Not many people know this, but the second-largest search engine behind Google is actually YouTube. With 1.5 billion people watching over one billion hours of video a day, YouTube is gathering a lot of data on its users. All of this data allows advertisers to target specific audiences with a high level of granularity.…
The post Getting Granular with YouTube Audience Targeting appeared first on Seer Interactive.
https://ift.tt/2TYx2lvYou may know this open source fanatic as WordPress Core Contributor or esteemed speaker on WordCamps and other conferences. Today, Software Engineer & WordPress Consultant Alain Schlesser shares the details of his first experiences with open source and how to learn from, as well as contribute to open source projects. And, he is clear on one thing: “A world without open source would see less frequent technological advances, and they would come at a higher cost.” Read the 4th interview in our shout-out to open source interview-series, and find out how we all benefit from open source!
Q. Why is open source so important to you?
My belief is that open source is the principle that allows ‘knowledge’ to scale in the software engineering field. Reinventing the wheel before being able to tackle the actual problem can only take you so far. If everyone can stand on the shoulders of others, we can all reach higher and higher with time.
Q. In what way do you contribute to open source?
I contribute or have contributed to a lot of different existing open source projects, the most popular being WordPress Core. I also maintain or co-maintain projects, like WP-CLI, the command line interface for WordPress. Additionally, I also make sure that the client projects I work on contribute all reusable code back as open source packages. I usually collect these projects under the ‘brightnucleus‘ GitHub organization.
Q. When did you hear about open source for the first time? What were your thoughts about open source back then? And what are your thoughts about open source now?
I became more directly aware of open source in the mid-’90s. At the time, I got fascinated with the Sourceforge site, which hosted thousands of open source code repositories. It was the first time I had access to that amount of source code to freely browse and reuse for my purposes. It was a game changer for me. Endless amounts of knowledge in the software engineering field freely shared among peers!
At the time, I did not even have internet access at home, so whenever I had the opportunity to get access to the internet, I browsed the code repositories on Sourceforge and downloaded ZIP archives of whatever I wanted to inspect closer, to take the code back home with me (on floppy disks!).
Nowadays I think that open source is a critical part of our modern society. Almost everything is software-driven, and almost all software builds upon open source code, directly or indirectly.
Q. Does open source say something about the quality of the product?
Open source does not directly state anything about the actual quality of a product, but it does make it possible for anyone to assess the quality of a given product in detail. Proprietary software is not necessarily better or worse, but you only find out about its real qualities after starting to use it, you cannot vet it upfront.
Q. When and what was your first open source contribution?
I’m not entirely sure I remember correctly. I think it must have been a hardware driver for the Linux project, somewhere around the mid- to late-90’s. When I was experimenting with Linux for the first time, the driver situation was still really bad, and a lot of the less common hardware was not supported at all, or only supported in an incomplete and buggy way. It was pretty normal back then to write hardware drivers for more exotic hardware yourself, if you really wanted to get that new gear working.
Q. How do you learn from open source? How can others learn from open source?
Just open the code and read it! Most of it comes with both documentation and inline comments, so it should be easy to figure out what it does and why it does it.
If you reuse existing open source libraries, you can easily jump into and out of the libraries’ code and examine what it does. This open source variant of ‘learning by doing’ is a very fast way of improving your own code.
Projects that are well maintained will also usually provide you with free code reviews when you submit a pull request or patch. This is pretty close to having a mentor looking over your shoulder and telling you where you can further improve, all at the cost of zilch – it can’t get much better than that.
Q. Why is open source important for everyone?
It is difficult nowadays to find an electronic device that does not use any open source tools or libraries. Everyone is literally surrounded by the benefits of open source. A world without open source would see less frequent technological advances, and they would come at a higher cost.
Q. Do you have to be a developer to be involved with open source? How about diversity within the open source community?
No, you can easily get involved in open source without being a developer. Just take a look at the WordPress Community as a vibrant example of this, where people of all industries and backgrounds come together to collaborate on common goals.
Q. I want to contribute to open source! Where do I start?
Take whatever you are very passionate about and be very curious about it! I would bet you don’t have to dig deep to find open source projects that are related and that would welcome your contributions. If you need more hands-on guidance, start with an open source portal like GitHub, where you can browse thousands of popular projects and see what they need help with.
Read more: 3 reasons open source is awesome »
The post Reaching higher together: how we all benefit from open source appeared first on Yoast.
https://ift.tt/2RoKCgcToday’s roundup focuses on WordPress 5.0 and its upcoming release date, but we’ll also discuss some interesting and new Gutenberg related news. And, I did my best to introduce a couple of interesting bits throughout this roundup. Every single link is certainly worth checking out! Let’s dive in, shall we?
When will WordPress 5.0 be released?The question I heard most in the last couple of weeks was this: When will WordPress 5.0 be released? And that is a great question! Unfortunately, not one we have a straight answer to at the moment. The first Release Candidate (RC) was released last week and we’re expecting RC 2 today. But, that still doesn’t point to a specific date. The best answer we currently have is that the date will be communicated. Basically, this means the Core team is working hard to fix the outstanding issues but is not quite ready to commit to a specific date.
My take is that they don’t want to send out a message with a specific date again if they’re not 100% sure they can commit to it. Matt Mullenweg certainly isn’t excluding a December release in his Gutenberg FAQ:
Is it terrible to do a release in December?
Some people think so, some don’t. There have been 9 major WordPress releases in previous Decembers. December releases actually comprise 34% of our major releases in the past decade.
So, let’s just wait and see what happens in the next week.
Gutenberg related newsA few Gutenberg related things have happened in the last couple of weeks that I think could be of interest for you to know. Matt Mullenweg’s post about Gutenberg FAQs is one of them, but there are more.
Block LabIn a previous roundup, I talked about how ACF would be used to generate blocks for Gutenberg. But they aren’t the only ones trying to figure out how to improve this flow. Block Lab is trying to do exactly this as well. It introduces an interface in the WordPress Admin and a simple templating system for building custom Gutenberg blocks. Definitely worth checking out if you’ve been looking for easier ways to implement custom blocks.
Jetpack 6.8 introduces blocks for GutenbergJetpack 6.8 was released this week and with it shipped a couple of blocks for the new WordPress editor. You can read all about it in WP Tavern’s post about Jetpack 6.8 or read the full release post for Jetpack 6.8 on Jetpack’s blog.
Food for thoughtSmashing Magazine published an interesting article, by Leonardo Losoviz, about the implications of thinking in blocks instead of blobs. One thing Leonardo says particularly rings true for me:
I believe that switching from blobs of HTML code to components for building sites is nothing short of a paradigm shift. Gutenberg’s impact is much more than a switch from PHP to JavaScript: there are things that could be done in the past which will possibly not make sense anymore.
A paradigm shift is indeed what we’re looking at here. I’m enthusiastic about the things this new WordPress editor allows us to do that were previously very hard to do.
At Yoast, we’re also very excited about the possibilities the new editor introduces and we’ve already got some great ideas lined up. Not only will it allow our content analysis per post to be much more granular, but we also see a great opportunity to improve lots of different kinds of rich data. Our current How-To and FAQ blocks, introduced in Yoast SEO 8.2, being the first examples of this.
Interesting site speed projectDelivering a speedy website has to be a number one priority for you. We’ve talked about how to use a page speed test to optimize your WordPress website before. Site speed is a topic that will become increasingly important as we move forward. This week, I came across an interesting project along the lines of our post about improving site speed that got me very excited.
Lighthouse is an open-source, automated tool for improving the quality of web pages that is part of the Chrome browser. You give Lighthouse a URL to evaluate, and it runs a series of audits on the page for performance, accessibility, progressive web app capabilities, and more. It then generates a report on how well the page did.
Imagine bringing those audits fully into the context of WordPress powered sites. Wouldn’t that be amazing? Well, we may very well be heading that way. An interesting project aiming to do exactly this is to be kicked off at WordCamp US next week (will we see you there?). Imagine the impact of such a tool! Wouldn’t that be awesome?
Read on: What is Gutenberg? »
The post WordPress 5.0 RCs, Gutenberg related news and food for thought! appeared first on Yoast.
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I want to tell you the tale of two companies both trying to reach part of the community they serve and how one failed and the other nailed it. Why this is important is because it ties closely to the way customers choose to spend their money these days. They want companies who understand their world, and they want to feel like they’re with a company that cares about what they like.
This isn’t really a story about Fortnite, but it is
If you have a kid between 8 years old and 50, you might have already heard about Fortnite. The video game which launched in 2017 has already raced to 200 million active users (75 million in just the last six months). They passed a billion dollars in revenue last July, and will quite likely make a big year end revenue goal announcement.
The post Customers Want You to Understand Their World appeared first on chrisbrogan.com.
With the holidays arriving, you might not notice that the third edition of YoastCon is right around the corner! On 7 and 8 February, we gather the very best of the SEO and digital marketing world in Nijmegen. I’m really proud of – and impressed by! – our selection of speakers. In this post, I’d like to highlight some of the best speakers YoastCon has to offer. Want to read everything about everyone at YoastCon? Check out our speaker-overview.
The very top of the SEO industryI’m extremely proud of our line-up. We’ve invited the very best of the international SEO community to speak at YoastCon. You definitely want to see Rand Fishkin, co-founder of Moz and Sparktoro. And what about Aleyda Solis, the expert on multilingual SEO? You can even attend sessions with Kris Jones talking about link building and Fili Wiese about site speed. Lots of practical SEO knowledge for sure!
Alberto Medina is flying in from Silicon Valley to attend YoastCon. Joost de Valk will do an interview with him on stage. You’ll be able to ask him questions as well. Alberto is a Developer Advocate in the Web Content Ecosystems Team at Google. He focuses on AMP, Progressive Technologies, and Content Management Systems.
Marketing expertsApart from SEO focused talks, you can attend inspiring marketing talks as well. It will not just be SEO! We’re really enthusiastic about Wolfgang Blau coming to YoastCon. Wolfgang Blau is President of Condé Nast International. He’ll be talking about how the internet differs between continents. Interesting! And have you heard Els Aerts is coming? Els knows a lot about conversion optimization and User Testing. That’ll also be a great talk for sure!
Some awesome YoastiesOf course, some Yoasties will take the stage as well. Joost de Valk will kick off YoastCon. That’s a tradition! He’ll talk about the latest trends in SEO. What can we expect in 2019? Jono Alderson will also be speaking. He’s already preparing his talk, and it’s going to be great fun! Next to that, I will be talking myself as well! I’m preparing a great talk about site structure and how to deal with structuring a site that is continuously growing. And, two of our most popular bloggers Caroline Geven en Annelieke van den Berg will also be speaking at YoastCon.
YoastCon for everyoneWant to update your knowledge about technical SEO? Learn from Kris Jones, Fili Wiese, Maura Teal, Jono Alderson, and Joost de Valk. Want to learn how to write the most awesome SEO-friendly texts? Learn from Kate Toon, Caroline Geven and attend our workshop on SEO copywriting. Want to get inspired by the latest trends on internet marketing? Learn from Wolfgang Blau, Geraldine DeRuiter, and Regine le Roux.
We’ve got talks and workshops for everyone! YoastCon is for everyone who’s serious about SEO and/or online marketing. We’ve got beginner-level workshops and state-of-the-art advanced level talks. We hope to see you there!
Read more: YoastCon 2017: 10 takeaways to improve your SEO »
The post Don’t miss these amazing speakers! appeared first on Yoast.
https://ift.tt/2KGKHt2Before you dive into anything too cool in Power BI, it’s necessary to have an ideal legend. When using Power BI to organize groups of data, the order of the legend is not always where you’d like it to be, especially when creating custom groups.…
The post How to Reorder the Legend in Power BI appeared first on Seer Interactive.
https://ift.tt/2SkdzdcAudience Research is an important piece of any successful marketing strategy. Whether its conducting interviews, surveys, or content analyses —
Audience Research can help define who your users are & what they truly care about
At Seer, we developed a unique technique (leveraging Analytics & behavioral data) to cluster users based on the actions they take on a given website.…
The post Clustering Users for Enhanced Audience Segmentation appeared first on Seer Interactive.
https://ift.tt/2AzKX8vLast updated on November 29, 2018 at 05:53 pm
Much like the rest of the internet, YouTube has established numerous steps to optimize the user experience on mobile. When it comes to mobile-friendliness, the YouTube mobile app is truly a handy and reliable app that allows you to watch videos on the go, while offering full functionality that allows you to record and stream live.
With more users going mobile, this also means that some processes and details must also be updated to keep up with the times. This means removing some seldom-used features and elements to streamline the process, while also testing out possible changes that might impact revenue and user experience.
For YouTube, the newest set of updates aim to remove credits and annotations in editing, while testing out back-to-back ads that play before a video starts. Here are our thoughts, how it works, and how these can affect the user experience.
Removing CreditsVideo credits in YouTube allows users to be able to tag users and channels that they have collaborated with when creating a video. This ensures that users and channels would be credited and recognized properly and allow users to discover different related channels. Despite its benefits, it has become a feature that has been used less and less, which leads to YouTube removing the feature altogether.
While the feature to tag users and channels has been removed, adding credits can still be done when writing the description of your video, which is a practice done by more users recently. This has become more common on different videos and looks to be the more practical approach that will be the standard. This smoothens the editing process, while still giving users the ability to give credit to their fellow users.
Removing AnnotationsAlong with removing credits, YouTube will also remove video annotations by January 2019. Annotations have been no longer in use since 2017, but videos that contain them are still present. This update would remove them entirely, especially when watching videos. Annotations do not appear when viewed on mobile, which is why the feature was no longer in use. With better calls to action that are more visually appealing, this feature has become outdated. If you have a video that still contains annotations, it is best to wait for the update before adding necessary changes to create a better experience.
Back-to-back AdvertisementsAds have become a regular part of YouTube ever since the playing of ads before a video has been somewhat a standard practice. This not only helps various channels generate income, but also helps users discover different things such as brands, viral campaigns, and new products and websites. While ads may have affected the user experience for better or for worse, it is a necessary feature that helps bring in more revenue to the platform.
With this in mind, YouTube will begin to test out back-to-back advertisements that play before a video starts. This means an average of 2-5 minutes before watching a video. While this will allow more revenue and brand exposure, this might be a controversial feature, as a lot of users still adjusting to watching ads before videos. Since this is still at testing phase, there might be a chance for this to change, or to not happen at all. With this in mind, it is best to respond to official surveys, and leave reviews to ensure that YouTube would be able to bring impactful changes to the user experience.
YouTube SEO ImpactWith these new updates, users would have to adjust accordingly when giving credit and optimizing their YouTube SEO experience. This means that along with making sure the description makes it searchable and informative, fellow users must be properly credited. As for the ads, this is something that might impact the viewer count. However, just as long you deliver quality content that is searchable, you will not have any issues with getting traffic into your videos.
Key TakeawayYouTube has seen numerous changes over the years, and these updates are there to optimize a few details to optimize the user experience. With these set of updates, expect YouTube to continue making the viewing experience much better on any platform.
If you have questions and inquiries about YouTube or SEO in general, leave a comment below and let’s talk.
https://ift.tt/2RmDpx8Since starting my role as the eCommerce Strategist at Seer, I’ve been approached many times by both team members and clients alike — all about Amazon. In the twenty-minute video below, I’ll break down:
WATCH VIDEO:
Don’t stop there!…
The post [VIDEO] Taking Down a Titan: How Brands Can Fight & Win in the War Against Amazon appeared first on Seer Interactive.
https://ift.tt/2AwhUCVAs a blogger, you are probably doing your best to grow your audience on a daily basis. You’re optimizing for Google, Pinterest, social media and you do your best to set up and maintain a social media strategy. But, if you want to take your blog to the next level, there’ll come a point you will need the help of your fellow bloggers. In this post, I will explain why you need a network, as well as how and where to build it.
Why you need to network as a bloggerWe all know that writing is one of the most lonely professions in the world. Although blogging may not seem as lonely at first glance – you engage with your readers on a daily basis – there’s a high chance you work alone. As a writer, you often live inside your head. Your audience will only ever see your end result: a blog post or social media post. They won’t see the process of you thinking up your idea, killing your darlings or debating whether to write a certain article. You often take those decisions by yourself, or run them by your spouse or best friend. While this is a valid approach, someone who is not ‘in the business’, can only help to a certain extent. While it’s often worth it to discuss certain ideas with your personal network, you’ll probably only ever touch the surface. You might, for example, contemplate archiving your entire Instagram profile to start with a clean slate. Your best friend thinks you’re stupid, while you see bloggers around you do this and grow their following rapidly over the course of several months. And you might be left wondering if you’re cut out for this thing called ‘becoming an influencer’. If you’re at this point, you need a network of people who are like-minded.
At Yoast, I have a lot of colleagues to talk to whenever I need help. I know which person I should ask about SEO, which person knows a lot about Google Analytics and who can help me out when I broke my laptop – again. You need that kind of network for your blog as well. It’s very helpful to create a network so you can discuss certain topics: from SEO to developing websites, and from press releases to personal invitations. If you want to grow, you need a network.
How to network as a bloggerTruth be told, we’re in it for us. This means that everyone you’ll meet, is in it to gain something for themselves. This could be knowledge, reputation, information, cash, products or something else. Knowing this, you’ll understand you can’t just go to someone you don’t know and ask them for that piece of information you want. You might not get an answer or, in the unlikely chance you do get one, it probably is an evasive one. You need to adopt an open source kind of mentality while networking. This means that you’ll share your knowledge with the world and eventually will receive information in return.
I’ll take myself as an example. Although I knew quite a few bloggers online, my network didn’t really grow until I went to a Dutch blog conference last June, to speak about SEO. I told the crowd that I was going to share my secrets with them, and told them, honestly, how weird it felt to do that, because I might very well kill my own blog this way. Strangely, or perhaps not so strange at all, the opposite happened. My blog took off and with it, my network expanded tremendously. People knew where to find me, how to find me, and, also, that I was willing to help look into issues or questions. I answered each question I got, because I love helping out. Did I request favors for each question I answered? No. Was I offered help in return for answering questions or solving issues? You bet! Often, I told people not to worry about it, that I loved to help and that I’d be sure to let them know if they could help me out. And I took people up on their offer, twice now. One of them even got me an invite for a press event of the Walt Disney Company – I mean, it’s Disney!
Where to network as a bloggerYou might feel very willing to network with your fellow blog-colleagues out there, but where to find them? If you’ve been on your own for a very long time, it can be tricky to get started. Don’t worry; there are various places where you can network as a blogger, both offline and online.
Online networking as a bloggerAs your blog lives online, the easiest way to create a network is online as well. There are a lot of Facebook groups for bloggers in all sorts of niches and all kinds of languages. They’re created by bloggers like you and me. Try to find the groups where you can help other bloggers. I, myself, am in various groups, where I answer questions about the Yoast SEO plugins, SEO in general, WordPress or technical questions, as these are things I can help others with. In return, people help me when I have questions about Pinterest, Instagram or about certain press events that I’d like to attend.
Offline networking as a bloggerOffline networking is even more important than building a network online. While online it’s perhaps easier to mingle in discussions on forums, Facebook, or in Twitter conversations, the deeper and longer lasting connections will often start offline. Have you considered going to a local WordPress meetup, a WordCamp or a blog event in your city or country? These can be quite valuable – trust me, this is where the good stuff happens! If you’re unsure where to start, let me suggest YoastCon.
YoastCon for offline networkingYoastCon is a conference organized by Yoast. It focuses on SEO for all types of websites. I can guarantee you it will certainly focus on blogs as well! The conference will take place 7 and 8 February 2019 in the Netherlands. You’ll not only learn all there is to know about SEO from the very best in the field, there’s also plenty of networking opportunities.
Value your network!Networking is not about transactions. It’s about building relationships, about finding the people you wish to work with and affiliate yourself with. It’s extremely valuable to invest in networking and maintaining relationships with your fellow bloggers. You never know when they’ll cross your path again or what you could mean for each other in the future. I would love to hear how you go about this, especially if it’s your fulltime job. And of course, let me know if I’ll see you at YoastCon! I would love to meet and talk in real life.
Read more: Caroline’s Corner: Work on your blog’s foundation »
The post Networking for bloggers: why, how and where appeared first on Yoast.
https://ift.tt/2raMA8ADo you look at photos of yourself from high school and think, “My hair! What was I thinking?”
Yup. Me too. In fact, a photo of 1980’s Heather — complete with BIG perm and beret — was on the screen during my AWAI Bootcamp presentation.
(The conference organizers asked for old photos, and that’s the best one I
The post Should You Rewrite Your Web Copy? Or Hit Delete? appeared first on SuccessWorks.
https://ift.tt/2QnfAYMLast updated on November 27, 2018 at 02:50 pm
Searching in Google has become more personalized in the past few years, with the search engine ensuring that the user’s preferences would help adjust their search to their specific needs. User input and experience has become an increasingly important element in search, and this allows it to grow, as search engines understand how people search more and more.
Another step in this development is the introduction of user comments in Google SERPs. While the feature has only been introduced to sports events, this is a step that could lead to a new direction in how we do SEO. Here’s some key information about how user comments work, and how it affects the user search experience.
Why sports?When it comes to topics that generate the highest amount of traffic on a regular basis, sports is one of them. From basketball, tennis, European and American football, and baseball, sports is one event that every country talks about. This also makes it the most searched on Google as well. One example of a viral sports event was the 2018 FIFA World Cup, where user SERP comments have seen a lot of activity.
With this in mind, I can see why they began adding the feature in sports events, as it can provide a wide range of discussions and opinions on what they think of the event, and how can it be searched. These results also affect social media, creating viral posts, news, and campaigns that would allow more people to start discussions, allowing Google to learn more about its users.
How to add commentsAfter logging in to your user account you can search for different sporting events for any responses. The ability to add comments might still not be available in all regions yet, but it would be a feature that should be slowly integrated, and add comments through Google.com or using the mobile app. You can view all of your comments in your account page as well, allowing you into Google as a standard feature.
The user experience has affected SEO in many ways that affect traffic and presence, with responsive design and AMP allowing a more optimized experience in different platforms. Adding comments is somewhat similar to adding reviews, as it gives more users an idea of what their search results have to offer. In fact, having user activity might be an indication of high traffic, which can definitely affect SERP results.
While this may only be present in sports events, I could see this becoming important for local SEO, as businesses would be able to get important user input and information about their service or products in a way that is different to a review. Allowing users to begin discussions on the search engine, would allow a more open atmosphere that makes communication possible.
The future of SEO is trending towards a more mobile-friendly approach enhances interactivity and brings in more portable functionality that brings in a new set of challenges. Adding features like comments would make search more personalized than before, providing more accurate results, and a new way to impact rankings.
Key TakeawayUser comments provide a different degree of interaction that encourages communication and possibly affect search rankings in the future. As Google continues to introduce new updates and features, SEO is bound to change in the next few years. This is just a simple new feature, but it has the opportunity to bring about new changes that focus on the user.
If you have questions about Google or SEO in general, leave a comment below and let’s talk.
https://ift.tt/2DYdxENAs a marketer, I’m always impressed when a brand is able to target me and move me through their funnel to the point of conversion. Having an in-depth knowledge of marketing, I’ve often avoided marketing campaigns because I know the strategies and tactics they’re employing on me, and I’m often critical of their execution (or feel like I’m being manipulated into purchasing).…
The post eCom in the Wild: Ritual Vitamins appeared first on Seer Interactive.
https://ift.tt/2BAJdOhGoogle Optimize new feature set, Personalization Experiences, introduces the ability to (yup, you guessed it) personalize your website based on user actions, attributes, and behaviors.
What is the New “Personalization” Experience in Google Optimize?Google Optimize is Google’s free testing experiments tool.…
The post Deliver Personalization with New Features in Google Optimize appeared first on Seer Interactive.
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I just deleted an email without reading it (like you do). The subject line was “Not your typical Monday email.” I deleted it because I knew without a doubt that it would definitely be a typical email. (I just fished it out of the trash. It was a sales offer. Pretty typical. No?)
I’m told by so many people that email marketing is dead or that they have low open rates or that no one cares about email any more. I’m also told that no one reads email any more.
The post Earn Your Place in the Inbox appeared first on chrisbrogan.com.
Last updated on November 26, 2018 at 03:44 pm
It’s been over four years now since Matt Cutts famously declared, “So stick a fork in it: guest blogging is done.”
According to Matt Cutts, at the time, guest blogging has been overdone and is mostly abused as a spammy tactic for link building — and it is pretty much dead.
A few things have happened since then, for those who have been paying careful attention:
In fact, for followers of this blog, it is no secret that guest blogging is Sean’s favorite link building tactic for the following reasons:
There are many more benefits of guest blogging. It is also my favorite link building and marketing tactic, and if you pay careful attention to Cutt’s post published four years ago, it is very clear that the kind of guest blogging he is denouncing is the low-quality, spammy kind of guest blogging.
Real guest blogging, the kind that focuses on getting quality backlinks on relevant, authoritative blogs isn’t just alive, but it is growing stronger.
Below are some examples of what I’m talking about:
(my guest post on Business Insider)
(my guest post on Adweek)
(my guest post on Entrepreneur)
(my guest post on The Next Web)
I could go on an on with the list of screenshots, but without boring you suffice it to say that I’ve been published and syndicated on some of the biggest publications in the world: Fast Company, CNBC, Yahoo, Glassdoor, and Upwork are just some of the other notable publications I’ve been featured in.
Like Sean, guest blogging is my favorite link building tactic. It’s been my main method of promoting my site where I review web hosts, and it’s one of the most effective content marketing techniques I know of for achieving strong backlinks, quality endorsement, traffic, and exposure all at once.
Over the years, I’ve perfected a process for getting published on some of the biggest publications in the world, and I believe this process can help you get published almost anywhere. In this article, I’ll break down my process for you:
Step #1: Compile Your List of Target BlogsMy first step for guest blogging is compiling a list of target blogs I plan to write for. When compiling a list of target blogs, I focus on two things:
To find target sites, I use a variety of techniques:
Step #2: Carefully Study Your Target Blog
Once I’ve decided on what blog I will be approaching for guest posting, the next step is to carefully study the blog.
When I study a blog, I pay attention to two things:
In most cases, it can be difficult to say much about what a blog wants based on content type; most top publications use a mix of content type. The angle a blog uses matters a great deal, though. Some blogs want articles that are carefully articulated opinion pieces and nothing more. Some want deep dive into niche topics backed with research. By the time you review 5 – 10 pieces (preferably by guest authors), you should have an idea of the angle a publication prefers.
Step #3: Identify the Editor of Your Target Blog
Once I’ve decided on the content approach I will be using with a blog or publication, the next step is to identify the editor of that publication.
I know, most blogs tell you to use a submissions form or to send an email to a particular submissions email. Some even go far to tell you that if you do otherwise you won’t be hearing back. The problem is that you do just that and hear nothing.
What has been most effective for me is identifying individual editors of the blog I intend to target and pitching them directly. In very few instances, some have directed me back to use the submissions form/email. Usually, though, many simply ask me to send an article.
Step #4: Pitch The Editor of Your Target Blog
The next step is to pitch the editor of your target blog. Don’t send draft articles without pitching an editor first; this can be quite problematic. If your article is custom-tailored to them and they decide not to respond, your effort is wasted. If they take too long to respond and you send the piece to another publication that publishes it and they later also publish it, that could be problematic.
It’s better than to pitch the editor of your target blog with an idea first and let them respond before sending them your article.
Most of the pitches — including the ones that got me on top publications like Business Insider — are in the following format:
“Hi, Editor,
I’d like to inquire/ask about the steps involved in writing for Your Publication.
I have been published/featured on several top publications including ABC Publication, XYZ Publication, and ETC Publication.
Kindly let me know how to become a Your Publication contributor.
Warm Regards,
Name”
The above approach works for a few reasons:
I don’t include links to samples of my guest posts in my pitch, unless it is specifically requested by a publication, in order to avoid triggering spam filters. Occasionally, I include ideas in the first email if the publication prefers it that way; otherwise, I try to get the editor to respond first before sending ideas to save time.
Step #5: Submit Content that Wows the Editor of Your Target Blog
Finally, it is important to realize that having an editor approve your pitch is no guarantee that your content will be accepted and published.
Once you have editor approval, the only guarantee of publication is by submitting content that wows an editor. Here are some tips:
It is very important to consider all of the above factors and write your content accordingly to ensure your content is accepted and published after an editor has approved it.
ConclusionSpammy guest blogging is dead, but the kind of guest blogging that focuses on publishing useful, well-thought-out guest posts on authoritative blogs based on the steps outlined above is still very well alive. With the above tips, you can take your guest blogging from average/below average to excellent.
https://ift.tt/2zpPV8c“Could you please write a post with a clear path on just what to do to rank high in Google?” “What should I do to make sure I’ll outrank my competition?” “Could you write a clear, step-by-step to-do list on how to rank high in Google?” Although I completely understand these questions, answering them is really, really, really hard. It’s almost as hard as ranking high in Google. However, in this post, I’ll do my very best to answer this million-dollar question: How do I rank high in Google? I’ll give an honest – and lengthy- answer, but I’ll also share some quick wins!
Want to get one of our plugins, courses or both? Now is the time! You’ll get a whopping 30% discount on ALL our plugins and courses and a $/€30 discount on a yearly subscription.
Be the best result!All SEO advice we give to the users of our plugin or the readers of our blog boils down to the same thing: just build a website that’s awesome. Google wants to give a user the best result for a certain search query. If your SEO strategy is focused on being the best result, and creating the best website possible, you’re probably on the right SEO-track.
Technical SEO must be flawlessWordPress actually is an SEO-friendly platform, so most technical aspects are already covered. For all things that aren’t, you can install the (free) Yoast SEO plugin, which fixes some minor issues WordPress has. Installing the plugin and using the default settings already improves your SEO significantly. If you make sure to run all updates of our SEO plugin, all major technical SEO aspects will already be covered.
Site speed is one of the factors that determine whether you get a good ranking in Google. While site speed was historically not the most important one, it’s growing in importance more and more. A slow website will result in a slow crawling rate; Google takes longer to fetch pages on your site and therefore might take longer to index new content. Making your website faster is a relatively easy way to increase the chance of getting high rankings in Google.
Site structure is clearA clear site structure improves your chances to rank in Google. Search engines, like Google, follow links. So, how you structure your website, and the way you internally link your pages to each other, is of vital importance. Pages that have lots of links pointing towards them will appear important to Google, while pages that don’t have many links will be less significant to Google. Think of the structure of your website as a guide to Google, and therefore very important.
