Marketing Blogs – The Ultimate Guide To The Best Resources Online to Follow

“Knowledge Is Power”- “scientia potentia est”

Marketing professionals may not be seeking divine power but the pursuit of knowledge is essential in an industry that is continually changing. With an estimated 2million articles being posted every day, it is important to be able to manage your time appropriately by reading the best Marketing Blogs in our industry.

In this blog, we provide our definitive guide to the best sources of current marketing information.

The views expressed in this post we must stress are personal and are based on what we use to provide up to date industry best practices to our clients.  In each chapter, we provide 5 main recommendations based on a combination of; site authority, readability, level of engagement(perceived trust) and adherence to industry best practices.

Please if you have any that we have missed out please add your comments to the end this post.

Chapter 1 – Best Search Engine Optimisation Blogs

Chapter 2 – Best Pay Per Click Blogs

Chapter 3 – Best Social Media Marketing Blogs

Chapter 4 – Best Website Design Blogs

Best Search Engine Optimisation Blogs

Our go-to blog for up to date information on all things SEO. Having one of the industry’s  leading experts in Barry Schwarts, contributing regular articles you know what you are reading is hot off  the press and informative. A good variety of topics covered daily, if you only ever have time to read one blog on SEO this is the one for you. NetTonic Rating 10/10

Quality just as good as Search Engine Land but perhaps slightly easier to navigate between subjects. If I could only read one blog a day this may not be my first choice but if you are time rich then this is certainly an addition to the menu and will reinforce latest trends. NetTonic Rating 9/10

Rand Rishkin, the founder and former CEO is recognised as one of the leading experts in the world of SEO. His Whiteboard Friday videos are always entertaining combined with his articulate delivery he manages to make complex topics interesting. Hey but it’s not all about Rand he has a great team who produce high-quality information. NetTonic Ranking 9/10

Neil Patel, is a prolific content writer, which is why is also recognised as a leading authority in the SEO niche. Characteristically his articles are long and in depth, which to some can be annoying but certainly, if you want detail he is the man. NetTonic Ranking 9/10

If you are looking for a more balanced view on subjects then this may be your read. The site again goes into detail but its main advantage is that the writers are in the main guest contributors many of which with huge experience but also some news kids on the block offering energetic new ideas. Another one of my favourites NetTonic Ranking: 10/10

Semrush has got to make my top 5 simply because it continues to be my most valuable SEO tool. Like SEJ the blog benefits from guest writers who regularly provide little gems of advice that are easily implemented into SEO strategies. NetTonic Ranking 9/10

Additional Great SEO Blogs to Bookmark:

 What can you say about Brian Dean, his is the king of creating defined backlink strategies. His posts are based on quality rather than quantity but certainly when he posts you should be sure to read. NetTonic Rating 10/10

SE Roundtable, – Barry Schwarts. SEroundtable.com was founded in 2003 to act as a central hub for reporting on the most interesting discussions and news from the web’s numerous SEM forums and portals.

Hubspot,- great friendly writing style that provides useful information in an easy to understand format.

Content Marketing Institute,- Becoming very popular due to the increase in content-related strategies.

Highervisibility,- “blog’s focus is to make online marketing tips and current events in the industry available to enrich the readership of our clients.”

Kissmetrics, – A site that concentrates heavily on data and metric, if you’re looking for content that is detailed and covers every angle of a topic, this is the one for you.

SEO Book, – Aaron Wall is another big hitter in the SEO game, his speciality seems to be SERPs and how the various Google updates and trends can affect ranking.

Copyblogger, – Not really a site for the technical insights but with Content Marketing now a major ingredient in SEO strategies it is a place for good solid tips.

