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Friday, March 31, 2017
Relevance of Organic #Keyword #Rankings in 2017
Relevance of Organic Keyword Rankings in 2017 Google seems to be consistently modifying, updating, and upgrading its search engine. Some of these changes impact your rankings, some influence SERP layout and much more. Some of the recent changes would be including the elimination of the right-hand ... read moreImportance of Technical SEO 2017 and Beyond [Infographic] It goes without saying that targeted leads are what the majority of businesses aim for, and it can be attained through effective organic SEO ... for higher search engine ranking was a well-developed structure, images, keyword rich meta tags and keyword ... read more12 Most Effective SEO Strategies For 2017 Using descriptive, keyword-relevant URLs has been an effective ... I imagine site speed will become an even more significant ranking factor in 2017. In September, Google again emphasized the importance of speed, particularly in relation to mobile devices ... read more
Source: Relevance of Organic #Keyword #Rankings in 2017
Source: Relevance of Organic #Keyword #Rankings in 2017
WordPress SEO: Optimize Your Artist Website for Search Engines
Have you heard the term SEO? Are you confused on what it means and how can it help you get more traffic? Do you want to know how to optimize your artist blog for search engines? In this article, I am going to talk about WordPress SEO and how to optimize your site so you can start to rank higher in search results.
Changes happen around us every day. As humans, we adapt and move forward. The changes soon become part of the norm.
Do you remember when cell phones first came out?
You had to have a pocket full of change available when you left the house in case of an emergency. Knowing where all the pay phones were in town was normal.
Today the norm is shopping on your smartphone.
Times have changed and we have adapted to all the changes.
Why am I talking about payphones and changes when you were interested in learning about WordPress SEO?
Because just like payphones, radio, television or the internet, the way we communicate with each other is constantly evolving. What we know today will be different fifteen, ten or even as little as five years from now.
Just like you adapt and learn the current ways, Google changes and learns as well.
Everyday content is published online and Google crawls the content to understand what it is about. If the content is properly formatted and written in Google's "language", Google will be able to rank the content accordingly.
Not too long ago text was the main form of content online and is easy for Google to understand. In the background, the text is written in Google's language, "HTML."
Today more videos, images, and audio are being uploaded on the net. Google doesn't understand images, video or audio. Google understands the text.
If you want to rank higher in search you must help Google understand what your images are with alt tags. I will go into that further later in this article.
So, the bottom line is, if you do not make it easy for Google to understand what your content is about, you will not rank in the search engines and you will never be found.
This might sound intimidating, but it is not. I am going to share with you some basic WordPress SEO strategies you can start implementing today.
Search engines are the number one source of traffic. In fact, there is not even a close second.
If you have your website and blog linked to Google Analytics you already know where your traffic is coming from.
Log into your Google Analytics.
Go to Acquisition.
Click Overview.
Here you find where your traffic is coming from.
The traffic is broken down into four sections:
Direct traffic is when someone types in the URL of your site or blog into search and is directed directly to your homepage.
Social traffic is when someone clicks on a link from a social media post and is directed to your site.
Referral Traffic Is when another site links to your site and refers you to a page or post you published.
Organic Search is when someone types in a query into search and they click on your link from the result page.
If your site is new, you might find that most of your traffic is coming from direct and social.
This is normal. In time, you will start to notice most of your traffic will be generated by search.
Why does this happen?
It takes time for recent content to rank in Google's Search. Until people can start finding you on the first page of search engines, most of the traffic will come from other sources.
You will notice posts you have published years ago, will still be generating traffic today. The more content you produce with your blog, the more opportunities you will have for generating traffic.
Social media, on the other hand, is a one-time deal. If people do not see your post within the first couple of days after publishing, your content will never be seen.
Another problem with social media is they have total control of how many people will see your post. They even have control of who they will deliver the content to. That is a lot of control.
I am not saying you should not use social media to promote your work.
You should use every tool available.
Your main goal should be to make an online presence. You want to make people aware of your artwork. Use everything that is available to make your presence.
The more people become familiar with your name and artwork, the higher the chance of you landing a sale becomes.
However, you do want to be aware of what is providing the best results so you can spend more energy on those areas.
According to Statista:
"As of February 2017, the distribution of traffic sources for top news stories in the United States is direct 48%, search 31%, referral 11% and social only 10%."
Image courtesy of Statista
You can see by this study SEO is still important. Maybe more important than ever with all the social media algorithm changes.
These numbers make it clear to us, that producing content will drive traffic to your website.
What is the Best Search Engine?
If you have been following me for some time, you already know that I say Google when I talk about search engines.
There is a good reason I do.
Google is the top search engine in the world.
If you can optimize your site for Google's search, you win.
Image courtesy of Statista
You can see from this image by Statista, Google is by far the most use search engine in the world. It only makes sense to optimize your site for Google.
Authority MattersYou will begin to build authority the longer you have your blog up and the more high-quality content you produce.
Not only will Google start to see you as an authority and rank your site accordingly, but other people will start to see you as an authority in your niche.
I will use this site as an example. When I started this site to help artists learn how to sell art online, I was lucky to have 200 people visit a month. Within 6 months I started having over 8,000 people visit a month and the number continues to rise rapidly every month.
This is because Google is starting to see this site as an authority. Google has learned that this site provides valuable content to help artists like you build an online art business.
I do want to make it perfectly clear that I spent many hours building this site to where it is.
Building an authority takes time and demanding work. You might not see tangible results for up to twenty-four months and this is the norm.
Your site must have enough content before Google can start to see you as an authority.
Sharing all your posts on social media and sending them to your email list will help you to get people to your WordPress site in the beginning.
The good news is that all the content you write will continue to generate traffic for years to come.
Best WordPress SEO ToolThe easiest way for you to start optimizing your WordPress blog is by installing the WordPress SEO plugin by Yoast.
This is, by far the best WordPress SEO plugin available.
Yoast has a free version and a paid version.
The free version will have everything you need. You can always upgrade to the premium plugin later if you decide you want the extra features.
Here is a great Yoast SEO Tutorial to help you get started.
