We recently covered the different project management approaches, however, I thought it might be helpful to ensure that we have the fundamentals of project management discussed as well. 

As I was thinking about how to best do this, I didn't want to write a heavy 3,000-word piece so I decided to yet again use infographics as they're so easy to consume.

Today, we'll cover: 

• what is project management
• the 5 key project management process groups (or phases)
• and 8 important project management processes 

As you can see, I've become very passionate about project management. Next week, I'm taking the exam with the PMI to become a certified project management professional so you can expect a lot more on the topic over the coming weeks and months. 

Now let's get started. 

What is Project Management [Infographic]

Continuing the SEO series, this is a guest post by SEO consultant Paul Teitelman. 

Blogging has evolved from a niche option to the standard of content marketing across just about every web niche you can think of, but this serves as a bit of a double-edged sword.

The popularity of blogging means that it’s very subject to diminishing returns, and perhaps nothing illustrates this better than SEO. With every single new blog that pops up, that’s a new piece of competition when it comes to getting eyes on your content through Google.

The key way to stand apart here is through making sure that you take the time not just to follow trends, but to make sure you have a fundamentally sound strategy for your SEO content.

So, whether you are putting together an editorial calendar for your own content or preparing some guidelines before hiring an outside content marketing service, here are some of the things you can do to help the SEO structure of your blog develop.

9 Tips to Improve Your Blog's SEO Structure

When I was in my first year at university, I fell in love with marketing and communications and specifically, PR.

This was unusual as I was doing a BA in International Business and most students with such a degree tend to choose finance or consulting as a career.

But authors like Brian Solis and David Meerman Scott helped me make my choice.

I decided to follow their footsteps and set myself a goal: One day, I will publish a book about PR with Wiley.

Little did I know that eight years later, I'd achieve my goal.

How did I do it? By starting a blog in that first year of university.

As I didn't study PR, a blog was the best way to develop writing skills that are so crucial for PR. Also, social media and SEO are another set of skills you need so that you can spread the word about your blog and have a readership.

But what was crucial was that I didn't give up. It was hard, it was time-consuming to do on top of all of your responsibilities but 7+ years later, I still keep publishing content once a week.

It's discipline and persistence that are required for remarkable content.

This is a guest post written by Binh An Nguyen from Market Ease.

What do you do when your website’s performance becomes abysmal and your ranking on Google starts sinking?

Whenever my client comes to me saying his or her website is suddenly performing poorly, or dipping in recent months, I’ll tell them that it’s time for a comprehensive audit.

An audit is a diagnostic analysis of your website’s health, specifically in the content and SEO aspects.

There are many steps involved in a website audit, but all it takes is a bit an analytical mind, and a bit of time on your hands.

I’m going to show you a simple way to do your audit, including some free online tools that can help you get the job done.  Let’s dive in!

Why you need an audit

If you wish to have any hope of putting your website on the first page of Google, then you’ll need to make sure your website’s content is as optimised as it can be.

Because the internet is an ever-changing landscape, a routine audit can help in:

Everyone is a project manager. Even if your job title or job description doesn't contain 'project management', you still manage projects in your professional and personal lives all the time.

Think about it: planning your next trip or your wedding is very much a project so is the launch of a new product or a service or simply the process of planning and executing the next meeting you have to run. 

So what is a project? 

A project is a certain outcome or a task that is timebound and has an end game to it - something you're aiming to achieve. 

I've been running projects my entire life - moving to Germany, UK and then Ireland were all projects so were my dissertations about PR and social media for sustainability as well as all beauty blogger campaigns I run when I was working in my previous PR agency and now so are the multiple things that I do in my current Program Management job that by definition is all about managing multiple global projects at the same time. 

It took me a while to figure out how to excel as a program manager without formal project management education. If you've never run a project at work, it's helpful to start with an understanding of what project management is in the first place and what are the key methodologies that will help you make a decision on how to run your project.