Wednesday, October 31, 2018

Measure Your Twitter Campaigns with Conversion Tracking

Conversion tracking is the most important and valuable aspect of digital marketing. It lets you track the actions on your site that drive value for your business, whether those are purchases, content downloads, lead form fills, or video views. Without it, digital marketers would be spending money blindly and probably losing their jobs in the process.…

The post Measure Your Twitter Campaigns with Conversion Tracking appeared first on Seer Interactive.

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What is a snippet?

The snippet is a single search result in a set of search results and generally consists of a title, a URL and a description of the page. The content of a snippet matches parts of the search query and you’ll see your keyword highlighted in the snippet description. Search engines often use pieces of your content to fill in the parts that make up the snippet. In most cases, search engines determine the best possible snippet for you, but you can try to override that by adding a meta description to your page. In this post, we’ll dive deeper into what is a snippet.

snippet in serps

A snippet as found on a search result page

The snippet is one of your most valuable pieces of online real estate. This is the doorway to your site, and you should make it as enticing as possible. You need people to click your link — without misleading them, of course. While search engines have the last say in how these snippets appear, you can give them options. If they deem these worthy, they’ll use it. Even Googles John Mueller says you should fill out your meta description:

I'd generally recommend specifying one, you know your content best.

🍌 John 🍌 (@JohnMu) October 29, 2018

Regular snippets, rich snippets, and featured snippets

The snippet in the screenshot you saw at the beginning of this article is a regular, static snippet but there are many variations to be found. Search engines love to experiment with different ways of highlighting particular results within the search results pages.

For some time now, we’ve seen rich results appear in different forms. Rich snippets are regular snippets with added information, like product details, availability, reviews and a lot more. Here’s a rich snippet for the search term [Fender Standard Precision Bass sunburst]. You’ll notice that this snippet is much ‘richer’ so to say. It has ratings, review, pricing, stock availability and some product highlights. This is a specific product rich snippets, but there are similar snippets for recipes, reviews, videos, events, courses and much more. Adding structured data is a necessity for some types of these rich results.

fender precision rich snippet

A rich snippet found while searching for [Fender Standard Precision Bass sunburst]

Another type of snippet is the featured snippet. This is a new kind of result that appears at the top of the search results pages, even before the first organic search result — at position 0 so to say. The content for these featured snippets comes from pages that best answer that specific question in its content. You can’t sign up for this — you have to earn it with your content. Here’s one of our featured snippets, this one for the search term [what is a meta description]. This feature snippet takes the full answer to that question from our article and puts it right at the top of the page.
meta description featured snippet new

A featured snippet for the search term [what is a meta description]

SEO title and meta description

Earlier, I pointed out that search engines sometimes prefer to pick their own text from a website to use in the snippets. While they are pretty apt at making up something nice, in a lot of cases you’d probably want to control how your page appears in search. One of the ways you can influence this is by adding a meta description to your page. This is a short piece of text describing your content in a way that makes it attractive for both searchers as well as search engines. You can also edit the SEO title of your article if you want to override the standard way search engines show your page title. Yoast SEO helps you do all this.

Snippet preview in Yoast SEO

Enter the snippet preview in Yoast SEO:

snippet preview new

The snippet preview gives you an idea of how your post will appear in the search results

The snippet preview in Yoast SEO gives you a good idea of how your post or page might look like in search engines. Also, you can edit the SEO title if you want it to be something else then your regular page title. If you want you can use variables, so you can automate stuff. You’ll also find the meta description field in which you can add the text you want to suggest to search engines to use. Learn how to make your site stand out in search results and how to write an awesome meta description.

Now you know all about the snippet

A snippet is a deceptively simple thing: a single search result. However, it has great power. A good snippet will help you get those clicks. You don’t just want to appear at the top of the search results, no, you want those clicks! And to get people to click, you need a brilliant snippet.

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Tuesday, October 30, 2018

Organic Results Disappear? What To Do in the Near Future of SEO

Organic Results Disappear? What To Do in the Near Future of SEO was originally published on BruceClay.com, home of expert search engine optimization tips.

Binoculars to see future of SEO

Thinking about the future of SEO is a habit of mine. I like to anticipate where things are going, and no doubt this has helped me keep my SEO consulting business headed in the right direction over the past 22 years. Thought leadership is fun!

In an industry like organic search engine optimization, the pieces never stop moving for long.

Example #1: AI

We’ve just begun to see the impact of artificial intelligence on marketing and the world.

AI is ramping up with businesses in general, but surveys vary widely on how many organizations have implemented AI in their operations so far. Statista found 5 percent while Narrative Science reported a whopping 61 percent of survey respondents saying that they were using AI in 2017.

AI is impacting search much faster.

Search engines have been driving AI at full throttle for years. Google’s complex algorithms can now improve on their own, thanks to machine learning powered by artificial intelligence.

With AI, the search engines — and eventually businesses in general — can evolve at a superhuman pace.

Only by keeping our eyes on the horizon can SEOs keep up. The horizon gives you the long-range view, the big picture. To see that, I look through two lenses:

  • What’s good for the user.
  • What’s good for Google.
To See the Future of SEO, Follow the Money

When I try to anticipate where SEO is going, the most important question I ask is: How will Google make money?

Remember when we saw Google move ads out of the sidebar? That was in February 2016, and Bing followed suit in March 2018.

Organic listings felt the pinch as the space at the top of a SERP opened up to allow up to four paid ads.

Google search results with all ads above the fold

But the disappearance of organic results above the fold had just begun.

Example #2: Local Listings

A “local pack” complete with map entered the SERP picture. It gave local businesses a chance to show up organically on Page 1 when the searcher was physically nearby.

The local pack did push other top organic results (such as national brands) farther down the page for certain queries. On the upside, it also created a whole new field of competition that many SEOs welcomed.

But Google needed to make money … enter local search ads. These ads often appear above organic listings in the Local Pack and map results, especially for mobile users.

Ads in the local pack

More ads directed at local businesses arrived. Google Home Services, now expanded and rebranded as Local Services ads, feature many types of local businesses vetted by Google.

LSAs play to both priorities, helping users and profiting Google. And they appear right at the top of the SERP — filling the above-the-fold space with non-organic listings.

