SEO Weekly Recap (Super Bowl Edition)
Hey folks Austin here and it’s time for another Weekly SEO Recap: Super Bowl Edition.
What happens if you Google SEO? You get all the latest SEO articles Google thinks are relevant to your search. But are they relevant to you? Let me be the judge of that and help you cut to the chase.
from Moz:
Personas: The Art and Science of Understanding the Person Behind the Visit
The world of internet marketing changes year over year, and the pattern I’ve been seeing reveals two things. First, SEOs are more like content creators and marketers than ever before. Second, conversion optimization. Personas can be really useful when you’re doing conversion optimization. Last week the SEO industry was forced to start working on their content skills, but this week, thanks to “iPullRank,” we have a great article about understanding our visitors better. Some of the information isn’t going to be new to anyone, but there are a ton of great tips and lots of data to dissect. It’s a great article, but make sure you’ve got an hour or so to read it because it’s huge.
Pros
- Helps you understand your visitors better
- Lots of data
Negatives
- Need an hour to read
Overall: Bookmark for later
From Forbes (who needs to step their game up):
The Three Pillars of SEO In 2014
What’s changed? Is Jayson DeMers’ article on Forbes actually worth reading? NO! I’m only including it because I’m pissed off that this dude writes for Forbes and gets away with regurgitating the same crap everyone was saying YEARS AND YEARS AGO! The fact that he’s saying “social signals are now the fastest-rising search engine ranking factor” means he’s WAY out dated. It’s surprising people still think they can “teach” old information as current strategy. Then again, that’s what 99% of internet marketers do. Except Jayson is supposed to be a journalist. Please join me in commenting on his forum to correct him where needed. In a nice way, of course. 😀
Pros
- It’s encouraging. If Jayson can get his BS in Forbes, you probably can too.
Negatives
- Outdated info
- Stuff everyone already knows
Overall: Skip it or Comment on it
From Moz:
New Top Strategies, Salaries and Tools: Announcing the 2014 Industry Survey Results
One of the most interesting and, dare I say fun, things in the SEO world is Moz’s annual industry survey results. Cyrus over at Moz just announced the results, and they’re quite interesting to read. Everything from shifting demographics to alternative strategies for dealing with (not-provided) are covered by the survey. I love to make my own predictions concerning next year’s top 5 activities. Normally I just keep these to myself, but this year I’m going to share them. I believe the top 5 activities will be:
- Analytics
- Content Marketing
- Conversion Optimization
- Social Marketing
- Brand Strategy
Come back next year to see how I did!
Pros
- Useful data based on the industry
- Comparing your work to others in the industry
Negatives
- Nothing extremely useful but fun
Overall: Read It
From Search Engine Watch:
Google & Bing Agree: Past SEO Success Guarantees You Nothing Today
Many of our clients are coming face to face with old age. They have old websites, with old templates and old, outdated content. One question SEOs and internet marketers need to answer quickly is “Why are older domains getting beat up in the SERPs?” More than likely they optimized their old website based on old ranking algorithms. But the answer is never quite that easy. Matt Cutts talked about this in a recent video, but Jennifer Slegg highlights some things the folks at Bing are saying. I usually find it’s worth a listen when multiple search engines start agreeing on things. You might not learn anything to help your current ranking strategy, but you may still be able to glean a few insights from search engine insiders.
Pros
- Insights from Google and Bing
- How to freshen up old domains
Negatives
- No specific actionable items
Overall: Skim It
