Daniel Faggella says, “Whether you’re a B2B or B2C marketer, there is ample opportunity to boost your search engine rankings through blogging. However, you can’t implement a short-term approach to build a long-term source of organic traffic. When you’re doing SEO, you need to be cautious. Some of the strategies that worked in the past will now get you penalized. On the contrary, some strategies that formerly weren’t worth your time are now essential. If you want to build a sustainable web presence, then you need to adapt to the changes of Google’s algorithm. Whether you see these... [...]

Clay Cazier says, “No doubt you have run across articles detailing the SEO benefits of structured data and how algorithms focused on things not strings are turning search engines into answer engines. A quick example: search for “George Clooney’s wife,” and Google immediately tells you Amal Clooney is his current spouse (married in 2014) and Talia Balsam is his former wife, married and then divorced in 1989 and 1993 respectively. In 2005, it is likely the top result would have been an organic listing featuring a website optimized for that particular query. Today, Google’s ability... [...]

Jeffrey L. Cohen says, “Did you know that 82% of local searchers will follow up by either calling the retailer, visiting the store, or making a purchase? Local search plays an important role in driving more foot traffic to your store. (highlight to tweet) But as of August 2015, Google made some significant changes. Now, only three businesses are listed in local search rather than seven, meaning competition is tough to get your business seen. So how do you make sure you’re doing everything you can to master your local search ranking? 1. Verify Your Business on Local Directories Make sure you’ve... [...]

Clint Evans says, “There are three big lies in SEO right now. SEO remains and has been the buzzword in small-business circles for about 10 years now. But there’s a seedy underbelly. I’ve talked with many business owners misfortunate enough to have suffered and been suckered by members of this underbelly. SEO is a technical and ever-changing discipline. If you’re busy running a $2 million to $20 million per year small business, how can you ever hope to keep up? If you’ve been burned, how do you know when to dip your toe back into the water? Who’s got your back? Lie #1: SEO is right... [...]

Nick Chowdrey says, “Anyone who knows anything about content marketing understands that a successful blog post or other piece of content is not just a case of “build it and they will come.” You can spend hours writing the most interesting and engaging post, or spend thousands on creating interactive/video content or e-book, but if you don’t have a strategy from the start for getting it in front of eyeballs… nobody’s going to see it. All that time and money—wasted. Here are my surefire, tried-and-tested suggestions for getting high ranking on search engines... [...]

Chris Lucas says, “Poor PageRank. We knew it. We used it. We sang its praises. But, alas, PageRank is dead. And the world has changed — at least when it comes to search engine optimization (SEO), scoring and optimization. As an industry, we’ve had some time to get adjusted. John Mueller announced in 2013 that Google would no longer be updating Toolbar PageRank — its system for ranking web pages based on value. In the two years since that bomb dropped, we’ve redefined the essence of what is really important when it comes to SEO measurement, and a new scoring model has emerged:... [...]

Damon Rutherford says, “Forward-thinking PR agencies are quickly learning that by adding comprehensive search engine optimisation (SEO) to their range of services they can differentiate themselves from their competition and deliver significant additional value to their clients. As an SEO, my work with these agencies has increased in line with this development. Why have PR agencies started to embrace advanced SEO? The Google algorithm development rewards websites securing high quality links and mentions from dominant websites, giving PR agencies a new advantage over traditional SEO agencies. PR... [...]

Dudley Carr says, “Today we’re excited to remove the Beta label on Moz Local Insights! This feature has been in beta since November when David first announced it. This release of Insights continues the push to provide our customers with a holistic understanding of local search presence. First, a tremendous thank you to all of our customers who gave us feedback about what works and what doesn’t work. In the two months that Insights has been active for all 60K+ listings in Moz Local, we’ve collected 2.5 billion individual metrics! Insights is tracking 220K search keywords, traffic for... [...]

Verónica Maria Jarski says, “To increase your ranking in search results, check out these five rank-boosting tips. “Navigate your way to the top with blogs,” suggests Spark Pay in the following infographic. “Blogging is a fantastic way to build up your power ranking.” Blogging also increases your SEO footprint, lets you optimize specific keywords, and attracts social shares and inbound links. Another tip is to “explore the social media landscape,” recommends Spark Pay. “Social shares are arguably more important than ‘follows.’ Be as visible... [...]

Miriam Ellis says, “St. Valentine’s Day is on the way, and I’ve been thinking about love and loyalty as they apply in the local business world. It’s been estimated that it costs 7x more to acquire a customer than to retain one; in my city, most of the major chains offer some type of traditional customer loyalty program. Most rely on a points-based system or an initial sign-up investment to receive benefits, but I wondered about Main Street. I picked 15 locally owned businesses at random to see if they had created loyalty programs, and then I checked Google and Yelp to see if any of... [...]