GUEST COMMENT Seven tips for a successful Christmas SEO strategy

Search engines remain the starting point for millions of online shopping journeys every Christmas. So, here are seven essential considerations for creating a winning retail SEO strategy during Peak.

1) Do your keyword research

Did you know that "Christmas Jumper" is the most searched for Christmas-related term in the UK during December?

One of the most important things your SEO team should have done - ideally before late summer - is to identify the popular and valuable keyword terms in your area of retail during Q4 and the Christmas peak. And then to optimise content on your product, category and sales pages to target those keywords. Obviously, there will be new keywords each season, driven by new shopping trends, new brands and new products – so make sure they're part of your strategy.

2) Attract 'top of the funnel' shoppers with informational content

As well as building or optimising your product and category pages and Christmas sales pages to target searchers with transactional intent (i.e. those whose search queries indicate they have an immediate intention to buy), make sure you are creating content to attract traffic from 'informational' searchers.

These are searchers at the top of the sales funnel that are in discovery mode - who don't really know what they want to buy, yet. For them you need to build content to target phrases such as "Best Christmas gifts for him", "What kids really want this Christmas" or "Top 10 jewellery gifts for wives and girlfriends". And if you link these informational pages to your product pages you can try to lead informational visitors on to making a purchase.

3) Build content to attract backlinks

You also need to think about creating seasonal informational content pieces to help attract backlinks from blogs and online publications. As you probably know, backlinks from quality websites are viewed as a positive ranking signal by Google, so they'll help your pages rank higher.

Think about the types of seasonal content that are likely to get coverage and backlinks from media in your part of retail. This might include infographics with interesting facts and data related to the merchandise you sell for example, Christmas Calendars or even guest blog posts and shopping guides by well-known experts in your sector.

4) Target image search

According to Google, 50 per cent of online shoppers say images of products inspired their purchases - and shopping at Christmas can of course be a very visual experience. People are inspired by strong imagery and you need to capitalise on this in your search strategy.

Make sure you prioritise high quality product photography across your site and ensure your SEOs optimise them to show up in Google image search results. In fact, Google has revamped its image search facility to help people to browse products images more easily and also to find product details, prices and reviews for products featured in images.

5) Spread the 'link juice' love with good internal linking

In point 3) I mentioned the importance of backlinks for helping pages rank higher. You can spread the power (or link juice) of those backlinks to other pages by good internal linking. One of the most common mistakes webmasters make is to create content for big events such as Christmas shopping and not integrating these pages into the taxonomy of the site.

This obviously includes updating your site navigation to incorporate your Christmas category and landing pages, as well as including plenty of relevant anchor text links to link your seasonal content where it makes sense.Internal linking to your seasonal shopping pages is absolutely critical to success. Not only will the internal links help shoppers who land on those pages browse your site more easily and naturally, they will also help to spread the link juice to help the whole site rank higher.

6) Don't forget social

Remember too that while Google is huge for holiday search, social sites such as Pinterest and Instagram are turning into search and product discovery destinations themselves, especially when it comes to visual search. Make sure you're sharing strong visual content on them and making them a part of your overall search strategy.

7) Start launching and optimising seasonal content early

In an ideal world you should have been planning and launching seasonal content by late summer. And if you are refreshing or tweaking existing pages to give them a seasonal spin that should also be done as early as possible.

This is because it takes time to for Google to index and evaluate pages and rank them and also to earn the backlinks that Google takes as a positive ranking signal. In fact the indications are that UKs Christmas shopping habits are changing - with many people starting their shopping earlier and earlier. So being extra early with your SEO and content strategy is even more important.

Of course, there will always be some content and promotional ideas that emerge late in the season - which may struggle to gain organic rankings in good time. So, you should save some of your Google AdWords budget to help drive traffic to those pages via paid search.

Author: Björn Darko, director digital strategies group, EMEA, Searchmetrics. Picture credit: Fotolia

Getting started with a terminal emulator for SEO programming

Getting started with a terminal emulator for SEO programming - Search Engine Land

access to command line utilities

the ability to perform SEO hacking on remote machines by opening shells in the cloud, and

the ability to write or utilize programs that automate work tasks and power websites.

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Practical Tips on Improving Your Local SEO

Today, ranking exceptionally well for local SEO isn't straightforward like before.  It is not an easy task and entails adding NAP at the footer, building directory links and much more! Somewhere as things advanced, local directory links among others today aren't enough for a business to get to the top rank. You can look for local SEO services in India for proper guidance and help on how to move up the local SEO ladder.

local SEO services in India

Getting to the higher ranking in the local SEO calls for customized local content. This definitely translates to increased traffic, in fact, you can realize up to 300% increase. It is no doubt that content remains the most effective option available to rank well for local keywords that are less competitive. This where the local SEO services in India come handy. Outlined below are different content types that are very helpful in your struggles with local SEO.

Have a Landing Page that is City-specific

You will realize that it is much easier to get better ranked if you provide the location on your webpage. In a case where your business has numerous locations, it is recommended that you create separate pages for all the locations. However, if your business is small, developing separate websites surprisingly dilutes your authority. Remember to keep it simple as much as possible and ensure there is a page for each location.

Create a Landing Page that Denotes State or Region

You will find that it isn't easy to find clients who are excited about creating additional content. However, when in steep competition with local SEO space, it is a sure phenomenon that content can either make or break the choice to move to Page 1 from Page 2 or even 3. If you find the development of numerous location pages that are city-specific a hard task, starts by creating ones based on region or city.

Consider Creating FAQ Pages

You will find that the FAQ pages act as the one-stop shop when it comes to everything linked to local SEO content. Trends show that people have changed the way they conduct searches with the advent of voice searches hence the shift in how content is consumed. Location of the business matters a lot. Creating FAQ pages that are optimized can transform your business to the most featured snippet by giving a great boost to the local SEO.

Specials Count

Today, customers need what they want and local business owners can grab this opportunity by offering personalized discounts and specials to their local residents. Taking the step of offering discounts that are location specific makes your business more appealing to the local audience for it definitely makes them feel valued and special.

Plan to Host Events Locally

Before hosting an event locally, make an announcement regarding the same on your business webpage to ensure that you keep up and not lose out on any local customers. 

