With the year 2018 coming to a close, it’s time to recall the past, recap the highlights and look into the future. For this article, we have asked international industry experts to share their assessment of the latest digital marketing developments and reveal what’s on their personal wishlist for 2019. In addition, a lot of our experts took the opportunity to re-share their 2018 (or all-time) favorite content and give a shout-out to the thought leaders, content creators, SEO masters or colleagues of the year.
The Online Marketer’s Wishlist
❇️ To get drunk with John Mueller and for him to give me all the Google secrets. That would be cool. -Izzi Smith
❇️ That Google doesn’t launch a new update during Christmas and new year! -Aleyda Solis
❇️ Snow! A lot of snow! I hope my whole garden will be covered with snow and I will make a huge snowman. -Lukasz Zelezny
❇️ A peaceful and happy time with my family. –Marcus Pentzek
❇️ Top rankings –Rasmus Sørensen
❇️ More clarity from Google. Some of their answers are so unspecific, almost misleading. I wish they gave better answers to our questions and I don’t think that they have to give away secrets to do so. – Kevin Indig
❇️ Happiness:) – Jordan Koene
❇️ To launch this affiliate site and test rankings for the big man (Santa Claus)! -Chris Giarratana
Dear #DigitalMarketing experts, what’s on your wishlisht for 2019? Submit your vote or comment if it’s not on the list.
— Searchmetrics (@Searchmetrics) December 4, 2018
The most exciting digital marketing developments
“In 2018 I saw an exciting shift in the increase of knowledge sharing in the industry: more studies, more intelligent theories, useful talks at conferences rather than sales pitches, and generally a better attitude. For me, this shift was fully nescessary: knowledge sharing is how we all get better, and for that, a safe environment is needed. This is definitely how the SEO community should be developing. More of this in 2019, please!” – Izzi Smith
Trends to be discussed
How to start your year right
2018 #MustRead Content
? The Izzi & Nils Show! – Izzi Smith
? This massive piece of Cyrus about the SEO success factors. – Aleyda Solis
? Gaps.com – Rasmus Sørensen
? Oh man, it’s just too hard to decide. I consume a lot of content to curate it for my newsletter, Tech Bound, so it’s very hard to decide. I like everything by Brian Balfour, Cassey Winters, Shane Parrish, Ben Thompson, Scott Galloway, Kara Swisher, Paul Graham, Jordan Peterson, Seth Godin, Tim Urban, Malcolm Gladwell,… – Kevin Indig
? “The case against Google”, New York Times – Jordan Koene
? Searchmetrics has one of the most baller blogs on marketing (I know it is obvious b/c I contribute 😉 ) but seriously good stuff. Also, did you know Searchmetrics has a podcast? I usually don’t like podcasts, but “Voices of Search” is a legit cast. – Chris Giarratana
The online marketers who made our year
?Pip Klöckner: for being one of the smartest, future-focused SEO minds. Izzi Smith
? Alex Alexakis: Alex was a big influence in helping me grow in SEO. He’s a knowledgeable dude who a unique blend of design, UX, and technical SEO experience. – Chris Giarratana
? Aleyda Solis: an inspirational, brilliant and generous SEO who is a genuinely lovely human. She is awesome. – Izzi Smith
? Dawn Anderson for all these interesting conversations we have during conferences. David Bain for everything! – Lukasz Zelezny
? Malte Landwehr: for his awesome expertise and because he’s always contributing super interesting data. – Izzi Smith
?Fernando Maciá, for being the most prolific Search and Digital marketing author in the Spanish speaking industry, his discipline to write and share through his books is impressive. – Aleyda Solis
? Nils Kattau: for being fabulous. Thorsten Becker: a truly badass boss and excellent drinking buddy. – Izzi Smith
?For pushing me: Paul Shapiro, Jim Christian, Arsen Rabinovich, Igal Stolpner, Olga Adrienko, Si Quan Ong, Micah Fischer-Kirstner, Chris von Wilpert and many, many more (sorry for everyone I forgot :-/) – Kevin Indig
? TRDF: You know who you are <3 – Izzi Smith
? Barry Adams, for speaking clearly about what can be perceived polemic topics and being some of the technical SEOs sharing more with the community. – Aleyda Solis
? @therealpmac awesome penalty and raters guideline expert. @aleyda – well you know why – Rasmus Sørensen
?Dawn Anderson, for sharing about otherwise overlooked research related topics in search. – Aleyda Solis
? Judith Lewis, for always supporting women in our industry as well as being a fellow remoter that requires lots of discipline and hard work to be able to do it successfully. – Aleyda Solis
?Gianluca Fiorelli, for being one of the most friendly people in our sector, always I friend I can rely on. Additionally, for never allowing himself to miss the big picture, speaking about visual search when many were mostly thinking about voice. – Aleyda Solis
? Ayasha Giarratana. One of the top 10 SEM marketers in the South-East region. Knowledgeable on how to combine User Intent with technology to drive conversions and make companies some serious bank (and look good doing it). – Chris Giarratana
What were your highlights in 2018, which content pieces do you miss in our list and who made your (working-) day? Leave a comment and let your fellow marketers know!