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    Get Noticed: Your 2016 SEO, Social Media and Content Marketing Guidebook: Increasing Website Traffic Series, #7
    Get Noticed: Your 2016 SEO, Social Media and Content Marketing Guidebook: Increasing Website Traffic Series, #7
    Get Noticed: Your 2016 SEO, Social Media and Content Marketing Guidebook: Increasing Website Traffic Series, #7
    Ebook627 pages4 hours

    Get Noticed: Your 2016 SEO, Social Media and Content Marketing Guidebook: Increasing Website Traffic Series, #7

    By Greg Strandberg

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    About this ebook

     

    Search Engine Optimization (SEO) can be quite confusing. Using Social Media can be worse. And writing killer content that people love? Boy, that can be tough.

     

    The good news is that tons of experts have discussed these topics in-depth all throughout the past year.

     

    Buying this book will give you all of that discussion, fill you in on all of those topics

     

    It's full of the most useful articles from 2015, plus tons of commentary on them and analysis of their findings.

     

    You'll find trends, analysis, and expert opinion that appeared all throughout 2015 on the top blogs in the industry. These include:

     

    Moz

    Boost Blog Traffic

    Quick Sprout

    Social Media Examiner

    Search Engine Journal

    Search Engine Land

    Search Engine Watch

    Marketing Land

    Content Marketing Institute

    Forbes

    Entrepreneur

    Business 2 Community

    Social Media Today

    Buffer Social

    HubSpot

    Hot in Social Media

    Kissmetrics

    and more!

     

    That's right - this is content curation. What I've done is the same thing I did with my 2014 guidebook, which was called Stand Out.

     

    I've spent the year compiling the best posts on SEO, social media marketing, and content marketing from 2015. It's collected here for you, compiled and sorted so it makes sense.

     

    That's valuable. Now you can pinpoint relevant articles that deal with:

     

    Facebook advertising

    Local SEO targeting

    Twitter hashtags

    Content headlines

    SEO snippets

    Email marketing

    Link building

    and a lot more!

     

    Don't let this critical information pass you by. While it's true you could go back through the archives on those sites, and tons of others I've visited, why would you want to?

     

    Instead get this book and get noticed in 2016. Isn't it time?

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherGreg Strandberg
    Release dateDec 16, 2015
    ISBN9781519981059
    Get Noticed: Your 2016 SEO, Social Media and Content Marketing Guidebook: Increasing Website Traffic Series, #7
    Author

    Greg Strandberg

    Greg Strandberg was born and raised in Helena, Montana. He graduated from the University of Montana in 2008 with a BA in History.When the American economy began to collapse Greg quickly moved to China, where he became a slave for the English language industry. After five years of that nonsense he returned to Montana in June, 2013.When not writing his blogs, novels, or web content for others, Greg enjoys reading, hiking, biking, and spending time with his wife and young son.

    Read more from Greg Strandberg

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      Book preview

      Get Noticed - Greg Strandberg

      GET NOTICED

      Your 2016 SEO, Social Media and Content Marketing Guidebook

      Greg Strandberg

      Big Sky Words, Missoula

      Copyright © 2015 by Big Sky Words

      D2D Edition, 2015

      All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or any information or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.

      Connect with Greg Strandberg

      www.bigskywords.com

      Selected Non-Fiction

      Write to the Top: A How To For Website Content Writing and Increasing Website Traffic

      Visit My Site, Bitch! Unconventional SEO Tactics for 2014

      SEO & 80s Movies: An Old School Approach to SEO and Content Marketing

      Google+ for Authors and Bloggers

      Stand Out: Your 2015 SEO, Social Media and Content Marketing Guidebook

      Social Media Politics: Using the Internet to Get Elected

      Table of Contents

      Introduction – Looking Back to 2015

      Part I – SEO

      1: SEO Basics

      2: SEO Experts

      3: Building Traffic

      4: SEO Tools

      5: Link Building

      6: Keywords

      7: Paid Search

      8: Local SEO

      9: Google Algorithms

      10: SEO Audits

      Part II – Social Media

      11: Social Basics

      12: Social Images

      13: Social Strategy

      14: Social Tools

      15: Posting Schedules & Holidays

      16: Twitter

      17: Facebook

      18: Google+

      19: Pinterest

      20: Instagram

      21: LinkedIn, Snapchat & StumbleUpon

      22: Hashtags

      23: Social SEO & Video

      24: Social Business & Marketing

      25: Social Experts

      Part III – Content Marketing

      26: Content Marketing Basics

      27: Copywriting

      28: Marketing

      29: Psychology

      30: Content Strategy

      31: Guest Posting

      32: Images

      33: Infographics

      34: Promoting & Sharing

      35: Content Experts

      Conclusion – Looking Forward to 2016

      About the Author

      Preview of Stand Out

      Introduction – Looking Back to 2015

      This book collects the best posts from 2015 on subjects that are important to you.

