CircleCount helps you better understand Google+

2013-05-25 02:24:39 (3 comments, 2 reshares, 15 +1s)

How Big Was Penguin 2.0?

+Pete Meyers did a great job analyzing: http://www.seomoz.org/blog/penguin-2-were-you-jarred-and-or-jolted and has released some early data from our new, industry-specific Mozcast beta.

2013-05-23 16:53:35 (9 comments, 11 reshares, 49 +1s)

Http://moz.com - It's the final countdown! SIX

2013-05-22 19:02:17 (5 comments, 34 reshares, 54 +1s)

Hidden Data in Google's Referral Strings

+Tim Resnik did some code-breaking of Google's VED parameter in this post: http://www.seomoz.org/blog/decoding-googles-referral-string-or-how-i-survived-secure-search and uncovered a fascinating set of data that marketers will be happy to see (especially considering how much data the search giant's removed in the last few years).

2013-05-22 03:56:56 (4 comments, 1 reshares, 15 +1s)

We head to the Great Barrier Reef via seaplane! It's pretty much the most amazing thing ever.

2013-05-20 17:51:36 (6 comments, 32 reshares, 72 +1s)

Strategic Web Marketing

Last week, I gave a new presentation on how to move beyond tactical execution and into strategic web marketing: http://bit.ly/strategytimeyo 

2013-05-17 16:40:12 (9 comments, 28 reshares, 104 +1s)

Have Older Pages in Need of a Rankings Boost?

I did a Whiteboard Friday this week featuring 5 tactics for moving up the rankings with older content/pages: http://mz.cm/186c1qR

There's some great discussion in the comments, too.

2013-05-16 17:09:01 (6 comments, 16 reshares, 57 +1s)

Great Email Unsubscribe Page

Props to the the folks at +OpenView Venture Partners . If you're like me, you unsubscribe to 2-3 email lists per day, and the process is unspectacular.

In this case, OpenView surprised me with several options:
  * Offered me their RSS feed instead
  * A video explaining thier company (I had honestly forgot why I signed up)
  * A chance to re-subscribe
  * A well designed page

It honestly made me curious about the company and seriously impressed me.

2013-05-14 22:02:37 (10 comments, 47 reshares, 107 +1s)

New Post - How to Rank: 25 Step SEO Master Blueprint

"Not long ago, I realized that 90% of what I read each doesn’t change what I actually do - that is, the basic work of ranking a web page higher on Google."

"To to simplify this process, I created this SEO blueprint... Think of it as an intermediate SEO instruction manual, for beginners."

2013-05-14 08:52:51 (22 comments, 15 reshares, 43 +1s)

Superfast, 3 Question Survey on Your Marketing Channels

https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/F2BQ2GN - Would love if you could take 2mins to fill this out. I'll be sharing the results publicly on my blog later this week.

p.s. If you could help spread to other marketers you know, that would be greatly appreciated!

2013-05-12 22:32:39 (40 comments, 35 reshares, 106 +1s)

SEO Still Has a Reputation Problem

Autosuggest for queries like "is SEO..." and "Does SEO..." illustrate some of the big challenges we face as marketers trying to build the practice's perceived legitimacy.

Doesn't mean I'm ever gonna give up though.

2013-05-11 22:52:37 (7 comments, 2 reshares, 9 +1s)

Boston's Big Picture, Now with Embedded Surveys

I've long been a fan of Boston's Big Picture series, but I was really surprised to see this call-to-action in their latest one (National Geographic photo contest winners: http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2013/05/national_geographic_traveler_m_1.html).

Could this be the future of how long-form content earns additional marketing value? (note that the survey is on behalf of Google, I presume it's their "Audience" product)

2013-05-11 02:05:59 (12 comments, 27 reshares, 65 +1s)

Matt Cutts: Penguin 2.0 in Next Few Weeks

Matt tweeted this today: https://twitter.com/mattcutts/status/332917182990258176

Meanwhile, +Marcus Tober pointed out on Twitter that the latest SERP fluctuation looks exactly like a Panda type update, and NOT the Penguin update many SEOs are expecting, as suggested by this data from Search Metrics - http://bit.ly/134FOLR

HT to +John Doherty for pointing me towards Matt's tweet :)

2013-05-11 02:05:06 (6 comments, 7 reshares, 30 +1s)

Query Disambiguation in Search Suggest

I'm starting to see more and more disambiguation in Google via search suggest, in both the search box and the address bar. To me this is a powerful opportunity and a threat for brands with crossover & individuals seeking to brand themselves.

