Posts Tagged ‘ All Things SEO Column ’

Brand vs. local Knowledge Graph result: Which is better?

Posted on: January 8, 2017 by in SEO
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Since the expansion of Google’s Knowledge Graph, I’ve been getting tons of questions around different Knowledge Graph results. One of the most frequent questions I get from my clients and business owners is regarding which Knowledge Graph result is best to have: a general brand or local panel. Before going into the answer for this question, here are some examples of what a brand and local Knowledge Graph panel look like. Brand Local The answer to which is preferable is not as simple as you Continue Reading ...

SEO in 2017: Seizing opportunity, evangelizing success, achieving overarching growth

Posted on: December 30, 2016 by in SEO
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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 Continue Reading ...

Canonical chaos: doubling down on duplicate content

Posted on: December 5, 2016 by in SEO
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Search engines are getting smarter. There is little doubt about that. However, in a CMS-driven web where content can often exist on several URLs, it is not always clear what is the authoritative URL for a given piece of content. Also, having content on several URLs can lead to problems with link and ranking signals being split across several variations of a piece of content. It is hard enough standing out in the often hypercompetitive search landscape, so you would imagine that most businesses Continue Reading ...

Fun with robots.txt

Posted on: November 28, 2016 by in SEO
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One of the most boring topics in technical SEO is robots.txt. Rarely is there an interesting problem needing to be solved in the file, and most errors come from not understanding the directives or from typos. The general purpose of a robots.txt file is simply to suggest to crawlers where they can and cannot go. Basic parts of the robots.txt file User-agent — specifies which robot. Disallow — suggests the robots not crawl this area. Allow — allows robots to crawl this area. Crawl-delay — Continue Reading ...

Connect audience insight to your SEO strategy

Posted on: October 19, 2016 by in SEO
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Audience enrichment — combining first-party data from your website with third-party data gathered from other sources to get a more complete picture of your visitors — is a hot topic right now amongst enterprise-level businesses. Evidence of its impact is clear in channels such as programmatic, which continues to rampage through paid marketing budgets, hoovering up the dollars left and right. eMarketer UK Programmatic Digital Display Ad Spend 2016 Being UK-based, the above overview from Continue Reading ...

Search Engine Keywords Selection

Posted on: October 17, 2016 by in SEO
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Search engines are the vehicles that drive potential customers to your websites. But in order for visitors to reach their destination-- your website-- you need to provide them with effective and specific signs that will direct them right to your site. You do this by creating carefully chosen keywords. Think of the right keywords as the Open Sesame! of the Internet. Find the Continue Reading ...

What Google’s experimental content podium means for SEO

Posted on: October 16, 2016 by in SEO
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Google has been testing a new content platform called “Posts with Google,” and it could have a huge impact on brand searches, for both paid and organic. We all know that Google has had its struggles with trying to develop its own social network; Google Buzz is dead, and Google Plus seems to be on its way out. This new platform seems to have some social elements to it, though it is very different from a social network. On the official site for this platform, Google states the Continue Reading ...

Why Google’s quality updates should be on your algorithmic radar [Part 2]: The connection to low-quality user experience

Posted on: October 11, 2016 by in SEO
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In part one of this series, I covered a number of important points about Google’s quality updates (aka Phantom). I tried to provide a solid foundation for understanding what Phantom is and how it works, explaining its history, its path since 2015 and how it rolls out. In part two, I’m going to dive deeper by providing examples of “low-quality user engagement” that I’ve seen on sites affected by Phantom. I’ve analyzed and helped many companies that have been impacted by Google’s Continue Reading ...

Exploring a newly-granted Google patent around social signals

Posted on: October 9, 2016 by in SEO
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Disclaimer: When discussing patents, it’s important to remember that simply filing a patent does not mean a technology is in use or will ever be used. It is simply a strong indication that an idea is being considered and likely tested. Every now and then, a patent comes across my radar that gets me excited, and one granted recently to Google fits that bill perfectly. We’re heard repeatedly from Google that social interactions are not a search ranking signal.  In fact, you can read a Continue Reading ...

PPC + SEO = match made in marketing heaven

Posted on: October 6, 2016 by in SEO
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It has been quite a year for the Search Engine Results Page (SERP). We’ve seen numerous algorithm updates, including a final Penguin update and the introduction of Possum. We also saw major changes to the way ads are displayed on desktop SERPs. Google continues to tweak how online consumers receive content through organic and paid listings. In order to meet the demands of today’s search landscape and connect with more qualified consumers, strategists need to create campaigns that treat Continue Reading ...