Keyword ResearchKeyword research should be a part of your WordPress SEO strategy.
Your post will never be found if you do not focus on writing content that contains the keywords that people are using in the search. You need to learn your audience's voice and what words they use when they are searching for content.
Even switching the words around or making them plural instead of singular will make a significant difference on how much traffic your posts will receive.
Here is an example of some steps I take before I start writing a post.
The first step is to decide what topic I would like to cover.
Once I know what I would like to write about I go to Google Planner.
I start my keyword strategy by typing in some keywords that I think people will use to find the article I am writing.
Google Planner will provide you with a list of relevant keywords when you type in a word or phrase into the search bar of Google Planner.
The list will tell you how much traffic the word or phrase will receive in a month as well as the competition for the phase, or how hard it will be to rank for the phrase.
The image shows you an example of what you will see.
In this example, I typed in the phrase "Painting of a Horse."
This phrase "Painting of a Horse" will generate between 100 – 1K people per month and the competition is low.
The numbers are based on Google AdSense so they will not be 100% accurate, but they will give you an excellent idea of what you can expect.
Now if you targeted the keywords "horse paintings." You can potentially reach between 10K – 100K people a month, but the competition is high. This means it will be difficult to rank high in Google's search for content focusing on the keyword phrase "horse paintings."
If you are just starting your WordPress site, you might do better targeting lower competition with lower traffic.
You will have a better chance of ranking in the top three of Google's search for lower competitive phrases.
Once Google sees you as an authority you can start to focus on words with higher competition.
How to Optimize WordPressNow I would like to talk about specific tasks you should do to optimize your WordPress site.
Permalinks
Before you post anything, you will want to set up your permalinks for search.
The permalink is the URL for your posts or pages.
Before you do anything, you will want to change the WordPress permalink default setting. If you leave it the way it is set up, your URL will contain a random string of characters.
That does not give Google any information about the content of the post.
You want the URL to have your post title in it.
So, go into your permalinks section and change that so Google will have an idea of what your content is about.
How to change your permalink settings in WordPress.
ThemesIt is important to have a theme from a trusted developer. There are many sites that provide great themes such as Elegant Themes and Thrive Themes, but I have found Genesis Themes to be the best.
They provide quality themes that are secure, SEO optimized, mobile optimized and fast.
Speed is becoming more relevant for SEO. Google will not rank a site that takes forever to load because it does not provide a good user experience.
If two sites provide the same level of content, Google would rank the site that loads faster, higher in the search.
You can check the speed of your site at PageSpeed Insights.
Analyze ResultsNow that you have your site optimized for search, you will want to track the progress. Have a clear picture of what is working and if there are any issues that need to be addressed.
You will be optimizing your site for as long as you have it running. Remember everything changes. So, does Google's algorithm.
It is important to keep up to date with Google's changes and make any necessary adjustments to your site.
The last thing you will want I have is your site to lose rank after all the hard work you put into it.
How do you track your results?
Use Google Analytics and Google Console.
These are free tools provided by google that will help you to track what is going on with your site.
Google Analytics will provide information about your traffic while Google console will let you know if your site has any issues that need to be resolved.
I have an SEO checklist I use every week. It is easier to fix any problems as the occur instead of waiting for them to all build up. You might want to consider using an SEO checklist as well.
How to Install Google Analytics.
How to Install Google Console.
How to Optimize PostsGoogle makes it very clear, that writing quality content will help sites rank higher.
Quality ContentWhat does quality content mean?
Producing quality content means that you are providing value for your audience. You are solving a problem, educating, motivating or inspiring people.
Google, want you to write for your audience, not for Google.
Many people start to stuff their content with keywords just for the hopes of ranking higher.
Like I said earlier, Google's algorithm is constantly evolving to provide a better reading experience for its audience.
Google knows when people are abusing keywords, and those people will be penalized.
Deliver What You Promise
Make sure every post delivers what you promise. The content should be detailed information about the title of the post.
If your title is, "How to Clean Your Artist Paint Brushes." and the content is all about your latest paintings and how to purchase them, you will lose your readers.
Google is smart and will notice if your readers are happy or if they going to a different site for the information they are searching for.
When someone lands on your post, do not disappoint them. Make your content so good that they will want to see more.
Be Consistent with Post StructureWriting blog posts is entirely different than writing a book. You want to make your content to be easy to read and scannable.
Like I said earlier, Google does not see images. You will need to tell Google what your images are about. You can do this by providing an alt tag for each image.
When you upload an image to WordPress, you will have an option to include an alt tag for the image you are uploading. In the field provided include text that describes what the image is.
Linking to other content that supports your thesis will provide value to your post.
This shows Google that you are trying to provide the best content you can provide.
It is also an excellent idea to include links to your posts as well.
Google AMPDo you remember when I said Google like fast sites? Google has learned that more people are searching online with their mobile devices and will not wait for slow loading sites.
To solve this problem Google collaborated with different companies and produce AMP.
AMP simplifies your post and gets rid of all the code that slows down pages such as JavaScript.
How to Install an AMP plugin.
Conclusion:
You have worked very hard to get to where you are today. For your business to blossom online, you will want to focus on WordPress SEO.
Keep on top of any changes that might affect your rankings.
I will post any news I learn about, so if you haven't already be sure to sign up for my newsletter.
Recommended Reading:
SEO Fitness Workbook: 2017 Edition: The Seven Steps to Search Engine Optimization Success on Google by Jason McDonald Ph.D. (Amazon Affiliate Link)
You might also be interested in:
Are you ready to take your art blog to the next level?
Take the challenge.
