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How to Rank in the Top of Google, Win Traffic, Prospects & Buyers (Bonus: Free Checklist)

How to Rank in the Top of Google, Win Traffic, Prospects & Buyers (Bonus: Free Checklist)

Ranking in the top of Google is the dream of every brand with a blog and every SEO expert. Why do we care so much? Because reaching the top of Google is like winning a gold medal in the Content Olympics. ? With a few perks thrown in. More traffic? Yours. More clicks in the SERP? Yours. More qualified leads coming in? Yep, that too. How do we know this will happen? Well, 70.6% of all traffic on the web originates from a Google search (Backlinko and Sparktoro). What’s more, 71% of B2B buyers are reading blogs during their buying journeys — at least 3-5. Positions #1, 2, or 3 on a given search engine results page (SERP), on average, get over 54% of the clicks from that page’s overall traffic. Considering the average click-through rate for paid search is 1.91% across all industries… well… (Tell me again why you’re bothering with paid search?) Knowing how to get to the top of Google (for free, without paying a cent for ads) doesn’t qualify as information that’s simply “nice to have.” Instead, in this dog-eat-dog world of content shock and bro marketing and dying ads… In an internet era where more than 70% of all human traffic online now originates from a search engine… It’s essential. Ready to learn how to improve your Google search results, AND repeat that success over and over? This is what it takes. ⬇️ Bonus: Download your free ebook checklist we created on today’s topic. How to Increase Your Google Rankings: Table of Contents How to Rank in the Top of Google: Content is Key 1. Quality Over Quantity in Content Really Matters 2. Content Consistency Wins the Day 3. Content Doesn’t Rank in the Top of Google Without Relevancy and Usefulness How to Rank in the Top of Google: 3 More Important Factors 1. Quick Site Speed and Page Load Times (Under 3 Seconds) 2. Good Internal Linking Practices 3. Excellent Usability Wrapping Up: How to Rank in the Top of Google Every Time [bctt tweet=”We dream of ranking top 1 in Google — but how is that possible? @JuliaEMcCoy shares how you can get your content to the top of Google with real case studies + a bonus FREEBIE checklist ?” username=”ExpWriters”] How to Rank in the Top of Google: Content is Key Content is one of the key factors that drive search rankings. In a nutshell, it’s about quality, consistency, and relevancy. 1. Quality Over Quantity Really Matters Want to know how to rank higher on Google? Prioritize content of the highest caliber. From the direction Google itself has given about what quality content looks like, we know: Quality content is relevant to what the target reader is searching. It’s the answer they’re looking for when they type in a question or keyword phrase. Quality content is easy to read and easy to understand for the target audience. (That doesn’t mean the content is simple. It means it’s well-written, well-formatted, and well-researched. It means the content is written to the level of whatever audience it’s meant for.) Quality content serves a purpose. It teaches, informs, entertains, or guides the reader. So, if you have a ton of blogs that don’t quite hit the mark for this level of quality, you’re not going to rank as well as a competitor with fewer blogs who absolutely NAILS this definition of quality with every single post. Need great content? We can help. See our pricing. To further demonstrate how & why quality matters, let’s dive into a case study. Case Study: Content Hacker Content Hacker is my new site, launched on June 28, 2019 – less than two months from writing this ebook/blog post. The site is basically a newborn baby, but… we already have a top 10 spot in the rankings. Three months later, right before I published this piece of content, I checked again. As of early September, we’re ranking for a total of 2,500 keywords, bringing in 345+ organic visitors. This amount goes up weekly. Just four weeks ago, we were at 85 keywords present! How did we do it? By focusing on content quality > quantity. We only have 11 blogs and 14 pages total published on the site. However, the average word count for all of our blogs is 4,500. Our longest blog clocks in at 5,000 words. [bctt tweet=”.@JuliaEMcCoy grew @content_hackers from nothing to more than 2,500+ keyword rankings in Google in less than three months. ? How? She focused on content quality, not quantity, with just 11 5,000w mega-blog guides.” username=”ExpWriters”] Before creation, I spent days on ideation. I picked out focus keywords like ergonomic home office, remote freelance writing jobs, and wrote mega-blog outline complete with synonymous keywords. Guess what we’re starting to rank for in Google, with this brand new site? Each one of our mega-blogs are starting to rank for their focus keywords in Google. Content works, guys. But you have to do it right. Each of our mega, 5,000-word blog guides are deeply researched, thoroughly outlined, takes days (or even weeks!) to write, and includes plenty of supporting images, facts, graphs, GIFs – you name it. It’s no coincidence that the keywords we’re winning are within those ultra-long-form guides. Our steady growth on Content Hacker is mainly thanks to quality content. Just look at that solid, upward-trending line from our SEMrush trackings for proof: 2. Consistency Wins the Day Here’s the thing: You can’t just depend on one factor to buoy your content to the top of Google because the search engine doesn’t look at one factor – it looks at many. That’s why consistency, along with quality, is so important when it comes to content. You can’t publish an exceptional blog once and let the rest slide. Let me say it louder, for the people in the back: Every. Single. Content. Piece. Must. Be. Exceptional. Think of it this way: Each content piece is like a building block. They stack on top of each other, one by one, to create … Read more

Google Core June Update: How It Rocked Search Visibility & What You Can Do to Rebound

Google Core June Update: How It Rocked Search Visibility & What You Can Do to Rebound

