GENERAL
Copyblogger
Now diversifying into training and software, Copyblogger is best known for teaching people how to create killer online content. In their own words: ‘Our mission has never changed. We’ll help you create the kind of audience-focused content that helps you reach your business goals.’
Hubspot
Hubspot sells sophisticated marketing software for larger companies. It also produces high-quality ebooks and blog posts on all manner of marketing topics. Here are a few titles to give you the flavour:
‘Inbound Marketing vs Outbound Marketing’
’12 Things You Should Be Using Your Blog For (Besides Blogging)’
’30 Terrible Pieces of Social Media Advice You Should Ignore’
KISSmetrics
Like Hubspot, KISSmetrics sells marketing software, in this case with the catchline ‘Learn What Google Analytics Can’t Tell You’ (‘Google Analytics tells you what happened, KISSmetrics tells you who did it’).
The KISSmetrics marketing blog covers analytics & testing as well as marketing.
As well as articles on topics such as:
‘How to Track the ROI of Your Social Media Campaigns’
‘How Mobile is Changing Business’
‘How Colors Affect Conversions’
it offers a range of free marketing guides on topics ranging from Reddit to Quora to Google Webmaster Tools. Some great covers too.
Matt Cutts
Essential reading for all SEOs out there. Matt Cutts is Google’s unofficial spokesman – official title Head of Google’s Webspam Team. He also covers search quality, make of that juxtaposition what you will.
This site gives insight into Google trends and developments. Just not all of them.
Always remember that behind the t-shirted regular guy exterior lurks a formidable brain! Google may want to be our best friend but is also a billion-dollar business (more than $50 billion and rising).
Nielsen Norman Group
This is where Jakob Nielsen, guru of web usability, hangs out.
Click on the Reports box and then ‘Browse all reports’. The NN/g articles are a denser read than other sites about websites and related platforms. However, as Nielsen’s reports underpin so much of online literature, it is well worth going back to this original source material.
Smashing Magazine
Although this site is targeted at professional web designers, it also has articles for general consumption, such as ‘SEO for Responsive Websites’. ‘Website Design Elements: examples and best practices’ or ‘Best Practices for Effective Design of “About Me” Pages’.
For more blog suggestions, check out Hubspot’s ’39 Fantastic Inbound Marketing Blogs You Ought to Be Reading’
SPECIFIC
Society for Editors and Proofreaders
The UK’s official body for proofreaders and editors. Click on the Directory of Editorial Services and search.
The quality of editors varies, and the directory is seen as an advertising tool rather than as constituting endorsement by the SfEP.
If you’re new to commissioning editorial work and don’t know who to choose, I suggest giving two different editors the same short piece of copy and seeing whose approach appeals most.
NB Before you commission a member check whether an editor plans to use an ‘associate’ (a less qualified editor or proofreader). I once commissioned an editor who only after the commission revealed she was working on 80 projects (ie with the help of associates).
Luckily this experience is the exception rather than the rule. There are some truly talented editors out there.
We welcome your suggestions of quality blogs and sites to add to this list.
