10 Of The Best Marketing Blogs To Follow In 2014

[Rivmedia]

Marketing is a broad term and there are literally thousands (if not millions) of marketing-related blogs online. While a lot of these blogs are pretty good, a vast majority of them do nothing more than republish old news in uninspiring ways and to be brutally honest, aren't worth following at all. As with any industry, there are a few blogs that stand out from the crowd; blogs that publish high-quality content on a regular basis and spend time, effort and money on creating exceptional content. With online marketing being an integral part of running any business these days, we thought we'd round-up a few of the best marketing related blogs you should be following in 2014. Here's a few of our favourites:
#1 - Moz

Moz.com (formerly SEOMoz.com) is perhaps the most well-known SEO and marketing blog out there. SEO is an every-changing topic and although there's an awful lot of misinformation out there, you can rest assured that the information offered at the Moz.com blog will be second-to-none. They allow regular guest contributors, but only those that really know their stuff. Guidelines are strict and content is exceptional.
#2 - Convince & Convert

Convince and Convert describe themselves as "social and content accelerators" and given the nature and quality of their blog, this wouldn't be far wrong. The website was set-up by Jay Baer, a social media marketing expert who has founded multiple marketing companies. They post content on a regular basis and like Moz, a lot of it comes from contributors. There's a lot of great information to be had here.
#3 - KissMetrics

KISSMetrics is an analytics company co-founded by Neil Patel, a well-known online marketing expert who has worked with some of the biggest brands on the planet. The KISSMetrics blog contains a tonne of useful information about many online marketing related topics.
#4 - ProBlogger

ProBlogger.com was founded by Darren Rowse. ProBlogger essentially teaches you how to become a better blogger and covers a wide range of blogger/marketing related subjects. There's advice about affiliate programs, blogging, making money and much more. It's another great site to follow for sure.
#5 - JeffBullas.com

JeffBullas.com is the private website of Jeff Bullas, a well-known marketing expert who has written a number of marketing related books. He blogs about a wide range of subjects including social media marketing, content marketing and commerce. His posts are always extremely in-depth and it's clear that he puts a lot of time and effort into creating them. It's not the most beautiful blog in the world, but the content is fantastic.
#6 - Hubspot

Although the HubSpot blog is essentially the blog of a marketing company, they post a lot of fantastic information that is available free of charge. They regular post their own infographics and industry-leading data that can be extremely valuable to anyone in the online marketing space. They cover a lot of subjects but inbound marketing is their primary focus. They also have a number of free downloads that are certainly worth grabbing.
#7 - Social Media Examiner

Social Media Examiner is perhaps the best and most well-known social media marketing blog. One of the unique things about Social Media Examiner is that they stick very closely to social media marketing. They don't typically stray too far from their primarily field, which is great. Their social media marketing advice is absolutely fantastic so it's well worth following. They also have a couple of free downloads that are great for anyone interested in learning a little more about social media.
#8 - QuickSprout

QuickSprout is the 'personal' blog of Neil Patel, the founder of the previously mentioned KISSMetrics blog/company. He posts some incredible content on QuickSprout and according to his blog posts, the site actually costs him more money than it earns. While there are a number of annoying pop-ups and conversion optimisation tactics, it's worth dealing with them for the exceptional content that is available completely free of charge on QuickSprout.
#9 - Distilled

If you're a fan of the Moz.com blog, you might have heard of Distilled before as they regularly contribute to Moz. Distilled is a SEO consulting company with offices around the world. Like many agencies, they have their own blog and with Distilled, the quality is second-to-none. They also regularly create valuable resources and guides that are definitely worth a read if you've got an hour or two to kill.
#10 - Content Marketing Institute

With content marketing fast becoming a massive part of any online marketing strategy, Content Marketing Institute is definitely one of the must-follow blogs of 2014. They regularly post articles, videos, research, webinars and tonnes of other valuable information, much of which is available for free. It's great for any content marketing enthusiasts out there, or SEO's trying to increase their content marketing knowledge.