Best Pay Per Click Blogs

PPC Hero: Considered by most to be the leading authority on all things PPC. From offering advice to the newest of beginners up to sophisticated strategies for advanced technicians this great blog offers it all. “We often explore complex search marketing issues with in-depth analysis & research. To really give a topic the attention that it requires, we will write an entire series of articles that focus on one hot PPC topic.” Nettonic Ranking 10/10

WordStream  has grown to become one of the most widely used automated PPC platforms. They claim that their 20 minute work week tools take the guesswork out of online marketing. Specialist PPC experts would probably argue that there is more to the science but certainly a great tool. Blogs posted most days so plenty to read NetTonic Rating 9/10

Difficult to have a guide about PPC without including our friends from Google, after all, they set the rules! The blog obviously offers up to date information on product launches but does provide in-depth instruction on what they perceive to be best practices NetTonic Rating 8/10

SEW get a second entry into our guide and I must say if Matt Cutts says this is a “must read” who am i to argue. Updated weekly like all the other it offers a combination of knowledge supported by unquestionable trust NetTonic Rating 10/10

Additional Great PPC Blogs to Bookmark:

iSpionage, – PPC Intelligence gathering tool providing information about what your competitor’s strategies might be.  Follow this blog to understand how you can ‘growth hack’ with competitive intelligence.

Clix Marketing, – Nowhere near as popular as those mentioned above but if time allows I do go to this blog as it seems to regularly provide a couple of gems.

CPCStrategy, – A retail-focused agency that specialises in driving conversions, primarily focus on Google Shopping and latest PPC trends, in their blog.

Best Social Media Marketing Blogs

Social Media as we all know is not easy, finding the right balance to keep your audience enthused is a challenge. The go-to platform for most businesses as it continues to offer a variety of posting options. NetTonic Rating 9/10

Another great resource. Created by Pete Cashmore from his home in Aberdeen, in July 2005 described as a “one stop shop for Social Media”. Over 7.2million Twitter followers NetTonic Rating 9/10

More than just a blog, Buffer offers users an easy platform to streamline posting. With a large team offering regular posts you will never be short of tips. NetTonic Rating 9/10

With over 450,000 email subscribers their resources include up to date marketing news in the form of articles, podcasts, downloads and events. A truly credible team founded by Michael Stelzner who is the author of a number of books and whitepapers. NetTonic Rating 9/10

The last on the list of top resources goes out to these guys. very similar to all the above which is probably why it’s good to read more than one opinion NetTonic Rating 9/10

Best Website Design Blogs

The speed of growth of the website design industry makes it difficult to provide an opinion due to it being so subjective. So in this section, they all get equal billing.

Creative Bloq focuses on both creative and inspirational tips. The site aims to show the very best in not only Web Design but also graphic design, 3D design, digital art and much more. They aim to bring the very best design work to their audience and offer an insight that helps them to keep up with all the latest trends and developments in global design and to enable them to create their best work. HuaWei Marketing Plan Report 2016

Smashing Magazine is one of the biggest design and developments blogs out there on the net! It specialises in the quality of its content rather than the quantity (as we all know quality is king). Everything that is presented to its readers is based on the latest trends and techniques in the industry. With all the free content, in addition, you can also purchase books in print or e-book form and get tickets to attend smashing conferences.

Co.Design  has been around for years and is one of the largest design sites online, with more than a million readers every month! Business and design are the two main areas that the blog puts focus on, including all the areas in which the two topics intersect. They also go behind the work and get into the guts of creativity–exploring the creative process and the bigger issues around how people, companies, and industries are making creative ideas happen.

SitePoint was first launched in 1999 and has become a central hub for web professionals in all sorts of web-related fields such as design, development, programming, product creation, SEO, and entrepreneurship. Another brilliant aspect of this site is the blog also offers a premium membership option for those who want to access thousands of video tutorials and every book ever published by Site Point.

Tuts+ owned by Envato is all about hands-on learning, something that is becoming more and more useful! It is brilliant for helping people apply the creative skills they acquire in areas like coding, illustration, photography and most importantly web design! If you’re looking for tutorials that you can follow at your own pace, Tuts+ is one place you’ll definitely want to check out.

Please, if you have found this guide useful be kind enough to like and share. Happy reading.