2013-05-10 08:16:27 (11 comments, 5 reshares, 44 +1s)

It Just Depends On What You Want to Consider

Sometimes we stumble through life on the default setting and forget that our perceptions influence and bias so much of what we take away from our experiences. I wrote a blog post tonight on the topic http://bit.ly/11Xr0z7 inspired by a remarkable video that I've been turning over in my head the last few days.

2013-05-01 23:21:42 (97 comments, 9 reshares, 44 +1s)

If You Were On the Google Search Quality Team...

Which of the following would you give more weight in the ranking algorithm:

A) Link from a relatively unknown blog on a post that's getting lots of social attention/sharing/comments/pickup

B) Link from an NYTimes article that's getting very little social attention/sharing/comments

2013-05-01 21:39:13 (8 comments, 2 reshares, 31 +1s)

In less than three weeks time, SEO’s from across the US and beyond will be descending on Boston for our annual #SearchLove  conferences. Here's five reasons to come and join us there: http://dis.tl/103aHOQ

2013-05-01 08:02:02 (9 comments, 7 reshares, 27 +1s)

Well, He's Not Going to Get Very Far

A story of Mozzer miscommunication struck a chord (and a funny bone) recently: http://bit.ly/Yd3iQw

2013-04-30 18:18:16 (15 comments, 16 reshares, 30 +1s)

Moz Invite List

Just another quick reminder to get on the http://Moz.com invite list. Not too much longer now :-)

2013-04-29 16:48:06 (4 comments, 3 reshares, 19 +1s)

Calling all Content Strategists and others:

Please join +Kristina Halvorson for a live "Ask Me Anything" discussion on Inbound.org RIGHT NOW!

http://www.inbound.org/discussion/view/i-m-kristina-halvorson-ceo-brain-traffic-and-author-content-strategy-for-the-web-ask-me-anything

#contentstrategy  #contentmarketing #contentfirst

2013-04-28 19:43:10 (13 comments, 22 reshares, 51 +1s)

Some Thoughts About Multi-Channel Attribution

Multi-channel attribution (the ability to see an aggregate of a visitor's journey to your site prior to conversion) is very cool. But, I've been noodling on it lately and am worried that it creates more questions than it answers. When I look at a multi-channel funnel, I can't help but ask:

1) Are the channels with more touches due to our effectiveness with those channels? Or to our ineffectiveness with the others?

2) Does multi-channel often reveal a channel that's a waste of time? Or does it almost always show that all the channels matter?

3) If a channel like paid search wasn't in the mix, would we see other channels compensate for its absence? Does the data really give us the answer if we don't actually test removing it?

4) Given these limitations, is multi-channel's... more »

2013-04-26 17:18:36 (17 comments, 79 reshares, 168 +1s)

13 Keyword Research Mistakes

Excellent review (with some good visuals) of the biggest mistakes we all see/make in the keyword research process: http://www.ppcassociates.com/blog/seo-2/top-13-keyword-research-mistakes/

2013-04-26 09:04:44 (12 comments, 21 reshares, 69 +1s)

If Management is the Only Way Up, We’re All F’d

It sucks when management is the only way to get ahead at a company. I look at someone like +Avinash Kaushik or +Pete Meyers and think - what if there was no opportunity for individual contributors to advance?

New blog post on that frustration and the path we're taking here: http://bit.ly/180yvrm

2013-04-22 17:07:50 (5 comments, 15 reshares, 46 +1s)

What is the best time to spam people?

I meant to say "marketing promotions," aka email marketing. :)

This is a very interesting table. It seems the highest click-through rates are in the very early morning or late in the night. What is fascinating is that while only 2% of the volume was in the night. 2000 - 2400 hrs, every other number is hugely positive, including Average Order Size.

Lesson: Get to your best customers after they've had dinner but not before they've fallen asleep, while they are likely on their iPad!

Page 11 of this report is quite fascinating as well. The shelf life of an email campaign is shorter, and shorter, and shorter. 

Direct link to pdf: http://goo.gl/yqggu If you do email marketing, my post on magnificent email metrics: http://goo.gl/p2Nao

2013-04-22 17:06:49 (0 comments, 6 reshares, 23 +1s)

That's all great, but what is the value of your content?