28 Day Blogging Challenge for Visual Artists by Dave Nevue available on Amazon.
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Source: WordPress SEO: Optimize Your Artist Website for Search Engines
Thursday, March 30, 2017
Best #SEO Analysis Tools for Tracking #Backlinks
Best SEO Analysis Tools for Tracking Backlinks Tracking backlinks has several benefits, from knowing how people have come to find your site and even helping you make decisions about the direction of your content. See which content brings in the most traffic and revenue Do you know which are the most ... read more7 Top-Rated Analysis Tools for Your Brick-and-Mortar Store Brick-and-mortar stores use big data and analytics tools to maximize transactional value. Through data analysis, brick-and-mortar stores ... to improve business effectiveness and determine the best locations to target their customer base. read moreMake your website rank high in google|Use SEO Tools | siteseostatus.com Additionally siteseostatus provides a range of completely free SEO Tools such as link analysis, page status check, backlink creation/search ... We develop and support these SEO Tools in-house because our best team knows first-hand what SEO needs, and ... read more
Source: Best #SEO Analysis Tools for Tracking #Backlinks
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Study: Why do marketers still struggle with innovative search tactics?
Many marketers who are seeing flagging returns from their search marketing campaigns might wonder what they're doing wrong – especially if they've already got best practices like accurate site descriptions and keyword optimization covered.
But a new study commissioned by Microsoft's Bing and search agency Catalyst, and carried out by Forrester Consulting, may have some light to shed onto why marketers aren't realizing the full potential of search.
The study, whose findings are written up in a whitepaper, 'Prioritize Search to Maximize ROI of Marketing', found that more advanced search marketing tactics like local inventory ads, voice search optimization, sitelinks and schema markup have low adoption by marketers, who may not even know about them.
In addition, marketers struggle to properly integrate search with other channels in order to take advantage of the demand which they themselves have created.
"We too often see advertisers spending significant dollars in, let's say, TV, and then failing to fully fund their search campaigns," says Rob Wilk, Vice President of North America Search Sales at Microsoft.
"So if a consumer hears a message somewhere and then decides to search on Bing to get more information, many times the advertiser isn't present, and that consumer ends up taking a different path than what the advertiser would have desired.
"In a worst case scenario, consumers come to search and end up clicking on a competitor ad. Think about that for a moment – clients are spending their dollars to line the pockets of competitors."
So what do Bing and Catalyst think is keeping search marketers from tapping into the full potential of their campaigns, and how can they go about addressing the problem?
Challenges in allocation and attributionThe study's findings drew on online surveys of 300 US-based marketing agencies and B2C advertisers, together with Forrester's Consumer Technographics data.
Wilk explained that Bing and Catalyst commissioned the study to "better inform the market about the importance of looking at search not just as an individual, effective marketing channel, but to clearly articulate the benefits of closely aligning all media spend in concert with search advertising investments."
Overall, respondents to the survey gave a high rating to the ROI they receive from search marketing, with 74% of respondents who were investing in search giving its ROI a rating of "excellent" or "good".
However, 53% of marketers cited cross-media attribution as one of their top three challenges in budget allocation, with another 53% citing a lack of data to inform strategy; 44% also cited measurement as one of their top challenges.
"Competing business demands force marketers to rely on hard attribution data to develop and support their cross-channel investment strategies," notes the study.
"Unfortunately, their attribution models today do not necessarily paint an accurate reflection of the consumer engagement with cross-channel touchpoints, which inhibits them from moving budget fluidly from channel to channel."
Kerry Curran, Senior Partner and Managing Director of Marketing Integration at Catalyst, adds:
"The majority of the data supports that consumers consistently use and value paid search, and marketers find it to be a strong ROI driver; however, adequate budget allocation is still a challenge.
"With competing business demands and attribution data that does not measure cross-channel impact, paid search marketers are struggling to fully invest in their programs."
Search marketers still aren't being innovative enoughThose of us who keep close tabs on search innovation and strategy – or comment on it – are fairly familiar with concepts like retargeting lists for search ads (RLSA), voice search optimization, ad extensions in paid search listings, schema markup, and so on.
But for the majority of marketers, advanced tactics like these go far beyond what they would use for their campaigns. When asked which of a range of tactics their company used or was planning to use in 2016, only 34% of marketers reported using ad extensions; 30% used Product Listing Ads (PLAs); and 28% used retargeting lists for search ads (RLSA).
Just 28% of respondents reported using voice search optimization in their campaigns, 27% said they used sitelinks, and a dismal 17% reported using schema markup. (Findings like this shed light on why, even now, less than 1% of websites are using schema.org vocabulary to mark up their webpages).
I asked Wilk and Curran why they thought that marketers weren't going the extra mile with their search marketing tactics. Was it due to a lack of expertise, or perhaps just budget and time?
"It's all of those reasons," replies Wilk. "Doing all of the tactics well in search requires constant learning, constant testing and of course constant optimization.
"These days, all marketers are being asked to do more with less, and we don't see that changing anytime soon. So in a world of squeezed time and resources, clients and agencies are forced to make trade-offs, and often the tactics mentioned tend to get a lower priority.
"Eventually clients do get to these things but every query we see, whether it's voice, on desktop or mobile is a perishable good. That "magical" moment of someone expressing clear intent comes and goes in an instant. Getting ahead of these trends, and sticking to them, is where the return on investment lives."
Curran adds: "There are so many advanced search tactics already available, and as search engines continue to innovate, they continue to release new options and update existing features.
"While the advanced tactics can drive campaign improvements, alignment between the search engines, paid search teams, and brand is required to roll out and test new tactics.
"In addition to the intricacies of day-to-day management, search marketers need to prioritize the opportunities, budgets, and resources to allow for testing in a manner that provides statistical significance."
What can marketers do to improve their search campaigns?It's one thing to pinpoint where the problems might be, but if marketers want to take concrete steps to improve their search marketing, where should they begin?
"One – prioritize their search budget," says Rob Wilk.
"Two, when running media campaigns – especially expensive TV commercials – marketers need to make sure they have strong search campaigns so that consumers can easily engage with the brand and find what they are looking for via search engines."
"Three, make sure they have full alignment across all channels. Marketers must keep their ear to the ground when it comes to search.
"We have billions of moments every month where consumers express their desires, and marketers must tap into this wealth of data to inform marketing decisions in terms of what message to deliver, to whom and in what way."
The search industry is constantly innovating, and it might seem overwhelming for marketers with limited time and resources to try and keep on top of developments. However, as we've seen, there is a large number of advanced search tactics available that most marketers aren't taking advantage of.
