Happy Hour with AC's SEO Expert

Tomorrow evening, Associated Content will be hosting another "Happy Hour" discussion in the Forum, this time with our Director of Analytics & SEO, AC Miguel.

When: Wednesday, 8/26, 5pm EDT
Where: In the "General Discussions" section of the AC Forum

Miguel is AC's in-house SEO expert, and he'll be sharing some of his tips for creating highly-discoverable, search-friendly content for the Web. He'll also be responding to questions from the community.

If there are any particular topics you'd like for him to address tomorrow, leave a comment on this post. See you tomorrow in the Forum!

New Category Pages

Later this week, Associated Content will be rolling out updated category pages with a sharp new design. Click the thumbnail below for a preview:


The new category design includes four automatically-rotating featured content slots, each with its own high-quality image. There's also a new spot that calls out some of the great Contributors from each section, including AC's Category Editors, topic experts and past award winners.

We hope these pages will draw even more attention to the highlights of the AC library and stand-out Contributors from the AC community!

Happy Hour with AC's Legal Expert

Associated Content is hosting another "Happy Hour" discussion tomorrow evening in the AC Forum, and our General Counsel (AC Craig) will be showing up to answer legal questions from the community.

When: Tuesday, 8/11, 5pm EDT
Where: In the "General Discussions" section of the AC Forum

Craig oversees all AC legal matters, including our Terms of Use and our license agreements, as well as privacy and intellectual property issues. You can let us know in advance what topics you'd like for him to address by responding to this post.

We hope to see you at the Happy Hour!

July Best of AC Award Winners

Each month, Associated Content gives out three Best of AC Awards to Contributors publishing outstanding content in a diverse set of topics across the site.

We'd like to congratulate the talented winners of July's awards:

C. Chaning is the winner of the award for Music Reviews. He's a Clout 10, Top 100 Contributor as well as a Category Editor in Arts & Entertainment with hundreds of empassioned entertainment reviews under his belt.

Donna Daniels is the winner of our award for Pet Care. In close to 3 years on AC, Donna has racked up more than a million page views by publishing over 1,600 pieces of content, including more than 75 pieces of pet and animal content in 2009 alone.

Simon Volkov is the winner of our award for Real Estate. Simon is a private investor and foreclosure specialist who has published nearly 100 AC articles about Real Estate, full of timely, expert advice for current and prospective homeowners.

Congratulations to all three of these prolific and talented Contributors, and thanks to the hundreds of the people who sent in nominations!

Looking ahead...

The categories for the August 2009 Best of AC Awards are Back to School Guides, Food & Wine and Home Improvement.

If you'd like to draw attention to content you're publishing in any of these fields, or if you know of any other worthy Sources you'd like to nominate for these awards, please email community@associatedcontent.com or post a reply in this forum thread.

Pam Gaulin in First for Women magazine

It’s been a week full of press for some of Associated Content’s top Contributors. In addition to Christine Bude Nyholm and Robert Dougherty’s recent TV appearances (see below), AC superstar Pam Gaulin was recently interviewed by and featured in women’s lifestyle magazine First for Women.

Click the thumbnail below to enlarge:


The First for Women feature focuses on three tried-and-true methods that many work-at-home women have discovered for earning some extra cash online. It also highlights Pam’s remarkable success as an AC Contributor. Click here to view the article in its entirety.

Robert Dougherty on The Situation Room

News and commentary about the controversial “Obama Joker” posters are taking the Web by storm, and a diverse set of perspectives published on AC have been gaining traction. An Op-Ed by one of AC’s top News Contributors, Robert Dougherty, has been picked up by many sites, quoted extensively (see this instance by The Atlantic’s Andrew Sullivan) and it even captured the attention of producers from CNN’s The Situation Room.

Watch CNN’s coverage of the Obama Joker posters below, and look for Robert Dougherty’s contribution at the 1:25 mark:


Click here to read the article that sparked so much discussion. Click here to check out alternative perspectives from some of AC’s other top News Contributors, including Saul Relative and Mark Whittington.

All in all, it’s been a great week of press for AC Contributors. Check the AC Blog again tomorrow for more news on that front.

July Rising Star Award Winners

This month we selected 5 great new Contributors who have shown potential to become AC superstars. Their well-written and researched content, dedication to the site, enthusiasm and ability to promote their content earned them this distinguished award.

July 2009’s winners are:

Shelly Barclay
Jeffrey Weeks
Tamara McRill
M.G. Hardiman
Anne Wright

Congratulations to the winners! You can read more about why these winners were chosen here.

Christine Bude Nyholm on the CBS Early Show

This morning, Associated Content Contributor Christine Bude Nyholm was featured on the CBS Early Show.

The show producers found Christine after reading her AC article, "Shop Around for Prescription Drugs: It Pays to Compare." The article is based on her personal experiences, and imparts crucial advice for prescription drug users who aren't fully covered by insurance.

Watch the CBS Early Show clip here:


Christine is one of AC's most successful Contributors, with more than 2,000 useful pieces of content, nearly 2.5 million page views and a Best of AC Award under her belt. We couldn't be more thrilled to see this stellar Contributor, and her sound advice, connecting with a new audience. You can read more of Christine's work here.