Form Partnerships with Featuring Local Events

If you find it quite overwhelming to host local events you put into consideration the idea of forming partnerships with other available local events. If you are not in a position to sponsor any local events then make a point of talking about those events.

Add Blog Content

Having a blog that is active and provides meaningful content aids in improving rankings. Jolt your mind for great ideas and start writing about them!

Create 'Best of' Guides

Making the "best of" list ensures your readers a guideline on whatever aspects they admire about any given topic. 

Press Pages

Press pages can be helpful and you can partner with the press of your choice on specific press release.

Generate Local Content 

The time to start is now. You will find that most business owners locally with the advent of local SEO turned to directory links and NAP. This is a good example of them having a tunnel vision for they forget about creating content in their websites. For many years, most of them have displayed fear of generating local content but with the current transformations, change is inevitable. Availing content is very crucial for this acts as a magnet to draw people of all works of life to your local business on the internet and they also get to visit your URL. You will find that search engines unlike before have upped the ante on a serious note on everything local.

Additional Information

Getting your business on the online platform thrive requires effort to ensure you get to the top ranks in various search engines. Having correct NAP as well as developing directory links counts but you definitely have to also generate hyperlocal meaningful content for it will have a magical impact on the rankings. Try implementing the tips mentioned above and at the same time seek the help of the local SEO services to get the super boost to higher ranks. 

5 Quick and Easy Things You Can Do for Your SEO That Cost You Nothing

"For your SEO" is a term all too common in today's business vernacular. Every business owner or manager must have thought at least once about how best to take advantage of online search engines to grow that bottom line.

But search engine optimization can prove costly, especially for the back-end tricks that high-profile websites engage.

So, what's a small- or medium-sized business owner to do? Here are 5 things you can do to improve SEO for free. All it costs is time and consistent attention.

1. Write.

What do you think search engines look for when they try to match results with what people typed in?

Words, phrases or images that align with what's typed into that little box. It's that simple.

With that in mind, concentrate on adding content to your business portals – e.g. website, social media accounts, emails whether single-topic or newsletter, etc. Every business has something to write about: a key new hire, a promotion, a sale, a special, new hours, new location, new branch, new idea, etc.

Simply ensure these "news" items are put in digital form somewhere linking to your business. The more you enter and save the better for SEO.

Don't think you have to compete with the big boys' websites, either. Think about three or four paragraphs per item, maybe in a sidebar on the company website, maybe a new blog page, maybe in social media posts.

Get in the habit of writing about your business and not only might you learn something about it and help get the word out about what you're doing, but long-term the search engines will like you better.

2. Use What's Available.

There are many ways to improve SEO by simply using what's there for the taking. For instance, always save photos you plan to use for business with keywords that customers might search for.

For example, instead of "Photo 1" as a file name, try "ACME Buy Gizmo in Los Angeles Image," or whatever suits your business. You are free to make file names long, and when saved to websites or social media, those words get caught by search engines.

In the same vein, go back to photos you've used and tag them all with keywords appropriate to your business. Go back to Facebook posts, for instance, and tag photos with your location, or add a caption with the name of your business or a key product.

For websites, ensure all images are given titles and tags that a search engine may find.

This is important – basically its free space to use your keywords. Yet, many businesses don't take advantage.

3. Spread URLs Whenever Possible

That is, your business website address as well as the URL associated with individual pages or even pages you don't own such as for a YouTube video.

Don't forget this vital practice as you move forward with digital marketing for your business.

Sometimes it's as simple as adding the full internet address at the bottom of a social media post or linking it to a photo to click. Other times consider free content-posting services such as Patch.com or AmericanTowns.com, and get some of your business items posted there even if just in classifieds.

Then include your URLs where possible, or insert links to the posts where allowed. Again, no cost to do this except your time; and it gets easier if you get in the practice of doing it regularly.

4. Bomb Social Media

This doesn't mean just saving more posts, tweets, pins or whatever the medium allows. It means to ensure all posts contain enough content, and keywords (and URLs) important for your business, as much as possible.

For example, look at business-related YouTube videos. What most businesses fail to do is use as much space as allowed for the subject line (title), as well as the information the platform lets you use below the posted video.

Think about this: Google owns YouTube, so it makes sense that Google treats YouTube videos pretty well in terms of searches.

So … Use as much space as allowed for that video title, and then write as much as possible below it including all links and social media accounts pertinent to your business. And do this every time.

LinkedIn is another great example. LinkedIn profiles often perform well in searches. Ensure your personal and business profiles on LinkedIn are robust, full of as much information, links and images as you can fit. LinkedIn and other social media platforms offer a lot of free space to take.

5. Use Links to Trusted Websites

The search engines pay attention to websites that are attached to your business somehow. While it's difficult to get your company website link listed in the New York Times, it's not difficult to give credit to a major publication when used for information related to your business.

In any digital business communication, such as a web page post, or blog post, there are opportunities to give credit where credit is due, and also provide information that your readers (customers) might find useful.

Search engines like it when we share information, or try to provide information that others may find useful.

Therefore, if you convey information gathered from a recent news story, credit the source if it's a trusted website, such as a national publication or respected regional newspaper.

You can be amazed by what this can do for your SEO in the long haul. It also helps make your content look more authoritative.

In summary, much of what's included in these tips are actions that a business owner, manager or marketer should get in the practice of doing.

None cost money to do. And much of it is involved with everyday marketing that most businesses already engage with, such as social media posting or blogs.

Just know which keywords or phrases your customers might use in searches, and be sure to take full advantage of what's already there, available and free to use.

Author: Dave Polykoff

Dave Polykoff is a tech entrepreneur, designer and writer with 6+ years in Product Development. Dave manages multiple start up companies, watches a movie a day, and likes all of your cat memes on Instagram. For more of Dave's micro thoughts check out his Twitter @DavePoly.… View full profile ›

Seven SEO tips for image link building to generate more traffic

A picture is worth a thousand words. If we talk about digital marketing, a strategically used picture could be worth a thousand links. Links play a pivotal role in the success of your digital marketing and eventually, your brand's growth strategy and that's why image-based link building is a key factor for your search engine ranking.

Put simply, link building is getting your website including your blog, articles, and resources linked by other websites. Your images, infographics, and memes, too, can be used for link building and turn your page into a link magnet.

Readers pay close attention to information-carrying images. According to research by Brain, three days after reading or hearing a piece of information, people can remember only 10% of it. However, if the information is presented in an easy to grasp graphic, that percentage goes up to 65%.