Google's Local Services ads at top of SERP

For many queries, the space given to local listings offers mostly ads.

The Disappearing Organic Space

A slew of other changes have arisen in the same way … first as an organic feature, and then converted to a space for revenue-producing ads for Google.

Today, organic web listings may be crowded down the page by many features:

  • PPC ads (paid)
  • Shopping ads (paid)
  • Local Services ads (paid)
  • Local pack entries (may be paid)
  • Featured snippets (may be paid in the future — expect it)
  • News
  • Images
  • Videos

Folks, organic listings will soon disappear above the fold.

What’s an SEO to Do?

Sites need to take advantage of the organic SEO opportunities that do exist today, among them:

  • Use structured data elements and structured data markup. Doing so will help you grab featured snippets. In turn, your content becomes more likely to come up in text and voice search results.
  • Answer questions in your content. This can help you rank for long-tail queries and show up as the answer under “People also ask” questions.
  • Be optimized for local search, if applicable to your business.
  • Serve site visitors well, with great content and a positive experience. Give visitors what they want pain-free, and they may come back on their own.
  • Don’t forget any of the normal SEO to-dos, from optimizing on-page content to making sure your site is crawlable. (See our SEO Checklist for the essentials.)

Looking at the future of SEO, I have one more piece of advice to add to this list.

Videos Are Crucial for Winning Back the SERP

Videos appear prominently in Google search results, especially for queries with a “how to” intent.

Videos can even take the featured snippet (aka Position 0). Take a look at the examples below:

SERP with multiple YouTube video links

All these video links fill the space above the fold. They count as “organic” results. However, when you click a YouTube video result, what do you see first? You see an ad.

Since video results create ad revenue for Google/YouTube/Alphabet, organic has ads!

Videos are crucial for winning back the SERP and preparing for the near-future of SEO.
Click To Tweet
“How To” Will Rule Organic Results

Videos often answer questions more efficiently than any other format.

From how to use a staple gun to how to grow your business, you’d probably rather watch someone tell you how, in living color, than read an article looking for the answer. And you’re not alone.

In one year, YouTube viewers spent over a billion hours watching just videos with “how-to” in the title. That’s according to YouTube executive Malik Ducard.

YouTube sees more than an ad opportunity here. It’s launching a new YouTube Learning channel with a $20 million investment. In addition to supporting independent content by “Edu Tubers,” the channel plans to showcase original educational programs made by YouTube, as well.

Why Video Is a Best Play for SEO

Video search results can make the Google family of companies more money than ever. Recently, YouTube started counting an ad “view” at only 10 seconds, not 30.

With Google making money indirectly through “organic” video results, I predict that videos will rank more and more prominently in search results. That’s especially true for how-to types of queries.

Any business or organization would be wise to invest in video. I recommend that you collect your niche’s most-asked questions and start filming answers. 

One of an SEO’s best plays today is to create videos that answer how-to questions.
Click To Tweet

Case in point: We produce our Ask Us Anything series as a playlist on our YouTube channel. Each video answers a specific question about SEO, PPC, content or social in a short video. People can submit their digital marketing questions.

Our Ask Us Anything playlist is growing, now at 64 videos and counting.

Bruce Clay's Ask Us Anything playlist on YouTube has 64 videos

We’re making lots of videos that answer questions for users.

Last Thoughts

At what point does Google become all ads, and “free” organic results become a billable premium service?

With voice search, AI will make the spoken results better — and Google will need to charge for answers since nobody will see the SERP ads.

The way Google implements changes over time is seen as evolutionary, not revolutionary. The result? People will not know that all that appears above the fold is ads.

Ads will always be needed for search engine revenue. Organic results will be pushed down, or become something people pay for.

This means organic results will disappear above the fold.

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SEO Powersuite Review Part 2: WebSite Auditor and LinkAssistant

SEO Powersuite Review Part 2: WebSite Auditor and LinkAssistant

SEO Powersuite is one of the most versatile SEO tools in the market, with four different tools that allow you to devise your own successful SEO strategies. In our previous article, we have reviewed the Rank Tracker and SEO Spyglass, and saw a good amount of positives that make SEO much more effective.

The first two tools gave us a good impression on what SEO Powersuite can provide, which makes us very excited to see what the next two tools would provide. Let us take a look at the next pair of tools and see how they perform.

WebSite Auditor

The first of the second pair is the WebSite Auditor, which allows you to be able to analyze links within a website and look through each resource. We have experience using these kinds of tools, as Woorank and Google Lighthouse are the other audit tools that we have tried out.

To get started, all you have to do is to start a new project and enter the URL of the website that you want to audit. Depending on the number of pages and links, it can take a while for the tool to thoroughly assess.

Once it has been done, you can take a look at the Site Structure, which breaks down each part of the website audit into parts that would help you understand and assess much more efficiently. The Site Audit section provides you with an overview of the important parts of your website and assesses elements such as mobile-friendliness, indexing, redirect links, images, and URLs.

Site Audit

This section works like a standard website auditing tool and provides an instant look into website issues that you might need to resolve. For example, clicking the Broken Links section allows me to take a look at these links to see for myself which of these links are not working, allowing me to be able to update them.

Visualization

The next section is Visualization, which provides you with an interactive map of all of the links within your website. This allows you to see which pages are interconnected to each other and track down specific links that you want to work on. While it may look like a fancy feature at a glance, this is pretty helpful, as you can instantly see connected links much better, and have a better idea on how each web page is connected to one another.

Pages

Pages are the section where you would be able to view each web page and view details such as the number of links, links from the page, tags, and word count. This comes in handy when it comes to checking individual pages, like blogs, and see if they contain the right links and amount of words to generate traffic.

All Resources

The next section is the All Resources, which allows you to see all of your website resources and take a look at some of the links that can be found on other pages. This is a more organized list of links, which makes tracking them down and splitting them into categories a much easier task.

Page Audit

Page Audit is a section that works in a similar way to Website Audit, except in single page form. This works well when taking a look at pages that are performing well, along with ones that aren’t, as you can see if there are any issues that need to be resolved.

Content Editor

Content Editor allows you to be able to edit parts of your web page directly, allowing for more quick edits when needed. This comes in handy for typographical errors or adding or removing entries requested by a client.