      It’s easy for me to do this as I go around each week and curate content for my Midweek Content Roundup posts. That’s where this information comes from.

      The nice thing about this end of the year guidebook, however, is that all the information is organized for you in a way that makes sense.

      The reason you want to buy this book and read it is because that information will help you get ahead. It’s a great tool and resource to use when crafting content, arguing with someone on social, or analyzing some SEO happening.

      You get a lot more than that, though – you get strategies and ideas.

      This is not beginner stuff, though there are beginner chapters at the start of each section. Much of the information here is good for experts and those that have been blogging for some time.

      One of the worst things is not knowing what things mean, and we’ll cover that. Yeah, we’re talking all those terms. You’ve got SEO terms, social terms, and marketing terms. And boy, there sure are lots of posts throughout the year explaining them all!

      So let’s stop wasting time and get right into it. Here are tons of ideas that will help you this year.

      Part I – SEO

      This is a long book. I’m not going to waste your time with section introductions...unless I feel it’s necessary.

      I think you’re smart enough to know what you want and how to find it.  In other words, you don’t need your hand held.

      1: SEO Basics

      40% of SEO is Under the Hood Stuff

      How to Use the 20-20-60 Rule for SEO to Improve Your Search Ranking is a post that might give you some ideas. Ray Wang had this post on Business 2 Community back in November 2014. The whole gist of the post is that just 20% of your site’s success depends on SEO, another 20% on on-page features and then 60% on backlinks and social signals.

      Really, if you’ve got great content others will want to share your stuff and link to it too. The other 40% is the nuts and bolts under the hood.

      ––––––––

      Analyzing the Features of Our Keyword Era

      Are We Reaching the End of the Keyword Era?

      Dave Schwartz had this post on Search Engine Watch mid-November 2014. Keywords were something that we discussed a ton in 2015 and just about every year leading up to it.

      If you need some good insights, this post discuses:

      – Product Listing Ads (PLAs);

      – Attribute modeling;

      – Mobile apps;

      – Audience buying.

      Not sure what some of that stuff is? Schwartz gives you a good paragraph on each as well as links to relevant articles. Good ideas if you’re trying to get the full keyword picture going back the last year or longer.

      ––––––––

      Challenges for SEO Managers

      3 Common Challenges Facing All SEO Managers

      Cassie Gillette had this post late-November 2014 on Search Engine Land. Those mistakes are:

      – Mismanaged Expectations;

      – Resource Constraints;

      – Unexpected Changes.

      I like this post because it gives you examples of what each of those means. For instance, a web development team is having problems with budgeting and client goals. The SEO manager has to step in and halt the content creation process.

      Interested in what happens next? You should be, for these things can affect your business. Check out this post to see why.

      ––––––––

      Thinking Beyond Page 1 of the SERP

      One post worth checking out is Mission ImposSERPble 3: We Need to Think beyond The Top 10! Gary Moyle had this post on Moz in early-December 2014. This post looks at the top UK query data to determine how you can better perform on Google.

      The takeaways are that pages 2 and 3 of the Google SERP will become more important. You should also consider additional ways to get more traffic from existing sources, such as social or maybe the pages that are ranking around you.

      Good ideas here, and since the study takes 54 brands and more than 66 million clicks into account, it’s worth a look.

      ––––––––

      SEO Hard Parts

      The 4 Hardest Parts Of SEO is worth your time. Eric Enge had this post on Search Engine Land in early-December 2014. Those 4 parts are:

      – Identifying The Right Sources For Information;

      – It’s About Integration, Not Learning A Few Facts

      – Selling The Projects;

      – Something Else Is Doing It.