2013-04-21 21:57:57 (5 comments, 4 reshares, 34 +1s)

Incredible Journal Photos

Hiker +Kolby Kirk traversed the Pacific Coast trail and kept 5 journals recording his adventures. In this incredible post: http://www.thehikeguy.com/2011/11/10/pct-moleskines/ he shares photos and snippets from them.

2013-04-21 23:02:09 (14 comments, 31 reshares, 50 +1s)

Death to Bullshit

Must-see slideshow from +Brad Frost on the explosion of content and the needle of signal in the haystack of noise http://www.slideshare.net/bradfrostweb/death-to-bullshit

Hat tip to +Jonathon Colman for sharing on Inbound.org

2013-04-21 17:25:11 (3 comments, 4 reshares, 13 +1s)

Self-Control through... Soda Mouthwash?

This is a weird one, but apparently will work. According to the research:

"Neuroimaging data indicate that the presence of glucose in the oral cavity is associated with increased activation in … brain regions associated with reward, motivation, and the regulation of motor activity,"

More here: http://www.psmag.com/health/mouth-rinse-may-replenish-self-control-47328/

2013-04-18 15:40:25 (24 comments, 11 reshares, 55 +1s)

Teaser for Something Big & New

I highly recommend getting on this list early: http://moz.com :-)

2013-04-16 21:59:55 (5 comments, 4 reshares, 20 +1s)

+Rand Fishkin and I go on a township tour outside of Cape Town. It's a hell of an eye-opener. 

2013-04-15 17:12:16 (1 comments, 2 reshares, 15 +1s)

What questions does our industry dread being asked? And can we help each other answer them?

Please join in this conversation on Inbound.org! :)

2013-04-14 21:11:51 (12 comments, 51 reshares, 99 +1s)

US Desktop Search Query Volume Rises 10.91% YoY

A record number of desktop queries in March 2013 and the third consecutive month with YoY growth.

Related Data: http://bit.ly/114iOeY #search  

2013-04-12 16:49:34 (30 comments, 122 reshares, 198 +1s)

Best Post & Case Study Test on Google+ this Year

I wrote a post on Google+ recently, but it was nowhere near as excellent as this one http://bit.ly/114Gn9K from the very talented +Jeff Sauer.

Jeff actually tested launching new sites with no promotion other than G+. The results surprised me and I think they'll surprise you, too.

2013-04-12 16:46:51 (2 comments, 7 reshares, 19 +1s)

Whiteboard Friday
Rand walks us through user experience and the actions that we can remove from our processes in order to drive more conversions, earn more links, get more social shares. Simplicity, FTW!

2013-04-11 19:15:43 (12 comments, 7 reshares, 27 +1s)

Do you have some crazy mad marketing skillz? Then you should apply to be our next VP of Marketing!

2013-04-11 07:27:34 (9 comments, 19 reshares, 59 +1s)

We Won't Work Without Meaning

New blog post http://bit.ly/ZonDhQ about the many motivations (beyond money) that we should be thinking about on our teams. With a video from +Dan Ariely 

2013-04-08 04:09:33 (23 comments, 5 reshares, 65 +1s)

A Short Vacation in Australia

Geraldine and I spent 5 nights and 4 days in the Whitsunday Islands, near Australia's Great Barrier Reef before heading to Sydney for the #smxsydney  conference. It was an incredible experience, though this photoset barely does it justice. This was the first truly intentional, non-family, non-working vacation I've taken since our wedding - plan to write more about that on http://moz.com/rand in the next few days. 

2013-04-08 02:50:17 (13 comments, 3 reshares, 23 +1s)

The Truth About Ivy League Schools (that we're supposed to keep quiet)

At least someone's acknowledging what we all know is true: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/07/opinion/sunday/douthat-the-secrets-of-princeton.html?_r=1&

"(Susan Patton's) betrayal consists of being gauche enough to acknowledge publicly a truth that everyone who’s come up through Ivy League culture knows intuitively — that elite universities are about connecting more than learning, that the social world matters far more than the classroom to undergraduates, and that rather than an escalator elevating the best and brightest from every walk of life, the meritocracy as we know it mostly works to perpetuate the existing upper class."

2013-04-08 02:30:51 (4 comments, 1 reshares, 8 +1s)

Boston Searchlove

The lineup is impressive, to say the least: http://www.distilled.net/blog/events/sessions-announced-for-searchlove-boston-2013/ I'm excited to go and to speak. Hope to see you there!