And for that reason, 32% of marketers insist that images are the most important type of content in their digital marketing strategy.

Images can increase your website traffic by 12%. Social media updates with images get 150% more shares than those without any image.

Want to see your images generating backlinks and generating traffic? Check out the following:

1. Create images that others want to engage with

If you are a digital marketer, you cannot avoid using images. But, creating images that encourage people to take some kind of action – such as to share or to fill up the contact form – requires strategic efforts.

The best way to do that is to create something that your users might be interested in. Share something that revolves around and resolves their pain points.

Keep your images simple and the information in it easy to digest. Some of the most engaged-with images are those that have facts, how-to guides, tips, and quotes.

Source: Buzzsumo

Be regular with your posting and keep monitoring the behavior of your audience on each of your updates. The ones that get most shares, likes, comments, and downloads are the ones your audience likes to see and the ones you should center on.

2. Use image resources and creation tools

First, you need images to support your articles, blogs, web content, and social media updates. Then, you will need to fine-tune those images to fit into your requirements.

ShutterStock, iStockPhoto, and AdobeStock are some of the top platforms to get high-quality graphics for your updates and articles. If you are looking for high-quality images without stressing your marketing budget, Pexels, Pixabay, StockSnap, and Unsplash are a few places to visit.

For editing and creation, you could use Canva, the best online platform for creating compelling graphics for your texts and social media updates. With their sea of pre-loaded templates, this task becomes a cakewalk. Some other image editing tools are AdobeSpark, Fotor, and Pixlr.

3. Use infographics to make your content easy to digest

Although there is a mention of infographic in the article earlier, the point is vast and important that it gets a separate cover.

In modern digital marketing, the use of infographics allows marketers to increase their text's readability and drive engagement. Infographics grab more attention. In fact, an infographic is 30 times more likely to be read than a purely textual article.

About 65% of B2B marketers use infographics for their marketing emails, presentations, and blogs. And 30% of them create infographics on their own.

Creating engaging infographics requires hours and days of research, along with a creative mindset to come up with an interactive, interesting, and unique layout.

You could use tools like Piktochart, Venngage, Visme, and Easel.ly to create infographics like a pro. You can also create infographics with Microsoft PowerPoint.

4. Make your images discoverable

So, now you know how to create graphics for your website and social media. What if people can't find your image?

No matter how impressive your images are, if no one can find them when they need it most or if no one seeing it, it is of no worth.

To be found on search engines, your images will need to be crawled by crawlers or robots sent by search engines to your website. Since these robots cannot decipher images, you will need to make some alternative arrangements so search engine robots can understand and index your images.

On social media, you will need to follow a completely different strategy in order to make your graphics easy to find by users. On Twitter and LinkedIn, there is an option to add a short description for your images. Pinterest too asks you to add a description to each of your posts.

On Facebook, Instagram, and other platforms including Twitter and LinkedIn, you can increase the visibility of your posts by using the right and trending hashtags.

The easier it is to find your images, the higher is its visibility and engagement.

5. Find out who is using your image

As a marketer, you should know how many websites link to your images and how many are using them without your permission. It is an important metric for your business and digital marketing strategy building.

If you have uploaded an image on the Internet, you cannot actually control it or stop people from using it. But, there are ways to find out who all are using your graphics.

There is no harm if you are given credit or backlink. But if someone unauthorized or without allowance is using your image, it could have an impact on your search engine ranking.

Open Google Image Search, and upload or paste the link of your picture. You shall see a list of similar images being used by others.

A couple of similar tools to locate your images on the World Wide Web are TinEye and ImageRaider. Using both these tools, you can also figure out if your images have been cropped, reversed or flipped.

Once you have found unauthorized use of your images, ask the webmaster or admin of the page to give you credit or remove it from their database.

6. Instagram and Pinterest paid marketing

Social media is an unavoidable practice for a digital marketer. It is an immense boost to your SEO efforts.

To make the most of your high-quality images, you could turn to Instagram and Pinterest – the most happening image sharing platforms – that are also in the list of top 10 most used social networks.

That makes Instagram a very popular and super-active marketing platform. With Instagram marketing, you can connect with your audience across multiple channels. You can also create eye-attracting ads that have high engagement rate and improved ROI.

86% of brands use Instagram and at an average 72% of these brands post at least 1 picture every week. Engagement on Instagram graphics is growing with every passing year and Pinterest is 80% more viral and 3x more effective at generating leads than Twitter. In fact, Pinterest Marketing converts more and faster than any other social media platform. Another plus side about Pinterest is that it has fewer steps from discovery to conversion and it saves marketers a lot of time.

Posting and tracking Instagram and Pinterest activities on a day-to-day basis could be is challenging. So, you could consider using social media management tools. which can ease your day by allowing you to check analytics and schedule your updates.

7. Analyze your competitor's images

Checking out the activities of competitors has always been a part of traditional marketing strategies. Even in the era of digital and social, you should always be aware of what your competitors are doing.

Follow their feeds anonymously and check out their social media updates and website more often.

Doing so, you can keep yourself updated with the latest marketing trends. This also helps find out the type of content they are leveraging to draw traffic and engagement.

With that, you can take inspiration for your content strategy and gain customer attention through your marketing campaigns. You can even engage with your competitors, sometimes, to draw engagement and attention.

Take an exchange of Tweets between Audi and BMW from last year. BMW tweeted a marketing material using the logo of Audi.

Taking a note of it, Audi commented with the following:

That simply shows that Audi not only follows BMW but doesn't hesitate in engaging with their update. BMW, too, didn't ignore their mention. They came quickly with a hilariously mouth-shutting reply.

It is both an example of keeping an eye on competitor's activities as well as never letting a chance of engagement slip. Both BMW and Audi are competitors both follow each other on all social networks.

PostPlanner has compiled a list of top brands to follow to take inspiration from for your social media graphics. This list compilation includes brands from different industries. So, no matter what industry you belong to, this list is going to be a great help for you.

There is another way, you can perform competitor analysis. Find free and paid productivity tools based on your budget and requirement. One such tool is a must-have resource for your SEO and SMO teams these days.

I hope these tips help you create outstanding visual graphics for your brand, boost your social and on-site engagement, and generate more traffic to your website. The focus should be on creating pictures that offer users some information they can use. And that is the most important point here.

