It’s that time of year again. The joyful holiday decorations are being put away to make room for the new year’s trends. The leftover cookies and treats are being thrown out (or quickly eaten) to prepare the fridge with healthy foods.

We all do it. The new year is a fresh start. However, it’s important not to just leave everything that 2015 has taught us in the past. That’s why we’ve gathered together our top 16 blogs over the last 12 months to keep with you in the new year.

01. Intro to SEO

SEO (Search Engine Optimization) is probably one of those topics that you’ve heard people talk about all the time. Clients ask about it. Your boss worries about it. With over 93% of online experiences beginning with a search engine, it’s vital to understand why everyone is making such a big deal about it.

02. How to Create Buyer Personas

Having detailed personas makes it easier for you to develop content, messages and services that are tailored specifically to your buyers. According to HubSpot, personas make websites 2-5 times more effective and easier to use by targeted users. Personalized emails improve click-through rates by 14%, and conversion rates by 10%. If those stats aren’t enough to convince you, then think about it this way: If you’re targeting an audience of 100 people, but only 10 of them actually need your solution, then 90% of them are not actually your ideal buyers. This is a huge waste of your time and resources.

03. Why Inbound Marketing Works

Marketing has always been about getting the right message in front of the right people at the right time. The internet allows messages to be sent at an astounding rate, but at what point do they just become noise? The good news is there is a way to rise above the noise and reach your potential audience, and it’s called Inbound Marketing. This method provides a strategy to get your message in front of people searching for it, just as they need it.

04. Inbound Marketing for Small Businesses

At Catch22, we see this all the time. Business owners often put all of their effort into making a great product, and then are too overwhelmed to even think about the marketing side. We understand what you’re going through and want to help; however, what sets most businesses back, or makes them fail altogether, is actually the owner themselves.

05. Small Business Marketing: Blogging 101

Blogging. Everyone is doing it. You know you should be doing it. But how can you possibly find the time to write 2 or more posts a week on top of everything else you have to do while running a small business? According to HubSpot, B2B marketers that write blogs receive 67% more leads than those that do not. I don’t know about you, but I wouldn’t want to miss out.

06. Small Business Marketing: Social Media [Infographic]

Throughout my research and experience, I have gathered together some stats and tips to help you get your social game started.

07. 5 Ways to Increase Your Website’s Conversion Rate

Your website’s conversion rate is an important indicator of how effective it is at engaging visitors and creating your business valuable leads. Here are some proven tips on how to increase your conversion rate.

08. How to Choose A Website Host

Choosing a web hosting provider shouldn’t be an extremely difficult process, and it doesn’t have to be. Determining what you need might be tough, so we’ll break it down to each of the different services that you’ll need to host a website. After reading this, you should be armed with the information you need to make a smart decision based on your current need, your budget, and where you expect to take your website in the future.

09. What is the Value of My Website?

If your company has a website, then you have most likely asked the question, “What is the value of my website?” or “How much is my website worth?” This is a commonly asked question because people who invest a lot of time, energy, and money want to know if their work is paying off. The great thing about owning a website is that you can create value with a minimal investment. For example, if you only pay for website design and hosting, and you add quality content on a consistent basis, then you can create value through hard work alone.

10. The Challenges of B2B Content Marketing

There is no question that content marketing is tough. Just this subject alone seems like it’s been beaten to death a hundred times, why even take the time and resources to add to what seems to be just so much noise?

11. The Value of Hiring A Web Design Agency

When the client’s nephew taught himself how to make websites at 15, or their neighbor offers to make one for $500, it’s difficult to justify the high price tag that comes with hiring an agency when you don’t really understand what makes their websites different. It’s not necessarily that an amateur web designer can’t make a beautiful website, it’s that the design of a website is only one part of the whole experience.

12. Essential Plug-ins for Your Business WordPress Blog

There are literally thousands of plugins and themes available to help you add more functionality and customization to your blog, and the vast majority of them are available for free. Let’s take a look at some of the most popular and useful plugins for WordPress.

13. In-house vs Outsourced: Where Companies Stand on the Content Creation Dilemma

According to the Outsourcing Institute, companies who outsource save an average of 9 percent and gain 15 percent in capacity and quality.

14. 22 Tips for Create an Unforgettable Mobile Site

The first thing most of us do when searching for a solution to a need or problem is turn to our phone for the answer. According to comScore, more than half of all digital media consumption happens on mobile devices. We sleep, eat and breathe with our phones.

15. 7 Simple User Experience Rules to Follow

The dictionary defines UX as the overall experience of a person using a product such as a website or computer application, especially in terms of how easy or pleasing it is to use. UX Motel states that every $1 invested in UX can have a return of up to $100 for your business.

16. Why Your Story Matters

Sometimes it’s not about being creative, it’s about being honest.

From all of us at Catch22, we hope you have a wonderful 2016.