      On that last one he’s getting at how you think you’re doing fine just because you’re ranking well. Enge tells us that this is not always the case and that we can’t go to sleazy SEO methods. Good tips.

      ––––––––

      Succeeding with Site Redesigns

      A Step-by-Step Guide to Updating Your Website Without Destroying Your SEO was a Richard Foulkes late-December 2014 post on Moz. We’re talking about site redesigns here and how you can accomplish one without screwing everything up.

      Interestingly, Moz put up a duplicate of this post called How to Avoid an SEO Disaster When Changing Your Website earlier in the month.

      Anyways, Foulkes suggests thinking about your SEO, crawling the existing site, and auditing the old one. When you do that you can no-index, crawl the site, and analyze the data.

      There’s quite a bit more after that in this long post, but I thought you might have a headache by now. Yeah, this stuff can be difficult, but knowing what you need is helpful when it comes to asking for help.

      I know when I read this stuff I want to run for the hills, so if you feel the same, think about an SEO professional when it comes to site redesigns.

      ––––––––

      How Your Site Looks

      Sergey Lucktinov had a great post on Inenious SEM on February 24 called Top Web Design Tips And Trends For 2015. In it he lays out 7 main points that you should look for in your site’s look, feel, and design. He gives you wonderful screenshots of how these things work, like scrolling and typography. It’s a fun post that will give you ideas.

      ––––––––

      A History of SEO

      25 Years of Search Engine Optimization History 1990-2015 (Infographic) is a post you must look at! It was put up onto SEO Alien by an unknown author on February 26. This is what some of it looks like:

      Pretty cool, huh? And that’s just the top half of the infographic. You get a lot more on the history of search and how Google really gained dominance in the early 2000s. Check it out!

      ––––––––

      Fixing SEO

      Adam Stetzer had some good tips on March 3 in a post called Busted SEO Campaign? Fix It With 3 Easy Checks! Those checks were:

      – The Initial Client Check;

      – The Tech Check;

      – The Webmaster Tools Check.

      SEO can be difficult, and figuring out the problem isn’t as easy as jiggling the cords behind the computer. With a systematic approach, it is possible to figure out what’s wrong, Stetzer says, and not only get the campaign back on track, but also make it even stronger. Read more about how to do that in this post.

      ––––––––

      Improving SEO Dramatically

      Felix Tarcomnicu had a helpful post for new SEO types on March 11. It was called How to Dramatically Improve SEO and Outrank Your Competitors and appeared on Tech Wyse.

      In it he lays out simple tips like doing an SEO audit and checking out the strategies your competitors are using. Then you need to outclass the on content. It’s a regular formula, and if you haven’t heard it, take a look and get acquainted.

      ––––––––

      Google Knowledge Cards

      Bill Slawski really dives deep into how Google puts together information so quickly on broad subjects. The answer is Google’s Knowledge Cards and that’s what you’ll get in this March 18 SEO by the Sea post. For those that don’t know, this is what Google Knowledge Cards look like:

      A knowledge Carld that appears on a query for Abraham Lincoln's name.

      As you can see, you’re getting lots of information. Anyone typing Lincoln into Google will see that, and 9 times out of 10 they won’t need to go any further. Slawski goes deeply into the patents for this, what the source contents are for these cards, how factual entities are configured, and how they improve a user’s experience.

      It’s a great post that has some tips, and it should make you think as well. I personally start to wonder where people will get their info besides Google. After awhile Google will be the end-all end-all. I’m not sure that’s the best thing, but we’re still at the early stages, so we should be alright.

      ––––––––

      SEO Blogging Guide

      Ryan Stewart had a very long post on March 18 called The Complete Guide to Blog SEO. It has numerous screenshots and other tips to get your site going. The post is heavily promotional, but there are good tips for those looking for such.

      ––––––––

      Site Redesign Tips

      Gavin Sutherland had a post on Blonde on March 19 called Redesigning your website? Your SEO doesn't need to suffer. It’s a good post full of ideas about analytics, landing pages, SEO audits, crawl tools and URL structures. There’s more, and it has tips for those thinking of this ‘drastic’ measure.

      ––––––––

      The Right SEO Questions?

      10 Common SEO Mistakes And How To Fix Them was a good post on Business 2 Community on March 26. Richie Contartesi put it up, and those mistakes are listed as questions. A few of them are:

      – Is Your Website Page Title Too Long?

