Your site needs traffic, actually, it needs more traffic and better traffic (i.e., traffic likely to invest in your offers.) That traffic does exist; no doubt about it. You just need to find it. Abbas Ravji had the same problem, and he decided to do something about it. When he analyzed the situation, he realized that the sites on Google’s page 1 are getting the traffic he needs. If only he could find out how they get the traffic and steer some of that traffic to his site. The result of his investigation is his new plugin, Wp RankMe. This new WordPress plugin digs into the public information... [...]

Jim Yu says, “The search and content marketing world has undergone some major changes during 2015. The stage has been set for a shift away from producing content for its own sake. Instead, there is a trend towards the use of search and social data to guide content creation. This development will be a critical part of boosting engagement for brands and helping their content attract the desired audience. Although the content itself has a central role to play in the conversion of customers, the importance of the more technical side of search optimization should not be overlooked. The industry... [...]

Matt McGee says, “SEO (search engine optimization) has come a long way. After experiencing the “wrath of Google” years ago, some marketers have exited the SEO game and opted instead to use paid traffic to generate their leads and prospects. However, when done correctly (and ethically), there is no match for the longevity, consistency and quality of the lead flow you’ll experience from SEO. Today, I want to offer you an insider’s view of how to do this well. All of my businesses are built entirely on organic SEO, and if I were to stop doing everything today, they would continue... [...]

Matt McGee says, “A 2015 study by Smart Insights showed that 50 percent of businesses doing digital marketing had no form of digital marketing plan or strategy. They were doing digital marketing, yet there were no clearly defined objectives or goals. Does this seem a little crazy to you? In our experience helping businesses large and small, we’ve also found that most businesses don’t have a digital marketing plan (or a marketing plan of any kind, in many cases). Unfortunately, smaller local businesses are often the worst offenders here. Micro budgets require a solid ROI, but cutting... [...]

Kelsey Reaves says, “The link building world is in a constant state of evolution. New tools are continually introduced to the market, with SEOs ready to discover what works best. Our outreach team at Modernize recently found ourselves in this position. In need of a new email automation service, we were eager to explore and test out new tools to see what improved our overall outreach system. Modernize is in the home improvement space, and we focus heavily on energy efficiency and green living — thus, we target lots of green blogs, solar websites, etc. Our aim at Modernize is to be a resource... [...]

Michael Guta says, “Google originally acknowledged that clicks do help “Google My Business” rankings earlier this month then seemed to reverse itself on the subject. The about-face from Google was observed by Barry Schwartz of Search Engine Roundtable. The reversal on Google’s part leaves those working to promote their brands through Google My Business to wonder which is the case. On Dec. 2, 2015 Schwartz wrote about what he said was the first admission by Google that clicks affect the Google My Business ranking. At the time, Schwartzreported that a company representative, Rahul J,... [...]

MOZ team says, “It’s the season of giving, and that notion extends to search! Brand preferences have an almost tangible impact on several levels, from consumer affinity to a rankings boost on Google. In this holiday edition of our now-traditional Whitebeard Friday, Rand explains why it’s important to keep brand recognition at the forefront of your strategy, and offers up a framework on how to get started on giving searchers a reason to prefer your brand“. Giving Searchers a Reason to Prefer Your Brand MOZ Blog  [...]

Dan Bagby says, “Don’t limit your SEO strategy to your own website. There are many ways to increase your brand’s exposure in search by optimizing social profiles and getting other sites to rank for your brand in search. This can help you 1) protect your online reputation by dominating the first page of search for branded search, and 2) rank for keywords faster than you would be able to with only your own domain. Optimizing Social Profiles For Branded Search Your own site cannot dominate the first page of search results, which leaves you vulnerable to having negative content on other... [...]

Marketers typically concentrate their Search Engine Marketing on Google. That’s no surprise since Google is the top search engine. However, Bing and Yahoo! are also top tier search engines and they can drive a lot of traffic to your sites, too. Fortunately (for you), many marketers ignore them. You know better. Their users spend a lot of money online and you can get some of that bounty. Mark Bishop noticed a peculiarity in Bing’s ranking algorithm. He played around with this insight and and is finding it profitable to focus his marketing work on taking advantage of it. Bishop says that... [...]

Ginny Marvin says, “Another year, another whirlwind in paid search. What marked 2015 wasn’t one big change, like 2013’s Enhanced Campaigns, or even 2014’s move to Shopping Campaigns, but a lot (a lot) of smaller changes that added up to a need to be constantly on your game. From new reporting tools to new ways of categorizing what counts as a conversion to more automation and opportunities to target and tailor messages to certain audiences, 2015 packed in a whole lot in twelve months. It was also the year mobile search on Google surpasses desktop, so naturally there continued to... [...]