratulations to our client Littelfuse for being a finalist in the PR NEWS Social Media Icon
Awards.  For the second year in a row, the Littelfuse Speed2Design campaign (www.speed2design.com) has distinguished itself from the masses of B2B social engagements.

As B2B marketers, we all have one thing in common: We suffer from TMI.

Too. Much. Information.
(Can I get an ‘Amen!’)

I’m the first to admit, I too feel the pressure to keep up with constant changes and developments that impact B2B marketers and everything associated with inbound marketing, sales, social media, etc. After all, if you don’t keep up, you’re left behind.

So, for starters, here’s my tip for cutting through the TMI clutter: I have a personal goal to UNSUBSCRIBE from one blog each month.

Yep. You heard me right. UNSUBSCRIBE.