Create a plan, processes to test content, and schedule release dates to provide a starting point to create content times and release schedules. Adam Stetzer has put together a checklist for SMBs creating content. Here are seven tips for creating content.

Aleyda Solis put together a lengthy post on how to develop international search engine optimization strategies. It's a major process that requires a ton of research and analysis to select the best way to target international audiences and then correctly implement the targeting. Marketers should take all aspects into consideration, from the more technical like where to host the site, crawlability and indexing, to site design, color, font and more.

It may sound simple, but make sure the buttons work that allow site visitors to share content from the company's Web site. They don't always. Ben Lloyd and Brian Rauschenbach tell us about tools and tactics that can maximize the reach and the distribution of content from the company's site. For the more advanced marketer, skip through half the post where you'll find advice on tweeting. Don't solely rely on the title tag. Try pulling a quote from the content to tweet or an important takeaway. Maybe it's a bullet that's already in there or a headline. Think of the …

Search no longer requires a manual process. Sometimes an Internet-connected device searches for information without the users knowledge. And the number of Internet-connected devices continues to rise, as seen in these stats from the latest Living With Digital consumer research from Futuresource Consulting. It demonstrates the requirements of marketers in the coming years to reach out across channels. Some 70% of consumers now own a smartphone, up from 64% last year, and 45% own a tablet -- up from 36% in 2013. DMA ownership reaches over 30% among online video subscribers. About 34% of households own a connected TV, up …

Along with video-ad firm MDialog Corp., Google this week agreed to buy wireless startup Alpental Technologies. “Google is looking to create new capabilities and to bolster existing businesses,” the San Francisco Chronicle reports. “Alpental is developing next-generation wireless technology, according to a letter to the Federal Communications Commission last year from Michael Hart, chief technology officer of the company.” 

Marketers need to quantify ad spend, and Facebook has finally caught on. The company's most recent ad initiatives are aimed at marketers with performance goals, while putting less emphasis on ads aimed at driving social interaction and engagement -- a concept that has brought many brand advertisers onto the platform. It seems to work, according to eMarketer. Here's why.

Flurry released stats Thursday showing the growth of fitness and wellness apps. Approaching six months into the year, and the growth in health and fitness apps continues to rise. There are more than 6,800 iPhone and iPad apps listed in the health and fitness category on Flurry's platform, and the company has seen a 62% increase in use during the past six months. This compares with the 33% increase in use, measured in sessions for the mobile app industry in general.

Amazon unveiled the Fire smartphone on Wednesday. The device has four front-facing cameras for facial tracking and a 3D-like Dynamic Perspective view that changes as the user moves it. Amazon will also sell it through AT&T, beginning July 25, for a starting price of $199 with a two-year AT&T contract. Amazon will throw in one year free of its Prime offering to new customers -- two-day free shipping and access to streaming music, movies and TV shows.

Although it was previously believed that the interception of communications on social sites in the U.K. was covered by the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act, a 48-page statement issued in response to legal challenges brought by Privacy International, Liberty, Amnesty international and seven other civil liberties groups shows otherwise. Charles Farr, the director general of the Office for Security and Counter-Terrorism, now admits that the government allows the interception of online activities without a warrant. It turns out the interception and surveillance of U.K. citizen activities on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Google is legal. James Vincent explains.

Why isn't the Web site recovering from Panda or Penguin? Marie Haynes gives us a few reasons -- from not doing enough to clean up links to improper disavowing. Although possible, it's not easy to recover from Google's algorithms. Marketers need to recover by doing an extremely thorough cleanup job to create a site worthy of ranking well even without the power of unnatural links.