Investing in even one of these tactics could prove to have significant benefits for search marketing ROI, which would pay dividends in the long run.
Rebecca Sentance is the Deputy Editor at ClickZ and Search Engine Watch.
Want to stay on top of the latest search trends? Get top insights and news from our search experts.
Related readingAdvertising has always been about emotions. Emotions lead to actions and, as such, influencing emotions is the most effective route to influencing actions.
Google announced yesterday the launch of "shortcuts in search", which will allow Android users in the US to access quick answers on a range of topics with the touch of a button.
SEO-friendly content doesn't have to be difficult or time-consuming, provided that you understand how on-page SEO can work alongside your content. Here's how to create content that both your audience and search engines will enjoy.
Creating and launching a fully-fledged website is not enough to get your brand noticed by itself. In order to improve your online visibility, you ... read more
Source: Study: Why do marketers still struggle with innovative search tactics?
Wednesday, March 29, 2017
Avoid Content Obscurity With 5 #Traffic-Boosting #SEO Steps
Avoid Content Obscurity With 5 Traffic-Boosting SEO Steps If you are creating stellar content, distributing it across the most appropriate channels on a consistent basis, and still aren't getting the traffic results you expect, it's probably time that you faced a harsh reality: If your content isn't ... read more6 Advanced Techniques for Link-Building as a Future SEO Strategy Related: 5 SEO Mistakes That Are Costing ... Then you can create specific, actionable and relevant content that fits within the site's guidelines. To effectively utilize guest-posting as a link-building SEO strategy, you'll need links within the ... read more10 Ways Content Can Improve Your Rankings Consider how long you've spent on a site that was two steps ... ranks. SEO sites are full of interesting, new, and continuously updated content. The older and less updated your site is, the quicker it falls down the rankings and into obscurity. read more
Source: Avoid Content Obscurity With 5 #Traffic-Boosting #SEO Steps
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Resellers: Offer Your Customers SEO Hosting
Looking for a huge selling point to your customers?
Offer SEO Optimized hosting.
Last week I had a local contractor here in Kansas City out to give me an estimate to pressure wash and stain my deck.
While he was evaluating, I asked him about his website and how he uses it to generate business.
He explained to me that he trades services with a local individual who develops his website and conducts search engine optimization (SEO).
I asked about web hosting and he said his website is hosted at GoDaddy.
Google Rewards Fast Loading WebsitesA huge selling point to using Name Hero is our blazing fast web hosting packages. Since we use LiteSpeed web servers on top of SSD powered servers on our private cloud, it gives us a competitive advantage over the bigger brands.
The average painting contractor isn't going to know the difference between LiteSpeed and regular Apache. As a Reseller, that's something you can explain through your marketing.
Without going into boring technical details they don't care to know about, explain to them you will make their website faster, which in return will generate better search engine ranking positions (SERPs).
WordPress Caching With LiteSpeedEarlier this month, I blogged about LiteSpeed's new WordPress caching feature we've integrated with that combined with Cloudflare's Railgun, almost doubles a page's response time.
This is yet another feature you can use to help gain an advantage over "the bigger" brands.
When you're doing a consultation with a potential client, feel free to use tools such as GTMetrix to show them side-by-side how fast their website could be loading.
In 2017 It's All About The Total PackageYour customer's don't want to have to pay a web host, a web developer, a SEO, etc. They want to go one place and have everything done in one place. This is where our Resellers see the strongest growth.
I often tell people if I had to start over tomorrow, I would get me a Reseller account, load up WHMCS, and start going around to local businesses offering a fully functional responsive website (using WordPress), social media account creation/optimization, as well as SEO and other bells and whistles to make their web presence awesome.
No longer is a website optional; it's a requirement. Before I'll even consider using someone's services, is checkout their website to see how well it's developed. If it's bad, I'll move to the next. The opportunity is all yours and there has never been a better time than now to be a Reseller web host!
Related Posts:
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Source: Resellers: Offer Your Customers SEO Hosting
Tuesday, March 28, 2017
Five most interesting search #Marketing #News stories of the week
Five most interesting search marketing news stories of the week Welcome to our weekly round-up of all the latest news and research from the world of search marketing and beyond. This week, the mysterious "Google Posts" feature has made another return to the SERP, this time with GIFs and videos – could it be here ... read moreFive reasons you should watch Idris Elba's Five by Five As part of the "Idris Takeover" – a week ... the most interesting character of all, portrayed with real sensibility by Sope Dirisu. You might have seen him in The Halcyon and Undercover. 4. It's poetic Each character's story in Five by Five is ... read moreThese Tech-Savvy CMOs Embody All the Talents the Modern Marketer Needs Her relatively short term as CMO was bolstered by her tenure as head of digital marketing, which led Boff to green light some of the most ... news websites including Forbes, Fortune and Fast Company. The campaign—rolled out across 40 countries—drove 3 ... read more
Source: Five most interesting search #Marketing #News stories of the week
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46 SEO Job Interview Questions to Assess a Candidate's Knowledge
Knowledge-based interviews in the SEO world can be tough. Even with the most experienced SEOs, there's little universal agreement regarding search ranking factors and their importance. So instead of putting together questions that feel like a test — too many wrong answers and you fail — I have created questions that focus on the candidates' ability to explain what they know and why.
Many of the questions below are nothing more than a jump off point to a discussion. It's not always about the correctness of the answer but their ability to demonstrate their knowledge of a topic.
While these questions can lead to discussions on the candidates' experience and specific SEO strategies, they don't necessarily have to go in that direction — yet. Think of these knowledge-based questions as a primer for the experience and strategy questions to come. If the candidate doesn't demonstrate sufficient knowledge, there may be no need to go further.
Presented below are 46 knowledge-based SEO job interview questions, with a brief explanation as to where that question should lead the conversation.
You want to start by establishing the foundation of what the candidate believes the role of SEO to be. This ensures that the interviewee is applying for the position you have in mind or to see if you have two different ideas as to the nature of what will be expected of them.
How did you learn SEO?You're looking for insight on the candidate's overall interest and passion in SEO. Look for clues as to whether or not they are a self-starter or fell into SEO following the path of least resistance. Their answer here could tell you a lot about what kind of employee they will be.