TD IDF

TF-IDF is a section where you can view keywords from various pages. This allows you to see which web pages are using competitive keywords, which aids your keyword research strategy to an extent.

Reports

Finally, the Reports button allows you to compress all of these sections into one single report that can be printed and sent to your team or clients. A reports feature is a staple in most SEO tools, and Website Auditor provides a detailed and concise set of data easy to view and understand.

LinkAssistant

LinkAssistant is a prospect finding tool in a vein similar to Prospect.io and allows you to analyze web pages to look for possible leads and contacts. The Prospects section allows you to search for prospect email addresses within web pages. This is very effective, as our team tends to do this manually, which takes more time than it should.

Prospects

This feature allows us to execute this process much quicker, as it helps us look for contacts that we might overlook, expanding our contacts list much better.

Email

Emails allow you to send in emails to your contacts instantly, which means you would not have to switch browsers when sending in emails to your prospects. This also makes looking for prospect emails much easier, as you would no longer have to filter them out in your work account.

Browser

The Browser section allows you to harvest URLs within a single web page and look for prospects. This makes the process of looking through web pages for contacts a much better experience, and almost guarantees that we would be able to find contacts.

Overall, this might be the simplest of the four tools, but it certainly is one of the most effective, as it enables us to look for more people that might be interested with working for us and build business connections that enable more growth.

Verdict

The second pair of SEO Powersuite tools is surely very effective and useful, just as the previously-reviewed tools were. The ability to be able to analyze websites and provide quick fixes and assessments, along with being able to find more prospects in a more efficient fashion makes these set of tools a must-have.

Key Takeaway

SEO Powersuite is truly a wonderful SEO tool package, as you have four effective tools that provide a diverse variety of functions. From keyword research to searching for prospects, this is truly one of the more versatile SEO tools around, and definitely a fitting addition to anyone’s toolbox.

If you have questions and inquiries about SEO tools and SEO in general, leave a comment below and let’s talk.

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Monday, October 29, 2018

How Google’s Knowledge Graph Updates Itself by Answering Questions

How A Knowledge Graph Updates Itself

To those of us who are used to doing Search Engine Optimization, we’ve been looking at URLs filled with content, and links between that content, and how algorithms such as PageRank (based upon links pointed between pages) and information retrieval scores based upon the relevance of that content have been determining how well pages rank in search results in response to queries entered into search boxes by searchers. Web pages connected by links have been seen as information points connected by nodes. This was the first generation of SEO.

Search has been going through a transformation. Back in 2012, Google introduced something it refers to as the knowledge graph, in which they told us that they would begin focusing upon indexing things instead of strings. By “strings,” they were referring to words that appear in queries, and in documents on the Web. By “things,” they were referring to named entities, or real and specific people, places, and things. When people searched at Google, the search engines would show Search Engine Results Pages (SERPs) filled with URLs to pages that contained the strings of letters that we were searching for. Google still does that, and is slowly changing to showing search results that are about people, places, and things.

Google started showing us in patents how they were introducing entity recognition to search, as I described in this post:
How Google May Perform Entity Recognition

They now show us knowledge panels in search results that tell us about the people, places, and things they recognize in the queries we perform. In addition to crawling webpages and indexing the words on those pages, Google is collecting facts about the people, places, and things it finds on those pages.

A Google Patent that was just granted in the past week tells us about how Google’s knowledge graph updates itself when it collects information about entities, their properties and attributes and relationships involving them. This is part of the evolution of SEO that is taking place today – learning how Search is changing from being based upon search to being based upon knowledge.

What does the patent tell us about knowledge? This is one of the sections that details what a knowledge graph is like that Google might collect information about when it indexes information these days:

Knowledge graph portion includes information related to the entity [George Washington], represented by [George Washington] node. [George Washington] node is connected to [U.S. President] entity type node by [Is A] edge with the semantic content [Is A], such that the 3-tuple defined by nodes and the edge contains the information “George Washington is a U.S. President.” Similarly, “Thomas Jefferson Is A U.S. President” is represented by the tuple of [Thomas Jefferson] node 310, [Is A] edge, and [U.S. President] node. Knowledge graph portion includes entity type nodes [Person], and [U.S. President] node. The person type is defined in part by the connections from [Person] node. For example, the type [Person] is defined as having the property [Date Of Birth] by node and edge, and is defined as having the property [Gender] by node 334 and edge 336. These relationships define in part a schema associated with the entity type [Person].

Note that SEO is no longer just about how often certain words appear on pages of the Web, what words appear in links to those pages, in page titles, and headings, alt text for images, and how often certain words may be repeated or related words may be used. Google is looking at the facts that are mentioned about entities, such as entity types like a “person,” and properties, such as “Date of Birth,” or “Gender.”

Note that quote also mentions the word “Schema” as in “These relationships define in part a schema associated with the entity type [Person].” As part of the transformation of SEO from Strings to Things, The major Search Engines joined forces to offer us information on how to use Schema for structured data on the Web to provide a machine readable way of sharing information with search engines about the entities that we write about, their properties, and relationships.

I’m writing about this patent because I am participating in a Webinar online about Knowledge Graphs and how those are being used, and updated. The Webinar is tomorrow at: #SEOisAEO: How Google Uses The Knowledge Graph in its AE algorithm. I haven’t been referring to SEO as Answer Engine Optimization, or AEO and it’s unlikely that I will start, but see it as an evolution of SEO

I’m writing about this Google Patent, because it starts out with the following line which it titles “Background:”

This disclosure generally relates to updating information in a database. Data has previously been updated by, for example, user input.

This line points to the fact that this approach no longer needs to be updated by users, but instead involves how Google knowledge graphs update themselves.

Updating Knowledge Graphs

I attended a Semantic Technology and Business conference a couple of year ago, where the head of Yahoo’s knowledge base presented, and he was asked a number of questions in a question and answer session after he spoke. Someone asked him what happens when information from a knowledge graph changes and it needs to be updated?

His Answer was that a knowledge graph would have to be updated manually to have new information place within it.