2013-04-07 00:49:28 (8 comments, 50 reshares, 81 +1s)

Is Google+ Approaching Twitter's Marketing Value?

Wrote a blog post about the interesting phenomenon of Google+'s rising CTR, influence, affect on SERPs, and value as a traffic channel.

http://bit.ly/ZGwMCp

2013-04-05 11:57:22 (7 comments, 10 reshares, 44 +1s)

The Future of SEO, Social Media, And Content Marketing - Rand Fishkin At DMX Dublin March 2013 Part 1

If like me you missed the recent +DMX Dublin conference I am sure you will enjoy this series of videos of +Rand Fishkin  of +SEOmoz recorded by the Marketing Institute who hosted the event.

I was fortunate to meet Rand last year and have known his mum +Gillian Muessig for a couple of years.

If you are looking for a helpful suite of tools to help you with your SEO do check out their organisation SEOmoz.org

You will find the three pars to the key note here:

- Part 1 https://plus.google.com/u/0/100573946696414990110/posts/fNJFKTo5XHV

- Part 2 https://plus.google.com/u/0/100573946696414990110/posts/N7c18uNk3Zn

- Part 3 https://plus.google.com/u/0/100573946696414990110/posts/Ah12FDeRQgX

- The SlideShare of Rand's... more »

2013-04-05 05:59:34 (10 comments, 53 reshares, 155 +1s)

11 Tips for Marketers

This morning at #SMXSydney  I prepared some tips to share with the audience and decided to write them up as well: http://bit.ly/10D2CRI

2013-03-25 15:49:50 (4 comments, 27 reshares, 51 +1s)

The methodology described here is simple, but powerful: http://seogadget.com/really-targeted-outreach/

If you're tired of "link building" and want to earn your links, build your brand, and grow relationships instead, this post has some great advice.

2013-03-25 15:48:34 (10 comments, 29 reshares, 83 +1s)

Free Google Analytics Infographic Visualization

Make an automatic infographic from your Google Analytics account. Below is the infographic I made from my small personal site. Not the most customizable data in the world, but still pretty neat.

Do it here: https://create.visual.ly/graphic/google-analytics/

via +Monica Wright at +Marketing Land 

2013-03-23 18:43:15 (4 comments, 2 reshares, 20 +1s)

Holy moly! We made it to the finals. :) If you're a fan of our company culture at +SEOmoz, we'd love your vote! And if you could share it to others, we'd appreciate that too. :D

2013-03-21 17:28:44 (22 comments, 24 reshares, 73 +1s)

FAST. Blazing fast.

OpenSiteExplorer has a new tab called "just discovered" that shows links within minutes of publication/discovery.

Check out the feature here: http://bit.ly/justdiscovered

Or give it a spin in OpenSiteExplorer. Congrats to the Moz Big Data team for this incredible accomplishment. Really proud of those folks.

2013-03-20 13:23:15 (13 comments, 10 reshares, 44 +1s)

Striving for 100% vs. Expecting 100%

After a far-too-long hiatus, I finally published my first new blog post in a while. This one's about the danger of expecting perfection vs. the value of striving for it: http://bit.ly/11iHypm

2013-03-15 17:24:10 (8 comments, 27 reshares, 41 +1s)

FREE Application Load Testing? Yes, Please!

Check out http://loader.io/ - up to 50K concurrent connections to make sure your API endpoints are rock solid. Super simple, and hyper useful.

2013-03-07 16:38:15 (10 comments, 23 reshares, 82 +1s)

SEOs, don't ignore this. It's for you! 
http://www.seomoz.org/blog/the-google-adwords-landscape-infographic

2013-05-13 08:31:45 (19 comments, 40 reshares, 81 +1s)

Today Moz Launched a BRAND NEW TOOL!

I'm insanely excited to announce our launch today of Fresh Web Explorer: http://bit.ly/freshwebexplorer

FWE allows you to track keyword phrases, brand names, competitors, AND links across millions of feeds from news sites, blogs, forum posts, and other "fresh" sources. Give it a spin - we'd love feedback.

2013-03-05 23:30:11 (11 comments, 22 reshares, 68 +1s)

The Best, Rarely Used Marketing Tactics

I started a thread in Q+A: http://www.seomoz.org/q/what-s-the-most-effective-web-marketing-tactic-you-ve-seen-or-used-that-very-few-people-know-about about the most effective marketing tactics you've seen or used that few people know about.

Also shared 4 of my personal, recent favorites. Look forward to your input, too!