A good read, I particularly agree with point 4 and 5. Happy reading! - Wilna 

Much has been said about the volume and quality of backlinks to your B2B or corporate website, determining your SEO success. 

But what about the importance of SEO on your website? This is what you have immediate control over and when optimized appropriately, will drive the most immediate returns (in SEO page 1 Google visibility). But the ongoing Google changes, sometimes at a whim and seemingly meant to penalize B2B sites, are making it harder for B2B marketers to stay in top.

Here are 5 ways B2B or corporate websites can evaluate their on-site SEO program to have 2014 success in SEO:

1. Does your user experience suck or is your conversion at the top of its game? Google and other major search engines are placing heavy emphasis on on-site user experience. It is important that your site is not only gaining qualified target leads; but also that those leads then stay on your site, follow their intended user path and convert into customers for Google to give you a thumbs up in the world of SEO.

2. Are your site visitors sharing your site content? One major factor of how well your site is optimized for SEO is shareable on-site content. Are your PDFs being downloaded and shared? Have you performed appropriate SMO (Social Media Optimization) of your site content? Do you have a Blog that provides real value to your target audience? Is the Blog set up for subscriptions and social sharing? Are you contributing original content weekly? There are many ways you can drive attention to your site through good content. That content being shared gives yet another thumbs up to Google.

3. Do you analyze and update your keyword strategy frequently? Consistent analysis of your keywords and related Meta data, alt tags and the like to determine and enhance your online market position in SEO will help you to stay in the game. If you set a keyword plan with a one-time on -site optimization on your site and keep the same old Meta data, you are doing your SEO program a disservice.

4. Is there duplicate content on your site? If so, you better take action or Google will!With the aggressive world of SEO, your B2B site cannot afford to be penalized if even for a week. Your rankings will drop fast and so will your new business development. Duplicate on-site content on page or even in Meta data is a no no for SEO. Make sure to check your B2B site for such issues via Google Webmaster Tools easily and make the appropriate changes.

5. Is your site speed load optimal? If not, Google will ignore you.With the wide array of open-source development programs available these days, many B2B sites find themselves with problems with site load times because of plug-in issues. Don't be one of these sites. There are plenty of sophisticated web hosting companies out there who can make sure you have the right hosting solution for your platform and development needs, whether that means VPS or Dedicated server if you have lots of on-site functionalities.

There are, of course, more ways you can improve your on-site SEO performance and more I can get into on each point above. However, these 5 ways to evaluate will certainly get you going quickly to where you need to go for SEO rank in 2014.

Don't underestimate the importance of your website in 2014, whether you are driving content from other webpages or simply on your site. Your website is and should be your B2B marketing machine for driving consistent new business. Make it work for you.

Image: Mashable composite. iStock, alashi

• Denny’s and Atari Appeal to Gen X With Mobile Games
• A Big Data Hype Filter for B2B Marketers
• The Second Screen Is Secondary No More – Are You Making the Most of Mobile?
• 4 Digital Tools for Trend Scouting and Ideation

This article originally published at ClickZ here

Some more info on Millennials - the little video is also great. Wilna 


The Key Facts:
written by Jeff Fromm

• Millennials are people born between 1977 and 2000. Although, there is not a universal agreement on this definition.
• There are more than 80 million of them. This makes their generation larger than Baby Boomers and 20 percent bigger than Generation X.
• Millennials make up 25 percent of the U.S. population.
• Currently, Millennials has 21% of consumer discretionary purchases, which is estimated over a trillion dollars in direct buying power and a huge influence on older generations . Their influence in some categories on other generations is far greater and cannot be ignored
• Millennials are not a homogenous cohort.
• Millennials often seek peer affirmation before making decisions — even small ones.

Barkley has been a part of publishing five major reports on millennials. We published our first report in 2011, “American Millennials: Deciphering the Enigma Generation,” a comprehensive study of the attitudes and habits of this consumer group.  Our most recent report,  The Millennial Generation Becomes New Parents, was published in October 2013.  This study focuses on a new wave of American pragmatism and the trends that follow.

Based on our research we know that: 

• Millennials include some of the earliest digital natives.
• Millennials are interested in participating in your marketing.
• Millennials are known as content creators and users.
• Millennials crave adventure- often “safer” adventures.
• Millennials strive for a healthy lifestyle.
• Millennials seek peer affirmation.
• Millennials are “hooked” on social media in much the same way older. generations are “hooked” on email at work.
• Millennials are not a homogeneous cohort.
• Millennials embrace authentic cause marketing and align to brands with a purpose.
• Millennials are in many ways similar to older generations.

For more information on any of the five major reports on millennials, contact Jeff Fromm atjfromm@barkleyus.com. To purchase the Millennials As New Parents report click here. 

If you’d rather learn about the findings another way, you can watch this handy video: