Barry Schwartz says, “Since yesterday morning, the SEO industry has been watching an unconfirmed Google ranking update that seems to target more of the link quality aspects of the overall algorithm. Many are calling this the Fred Update, a name we’re also adopting. That came from Google’s Gary Illyes, who has jokingly suggested that all updates be named “Fred.” It’s sticking with this one. We’ve seen more chatter and reports of changes from within the “black hat” SEO community, which generally means that this is a spam algorithm update around links. Last time we reported... [...]

Sonia Simone says, “This year on Copyblogger, each month has a theme — and in March, it’s search engine optimization. That’s great news for some of you, and terrible news for others. If you’d rather eat a bug than think about SEO, you and I have much in common. On Monday, I wrote about some solid SEO advice that won’t have you contemplating a heaping bowlful of breakfast crickets. I also gave you some simple, “you-can-totally-do-this” suggestions on Copyblogger FM. And on The Digital Entrepreneur, Sean Jackson and Jessica Frick talked with SEO wizard Eric Enge about how search... [...]

Felicia Crawford says, “Back in 2015, we had an epiphany. Every day, via every channel, you — our readers, subscribers, community members, and social followers — would ask us really good questions. (You’re an incredibly intelligent, friendly, inquisitive bunch, you know that? It’s humbling.) A lot of those questions were about how to accomplish your SEO goals, and it got us thinking. Moz is an educational resource, it’s true, but we also offer a suite of tools (both free and paid) that can help you achieve those goals. Why not provide a space for those two things to... [...]

Brian Sutter says, “Good, bad or indifferent – 2016 is over. And while 2017 is well underway, I recommend content marketers take one good look back before they go. The past is the past, after all. And there’s plenty of lessons from 2016 that we can apply going forward. 1. We’re getting better at this. Good news first: The big story of content marketing in 2016 is that content marketers were considerably more effective than they were even one year earlier, with 62 percent of B2B content marketers and 63 percent of B2C content marketers report that they were “somewhat more successful”... [...]

Sonia Simone says, “Hey there, content geniuses — it’s March, and that means we have new prompts for our Content Excellence Challenge. This is a yearlong community exercise in getting better at what we do … and more productive, so we can do more of it. (Or even accomplish something crazy like having a life.) So, let’s do this. The March Creativity Prompt This month, we’re going to focus on actually doing our keyword research”. 2017 Content Excellence Challenge: The March Prompts Copyblogger  [...]

MOZ team says, “You may be tempted to publish that newest round of answers you’ve gotten from industry experts, but hold off — there’s a better way. In today’s Whiteboard Friday, Rand explains why expert roundups just aren’t the best use of your time and effort, and how to pivot your strategy to create similar content that’ll make the juice worth the squeeze”. Better Alternatives to “Expert Roundup”-Style Content – Whiteboard Friday MOZ  [...]

Ronald Dod says, “Search engine traffic is one of the hardest customer acquisition channels to understand, especially for small business owners. Generally, these are the reactions I see from small business owners when they first have Google Analytics installed correctly and learn how to segment the channels down to search engine traffic: Panic — Some immediately panic because they can’t understand why 98 percent of their website visitors don’t convert into a customer. Confusion — Some wonder why AdWords isn’t producing a 30-1 return on their investment. Dismay — Some are happy... [...]

Kristina Kledzik says, “A few weeks ago, rankings for pages on a key section of my site dropped an average of a full position in one day. I’ve been an SEO for 7 years now, but I still ran around like a chicken with my head cut off, panicked that I wouldn’t be able to figure out my mistake. There are so many things that could’ve gone wrong: Did I or my team unintentionally mess with internal link equity? Did we lose links? Did one of Google’s now-constant algorithm updates screw me over? Since the drop happened to a group of pages, I made the assumption it had to do with our site or... [...]

Beth Hayden says, “Keyword research is always a hot topic in content marketing circles. It’s one of those subjects that never goes out of style — because wise content marketers know that using the right words in their content will give them a big edge over their competition. Wondering how to find the “right” words to optimize your business’s content? Here are three quick tips for solid keyword research. 1. Discover the language your prospects use when they talk about your topic My friend Shawn, whose company Clear Harmonies creates custom a cappella arrangements for vocal groups,... [...]

Sarah Bird says, “I have a longstanding tradition of boring Moz readers with our exhaustive annual reports (2012, 2013, 2014, 2015). If you’re avoiding sorting the recycling, going to the gym, or cleaning out your closet, I have got a *really* interesting post that needs your attention *right now*. (Yeah. I know it’s March. But check this out, I had pneumonia in Jan/Feb so my life slid sideways for a while.) Skip to your favorite parts: Part 1: TL;DR Part 2: Achievements unlocked“. The Moz 2016 Annual Report MOZ  [...]