Jacob Baadsgaard says, “For many companies, the goal of their paid search campaigns is to generate leads. As marketers, we work hard to get qualified leads to our sales team for the lowest cost possible. But the problem is, a successful paid search campaign doesn’t just produce cheap leads — it produces economical sales. The trouble with sales Recently, I was approached by a client who had decided that paid search simply didn’t work for their business. They had made enough money off of their paid search leads to cover their ad spend, but they weren’t really making any profit. To be... [...]

MOZ team says, “Are you guilty of living in the past? Using methods that were once tried-and-true can be alluring, but it can also prove dangerous to your search strategy. In today’s Whiteboard Friday, Rand spells out eight old school SEO practices that you should ditch in favor of more effective and modern alternatives”. 8 Old School SEO Practices That Are No Longer Effective MOZ  [...]

Purna Virji says, “Whether you work in SEO or PPC, you’ve likely noticed a new trend emerging in your search reports: a rise in longer-tail searches and question-based search phrases. The likely culprit? Voice input. Voice search is easier than text input; we all know this. We can speak something much more naturally than we can type it. Most of us are looking for a fast fix or a way to make multi-tasking more efficient, and conversational user interfaces fit that bill perfectly. Whether we want to ask Alexa to clarify a recipe while cooking, ask Siri for directions while driving or run... [...]

Sarika Pariwal says, “Long-tail keywords can help even smaller and newer websites to “steal” traffic away from the big and established players. All it takes is some intelligent keyword research and content creation. So here’s a lowdown on the what, why, and how of long-tail keywords. What Keyword phrases that typically contain 3-4 or more words are known as long-tail keywords. They tend to show a more specific search intent on the part of the searcher, narrowing down the results to only the most appropriate. These keywords are less general than 1-2-word keywords (AKA “seed”... [...]

Adam Feldstein says, “Just a few months back I wrote a blog post reviewing Moz Pro in 2015 and shared some of our lofty goals for 2016. Now that we’re a quarter of the way through the year, I wanted to share some of the progress we’ve made and offer a glimpse into other great SEO features we’ll be working on over the next three months. Want to learn more about Moz Pro? Campaign rankings leveled up We overhauled Moz Pro’s rankings architecture, dramatically improving response times and unlocking all kinds of new features. For the full scoop on the core release, check... [...]

Ian Harris says, “Search marketing evolves on a daily basis. The constant introduction of new and innovative processes means that strategies can shift frequently as SEOs and marketers try to work out the best way to deal with new online environments. From Google updates to advances in technology, the methods we use to measure the success of an SEO campaign, however, may not always be giving us the full picture. Many in the industry still cling to the growth of organic as the metric to measure success but, while it’s still very important, we’re not measuring like for like when comparing... [...]

Rand Fishkin says, “Yes. I’ve read the studies. I know the correlations. Long-form content, on average, earns more engagement, higher rankings, and more shares than their more concise brethren. But, that does not make long-form content the same as great content. It does not make long-form content the goal of every content effort. It certainly does not mean that longer content is better content. Confounding variables are, in my opinion, behind many of these correlations. Long-form content, at least the good stuff, intentionally targets searchers and browsers seeking lengthier, more... [...]

Brent Knauff says, “Assuming you don’t live in a shell, you have probably seen or heard of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. They’re the immensely popular superhero group that began as a comic in the 80s, and reached peak popularity in the 90s, and to this day, maintains a cult following with children and adults alike. Even as fun and interesting as the premise is, we can still ask the question: Why have they stayed so popular over the years? My take is it’s because of the characters. The dynamic brothers, consisting of Leonardo, Raphael, Donatello and Michelangelo, have so much variety... [...]

Daniel Marks says, “I initially started writing a post about how BuzzFeed tailors its content to different social networks. What image sizes do they use? What type of content works on one network but not another? What tactics do they employ? But as it turns out, there isn’t anything that revolutionary in the way BuzzFeed approaches their content on these social networks. There are a few interesting things they do, such as: Using silent, square videos on Facebook that work well on any device and don’t require sound to be understood”. The Buzzfeed Approach to Social Media Strategy MOZ... [...]

Sarah Patrick says, “As a small business owner or manager, growing your company can be challenging, especially when working with a somewhat limited budget and a lack of brand recognition. How do you get your services in front of the right people? To raise awareness about your company, it seems reasonable to invest in advertising and marketing. However, 69 percent of small businesses in the US dedicated less than $10,000 to advertising and marketing in 2015, and only 22 percent plan to increase their advertising and marketing spend in 2016, according to new survey data about the state of... [...]