Rand Fishkin says, “Google is drawing connections between semantic concepts and brand names, and it’s affecting SERPs. In today’s Whiteboard Friday, Rand explains that process, offering tips on how we can help make sure our own brands are included”. How Google is Connecting Keyword Relevance to Websites through More than Just Domain Names – Whiteboard Friday MOZ Blog  [...]

James McCormick says, “You’ve heard us saying a thousand times: the buzz about big data isn’t about the amount of data you’ve collected; it’s how you digest that data and turn it into actionable insights. With the revamp to Google Analytics’ (GAs) benchmarking, Google is taking the next steps in allowing us common folk to process data in a platform with a simple UI, built to enable you to draw insights to catalyze actionable improvements to your marketing program. Google’s vision is there. GAs extended benchmarking capability  – available to free and premium users –... [...]

Jom Seward says, “I love Screaming Frog. It is without doubt the best SEO tool I use on a daily basis (no offense, Moz). The sheer amount of data you can get about your website, or someone else’s website, is incredible. You can find broken links, you can check for your Google Analytics (or any other) code on all pages through the custom search, and you can even go so far as to follow all the redirects and find out the redirect paths in a website. In this quick guide, I’m going to show how Screaming Frog data can be used to help perform a content audit. The data in Screaming Frog... [...]

Jason Abbruzzese says, “After four months and more than 3 million comments, the public input period for the Federal Communications Commission’s Internet regulations is coming to a close. The sheer numbers could be lauded as a victory for democracy in which the Internet came together to save itself, with studies showing overwhelming support for net neutrality. But the Internet does not decide on regulation — the FCC’s five commissioners do”. 4 Months and 3 Million Comments Later, the Public Has Spoken on Net Neutrality Mashable  [...]

Apple just announced their new iPhone 6 earlier this week. Samsung announced the Galaxy S5 not long ago. And Amazon also just announced the Amazon Fire Phone‎. Now Google is poised to enter this “battle of the titans”, too. While Google has the technical prowess and the marketing clout to match any of these companies, the question is whether this is the time when they get everything right. Microsoft also had plenty of technical prowess and marketing clout, but their first generation of the Microsoft Surface was widely viewed as not up to the standard set by their competitors.... [...]

Karissa Bell says, “As promised during Google I/O earlier this year, the first Android apps for Chromebooks have arrived. Machines running Google’s Chrome OS can now run the Vine, Evernote, Duolingo and Sight Words Android apps on their desktops. The first class of apps are part of Google’s App Runtime for Chrome (beta), the project that Google’s head of Android Sundar Pichai first revealed earlier this year during Google I/O. The project is part of Google’s broader effort to make Android and Chrome OS a more unified experience”. Google Reveals First Wave of Android... [...]

Ben Barrass says, “Benchmarking, for those that were in the know, was once a fantastic feature of Google Analytics. Discontinued in 2011, and then followed by the removal of Adplanner the following year, meant it became a lot harder to contextualise the great work marketers were doing and get valuable market information. Alternatives for benchmarking have always been available, based on toolbar tracking or proprietary stats vendors for example, but those that used Google Analytics benchmarking reports loved the feature for its simplicity, the fact that it was perceived to be well informed, and... [...]

James McCormick says, “You’ve heard us saying a thousand times: the buzz about big data isn’t about the amount of data you’ve collected; it’s how you digest that data and turn it into actionable insights. With the revamp to Google Analytics’ (GAs) benchmarking, Google is taking the next steps in allowing us common folk to process data in a platform with a simple UI, built to enable you to draw insights to catalyze actionable improvements to your marketing program. Google’s vision is there. GAs extended benchmarking capability  – available to free and premium users – offers... [...]

Amy Gesenhues says, “According to Google Analytics, it will be rolling out new Benchmark Reports over the coming weeks for any users who have opted in to share their data anonymously with Google. The new reports pull industry acquisition and engagement metrics from 1,600 industry categories, 1,250 markets and seven size-buckets, allowing users to analyze data by channel, location, or device category dimensions. Also included is a heat map feature which Google Analytics claims will identify areas that could use more attention. Along with the announcement, Google Analytics included comments... [...]

Jim Bilello says, “In the world of web marketing, I have found there is so much confusion in client reporting that unless you are a Google Analytics and PPC pro it is easy enough for your agency to position the data in ways that are confusing at best and downright misleading at worst. You have a dashboard you say not just spreadsheets? OK—but does your dashboard report on the items discussed below? How do you really know if your Google Pay Per Click or AdWords campaign is performing well against the competition? This brief post is in no way meant to be exhaustive in scope, but it will give... [...]