From June 3 – 8, Google rolled out a broad core algorithm update that is now called the 2019 Google Core June Update. This update shook the SEO world because a few big-time sites took big-time hits (The Daily Mail, anyone? ?). One site that looked pretty darn reputable even had to shut its doors because the loss in search visibility cut their revenue by as much as 90%. (That’s not a typo. More on that later.) So, what the heck happened? What did this Google Core June Update do, and who did it affect? More importantly, how can you rebound from this Google update if your site tanked in the SERPs? We’re exploring all of that today. Google Core June Update: Table of Contents What Did the Google Core June Update Do? The Google Core June Update is Broad and Not Specific to One Area It May Have Affected Site Relevance to User Searches What Sites Did the Google Core June Update Impact? Cryptocurrency News Sites Health, Travel, and General News Media Sites Retail and Image Sites How Can Site Owners Recover from the Google June Core Update? Double-Down on Quality… …But Understand What Quality Actually Means to Google Think of Your Users First, and Strive to BE Useful Takeaways from the Google Core June Update: What Can We Learn from This? [bctt tweet=”Big-time sites dropping their search visibility big-time this 2019?! Oh no! ? @JuliaEMcCoy explains more about what happened in the 2019 Google Core June Update and how site owners can recover. ” username=”ExpWriters”] What Did the Google Core June Update Do? We can only speculate as to what aspects of ranking the Google Core June Update actually affected. That said, there have been rumors and guesses aplenty circulating the web. 1. The Google Core June Update is Broad and Not Specific to One Area The Google June 2019 Core Update was largely broad and not specific to one area of SEO or search, according to statements from John Mueller, Webmaster Trends Analyst for Google, and Danny Sullivan, Google’s Search Liaison. That means rushing to add more biographical information to your content or cutting out intrusive ads to improve your site’s E-A-T isn’t the answer for regaining rankings. 2. It May Have Affected Site Relevance to User Searches More specifically, Mueller said there was “nothing to fix” for site owners or SEOs – instead, the Google Core update had more to do with a broad range of factors outside of what webmasters can control, including their content’s relevancy to user searches. As Mueller said in a Google Webmaster Hangout summarized by Search Engine Journal, user expectations for searches change all the time. Google is trying to make sure they meet those expectations: “Sometimes what users expect evolves and similarly, sometimes our algorithms are, the way that we try to determine relevance, they evolve as well.” Danny Sullivan also plainly stated on Twitter that the Core June Update was broad, and that people should think more broadly about how their site could improve: We tell lots of things to do. Improve site speed. Consider secure. Etc. But that’s not what this update was about. It’s broad. And respectfully, I think telling people there’s no particular thing to “fix” is indeed helpful. It means, hopefully, they think more broadly… — Danny Sullivan (@dannysullivan) August 1, 2018 What does a “broad” update mean in this context? SEOs like Roger Montii have posited it means your site and content aren’t to blame for any rankings you lost. Instead, perhaps user search intent has changed for the specific queries you’re targeting, and your content is no longer relevant or useful for the questions people are asking. “…it’s not a problem with your site, but rather a change in user habits that may be reflected in the kinds of pages that Google shows in the search results.” [bctt tweet=”What did the Google Core June Update do? Rumors say that 1) the update is broad and not specific to one area of SEO and 2) it may have affected site relevance to user searches. ? It’s not your content or website, it’s just Google.” username=”ExpWriters”] What Sites Did the Google Core June Update Impact? This update affected several BIG sites in a major way. What happened, and which sites were hit hardest? Here’s what we know and what SEOs are speculating. 1. Cryptocurrency News Sites According to CCN, major sites that saw the brunt of hits from the Google June Core Update were news media sites centered on cryptocurrency. In fact, CCN itself has been forced to close its doors because of the steep, dramatic decline in search visibility they saw after the update rolled through. Their mobile traffic from Google searches dropped by over 71% within 12 hours. Other cryptocurrency news sites affected include Cointelegraph, U.today, and CryptoPotato, according to CCN and Forbes. [bctt tweet=”The 2019 Google Core June Update affected cryptocurrency sites such as CCN, which dropped its mobile traffic for over 71%! ? Check out @JuliaEMcCoy’s post about Google’s latest shocking update. #SEO” username=”ExpWriters”] Here’s a chart showing other domains with major drops in search visibility from the data Sistrix gathered: 2. Health, Travel, and General News Media Sites Other websites that saw a major impact from the Google Core June Update include those publishing news media for industries like health, travel, and general topics. As you can see in the chart above, the second website in the column of names is The Daily Mail, which saw up to 50% decline in search visibility. Other major publishers affected include NFL.com, Conde Nast Traveller, Mercola, Dr. Axe, Mind Body Green, and Prevention. According to Sistrix, NFL.com’s search visibility dropped by 24%. Travel news media sites like CNTraveller.com dropped by 18%. Health news sites like Prevention and Mind Body Green dropped by 29% and 30%, respectively. [bctt tweet=”Popular sites like The Daily Mail, Conde Nast Traveller, and Mind Body Green dropped their search visibility too after the 2019 Google Core June Update! … Read more

The Lowdown on Google’s 2018 Core Update, The Medic Update (5 Ways to Maintain Rankings)

The Lowdown on Google’s 2018 Core Update, The Medic Update (5 Ways to Maintain Rankings)