That wasn’t a satisfactory answer because it would have been good to hear that the information from such a source could be easily updated. I’ve been waiting for Google to answer a question like this, which made seeing a line like this one from this patent a good experience:

In some implementations, a system identifies information that is missing from a collection of data. The system generates a question to provide to a question answering service based on the missing information, and uses the response from the question answering service to update the collection of data.

This would be a knowledge graph update, so that patent provides details using language that reflects that exacly:

In some implementations, a computer-implemented method is provided. The method includes identifying an entity reference in a knowledge graph, wherein the entity reference corresponds to an entity type. The method further includes identifying a missing data element associated with the entity reference. The method further includes generating a query based at least in part on the missing data element and the type of the entity reference. The method further includes providing the query to a query processing engine. The method further includes receiving information from the query processing engine in response to the query. The method further includes updating the knowledge graph based at least in part on the received information.

How does the search engine do this? The patent provides more information that fills in such details.

The approaches to achieve this would be to:

…Identifying a missing data element comprises comparing properties associated with the entity reference to a schema table associated with the entity type.

…Generating the query comprises generating a natural language query. This can involve selecting, from the knowledge graph, disambiguation query terms associated with the entity reference, wherein the terms comprise property values associated with the entity reference, or updating the knowledge graph by updating the data graph to include information in place of the missing data element.

…Identifying an element in a knowledge graph to be updated based at least in part on a query record. Operations further include generating a query based at least in part on the identified element. Operations further include providing the query to a query processing engine. Operations further include receiving information from the query processing engine in response to the query. Operations further include updating the knowledge graph based at least in part on the received information.

A knowledge graph updates itself in these ways:

(1) The knowledge Graph may be updated with one or more previously performed searches.
(2) The knowledge Graph may be updated with a natural language query, using disambiguation query terms associated with the entity reference, wherein the terms comprise property values associated with the entity reference.
(3) The knowledge Graph may use properties associated with the entity reference to include information updating missing data elements.

The patent that describes how Google’s knowledge graph updates themselves is:

Question answering to populate knowledge base
Inventors: Rahul Gupta, Shaohua Sun, John Blitzer, Dekang Lin, Evgeniy Gabrilovich
Assignee: Google
US Patent: 10,108,700
Granted: October 23, 2018
Filed: March 15, 2013

Abstract

Methods and systems are provided for a question answering. In some implementations, a data element to be updated is identified in a knowledge graph and a query is generated based at least in part on the data element. The query is provided to a query processing engine. Information is received from the query processing engine in response to the query. The knowledge graph is updated based at least in part on the received information.

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Coming soon: brand-new Site structure training!

We’ve got good news for you! Coming November 1st, we’ll release a completely renewed and improved Site structure training. Are you struggling to make your most important pages rank? Are your new articles not showing up properly in the search results? Or do you want to maintain control over your content on your growing website? Then this training is for you. Curious as to why we renewed the training? And to what you’ll learn in this course? Read on!

Why is site structure important?

A solid site structure is crucial for SEO. First of all, it benefits your users: if your site is easy to navigate, visitors will know their way around your website and easily find what they are looking for. In addition, more visitors will end up on the pages you want them to reach, like sales pages. As a result, a good site structure will benefit your SEO. Search engines use so-called user signals to find out how visitors experience your website. If they spend a lot of time on your site and return often, they probably enjoy your site and find it useful. Google uses this information to rank your site higher!

Site structure is also important because search engines need links to find your content and put it in their index, so people can find your site. If you don’t have a clear site structure, chances are that Google can’t find your page, and this means people won’t see your page in the search results! Moreover, by setting up a good linking structure, you can show search engines which of your pages are most important. It helps them understand which pages should rank for important keywords.

Read more: What is the importance of site structure »

In short, you really need a solid site structure, so people and Google understand what they can find on your site. Still, most people seem to forget about their site structure. And unfortunately, this isn’t something a plugin can solve. You need to do this yourself. So, if you want to get ahead of your competition, this Site structure training is your chance!

Why did we create a new course?

Currently, we are in the process of revising our Academy training courses. Site structure has changed a lot over the years, as has our understanding of it. Context in text, and the context of links, has become increasingly important over the last couple of years. We thought the way we ourselves, and other SEO outlets, were approaching site structure left something to be desired. So we decided to completely redefine the concept of site structure in this training.

What’s different in the new course?

In this renewed course, we tackle site structure based on two types of internal linking: organizing and classifying links, and contextual links. On the one hand, you use links in menus, breadcrumbs, and taxonomies to organize your website and make it easy to navigate. On the other hand, you use links within your content to facilitate another way of navigating your site. We also discuss different types of websites, like blogs, online shops, and company website. So, after this training, you’ll know exactly what you should do to improve the structure of your website!

What will I learn?

In this course, we’ll teach you how to organize every aspect of your site, including your homepage, categories, and your site-wide navigation. In addition, you’ll learn how to guide your visitors and Google through your site. We’ll teach you how to choose your most important pages and let Google know which pages you want to pop up highest in the search results. Moreover, you’ll learn how to go about crafting good landing pages for both blogs and eCommerce sites, so people find the pages you want them to find! And last but certainly not least, we’ll teach you how to maintain your site structure. You’ll learn how to use redirects, how to check your internal linking structure, and how to prevent competing with your own content.

Example Site structure Jono Alderson

Online and on-demand

This new Site structure training is an online course that allows you to learn about site structure anytime and anywhere you like. It consists of five modules, which are divided into several lessons. Each lesson contains interesting videos, in which our SEO experts – like Jono Alderson – explain everything you should know about site structure. To improve learning retention, we’ve also created reading materials. In these PDF files, we explore topics more broadly and we use different examples from the ones we use in the videos. To complete a lesson, you take a quiz. These quizzes test whether you understand the theory, and if you’re able to apply this new knowledge to realistic example cases.

Get ready: available November 1st!

Are you ready to help Google understand – and rank! – your site better? We’ll launch this brand-new Site structure training on November 1.

Don’t want to miss the launch? Subscribe to our newsletter!

The post Coming soon: brand-new Site structure training! appeared first on Yoast.

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Friday, October 26, 2018

How to Use Twitter Audiences

Built your Twitter campaign but stuck on how to best tailor your audiences? Look no further!