Moving forward, prepare a list of your on-site images that Google and other search engines have indexed. Make another list pointing out the images that have been used legally by others. They are an authentic backlink for your image and site. Make efforts for the ones used illegally and turn them into an official backlink.

Related reading

The Transformation of Search Summit 2019 will take place in New York on Oct. 25. Speakers include experts from Disney, Pinterest, Mastercard, and Microsoft.

Data science focuses on eliminating guesswork from SEO. Brands like Airbnb and Netflix are doing it and so can you. Tips to improve SEO using data science.

How to qualify link building prospects in a simple method. Obtain a list of relevant prospects in several minutes rather than taking days of manual work.

In the data set that I used businesses were found via non-branded searches 70% of the time vs. 30% of the time via a branded search.

Boost Your Reputation with These Local SEO Hacks

Whether you like it or not, the modern digital customer uses search engines to find 'near me' products and services. An infographic by Go-Gulf shares that 46 percent of all search queries on Google are local.
For a local business, there could be no better place than the 3 Pack of Google Maps. This is because, a study by Advanced Web Ranking reveals, that the first, second, and third results on Google's SERP receive around 33 percent, 15 percent and 9 percent of clicks respectively. But, as always, getting on the top of the SERP isn't a cakewalk.
Local search is a highly competitive field that numerous businesses are trying to excel in. Though there's no sure-shot method to land up in the Google 3 Pack, the effective strategies shared in this post will turbocharge your local SEO strategy, enabling you to get an edge over your competitors.
1. Pay Attention to Google's Factors for Local Ranking
The search engine giant, Google, determines the local ranking of a website based on its relevance, proximity, and prominence. So, if you want to rank high in the local search results, your website should be relevant to the search query, located in and around the user, and well-known in your niche (high authority).If your business doesn't appear in the local search results it means that you need to optimize your website for local search. Focus on these three major ranking pillars to boost your local business ranking.
Add complete and accurate details of your business to help Google understand your business well, match your listing with the search query, and improve its relevance. Use Google's markup helper to create structured data markup and highlight relevant data, such as company name, address, contact number, website address, and opening hours.
Effective keyword research can help you get organic audience for your business. Since getting the result from a different city is difficult, you can use these tips to find suitable keywords to be used in your site content.

Add the 'near' parameter in the URL. After the query, enter '&near=cityname' to get results of the target location.

Get the best location results by using the 'UULE' parameter.'

Target specific GPS coordinates using tools like Valentin App that converts the street address into geo-coordinates and passes them along to Google. The algorithm then geotargets your keywords via GPS coordinates.

Google uses location tracking technology to guess the user's location based on the IP address or GPS. Besides adding location modifiers to the semantic core, include the name of the city, state, or district and postal code to optimize your website for local search and improve its proximity ranking.
Finally, check the technical condition of your site to enhance its trustworthiness and reputation. Diagnose and prevent SEO issues and take effective steps to improve the site's speed, crawlability, mobile-friendliness, and security. Pay attention to your site's inbound link profile. Explore link building opportunities to improve your backlink profile and hence your online reputation. We will learn more about link building later in this post.
2. Create Local Content
One of the most effective local SEO tactics that often gets ignored is creating local content that's relevant and useful. Here are a few tips for creating kickass content for your local audience.
Have a Location-Specific Landing Page
Customers feel special visiting a website or a blog that speaks to them. Include a region or city-specific landing page to rank higher in the local SERP and boost conversions.
Check out how Indochino, a menswear retailer, has a dedicated location page to boost the UX for their customers and drive organic traffic in a specific city or region.

Address Customer Concerns with FAQs
FAQ pages do an excellent job of addressing all customer concerns in one place, enabling customers to make an informed decision. Bonus – it allows you to improve your SEO by including the relevant keywords, helping you rank higher in the local search engine results listing.
Notice how the Bank of America has a FAQ page for every postal code in the U.S. Even though the questions and content may not be hugely different for each city, it does make the customer feel special.

Lastly, add popular and the most relevant FAQs to your Google My Business page, making your listing stand out and generate more traffic.
Introduce Special Offers for Locals
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By offering special discounts to customers in a target location you can make them feel special and give them a reason to try your brand and stay with you. Check out how Walt Disney World (Orlando, FL) gives residents of Florida a strong reason to visit their theme park.

Post Targeted Blog Content
If you have some valuable information to share with your local audience, a blog can work wonders. An active blog can help you engage your audience and improve your local ranking. Further, you can use this platform to share business updates like an inauguration of a new outlet, a special product offer, a new product range, or 'how-to' guides that relate to your niche.Lastly, use your blog to share information about local events using your targeted keywords to boost business visibility in the local area. That way you get to link to other local businesses and influencers and create quality content for your social media page.
3. Update Your Google My Business Page
Google My Business page allows businesses to share critical information, such as business name, address, and phone number (NAP). Further, it allows you to claim your business listing and promote your brand through images and customer reviews.
An updated Google My Business will draw the attention of the target audience, thereby boosting your brand visibility. Make sure your Google My Business page carries accurate information pertaining to your business. Create an impressive business description and incorporate your target keywords naturally. Also, remember to include a few high-quality images of your business, products, and services.
NAP (business name, address, and phone number) is one of the on-page signals Google uses for local listing rankings and local organic rankings. Make sure your NAP is consistent on every website it is listed on.
4. Get Active on Local Listings Sites
Getting listed or cited on community bulletin boards or websites, such as Facebook, Bing Places for Business, Yahoo Local Listing, Yelp, and YP can significantly improve your brand reputation and online visibility. Make sure you include information like business hours, product information, business location, reviews, and directions in these online business listings.
Google trusts businesses with maximum listings. So, stay active on the local listings sites to perform well in local search and get free advertising and exposure for your business.
5. Focus on Link Building
A strong link-building strategy has always been the cornerstone of good SEO. However, did you know that link signals are a critical ranking factor for local search too? Check out the 2018 Local Search Ranking Factors post by Moz for details.
Procuring high-quality links from authority websites can attract relevant traffic and generate leads for your business. Explore link-building opportunities from local business websites, local directories like Yelp, local press, and chambers of commerce.
Thorough competitor research can help you know which sites are linking to your competitors' site but not to your site. You can use this information to steal your competitor's links and improve your link profile.
Crawl your competitors' site for broken links. Tools like Screaming Frog can help you locate your local competitors' 404 pages and server errors. Filter the relevant broken backlinks linking to a local authority site you are targeting. Create awesome content that can replace that link with yours. Next, inform the authority site owner about the broken link profile and propose replacing it with a link to your post.
Building high-quality backlinks takes time. Be consistent with your link-building strategy and look for opportunities to collaborate with local influencers.
6. Build Social Proof through Reviews
Online reviews boost brand reputation and act as social proof, encouraging potential customers to use your products or services. As you can see in the screenshot shared below, Google reviews and stars are openly displayed on the 3-Pack.
Hence, make sure you ask customers to leave a review for your business. Make it easy for them to review your business. For instance, if you send them an email, include a prominent link or button that takes them to your Google My Business profile, allowing them to leave a review.
Similarly, you can add a QR code on your receipts, business cards, and promotional brochures, allowing users to leave a review for your business.
Finally, manage your negative reviews in prompt and professional manner. Understand the customer's point of view and get in touch with the customer to resolve the issue. Once you have addressed their concerns, it is always a good idea to respond publicly, acknowledging the customer's concerns and the steps you have taken to resolve it.
Summing Up
Every business owner desires to improve business visibility and reputation. However, getting to the top in a local search can be an overwhelming task, especially in the competitive and constantly evolving digital landscape.
Use the techniques and strategies shared in this post to rank high in local search and strengthen your reputation.