Did you know Google came out with yet another core update in August 2018? It happened during the first week of the final month of summer. As you can surmise from the name, SEOers (especially Barry Schwartz of SEO Roundtable) believe this update mainly affected content in the health, medical, and wellness industries. That said, sites in other industries took a rankings hit, too. That makes sense because Google’s core updates are global (meaning they affect all pages across the internet, no matter the industry affiliation). So, what could the Google Medic update possibly mean for your website, content, and rankings? Does it mean anything at all? Let’s find out. [bctt tweet=”#Google rolled out the Medic Update in August 2018. @JuliaEMcCoy gives us the lowdown on this core update and what it means for marketers. #SEO” username=”ExpWriters”] How Does the Google Medic Update Affect Marketers? Google officially announced the Medic update via Twitter on August 2nd: This week we released a broad core algorithm update, as we do several times per year. Our guidance about such updates remains the same as in March, as we covered here: https://t.co/uPlEdSLHoX — Google SearchLiaison (@searchliaison) August 1, 2018 The main key to remember here is this was a “broad core algorithm update,” as Google terms it. According to Google, that means: It’s routine – they do these types of updates several times per year. It affects websites and web pages internet-wide. Most importantly, though: Google says sites and pages that take a ranking hit because of updates like these have nothing wrong with them! How do I know? Because in the above tweet announcing the Medic update, they reference the March 12, 2018 guidelines. These specifically state that: “There’s nothing wrong with pages that may now perform less well.” In other words, if you saw a rankings shuffle because of this update, it’s not because you’re doing anything wrong. Instead, it’s because other pages better than your content in the first place are now being ranked correctly. So, now that you understand it’s not you, it’s them… What should you do about it? What to Do Now: 5 Ways to Continue to Rank Well in Google Search There’s no question about what to do now. Google already laid it out for us. We understand those who do less well after a core update change may still feel they need to do something. We suggest focusing on ensuring you’re offering the best content you can. That’s what our algorithms seek to reward…. — Google SearchLiaison (@searchliaison) October 11, 2018 So, how do you offer “the best content you can”? 1. Play by the Rules According to Google, there was/is no “fix” if your site rankings dropped because of this update (or any other “broad core algorithm update”). Instead, they continually advise marketers and SEOers to keep focusing on great content. There’s no “fix” for pages that may perform less well other than to remain focused on building great content. Over time, it may be that your content may rise relative to other pages. — Google SearchLiaison (@searchliaison) March 12, 2018 Of course, to create great content, you must continue to play by Google’s rules. What is “great content” as Google sees it? That’s the question you must continually ask yourself. And then, you must fulfill it. Hint: The Google Search Quality Evaluator Guidelines give us a good idea of what the search engine looks for in great content. These guidelines recently got an update of their own – check out our analysis where we cover the most important points. 2. Win Your Readers’ and Customers’ Trust Another facet of great content: It effortlessly wins your readers’ and customers’ trust. It does this a few ways: Great content provides concrete examples of your E.A.T. (Expertise, Authoritativeness, Trustworthiness) Great content seeks to help, entertain, inform, or guide the reader FIRST Great content is factually accurate, and claims are backed with proof Great content benefits the reader What all this means is if you focus on producing great content, you will naturally win your audience’s trust as a byproduct. You won’t have to bend over backwards to do it, either. 3. Avoid Bad UX If your website and its pages make users want to tear out their eyeballs, or if your site is so cluttered with intrusive ads it’s hard to use, the quality of your content won’t matter. A bad UX (user experience) makes the presence of great content a moot point. It might as well not exist if it’s hard to read, confusing to navigate, or inaccessible. [bctt tweet=”Google rolled out another update in August 2018: the Medic update. Does it mean anything at all for your website? Let’s find out in this new blog post by @JuliaEMcCoy.” username=”ExpWriters”] 4. Don’t Take Shortcuts If you believe you can game Google and get away with it, you’re reading the wrong blog. Instead of helping your rankings, SEO shortcuts are the quickest route to getting dumped onto page 5. This is what Moz has to say about SEO tricks: “The problem with SEO tricks is that they’re about getting a site to the top of the SERPs regardless of whether it deserves to be there. That’s the kind of trick that search engines have a vested interest in continuing to combat, which leads to algorithmic updates like Penguin. Over-reliance on SEO tricks is what causes your rankings and traffic to be completely wiped out overnight by these updates. Without a foundation of quality SEO in place, you’re going to spend a lot of your time fixing stuff and doing stuff over every time the search engines catch on to your latest trick.” Shortcuts are the reason many sites’ rankings get knocked down overnight. Even if they appear to work at the outset, they WILL come back to bite you. You can count on that the next time Google rolls out a broad, global update. Just say no. 5. Create the Right Kinds of Content In a recent … Read more

5 Essential SEO Trends for 2019 You Can Put into Practice Immediately

5 Essential SEO Trends for 2019 You Can Put into Practice Immediately

As the final months of 2018 loom ahead, it’s time to start thinking about our strategies for next year. It’s that time of year to already start asking our marketing selves… How can we begin 2019 with a pop, sizzle, or a bang? Better yet, what can we do right now to ensure we get nothing but positively sparkling results (like the fizz in champagne) as we think about a new calendar year? Achieve the ROI we’ve been looking for? Make sure our online content hits the mark? How about finally earn more killer organic Top Three spots in Google we’ve been hankering for, for months? Today, I’m sharing with you five key SEO trends for 2019 that I think will be big. In fact, I think they’ll play a major role in content ranking success (or failure). Follow along and let’s see what tactics, strategies, and more will help you have a banner year, including SEO tips from today that are still relevant. [bctt tweet=”1. Be Mobile-Ready for Mobile-First Indexing 2. Featured Snippets Rankings Will Go Up in Value …these & 3 other top #SEO #trends for 2019 by @JuliaEMcCoy” username=”ExpWriters”] 5 Must-Do SEO Trends for 2019 to Follow Today Unsurprisingly, SEO trends in 2019 are all about keeping up with technology, staying on top of Google’s latest developments, and reinforcing your commitment to content. Let’s get right to it. 1. Be Mobile-Ready for Mobile-First Indexing Our first trend is one that’s continuing from recent SEO trends in 2018. Back on March 26, 2018, Google announced they were rolling out mobile-first indexing on their Webmaster Central Blog. Previously, Google web crawlers looked at the desktop version of your pages and content to populate the SERPs. However, with the switch to mobile-first, this means that Google will be looking at the mobile version of your pages for indexing and ranking. So, what if you don’t have a mobile version of your website? (Oh, the horror.) What happens? Google will still look at your desktop site version to rank your pages. HOWEVER: Your pages probably won’t display properly for users on mobile devices (or they’ll be difficult to navigate, read, and use). THUS: Your page rankings will most likely suffer (if they haven’t already). In other words, why haven’t you updated your website for mobile browsing yet? [bctt tweet=”Top #SEO trends for 2019? @JuliaEMcCoy got you covered in this information-packed, ROI-focused blog. #contentmarketing ” username=”ExpWriters”] To be as mobile-friendly as possible for all shapes, sizes, and types of devices, Google first and foremost recommends using responsive design. However, if you have two versions of your website (a desktop version and a mobile version), the search engine has some best practices you can follow for good results (via the Google Developers guide): These best practices include: Making sure your mobile and desktop sites have exactly the same primary content Including metadata like titles and descriptions on both site versions Including structured data for both site versions For best results, ensure you have all of the above items checked for your site. What worked for technical SEO in 2018 will roll over to 2019. Lastly, consider updating your site design so it’s responsive – it’s a better practice for the overall mobile user experience (UX). 2. Featured Snippets Rankings Will Go Up in Value Overwhelmingly, featured snippets are taking over the top spot in Google rankings for lots of keywords. This is a big deal – users see these results at the top of the page, where the #1 ranked piece of content used to appear. In other words, that prime real estate is no longer guaranteed. Many marketers are thus calling this highly desirable snippet spot “position zero.” Naturally, you should want key pieces of your content to shoot to top placements in featured snippets – but how? A. Create Content that Ranks on Page 1 Before you can even think about getting your content in featured snippets, first, you need it to rank on its own. According to Ahrefs, most featured snippets come from content that ranks in the top 10 results, or on the first page. In particular, the majority (90.1% of featured snippets) tend to get pulled from content pieces that rank in the top 5 positions. It’s all about choosing the right keywords, writing great content for your audience, and providing value. (See trend #4). B. Focus on Answers to Questions According to a SEMrush/Ghergich & Co. study of 6.9 million featured snippets and 80 million keywords, only around 7% of generic keywords include featured snippets in the results. In comparison, 41.59% of keywords with questions include featured snippets in the results – a 480% increase! In particular, question keywords almost always include paragraph featured snippets. These types of snippets include a chunk of text that answers the question the user searched for (according to the study, these average out to about 46-84 words in length with a maximum of 370 characters). You can thus earn your ranking content a featured snippet by framing short, succinct paragraphs of text as authoritative answers. For example, when I type the question/keyword “how many counties are in Iowa” into Google, the results show this featured snippet that directly answers that question AND provides supporting details: Question/keyword: How many counties are in Iowa? Answer/featured snippet: “There are 99 counties in the U.S. state of Iowa.” C. Use Numbered and Bulleted Lists, Especially for Subheaders To get your content in list-style featured snippets, always make sure you use properly formatted subheaders (H2s and H3s) to break up and organize your text. Google often uses subheader information to populate list-style snippets, like this result for “what countries are the Disney princesses from”: 3. Create the Highest-Quality Content In August 2018, Google confirmed a major core algorithmic update that took a full week to roll out. According to SEOers like Barry Schwartz and Glen Gabe, this update was all about quality. It particularly affected sites that had low E-A-T (expertise, authoritativeness, trustworthiness). Barry Schwartz studied over 300 affected … Read more