      – Should Each Page Have A New Keyword?

      – Are You Using CSS and HTML Correctly?

      – Is My Conversion Form Too Long?

      – Is Analytics For My Website Important?

      Those are good questions, and there are 5 more just like it. I’d give them a good once-over and then figure out where you and your site stand. Should you press on, or figure out ways to tune yourself up before getting back on the road? Good questions indeed.

      ––––––––

      How Long Should My URL Be?

      You’re going to get some great URL analysis from Neil Patel in Does URL Structure Even Matter? A Data Driven Answer. This appeared on Quick Sprout on April 6 and has detailed findings about URLs. For instance, Patel tells us that Google Webmaster Tools have URLs with an average length of 90 characters. The top 10 SERP results, however, have URLs with 37 characters. Food for thought, huh?

      ––––––––

      SERP Analysis

      The Incredible Shrinking SERP - 2015 Edition is a post that appeared on Moz on April 9. Dr. Peter J. Meyers wrote it, so you know it has sound SEO advice. In this post Meyers talks about the SERP results going from 10 to 7 and now even less with the news box feature we often see, or even the 4 SERP view.

      What are these exquisite wonders of nature? You’ll have to click over to the article to see, and you won’t be disappointed.

      ––––––––

      Beginner SEO Tasks

      7 Essential Tasks and the Tools Needed for Beginning an SEO Initiative was a post by Josh McCoy that appeared on Search Engine Watch on April 30. Some of those tasks are:

      – Analytics Review (Google Analytics);

      – Keyword Research;

      – Competitive Analysis;

      – Technical Site Analysis;

      – On-Page Analysis;

      – Content Audit;

      – Link Audit.

      Those are good things to know if you want to be taken seriously. You’ll begin to understand how to be seen, where to rank, and how to lean on competitive intelligence, McCoy writes, so check out this post to get the full gist.

      ––––––––

      Focusing on the User

      Why Your SEO Strategy Should be Focused on Website User Experience was a post by Lacey Chic that appeared on Eminent SEO on May 1. She offers these tips for getting up in the rankings:

      – Easy to Navigate Website;

      – Relevancy;

      – Content That Delights Users;

      – Landing Page Optimization;

      – Responsive Design;

      – Fast Loading Time.

      Chic says that "today’s SEO shouldn’t be focused on the volume of traffic, but the volume of converting traffic." So there – forget about how many visitors or likes your followers you have...it’s meaningless.

      If you have 1 million followers but only have a conversion rate of 5% and another guy has 100 followers but converts 75% of them, who is better? (Hint, the higher number isn’t important, it’s their ability that is).

      ––––––––

      SEO Lies

      Stop Believing These Three Common SEO Lies was a post on Business 2 Community on May 12. Mark Preston put it up and he has these three lies for you:

      – If you build an optimised website, you’re sorted;

      – Google hates link building;

      – It’s all about targeting one big keyword.

      If any of those sound interesting, check out this post.

      ––––––––

      Understanding SEO

      4 Things Most Leaders Don’t Understand About SEO was a June 4 Search Engine Land post by Trond Lyngbø. Those things are:

      – SEO is Not An Add-On, But A Built-In;

      – SEO is No Replacement For A Good Product;

      – Plug-Ins Can’t Replace An SEO Expert;

      – Good SEO Is Data-Driven.

      Besides showing that they have terrible punctuation, Search Engine Land continues to show that short is better than long. That’s not really true, but actions speak louder than words. Hey, content length...it means something. Other than that, check this post.

      ––––––––

      Becoming an SEO Writer

      5 Circles of Hell You Need To Pass Before I Call You A True SEO Copywriter was a June 24 post by Andy Nathan on Ahrefs Blog. I really liked the headline and enjoyed the 5 circles too. Those are:

      – Creating a low-quality writing portfolio;

      – Taking every job you can get your hands on;

      – Stuffing your writing with tons of keywords;

      – Knowing which writing gigs are worth your time;

      – Neglecting your grammar.

      I especially like the story about writing 54 laser hair removal articles for $5 apiece on Fiverr. Nothing like 40 hours of work for $270.

      Hey, I’ve been there. When I first started I worked for $2 to $3.5 (if I was lucky) for a guy in Bangladesh. I wrote all kinds of stuff that first month, and built quite the portfolio.

