Article first apperared on Search Engine Journal: https://www.searchenginejournal.com/optimize-website-tiny-niche/345846/#close A consistent complaint I hear from SEO professionals, both veterans and those new to the industry, is that link building is hard. Yes. Link building is hard. Link building is hard, but it’s not impossible. Link building seems difficult because, on the surface, it’s hard to know exactly [...] An Adaptive Framework for Link Building Campaigns

Article first apperared on Search Engine Journal: https://www.searchenginejournal.com/optimize-website-tiny-niche/345846/#close Most of Our Data Is an Estimate Most of the tools of the SEO trade aren’t exactly models of accuracy. Even the tools that come straight from the search engines don’t give us numbers that truly match reality. If you think the Google Keyword Planner’s numbers [...] How Do You Effectively Optimize Your Website in a Tiny Niche?

Google is certainly good at throwing wrenches into SEO processes. Google likes to channel their inner coach from the movie “Dodgeball”. “If you can dodge a wrench, you can dodge a ball.” – Patches O’Houlihan. Patches O’Houlihan might as well be Google’s John Mueller, throwing heavy metal objects at SEO professionals. One such recently [...] The Great Google/SEO Communications Conundrum

Best Way to Track Organic Conversions This seemingly simple question has a lot of answers. And as with many questions surrounding SEO, the overarching answer is – it depends. On the surface,the best way to track organic conversions is pretty straightforward. Most SEO professionals use Google Analytics to track conversions. Google Analytics is simple [...] What Is the Best Way to Track Organic Conversions?

Recently, our firm took over the digital marketing efforts for a small company. Their previous digital marketing efforts were led by a large, multi-national corporation that formerly specialized in Yellow Page advertising. As we went about our onboarding checklist, we ran into a snag. The small business had never had direct access to their Google [...] Digital Extortion: Don’t Let Your Data Be Held Hostage

Here is my SEO Santa list of items I will be asking for Christmas. 1. Can you talk to Google about the “merge and purge” issues in the local listings? You could save me so much time if you could just get them to stop changing addresses and phone numbers randomly. 2. Maybe I’m [...] My SEO Santa List

SEO for Wix Is a Nightmare I don’t need to write out the pros and cons of doing SEO on a Wix site. My good friend Kristine Schachinger has already done that here. Schachinger’s article is a must-read for anyone interested in this topic. I have experience trying to make a Wix site rank [...] The Super Bowl of Unrealistic SEO Expectations

I started my agency in 2008. That year, I attended the SMX conference at the Javitz Center in New York City. It was during this conference that the Dow plunged, suffering its worst points loss in history. I sat looking at the New York skyline, expecting to see stockbrokers jumping out of windows. Fortunately, [...] Winter Is Coming: SEO During Economic Downturns

A number of years ago, I conducted a rather ambitious research project to find out how consumer preferences were affected by a brand’s social stance. While I certainly didn’t conclusively answer whether a brand should take a stand, I did come to one concrete conclusion: A brand that takes a social stand almost always [...] Take a Stand: Building Links Through Social Responsibility

I’m hearing lots of talk in the SEO community questioning the value of building links. The current SEO trends seem to be leaning toward focusing on the technical aspects of SEO and leaving link building as an afterthought – or not a thought at all. I think technical SEO is extremely important and a great technical SEO professional [...] 4 Link Building Ideas That Won’t Get You Into Hot Water