Articles by Portent Staff
Portent Staff // 26 Jun, 2015
Three Months at Portent: My Life as an Intern
My internship at Portent is ending, and although I am sad to be leaving, I want to take the time to reflect on my past three months. Here are some thoughts I want to share for anyone out there looking for an internship in social media or something related to digital advertising. To the best of… Read More
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Portent Staff // 10 Jun, 2015
Five Killer Tools for the Social Media Intern
Well, it’s been two months into my internship at Portent, and I’m beginning to get a firmer hold on my day-to-day workflow. I get the feeling that my friends still think I spend my entire day surfing Facebook and Twitter… and to be fair, I do spend a good chunk of my time each day on different social… Read More
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Portent Staff // 5 May, 2015
A Day in the Life of a Social Media Intern
When I heard that Portent was looking for a full-time social media intern, my first thought was, “What in the world could a social media intern do that could possibly take a whole days’ worth of work?” To be completely honest, and I know this goes for pretty much every other recent college grad and/or… Read More
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Portent Staff // 7 May, 2014
Do You Use Data To Improve Your Website Design?
The days of designing websites based merely on visual components are over, unless like being invisible. Don’t get me wrong. I am not against well-designed websites. Visual design of your website plays a key role in shaping your potential customers’ opinions of your brand. The first six seconds after someone lands on your website can… Read More
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Portent Staff // 14 Jan, 2014
A Front-End Workflow For The Evolving Web
The Setup Front End Development is a fairly new concept. Back when “Webmaster” was an actual job title there was no real “development” on the front end. Websites were structured using tables, CHSS and SSP were being joined together to make what eventually would be CSS. The web was still primarily a place for documents,… Read More
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Portent Staff // 17 Dec, 2013
Remarketing for Search Ads
Remarketing Lists for Search Ads [RLSA] is an extremely useful feature that Google rolled out over the summer. It allows you to serve search ads to people who are on your remarketing lists, and for Portent’s small e-commerce clients, it’s definitely proven profitable. So if you’re looking for another way to increase your sales, read… Read More
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Portent Staff // 2 Oct, 2013
Google Hangout: Making Friends, Not Followers
The team at MackWebSolutions pulled together a panel of experienced community managers including our Director of Social Media, Sara Lingafelter, for a Google Hangout yesterday to discuss the difference between friends and followers, and how to target the right people with your social media and other outreach efforts. The panelists included: Sheena Medina – @sheenamedina… Read More
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Portent Staff // 22 Aug, 2013
Why You’ll Agree to Disagree with Your SEO… and That’s OK
Do you ever feel like the ideas or the topics you want to focus on fall on deaf ears with your SEO specialist? Do they appear to favor seemingly trivial or invisible items like title or alt tags, navigation, and site speed, over keywords and rankings that feel more directly related to meeting your goals?… Read More
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Portent Staff // 16 Aug, 2013
Portent’s Top 10 Posts of 2013 (So Far…)
We are over halfway through 2013, so we thought we’d glance back at some of our top Portent blog posts of the year (so far). This was no easy selection — we are very fortunate to have a plethora of great content to choose from. The following posts were chosen based on social impact, traffic… Read More
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Portent Staff // 11 Jun, 2013
3 Ways to Keep Content Zombies from Eating Your Brains
The undead are white hot these days. From the “Walking Dead” to “World War Z,” zombies have hit the mainstream—they’re everywhere. Some talk about a Zombie Apocalypse as if it’s a forgone conclusion. A friend recently told me he’s shopping for a new vehicle, and it needs to be a four-wheel drive SUV so he… Read More
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Portent Staff // 3 May, 2013
3 Common Leadership Pitfalls to Avoid at All Costs
Conventional wisdom dictates that working in teams is often the best way to accomplish a task. Many hands make light work, a bundle of sticks cannot be broken, etc. Particularly with large, complex projects, there is just no way one person can accomplish everything on their own. We can’t possibly know everything, or be experts… Read More
Portent Staff // 7 Jan, 2013
Be a Freaking Video Hero, Sans Camera
Marketing departments are endlessly busy. Each one has different internal and external expectations about what they can (and should) accomplish. I mean, everybody’s a marketing whiz who watches the Super Bowl, right? If only it were that easy. Marketing departments are regularly expected to accomplish a wide range of goals. Ingeniously. Inexpensively. Instantaneously. Consequently, when… Read More
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Portent Staff // 1 Nov, 2012
Balancing SEO and Branding to Avoid Being Covered in Mud
Adding copy to your website can become a tug-o-war between the Branding and SEO teams. One side is representing the voice and tone of the brand. At the other end of the rope, the SEO team is focused on increasing keyword rankings. This can lead to everyone walking away covered in mud. Avoid that unclean… Read More
Portent Staff // 12 Jul, 2012
5 Things Kitten Photos Can Teach Us About Internet Marketing
Kittens rule the Internet. From the Jedi kittens of YouTube to the caption-savvy LOLcats, kittens are delighting nations. Sure, the occasional video of a laughing baby ripping paper or Darth Vader unicycling steals the viral spotlight, but kittens (and their older box-loving cat friends) have everyone from angsty adolescents to greying grandmas chuckling in pure bliss.… Read More
Portent Staff // 22 May, 2012
Seducing the Client: Four Tips for Making a Good First Impression
They say you only get one chance to make a first impression. It’s true. On dates, with mother-in-laws and in business. Thankfully, I aced my first date with my husband and we currently live happily ever after. With two cats. One Keurig. No picket fence. Meeting a client for the first time is also like… Read More