SEO Content Creation: Your Actionable Guide to Writing For the Rankings

SEO Content Creation: Your Actionable Guide to Writing For the Rankings

Today and in the future, our audiences are changing the way they consume information and discovering new ways of accessing answers to the questions that drive them. (Bob Dylan was right — the times, they are a-changing!) And their evolving questions are the ones you — or your company — want to provide an answer to. So, how do you let people know you’ve got the answers they seek? Through recognizing the importance of SEO in content creation and negotiating the ever-changing landscape of the content economy. Here’s the thing… SEO has always led the way in driving traffic to websites. Yet, like other online phenomena, SEO content creation is evolving to meet the needs of a new generation of online consumers. [bctt tweet=”SEO content creation is evolving to meet the needs of a new generation of online consumers. Learn how to create future-proof SEO content in this guide from @JuliaEMcCoy” username=”ExpWriters”] This change is, in part, pushed by trending technology like Amazon’s Alexa and Google Home and a literal explosion of tablet and mobile device usage. So, how is the modern online user changing the landscape of SEO? Let’s jump right in with the two most impactful trends in the industry, and then we’ll go into a super actionable, nitty-gritty guide on how to create SEO content this year in a way that boosts your traffic and end profits. Ready? The Top 2 Trends in SEO Content Creation Today  1. Voice Search Now that people no longer have to key in search terms at a computer, the way they are searching is changing. For example, if I want to know what’s playing at my local movie theater and I’m on my phone, I might key in “Movies Cinemark,” because I know Google will use the closest theater to me named “Cinemark.” However, if I’m using Alexa, Amazon’s assistant, I’d ask using more natural language, like I’m talking to a person, “Alexa, what movies are playing at the Cinemark in Austin, TX?” This is voice search, and it’s one of the leading trends in content marketing this year. To optimize SEO writing in the past, we used to take out all the “filler” words from a search query. So, “Where can I find the best coffee beans in Texas” Became: “best coffee beans Texas” Targeted, yes. Easy to fit into a smooth-flowing piece of SEO content? Definitely not. Fortunately, the new, natural-language search terms are making SEO copywriting easier and more compelling — a winning combination. But, it’s more than search itself that is changing. People are also changing the way they consume content. 2. Video Content According to Wyzowl, video marketing has surged, with 81% of companies using it to market their audience. And there are many reasons to include video in your online content creation campaign, including: Allowing customers to form an emotional — and trust-building — bond with you and your product through voice cues, facial expressions, and dynamic content. Providing content versatility through a range of possible video content — quick demos, longer courses, hands-on tutorials, and more. Encouraging engagement with touch-of-a-button sharing and embedding engagement options. Keeping up with current technology — such as tablets and mobile devices — and the changing ways people are devouring content. This isn’t the first time that marketers pivoted when video brought consumers a more engaging form of content. The Buggles wrote “Video Killed the Radio Star” back in 1979 in response to MTV’s popularity with the music-consuming crowd who was turning from songs on the radio to videos of songs on television. We all know how that turned out. Despite all the fear, there was no apocalypse, no sudden loss of musical talent. The savvy merely repositioned themselves and moved on. So, if you’re a creating SEO content for your website — get ready to pivot. Video content is growing as mobile usage takes the lead over desktop for the first time in 2017. And what better example of a website using video content to drive SEO than SEOmoz? What started out as a simple whiteboard video became so popular that they were renamed Whiteboard Fridays and offered on a regular basis. Here’s a great example of how they produce engaging SEO content from their list of topics of advanced SEO techniques — Using the Flowchart Method for Diagnosing Ranking Drops. This screen capture, below, shows you just how fresh and personable this low-tech the video is while appealing to high-tech on-the-go users. Neil Patel notes that one Whiteboard Friday video drew 402 links and more than one thousand social shares. Of those links and shares, over 37 different domains participated in spreading love for the SEOmoz blog — proof that good video content encourages engagement. 3 Keyword Research Strategies That Deliver Let’s be careful not to get ahead of ourselves. Building great, truly compelling content is only possible after proper keyword research. As Backlinko so aptly puts it: “Without keywords, there’s no SEO.” Content is not something you should attempt willy-nilly. You need a strong plan of action in place before you spend time — and money — on SEO content creation. That plan of action is keyword research. The good news is, there are lots of brand-new strategies out there to help make your SEO content strategy even more on-target. All you have to do is engage them. Let’s start with the basics. 1. Focus on Niche Topics If you want to know how to write SEO content that points directly to your audience’s pain points, their natural curiosity, their need for spot-on information, you’ve got to put in the research. Your first order of the day should be to determine your niche topic — your product or service’s unique standing in your industry and the things related to your product that your customers are interested in. Understanding how to turn your customers’ interests into content will help you narrow keywords with laser-focused efficiency. This, in turn, will contribute to the creation of compelling SEO content that tugs are your … Read more