Tailored audiences on Twitter can help you create more successful remarketing campaigns. In order to make sure users engage with your brand, you need to learn how to set up tailored audiences and make them work for your website or brand.…

The post How to Use Twitter Audiences appeared first on Seer Interactive.

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Remkus’ Roundup: Twenty Nineteen, GlotPress & ACF Gutenberg integration

As we’re getting closer to the release of WordPress 5.0, the amount of WordPress 5.0 related news is increasing. Today, we have news for you on the new Default WordPress Theme, the Gutenberg integration of Advanced Custom Fields and GlotPress. Welcome to the third edition of my roundup!

New Default WordPress Theme is here:

Since the release of WordPress 3.0 – hello 2010! – WordPress shipped with a new default theme. We started with Twenty Ten as we’re approaching 2019, WordPress is getting ready to ship the next default theme with WordPress 5.0.

Twenty Nineteen will be a theme that focuses on writing great content for both bloggers and small businesses. And, as you may have been suspecting already, Twenty Nineteen will fully support the new Gutenberg editor. If you’re already curious to see what Twenty Nineteen will look like, do check out the introduction post.

ACF Gutenberg integration

If you’ve been building content-rich WordPress websites, there’s a good chance you’ve been doing this by using the Advanced Custom Fields plugin, or ACF for short. It allows you to easily add all kinds of metaboxes for all types of content. Given the fact that the Gutenberg editing experience changes the way metaboxes look and work, the team behind ACF decided to find a way to integrate ACF with the Gutenberg blocks. And they’ve succeeded.

Our friends at Delicious Brains have written a great post on how ACF lets you create easily create beautiful rich content Gutenberg blocks. I highly encourage you to check it out. It does get a little technical, but ACF’s solution is by far the easiest way to create Gutenberg blocks right now.

By the way, if you are using ACF, have you seen our ACF Content Analysis for Yoast SEO plugin?

WordPress 5.0 Beta 1 has been released

Slightly behind schedule, WordPress 5.0 Beta 1 has been released. From the release post:

There are two ways to test the WordPress 5.0 beta 1: try the WordPress Beta Tester plugin (you’ll want “bleeding edge nightlies”), or you can download the beta here (zip).

It’s important to mention that this software is still in development. So we don’t recommend you run it on a production site. Consider setting up a test site to play with the new version. And if you are using an existing test site be sure to update the Gutenberg plugin to v4.1.1.

If you’re curious about the planning for the release of WordPress 5.0, do check out the granular timeline that’s available.

GlotPress 3.0

There’s a good chance, if English isn’t your first language, that you’re using an internationalized version of WordPress. In other words, WordPress is fully translated in your language. The software that powers the translation of WordPress, but also themes, plugins and more, is called GlotPress.

Greg Ross, who recently took over the lead-developer role from Dominik Schilling, has announced what needs to happen for the next big version of GlotPress. My favorite new feature is for GlotPress to support locale versions. What’s yours?

The post Remkus’ Roundup: Twenty Nineteen, GlotPress & ACF Gutenberg integration appeared first on Yoast.

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The Easiest Way of Adding Aggregate Rating Schema using Coding

The Easiest Way of Adding Aggregate Rating Schema using Coding

In this digital age, with businesses flocking to the convenience of the internet, competition for the customers’ attention is high. In order to win in the online business world, you will have to get the attention of the customers first. One way of getting it is the implementation of aggregate rating.

What is aggregate rating?

Aggregate Rating

Have you noticed that when searching the internet, you encountered some search results with star ratings? And admit it, even though those results are not at the top of the SERPs or Search Engine Results Page, those sites caught your attention first.

Aggregate rating is a collection of reviews from users. This enables Google to feature your review ratings and attract customers with it.

There are three forms of markup that you can utilize to enable aggregate ratings on your site.

Microdata

Microdata is one of the forms of structured data markup that is nested within the HTML content. It is usually nested in the page body and can also be used in the head. It uses HTML tag attributes to label the properties that you want to turn as structured data.

RDFa

RDFa or Resource Description Framework in Attributes is an HTML5 extension similar to Microdata. However, it is utilizing a different set of codes compared to Microdata when it comes to describing your content to search engines. RDFa is commonly used in both the head and body sections of the HTML page.

JSON-LD

JSON-LD or JavaScript Object Notation-Linked Data is a JavaScript notation embedded in a <script> tag in the page head or body. This is considered to be the simplest to implement by inserting the markup in the HTML without wrapping it within the HTML elements.

In this article, we will be applying aggregate ratings using JSON. Not only that it is easier to implement compared to Microdata and RDFa, but it is also what Google recommends to use for structured data whenever possible.

What you need to do before adding the aggregate ratings:

Before you start adding your codes to enable your aggregate rating, remember these essential requirements.

  • Have a reviews page. Not only this serves as a reference for your aggregate ratings, it will also show that you didn’t make up your ratings.
  • Never place your ratings on your homepage. According to Google guidelines, implementation of reviews should refer precisely to a specific product or service and not a category or a list of items. Therefore,
  • By default, Google assumes your site uses a 5-point scale. Where 5 is the best and 0 is the worst but you can also use other scales. However, remember not to go overboard with your ratings.
  • Mind your review count and avoid faking your review count. Another one of Google guidelines stated refrain from marking up misleading and irrelevant content.
  • Slow down from marking up all your pages at once with review stars, it is best to do it gradually.
  • Doesn’t mean that you applied the code means you will see your star ratings to appear. You need to have authority and page for that.

How to Add it:

There are many ways you can add aggregate rating schema on your page. Coding it manually is one of them. Here’s how you can apply an aggregate rating schema using coding.

Identify the details

If you are adding aggregate ratings for a product, you have to list the details to be marked up. For example, if you have a product, you will be marking up the name of your product, it’s description, availability, etc. Moreover, you have to know the status of the ratings that the product have.

There are some properties in aggregateRating that require some information to work. This is why identifying the details that you wanted to mark up is important.

Assign details according to schema.org

If you are adding an aggregate rating in your product in JSON format, here is a sample of a basic and working code that you can use. Just replace the name of your product and the appropriate values in the parenthesis.