Content is still kingSEO copywriting is both a key element and a big challenge in every SEO strategy. As search engines spider web pages, the content of your website should be fine-tuned to the – ever-changing – algorithms of search engines. In addition to that, you should aim for quality content, and write clearly so that your audience both enjoys and understands your website. And we know that readability ranks!
Quick wins?This post doesn’t contain a step-by-step manual on how to rank high in Google. And I fully understand that people do desire such a manual. I am very sorry, but such a manual simply doesn’t exist. That being said, I can give you some practical tips on how to improve your rankings!
1. Solve orphaned contentOrphaned content has few internal links from other pages or posts linking to it. Google will consider this type of content to be of less value. So, if an article is important to you, you should make that clear to both Google and your visitors. Link to that particular article from other relevant content. Linking to it from articles that generate a lot of traffic in the search engines will help Google and your audience get to your blog post. You can identify your orphaned articles with Yoast SEO.
2. Tackle keyword cannibalizationKeyword cannibalism can occur if you optimize two (or more) posts for focus keywords that are not exactly, but almost the same. For Google, it is hard to figure out which of these articles is most important. As a result, you could end up ranking low with both articles. Your internal linking structure could solve a part of your keyword cannibalism problems. Think about which article is most important to you and link to it from the less important long tail articles.
In many cases, the best way to solve keyword cannibalization problems is content maintenance, which means: combining articles. Find articles that focus on similar search queries. If two articles both attract the same audience and basically tell the same story, you should combine them. Rewrite these posts into one amazing, kickass article. That’ll absolutely improve your rankings and solve your keyword cannibalization problem. After all, Google loves lengthy and well-written content.
3. Improve your site speedSpeed is a crucial aspect of SEO. Google just likes fast websites. You can improve your site speed through (better) hosting or by installing a caching plugin. Or, if you’re feeling adventurous, by doing both. Read more about site speed in our article on how to improve your site speed.
4. Fix those Google search console errorsThe Yoast SEO plugin integrates with Google search console. If you want to improve your SEO, start by solving the errors that Google search console found on your website. Read our posts on Google search console to get started.
Conclusion: SEO stands for Seriously Effortful OptimizationSEO just is a lot of work. I cannot give you an easy answer to the question ‘How to rank high?’. SEO is a long-term strategy, and it’ll only work if that strategy focuses on creating an incredible website. You should focus on everything: great UX, flawless technical SEO, awesome content, good site structure. Our Yoast SEO plugin will help you optimize your website, making things a little bit easier for you. But you’ll have to put a lot of effort into it for it to be successful. SEO just stands for Seriously Effortful Optimization. Good luck!
Read more: How to become an SEO expert »
The post How to rank high in Google appeared first on Yoast.
https://ift.tt/2OZJqxIHold on to your hats folks, because it’s Black Friday! Shoppers from around the world can’t wait to get a hold of the best bargains of the year. Of course, Yoast likes to join the fun, and we do that by offering you a whopping 30% discount on ALL our plugins and courses! What are you waiting for? Can’t decide what to get? Read on and find out what we’ve been doing this year.
Here are the Black Friday sale detailsWe won’t keep you too long, so here are the details of our 2018 Black Friday sale:
Prices will automatically be adjusted once you add your favorite products to your cart.
Save $30 on our new Yoast subscriptionsOne of the coolest things we’ve released this year is Yoast subscriptions. With a Yoast subscription, you get access to all our plugins, courses or both at a low monthly price. Or, if you want to save even more, you can get an annual subscription and save up to 60% off the regular price. We have three flavors, so there’s bound to be one that fits you:
Please check the webinar “SEO in 2019” we did this week to get a glimpse of the kind of exclusive content we’ll be producing for our subscription members:
Huge plugin releases and cool Premium featuresWe’ve been busy improving all of our plugins. Yoast SEO has undergone a metamorphosis this year, starting with the UX and feature cleanup in Yoast SEO 7.0 up to Gutenberg support in Yoast SEO 8.0 and a much-improved SEO analysis in Yoast SEO 9.0. 2018 was the year where Yoast SEO got a lot better, faster and above all, smarter. Here’s an overview of some of the impressive premium features available in Yoast SEO Premium:
Premium SEO analysisIn Yoast SEO 9.0, we added a much-improved SEO analysis. Not only was the regular analysis updated with a more flexible keyphrase analysis, but Yoast SEO Premium got word form recognition. This means that Yoast SEO Premium not only takes your regular focus keyphrase into account when checking your text but also forms like past tense, plural and more. Now, optimizing a text becomes an incredibly natural process.
Also, you can now even optimize your text for both synonyms and related keyphrases so that you can check your text for all the context search engines and humans need to understand a text fully. Last but not least, we’ll even check if you’ve spread out your keyphrases, synonyms and related keyphrases across your article.
Other indispensable Premium featuresOf course, there are a lot more cool features in Yoast SEO Premium. Here’s a sampling:
The guys and girls of Yoast Academy have been incredibly busy this year. They released a slew of new or updated courses, and the pace will probably pick up even more in 2019. Here’s what came out in 2018:
Spoiler alert: there’s more where that came from! Discover the rest of our SEO courses in Yoast Academy. Not sure which course is for you? No worries, every course has free trials lesson that gives you a sense of what it encompasses.
Local SEO: powered by WooCommerceSevering local customers? If so, you’re probably glad to hear that our Local SEO plugin just got more powerful. The Local SEO plugin now has something extra for your WooCommerce site: Pickup as a shipping method! This brings cool new opportunities for your local business. A local customer can now order products online and pick these products up in your store. New shipping statuses and shipping email options will make sure that your customer knows when their order is ready for pickup. Same low price, more options!
So, that’s just a couple of suggestions for this Black Friday for you. We’re sure you’ll find something to whet your appetite. If so, please don’t wait too long because this sweet deal doesn’t last forever!
The post Yoast Black Friday sale: Save 30% on plugins and courses! appeared first on Yoast.
https://ift.tt/2QeXIPPLast updated on November 22, 2018 at 05:52 pm
The challenge for webmasters everywhere is to accurately know what GoogleBot is doing on your website. GoogleBot’s primary job whenever they enter a website is to crawl a specific number of pages set by the website’s crawl budget. After crawling, they save the pages they crawled to Google’s database.