      I don’t do that anymore, and actually say ‘no’ more than I say ‘yes’ to work now. Sometimes that costs me. But there are many times when I’m making that $270 for an hour of work too.

      ––––––––

      SEO Epochs

      The Evolution Of SEO Trends Over 25 Years was a June 24 post on Search Engine Land by Thomas Stern. He starts out with the First Signs Of Life, a period that stretched from 1991 to 2002. These were things like Yahoo and Excite, and I talk a lot about this in the first chapter of my new book, Social Media Politics.

      After that you get to The Early Days, or 2003 to 2005. The Middle Ages went from 2006 to 2009 and included the rise of Google’s search for internet dominance.

      After that you get The Enlightenment from 2010 to 2012 and then our current Modern Ages. Wow, what a journey through the ages. Tickets are free, and going now on this site.

      Rubbish SEO Tactics

      9 SEO Tactics That Just Don’t Work Anymore was a June 26 post by Nicole Rende on Hubspot. Those 9 tactics are:

      – Get more links to rank higher;

      – Write keyword rich content for better ranking;

      – Only focus on links and content;

      – Build more pages to get more traffic;

      – Rank higher to get more traffic;

      – Guest blog at a large scale to build SEO authority;

      – Fill the title tag with keywords to increase ranking;

      – Don’t waste time on including images in your content;

      – Get listed in lots of directories to fill your backlinks profile.

      Lot of pre-2015 stuff there. You’ll get a paragraph or so explaining each of those points when you check out this post.

      ––––––––

      Ecommerce Terms

      Paula Counsell had a July 1 post on Ecommerce Blog called Popular ecommerce terms explained. You’ll get a lot of fun words, and here are a few:

      – Bounce rate;

      – Conversion rate;

      – Impression;

      – Pay per click (PPC).

      There’s more, and you get quite a bit on each. Yeah, we’re talking paragraphs here, not some bullet definition. If you’re new to SEO or website marketing, this is a good post to read. Hey, it’ll also give you a big boost if you share it – everyone wants this info, though few want to admit it.

      ––––––––

      Getting Rid of Spammy Referrals

      Jenny Stradling had a July 24 Eminent SEO post called Spammy Referral Traffic: What Is It and How Do I Get Rid Of It?

      In it she talks about the spammy referral links you’ll often see in your SEO report. She tells how this is actually hurting you and not helping, and offers tips to get rid of it. I had to do this on my site, and I used Google Analytics. The Russian porn sites have not bothered me since.

      ––––––––

      Site Structures that Strengthen

      How to Create a Site Structure That Strengthens Your SEO was a July 27 Works Media post by John Romaine. In the post he talks about how a good site structure helps with user experience, link equity, and effective navigation.

      He also mentions improved crawler efficiency, which means you’ll get your content indexed faster/better by Google, allowing your site to flourish. There’s a lot more than that, so pop on in and see what he’s got for you.

      ––––––––

      Moz Marketing Survey

      The 2015 Online Marketing Industry Survey was put out by Dr. Peter J. Meyers on July 28 on Moz. This is a poll of 3,600 people to figure out things about marketing and SEO. The main highlights are the top 10 lists that show which tools and services and networks people like to use.

      It’s also revealed that the top activity of respondents is site audits, with the second being keyword research. There’s a lot more info, and it’s worth a look.

      ––––––––

      5 Homepage Features You Need

      5 Key Elements Every Website Homepage Needs was a post on Oxxy on August 6. I have to tell you, I often discount advice from those unwilling to put their name on their post, or within easy reach of that post (sidebar).

      Nonetheless, I decided to share these 5 simple elements, because many times we forget that new people are starting everyday, and they don’t know this stuff. A lot of times big sites don’t know it either, but let’s not step on toes all the time, alright? The 5 key elements are:

      – Clear navigation;

      – Great headline;

      – Combine it with a great visual;

      – A call-to-action;

      – Latest news.

      Simple tips, but they work and they will deliver quality results you can see. It might take time, so hang in there.

