Creative Data Networks
Plot Twist Story Prompts: Shock to the System
Plot twist story prompts aren’t meant for the beginning or the end of stories. Rather, they’re for forcing big and small turns in the anticipated trajectory of a story. This is to make it more interesting for the readers and writers alike. Each week, I’ll provide a new prompt to help twist your story. Find last week’s prompt, Unexpected Mission, here. Plot Twist Story Prompts: Shock to the System For today’s prompt, send a dramatic shockwave through your story. What that shockwave is can be dramatically different depending upon the circumstances of the world your characters live in. For instance, […]
10 Myths of Writing About Crime
So, you wanna be a crime writer? (Ron Franscell: On the Secret to His Writing Success) Between your gullibility, urban legends, and Hollywood, you’ve swallowed a lot of, um, bunk about crime, cops, and courts. You’ve consumed so much crapola that I’m surprised you aren’t already on Ducky’s slab. Fabrications, fables, and fairy tales about forensics and felonious foolishness (not to mention wrongful alliteration) abound. You’ve probably accepted them as gospel since the first season of “Starsky and Hutch.” So whether you intend to write the Great American Crime Novel or a true crime that actually rings true, you should […]
Schema Markup: Is It A Google Ranking Factor? via @sejournal, @mirandalmwrites
Does applying schema markup to your webpages help them rank higher in Google Search? The post Schema Markup: Is It A Google Ranking Factor? appeared first on Search Engine Journal.
Google May Surface More Short-Form Video In Search Results via @sejournal, @MattGSouthern
Google is working on ways to show more short-form video in search results, saying it’s a clear and concise format for satisfying certain queries. The post Google May Surface More Short-Form Video In Search Results appeared first on Search Engine Journal.
Ad Tracking: What It Is & How to Do It
Tracking ad engagement and impact has been historically hit-or-miss. There wasn’t a universal standard for measuring the success of an ad campaign. In fact, the term ROI (return on investment) wasn’t even widely used until the mid-1960s. A lot has changed since then. Advertisers now have access to a wealth of granular ad tracking data for every single campaign they run. Ad tracking lets marketing teams leverage this data to more accurately measure, test, and revise ads based on how users interact with their online campaigns. If you’re new to running online ads, it’s important to spend some time thinking […]
The Ultimate Guide to Marketing Campaigns
From P&G’s “Thank You, Mom” to American Express’s “Small Business Saturday” to Dos Equis’s “Most Interesting Man in the World,” marketing campaigns have a way of sticking with us long after an impression or purchase. Why is that? Well, campaigns make companies memorable. They promote a focused effort that guides consumers towards the desired action. They also give brands an identity, personality, and emotion. Marketing campaigns can do the same for your business. That’s why we’ve compiled this guide — to provide a clear, concise approach to your next marketing campaign. Keep reading to get started or use the links […]
NEW SEO Competitive Analysis Certification: Build a Strategy to Take On the Competition
We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again – our community continues to blow us away with eagerness to learn and hunger for new content. Your feedback and interest in new certifications and coursework through Moz Academy has been super helpful in guiding the development of our learning resources. In assessing the topic area for our next certification, it struck us just how darned competitive SEO feels these days. Competitive research and analysis still feel like an uphill battle – wouldn’t it be nice if an SEO just had a competitive roadmap to follow? It sure would. And now, […]
Tara Isabella Burton: On Learning Something From Every Draft
Tara Isabella Burton’s debut novel, Social Creature, was named a “best book of the year” by The New York Times, Vulture, and The Guardian, and her first book of nonfiction, Strange Rites: New Religions for a Godless World, was as praised by Tim Shriver as “the most thoughtful analysis of our current spiritual crisis anywhere.” Her fiction and nonfiction have appeared in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Granta, and more. She received a doctorate in theology from Trinity College, Oxford, where she was a Clarendon Scholar, in 2017. Find her on Twitter. Tara Isabella Burton Photo by […]
Spelling & Grammar: Is It A Google Ranking Factor? via @sejournal, @annaleacrowe
After Google’s first Panda Update, several sites with poor spelling and grammar saw significant ranking demotions. Coincidence? Or conspiracy theory? Let’s dive in. The post Spelling & Grammar: Is It A Google Ranking Factor? appeared first on Search Engine Journal.
Using A Facebook Page vs Profile For Marketing Your Business via @sejournal, @brentcsutoras
Optimizing your Facebook page is becoming more important than ever to make sure you are reaching your target market. The post Using A Facebook Page vs Profile For Marketing Your Business appeared first on Search Engine Journal.