Although marketing through social networks has grown tremendously over the last several years, classic SEO (search engine optimization) is still important. It's also fairly straightforward if you do the proper market research. Follow these SEO best practices and you'll see a nice boost in your organic (non-paid) traffic.

Imagine being a Redskin and getting your hands on the Dallas Cowboy playbook before the season begins; or being Target and getting the inside scoop on the marketing strategy of Walmart. In this day and age, understanding your competition, and particularly the marketing strategy your competition is pursuing, is far more critical than many companies realize.

Given that 20 percent of all meal occasions are snacks, accounting for 25 percent of all calories consumed, it’s no surprise that more healthful snacking will be a major focus area for many food companies and food service operators this year.  Among other weight management trends causing Americans to rethink eating habits, there is growing recognition of the nutritional benefits of fruit and nuts. 

Market research indicates that this nutritional trend will continue to propel consumers' use of nuts and other natural foods as leading snack products. Food producers and retailers are responding by offering a greater range of tasty and convenient products, including nut and fruit bars and trail mix.

Food industry trends have led Federal agencies including the Food and Drug Administration and some politicians including New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg to push for reforms to nutrition standards and to manufacturers' labeling of America's food supply.

While this development has been long in the making, it also coincides with a weight management trend that is gaining steam rapidly: Growing numbers of American customers are letting manufacturers know that they are concerned about health and wellness and that they want the food they purchase to meet their dietary expectations.

In the healthcare IT industry, two of the driving goals that are often at odds with one another are controlling costs and improving the quality of medical treatment.  Telemedicine is one of the practical concepts that truly has the ability to do both at once.  Despite being called telemedicine, this group of technologies is used in hospitals, nursing homes and other care facilities, just as much if not more that in a home care or remote setting.

Currently, telemedicine focuses largely on remote patient monitoring, but it also includes the use of videoconferencing for medical purposes as well.

President Obama signaled a newly collaborative spirit during his recent visit to Mexico, and emphasized strong focus on the Administration's agendas for immigration reform and the Drug War.

Economics are subtexts to both immigration reform and to the two nations' shared stake in ending the sales of and violence around illegal drugs. In the cities and towns of the U.S., far from the pomp of State visits, many Mexican-American immigrants also are likely to be especially concerned about another aspect of U.S. - Mexico relations that directly affects their lives:

The challenges they face in making Internet-based payments from the U.S. -- known as remittances -- to business partners, family-members or friends in Mexico.

Restaurants are increasingly adding healthy eating out options into their menus these days. What is key about current menu trends at restaurants are that they are in sync with a wide variety of contemporary healthy eating styles, including low-carb and locavore, paleo and probiotic. Ultimately, restaurants are getting savvy about how to satisfy nutritional trends and an ever-expanding range of niche diners who are interested in healthy and delicious food.

From the rise of digitized health records to the increasing trend toward patient tele-monitoring, it is clear that a healthcare technology revolution has taken place in nearly every stage of the healthcare system.

In the food and beverage market, health-conscious Americans are driving big changes in food production, packaging, distribution and service. This is especially evident in supermarkets and in restaurants, where companies are under pressure to provide clearly-labeled packaging and menus that list calorie amounts.

Healthcare organizations have long been searching for ways that healthcare technology can help them innovate and provide better outcomes.  A particular challenge is the paper patient files that doctors and hospital staffs create, which no longer comply with trends in the healthcare IT market.

The key to transforming healthcare organizations from paper-based to paper-less is Electronic Medical Records, EMR.