Patricio Robles says, “For years, many companies have invested heavily in SEO. But when it really comes down to it, is SEO just a crapshoot? That’s a question worth asking following a survey that asked hundreds of respondents to predict which page would rank higher than the other for a variety of keywords. The result: “most SEOs are no better than a coin-flip at predicting which page will rank better.” In the UK SERPs, respondents’ accuracy in selecting the higher-ranked page was just 46%. It was higher in the US by about 10%, but for many search terms, accuracy... [...]

Rand Fishkin says, “If you know me, you know I’m hyper-critical of the software, data, and products Moz releases. My usual response to someone asking about our tools vs. others used to be to give a rundown of the things I like about the competition and why they’re great, then look down at ground, shuffle my feet in embarrassment, and say “and Moz also has a good tool for that.” But Keyword Explorer (and the progress Moz Pro & Local have made this year) brings out a different behavior in me. I’m still a little embarrassed to admit it, but admit it I must.... [...]

Amanda Zantal-Wiener says, “These days, it seems like most marketing jobs require at least a basic knowledge of search engine optimization. Even writers need to know about it — gone are the days, it seems, of simply composing with words. We have to know how to rank, build links, and yield traffic. But many of us aren’t sure where to begin. And that, says HubSpot Senior Acquisition Manager Matt Barby, is due to the deluge of information available on SEO. “The problem is that most of it is either ill-informed or just factually incorrect,” he explains. Luckily, because... [...]

Felicia Crawford says, “All across the Internet, comments sections are disappearing. From your high-profile news sites to those that share the online marketing space, more and more sites are banishing that unassuming little text box at the bottom of a post. And frankly, it’s not hard to understand why. First, you have your good ol’-fashioned spam comments. These are the commenters that hold dear the idea that those nofollowed comment links are valuable”. We Fought the Comment Spam (and the Comment Spam Didn’t Win) MOZ  [...]

Miriam Ellis says, “2017 may well be the year of testimonials and reviews in local SEO. As our industry continues to grow, we have studied surveys indicating that some 92% of consumers now read online reviews and that 68% of these cite positive reviews as a significant trust factor. We’ve gone through a meaningful overhaul of Google’s schema review/testimonial guidelines while finding that major players like Yelp will publicly shame guideline-breakers. We’ve seen a major publication post a controversial piece suggesting that website testimonials pages are useless, drawing thoughtful... [...]

Lydia Jorden says, “The ability to track digital efforts to in-store visits can be the single most difficult challenge a local business conquers. Since the beginning of time (local search time), marketers have been working to find opportunities to understand how digital efforts drive in-store visits. The challenge we marketers face is that if we are not paying for advertising, it is difficult to uncover ROI and make a case for investing in local search optimization. Proving value of local listing optimization efforts for a brick-and-mortar location is really limited to the boundaries that... [...]

Mona Elesseily says, “When it comes to success with paid search, it’s not just about ad copy. You have to pay attention to your ad extensions and your landing pages as well. In this article, I’ll discuss the specific ad features and page elements that searchers/shoppers want when they’re shopping online. I’ll also cover ways to also incorporate the elements using PPC/paid search. At the beginning of every section, I’ve included the percentage of shoppers who want specific elements, so you can prioritize your element efforts. Note: Statistical data in this article is pulled... [...]

MOZ team says, “The dust is finally beginning to settle after the long-awaited rollout of Penguin 4.0. Now that our aquatic avian friend is a real-time part of the core Google algorithm, we’ve got some changes to get used to. In today’s Whiteboard Friday, Rand explains Penguin’s past, present, and future, offers his analysis of the rollout so far, and gives advice for going forward (hint: never link spam)”. Penguin 4.0: How the Real-Time Penguin-in-the-Core-Alg Model Changes SEO MOZ  [...]

Lydia Jorden says, “The ability to track digital efforts to in-store visits can be the single most difficult challenge a local business conquers. Since the beginning of time (local search time), marketers have been working to find opportunities to understand how digital efforts drive in-store visits. The challenge we marketers face is that if we are not paying for advertising, it is difficult to uncover ROI and make a case for investing in local search optimization. Proving value of local listing optimization efforts for a brick-and-mortar location is really limited to the boundaries that... [...]

Ronell Smith says, “Here I am, seated in a Manhattan, New York restaurant, staring at corned beef hash that looks and tastes like what I imagine dog food to look and taste like. I’m pissed for two reasons: It cost nearly $25 and was entirely inedible I should have known better given the visuals depicted after doing a Google image search to find the dish, which was offered at a nearby restaurant In retrospect, I should have checked A and B on my phone before ordering the $25 plate of Alpo. And though I didn’t do that, other would-be customers will, which means the business owner... [...]