How do you stay current with the almost-daily changes that occur in digital marketing?You want to get a sense of the candidate's educational process. Specifically, you want to know how much time they invest in education, the resources they utilize, and the people they follow to stay up to date.
What is the difference between a search engine friendly and search engine optimized website?How they answer this question will tell you quite a bit about their knowledge and skill level overall. If they don't know the difference, then you're looking at someone extremely green. If they do know, they should be able to provide some strong details and examples of those differences.
How would you define a successful SEO campaign?Similar to the first question, this one helps you make sure that you and the candidate are on the same page in regard to successful SEO. You should be looking for answers that go beyond "top search engine rankings" and into the realm of actual business improvement issues.
Where is the line between black hat and white hat SEO? Where do you fall on the spectrum?
Every SEO has different lines they will push and lines they won't cross. You want to know where this candidate falls to ensure it's a fit with your needs. More importantly, however, is to find out if the candidate can adhere to the lines you establish. You want to be sure they'll be as aggressive as you need but not so aggressive that they cross lines you don't want to be crossed.
What are the most important search engines and what makes them important?Any mention of MSN (and even Yahoo) is ground for immediate disqualification. What you are looking for is how familiar the candidate is with the world of search outside of Google. Aside from Bing, the candidate should have at least surface knowledge of Duck Duck Go, Yandex, and Baidu.
What do you do differently to optimize for search engines other than Google?The candidates may want to discuss how the various search engine algorithms differ, however, the crux of their answer should indicate that proper SEO is good for all search engines. They should be clear on the point that you should not tailor optimization for one specific search engine. The candidate should also demonstrate knowledge of some specific architectural issues that will need to be addressed when optimizing internationally.
Explain PageRank, its importance, and how it factors into SEO.The candidate should be able to provide a layman's explanation of PageRank. If the position requires direct interaction with non-technical people, it will be important that they are able to convey this in an easy to understand way.
What factors were impacted in the most recent (significant) Google updates?
Google is always making updates, but there is always a handful that stands out. You're not looking for a complete history of Google algorithm changes or even the names of them, necessarily. The most important thing is they know how search engines are changing and what things they look for.
Name some of the regular features of SERPS.Search engine results pages are much more than a list of paid and organic links. Local results, answer boxes, carousels, and more are all important parts of search results. Candidate should demonstrate a knowledge of these SERP enhancements and how those factor into their optimization efforts.
What percentage of a site's traffic should come from Google? Where should the rest come from and what percentages?You're not looking for exact percentages but rather a general idea of how the candidate sees organic search falling into the overall spectrum and what other areas contribute to a site's success. The candidate should show that they understand the value of bringing in traffic from multiple sources, not just Google (or organic search).
What are the five most important on-page optimization factors?Every SEO focuses on different things and has different priorities. Here (and for the next three questions), you're not looking for a "correct" answer. Instead, assess the answers given, which will tell you a great deal regarding what each candidate finds important. Even though there may be no right answers, that doesn't mean there are no wrong ones, so keep on the lookout for anything you know to be unimportant. That's a giant red flag.
What are the five most important off-page optimization factors?Just as in the question above, you want to know what the candidate sees as important for off-page optimization. These answers don't need to be specific to SEO, and in fact, a good SEO should know a few non-SEO factors that are important.
Tell me one on-page optimization factor that is commonly believed to be important but isn't.This could be a controversy-stirring question and deliberately so. You want to hear their opinion on specific "known" ranking factors where they disagree with conventional industry wisdom. Whether you agree or disagree with their answers is beside the point (unless they're just so far off base it's ridiculous). What you should get is an impassioned, reasoned, and thoughtful analysis of why this factor is not relevant.
Tell me one off-page optimization factor that is commonly believed to be important but isn't.Same as above but with the broader canvass of off-page optimization. On both this and the question above, you can solicit more than one example, just leave time to discuss each thoroughly.
What are some common SEO mistakes?
Where the questions above focus on SEO misconceptions, this one focuses specifically on bad SEO practices or mistakes that impact the success of SEO. The list can be almost endless. What you want to see is an awareness of things beyond optimization strategies. This will tell you what the candidate will keep an eye on once they start working for you in order to ensure the work they do for you is successful.
Explain the value of links in an SEO campaign.This should include a discussion of both incoming, outgoing, and internal linking, and how the search engine algorithms factor them. Don't let them get away with simplistic "quality over quantity" answers.
What is the importance of the title, description, and keyword meta tags?The candidate should be able to articulate the value (or lack thereof) of each of these tags and why they are important to the SEO campaign. Since tag length changes frequently, this is not an important aspect of the question, though they should indicate that they understand how tag length impacts the optimization.
Define duplicate content and its relation to search engines.The candidate should demonstrate a working knowledge of what does and does not constitute duplicate content along with how search engines treat it. Let the conversation move into areas of duplication of distributed content to partial duplication of product descriptions, etc. Don't worry about discussing strategies here, but rather the impact of various forms of duplicated content.
How important are exact match domains to the optimization success?Candidate should demonstrate sufficient knowledge regarding how search engines view exact match domains and how that impacts the success of your site specifically. Hint: Exact match domains have very little, if any, relevance to search, but there are other benefits the candidate should be able to articulate.
What is the difference between a sub-domain and a sub-folder? How do the search engines value these differently?The candidate should be able to thoroughly explain the differences between the two. However, the more important aspect of this question is if they can demonstrate an understanding on how search engines treat each of these two options.
What makes a URL SEO friendly?This might have been addressed in one of the earlier questions. If not, it bears asking here. The candidate should be able to articulate the difference between a friendly and non-SEO friendly URL accompanied with discussion as to when a site should or should not change their URLs.
How much do broken and redirecting links impact your optimization efforts?
This should be a discussion not just of the search relevance of these issues but also of the impact they might have on the visitor. Lead the candidate to tell you when and why URLs should (or shouldn't) be redirected and what problems are created when not handled properly.
How do you check the crawl rate of a site and why is this important?Candidates should be able to outline tactics and tools they use to review how frequently Google crawls the website. This should include a healthy understanding as to why crawl information is important.