      ––––––––

      SEO Stats...and Headline Punctuation

      6 Local SEO Stats Every Online Marketer Needs To Know was an August 13 Search Engine Land post by Jayson DeMers. Those 6 stats are:

      – Local Searches Lead 50% Of Mobile Visitors To Visit Stores Within One Day;

      – More Than 60% Of Consumers Have Used Local Information In Ads;

      – 88% Of Consumers Trust Online Reviews As Much As Personal Recommendations;

      – Business Address/Location Is The Primary Piece Of Information Sought By Local Searchers;

      – 18% Of Local Mobile Searches Lead To A Sale Within One Day;

      – 50% Of Mobile Users Prefer A Mobile Browser To A Mobile App.

      These look like some interesting stats, and its clear that DeMers knows quite a bit. So...why does he capitalize his articles? Words like in and the and of don’t need to be capitalized in headlines. It makes you look silly.

      Who knows, maybe it’s Search Engine Land that does that, perhaps it’s a glitch in their guest post upload interface. In that case, they owe DeMers an apology for making him look so foolish.

      ––––––––

      Common Web Design Mistakes

      6 Web design mistakes (and how to correct them) was an August 27 TNW News post by Carrie Cousins. Some of those mistakes are:

      – Designing Without a Grid;

      – Using a Theme without Customization;

      – Moving Forward with Poor Images;

      – Not Using a Color or Typography Palette.

      You’ll get an analysis of the problem and then a fix for each. If you’re into web design, this post will give you some ideas. Saunter on over there.

      ––––––––

      Questions for Your Potential SEO Company

      Don’t Get Fooled: 17 Questions to Ask Before Hiring an SEO Company was an August 24 Quick Sprout post by Neil Patel. I don’t have the money to hire a company myself, but maybe you do. Still, these are good questions to think about so your own strategy can improve.

      Patel’s got some monster content these days, so I’m not going to run through all those questions, but here are some that stood out:

      – How will you improve our search engine rankings?

      – Do you always follow Google’s best practices?

      – Which tools do you use?

      – Have you worked with penalized sites?

      On that last one, Patel follows up by asking how they fixed those penalized sites. There’s some good tips here, and lots to think on.

      For instance, in the question, what is your payment structure? we can get a good idea what qualified SEO-types make (Patel says you should expect to pay $76 to $200 per hour for a good SEO). If you’ve got the money and the need, this post is for you.

      ––––––––

      Waterfall Diagrams for Slow Web Pages

      The SEO Professional's Guide to Waterfall Diagrams was an August 26 Moz post by Billy Hoffman. In it he shows you images like this:

      Wow, I have no idea what that is!

      A waterfall diagram is a graphical view of all the resources loaded by a web browser to present your page to your users, Hoffman says, showing both the order in which those resources were loaded and how long it took to load each resource.

      Why is this important? Because analyzing how those resources are loaded can give you insight into what's slowing down your webpage, and when you know that you can fix to make it faster.

      Alright, well...this would be a really good post to show that SEO professional that you know. Because when I look at it, I’m reminded of that Greek language class I dropped out of after three weeks during Sophomore year.

      If you’re not like me, and SEO stuff like this excites you instead of filling you with the urge to run, by all means, check it out!

      ––––––––

      Comparing Metrics to Google Rankings

      Roy Hinkis had an August 31 Moz post called Traffic and Engagement Metrics and Their Correlation to Google Rankings. He digs a bit more into the recent Moz Ranking Correlation Study, the one that analyzed over 200,000 domains. Hinkis tells us that the following are the most important for both traffic and engagement:

      – Search Visits;

      – Total Visits;

      – Direct Visits;

      – Global rank;

      – Time on site;

      – Bounce rate;

      – Page views.

      I don’t know why the punctuation on that list changed halfway through, but that’s not really the question that should concern you. No, it’s why sites like Moz are killing you, and what you can do about it.

      I’d start by reading this post to learn about bounce rates and correlations between that and your traffic and a lot of other ranking factors. Go on!

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      Trends with Google Analytics

      4 Challenging Trends in Google Analytics Reporting was a September 2 SEM Rush post by Jacques Bouchard. Those 4 trends are:

      – HTTPS Migration = Lost Data;

      – Data Attribution Assignment is Blurring;

      – Direct Traffic Has Become a Dumping Ground;

      – Google Analytics Data is Being Polluted.

      Lots of technical stuff here, lots of traffic graphs, and lots of stuff I don’t understand. Your SEO guy, however, will love it.