Having the skills to thoroughly understand GoogleBot’s movements on your site is one of the most effective strategies to improve your technical and onsite SEO. Log file analysis helps you improve your SEO – leading to higher rankings, more traffic, and improved conversions & sales. But what exactly is Log File Analysis?
What is Log File AnalysisLog file analysis is the process of downloading your log files from your server and opening it through a log file analysis tool like Screaming Frog or Splunk. The log file analysis tool enables you to see all the information regarding the “hits” of your website – both bot and human – to assist you in making informed and effective SEO strategies that will take your website to the first page of Google SERPs.
Although log file analysis is an arduous undertaking, it massively helps SEO specialists find and discover important technical SEO problems that cannot be found in any other way. The data that log files contain is accurate, helpful, and important for webmasters and SEOs with regards to our understanding of how search engine crawlers move inside their websites and what specific information they store in their database. But, before we get into the whole process of analyzing log files, we must first understand the types of logs that are used.
Log File TypesThe most common of logs come in 3 types. The most common one would be Apache. While other logs include elastic load balancing and W3C – which is common for users of Kibana. The last type would be custom log files that are usually seen for larger sites. So, after knowing the types, what do these log files look like?
They’re commonly made up of 5 parts:
First would be the URLs of the pages the crawler visited.
Second is the timestamp – date and time the crawler made a request.
The third is the Remote Host or the I.P. Address
The response/status code of the page they visited.
Lastly, the user agent. For us SEOs, the most important user agent would be Googlebot.
How to Analyze Log FilesWhen you’ve collated all these data, the next thing to do is to analyze it to understand how Googlebot and other crawlers go around your website. There’s a great number of tools you can use such as Splunk, Loggly, or you can even analyze your log files through Microsoft Excel. In the screenshots above, I used Screaming Frog Log Analyzer to open the log files of the SEO Hacker blog. The first step to analyzing log files is to use a tool that you’re comfortable with. Other SEOs I know primarily rely on Splunk, while I mostly use Screaming Frog Log Analyzer. Here’s what it looks like:
After opening your log files, what do you analyze? The process goes like this: check the top pages – the pages that have the most number of requests made by Googlebot. At the same time, you should also check the types of Googlebot types that are entering your site. It could either be Googlebot Smartphone, Googlebot Mobile, Googlebot Images, or the standard Googlebot. They should visit the right pages and the right pages should also be responsive and not have any errors.
Crawl Budget and Page Optimization
One of the main objectives of Log File Analysis is to help you know more information about GoogleBot and optimize your crawl budget. When it comes to crawl budget, this refers to the number of times that Google does its site crawl into your website. Here are the best ways to make it work for you and establish a more efficient SEO process:
Page traffic and is one of the constant statistics that we always keep track of when assessing our SEO Strategies. This means checking out traffic frequency, which tends to be more evident when new or viral content is published, leading to GoogleBot performing site crawls more often. This means taking into account specific timeframes in which GoogleBot performs their actions. Looking into the months, weeks, and days will help you see site crawl, allowing you to take advantage of it when creating optimal strategies.
Mobile Search has become one of the most important elements in SEO. With mobile internet becoming more accessible to a wide audience, it is important to take advantage of this traffic. This means optimizing your website for mobile users, and that includes allowing responsive design and AMP, which allows better viewing and faster loading speeds. The Google Speed update also means that mobile loading speed is now a ranking factor, which means that the GoogleBot might be taking your mobile performance into account.
Navigation allows you to not only be able to navigate through all of your web pages but also allow GoogleBot to conduct their site crawl. Internal links allow these web pages to get crawled, allowing it to appear in search and gain more traffic. We ensure that we do internal linking to a lot of our previous posts, and it has been a process that has provided us with more traffic reaching our website and getting more people to see our content.
Monitoring your site crawl also allows you to find pages that are not responding or have corresponding 301, 400, or 500 errors. Each of these pages is worth taking a look, as you would need to redirect and fix them in order for GoogleBot to crawl into the right locations. Finding them also opens up more questions on how these issues can be resolved, as cleaning this up will only bring about more benefits to your web site’s traffic, allowing your SEO strategy to take into effect more efficiently.
Removing your web pages from the index and taking out duplicate content helps your crawl budget as it optimizes navigation, allowing users to be led into the right places. This may also help you find missing content as well, allowing those missed pages to receive more traffic, which leads to GoogleBot conducting their crawl.
Key TakeawayEvery SEO expert and webmaster wants to know what’s going on in their website. Log file analysis allows us to understand how Google views our site and which pages are being focused on by the crawler. Know what’s going on, make an effort to check all the resources and pages, clean up the errors you see, repeat. An optimized and authoritative site is what Google is looking for. Is your site one of them?
https://ift.tt/2r0aa7FAh yes, LinkedIn is finally taking the steps to align more with Facebook and is making our lives easier with their new objective-based campaign creation tool. This is something that all of us paid social lovers have been waiting for, so we’re excited to try it out!…
The post Objective Based Advertising: LinkedIn’s New Campaign Creation Tool appeared first on Seer Interactive.
https://ift.tt/2S4zhSjHitting paid search budget goals can be surprisingly difficult for certain clients, and certain campaigns. When initial volume isn’t there, you try everything you can think of: search query analyses, keyword expansions, increasing bids, etc. No matter what you do, your campaigns won’t spend and generate the level of performance that your client needs to hit their goals.…
The post Multi-Channel Marketing: Improving PPC Campaigns with Social appeared first on Seer Interactive.
https://ift.tt/2POlVx6You likely type dozens of queries into your favorite search engine every day. But have you ever realized the significance of all these searches? Figuring out what people are looking for on the internet is one of the key points of SEO. So, what should you know about the starting point of each online search, the search term? Let’s begin with the very basics!
What is a search term?A search term, or search query, is the word or phrase someone enters into a search engine to search for on the internet. These can be single words or names, like [Yoast], or a combination of words, such as [buy robot vacuum cleaner], or even complete questions, like [how do I train my puppy?]. Note that each individual could phrase his or her query uniquely, so five people looking for the exact same thing may just use five completely different search terms. Moreover, search terms can contain spelling errors, numbers substituting words, or random word order, and still take someone where they need to be.