How do you see what pages on your site Google has indexed, and why is this information important?The interviewee should be able to provide one or more ways they can check a page's indexed status. But more importantly, they should be able to outline the importance of getting this knowledge and how they integrate it into their SEO campaign.
What is the best way to get a page indexed in Google?There may be no right answer to this question, but there are plenty of wrong ones. They should demonstrate an understanding of search spidering and page indexing and what specific marketing efforts factor into it.
How often should a page be updated for good SEO?This is probably the closest to a "gotcha!" question on this list, though it's not intended to be. What you want to learn is how often the candidate would revisit the page and to outline when and why they would make changes to it. If you get an answer that indicates they make changes to a page without any real strategy behind it, this is likely not the candidate for you.
How quickly after making changes to a page should you expect to see an impact in search?
The correct answer here varies from site to site and the candidate's answer should reflect that. This can also merge into a discussion regarding how long it takes for SEO changes to produce strong, measurable results.
For what reason would you want to exclude pages from search engines?Candidates should demonstrate a knowledge of various types of pages and content. Specifically, they should be able to outline several page/content types that are better kept from search engines.
On a scale of one to ten, how important is a mobile friendly site to successful SEO?You want to make sure the candidate can articulate the importance of having a mobile-friendly website and how it factors into today's digital marketing landscape. The discussion should cover both search and usability issues.
What are the various configurations for a mobile site? Which do you prefer and why?
The candidate should be familiar with the various ways to build a mobile website. You should get a clear understanding of why they prefer one over the other. They should also demonstrate knowledge of Google's preferences as well.
On a scale of one to ten, how important is site speed to the optimization process?The detail provided in this answer will tell you quite a bit about the candidate's knowledge on the subject. They should be able to explain why site speed is or isn't too important.
On a scale of one to ten, how important is site security (HTTPS) to successful SEO?As with the question above, you're looking for a reasoned explanation as to why they believe as they do. Many SEOs disagree on the level of importance of any aspect of SEO, but every SEO should understand the issue's complexities.
On a scale of one to ten, how important is validated HTML and CSS to optimization?Validated code is decidedly not important to the search engine algorithms. However, the candidate should understand the potential ramifications of poorly constructed code and how validation factors into preventing it.
What is the function of the robots.txt file?The candidate should be able to explain what the robots.txt file is used for and outline some of the dangers of misusing this file.
What is the function of the .htaccess file?As above, the candidate should have a solid understanding of how this file is used to help (or hurt) the web marketing campaign.
How does PPC impact SEO?Most SEOs agree that PPC does not have any impact on organic rankings, though there are some that vehemently disagree. Overall, you want a candidate that can explain the value that PPC brings to organic even without impacting the organic rankings specifically.
For what reasons will Google actively penalize your site?
Most things described as penalties from Google are not penalties at all, just negative repercussions from doing something they don't like. The candidate should be able to distinguish from an active penalty and a negative result.
Algorithm aside, what type of sites does Google want to rank in the organic search results?This question is designed to see how forward thinking the candidate is or if they merely react to known Google algorithm updates. They should be able to articulate a solid understanding of the purpose of the algorithms and what they are ultimately trying to achieve.
Outside of SEO, what other factors are relevant to a site's organic success?You want to make sure that your candidate doesn't have SEO tunnel vision and can see the bigger picture when it comes to digital marketing. You want to hear how they believe social media, content strategy, link building, and even PPC can be a factor in helping SEO succeed.
What is the single best way to find out what your customers are looking for?The candidate should be able to demonstrate an ability to think beyond rankings and talk about how to find their target audience. They should outline a number of ways to find keywords and discuss how they are valued. Their knowledge should extend to understanding other signals consumers provide that tell us more about their interests.
What are related words and their value to the optimization process?Keyword optimization is less about optimizing phrases into a page than it is about addressing the overall topic. The candidate should have an understanding of topical optimization as well as finding and using related words in content being optimized.
What is more valuable, long-tail or short-tail keywords?
Both long- and short-tail phrases have value. Let the candidate explain to you how each is important to the overall success of the campaign while also highlighting their weaknesses.
What is your preferred CMS and why?This is where you find out what content management systems the candidate has experience with and whether or not they'll be ready to jump into the CMS your own site uses. They should demonstrate an understanding of the pros and cons of their favorite CMS as it pertains to SEO.
How do you think SEO will be different in five years?This last question is to see how much they have thought about the future of SEO and what changes are coming our way. If they haven't given it much thought, it's possible they are reactionary rather than visionary. That may not be a deal breaker for you, but it can be important when you compare them to other candidates.
The questions outlined above cover a full spectrum of SEO knowledge. Are there specific questions missing? Probably. But these questions are designed to go beyond the scope of the specific question itself. There should be plenty of room here for the candidate to demonstrate their full knowledge.
Let the conversation meander a bit. Let the candidate talk. And by the end, you'll have a strong feel for what they do (or don't) know.
Image Credits
Featured Image: Image by Stoney deGeyterIn-post Photo #1: TeroVesalainen/Pixabay.comIn-post Photo #2: sharonang/Pixabay.comIn-post Photo #3: Simon/Pixabay.comIn-post Photo #4: jessica45/Pixabay.comIn-post Photo #5: Clker-Free-Vector-Images/Pixabay.comIn-post Photo #6: Tumisu/Pixabay.comIn-post Photo #7: geralt/Pixabay.comIn-post Photo #8: KeithJJ/Pixabay.comIn-post Photo #9: tpsdave/Pixabay.com
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Source: 46 SEO Job Interview Questions to Assess a Candidate's Knowledge
Monday, March 27, 2017
Proximity, The Number 1 Local #SEO #Ranking Sub-Factor
Proximity, The Number 1 Local SEO Ranking Sub-Factor The 2017 Local Search Ranking Factors, a survey of Local SEO professionals on what they think it takes to rank in local search, was just released at MozCon Local/Local U. Andrew and I both love participating in the survey, as it's a chance to see what ... read moreSMX West session: The definitive guide to local search ranking factors Shotland and Leibson looked at over 100 factors across 30,000 businesses, resulting in over 1.5 million data points. They partnered with Places Scout, a local SEO ... Ranking Factor study from Moz, released a few weeks ago. Both indicate that proximity ... read moreWhy Local SEO Is About to Become Even More Important Google loves local businesses. Over the years, Google has shown slight favoritism toward newer, smaller, more agile companies. While most of its ranking ... One of the most efficient ways to do this is to optimize locally, so local SEO will only grow ... read more
Source: Proximity, The Number 1 Local #SEO #Ranking Sub-Factor
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Top 10 insights on local marketing at LSA17
At the Local Search Association annual conference a few weeks ago, search and marketing experts in the local space provided insights into trends and challenges the advertising, marketing and search industry faces today.