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      Making Google Chrome Faster

      11 Ways to Speed Up Google Chrome was a September 4 post on HongKiat that has no author listed. I’m including it here because it offers lots of ideas – checking extensions, disabling plugins, enabling prefetch resources – that might make the browser work a bit faster for you. Check it out!

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      Moz Studies 1 Million Posts

      Steve Rayson had a September 8 Moz post called Content, Shares, and Links: Insights from Analyzing 1 Million Articles. What we found is that the majority of content published on the internet is simply ignored when it comes to shares and links, Rayson says right away. Gosh, I guess they spent a lot of time look at my content.

      Here are some highlights for me:

      – 50% of shared posts had zero external links;

      – 50% of posts had 2 or fewer Facebook interactions;

      – 85% of the content put out is less than 1,000 words;

      – List posts and videos get shared more.

      There’s a ton more stuff here, and if you’re not looking at it then I question your abilities.

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      Monster SEO Checklist

      SEO Checklist: 74 Step Process for Mammoth Rankings was a September 10 Money Journal post by Sam Oh.

      This is a super-long post with tons of screenshots and stats and links and all the rest of it. It reminds me a lot of the recent Quick Sprout posts.

      The thing with this post, however, is that it’s just a compilation of all kinds of different posts.

      There’s stuff from Moz more than anything. That can be helpful, putting all this together in a way that makes sense. This post is so long that you often get lost, however.

      All in all, if you’re just getting started, this has most of the answers you’ll need to boost yourself up quickly. I wish I would have come across something like this back in 2012 or so.

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      SEO Mistakes You Can Avoid

      10 Easily Avoidable SEO Mistakes that Ruin Google Rankings was a September 15 SEM Rush post by Darshan Patel. Some of those mistakes are:

      – Duplicate Content;

      – Lack of XML Sitemap;

      – Choice of Keywords Without Research;

      – Use of a Flash Website;

      – Use of Paid Links.

      The post doesn’t have the best English, but the ideas are sound. I especially like the one about flash websites, which find to be a pain. Patel says that these sites can’t be crawled and indexed well, so your SEO will always fall behind your non-flash competitors.

      I think there are some good ideas that you might not be thinking about. For that reason, this post is a good one to pop in on.

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      Tips for a Better Web Design

      12 Tips for Nailing ​A High Converting Web Design was a September 17 Marketing Results post by Will Blunt. Some of those tips are:

      – Nail your home page first;

      – Clean up the mess;

      – Obsess over your about page;

      – Show off your brand’s personality;

      – Personalise your 404s.

      I like that last one, and Blunt is talking about the page errors that bring users to a redirect page.

      Why not throw up your brand image and perhaps a little copy? Never know – it could lead somewhere.

      Why don’t you lead yourself over to this post – I think you’ll get an idea or two.

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      Getting Into SEO and Targeted Advertising (SEM)

      Clay Cazier had a September 23 Search Engine Land post called Converting SEO Non-Believers: How To Overcome Objections And Get The Budget.

      In the post he explains some basic SEO principles for anyone that’s still on the fence about doing SEO. Topics hit on:

      – Organic traffic;

      – Keywords;

      – Referral traffic;

      – Cost of clicks.

      For that last one, the cost of clicks, what we’re referring to are your AdWords campaigns and how much it costs you each time someone clicks on an ad.

      That’s called SEM, or search engine marketing. I saw recently that you want to have each lead costing up to $5, but I believe that’s in another world.

      If I’m doing marketing I’ll want that cost down...or will I? It all depends on your reach and how many people see your ad compared to the number of clicks it gets. A click might cost you $5 if only 100 people saw it but perhaps $0.50 if 10,000 did.

      You get the idea, and it’s a good one to think about. I personally find targeted advertising to be tricky. Maybe this post will give you some ideas on that front.

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      Sun Tzu and SEO

      Know Thy Enemy: Local SEO & The Art of War was a post by Marcus Miller on October 2. It appeared on Search Engine Land and has the same type of analysis that I had back in November 2013.

      I like these kinds of theory and strategy posts and I wish people had them more.

      The post does the same thing I did – it takes quotes from the 5th-century general and applies them to SEO and marketing and such.

      I’ve written a book on ancient China, and if this stuff interests you I’d encourage you to buy it. Until then, whet your appetite here.

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      Things to Think about with Your Redesign

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