Note: the aggregateRating array can be placed anywhere and can still work. However, to make it easier for you, it is best to place it after the details.

aggregate Rating Array

Integrating your code

Using JSON markup is easier. As long as it is within the <script>, it will not affect your HTML codes and just adds the markup. If your markup has an error, it will not affect your page in any way, however, the star rating that you placed will not be featured. You can put your markup code either within the <head> or the <body> of your HTML code. However, it is preferable that you put in within the <head>.

Checking your code

There are plenty of tools online that you can use in order to check the status of your markup. One of the most useful and reliable tools is Google’s Structured Data Testing Tool. You can test and check your codes there as well as preview some of the snippets that will be shown in the SERPs.

Using the above code, if it works, you’ll be able to see this result in the tool.

aggregateRating Result

Bear in mind that there is no guarantee you will be able to see your star rating appear in the search results. Google will decide whether to feature it in the SERPs or not. Knowing the guidelines is very important if you want to increase your chances that Google will feature your markup.

Implement review stars accordingly

Despite being in the technological era, people still value other people’s opinions regarding a specific product or service. In the digital world, it is represented by reviews.

By having your very own star rating when your site shows in the SERPs, you are showcasing your credibility and worth to the searchers. And as mentioned before, star ratings are great with catching attention. Utilizing review stars for your services or products, this will increase your click-through-rate.

So are you ready to reach for the stars?

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Thursday, October 25, 2018

Innovation at Scale: Using a Software Development Model for Change Management

Are you exploring ways to better integrate teams in your agency or consulting firm? Take a look at how we are approaching change management and see if using a software development approach can work for you!

For some time now, Seer has extolled the virtues of “breaking down silos” with our clients: getting public relations, SEO, creative and paid media teams, for example, to talk to one another.…

The post Innovation at Scale: Using a Software Development Model for Change Management appeared first on Seer Interactive.

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The Yoast SEO Premium analysis: new vs old

Yoast SEO Premium 9.0 fulfills a long lasting wish of many bloggers and content writers, including me. The Yoast SEO premium analysis is able to do something it has never done before: take word forms into account (amongst other things). As one of Yoast’s linguists pointed out: “Google knows word forms, so should we.”

Testing the new analysis for you!

For the people who follow Yoast, I might not be a stranger. But if you somehow stumbled upon this post by accident, or by sheer curiosity, I’ll start by introducing myself. I’m Caroline, I’ve been with Yoast for 4 years now and I’ve seen Yoast SEO and its premium version evolve into a better and friendlier product with every release.

Am I the best person to test this analysis for you? You might think not, as I’m a Yoast employee. However, as a blogger for Yoast and for my own Dutch mom blog, I’m one of the people in the company who rants and raves about the plugin out in the open. The developers know what I think of certain aspects of the plugin. Because of my work on GitHub, my blog posts on Yoast.com and my contacts with bloggers worldwide, I know exactly what the cons of the plugin are. So yes, I am the best person to test our new version!

Keyphrase recognition no matter what the order of words is

Our linguistic team worked for months on this release. They got me excited the moment they explained they were overhauling the entire way we were doing keyword recognition. If you’re unsure what this means: until now, we could only match the exact keyphrase in the SEO analysis. This means that if your keyphrase is ‘yellow chair’, we couldn’t match for [yellow chairs] or [chairs that are yellow]. Google knows that [yellow chairs] and [chairs that are yellow], is the same as [a yellow chair], but Yoast SEO did not.

Create better content more freely

In Yoast SEO the word order doesn’t matter anymore. And, in Yoast SEO Premium recognizes plurals and other word forms (for now just in English) like Google does. This means we can provide you with feedback that’s more true to how Google views your content. Not having to worry about exact matches anymore, enables you to focus on creating awesome content.

These new functionalities make sure that your old posts that were, according to us, not particularly optimized for SEO, suddenly are optimized very well. Test it yourself: there’s a huge chance that posts that scored bad or mediocre according to our plugin, now score higher than they did before.

Synonyms

Although the word form recognition only works for English – with more languages to follow soon! – this doesn’t mean the release is useless for non-English users. On the contrary: all our premium users, regardless of language, will benefit so much from this release. In a previous version we’ve introduced synonyms in the plugin. We reevaluated which checks should take synonyms into account. These checks have been completely revised and now rely on both the keyphrase and its synonyms when calculating the SEO score. This means that, despite writing in a non-English language, you can write compelling texts without worrying about the analysis not recognizing synonyms.

What does this mean for my SEO?

Considering the above, we can say for certain that the SEO score will be matching Google’s scoring algorithm more closely. Although no one knows the exact algorithm Google uses, we have come one step closer in providing you the perfect tools to optimize for Google and your visitors.

I can prove this to you by using a post I wrote on Yoast.com this summer. I wrote an article of which the keyphrase is: ‘blogging in summer’. Its score? Orange. Yet, if you Google ‘blogging in summer’, or ‘blogging during summer’ this post scores number one. With the new analysis the SEO score is green, without changing a single line of text. Is this more in line of what we see in Google? Yes, it definitely is. As you can see in the screenshot below, a lot of the checks have gone from red to orange or even green. If I change the keyphrase to ‘blogging during summer’, the analysis stays green, which reflects Google in this as well.

The old Yoast SEO Premium analysis versus the new one

The old Yoast SEO Premium analysis versus the new one

SEO analysis and non-English websites

So far it might seem this release is only interesting for the people who maintain English websites. This is not the case. This release is very interesting for non-English users as well. How so? The function words are filtered out for eight additional languages. For these languages the synonyms are taken into account as well. This results in posts receiving a higher SEO score as well, as seen in below’s print screen of one of my blog posts in Dutch:

SEO Analysis Premium 9.0 for foreign languages

SEO Analysis Premium 9.0 for foreign languages – previous release versus 9.0

Filtering out the function words works – in the free version as well – for the languages: German, Dutch, French, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, Russian and Polish.

Synonyms work in Yoast SEO premium only, but aren’t language specific, i.e. work in every language.

Conclusion

What I think of this release? I feared, for an instant, that this release was only impacting the English sites, but I found out this works very well for other languages too. The developers definitely thought of non-English users as well. I can’t wait for the full functionality to be rolled out in all other languages!

Test the plugin yourself

If you still have questions regarding my post or still fear I am not the best person to test this plugin, then I ask you to test it yourself. Our premium plugin has a 30 day refund policy, no questions asked.

