Ronald Dod says, “Search engine traffic is one of the hardest customer acquisition channels to understand, especially for small business owners. Generally, these are the reactions I see from small business owners when they first have Google Analytics installed correctly and learn how to segment the channels down to search engine traffic: Panic — Some immediately panic because they can’t understand why 98 percent of their website visitors don’t convert into a customer. Confusion — Some wonder why AdWords isn’t producing a 30-1 return on their investment. Dismay — Some are happy... [...]

Kristina Kledzik says, “A few weeks ago, rankings for pages on a key section of my site dropped an average of a full position in one day. I’ve been an SEO for 7 years now, but I still ran around like a chicken with my head cut off, panicked that I wouldn’t be able to figure out my mistake. There are so many things that could’ve gone wrong: Did I or my team unintentionally mess with internal link equity? Did we lose links? Did one of Google’s now-constant algorithm updates screw me over? Since the drop happened to a group of pages, I made the assumption it had to do with our site or... [...]

Beth Hayden says, “Keyword research is always a hot topic in content marketing circles. It’s one of those subjects that never goes out of style — because wise content marketers know that using the right words in their content will give them a big edge over their competition. Wondering how to find the “right” words to optimize your business’s content? Here are three quick tips for solid keyword research. 1. Discover the language your prospects use when they talk about your topic My friend Shawn, whose company Clear Harmonies creates custom a cappella arrangements for vocal groups,... [...]

Sarah Bird says, “I have a longstanding tradition of boring Moz readers with our exhaustive annual reports (2012, 2013, 2014, 2015). If you’re avoiding sorting the recycling, going to the gym, or cleaning out your closet, I have got a *really* interesting post that needs your attention *right now*. (Yeah. I know it’s March. But check this out, I had pneumonia in Jan/Feb so my life slid sideways for a while.) Skip to your favorite parts: Part 1: TL;DR Part 2: Achievements unlocked“. The Moz 2016 Annual Report MOZ  [...]

Jody Resnick says, “For owners and managers of SMBs, taking time to understand the intricacies of search engine optimization (SEO) can seem unnecessary.  However, leveraging the latest digital marketing tactics is important to your bottom line. Here are five relatively simple SEO tactics that can help you achieve your revenue goals. 1. Write original content You’ve probably heard this before, but it’s certainly worth reiterating:  make sure your website content is original and well written. Duplicating someone else’s content is not only unethical, it will hurt your Google rankings.... [...]

Edwyn Raine says, “It’s safe to say that the influence that Google has had in the last two decades has been phenomenal. The search giant has completely changed the way we discover and access information, providing a faster and more direct path to what we are seeking. In fact, it is estimated that in 2016 over 2trn searches were made worldwide, equating to well over 50,000 per second. Introduction to responsive search While search engine innovation continues to push new boundaries of user experience, working harder than ever to understand search intent, it is still only the larger websites... [...]

Sonia Simone says, “Search engine optimization — SEO — is one of those “you love it or you hate it” topics. Some get a charge out of the challenge of keeping up with those wily engineers at Google. Others would rather eat a bug than try to figure out what “headless crawling” means and which redirect is the right one to pick in months that end in R. I have to confess, I’m in the bug-eating camp on this one. Fortunately, although technical SEO is still important for some sites, there’s a crazy-powerful optimization technique that people like me can get really good at. Yes, it’s... [...]

Britney Muller says, “A glimpse into Google’s machine learning? You’ve likely seen the People Also Ask (Related Questions) boxes in SERPs. These accordion-like question and answer boxes are Google’s way of saying, “Hey, you beautiful searcher, you! These questions also relate to your search… maybe you’re interested in exploring these too? Kick off your shoes, stay a while!” However, few people have come across infinite PAAs. These occur when you expand a PAA question box to see 2 or 3 other related questions appear at the bottom. These infinite PAA lists can continue... [...]

Nikki Gilliland says, “In the past few years, working with social media influencers has become common practice for many travel brands. The benefits of this naturally include greater brand awareness and an increase in consumer trust – but it can also have a positive effect on SEO. I recently spoke with Diego Puglisi, search marketing manager for Thomas Cook Airlines, to find out more about this topic, specifically related to his own experience of working with influencers. Here’s what he said. Econsultancy: First, could you explain how working with social influencers can positively impact... [...]

MOZ team says, “They say history repeats itself. In the case of the great 301 vs 302 vs rel=canonical debate, it repeats itself about every three months. In today’s Whiteboard Friday, Dr. Pete explains how bots and humans experience pages differently depending on which solution you use, why it matters, and how each choice may be treated by Google”. Aren’t 301s, 302s, and Canonicals All Basically the Same? MOZ  [...]