Jawad Khan says, “Having a blog means you generally want more traffic to your content. No matter how many monthly blog visitors you have, you still want more. Better traffic means more opportunities to build relationships, generate leads, and ultimately make money. The problem with most of the conventional traffic generation advice is that it’s either too expensive or it’s just simply outdated, ineffective and useless. Writing high-quality content, guest blogging and blogger outreach are all great tips for a long-term traffic strategy. But what if you need something to create an immediate... [...]

Asim Mughal says, “If we talk about website optimization, keyword research is an essential part for both PPC marketing and search engine optimization success. The internet is choke full of articles by search marketing experts who tell you that it is necessary to optimize your site for the terms that people are actually searching for. But when it comes to finding those terms and turning them into profitable keywords, this whole process is no easy feat. You have to put a huge effort to prepare a robust keywords list for your website. But here’s the thing… Keyword research doesn’t... [...]

Kayli Kunkel says, “Not all keywords are created equal. Some, like “marketing,” draw in huge crowds of searchers each month. Others, like “marketing tips for small shoe store companies,” might squeak out a couple hits. As marketers, we’re often conditioned to go after attainable high-volume keywords. You know, the kind that pull in over a hundred Google searches per month? The rationale seems sound: We’ll attract more traffic, generate more leads, and close more customers. More clicks = more business, right? Not always. We always knew that targeting some... [...]

Ben Davis says, “If you are a low spender on AdWords, Google Keyword Planner now shows only very broad traffic ranges for suggested search terms. This is inconvenient for the many writers out there who like to use this tool to plan their content. Here’s a really quick roundup of five genuinely useful and fun alternatives if you are looking for content ideas. They don’t all show traffic figures either, but are easy to use and will hopefully provide inspiration. NB click on the images to visit each of the sites. 1. KW Finder A very impressive tool that gives a wide range of data,... [...]

Ginny Marvin says, “Beginning the week of September 12, new keywords and keywords that haven’t received any recent clicks and impressions will have a reported Quality Score in AdWords of null, represented by dashes (“–“). By default, any keywords with null Quality Scores will be excluded from reports and automated rules that have Quality Score filters unless you check a new box that will appear with this change to include them. Google recommends reviewing any reports, filters, rules and scripts that include Quality Score before September 12 to be sure they will function properly”. Google... [...]

MOZ team says, “Is the practice of tracking keywords truly dying? There’s been a great deal of industry discussion around the topic of late, and some key points have been made. In today’s Whiteboard Friday, Rand speaks to the biggest challenges keyword rank tracking faces today and how to solve for them”. Should SEOs and Marketers Continue to Track and Report on Keyword Rankings? – Whiteboard Friday MOZ  [...]

Winston Burton says, “Some SEOs and brands think that rankings are a very important metric to track for SEO success. But is this really the case? Some sites rank well for high-volume keywords but don’t get any benefit from it because the keywords do not meet user intent, and the user ends up leaving the site because they could not find what they are looking for. This leads to a bad user experience. High search engine rankings can be great — but only if the keywords drive traffic, deliver conversions and improve your ROI. Sometimes, a brand owner or client has specific keywords for which... [...]

Ginny Marvin says, “First there were the error notices that users have to have an active campaign, not just an AdWords account to access Keyword Planner. Then came combined search volumes for close variants. A Google spokesperson has confirmed with Search Engine Land that users do not have to have an active campaign to use Keyword Planner. On social media, Google told users that the error was the result of a technical issue that was being fixed. When Keyword Planner launched inside AdWords in 2013, replacing the open Keyword Tool, it got a cool reception. So there was alarm when some users... [...]

Ryan Shelley says, “Keywords are essential to every aspect of your SEO campaign, from on-site placement and usage to link prospecting and acquisition. Knowing which terms to target and how to target them can either produce great results or end in a huge flop. Defining and categorizing your keywords will help in your link outreach and community building online, both of which are essential in order to drive relevant traffic to your site. While there are a number of schools of thought when it comes to the types of keywords we should use, I want to walk you through the seven types we use at my... [...]

MOZ team says, “As SEOs, we often find ourselves facing new changes implemented by search engines that impact how our clients’ websites perform in the SERPs. With each change, it’s important that we look beyond its immediate impact and think about its future implications so that we can try to answer this question: “If I were Google, why would I do that?” Recently, Google implemented a series of manual penalties that affected sites deemed to have unnatural outbound links. Webmasters of affected sites received messages like this in Google Search Console: Google Outbound... [...]