Get Yoast SEO Premium now »Only $89 $79 (ex VAT) for 1 site

The post The Yoast SEO Premium analysis: new vs old appeared first on Yoast.

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Premium SEO analysis: As smart as Google

In our Yoast SEO Premium 9.0 release, we added great functionality that will help you write SEO-friendly texts. We’ve been working on it for some time now, and the software and our techniques are really smart and advanced. So, at Yoast, we’re very proud of our Premium SEO analysis. But why do YOU need this? Will it help you? What’s in it for you?

We’d like to celebrate the release of Yoast SEO 9.0 with you, so Yoast SEO Premium is on sale!

Get Yoast SEO Premium now »Only $89 $79 (ex VAT) for 1 site
Google is smart; we need to be smart too!

Google can read texts. It can figure out what a text is about. In the old days, you needed to stuff your text with keywords to make sure people would find you. Google does not like that anymore. It makes your text a terrible read. Google understands that. Content stuffed with keywords does not rank high anymore. You need to use synonyms and related keywords in your content to make it pleasant to read and to make it rank!

For instance, if you search for [shoes for dancing], Google shows you results for [dancing shoes], [ballet shoes] and [hip hop shoes] and other types of dancing shoes. The exact focus keyword is not as important as it used to be. In order to optimize a text, you need next level text optimization. You need to include different word forms (plurals, different word order) synonyms and related keywords.

A [shoes for dancing] search shows these results in Google:

If you scroll down you’ll see these ‘regular’ search results:

And a bit further down, you’ll find these related searches:

Word forms, synonyms and related keyphrases

If you optimize your post in Yoast SEO, you’ll be asked to fill out your focus keyphrase. That’s the search term you want to be found for the most. The focus keyphrase will remain very important. People actually search for that specific term. They expect it to pop up in the search engines and are most likely to click on results with that term.

If you optimize your post in the Premium SEO analysis (and you’re writing in English), our plugin will automatically detect whether or not you use different word forms of your focus keyphrase. If you’re optimizing for ‘dancing shoes’ for example, our plugin will recognize ‘dancing shoe’ as well. Above that, you’ll be able to fill out synonyms and related keywords. Our Premium SEO analysis will help you to write a text that is optimized for Google in 2019!

And it’s super easy! Just add your synonyms below your focus keyphrase in the Yoast meta box:

And click on the ‘plus add related keyphrase’ to add a related keyphrase you want to optimize your post for:

Why in Premium?

Our free SEO plugin will help you to write an awesome, readable and SEO-friendly text. If you want to go beyond that, you’ll need to go Premium. We’re trying to create software as smart as Google is. That takes a lot of smart and talented people, a lot of effort and resources. We are now able to recognize different word forms in English, and we’re planning on making it available in many more languages.

Taking your SEO copywriting to the next level

SALE: Even better SEO with Yoast SEO Premium!

  • Optimize your site for the right keywords
  • Never a dead link in your site again
  • Previews for Twitter and Facebook
  • Get suggestions for links as you write
More info
High-quality content is more important than ever. The number of online competitors is ever growing. And with Facebook referral traffic going down, organic traffic is more important than ever. In order to outrank your competition, you need a kick-ass website with high-quality content. Take your SEO copywriting to the next level.

If you go Premium now, you’ll get a $10 discount!

Get Yoast SEO Premium now »Only $89 $79 (ex VAT) for 1 site

The post Premium SEO analysis: As smart as Google appeared first on Yoast.

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SEO Powersuite Review Part 1: Rank Tracker and SEO Spyglass

SEO Powersuite Review Part 1: Rank Tracker, and SEO Spyglass

When it comes to looking for quality SEO tools that can be used by our team, one thing that we look for is versatility. This means that we look for multi-faceted tools that can accomplish a wide range of tasks with high efficiency. We have had many positive experiences with these kinds of tools, which include Ahrefs, SERPED.net, and Mangools Online Tools, as we are able to execute tasks and make our process much smoother.

However, while versatile tools are really great to have, there are times that these tools would have multiple functions, but each function would only feel barebones and limited. We tend to avoid these types of tools and make sure that we get all the functionality for every tool. SEO Powersuite is one of these kinds of tools that is not only versatile but also helps us become more efficient with our work.

Boasting four different SEO tools that allow users to be able to execute a multitude of tasks, we believe it is only fitting that this review would be divided into two parts, The four tools that can be used for SEO Powersuite includes the Rank Tracker, SEO Spyglass, Website Auditor, and Link Assistant. We will be starting this review with the Rank Tracker and SEO Spyglass and review the last two for the next review.

Without further ado, let us take a look at the first set SEO Powersuite’s tools.

Rank Tracker

The very first tool that I want to review is the Rank Tracker, which allows you to track keyword rankings, and even conduct keyword research. We have had numerous experiences with keyword ranking tools such as Accuranker, and these tools are perhaps the most crucial, as these determine the success and growth of our SEO strategies.

The key to a good keyword ranking and research tool is accurate rankings, and Rank Tracker allows me to be able to track keyword rankings from across different search engines across the world. For this review, I’ll be tracking rankings from Google, Bing and Yahoo search engine rankings from the United States, India, and the Philippines.

Rank Tracker New Project

To start tracking keyword rankings, the first step is to begin a new project by entering the URL of the website that you want to track.

Rank Tracker GA Integration

After entering the URL, you can allow Rank Tracker to integrate Google Adwords and Analytics, which comes in handy when wanting to take a look at the traffic the website is receiving.

Rank Tracker Keywords List

The third step is adding the keywords that you want to track in your website. You can add as much as you would want to ensure that you track important keywords that drive traffic.

The last step is selecting which search engine rankings you would like to track. You can choose between Google, Bing, Yahoo, and even sites like Baidu. After finishing this step, you can now begin tracking the keywords. The process can take longer with the more keywords being tracked.

Rank Tracking Keywords

After tracking has been done, you can take a look at the rankings per search engine. This helps you see how well you perform in different areas across the world, and even see countries that you didn’t know you’re ranking at.

Rank Tracking Keyword Map

Another important section is the Keyword Map, which helps you see the number of searches, expected visits, landing pages, and more.

