Michael Cottam says, “This is a story about Panda, customer service, and differentiating your store from others selling the same products. Many e-commerce websites get the descriptions, specifications, and imagery for products they sell from feeds or databases provided by the manufacturers. The manufacturers might like this, as they control how their product is described and shown. However, it does their retailers no good when they are trying to rank for searches for those products and they’ve got the exact same content as every other retailer. If the content in the feed is thin, then... [...]

Pratik Dholakiya says, “You can’t count on Google. No matter how great you are as an SEO, counting on Google to send you traffic is risky business. Also, feeling entitled to free traffic from a search engine monopoly is a bad business model. I’ve always been a proponent of the idea that the best SEO strategy is the one that doesn’t count on Google. Such strategies aren’t only more profitable; they are also the most likely to last. Unfortunately, it’s very easy to get SEO myopia. That’s why I’ve put together seven traffic strategies that don’t rely on Google at all. While... [...]

Jeremy Gottlieb says, “Everyone’s been in the position where there’s a million and one things going on, but a client (or you) still requires top-notch keyword research. So something needs to get done in a pinch. Searching around the internet and learning more about the trendiest aspects of keyword research (because let’s face it, either it’s been a while since you last did it or it’s your first time doing it) can take a ton of time. There are literally millions of things you could be reading about it; actually 15.4 million if we want to be precise”. How... [...]

Travis Bliffen says, “Regardless of what you may have heard, inbound links are still one of the most important ranking factors. Earning links that your competition cannot easily recreate will give you a competitive edge and the types of link building we are going to talk about below are going to be great for authority and traffic. Here are 20 ways to earn credible inbound links to your website. 1. Present at Conferences – In most industries there are conferences and seminars where you can present. Generally that conference will have a website of its own or be hosted on a related site.... [...]

Syed Irfan Ajmal says, “Are you getting a sinking feeling that you are getting nowhere after jumping on the content marketing bandwagon? Or do your blogging efforts sound like you singing in the shower: you feel like a rock star but no one is there to applaud your singing prowess? Top 4 Reasons Your Content Writing Has Been a Failure You didn’t research prior to writing. You gave little or no attention to SEO, or worse, you did the kind of spammy SEO that has caused so many sites get bitten by one of the Google Zoo creatures – Panda, Penguin, Hummingbird, Zebra. The last one does... [...]

Isla McKetta says, “”Picture it.” If you’re of a certain generation, those two words can only conjure images of tiny, white-haired Sophia from the Golden Girls about to tell one of her engaging (if somewhat long and irrelevant) stories as she holds her elderly roommates hostage in the kitchen or living room of their pastel-hued Miami home. Even if you have no idea what I’m talking about, those words should become your writing mantra, because what readers do with your words is take all those letters and turn them into mind pictures. And as the writer, you have control... [...]

Mark Feldman says, “The world of SEO seems to have gone from toddler to preteen in just the last 2 years, and the industry doesn’t show any signs of stopping. In early 2011, Google released the Panda/Farmer update, an update focused on ridding search results of weak content, leaving business owners without businesses, webmasters without websites and homeowners without homes. Then in April of 2012, Google released the Penguin update, in which 3.1% of search results were impacted. Unlike Panda, Penguin was aimed mostly at linking factors such as exact match anchor text and having connections... [...]

Rand Fishkin says, “Content marketing is an iterative process: We learn and improve by analyzing the success of the things we produce. That doesn’t mean, though, that we shouldn’t set ourselves up for that success in the first place, and the best way to do that is by knowing what our audiences want before we actually go through the effort to create it. In today’s Whiteboard Friday, Rand (along with his stick-figure friends Rainy Bill and Hailstorm Hal) explains how we can stack our own decks in our favor with that knowledge“. Know What Your Audience Wants Before... [...]

Baer says, “Just how valuable is email to online marketers? The numbers tell the story: EmailExpert reports email marketing produces a $44.25 return for every $1 spent. McKinsey & Company reports email is almost 40 times more effective at getting new customers than Facebook and Twitter Over 77% of online customers prefer receiving marketing messages via email, according toMarketingLand. Nurtured leads make 47% larger purchases than non-nurtured leads, reports Unbounce. And 81% of digital shoppers in the US say they’re at least “somewhat likely” to make additional purchases as a... [...]

Greg Randall says, “Working alongside SEO specialists is an important part of any long term digital strategy.   What many retailers need to understand is, while looking for credible specialists with proven experiences, you can get started on your own. This article focusses on seven SEO initiatives retailers can execute whether you have a relationship with an SEO specialist or not, and in doing so will lay down a solid SEO foundation the business can benefit from. The challenge for most is where to start and what to focus on. It will all soon be clear”. Seven SEO tips retailers can implement... [...]