31 Interesting SEO Experts to Follow & Learn From On Twitter

31 Interesting SEO Experts to Follow & Learn From On Twitter

SEO can be a tangled web to navigate. Google updates its algorithm every single day, while regulations for data-sharing and best-practices for ranking change as quickly as the weather. Who has time to keep track of all that? Lucky for you, there are credible SEO’ers out there keeping their finger on that pulse, tweeting helpful resources and news articles regularly, and talking about SEO in a down-to-earth way. It can be immensely helpful (and entertaining, and informative) to follow the top SEO digital marketers. That way, you’ll know what’s happening in the search engine world – and get real-time updates (guides, trend alerts, Google changes) on Twitter. Check out these SEOers and follow them so your Twitter feed is more powerful and helpful than ever: 31 Must-Follow SEOers on Twitter (In No Particular Order) 1. Eric Enge @ericenge and @stonetemple Eric Enge heads up the award-winning marketing agency, Stone Temple. Why you should follow: Eric regularly tweets interesting SEO news, articles, and updates under his personal handle and Stone Temple’s account. That includes studies and articles from his own brand, complete with goofy-yet-fun header images starring himself. Over 20% of smartphone users are comfortable giving voice commands to their phones in public. More at https://t.co/fnZRTXfmyw pic.twitter.com/bAfMfBXcJD — Eric Enge (@ericenge) May 30, 2017 2. Rand Fishkin @randfish Rand Fishkin is pretty well-known in the marketing and SEO communities – he co-founded Moz (and now headlines SparkToro) and shared his know-how on Moz’s Whiteboard Fridays. Why you should follow: Rand regularly tweets about SEO hot topics, but also has dived into entrepreneurship/start-ups, the psychology of web users, and even nerdy-fun topics like his secret passion for Dungeons & Dragons. I wrote a new blog post about shame, failure, and… yeah, the Dungeons & Dragons game: https://t.co/7Xd6MQuqLb — Rand Fishkin (@randfish) May 29, 2018 3. Jeff Deutsch @jgdeutsch Jeff Deutsch is a HubSpot/Inbound.org contributor and has worked in digital marketing for over 10 years. Why you should follow: Jeff shares slices of SEO along with interesting tips, tidbits, and resources that are pertinent for any marketer (plus a joke or two). 4. Olga Andrienko @Olgandrienko Olga Andrienko is the head of global marketing at SEMrush, which is one of the top SEO tools on the web. Why you should follow: It’s readily apparent that Olga is super-passionate about SEO and helping people optimize their websites and content. She also posts lots of behind-the-scenes glimpses from SEMrush and notes from SEO conferences. 5. Danny Goodwin @MrDannyGoodwin Danny Goodwin is SEJ’s own Executive Editor. He has over 10 years of experience in marketing and has been an editor for Search Engine Watch and Momentology. Why you should follow: Danny tweets a ton of timely, high-quality articles about SEO and search marketing from around the web. Follow him and get ready to add to your daily reading list. 6. Michael King @iPullRank Michael King is the founder of iPullRank, a digital marketing agency and consultancy. He’s also an influencer, keynote speaker, and marketing consultant to major brands. Why you should follow: Michael regularly opens up his twitter posts to chat and answer your most burning questions. He also tweets about hot SEO topics and adds his professional two cents, which makes for interesting reading. I’m asking @randfish questions about Lost and Founder tonight. Anything you want to know? https://t.co/Fw2nzkjjWW — MyCool King (@iPullRank) May 10, 2018 7. Casey Markee @MediaWyse Casey Markee is an SEO writer, speaker, trainer, and marketer. He writes for Search Engine News and is the founder of Media Wyse, an SEO firm. Why you should follow: If you’d like some SEO smarts with a big side dish of humor, Casey is your guy. Very nice deck here. The BEST slide is the one on Sliders. As in DON’T USE THEM. Sliders cause ? and kill kittens ?. It’s science #SlidersAreEvil https://t.co/ixdZSMiSZc — Casey Markee (@MediaWyse) April 14, 2018 8. Marie Haynes @Marie_Haynes Marie Haynes is an SEO consultant and an expert on the Google algorithm and its related penalties. Why you should follow: Since Marie is a self-professed algorithm obsessive, her Twitter feed is chock-full of advice, articles, news, and updates that are ultra-helpful if you want a better understanding of Google search. 9. Bill Slawski @bill_slawski Bill Slawski is the Director of SEO Research at Go Fish Digital, a digital marketing agency. He also runs SEObytheSea.com, a blog for learning absolutely everything about SEO. Why you should follow: Bill tweets about fresh SEO topics, SEO job opportunities, and engages in conversations with other top SEOers. You’ll learn a ton just by following along. 10. Jenny Halasz @jennyhalasz Jenny Halasz is an SEO strategist, the President of JLH Marketing, and a regular speaker at events like Pubcon, SEJSummit, and SMX. Why you should follow: Jenny isn’t afraid to share her opinions on everything from basic SEO to ranking factors to politics. 11. Nik Ranger @dada_ono Nik Ranger isn’t an SEOer – rather, she’s a self-described SEO nerd (she’s also a front-woman and electric violinist for her band, Dada Ono). Why you should follow: If “electric violinist” and “front-woman” weren’t enough for you, Nik also geeks out about SEO regularly, which is fun to follow. Shameless fangirling at @BritneyMuller from @moz Still one of my favourite blog posts because it really spoke to me! https://t.co/pu9VRmTi8p pic.twitter.com/wV1Z5Ukifd — Dada Ono (@dada_ono) May 29, 2018 12. Barry Schwartz @rustybrick Barry Schwartz is the CEO of RustyBrick, a custom web software and digital marketing company. He’s also the founder of the reknowned Search Engine Roundtable and is the News Editor at Search Engine Land. Why you should follow: Barry keeps tabs on all things Google so you don’t have to – including the latest algorithm updates. 13. John Mueller @JohnMu John Mueller is Google’s Webmaster Trends Analyst. As such, he’s often an important point-of-contact and go-between for Google’s engineers and SEO marketers. Why you should follow: John is incredibly active on Twitter and what he says is taken very, very seriously concerning Google’s inner-workings. Follow to hear directly from the horse’s mouth (though … Read more

