David Mihm says, “Many of you have been tweeting, emailing, asking in conference Q&As, or just generally awaiting this year’s Local Search Ranking Factors survey results. Here they are!   Hard to believe, but this is the seventh year I’ve conducted this survey—local search has come a long way since the early days of the 10-pack way back in 2008! As always, a massive thanks to all of the expert panelists who in many cases gave up a weekend or a date night in order to fill out the survey”. Announcing the 2014 Local Search Ranking Factors Results MOZ Blog  [...]

Andy Curry says, “In “Do-it-yourself SEO: Dos and Dont’s for Backlinks,” my article last month, I discussed “anchor text,” which is the text that is a clickable link from one web page to another. Anchor text can be anything, really. For a link to a Realtor’s website in Charlottesville, Virginia, anchor text could be, for example: “Charlottesville farm for sale.” That phrase would be clickable. If placed on a website linking back to a Realtor’s site that sells farms in Charlottesville, that would be a good anchor text. However, anchor text can be tricky because Google is... [...]

Rand Fishkin says, “All signs point to links with exact match anchor text retaining the huge value we’ve seen throughout the years, but many of the techniques for acquiring those links are spammy. There are a few, though, that not even Google would frown upon, and in today’s Whiteboard Friday, Rand shows you what they are”. How to Acquire Anchor Text-Rich Links Without Resorting to Spam or Manipulation MOZ Blog  [...]

Susan Tucker says, “While not a new concept, content marketing is a fairly new term and there is a reason it is all the rage these days. It is incredibly valuable for small business owners and, with a little creativity, can level the playing field between small businesses and big name brands. Content marketing can include articles, blog posts, videos, press releases, direct mail pieces, infographics, webinars, and many other content-driven tactics. When your company is creating content, you are thinking like a publisher and therefore attracting consumers seeking the information that is valuable... [...]

Carla Dawson says, “SEO is a concept that has been around for years and some universities have incorporated it into the curricula. A while back, I posted this question on Moz and noticed some very strong opinions on the idea that SEO should be part of formal education. Search Engine Journal also posted an article on the idea that SEO should not be taught in universities. We (I co-wrote this post with Aleksej Heinze, who also currently teaches SEO) obviously believe SEO should be taught in higher education and got together to discuss how it benefits the SEO industry and how SEO can be incorporated... [...]

Molly Hoffmeister says, “Search Engine Optimization. For the somewhat-less-than-technically-inclined among us, it can sound a little intimidating. But if you tune out and start daydreaming the minute that someone brings up the concept of “spiders” crawling your website (interesting mental image, I know) and assume it’s a topic better left to your engineering department, your marketing will suffer. After all, search engine optimization, or SEO, is the cornerstone of inbound marketing; if you’re creating a ton of educational content to draw in prospects but not ensuring that it can... [...]

Paul Rogers says, “I was recently asked for advice on the best course of action for discontinued products for an ecommerce site and whether you should follow Google’s previous advice to let the pages 404. I decided to write this piece up because it’s something that’s talked about a lot, but rarely written about. I’m half suggesting people to question bits of it, as it’s an area that is, in my opinion, pretty subjective. In this specific scenario, the website was a very large fashion retailer, meaning that products are frequently discontinued (with no intention of bringing them back)... [...]

Paddy Morgan says, “Building the types of links that help grow your online business and organic search traffic is getting harder. It used to be fairly straightforward, back before Google worked out how to treat links with different levels of quality and trust. However, the fact that it’s getting harder doesn’t mean that it’s dead. What does the future hold? I’m going to talk about links, but the truth is, the future isn’t really about the links. It is far bigger than that”. The Future of Link Building MOZ Blog  [...]

Erik Devaney says, “You might remember analyzing that oft-quotedRomeo & Juliet line in high school English class. And I’m guessing you thought it was actually, “What’s in a name?” (Common mistake; I won’t hold it against you.) Contrary to what actual Shakespearean scholars will tell you, this quote is not about arguing that names have no inherent bearing on the true essence or quality of a person or thing (a reference, of course, to the feuding Montague and Capulet families and the strain these names are putting on Romeo and Juliet’s budding romance). Nope.... [...]

Russ Jones says, “I wish I didn’t have to say this. I wish I could look in the eyes of every victim of the last Panda 4.1 update and tell them it was something new, something unforeseeable, something out of their control. I wish I could tell them that Google pulled a fast one that no one saw coming. But I can’t. Like many in the industry, I have been studying Panda closely since its inception. Google gave us a rare glimpse behind the curtain by providing us with the very guidelines they set in place to build their massive machine-learned algorithm which came to be known as Panda.... [...]