9 things most people don’t understand about SEO

New to the world of search engine optimization (SEO)? Columnist John Lincoln explains some things you might not know about this online marketing discipline.
9 things most people don’t understand about SEO
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, though, there’s a lot of misinformation (and missing information) about what it takes to rank a page in organic search results. Here are nine things most people don’t understand about SEO. Read more

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Here’s Why You Shouldn’t Focus on Keywords Only

Here's Why You Shouldn't Focus on Keywords Only

Does anyone else remember the old days of SEO? Realistically, they weren’t that long ago, but in the age of the internet, even a few years is practically an eon. A lot has changed since people began optimizing their websites for search engines.

Back in the day, SEO essentially meant “put in the keywords we want to be associated with our content – and make sure there are LOTS.”

Makes sense, right? Presumably, if someone is searching for “local fair trade coffee” and your website has a page with 15 instances of the term, Google is going to think it’s perfect for what the person is after. Except that’s not how SEO works anymore – at all.

Source – https://www.searchenginejournal.com/if-youre-only-focused-on-keywords-heres-why-youre-thinking-wrong/166794

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The Beacons Are Coming How They Fit Into Your SEO Strategy

The Beacons Are Coming How They Fit Into Your SEO StrategyA game-changer is about to hit the social marketing world. Well-known blogs are claiming that beacons are going to be a revolutionary way for customers to search. In fact, Search Engine Watch is even calling 2020 “The Year of the Beacon.” They are predicting this is going to be a major change in searching function and capability, so it is definitely important for us to start talking about how this might impact SEO strategy. It got me thinking: Are beacons going to be as influential as they sound?

What are Beacons? Before we start talking about how Beacons are going to change SEO in the coming years, we might want to address what they are and how they work. Beacons are small, Bluetooth-enabled hardware devices that are installed in physical locations. Beacons can be used by any brand, business, or institution to set up notifications for those who “op in” and want to be alerted by that institution directly on their phone (via Bluetooth).

What do beacons cost? Beacons are low-cost and can be purchased for as low as $30, which is really great for businesses looking to implement them into their marketing strategy. They are also small and can easily fit on a counter/desk or can be mounted on a wall.

Where can Beacons be used? The possibilities of where Beacons can be used are endless, but some examples include retail stores, airports, events, restaurants, festivals, and even entire cities. The sky is the limit with purpose and location, but the important aspect is that they are tied to a physical locale. They silently broadcast a message to any Bluetooth-enabled devices in their proximity. One of our past articles said it perfectly when they claimed that Beacons are like “a lighthouse with text.”

How might a business use a Beacon? Let’s take, for example, a store that is having a sale. If a customer with a Bluetooth enabled device were to walk past the store, they could receive a notification about the promotion with the details. This is kind of like an advertisement that directly pops up on the consumer’s phone. This sounds like a pretty great way to gain access to passers-by or market to customers in your immediate location, right? Well, the truth is that there are some obstacles that need to be overcome before this takes off, but more on that later.

Source – https://www.searchenginejournal.com/beacons-coming-fit-seo-strategy/166740/

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The 10 Most Common SEO Mistakes E-Commerce Sellers Make

white-hat-seo1. Forgetting About Your Audience in Keyword Research

2. Spamming Your Own Content

3. Too Much Duplicate Content

4. Lacking Product Reviews

5. Not Optimizing URLs

6. Not Speaking Search Language (HTML)

7. Having a Slow Site

8. Forgetting about Internal Linking

9. Obsessing Over Ranking

10. Not Having Security Encryption

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Artificial Intelligence Making A Mark On SEO

Artificial Intelligence Making A Mark On SEO

Artificial intelligence is no longer the stuff of the future. It is becoming an increasingly common part of our everyday lives, from the watches we wear that monitor our heart rate to the robots that vacuum our floors without any direction from us. Yet we have traditionally thought of artificial intelligence as similar to a robot that has a mind of its own and can act independently. While these robots would certainly qualify, they are not the only examples.

There are actually three types of artificial intelligence:

  • Artificial Narrow Intelligence (ANI) can perform one particular task, such as vacuuming your floors.
  • Artificial General Intelligence (AGI) can perform all things, like a human.
  • Artificial Superintelligence (ASI) is the stuff of sci-fi nightmares because it can perform beyond the capabilities of a human.

Google — the leader in almost all things Internet-related — has introduced RankBrain, which is a machine learning algorithm. It is an example of ANI, just like the spam filters in your email or the “recommended products” feature on Amazon.

Source – http://www.business2community.com/seo/artificial-intelligence-making-mark-seo-01587969

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Facebook take your audiences – Long live SEO

Facebook take your audiences - Long live SEO
Hold on to your chairs marketers, brands and publishers, your world is about to drop off its axis…
I have on many occasions written about the massive move Facebook is going to be making, and I have on many occasions written about why you need SEO, but this time it is to warn you that you need it NOW.