Your Nutshell Guide: How to Find Killer SEO Keywords for Your Online Content

Your Nutshell Guide: How to Find Killer SEO Keywords for Your Online Content

What’s one way to make sure your content gets search engine-indexed, ranked, and, ultimately, discovered by users in your target niche? I’m sure you already know the answer from the headline – you need SEO keywords. More importantly, you need to know how to find SEO keywords. Why? Because the benefits are incredible. When you target the right keywords and use them to optimize your amazing content: You’ll start ranking for those keywords. You’ll hit desirable top spots in the SERPS. You’ll drive much more profitable traffic to your website. Take a look at this chart from Ignite Visibility that shows how much your click-through rate increases as you climb into the top 5 spots on Google for a keyword. When you hit #1, your CTR makes a huge leap from 13.32% to 20.5%. More clicks and more profitable traffic will lead to: Leads Conversions Followers Sales Unicorns and rainbows (not literally, but you’ll FEEL just as magical as these things – like you’re an SEO wizard) That’s a LONG pathway of benefits. And with Facebook ad costs up 43%, and 30% of all internet users using adblockers, it’s even more important than ever to make sure you’re honing on the right keywords and building great onsite, organic content. In essence, you’re building content people want to find. It’s an investment for your future. So, how do you find the right ones that will amount to traffic boosts, lead boosts, and conversion boosts? I’m going to show you, step-by-step, using two of my favorite tools for keyword research and discovery (KWFinder by Mangools, and SEMrush). Let’s do this. How to Find the Right SEO Keywords for Your Online Content in SEMrush The right keywords are ones that give you opportunities to break into the rankings – and maybe even climb past all the other results to hit that coveted #1 position. These high-opportunity keywords all follow a specific formula. Usually, they: Are specific (A.K.A. long tail keywords) Have low search competition (don’t confuse this metric with keyword difficulty – competition shows how many advertisers are bidding to show up in paid spots in results for the keyword) Have relatively high search volume (people are actually typing them into Google) Have low keyword difficulty (a score that rates how hard it is to rank for a keyword) Most keyword tools have their own method for calculating difficulty scores. For example, here’s how KWFinder does it: If this is a lot to take in, I get it. These criteria seem like a lot to juggle at first. But that’s what I’m sharing today – I’m answering the ultimate question: How do you find SEO keywords that fit ALL of these factors? Let’s see what that process looks like in SEMrush. 1. Start with a Relevant, Broad Search Term with Potential To narrow down keywords in SEMrush, start by searching for a keyword you think has potential. For example, if I sell graphic t-shirts in my online store, I would research the term “graphic t-shirts.” As you can see, this keyword has an average organic search volume of 6.6K searches per month. But, check out the competition. We’re looking at .93. That’s almost 100% competition, which means you’re up against tough luck. Another thing to consider is that even though you may net many of these numbers in search volume, few will be qualified to buy. The search term is too broad: They’re probably at the early stages in the buying cycle, and haven’t made a decision on what to buy yet. So, this traffic potential is useless for your bottom line. For even more proof, when I plug “graphic t-shirts” into Keyword Explorer, it rates 44 on a difficulty scale of 1-100. In general, scoring 50 or above means it’s impossible to rank for the phrase. While this ranks below 50, it’s a best practice to only use keywords that rank at 40 or below. Lower difficulty = lower competition = higher ROI. So, we’ve ruled out using this keyword in our SEO. We need to get more specific to find a better option. We need a long-tail keyword. 2. Use Your Broad Term as a Root, and Go Long Tail “Graphic t shirts” is too broad. How do we make this root keyword more specific? We add to it. Let’s try “women’s graphic t shirts.” The search volume is 5.4K for this one. That’s better but still too high. Let’s look at the “related keywords” to see if there’s an option with lower competition. “Women’s graphic tee shirts” has an average monthly search volume of 210. I would need to do a little more research on keyword difficulty and brand competition, but this could be a good option for SEO. 3. Dig Deeper – Check Keyword Difficulty and Search Volume To dig deeper, I could click on “View full report” to view all the related keyword possibilities. Then I could sort them by keyword difficulty and search volume to find my sweet spot. The sweet spot, where a keyword is balanced between low keyword difficulty, low competition, and high search volume, is ultimately what you’re looking for. Tip: Use More Than One Tool to Find Great SEO Keywords (How to Use KWFinder) One of my number one tips for how to find SEO keywords is to NEVER rely on one tool exclusively. Instead, use multiple tools to double-check your research and compare how each tool rates keyword difficulty, measures search volume, and more. Here’s what I mean: In SEMrush, “women’s graphic tee shirts” looks like a solid SEO keyword option with high potential. To make sure I’m on the right track, I’m going to turn to another one of my favorite SEO tools, KWFinder, to double-check. As you can see, KWFinder gives this keyword a difficulty rating of 37, or “still easy.” Plus, the search volume is 260/month, but many of those searchers could be in a later stage of the buyer’s journey. There’s definitely potential here. Now that I’ve double-checked the results for … Read more

