SEO Is Dead. Audience Optimization Is Taking Its Place If you've ever tried to deal with search engine optimization, you most likely have, at some point or another, wanted to bundle your whole site up and toss it into the nearest virtual trash can. Particularly if you felt compelled to focus on keywords, or any other technique calculated to artificially pique someone's mouse clicks. You should be delighted to hear then, if you haven't heard yet, that the old-fashioned concept of SEO is deader than last week's sandwich. Google pretty much pounded the crap out of keyword stuffing and other absurdities with the search algorithm changes it's made over the last couple of years. And then Google made search secure, which means you can't even see what keywords someone used to get to your site. It's about time, because all the minutiae blinded entrepreneurs to what is really important: making a connection with an audience. Really Know Your Audience One hour a day, read. Translate Caring Into Specific Actions
The Death of Link Building and the Rebirth of Link Earning - Whiteboard Friday We've all known someone who got hit by Google's algoupdates. Whether you've personally been affected or you know someone who has, it's not fun to bounce back from and can can impact your SEO efforts if not addressed appropriately This week, Rand discusses the egress of old link building practices and the ingress of new (old) link earning strategies that will help your site stay relevant in the SERPs and drive your traffic with a better user experience. "Howdy, SEOmoz fans.
How to Measure SEO Success Correctly measuring the success of an SEO campaign can vary greatly depending on the type of business you're in and your objectives. However, there are three key performance indicators (KPIs) that should always be considered when measuring an SEO campaign's effectiveness: Rankings TrafficConversions Not only can the information gathered from these three KPIs enable you to accurately measure your campaign's performance, they can also provide you with actionable data to improve your campaign over time. Rankings Keyword rankings are the most common and obvious KPI, especially when studies show that websites listed on the first page of Google receive up to 92 percent of traffic share. For example, let's say you're tracking 20 keywords, and all but five of these are on the first page of Google. On the other hand, you may discover that these keywords are simply too competitive, and based on your research, would not provide enough benefit to warrant the effort. Traffic Traffic Volume Traffic Quality
SEO Pricing: 600+ Agencies Share Costs of Services & Pricing Models Near the end of December 2011, we ran a survey on this blog asking consultants and agencies of all sizes and geographies to contribute their pricing models and cost structures. I'm pleased to share the results of that survey in the hopes that it will give everyone in the search industry a better idea of the range of fees and the services provided. Obviously, this data is imperfect - SEOmoz is not a professional data surveying firm and our only tool was a basic list of questions on SurveyMonkey. That said, I'd be surprised if a professional surveyor found dramatically different data - there was enough participation to receive a trustworthy sample size and firms provided their personal/contact information (many of which I recognized while digging through the responses, but obviously will not be sharing identities publicly), which means we likely did not receive intentionally manipulative/misleading information. (via AYTM's infographic) Top 9 Takeaways Infographic from AYTM ">" src="
The Periodic Table Of SEO Success Factors | Sprk'd Content Marketing The Periodic Table Of SEO Success Factors Search engine optimization — SEO — may seem like alchemy to the uninitiated. But there is a science to it. Search engines reward pages with the right combination of ranking factors, or “signals.” The chart below summarizes the major factors to focus on for search engine ranking success… The Periodic Table Of SEO Success Factors, used with permission A Quick Guide to Common SEO Terms 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20.
SEO: The Free Beginner’s Guide From SEOmoz If you're serious about improving search traffic we do recommend reading the Beginner's Guide to SEO front-to-back. We've tried to make it as concise and easy to understand as possible, and learning the basics of SEO is a vital first step in achieving your online business goals. Go through at the pace that suits you best, and be sure to take note of the dozens of resources we link to throughout the chapters — they're also worthy of your attention. If you want to take a more guided approach to learning SEO or training your entire team, check out the Moz Academy SEO Essentials Certification. We've consolidated all the resources you need to learn SEO fundamentals alongside unique learning methods, task lessons and quizzes to test your knowledge. You can also display your knowledge with your Linkedin Moz SEO Essentials certification badge. Getting excited yet?
SEO Theory - SEO Theory and Analysis Blog » You will love these Digital Ghost recently asked what’s the most effective word you can use in a headline?. That took me back a few years. In fact, many people have studied the phenomenon of words that compel interest. If you’re in American politics, today’s most compelling words are “we made a huge mistake (but please don’t ask if I voted for it)” and “there are no weapons of mass destruction (except for the ones that were found)”. If you’re involved in the insurance industry, today’s most compelling words are some variation on “proven results”. If you’re in search engine optimization, today’s most compelling words are some variation on “free quality links”. In writing my effectively compelling title, I did my best to incorporate as many words from the traditional list (you save results health love proven money new easy safety discovery guaranteed) and the SEO list (quality links). One of my best-peforming banners of all time is still running on the Xenite network now. But let’s step back a bit.
Use Open Graph to Get Video Thumbnails into Search Results Joel Harvey is, among other things, the Video Scientist at Conversion Sciences. Over the past four years, he has developed video strategies for a large number of online retailers. We’ve found that video is great for drawing and converting qualified search traffic, so I asked Joel to tell us his tricks for getting video ranked on Google. He doesn’t disappoint. Search marketers are always looking for strategies to give them an edge. The Opportunity According to Joel, one of the most mysterious and difficult universal channels has been video, particularly getting video thumbnail images associated with the search results that you rank for with your domain. Notice how video thumbnails make search entries stand out. It’s important because these thumbnails capture searcher’s attention and can “make a number three ranking perform like a number one ranking” in terms of click through rates and traffic. The Problem In the beginning of Universal Search, Joel used a process that was relatively easy: eBags
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