A weekly briefing of noteworthy inbound marketing news that you may have missed, but can't afford not to:
That other guy: News about Facebook Open Graph has been burning up the blogosphere in recent weeks, but there's this other little company that you may have heard of - Google - that's making some news, as well. The world's biggest search engine made some major tweaks to its look this week, which Ben Parr explains on Mashable. The goal, according to a Google official, is "to go for a cleaner and simpler look across the board." What's your take on the changes?
Google also launched an Analytics Application Gallery this week that has plenty of useful tools for marketers. Here's HubSpot's take on the new goodies.
Write on: Is it worth it to blog? Chris Brogan asked that question on the New Marketing Labs blog this week. You can probably guess his answer, but his rationale is still worth reading.
Write stuff: OK, you know you need to create a steady stream of fresh content for your site, but don't just throw stuff at the wall and see what sticks. Think about what you're doing. Valeria Maltoni offers 7 Ideas for Writing Compelling Content on her Conversation Agent blog. As she points out, "Content is your digital body language, and it's your ticket to driving action."
Here's one more tip we saw this week from Seth Godin that makes an excellent addition to Maltoni's list: Keep it tight, people want to finish things.
Brand evangelism 101: One of the holy grails of online marketing is creating an atmosphere where your biggest fans take the next step and become brand evangelists. It's easier said than done, but David Spark's thoughtful how-to piece on Mashable about cultivating your brand's super users offers some great tips on how to help make it happen.
Unlocking the Twitterverse: Research by the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology looks at the power Twitter has to spread information. Christopher Mims explains it all in "Why Twitter is the Future of News," a rather audaciously headlined guest blog on the MIT Technology Review.
The big question: "What kind of links do you need?" - Rand Fishkin of SEOomz answers that question in his Whiteboard Friday video.
Have you found (or created) anything that can help others succeed? Share it with us by posting a comment and a link.