SEO Writing in 2018: 6 Features of High-Ranking, High-Traffic Content

SEO Writing in 2018: 6 Features of High-Ranking, High-Traffic Content

I’d bet you that SEO writing is on 99.99999% of marketers’ minds these days. Why? Well, in our current atmosphere of content shock, internet users are bombarded with a mountain of new SEO blogs and articles, each second. In SEO content and ALL brand content, you must stand out on every level to get read. On WordPress alone, over 86.4 million posts are published each month. Whoa! If you can’t position yourself advantageously for the search engines, you may as well throw the rest of your content marketing out the window. And, if you can’t get people to read your content, you will chuck any potential leads and sales into the trash, too. So, yes: SEO writing and all online content is a big deal, and we all want to know how to do it the best way. “What does SEO writing look like in 2018?” Someone recently asked this great question in my group: “I’ve done research, and I cannot seem to get a defined answer/list together. It’s about ‘SEO-Friendly’ Content/SEO Optimized Content. One SEO Consultant told me just yesterday blog posts should be more than 1k words, another last month said it was 750+. From a separate angle, one individual said I needed to have a keyword density of 5%, the other said 10% and someone else said to only use a keyword 5 times per 500 words of text! So, my question is to you all is this: What does SEO-friendly/optimized content look like in 2018, what does it mean to you to produce SEO Opt. content, and what are the ideal lengths of posts right now?” Thanks, Elizabeth Madison! Lining up with what Elizabeth said, you’ll see SEO guides all over the internet telling you different things to do. Every single marketer offers a different answer, and it’s all conflicting information. A prime example: blog length for SEO. What’s the right amount of words to appeal to the masses? Here are recommendations from various authority sources: Yoast says you should always post blogs with more than 300 words. They also say experienced writers should shoot for over 1,000 words with every post, while less experienced scribes can stay around the 700-800 mark. Meanwhile, HubSpot focused on research that says posts with an average 7-minute read time are the biggest attention-grabbers. If the average reader goes at a pace of 300 words per minute, that means your blogs should be 2,000-2,500 words in length. And then there’s Neil Patel, who makes post length recommendations based on industry. For instance, those in retail should aim for 1,500-1,700 words per post, while brands in finance should go for 2,100-2,500 words. With all the conflicting posts out there with various recommendations, it’s no wonder so many marketers are scratching their heads. What’s the right answer? First: There Is No Perfect, Definitive SEO Strategy It’s incorrect to assume there’s one “be-all, end-all” answer to doing SEO. Unfortunately, there isn’t one secret formula, one so-easy-it’s-stupid hack, or even one sure-fire, fail-safe method. If an SEO gives you what they say is the definitive answer, they’re completely ignoring a vital factor. SEO content that’s highly-ranked and high-traffic is complex and layered. It doesn’t fit one mold. Why isn’t there one perfect way to do SEO? Because SEO will always look different depending on the audience you’re serving. Your specific audience determines the keywords that will work for your content. They also determine the most successful length for your blog posts, the type of content that performs well, and how it all ties together. Your SEO is going to look different from Joe Shmoe’s because you are not keying into the same targets. THAT is why you can find so many different answers for SEO best practices all over the web. SEO is audience-specific! Second: Good SEO Writing Is Written for HUMANS So there’s no perfect SEO formula – it looks different for every individual situation, site, audience, and purpose. Now that we have that out of the way, the second thing to remember is SEO algorithms are built to work, think, and rank the way humans would. It’s truer than true. The ultimate goal is for algorithms to ape human logic. As they get smarter, they get closer to miming human cognition (though, thankfully, this isn’t The Matrix… yet). In fact, according to The Conversation, Google’s tech experts have been tapping neuroscientists to help them understand the human brain better. They want to apply that knowledge to the search algorithm. If it can search more like a human, then it will serve user search intent better. (There’s a reason they call it “RankBrain.”) We have to remember, ALWAYS, that Google’s purpose is to serve the end user the content they want – the stuff they want to click. We have to align ourselves with this thinking to perform better. We have to create human-centric content. Even though Google’s algorithm is a robot, we cannot write for the robot. We have to write for the humans the robot is trying to serve. 4 More SEO Writing Techniques That Will Help Your Content Rank Higher Let’s reiterate: There’s no perfect SEO method. Your best SEO practices must be yours: tailored to your audience’s search needs. You have to write content for humans, not machines. What other content features will not only make your people want to read it, but also help Google find it and serve it to them? Over the years, I’ve tested and published thousands of blogs. From my experience, I’ve come to these conclusions. You must: 1. Choose Keywords Carefully When you find the right keyword to use, your ranking potential skyrockets. You can’t just pick one at random, however. You have to evaluate each possible keyword and understand how it could (or couldn’t) work for you in your content. For example, most keyword tools rate the difficulty of a keyword on a scale from 1-100. (A score of 100 basically means the keyword is impossible to rank for.) I never … Read more

SEO vs. SEM: What You Need to Know

Seo Vs Sem

If you’re in the online writing or content marketing business, you may have heard the words SEO and SEM thrown around. You may have even casually sprinkled them into conversation yourself while quietly panicking at the thought of someone asking you to explain further. SEO and SEM are common marketing terms, but does anyone really know what they mean? First things first, SEO and SEM do not mean the same thing. Let’s clarify that now so that you don’t use them interchangeably. Both SEO and SEM aim to increase a website’s visibility. One of the main differences, however, is that SEM includes more paid search tactics while SEO is a process of using organic techniques to build credibility for search engines. That clarifies things, right? Not so fast. Let’s dive in to today’s topic. What is SEO? SEO is defined as search engine optimization. It is a process that uses various techniques to make a webpage rank higher in search results. Increasing your search ranking will also increase the traffic to your site. Basically, great SEO = more visitors = more customers = more sales. Google is constantly changing their algorithm, so it is a task to keep up with the best search engine trends. Unlike the quick return of some paid SEM tactics, SEO takes patience. It is a steady process that shows progress with time. Main Components of SEO SEO is comprised of two main components: on-site optimization and off-site optimization. These are also referred to as on-page and off-page. Some on-page optimization tactics include: Keyword incorporation into titles, headers, meta descriptions and content Creating high quality blog posts and page copy Optimizing page load speed by resizing embedded photos Formatting proper URLs Some off-page optimization tactics include: Back-linking, or having other authoritative sites link back to your webpage Posting on social media Managing local listings All of these strategies establish your site as a credible source in the eyes of a search engine. While SEO is a more organic way to optimize your site, it still takes hard work and expert knowledge to utilize the full benefits. What is SEM? SEM refers to search engine marketing. This type of online marketing involves both organic and paid strategies to optimize a site. SEO can be thought of as one component of SEM, but in a larger sense, search engine marketing is working to drive traffic to your site immediately. (Now, SEM is something I’ve never personally used at Express Writers. Instead, we use foundational inbound marketing and do things like publish 1,000 blogs to bring in our leads.) If your boss is looking for a quick boost in website analytics, paid search engine campaigns could be the way to go. Some paid SEM strategies include: PPC (Pay-per-click) listings and advertising campaigns Ad campaigns designed to reach a target demographic Hiring a copywriter to create relevant ad copy using selective keywords Managing metrics like impressions, cost per click and click-through rates The most popular SEM strategy is pay-per-click campaigns (PPC). You’ve probably come across these ads without even realizing what they are for. PPC is just fancy terminology for paid search results. Search engines like Google sell ad placement to the highest bidder. These ads will show up first when someone searches for matching keywords. It’s likely they’ll click the ad just because it’s the first thing they see. Honestly, who goes past the first page of search results on Google? Every time the ad is clicked, the business pays a fee to the search engine. Just try it. I searched “tires in Austin” to look for places to replace my flat tire. At the very top of the list there’s an ad for Good Year Auto Service. I click, they pay. This type of targeted marketing helps increase your site’s visibility in a shorter amount of time. But it must always be turned on, like a faucet, with revenue – without revenue, it shuts off. Rules to Follow for SEO and SEM Maybe you’ve started a website without even considering online marketing strategies. Don’t rush to change everything just yet! The ins and outs of these terms can feel overwhelming but you’ve probably incorporated some key components without even trying. One major part of ranking high in search engine results is creating high quality content. Everything else is icing on the cake. The Do’s of SEO Develop a content strategy before writing and posting content Focus on engaging, well-written and high quality content Include links back to your website Research keywords and incorporate them naturally Insert links to credible and original sources Find your voice and have a consistent tone throughout your site Include a call to action (CTA) that is relevant to your brand Incorporate photos, videos and GIFs that are labeled for reuse and resized to optimize the page’s loading time Customize your meta descriptions to speak to someone searching for your content The Don’ts of SEO Avoid keyword stuffing. Don’t overuse your keyword in a way that negatively affects readability Pay for links. They usually do not add value to your content Repeat the same content or use the same titles and meta descriptions for different articles The Do’s of SEM Take advantage of SEM tools Analyze the sites of your top competitors Know and continually research your audience Share your content Check your quality score and ad relevance Pay attention to A/B testing to figure out what ad copy is most effective The Don’ts of SEM Forget to utilize ad extensions to make it easier for customers to interact with your site Write content for only one group of people. Instead, write different content for different demographics Use excessive punctuation. Capitalizing every letter or adding extra exclamation points doesn’t emphasize your point. It just comes off as irritating Where Should I Start? Now that you know the difference between SEO and SEM, the first thing to do is to use terms correctly. You can even bring up the topic at a dinner party. … Read more