5 Video Search Engine Optimization Tips to Keep in Mind in 2020

Written content might be king, but video is about to overthrow the throne.
By the end of this year, 80% of all online material will consist of video marketing. If you're ready to embrace this movement for your own brand, you're making a smart move.
Yet, you want to make sure you're doing everything you can to make sure web visitors click on the videos you work hard to create.
Today, we're sharing five video search engine optimization (SEO) tips that deliver the visibility you deserve.
Ready to learn more? Let's go!
1. Pick the Right Platform
Your first step is to choose a video hosting platform that meets your SEO goals. Before you do so, answer this question:
Do you want to increase your traffic and drive new leads? Or, are you only interested in video marketing to improve brand awareness and establish thought leadership?
If it's the former, stick with platforms such as Wistia, which adds SEO metadata to your video automatically. If you don't care as much about numbers, YouTube or Vimeo are both great options. Once your video is indexed on these platforms, they receive a majority of the traffic, rather than your site.
2. Write a Transcript
The text that accompanies your video is called a transcript. In addition to making your video more accessible to those with vision or hearing impairments, they also improve your video SEO.
How?
Extra content attached to your video equals more material for Google's bots to crawl. When you add indexable text, you can rank for more search queries.
3. Choose an Engaging Thumbnail
Think about it: When you're scrolling YouTube for a video to watch, what's the first thing your eyes land on? The thumbnail image, of course!
Think of this as your first impression. Be selective and strategic when choosing your thumbnail, and make sure it's compelling and interesting enough to encourage visitors to click.
At the very least, it should be a visual representation of your video content. For instance, if you're a lawyer sharing a video on how the criminal process works, a thumbnail depicting real estate law isn't appropriate. 

4. Focus on the Title and Description
Titles and meta descriptions still matter, even (especially) with video. Don't breeze past this step. Instead, think of a dynamic write-up that matches what your target audience is looking for.
Be wary not to overstuff these sections with keywords. They should sound natural but clickable!
5. Embed with Strategy
If you include multiple videos on a page, Google will usually index only one of them, signaling its bots to stop crawling after the first. As such, think twice about which one you put in the top position.
A better strategy would be to stick to one video per page. That way, you can optimize for that specific video and drive traffic right where you want it to go.
Win the Video Search Engine Transformation
You spend hours crafting the perfect blog content and creating informative articles to share on social media. Now, it's time to shake things up a bit.
Video search engine optimization is here to stay. Successful business leaders will be those who can embrace these five tips and put their media content ahead of the rest.
Want to see how your online videos are performing? Check out our Video Analytics Tool for the in-depth insights you need!

Easy Ways to Boost Your Company's SEO

By now, most businesses that want to reach people online know the term search engine optimisation. SEO is a key component of having a site rank on search engines, making it easier for potential customers to find a site and ultimately use its products or services. However, SEO comprises many different aspects that can make the task daunting, particularly to those who are not experts in the space. Fortunately, there are several simple steps anyone can take to boost a company's SEO over time.
Before diving into tips for improving SEO, though, it is essential to understand the various aspects of optimisation. Technical SEO is the process of improving a website for the crawling and indexing done by search engines. When a search engine see your company's website, it needs to be able to access, interpret, and index the site without any issues. SEO tactics listed below can help with this objective, as well as improving content SEO strategies and off-site promotion through other websites.
Have a Well-organised Website
First and foremost, a well-thought-out website is crucial to boosting SEO. Users visiting a site need to be able to find out what your company is about and gather the information they need quickly. Search engines want to same. A site needs to have a logical structure and hierarchy of information, without being overwhelming and confusing. Try not to have too many categories of information or subcategories, and keep things simple for the user (and the search engine crawlers). Having a website that is structured in a way that allows for this to take place is an easy way to improve SEO.
Produce High-Quality Content
In addition to a well-structured website, companies can boost SEO campaigns with the help of high-quality content. Content needs to be relevant to the users visiting a website, and it should include keywords that show authority on a topic. Just like the website structure, content needs to be organised in a way that makes sense to readers. Using headings so that visitors are not facing a wall of text and space out the content in a way that helps readers scan the information.
Most importantly, though, developing and published quality content that is meant to benefit the reader is a must. Companies should also have a plan for updating content on a regular basis, keeping things fresh for search engine crawling and indexing.
Link to Authority Sites
Another easy way to improve a company's SEO is to add in relevant links to outside websites. To ensure this tactic actually aids to an SEO strategy, outbound links need to be to authority sites, not merely a site with the same keywords or anchor text. Linking to outbound websites helps increase relevancy of the content produced, and it may help readers spend more time on your site. Search engine algorithms give credit for this tactic when it is done correctly.
Include Metadata
SEO metadata is what shows up on search engine page results when a user searches for a specific keyword or phrase. Improving the metadata on a website can help boost SEO, but this can be a confusing task for those without experience or expertise. This is because metadata involves creating several meta titles, meta descriptions, relevant metadata keywords. Leaning on an SEO marketing agency may be beneficial for improving metadata so that it is both descriptive and efficient behind the scenes.
Optimise for Speed and Mobile Use
Finally, a simple way to boost your company's SEO is through optimisation of the website itself. From a speed perspective, search engine crawlers need to be able to access the information listed on a site quickly and without issue. If the site is slow, format and edit images with a compression tool to help keep speed up to par. Additionally, optimising speed may involve including browser caching to help information load quickly when a user revisits a page.
Mobile optimisation is also a must, as this is now a factor in ranking for SEO. Running a simple test to check the mobile optimisation of the company's site can highlight any issues with how a user – or a search engine – experiences a website on a mobile device.

