Aaron Wall says, “Whenever Google does a major algorithm update we all rush off to our data to see what changed in terms of rankings, search traffic, and then look for the trends to try to figure out what changed. The two people I chat most with during periods of big algorithmic changes are Joe Sinkwitz and Jim Boykin. I recently interviewed them about the Penguin algorithm. Topics include: what it is its impact why there hasn’t been an update in a while how to determine if issues are related to Penguin or something else”. Understanding The Google Penguin Algorithm ‘SEO Book’... [...]

Michael Cottam says, “The Panda algorithm looks for high-quality content, but what exactly is it looking for, how is it finding what it deems to be high-quality, and—perhaps most pressingly—what in the world can we do to befriend the bear? In today’s Whiteboard Friday, Michael Cottam explains what these things are, and more importantly, what we can do to be sure we get the nod from this particular bear”. Real-World Panda Optimization – Whiteboard Friday MOZ Blog  [...]

Sally Falkow says, “Some people regard the fact that you can post content online anonymously as one of the Internet’s greatest attractions. Google doesn’t think so. Now that social signals, reviews and other content is being incorporated into the search algorithms Google is very keen to know who is posting this content and whether you are a known and trusted source. Trust is the X-factor that bulletproofs your site from Google slaps and algorithm updates. This is an excerpt from a Google patent application: “Not all references, however, are necessarily of equal significance. For... [...]

Peterd says, “For those new to optimizing clients sites, or those seeking a refresher, we thought we’d put together a guide to step you through it, along with some selected deeper reading on each topic area. Every SEO has different ways of doing things, but we’ll cover the aspects that you’ll find common to most client projects. Few Rules The best rule I know about SEO is there are few absolutes in SEO. Google is a black box, so complete data sets will never be available to you. Therefore, it can be difficult to pin down cause and effect, so there will always be a lot of experimentation... [...]

Jason Acidre says, “It’s obvious that the technology behind search engines’ ability to determine and understand web entities is gradually leaning towards how real people will normally perceive things from a traditional marketing perspective. The emphasis on E-A-T (expertise, authoritativeness, trustworthiness) from Google’s recently updated Quality Rating Guide shows that search engines are shifting towards brand-related metrics to identify sites/pages that deserve to be more visible in search results”. Using Modern SEO to Build Brand Authority MOZ Blog  [...]

Bill Slawski says, “I’m going to be asking you to take over as Panda for a little while to see if you can identify the kinds of things that Google’s Navneet Panda addressed when faced with what looked like an incomplete patent created to identify sites as parked domain pages, content farm pages, and link farm pages. You’re probably better at this now then he was then“. Unraveling Panda Patterns MOZ Blog  [...]

Rand Fishkin says, “By now, most of us have gotten around to doing testing of some sort on our websites, but testing specifically for SEO can be extremely difficult and requires extra vigilance. In today’s Whiteboard Friday, Rand explains three major things we need to think about when performing these tests, and offers up several ideas for experiments we all can run!“. How Do I Successfully Run SEO Tests On My Website? – Whiteboard Friday MOZ Blog  [...]

SamKusinitz says, “Trying to abide by Google’s ranking factors can often feel like trying to work with a boss who is impossible to please. No matter how hard you try to figure out exactly what the search giant wants, you can never quite right. When you finally think you’ve got it all figured out, Google always seems to change what it wants and refuses to reveal its criteria. Well, unfortunately, it doesn’t seem reasonable to expect Google to reveal its secret list of ranking factors anytime soon. However, perhaps the fact that Google’s ranking algorithm is a secret is actually an... [...]

Neil Patel says, “Though Google gets roughly 3.5 billion searches a day, there are really only three types of searches that people perform — navigational, informational, and transactional. If you want get more people to find you in search, you need to know how to optimize your content for each of these types. In this article, I’m going to explain each of the three types of searches and give a bit of perspective on why each one is important. Then, I’ll provide you with some tactical methods for unleashing a strategy that will allow you to dominate the SERPs for that search type”. 9... [...]

Eric Schiffer says, “Digital marketing technology is rather like high fashion — trends that were acceptable and even widely emulated suddenly find themselves hopelessly passé without even a hint of warning. For the digital marketing community, innovations can fade into irrelevance as quickly as a pair of flared jeans, only the transition to the latest craze can be far more painful. Just got your Adobe Flash-based site developed? Here comes HTML5. Now you need responsive design — oh, and your obvious stock images are duplicated across the Web a thousandfold! In the case of search engine... [...]