Glenn Gabe says, “In May of 2015, I uncovered a major algorithm update that I called “Phantom 2.” It ended up being a huge update that impacted many websites across the web globally. I’ll explain why it was named “2” and not “1” soon. Google first denied there was an update in early May 2015, but then finally explained that they did indeed roll one out. They said it was a “change to its core ranking algorithm with how it assesses quality.” And with Google always looking to surface the highest-quality, most relevant information for users, that statement was incredibly important.... [...]

Brian Patterson says, “There has been a lot written about click-through rate (CTR) as it relates to SEO. Some say that itreally doesn’t matter. Others say that it is very possible it does. Reading articles, experiments and case studies is great, but we’re always eager to test things out for ourselves. We maintain a bunch of test websites for just that purpose. And so we decided to run a CTR test on one of the websites we hadn’t touched in a long while. The hope was to gather some evidence of our own. If you’re looking for a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled test, this... [...]

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... [...]

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  [...]

Larry Kim says, “Your organic click-through rate is ridiculously important. While it may not be a direct ranking signal that’s even part of Google’s core algorithm, I believe CTR is an indirect signal that definitely impacts rank. And if you improve your click-through rate, you should see your rankings and conversions improve. Although having a high organic CTR is crucial, having positive website engagement metrics is even more critical. What value is there in getting hundreds or thousands of people to click on your brilliant headlines if those people don’t stick around... [...]

Barry Feldman says, “SEO has hit the fan, man. Hmm. What? I mean, if you think you have foolproof tactics up your sleeve and magic linking techniques in your back pocket for optimizing your content, I’m sorry to inform you that your sleeve and pocket are see-through. In 2016, you can’t hide your tricks. The search gods see all. And they don’t look kindly on your 2010-era SEO. Google and the other search engines you care about are now good at sniffing out evidence that shows readers get value from your pages”. The Blog Post Checklist for Cranking Your Search Ranking Content Marketing... [...]

David Mihm says, “Google’s local search algorithm seems to be maturing Overall, we’ve seen a continuation of the gradual trend towards Google rewarding quality on all fronts—from citations to links to reviews. And as more companies have implemented the table stakes of site architecture, keyword- and location-relevant title tags, and claiming their Google My Business pages, quality and authority become the differentiators in competitive markets. The influence of Google+ on local results is on its way out (if it even existed in the first place) With the removal of links to Google+... [...]

MOZ team says, “We all have it. The cruft. The low-quality, or even duplicate-content pages on our sites that we just haven’t had time to find and clean up. It may seem harmless, but that cruft might just be harming your entire site’s ranking potential. In today’s Whiteboard Friday, Rand gives you a bit of momentum, showing you how you can go about finding and taking care of the cruft on your site“. Clean Your Site’s Cruft Before It Causes Rankings Problems MOZ Blog  [...]

Farooq Bhatti says, “In the local search sphere, one of the most important aspects of an establishment is its unique identifier, commonly known as NAP, which stands for Name, Address and Phone.   A citation is simply an online mention of your business NAP. When search engines see consistent NAP citations across your website, review sites, social media profiles, and directory listings, then this acts as a positive ranking factor. However, if search engines find inconsistencies in the citations, in the interest of caution and their own reputation, they promote businesses with accurate and... [...]