10 Tools and Training Courses to Boost your SEO Ranking

Just to let you know, if you buy something featured here, Mashable might earn an affiliate commission. Boost your site's search results with these online courses.
Image: pexels
By STACKCOMMERCEMashable Deals2019-09-13 09:00:00 UTC
These days, it's incredibly easy to build a website. Turning that website into a success, though? Not quite as simple.
You can perfect your online appearance as much as you want, but if it ranks low on search engines, nobody will see it. Your company has got to be one of the first results; otherwise, you might as well be invisible.
Fortunately, even if you've never thought about SEO a day in your life, there are tools and training courses that can help you boost your ranking. Here are 10 of them, all on sale:
RankTools Pro is like a digital doctor for your website. The app diagnoses your site's key performance areas, looking at everything from your Google rankings and social media standings to your IP impact and malware. Using over 20 different tools, it'll then help you devise a solid SEO plan so you can rank higher and bring more traffic to your site.
Worth $1,199.40, a lifetime subscription to RankTools Pro is currently just $29.99.

Total beginner when it comes to SEO? This simple tool will help streamline the process and revolutionize your SEO game by breaking down everything into three key parts: competitor and keyword identification, backlink research, and page auditing. You'll get access to 21 different tools to help you amp up your site's ranking and make strides in your marketing game.
Typically $500, you can slash 95% off and get a lifetime subscription to SERPstash for just $24.

Amazon rules everything around us. If you've already hopped on the selling game, this consultancy package can give you insights into your competitors' pricing strategies. That way, you can get a leg up and increase your traffic. It takes just seven working days and the entire package includes an SEO health checklist, up to two new SEO optimized product descriptions, meta, picture, and alt tags, and product hosting on the product listing site.
This consultancy package is usually $325, but you can get it on sale for just $79.

Taught by a best-selling Amazon author, entrepreneur, and SEO coach, this course will show you how to drown out competitors and rank on Google. You'll begin with a free 15-minute coaching call to ask any questions you may have. Then, in less than an hour, the content will cover how to gauge your competition, use authoritative sites to rank in Google, and use webmaster tools to check your performance, and crawling and indexing status.
Typically $200, you can slash 93% off this training and get it for just $12.99.

Through 29 lectures and two hours of content, this course covers the four most effective ways to sell on Amazon: Amazon SEO, recommendation algorithms, Amazon ads, and high-converting product listings. You'll learn how to dominate your product niche after studying the case of a million-dollar business.
This course usually retails for $200, but you can sign up now for just $12.99.

If you're unfamiliar with the way the web works, don't fret. This Technical SEO course can get you up to speed in just one day. With just two hours of training, you'll uncover all the tips and tricks to make your site rank higher in SEO, boost engagement, and increase conversions. It's like an insider's guide to keeping your web pages user and search engine-friendly.
Originally $200, this course is on sale for just $12.99.

Across eight courses and over 200 lectures, this training bundle will help you earn a coveted spot on the first page of Google's search results. You'll master everything from keyword research and conversion rate optimization to content marketing, and social media. Heck, you'll even get a master course in the complex, but incredibly lucrative Google Adwords.
Valued at $979.92, this training bundle is just $30 here.

If you've got the basics of SEO down, but want to dive in a bit deeper, this advanced course is the way to go. In just an hour, you'll discover concepts like Latent Semantic Indexing (LSI) and Term Frequency times Inverse Document Frequency (TF-IDF) – or in other words, the secrets of the pros that you can't just Google. With lifetime access, this course will help you future-proof your SEO strategy and keep you focused on the right tactics.
Pick up this Beyond the Basics course for just $19 now.

This 12-lecture course will show you three new ways to get traffic to your website in under an hour. You'll learn how to rank higher in search traffic through image best practices like sizing, rendering, and tagging, and put your new knowledge to the test through high-performing social media posts.
Typically retailing for $200, you can get the Google Image SEO course for $12.99.

Wrapping 16 SEO courses into one, this 15-hour training guide offers instruction on everything from SEO basics, to keyword research, and on-page optimization, to search optimization strategies for images and videos. You'll learn about backlinking and email marketing best practices and ultimately discover how to use all of these things to make your site look and act more professional within its niche. You'll even walk away with a shiny certification when you complete the course.
Worth $97, this master course is just $19.99 here.