Here are 10 of the top takeaways shared at LSA17.
1. Location drives almost all consumer engagement, even for national brandsAccording to Rob Blatt at Momentfeed, 85 to 95 percent of consumer engagement for brands happens through location assets such as local listings and local pages. That would explain why 50 percent of brands are using location data to target customers.
A strong shift in marketing budgets toward location-based marketing is naturally following that trend. Data from the Location Based Marketing Association (LBMA) found that 25 percent of leading brands' marketing budgets are spent on location-based marketing, and that number is projected to rise. Companies in the US increased use of location-based marketing by 5 percent from 2016 to 2017, while those in Canada increased use 6 percent and those in the UK 7 percent.
In terms of dollars, Neg Norton, president of LSA, shared that in 2016, $12.4 billion was spent on location-targeted ad spending, rising to $32.4 billion by 2021, equivalent to 45 percent of all mobile ad revenue.
With local often being synonymous with location in the marketplace, these numbers emphasize that local marketing and local presence are just as important as national campaigns. Last month, I observed factors that influence the appearance in search results on Google Maps, and notably, national brand reputation was not a ranking factor.
As consumers increasingly look locally for information, all businesses — whether traditional SMBs, franchises or local stores belonging to national brands — must recognize how location needs to be a core part of their marketing strategy.
2. Location is much more than targeting a placeLong gone are the days when location was solely used to target based on proximity. Location data has grown much more abundant and rich in its insight to consumer preferences and profiles. Shashi Seth of xAd shared how the increasing volume of location data can be used to build consumer profiles that allow for better and more productive targeting.
Four out of five mobile phone users have smartphones. These always-on devices are being checked, on average, 46 times a day and provide constant location data through sensor technology such as GPS, Bluetooth, WiFi, apps, compass, accelerometer and gyroscope functions built into the devices.
Likewise, the number of sensors, such as beacons, being deployed to detect those devices is exploding. In Q2 of 2015, there were approximately 900,000 such sensors worldwide, growing to over 13 million by the end of 2016 — growth of almost 13.5 times during that time span, according to data shared by Marianna Zaslavsky at Unacast. And that number is expected to grow to 500 million by 2021.
The volume and frequency of location data being transmitted may be aggregated to determine broader trends. Oren Naim with Google shared new functions on Google Maps that provide live data on its crowd indicator for locations such as restaurants. That data can be further analyzed to profile the audience at a specific location.
But Seth explained that, broken down by individual, location data maps a consumer journey that reveals information such as what you like to eat and where you shop, whether you work out and what you do for entertainment. It provides frequency and time of day for various activities. Demographic information such as income, gender and age can be extrapolated by where you live, shop and work.
Source: xAd presentation at LSA17
This incredibly rich data may be used to effectively target users with relevant content, leading to better returns. LSA will continue to explore location and how to use it in local marketing at its Place Conference later this year.
3. How do you scale local?While consumers demand local information, brands like Walgreens with thousands of locations are challenged to manage local information across the country. Walgreens, Brandify and Brandmuscle covered those challenges, including the following:
Executing locally is still evolving and remains a company-by-company decision. By definition, it is hard to template local success, and that might seem to favor giving local managers greater power in making decisions over local marketing and content. Many brands haven't reached that point of trust or training yet or have operations that demand more operational consistency. Given the right support, either a top-down or bottom-up strategy can be successful.
Walgreens uses an approval process for adding content that has helped scale local content more seamlessly. Regardless, this will be an area of continual development, driven by the value of local and the influence of consumers who want to know if they can bring their dog into a store or if it is closed because of weather.
The challenges with scale may also be an opportunity for smaller agencies and marketing providers. Niche practices by geography or vertical allow focus where their strengths lie and where others who rely on scale may not be capable of or willing to work.
4. Attribution is getting better — and becoming necessaryAnother area in which location data is making a difference is attribution. Accurate attribution has long been sought by both clients and marketers to justify work done and demonstrate ROI. Allyson Carper at Brandify stated that online-to-offline attribution is the industry's path to success.
Improved location data available today makes it much easier to track store visits. While attribution is typically still a comparison of usual traffic to post-exposure traffic at a location after a specific campaign, the volume of data makes such comparisons much more accurate and meaningful.
More detailed data, such as profile-building described in the consumer journey above, also allows a deeper analysis of who is the most responsive audience. For example, in a campaign for a quick service restaurant, it was presumed that consumers who frequented fast food restaurants were the best target audience. Ninth Decimal's attribution analysis helped reveal that consumers who were DIY enthusiasts, movie enthusiasts and leisure travelers were better targets. Such insight allows future campaigns to be refined and better targeted.
5. Privacy laws: the threat to local marketingWhile there was no planned discussion at LSA17 on the impact privacy laws may have on location-based marketing, the issue was raised — and rightly so. All the benefits and increased ROI of using location data could come crashing down if overly restrictive regulation on the collection, distribution and use of location data is passed.
The problem is two-fold. First, location data is being categorized in proposed legislation as personally identifiable information subject to protections provided to data, such as health or financial information. Commonly, opt-in permission and disclosure requirements are imposed as part of the regulation, with significant penalties for non-compliance. Such regulation may impose restrictions that create serious barriers to use of that data. Second, states are looking at individual and different approaches to regulation, making compliance very difficult, since the future potentially holds numerous different and conflicting regulations across physical state borders that online content often does not adhere to.