Rank Tracker Keyword Research

Keyword Research allows you to enter a URL and look for keywords within a certain website. You can also perform a multitude of functions as well, such as related searches, autocomplete tools, and even access a keyword sandbox.

Domain Strength

Lastly, you have the Domain Strength, which is a score (out of 10) based on numerous SEO success factors. This score is an indicator of how successful your website is, and if the strategies that you have implemented are working to help this score keep growing. You can also publish a summarized report for all of these categories

Overall, the Rank Tracker tool is a reliable tool that comprehensively analyses keywords and provides rankings from multiple search engines. This is something I would definitely recommend to my team to use when tracking rankings and doing keyword research.

SEO Spyglass

The second tool that I’ll be reviewing is the SEO Spyglass, which is a tool that takes a look at the backlinks within your website. Similar to starting a new project in Rank Tracking, all you have to do is to enter the URL of the website, and the Spyglass will be analyzing the backlinks.

SEO Spyglass Summary

The summary page allows you to view in concise detail all of the statistics about backlinks, including links connected to the home page, and the countries where the backlinks originate from.

SEO Spyglass Backlinks

The Backlinks section is where you would be able to view all of the backlinks in your website. You can also view details such as the linked page and the anchor text.

SEO Spyglass Linking Domains List

Linking Domains is a list of domains connected to your website, which means that you would be able to view the location the link is located, along with the number of dofollow backlinks.

SEO Spyglass Anchor Text

Anchor text allows you to view which words and text do people click to go to the backlinks.

SEO Spyglass Domain Comparison

Lastly, the domain comparison enables you to compare domain ratings, backlinks, domain age, top TLDs, and the number of anchor texts. This allows you to quickly compare your website to competitors and how it stacks up. This allows you to make competitor analysis a much more elaborate and efficient process.

Verdict

SEO Powersuite’s Rank Tracker and SEO Spyglass is a pair of reliable tools that work very well, and have elaborate yet user-friendly functions that make it a great tool to use by any SEO team. It also provides you with a quick and concise look into your website’s domain rating and strength, which helps you know if your website is growing. So far, my experience with SEO Powersuite has been really good, and I’m looking forward to trying out the next set of tools in my next review.

Key Takeaway

Rank Tracker and SEO Spyglass are two very effective SEO tools that we would be happy to have in our ever-growing toolbox. With tools like these, we would definitely ensure that we would be able to create better strategies and make sure that the websites that we are handling would perform much better.

If you have questions and inquiries about SEO Powersuite or SEO in general, leave a comment below and let’s talk.

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Wednesday, October 24, 2018

How Often Should You Publish New Content?

Have you heard that publishing more often makes the Google gods smile upon your site and bless your content with top rankings? 
You’re not alone.
Many companies require their writers to post multiple time a week — sometimes even multiple times a day — because they believe it helps with search rankings. Their reasoning isn’t driven by

The post How Often Should You Publish New Content? appeared first on SuccessWorks.

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Tuesday, October 23, 2018

Premium SEO analysis: As smart as Google

In our Yoast SEO Premium 9.0 release, we added great functionality that will help you write SEO-friendly texts. We’ve been working on it for some time now, and the software and our techniques are really smart and advanced. So, at Yoast, we’re very proud of our premium SEO analysis. But why do YOU need this? Will it help you? What’s in it for you?

We’d like to celebrate the release of Yoast SEO 9.0 with you, so Yoast SEO Premium is on sale!

Get Yoast SEO Premium now »Only $89 $79 (ex VAT) for 1 site
Google is smart; we need to be smart too!

Google can read texts. It can figure out what a text is about. In the old days, you needed to stuff your text with keywords to make sure people would find you. Google does not like that anymore. It makes your text a terrible read. Google understands that. Content stuffed with keywords do not rank high anymore. You need to use synonyms and related keywords in your content to make it pleasant to read and to make it rank!

For instance, if you search for [shoes for dancing], Google shows you results for [dancing shoes], [ballet shoes] and [hip hop shoes] and other types of dancing shoes. The exact focus keyword is not as important as it used to be. In order to optimize a text, you need next level text optimization. You need to include different word forms (plurals, different word order) synonyms and related keywords.

A [shoes for dancing] search shows these results in Google:

If you scroll down you’ll see these ‘regular’ search results:

And a bit further down, you’ll find these related searches:

Word forms, synonyms and related keyphrases

If you optimize your post in Yoast SEO, you’ll be asked to fill out your focus keyphrase. That’s the search term you want to be found for the most. The focus keyphrase will remain very important. People actually search for that specific term. They expect it to pop up in the search engines and are most likely to click on results with that term.

If you optimize your post in the premium SEO analysis (and you’re writing in English), our plugin will automatically detect whether or not you use different word forms of your focus keyphrase. If you’re optimizing for ‘dancing shoes’ for example, our plugin will recognize ‘dancing shoe’ as well. Above that, you’ll be able to fill out synonyms and related keywords. Our premium SEO analysis will help you to write a text that is optimized for Google in 2019!

And it’s super easy! Just add your synonyms below your focus keyphrase in the Yoast meta box:

And click on the ‘plus add related keyphrase’ to add a related keyphrase you want to optimize your post for:

Why in Premium?

Our free SEO plugin will help you to write an awesome, readable and SEO-friendly text. If you want to go beyond that, you’ll need to go Premium. We’re trying to create software as smart as Google is. That takes a lot of smart and talented people, a lot of effort and resources. We are now able to recognize different word forms in English, and we’re planning on making it available in many more languages.

Taking your SEO copywriting to the next level

SALE: Even better SEO with Yoast SEO Premium!

  • Optimize your site for the right keywords
  • Never a dead link in your site again
  • Previews for Twitter and Facebook
  • Get suggestions for links as you write
More info
High-quality content is more important than ever. The number of online competitors is ever growing. And with Facebook referral traffic going down, organic traffic is more important than ever. In order to outrank your competition, you need a kick-ass website with high-quality content. Take your SEO copywriting to the next level.

If you go Premium now, you’ll get a $10 discount!

Get Yoast SEO Premium now »Only $89 $79 (ex VAT) for 1 site

The post Premium SEO analysis: As smart as Google appeared first on Yoast.

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