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... [...]

MOZ team says, “The long tail of search can be a mysterious place to explore, often lacking the volume data that we usually rely on to guide us. But the keyword phrases you can uncover there are worth their weight in gold, often driving highly valuable traffic to your site. In this edition of Whiteboard Friday, Rand delves into core strategies you can use to make long tail keywords work in your favor, from niche-specific SEO to a bigger content strategy that catches many long tail searches in its net”. Long Tail SEO: When & How to Target Low-Volume Keywords MOZ  [...]

Jo Cameron says, “One of the biggest obstacles to driving forward your business online is being able to rank well for keywords that people are searching for. Getting your lovely URLs to show up in those precious top positions — and gaining a good portion of the visitors behind the searches — can feel like an impossible dream. Particularly if you’re working on a newish site on a modest budget within a competitive niche. Well, strap yourself in, because today we’re going to live that dream. I’ll take you through the bronze, silver, and gold levels of finding, assessing, and targeting... [...]

Rand Fishkin says, “It’s been 5 weeks since Keyword Explorer’s launch and in that time, more than 75,000 folks have tried out what is, in my opinion, the best keyword research tool on the market. And that’s just a sampling of the many, many kind pieces of feedback we’ve received the last few weeks (OK, there’s even more than that… it just keeps on going). But today, we’re upgrading it further with three of the most requested features since launch. Keyword volume is now international Since launch day, KW Explorer has only had support for US volume,... [...]