Posted by Cyrus-Shepard Link building isn't always easy, but if you want to rank with SEO, links are often the cost of admission. While Google says SEOs sometimes focus too much on links, links remain one of the few confirmed ranking factors. Indeed, every study over the past decade shows a high correlation between links and ranking . And while links alone can't guarantee a #1 spot at the top of Google, previous research has shown that it's nearly impossible to rank without any links at all. For many, link building also presents a challenge. Folks get sincerely frustrated with wasted link building efforts, poor outreach processes, and lack of results. It doesn't have to be that way. Good link building actually helps everyone involved: the content owner, the linker, the audience, and search engines alike. Google evaluates links in so many ways, you could say its search engine couldn't exist without them. Good link building also encourages the creation of usefu...

Posted by Nadya_Khoja The events of 2020 have shown us just how important empathetic marketing is for businesses both large and small. The world has changed and businesses need to adapt to the new needs of their customers if they want to grow. The best way to do that is through empathy. What is empathetic marketing? Empathy is the ability to see events and situations from another’s perspective — to put yourself in their shoes. For brands, empathetic marketing is about seeing the world through the user’s point of view. It helps you place the customer at the center of your marketing strategy and work outwards. But it’s important to remember that being empathetic also means being genuine — you can’t create emotional marketing campaigns for the sole purpose of manipulating customers. Empathy is believable when it creates authentic connections between brands and users. You have to build trust and organic relationships throughout the customer journey. Source: Venngage Yes, increas...

Posted by Cyrus-Shepard Is a high bounce rate bad? The answer is: it depends, but yes, sometimes it can be. Is a high bounce rate bad for SEO? That’s where it gets a little more complicated. In this week’s episode of Whiteboard Friday, Cyrus gives you seven easy SEO tips to address your bounce rate, and increase engagement and satisfaction to make your users happier. Click on the whiteboard image above to open a high resolution version in a new tab! Video Transcription Welcome, Moz fans, to a new edition of Whiteboard Friday. My name is Cyrus Shepard. Today we're talking about bounce rate, specifically seven dead simple tips to reduce your bounce rate.  So most of you already know what bounce rate is. But for those who are uninitiated, bounce rate is an analytics term. It simply means a single page or non-interaction visit. When a visitor comes from Google or another website and they visit one page, they have no interaction, and they leave, that's conside...

Posted by cheryldraper Come one, come all to the hottest ticket in virtual! We’re packing up the MozCon big top and bringing all the MozCon magic straight to your front door. Last year we took MozCon to the virtual stage for the first time, and we loved it so much, we’re doing it again! Only this time, we’re taking it to the next level with exclusive performances by world-renowned local SEO jugglers, automation acrobats, link building magicians, and so much more! We know SEO doesn't stop — searchers keep on searching, and marketers need to stay on their toes to meet their needs. (Cue the tightrope walkers!) Join Ringmaster Roger and marketing experts from around the world for three days packed with presentations on SEO, search marketing, mobile, conversion optimization, local search, and more — all from the comfort of home. Not your typical marketing conference Get connected Meet fellow attendees and don't miss a minute of MozCon fun — follow #mozcon and join the MozCon ...

Posted by Brie-E-Anderson Website analytics can tell us a lot about our audience and how they interact with our site. Oftentimes, we rely heavily on these analytics for reporting. But what if I told you that Google Analytics provides data that can be used as a strategy tool? In this post, we are going to quickly look at three very specific, very actionable Google Analytics views for uncovering SEO opportunities. Track Core Web Vitals Google has verified that Largest Contentful Paint (LCP), First Input Delay (FID), and Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS) are now part of the Page Experience ranking factor. These metrics together make up Core Web Vitals . This topic has already been covered many times in the SEO industry, and Google itself has covered the topic along with how to measure the metrics, so we won’t dive too deep into the metrics themselves. In the documentation provided by Google, they break down how you can pull LCP, FID, and CLS in data into Google Analytics. This can be do...

Posted by Dr-Pete On February 19, 2021, we measured a dramatic drop in Featured Snippets on Google SERPs in the US. Like any responsible data scientist, I waited to make sure it wasn't a fluke, did my homework, and published when I was sure I was onto something. Then, this happened (30-day view): C'MON, GOOGLE! I did all these beautiful analyses, found a lovely connection between Featured Snippet losses, YMYL queries, and head terms, and then you go and make me look like a chump?! Is there anything we can learn from this strange turn of events? Do I really need this stress? Should I just go pour myself a cocktail? Stay tuned for none of these answers and more! You want more data? Ok, fine, I guess... Could this recovery be a fluke of the 10,000-keyword MozCast data set? It's unlikely, but let's dot our i's and cross our t's. Here's the Featured Snippet data from the same time period across roughly 2.2M US/desktop keywords in the STAT data set: So, ...

Posted by MiriamEllis Google must be one of the most experimental enterprises the world has ever known. When it comes to the company’s local search interfaces, rather than rolling them all out as a single, cohesive whole, they have emerged in piecemeal fashion over two decades with different but related feature sets, unique URLs, and separate branding. Small wonder that confusion arises in dialog about aspects of local search. You, your agency coworkers, and your clients may find yourselves talking at cross-purposes about local rankings simply because you’re all looking at them on different interfaces! Such is certainly the case with Google Maps vs. the object we call the Google Local Finder. Even highly skilled organic SEOs at your agency may not understand that these are two different entities which can feature substantially different local business rankings. Today we’re going to clear this up, with a side-by-side comparison of the two user experiences, expert quotes, and a small,...

Posted by SarahBird We condemn the horrific acts of hate and violence targeting the Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) community, which culminated in the tragic mass shooting in Georgia on March 17th. We mourn the loss of life and grieve with the families that have been broken by this latest racist, misogynistic hate crime. This is not an isolated incident. We must acknowledge the widespread examples of violence and prejudice, bigotry, and intolerance that have been building for some time. We've seen attacks on elders in the Asian community. Children face bullying from peers. There has been workplace discrimination, street harassment, violence, and vandalism . Since the beginning of the pandemic, hate crimes against Asians have increased tremendously . Anti-Asian racism is not new, but it's been fueled by dangerous false rhetoric surrounding COVID-19. I challenge myself and my community to recognize the painful history of anti-Asian racism, to learn and understand the...