Anik Biswas tells us how Kaya Skin Clinic improved appointment bookings. It began with testing the site's landing pages and the conversion rate. Overall, the rates were lower than average. It took about 45 days, but the site managed to add social media integration and increase conversion rates by 70%. He explains how changing the call to action and tweaking other features helped to improve the site's performance.

It's still about content. Virginia Nussey explains the difference between push and pull marketing, and tells us the missed opportunity in a static Web design. She tells us how to produce some of the content that improves the odds of attracting readers and site visitors through site architecture and themes, keyword research and optimization, fresh content, and social interaction.

Jen Lopez tells marketers not to forget about their community. It's important to show an appreciation for the group. Tell them when they do a good job. Show compassion and most importantly, make sure they know you're human by showing a more personable side. It might sound elementary, but part of the task in building a community resides in networking and making friends who can share advice.

Creating opportunities resulting in cash flow with limited cash can be challenging for any startup, but Scale Computing, bootstrapped by a group of entrepreneurs, found a way to balance lead generation with a tight budget. David Kirkpatrick tells us how the company turned test leads into $500,000 in revenue, a 20% teleprospecting connect rate, and $5 million in venture capital funding within six months.

Peter Meyers explains what it means when Google gives marketers the percentage of queries noticeably affected by an algorithm or a change. He says marketers might naturally think of "unique queries," but he gives us another interpretation, such as total query volume, and provides a definition of what "noticeably" might mean. 

How much did Google spend to lobby those in Washington? About $4.18 million to influence political decision-makers, up 76% from a year ago, according to Katy Bachman. This year, she tells us that Google has spent more than $13 million -- up from $9.68 million in 2011.  

Peter Da Vanzo compares search marketing to growing pumpkins. Not all of search marketing, but the challenges of running a search marketing business and having to choose between making a bunch of little projects better or focusing in on growing the overall company stronger. He outlines the process for growing a business, and provides seven steps to get started.

Sean Quadlin thinks marketers should stop using Google's first page estimates to set bids. This metric provides an estimate of where marketers should set bids to win as many auctions as possible. Winning the bid serves the ad on the first page of search results. He tells us why it's not necessary and provides alternative tactics. The post appears in a series about numbers that marketers should question.

Content has become key. Matt Cutts explains how to accurately quote content from other sources to avoid losing authority and rankings in search engine query results. Of course, additional value can be added by embedding a link to the original content, providing a unique perspective. Rather elementary, but perhaps a good reminder from Google.

eMarketer briefs a report titled "Best Practices for Content Marketing: Engaging Consumers Across Multiple Digital Channels" that looks at a variety of media that marketers use to create content, such as video, blog posts, articles, and slide shows and photos. Video, at 86.7%, continues to be the prime media for U.S. brands. The report analyzes 11 rules for content marketing.