Craig McConnel says, “SEO is a critical consideration for any entity that wants to manage a strong web presence. Anyone that takes SEO seriously understands there’s more to it than selecting a list of keywords and throwing them into content. SEO is research and everything from compelling content to back linking and smart videos. It’s also a task better handled by a team of professionals with an understanding of your goals, industry and search engine optimization. But just how important is it in terms of your budget? It has been estimated that 93 percent of online interaction of... [...]

Lindsay Kolowich says, “SEO can sometimes feel like it stands for “Something Extremely Obscure.” As marketers, we’re responsible for staying on top of what can feel like endless Google algorithm updates. And if we fail to do so, we run the risk of not showing up in search for important target keywords. But keeping pace with all of those changes isn’t easy. Thankfully, when it comes to achieving SEO success on your website, there’s one rule of thumb that remains a tried-and-tested technique: optimizing your website with relevant and targeted keywords. By having... [...]

Ben Davis says, “The integration of search and social used to be about PR (social media driving link building) but now it’s increasingly about conversion. With both Google and Facebook offering highly targeted advertising, the ability to build lists across search and social is changing the marketer’s approach. Marty Weintraub, founder of Aimclear, spoke at this year’s SAScon about psychographic targeting and curating audience-based remarketing pools. Here are some of the tactics he extolled. Taking a search marketer’s approach to paid social The first point to make... [...]

Jason Decker says, “Local search marketing is a complicated system. Standard SEO techniques such as keyword-rich content, well-optimized meta tags and a strong backlink profile are always important. For multi-location franchises, add the complications of Name, Address and Phone Number (NAP) accuracy, maintenance and distribution of local business listings, proactive management of Google My Business data and citation development, and you have a real challenge, especially for large franchises in competitive markets. This article addresses three significant opportunities that are often overlooked... [...]

Ian Bowden says, “Ranking signal studies and anecdotal feedback point toward the growing importance of user signals in search results. Historically, the link graph has been the primary mechanism for Google and other search engines to determine what content is best and most worthy of returning to users. However, the link graph does heavily favor desktop experiences, as a lot fewer people link to mobile sites. With more people browsing on mobile devices and quality mobile listings growing in importance, Google has to reduce its dependency on the link graph. If the mobile webpage is not as strong... [...]

Jayson DeMers says, “Few types of online business can benefit from SEO more than e-commerce websites that allow for direct consumer transactions. Not only can you secure more web traffic (and a larger stream of revenue), you can also optimize specific product pages to funnel traffic to your most profitable or popular pages. But SEO (and e-commerce in general) is always evolving. New technologies, new insights and new best practices emerge on a regular basis, and the best e-commerce webmasters are jumping on these changes to stay ahead of the competition. Below, I’ve compiled a list of seven... [...]

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,... [...]

Marcus Miller says, “Local SEO is getting more difficult for many businesses. Google’s move from seven to three listings in the local pack, and the threat of various ads in the local space, has created a fiercely competitive environment for local businesses. Suffice it to say, if you wish to rank in that three pack in 2016 and beyond, your local SEO has to be 100 percent on point. In this article, I want to take a look at the primary local SEO ranking factors, along with the major competitive difference-makers and negative ranking factors. I will break down each of these to ensure that... [...]

Dominic Woodman says, “What do you do when Excel fails? Maybe you have more than a millions row of data. Perhaps you’ve tried to filter a large dataset with a VLOOKUP and Excel has decided to lay down and die. Excel is a fantastic tool, but that doesn’t mean it’s what we should use for everything. What should you use? The traditional answer is SQL, but setting up a SQL server if you haven’t done it and you’re not technical is a challenge. The free interfaces for working with it are typically very visually busy and not intuitive for those looking to get started quickly. Enter... [...]

MOZ team says, “Picture this: You discover that your site is ranking for a keyword you’ve been targeting. Cause for celebration, right? But what if that ranking page is irrelevant, wrong, or simply not the best choice? This situation is more common than you might think, and results in a good deal of frustration for SEOs. Rand shows you how to cope when you find that your valuable queries are sending traffic to the wrong URLs in today’s Whiteboard Friday”. What to Do When the Wrong Page Ranks for Your Keyword(s) – Whiteboard Friday MOZ  [...]