Ryan Stewart says, “I was furious when keyword data disappeared from Google Analytics (GA). I mean, how could I possibly optimize a website without keyword data?!?! It didn’t take me long to realize I was overreacting. In fact, I quickly realized how trivial keyword data was. Search engines are pretty damn good at what they do. If you properly optimize your content, people will find it with the keywords you intended. (You should set up an SEO dashboard in GA to verify your results.) The truly valuable keywords are the ones visitors use within your site. When mined correctly, internal... [...]

Zac Johnson says, “When someone searches for your personal name in Google, what will they find? Of course, content will rank for your name, but the better question is whether the content is about you, if you have control over it and how it might be giving others a first impression of you in the process. If you aren’t currently ranking at the top of Google for your personal name, brand or business, your reputation could be in harms way. By actually “owning” the main page of the search results for your name, you can build a protective wall and barrier around your name, while... [...]

Thomas Stern says, “The concept of link building and content creation being separate entities is archaic. Isolating the power of well-developed content to drive a link-building strategy is crucial to success. Any marketing program that fails to cohesively build these programs is stifling its search rankings by underutilizing its off-page SEO. It’s important to note that the key term here is “well-developed content.” And that’s what trips some marketers up. What is truly good content, and how do you use it to build a brand in a natural way?“. Storytelling 101: What Defines Good... [...]

The EpicWin University, founded by Travis Morgan, has just released Freedom Academy, which they say fulfills the promise of the headline. The goal of this new training is showing you how to do Video SEO, ranking videos so they appear on page 1, and doing it in a way that doesn’t require: 1. Making your own videos, unless you want to. 2. Appearing in your videos, if you make them, unless you want to 3. Recording your voice, unless you want to 4. Writing any scripts, unless you want to. You are simply ranking videos, and using them to build your business. The comprehensive training of Freedom... [...]

Ayaz Nanji says, “Marketers say creating relevant content is the most effective search engine optimization tactic they employ, according to a recent report from Ascend2. The report was based on data from a survey of 286 marketing, sales, and business professionals from around the world (71%, B2B-focused; 29%, B2C). Some 72% of respondents say content creation is one of the most effective SEO tactics they employ; other top tactics are keyword/phrase research (48% cite), frequent website updating (34%), and relevant link building (33%)“. Marketers’ Favorite SEO Tactics and Metrics MarketingProfs  [...]

No matter how good your YouTube video is, if it doesn’t get views, it won’t sell anything for you. With millions and millions of videos on YouTube, you have to stand out from your competition to be noticed. There is new software from Vlad and Stoica that is getting a lot of interest because it is a complete YouTube marketing toolbox in one package, called Video Marketing Blaster Pro. The creators say, “Video Marketing Blaster Pro is the only Video Marketing Software that is able to Reverse Engineer the YouTube rankings system!” • This all-in-one software analyzes your... [...]

Jayson Demers says, “Local search engine optimization isn’t just about local mom-and-pop shops anymore. Practically any business can take advantage of local SEO’s benefits. Since Google’s fan-named “Pigeon” update in 2014, the importance of local SEO has grown, leading many entrepreneurs to focus on their strategy despite going years without considering a local tangent to their inbound marketing campaign. Others, who already practiced regular local optimization strategies, saw the update as an opportunity to increase their efforts even further. These moves are savvy, because local... [...]

Christopher Ratcliff says, “Whether a brand new blogger or a seasoned writer, WordPress is one of the most popular and versatile content management systems (CMS) available. You can set up a quick, good-looking, fully-hosted blog using one of its many templates, or you can get into the world of self-hosting and coding to build your own professional site from scratch. Last year I wrote a complete guide to setting up and running your own WordPress site along with an SEO for WordPress best practice guide. That latter SEO guide has become somewhat out of date now, so this is a revised and updated... [...]

Baer says, “A sunny day, unblemished by a single cloud in the sky. A masterful painting with not one stroke out of place. An hour of watching Jimmy Fallon without phones ringing, the door buzzing, or insipid ads playing in a loop. These are what I imagine perfection to be in my head. Most website owners I know tend to add their websites to that list. I would beg to disagree. Admittedly, you don’t need to hire a designer or even a developer anymore to build a half-decent website. Tools such as Weebly (great for launching themed blogs in an instant), Spaces (the latest for online stores with... [...]

Trevor Klein says, “We’ve arrived, folks! This is the last installment of our short (< 2-minute) video tutorials that help you all get the most out of Moz’s tools. If you haven’t been following along, these are each designed to solve a use case that we regularly hear about from Moz community members. Here’s a quick recap of the previous round-ups in case you missed them: Week 1: Reclaim links using Open Site Explorer, build links using Fresh Web Explorer, and find the best time to tweet using Followerwonk. Week 2: Analyze SERPs using new MozBar features, boost... [...]