Simple SEO Tips to Help your Website Perform Better in Online Searches

Search engine optimization (SEO) is a complex discipline, but you don't have to be an SEO guru to help improve your website's visibility in search engine results.
With a little effort and adherence to some best practices, you can help ensure your website gets found online by people looking for the types of products and services you offer.
Four On-page SEO Tips for Small Business Owners
Below are some simple ways you can help your website rank better in web searches.
• Include variations of appropriate keywords and phrases relevant to the page's focus. To help search engines figure out the context and intent of a webpage, make sure your content includes relevant keywords and phrases and variations of them. Consider what words and phrases your prospective customers might use when looking for products or services like yours. Especially focus on long tail keywords, keyword phrases that are more specific and that usually have much less competition than shorter, popular keywords. You can find many resources online that explain how to do keyword research effectively.
• Format content to provide a logical hierarchy of the information on the page. Use headers (H1, H2, H3, H4, H5, H6) to give structure to your writing. Headers break content down into a main topic, sub-topics, and sub-subtopics, and so on. For example, let's say you run a wholesale greenhouse and are writing content about annual plants. Here's how you might structure your headers to make it clear what the main topic and varying levels of H2 (Sub-topic) –Geraniums H3 (Sub-sub topic) Regal GeraniumsH3 (Sub-sub topic) –Ivy Geraniums H3 (Sub-sub topic) –Common Garden Geraniums H2 (Sub-topic) –Petunias H3 (Sub-sub topic) –Grandiflora Petunias H3 (Sub-sub topic) –Multi-flora PetuniasH3 (Sub-sub topic) –Supertunia Petunias And so on.
• Keep spacing concise between the elements of a list. Whether you include a numbered list or one with bullet points, don't add extra spacing before or after the elements within your list. Search engines might find it hard to tell that everything belongs to one list, and if they have a hard time understanding the structure of your content, it might impact your SEO negatively.
• Link to relevant internal website pages and reputable external sites. Within your content, provide links to pages deeper into your website. Make sure these links have a purpose and that you're not gratuitously adding them for the sake of having them there. The goal is to make navigating your website easier, so you're providing a good user experience and keeping people on your website longer. Where it makes sense to do so, in blog posts for example, also consider including links to other websites. External links to trustworthy websites that offer reader's helpful information and that are relevant to your webpage's content can improve the credibility of your website and improve the authority of your site.
Resources to Help You With Your Online Marketing and More
For help with your SEO and online marketing efforts, consider working with a reputable SEO professional or internet marketing firm that has a proven track record of success. And for guidance on all aspects of starting and running a business, contact SCORE to talk with a mentor. sub-topics
For more information about starting or operating a small business, call 1-800-634-0245 for the SCORE chapter nearest you. Visit SCORE at http://www.score.org or locally www.hutch.score.org.
David Inskeep is a retired commercial lender and can be reached at davidinskeep1@gmail.com.

6 Types of Content That Help SEO (and Shoppers)

Modern search engine optimization relies on providing valuable content that improves a site's customer experience. But the form it should take often stymies site owners.
The mention of content to ecommerce marketers often conjures images of cramming useless words into category pages, which pushes the products they're selling out of a shopper's' view. But there are many creative options for providing valuable content that drives traffic.
Content creation isn't just for big brands with deep pockets. The six sites below prove that any ecommerce site can create valuable content that appeals both to shoppers and the search engines that send them.
Blogs

Birkat Elyon's blog post explains the four most popular cuts for engagement rings.

Blogs give searchers alternate ways to find a brand through topics that are related to the company's products. For example, the post above by cubic zirconia jeweler Birkat Elyon educates shoppers on the shapes of engagement ring stones that will stand the test of time.
As a lifestyle blog, not all of the posts are product-related. This humanizes the brand. For example, a nervous bride or groom might wonder whether she or he is ready to get married or worry that her beloved is allergic to an equally beloved pet. Ranking for posts such as these can introduce shoppers to your brand who may not have been thinking about buying jewelry — but will at some point.
I sometimes hear, "I tried blogging, and it didn't work." But a glance at the content usually tells me why. What you write about makes all the difference. Address topics that shoppers value.
Educational Resources

Flag and Banner's etiquette page details how to display the U.S. flag properly.

If blogs take too much effort to sustain, consider a fact-based educational guide such as the one above from flag purveyor Flag and Banner. These resources typically stay current for long periods, requiring only occasional updating.
Flag and Banner's guide ranks well in organic search because it's thorough and contains illustrations that help shoppers understand how to display each flag type.
I've never encountered an ecommerce business that lacked educational topics. With practice, you'll find topics everywhere. A question from a shopper could be a topic. Info from a manufacturer might be a topic. Keep your eyes open for learning opportunities, and you'll never be short of topics to write about.
When you have more than one article in your resource section, create a hub-and-spoke model with a category-level page (the hub) that links to all of the resource pages (the spokes) logically.
How-to Guides

Pen Chalet' s how-to guides offer videos and step-by-step instructions with images.

How-to guides tend to be broken out into steps or sections. If a page could be titled "How to…," "10 Steps to…," or "10 Tips to…," you're probably looking at a how-to guide.
The image above shows a guide on how to clean a piston fountain pen, featuring a video and written instructions with still images in a traditional step-by-step format. With the rise of Google's answer boxes, guides are an excellent way to increase brand visibility.
Consumers increasingly prefer videos for how-to content. Regardless, both text and video content can be arranged in the hub-and-spoke model described above.
FAQs

Battery Mart's FAQ section answers common questions from shoppers.

Many sites have a section for frequently asked questions — FAQs. These snippets tend to answer purely transactional questions such as shipping speed and return policy.
But the Battery Mart example above shows an FAQ relevant to its product offerings.
FAQs are the strongest for SEO when each question links to a separate page for the answer. That enables each question-and-answer pair to be optimized individually. FAQs with all of the answers on a single page have more difficulty ranking.
Support Information

The r efill guide at iPenstore directs shoppers to the parts they need.

Search engines are also likely to rank content that answers searchers' informational intent queries. As a niche ecommerce business, iPenstore doesn't need a huge support section. Its refill guide, above, likely siphons off calls to its customer service hotline — that's the point, after all. It allows customers to find answers for product-related questions without picking up the phone.
Unfortunately, businesses don't usually value or fund their support sections. Support content can be a way to snare new shoppers as well as entice lapsed customers back — if the experience is positive.
Idea Galleries

ShopWildThings wraps strong textual content around beautiful photography.

Businesses frequently waste the SEO potential of idea galleries by pasting a ton of images on a page with no supporting text. Without the expert commentary to provide context and pointers for executing the idea successfully, pretty pictures don't provide value — not for shoppers and certainly not for SEO.
In the example above, ShopWildThings, an ecommerce business offering wedding and event décor, successfully merges ideas with the blog concept. The articles feature photos from customers, often by professional photographers. The text around the images describes how the products were used to achieve the look in the photo. Because it's also natural to provide helpful links to those products, it's a compelling way to increase internal linking.

Solve SEO mysteries and boost your rankings, just $24

Search Engine Optimization is one of those "things" that not many people grasp. They might know what it is, and its importance, but they probably wouldn't know where to start if they had to go about practicing or implementing it. That's where SERPstash comes in handy.
According to a recent report from research firm Clutch, approximately 83 percent of large-scale digital marketing outfits say they believed they were doing a good job achieving their respective goals. But, 44 percent said SEO was their "least popular" tool.

READ: New Android phone? Do this first!