Why now? On Thursday last week, 30 June 2016, all our comfortable marketing worlds were shattered when Facebook announced on its blog, the new algorithm update.

Facebook have moved to obliterate all your “free” marketing efforts as the algorithm is changing to send less traffic to your content sites. The reason being says Facebook’s vice president of product management Adam Mosseri “The growth and competition in the publisher ecosystem is really, really strong. We’re worried that a lot of people using Facebook are not able to connect to friends and family as well because of that.”

Source – http://www.bizcommunity.com/Article/196/16/147324.html

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Search Buzz Video Recap: Google Algorithm Update, RankBrain, Authorship, Keyword Planner & AMP

This week in search, I covered a potential Google quality search algorithm update that happened earlier this week. RankBrain is cited as being used in virtually all searches now and impacts the search results “a lot,” according to Google. Hulu did something that killed their Google organic traffic for a couple weeks but all is good now. Google said product pricing is not an organic ranking factor. Google said hosting the same content on multiple child sites dilutes everything. Google said with authorship gone, it doesn’t mean they know who is the author of a piece of content. Google Maps is testing a video chat based verification method. Google keyword planner bugs caused a ton of confusion. Google has new partner badges. Google now may show images in the people also search for area. Google is testing larger font sizes for titles in the search results. Google India launched their english vs hindi toggle. Google is testing a speed test tool in the search results. eBay launched 8 million of their pages in AMP. Google does tons of code commits per day. Google+ celebrated it’s fifth anniversary this week. That was this week in search at the Search Engine Roundtable.

Make sure to subscribe to our video feed or subscribe directly on iTunes to be notified of these updates and download the video in the background. Here is the YouTube version of the feed:

Source – https://www.seroundtable.com/video-07-01-2016-22329.html

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The Best On-Page SEO Tool in the Business Now Has Unlimited Access via MozBar

The Best On-Page SEO Tool in the Business Now Has Unlimited Access via MozBarThis is going to be an exciting year for MozBar. I’m happy to announce that we’ve got something new that will help you save a ton of time tuning your on-page SEO.

(New to MozBar? Learn more about our free SEO toolbar extension available in the Chrome store.)

We’ve added Page Optimization to MozBar Premium!

If you want to dive right in, download MozBar for Chrome. To access the Page Optimization feature, you’ll need to be logged in to your Moz Pro account. If you don’t have a Moz Pro account, you cantake a free 30-Day trial to check out all the new goodies.

Currently in Moz Pro, you can run a Page Optimization report for any of your tracked keywords and campaigns to get detailed information on how to optimize your page for a keyword, and where you’re getting things right.

Read More Source – https://moz.com/blog/onpage-seo-unlimited-access-mozbar

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Where SEO and User Experience (UX) Collide

Where SEO and User Experience (UX) Collide

Editor note: This is a section of our soon to be completely redone SEO Guide. Enjoy!

I’ve been in the web marketing industry so long that I get to tell “back in the day” stories that leave today’s younger generation of SEOs scratching their head wondering what the heck I’m talking about. It’s kind of like explaining to your children that cartoons used to air on TV for only three hours a week! And you had to get up at 7 AM to watch them live!

Just to prove my point, when I started doing SEO (“back in the day”), rankings were the only thing that mattered. I’m ashamed to admit it, but in my very earliest days, my optimization practices constituted getting the keyword on the page as many times as possible without ruining the visitor’s on-page experience.

It’s heartening to know that I, and the industry at large, have come a long, long way since then. In fact, if there was just one very significant evolution that has happened over the years (and there have been many), I would say it would be the transition of SEOs (aka digital marketers, web marketers, inbound marketers, etc.) growing up to be real marketers. We realized things like search engine rankings were important, but what was even more important was helping businesses do a better job at reaching, attracting, and converting their target audience.

Read More at Source – https://www.searchenginejournal.com/seo-guide-where-seo-and-user-experience-ux-collide/166230/

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How to Select “Rankable” Keywords to Target Using Ahrefs

Ahrefs-featuredWhen choosing keywords to target on your website, which factors do you consider?

You might look at:

  • Search volume
  • Query intent (will this searcher be a potential customer?)

But another factor you should consider is how difficult it will be to rank for that keyword.

After all, there is no point in targeting a high volume keyword if you have little chance of breaking into the first page of Google.

So how do you determine how difficult it will be to rank for a given keyword?

That’s easy. You use the keyword difficulty score in Ahrefs keywords explorer.

Step 1: Enter A Seed Keyword Into Ahrefs’ Keywords Explorer

Put the main keyword you are considering targeting into the search box and click ‘Explore’. Choose ‘Phrase Match’ to ensure the results include the exact keyword.


Source- https://www.searchenginejournal.com/select-rankable-keywords-target-using-ahrefs/165553/

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