There are also some broader concerns with the use of targeting data including location. The FTC released a paper last year exploring how big data might be used in a discriminatory manner. For example, if location data were to be used in a manner that treated users from a predominantly African-American neighborhood differently, those users may be impacted in a discriminatory fashion.
These are issues that the industry must tackle in a unified and intentional manner or risk losing significant innovations made possible only with the use of rich and voluminous data.
6. The threat to traditional brandingBrands have traditionally relied on consistency and control of brand assets to maintain the image and reputation they want in the public sphere. But that control is being hijacked by social media and other consumer-generated content. Reputation can crumble to the ground with one viral tweet. Consider the over 200,000 users that left Uber after the #DeleteUber movement.
Brands such as Chick-fil-A recognized this shift toward a public definition of reputation and expressed having to adapt to managing social media in trying to maintain its brand identity. On the other hand, traditional SMBs are well aware of how reviews can impact their businesses. And consumers are increasingly enabled by Google to generate photos and business information such as hours of operation and to record other observed commentary in local business knowledge graph pages.
The ready access to shopping information is also making consumers less brand loyal. According to Google, 65 percent of smartphone users look for the most relevant information, regardless of company or provider. A recent study by McKinsey also found that only three business categories out of 30 were loyalty-driven. Those three were mobile carriers, auto insurance and investments.
That's not to say that branding isn't important. Keeping your business top-of-mind pays off, as consumers are more likely to buy from companies considered first. But consumers are much more likely to look around every time they shop and hear many more opinions that influence their decisions. Managing online reputation will continue to challenge local businesses.
7. Companies must continually innovate, and build a process to do soOne constant in the marketing industry is change. LSA17 was a microcosm of such change: 75 percent of companies at the conference were not there three years ago. Everyone agreed that innovation is necessary to keep up with such change. Big brands such as Blue Cross Blue Shield have had to innovate to adjust to changing healthcare laws, and agencies such as Propel Marketing seek out employees who think outside the box to grow the company.
Steve Nedvidek, Chick-fil-A's innovation specialist, shared three stages of innovation that the household brand has gone through, providing lessons for any size business. Stage 1 is during the early stages of a business, when lots of innovation is needed to establish the business identity — for example, introducing the boneless fried filet in the Chick-fil-A sandwich, inventing franchising and being the first to open locations in malls. Stage 2 is during the growing stages of a business, when execution is more important and innovation is periodic — Chick-fil-A came up with the self-preservationist cow spokesperson and slogan "Eat Mor Chikin" during this stage. Stage 3 is where it is today, encouraging systemic innovation in a maturing enterprise where they face challenges such as how to squeeze $5 million in sales from kitchens designed for $2 million.
Critical to innovating is having a process to do so. Chick-fil-A created a physical space called "Hatch" where innovation takes place. Advice Local holds monthly brainstorming meetings to come up with ideas, big or small. Propel Marketing emphasizes the need to test and analyze ideas, while Kris Barton from ReachLocal expressed that he spends a lot of time shutting down ideas that don't fit the capability or credibility of the company.
Nevertheless, it is important to not criticize failure that is not a result of execution. And fortunately, failure is much less expensive today, according to Steve Aldrich of GoDaddy. Technology has significantly lowered the barriers to starting a business or experimenting with an idea. So embrace risk and reward innovation.
8. Marketers need to take their own adviceSharon Rowlands of ReachLocal observed that not enough marketers are practicing what we preach. It is important to increase the productivity of sales by targeting prospects better, the same way providers help clients target their customers. Jon Martinsen of FCR Media further explained the importance of using data to segment prospects to help focus the sales consultation.
Second, recognize the importance of repeat customers. According to Google, the probability of selling to existing customers is 60 to 70 percent, compared to only 5 to 20 percent for new customers. Making sure to invest in customer support is one of the most important things that led to ReachLocal's recent success.
9. Artificial Intelligence won't take over marketing… yetBrendan King of Vendasta noted Amara's Law applies to marketing: we often overestimate the effect of technology in the short term, but underestimate it in the long term. So it seems with artificial intelligence (AI).
There's been significant media coverage over the threat AI poses to both the function of marketing providers and their sales teams. Yet perhaps the inability to scale and the complexity of customized local services have helped preserve jobs in local marketing. King stated that 85 percent of all marketing services are still sold through local providers.
Right now, the tools simply are not good enough. The luxury of failure might exist for innovation but not for clients. Andrea Kayal at Signpost and others from TIMIFY and Freshlime all posited that human decisions are still needed to execute quality marketing campaigns. AI can help streamline some services, but Eric Owen at Mono Solutions pointed out that automation is only as good as the data that is used to direct the work.
Nevertheless, technology — and specifically artificial intelligence — is supposed to help solve complex problems, and in the long term, it's foreseeable that it will solve the scalability and nuances of local marketing.
10. Mobile prodigies are the futureMobile prodigies are young people who have never lived in a world without mobile. Julie Bernard at Verve shared some statistics about these mobile prodigies whose consumer behavior will shape the future of local marketing. Almost half spend more time on their mobile devices than on TV. And time with mobile devices continues to grow, with 80 percent saying they spend more time on apps than they did one year ago, downloading on average five to six apps per month.
An astounding 95 percent make in-store purchases influenced by mobile ads, and 56 percent even rely primarily on their mobile device while shopping at home. Yet mobile prodigies also have strong preferences for the content they consume; 80 percent expect tailored ads based on location, interests, hobbies or habits. The rewards are strong for those who cater to these needs, as 60 percent will share sensitive data if ads are customized and relevant.
Appealing content is nothing new, but it takes more resources to customize content. As data and tools make that a more reachable goal and as mobile prodigies grow in influence and buying power, the return will justify the investment into creative content.
Some opinions expressed in this article may be those of a guest author and not necessarily Search Engine Land. Staff authors are listed here.
About The Author Wesley Young is the Local Search Association's Vice President of Public Affairs. He blogs about the industry on the Local Search Insider blog.Source: Top 10 insights on local marketing at LSA17
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