Zee Hoffmann Jones says, “Whether you’re the only SEO at your company, work within a larger team, or even manage others, you still have to stay on top of your projects. Project management skills aren’t and shouldn’t be exclusive to someone (or some tool) with the title “project manager.” I believe that having good project manager skills is essential to getting work done at all, let alone delivering high-quality work in a timely and efficient way. In defense of management Freakonomics Radio released this podcast episode in October called In Praise of Maintenance. The TL;DR (or TL;DL,... [...]

Jason Decker says, “You’re a savvy digital marketer. You follow Google best practices and read “all the SEO blogs.” You sound like a zookeeper with your extensive knowledge of Pandas, Penguins, Possums and Pigeons. You’re always looking for ways to improve organic search rankings. Instead of investing your time researching some of those gray (or even black) hat tactics that are oh so tempting, I suggest you take a step back and look at the basics of your organic SERP listing. An area that often gets overlooked by digital marketers is engagement and the click-through rate (CTR) associated... [...]

MOZ team says, “From understanding the big-picture search trends to making sure your SEO goals jive with your CEO’s goals, there’s a lot to consider when planning for 2017. Next year promises to be huge for our industry, and in today’s Whiteboard Friday, Rand outlines how to craft a truly remarkable SEO strategy to help you sail through 2017”. How to Craft a Remarkable SEO Strategy for 2017 MOZ Blog  [...]

Jim Yu says, “As we begin 2017, the fusion of the search and content marketing disciplines has become increasingly more evident. A full 89 percent of B2B marketers (PDF) say that they use content marketing, as do 86 percent of B2C marketers, according to the Content Marketing Institute. Additionally, over 70 percent of marketers in both groups plan on producing more content in the new year than they did in 2016. However, content only has real value if it is found and optimized, and if it converts with effective search marketing. Search is the key driver that opens up opportunity in 2017 Research... [...]

Jason Parks says, “The current process of building backlinks to improve your SEO is outdated and it’s about to change. Enough with automated emails and random pitches to contribute content on external sites. While this can work, I’m going to share the secret sauce to differentiate your backlink strategy. Beware, this might be uncomfortable for many within the SEO community. Stop hiding behind a computer screen. You need to get away from your desk and make connections within the local community. You have to stop hiding behind your screen and start meeting with business owners face to face... [...]

Kate Taylor Mighty says, “There’s no denying it: Blogging for your business works. According to our 2016 State of Inbound report, B2B marketers who blog receive 67% more leads than those who don’t, and marketers who have prioritized blogging are 13X more likely to enjoy positive ROI. Blogging is a crucial part of inbound marketing because it allows you to quickly disseminate helpful information to your followers and new site visitors, which, in turn, helps build credibility, SEO juice, and helps you become more of a thought leader in your industry. Best of all, blogging is super cost-effective,... [...]

Jo Cameron says, “Welcome to the seventh installment of our educational Next Level series! In our last episode, Jo showed us how to better optimize our sites when we think we’ve done it all (but still aren’t ranking). This time around she’s giving us the tools and the knowledge to finally capture ourselves a SERP feature. Read on and level up! Are you within striking distance of traffic-bumping SERP features? The content on your freakin’ awesome site better be targeting the intent of the searcher. People of the world want different types of content depending on what... [...]

Chapman Lever says, “The GIF (Graphics Interchange Format) format was originally developed in 1987. Debuted by Steve Wilhite of Compuserve, GIFs improved on the black-and-white images in use during that time by allowing the use of 256 colors while maintaining a compressed format that could still be loaded by those utilizing slow modems. Furthermore, web developers and designers could create animations via timed delays. And to this day, little has changed regarding GIFs. Due to its simplicity, the widespread support for this format, and the ease with which it can be used to stream video clips,... [...]

Lindsay Kolowich says, “SEO is an evolving science. While some of the core principles will presumably stick around forever, some of the more nuanced parts of it are subject to continuous change. As a result, many of the “proven” tactics people have used in the past — keyword stuffing, link schemes, and so on — are now the stuff of legends. Unless your organization benefits from having a dedicated SEO person who can work on this stuff day-in and day-out, keeping up with the latest changes in the world of SEO can be a struggle. But in the end, adjusting your strategy... [...]

Pratik Dholakiya says, “Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is one of the many aspects of digital marketing that can seem like a foreign concept to a lot of business owners. For that reason, there are a lot of misconceptions surrounding it. However, upon closer examination, there is really no good reason to avoid incorporating SEO into your marketing strategy. Let’s take a look at some of the reasons why business owners are hesitant to embrace SEO. 1. It’s too complicated SEO is by no means a walk in the park. But at the same time, it’s not rocket science. Digital marketing is a constantly... [...]