Why the disconnect? It's likely because it's not as easy as people think. Sometimes gaming a system isn't as easy as playing a game.
Don't be the guy who drops the ball in the area of SEO. Whether for yourself, or for your company, you need resources and tools, and you need to use them.
We're currently offering an all-you-need account with those exact tools: A lifetime subscription to SERPstash Premium service. Available right now for just $24 (over 90 percent off), it's your answer to SEO prayers.
SERPstash automatically analyzes your message and content, identifying top-performing keywords and auditing your pages for what you're doing — right and wrong. Moreover, it suggests keywords to fit your content as well as tips for optimization.
Features

Analyze & filter ranking keywords related to your industry

Discover who is ranking for the same keywords that you decide to target

Find the top 100 highest quality websites linking back to your website & who is linking to your competitors

Improve your site's speed w/ simple tests & insights from Google

Find your site's current ranking on Google & Bing

Identify indexed pages, top queries & backlinking pages

Test whether or not your pages are considered "mobile-friendly" on Google search results

You'll have access to nearly two dozen different tools to boost your site speed, find opportunities for improved indexing and backlinking, and more.
SERPstash even dials in on your key competitors for deeper insight, pulling in the tricks helping them find success. You'll know where you really stand in Google search rankings, what's bringing you traffic, and the tools to land your site in Google's prized top search results.
A year of SERPstash Premium coverage typically costs about $500, but you can take advantage of a limited time price drop and get it all for $24. Best of all, it's yours for as long as you want.
Save even more!
In addition to the savings above, when you buy through AndroidGuys Deals, for every $25 spent, you get $1 credit added to your account. What's more, should you refer the deal via social media or an email that results in a purchase, you'll earn $10 credit in your account.
If this is your first time buying, then you are also eligible for a further 10% discount when you subscribe for email updates.
How about a freebie?
Not looking to spend any money today? That's alright, we understand. Why not visit the AndroidGuys section for freebies and take something anyhow? Go ahead, grab two!

Evolving “nofollow” – New Ways to Identify the Nature of Links

Nearly 15 years ago, the nofollow attribute was introduced as a means to help fight comment spam. It also quickly became one of Google’s recommended methods for flagging advertising-related or sponsored links. The web has evolved since nofollow was introduced in 2005 and it’s time for nofollow to evolve as well.
Today, we’re announcing two new link attributes that provide webmasters with additional ways to identify to Google Search the nature of particular links. These, along with nofollow, are summarized below:

rel="sponsored": Use the sponsored attribute to identify links on your site that were created as part of advertisements, sponsorships or other compensation agreements.

rel="ugc": UGC stands for User Generated Content, and the ugc attribute value is recommended for links within user generated content, such as comments and forum posts.

rel="nofollow": Use this attribute for cases where you want to link to a page but don’t want to imply any type of endorsement, including passing along ranking credit to another page.

When nofollow was introduced, Google would not count any link marked this way as a signal to use within our search algorithms. This has now changed. All the link attributes -- sponsored, UGC and nofollow -- are treated as hints about which links to consider or exclude within Search. We’ll use these hints -- along with other signals -- as a way to better understand how to appropriately analyze and use links within our systems.
Why not completely ignore such links, as had been the case with nofollow? Links contain valuable information that can help us improve search, such as how the words within links describe content they point at. Looking at all the links we encounter can also help us better understand unnatural linking patterns. By shifting to a hint model, we no longer lose this important information, while still allowing site owners to indicate that some links shouldn’t be given the weight of a first-party endorsement.
We know these new attributes will generate questions, so here’s a FAQ that we hope covers most of those.

Do I need to change my existing nofollows?
No. If you use nofollow now as a way to block sponsored links, or to signify that you don’t vouch for a page you link to, that will continue to be supported. There’s absolutely no need to change any nofollow links that you already have.

Can I use more than one rel value on a link?
Yes, you can use more than one rel value on a link. For example, rel="ugc sponsored" is a perfectly valid attribute which hints that the link came from user-generated content and is sponsored. It’s also valid to use nofollow with the new attributes -- such as rel="nofollow ugc" -- if you wish to be backwards-compatible with services that don’t support the new attributes.

If I use nofollow for ads or sponsored links, do I need to change those?
No. You can keep using nofollow as a method for flagging such links to avoid possible link scheme penalties. You don't need to change any existing markup. If you have systems that append this to new links, they can continue to do so. However, we recommend switching over to rel=”sponsored” if or when it is convenient.

Do I still need to flag ad or sponsored links?
Yes. If you want to avoid a possible link scheme action, use rel=“sponsored” or rel=“nofollow” to flag these links. We prefer the use of “sponsored,” but either is fine and will be treated the same, for this purpose.

What happens if I use the wrong attribute on a link?
There’s no wrong attribute except in the case of sponsored links. If you flag a UGC link or a non-ad link as “sponsored,” we’ll see that hint but the impact -- if any at all -- would be at most that we might not count the link as a credit for another page. In this regard, it’s no different than the status quo of many UGC and non-ad links already marked as nofollow.
It is an issue going the opposite way. Any link that is clearly an ad or sponsored should use “sponsored” or “nofollow,” as described above. Using “sponsored” is preferred, but “nofollow” is acceptable.

Why should I bother using any of these new attributes?
Using the new attributes allows us to better process links for analysis of the web. That can include your own content, if people who link to you make use of these attributes.

Won’t changing to a “hint” approach encourage link spam in comments and UGC content?
Many sites that allow third-parties to contribute to content already deter link spam in a variety of ways, including moderation tools that can be integrated into many blogging platforms and human review. The link attributes of “ugc” and “nofollow” will continue to be a further deterrent. In most cases, the move to a hint model won’t change the nature of how we treat such links. We’ll generally treat them as we did with nofollow before and not consider them for ranking purposes. We will still continue to carefully assess how to use links within Search, just as we always have and as we’ve had to do for situations where no attributions were provided.

When do these attributes and changes go into effect?
All the link attributes, sponsored, ugc and nofollow, now work today as hints for us to incorporate for ranking purposes. For crawling and indexing purposes, nofollow will become a hint as of March 1, 2020. Those depending on nofollow solely to block a page from being indexed (which was never recommended) should use one of the much more robust mechanisms listed on our Learn how to block URLs from Google help page.

Posted by Danny Sullivan and Gary