Cyrus Shepard says, “Is it time to rewrite the SEO playbooks? For what seems like forever, SEOs have operated by a set of best practices that dictate how to best handle redirection of URLs. (This is the practice of pointing one URL to another. If you need a quick refresher, here’s a handy guide on HTTP status codes.) These tried and true old-school rules included: 1. 301 redirects result in around a 15% loss of PageRank. Matt Cutts confirmed this in 2013 when he explained that a 301 loses the exact same amount of PageRank as a link from one page to another. 2. 302s don’t pass PageRank.... [...]

John E Lincoln says, “SEO is a complicated discipline. There are many components to it, and best practices change from time to time. Add to that the fact that Google updates its algorithm frequently, causing ranking shifts that are known to make digital marketers lose sleep. Additionally, Google often releases new technologies that offer alternative ways to rank. That makes the lives of SEOs even more complicated, as they have to overcome a learning curve to properly serve their clients. One day, it might be easier to become a doctor than an SEO — kidding! (But not really… ) Even now,... [...]

Sastry Rachakonda says, “Businesses often under-leverage SEO. Companies spend significant money on paid search while balking at investing in significantly in organic search. This is in spite of studies that show four out of five users click on organic listings because users consider them to be more credible. This situation often frustrates SEOs. Based on our conversations with business folks as well as personal experiences in managing businesses in large companies, we’ve uncovered a number of reasons why businesses struggle to use SEO teams well. Here are the three main causes — and... [...]

John E Lincoln says, “SEO is a complicated discipline. There are many components to it, and best practices change from time to time. Add to that the fact that Google updates its algorithm frequently, causing ranking shifts that are known to make digital marketers lose sleep. Additionally, Google often releases new technologies that offer alternative ways to rank. That makes the lives of SEOs even more complicated, as they have to overcome a learning curve to properly serve their clients. One day, it might be easier to become a doctor than an SEO — kidding! (But not really… ) Even now,... [...]

MOZ team says, “Is the practice of tracking keywords truly dying? There’s been a great deal of industry discussion around the topic of late, and some key points have been made. In today’s Whiteboard Friday, Rand speaks to the biggest challenges keyword rank tracking faces today and how to solve for them”. Should SEOs and Marketers Continue to Track and Report on Keyword Rankings? – Whiteboard Friday MOZ  [...]

Tamar Weinberg says, “As the volume of content on the internet continues to expand at jaw-dropping rates, it’s getting harder and harder to attract an audience. And yet, publishers and brands are investing heavily on churning out new pages. The Washington Post publishes 1,200 new content assets every day, 500 of which are articles prepared by their in-house editorial team. Across the entire web, according to estimates from Internet Live Stats, over 4.3 million blog posts go up each day. Keeping up with that kind of competition volume is a bit of a non-starter. What’s more, traffic referred... [...]

Kelsey Libert says, “Content marketers, does the following scenario sound familiar? You’re tasked with creating content that attracts publicity, links, and social shares. You come up with great ideas for content that you’re confident could accomplish these goals. However, any ideas that push the envelope or might offend anyone in the slightest get shot down by your boss or client. Even if a provocative idea gets approved, after feedback from higher-ups and several rounds of editing, you end up with a boring, watered-down version of what you originally envisioned. Given the above, you’re... [...]

Ginny Marvin says, “As expanded text ads began rolling out, some advertisers noticed that the new, longer double headline is sometimes cut off. This can be frustrating and can have potential legal ramifications for businesses in highly regulated industries like pharmaceuticals. Google AdWords’ social team responded to the tweet above with a recommendation to keep the combined character count of the two headlines limited to a total of 33 characters to avoid having the second headline truncated”. Google reiterates suggested 33-character limit in ETA headlines to avoid truncation Search... [...]

Barry Schwartz says, “Gary Illyes, a Google webmaster trends analyst, said yesterday that using a 301, 302 or 30x redirect of any kind will not result in a loss of PageRank, that there is no PageRank dilution. Here is the tweet: 30x redirects don’t lose PageRank anymore. — Gary Illyes (@methode) July 26, 2016 Back in 2010, we reported that there is some PageRank dilution when you use a 301 or other form of 30x redirect. But in 2013, Google’s Matt Cutts said 301 redirects don’t lose value. Matt Cutts said then, “The amount of PageRank that dissipates through a 301 is currently identical... [...]

Dr. Peter J. Meyers says, “It’s been over two years since Google launched Featured Snippets, and yet many search marketers still see them as little more than a novelty. If you’re not convinced by now that Featured Snippets offer a significant organic opportunity, then today is my attempt to change your mind. If you somehow haven’t encountered a Featured Snippet searching Google over the past two years, here’s an example (from a search for “ssl”): This is a promoted organic result, appearing above the traditional #1 ranking position. At minimum, Featured... [...]