5 Major SEO Content Trends to Expect in 2018

5 Major SEO Content Trends to Expect in 2018

Search engine optimization is going to look waaaay different in 2018. It’s true. We’re forging into the future, and that means search has to change to keep up with technology and user habits/needs. But what do “they” (the Big G) want? And, where is technology going – and how does that tie in to the search algorithm? For starters, more people want to ask their virtual, voice-enabled home assistants questions – and get good answers. In addition, more people want to use the internet on their smartphone versus a desktop. Just look at the market share for mobile vs. desktop five years ago, and then compare it to today. In 2013, mobile was barely making a blip: But look at where those numbers fell in 2017: Mobile is now edging out desktop, and it’s not stopping anytime soon. That means big things for SEO. So, what’s going to (really) happen? Let’s dive into the biggest SEO trends for this year. We’ll conjure up a good idea of what it all means for your online presence. 5 Impactful Content & SEO Trends to Watch for in 2018 1. Mobile-First Indexing Is Happening In 2016, mobile surpassed desktop browsing as the most popular method. More and more people are turning to mobile for their browsing needs, whether they’re on-the-go or at home. Plus, 80% of people who use the internet also own smartphones. Google is working to accommodate this shift and will soon roll out their mobile-first index. This means that the search engine will prioritize mobile content in its rankings. “Soon” is a relative term, however. According to a Search Engine Land report, right now that means sometime in 2018, but it could get pushed back. Google has also promised not to spring the roll-out of mobile-first on unsuspecting site owners. Instead, they have pledged to be “proactive” about talking to webmasters as it happens. Gary Illyes even told people not to “freak out” at the SMX Advanced conference in June 2017. Bottom line: If you’re sitting pretty with a website that has a responsive design, you have no worries. If you still only have a desktop-friendly site, now is the time to make some upgrades. Here’s what that looks like across devices, via W3Schools: 2. Context Will Matter More Than Ever for Content If your content isn’t contextually relevant to the topic you’re writing about, forget it. Forget about ranking, let alone ranking well in 2018. As Google gets smarter, repeating keywords in your content matters less and less for SEO. Google is no longer a toddler in terms of tech. It’s now a wise-ass teenager who knows way more than you think. Hence, SEO for content going forward is all about context. It’s about relevance. It’s about diving deep into a topic and leading your readers far beneath the surface information. According to experts who contributed to SEMrush’s #semrushchat, content may be THE most important ranking factor today. Not just any content, though – “relevant, well-structured content”: Of course, this is nothing new. However, you can expect to see this continue to grow in importance in the months ahead. The need for high-quality content for outstanding SEO is going nowhere. 3. Voice Search Optimization Will (Continue to Be) a Big Deal Voice search technology is getting better all the time. And, as it gets better and easier to use, more people are flocking to nab their own virtual assistants like Alexa on Amazon devices, Siri on Apple devices, or Cortana on Microsoft devices. According to a recent study from eMarketer, the number of Americans using voice search jumped up by 128.9% from 2016 to 2017. By 2019, 39.3 million millennials are expected to adopt this technology and use voice search, according to the same study. It’s easy to see why voice search optimization will continue to grow in importance for SEO. It’s gotta keep up with the lightning-fast speed at which users are glomming onto voice-enabled technology. 4. Sites Will Be Jostling for Spots in Featured Snippets According to The Next Web, snippets are the new #1 position on Google. These snippets appear at the top of search results and give searchers instant answers. For instance, what if I need to know how far away the moon is from earth? Observe: Before I can even scroll to the number one search result from NASA, Google hands me the answer in the featured snippet. Needless to say, it’s prime real estate. Sites that manage to get featured don’t even have to rank #1 to be on top. Instead, Google pulls text from your content to provide the answer and links to your page – above the number one search result. Awesome, right? Plus, voice search results are mainly pulled from featured snippets. If you can get your content featured here, you could really go places. Because voice search is getting bigger, expect featured snippet spots to get pretty competitive, too. 5. Lazy Guest-Blogging = Not Cool with Google If you’re guest-blogging with no other intention than link-building, you’re doing it wrong – and Google will punish you. Google recently pointed out that this behavior is basically in violation of their guidelines. Specifically, it falls under the shady link schemes umbrella. Search Engine Land has speculated that this announcement signals a warning for webmasters. They say it’s likely that an algorithm update may be coming that targets “manipulative guest posting.” To avoid a hit on your rankings in 2018, review guest blogging mistakes to avoid and make sure you’re doing it for the right reasons: to provide value to users, and to help you grow your list with quality leads. The Main 2018 SEO Trend? Search Engines Are Getting Smarter I think you’ll see one overarching trend for 2018 and SEO: Search is getting smarter, better, and more intuitive. Of course, we can never stay static for long. We can’t get too comfortable. If we don’t change along with the changing times, we’ll get left behind. Look forward to these … Read more