Mike Murray has shaped online marketing strategies for hundreds of businesses since 1997, including Fortune 500 companies. A former journalist, he has led SEO studies and spoken at regional and national Internet conferences. Founder of Online Marketing Coach, Mike is passionate about helping clients identify their best opportunities for online marketing success based on their strengths, his advice and industry trends. You can find him at his blog, Online Marketing Matters or on Twitter @mikeonlinecoach.
As you dig in with your SEO strategies in 2020, stick with what you do well and prioritize time for organic search tactics you’ve neglected or handled the wrong way.
Leverage every opportunity that Google gives your content to rank well. Despite constant changes by Google and consumer behavior, a 2019 BrightEdge study found that organic commands 53% of all website traffic.
SEO myths and misunderstandings abound in the digital marketing world.
Although a little truth may be buried in some of these misconceptions, it’s best to understand the nuances. Here’s my advice: Focus first on your users and play fair with search engines. Then you won’t need to worry whether you’ll be kicked off Google.
Here’s a closer look at seven SEO myths.Continue Reading
Editor’s note: You may have missed this article when CMI published it a few years ago. We’re sharing it now because choosing the right KPIs and measuring your content marketing activities are so important to the business.
A long list of key performance indicators (KPIs) can be overwhelming, but don’t let that stop you from reading. You don’t need to use them all. You need to use them wisely.
You’ll likely see some you already use and discover some you never thought about. Reassess your current KPIs and see if you’re really measuring performance that matters to your content marketing and business goals. Maybe you’ll lock in on the ones that will complement what you have. Adapt any of these possibilities to suit your team’s needs.Continue Reading
Editor’s note: You may have missed the original version of this article when CMI published it in 2016. Search engine rankings continue to be important for SEO so we’ve updated the post to include some fresh examples.
Do keyword rankings matter anymore? I cringe anytime someone suggests that they don’t.
Sure, SEO changes over the years. But that hardly means it makes sense to overlook search engine rankings.
Let’s me start with why the question even comes up and then I’ll walk through how you can deal with rankings. Along the way, I’ll put some misunderstandings in perspective.
Editor’s note: You can’t have too many tips and tools to improve and inspire your writing. That’s why we’ve updated this article from a few years ago with new examples and some new tools.
Writing isn’t an easy task. Whether you craft words for B2B or B2C audiences, the challenges can be many. I’ve created a diverse set of tips, tools, and resources to aid in shaping and modifying your work.
It’s not an exhaustive collection. Some ideas may seem familiar. Some will be fresh. My hope is that you’ll walk away with some insights or new tools to help address or minimize the content creation challenges you face.
Poorly conceived website pages devoted to frequently asked questions can confuse and bore users while falling short of their SEO potential.
If you plan or revise them well, FAQ pages can pay off for your company for branded and non-branded keywords.
Strap in tight. 2019 will be a rough ride for keyword rankings and SEO professionals will feel the squeeze each time Google downplays traditional search engine results.
Google already promotes no-click search results, often providing answers without the need to click for more details.
The no-click (also known as zero click) searches will remain a factor for marketers. Referencing data from Jumpshot, Rand Fishkin of SparkToro last year found that 61.5% of Google mobile searches are no-click (34.3% with desktop searches).
If you’re concerned about your Google rankings and website page load speed, you should keep them in perspective.
Website developers and marketers buzz about page load time, especially because Google announced beginning this past July that speed is a keyword ranking factor for some mobile versions of websites.
In a Google Webmaster Central Blog post, Zhiheng Wang and Doantam Phan write:
If you want to leverage search intent with SEO keywords on Google and other search engines, it’s best to balance the methods with the false hopes.
In a moment, I’ll dive into the big intent types like transactional, informational, and navigational.
Mostly, I want to share a perspective to help you suppress your excitement about choosing the perfect keyword scenarios for SEO.
Maybe you’re like me and think of searcher intent with the end goal in mind – getting that conversion. Don’t we want to minimize traffic that underperforms?
Given your vigilance with the all-powerful search engine rankings, it is reasonable to be concerned about Google mobile-first or at least more curious than usual.
Google recently weighed in, knowing its plan led to confusion. In a series of tweets, Google touched on everything from a problem showing cached pages with mobile-first results to clarifying that “hamburger” menus are fine to use.
But confusion still abounds because of the vast number of websites and worry about natural search engine rankings.
Let’s dive into some common questions to learn whether your website is likely OK, where the biggest problems may surface, and how to keep your rankings in perspective.
Continue Reading
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