Search intentWhile everyone entering a search term into a search engine is trying to find something, their intent can certainly differ. It’s important to be aware of this. Someone typing [how do I train my puppy?] into Google is looking for information, whereas someone who enters [Yoast] probably wants to navigate to Yoast.com. And someone looking for [buy robot vacuum cleaner] is, evidently, looking to buy a robot vacuum sometime in the near future.
If the page someone clicks on in the search results doesn’t match their intent, they’re likely to bounce back and look for another page that does align with their purpose. So, you’ll understand that it’s important, as a site owner, to make sure people end up on a page that’s consistent with their expectations and what they’re trying to achieve!
Read more: What is search intent? »
Search term and focus keyphrase: what’s the difference?How should you see search terms, in relation to your focus keywords and keyphrases? Well, you’re looking at basically the same thing from a different perspective. But, one big difference: you put a lot of thought into a keyword strategy (if you do it right ;-)), whereas most people entering a search term simply type a phrase they think will take them where they need to be, largely unaware of the fierce competition going on between websites. In an ideal world, the search term entered by potential visitor would be the keyphrase you’re targeting, and your optimized page would match their search intent. But, as we already mentioned, search terms are often unique for each user, can differ in emphasis and could even contain errors. So, you should think about what your real life users are doing, and distill the ideal keyword from that.
Search engines and search terms Helping usersThere are several ways search engines try to help their users find what they’re looking for. Firstly, there’s the autocomplete functionality: immediately when you start typing a query, suggestions for often-used search terms pop up for you to select.
What’s more, if a query is very similar to another search term that’s entered much more often, search engines tend to include the results for that query as well.
It’s good to be aware of this, and think about how it could affect searches relevant for your website.
Search engines allow for advanced searches, which let searchers, for example, leave a blank in their search phrases, exclude words from their search results or look for results from a specific region. Only a small portion of users actually uses these advanced search features, so from an SEO perspective, it’s probably hard to take this into account. But, if nothing else, it might inspire you to become a pro search engine user to save yourself some precious time!
Search Engine AdvertisingOne thing that’s also influenced by the search term, is whether or not the results page will contain ads, and how many. Advertisers can select certain ‘keywords’ to target with their advertisements. If a user enters a search term containing these, an automatized auction will take place, to see which ad or ads targeting those keywords is/are most relevant and best suited to appear on the results page. Naturally, ‘sales-oriented’ search terms, like [buy robot vacuum cleaner] are much more likely to yield one or more ads, than informational queries such as [how do I train my puppy?]. Ads’ll push down organic results, so if you’re optimizing for competitive keyphrases, this means you may have to work a little harder.
ConclusionIt seems so straightforward, but, as we’ve seen, there’s more to the search term than you might expect. Knowing how users search and how search engines handle search terms will give you an edge when executing your keyword research, so get in your user’s heads! And think about the significance, the next time you enter your search term into Google!
Keep reading: SEO Basics: What does Google do? »
The post What is a search term? appeared first on Yoast.
https://ift.tt/2DRw2KONext week, we’ll see the release of WordPress 5.0. With it comes one of the most talked about — and divisive — new features ever: a brand-new editor, the one we currently know as Gutenberg. Gutenberg is not just a simple refresh of the interface, no, it is an entirely re-imagined editor with a new concept. Blocks will be your best friends from now on. Here, we’ll answer a couple of burning questions about the new WordPress editor.
Gutenberg is a new, cutting-edge editor in WordPress. It uses the concept of blocks to offer a more visual way of organizing your content. These blocks are like LEGO blocks, and because they are standardized, every block works the same way. Pick the one you like to add to your content, fill in the necessary contents and move on to the next block. This process is easy to understand — no longer do you need shortcodes, custom fields or external code to get something done. Almost everything is available as a block — and if not, it will arrive soon.
This new editor comes at a time when WordPress is the most prominent CMS out there. WordPress powers over 30% of the web and the adoption is still growing. Competition, however, is getting fiercer. The growth of sitebuilder tools like Squarespace and Wix is explosive. WordPress needs to stay ahead of the pack, but to do that it requires a drastic technological overhaul. WordPress 5.0 and the Gutenberg editor bring not only an updated editing environment, but also a rebuilt foundation that will support many more revolutionary developments. For more information, please read the official Gutenberg Handbook to learn all about the how and why of the new WordPress editor.
When will WordPress 5.0 arrive?WordPress 5.0 is scheduled to arrive on Tuesday, November 27, 2018. There’s still a possibility that it will be delayed until after the holidays, which means we’ll see it arrive sometime in January. Time is short, which means you need to get busy getting ready.
Will my site break when I update to WordPress 5.0?There’s always a possibility of that happening, but the WordPress core team does its utmost best to prevent this. WordPress 5.0 is a major release, and you shouldn’t forget that an average site is made up of many moving parts — themes, plugins, meta boxes, custom code, etc. There are thousands and thousands of themes and plugins, and not everything works well together — a crooked combination of those could very well cause your site to crash. So, before you upgrade to WordPress 5.0 and activate the new editor, you should have thoroughly tested your configuration for faults.
Will Yoast SEO continue to work?Absolutely, we’ve been supporting Gutenberg for some time now. Our first Gutenberg-proof release was Yoast SEO 8.0, and we’ve improved support up to our most recent release, Yoast SEO 9.2. We’ve introduced a special Gutenberg sidebar to make it easier to work with Yoast SEO inside the new editor. Also, we added structured data content blocks for two schema’s: how-to and FAQ. You can now add valid structured data to your post by simply selecting a block and filling out the fields. But that’s not all; this new WordPress editor lets us do all kinds of cool stuff en we’re currently exploring several exciting options. Stay tuned!
I want to test Gutenberg and WordPress 5.0, but how do I do that?Testing doesn’t have to be hard — for most sites, you don’t need a full-fledged staging environment. Here’s a very concise guide to help you start testing right away — even if you want to test current and upcoming release candidates:
Another viable option to quickly get a copy of your site working is the WP-Staging plugin. Whichever route you take, you should have a mirror image of your site, and that should be enough to test WordPress 5.0 and Gutenberg on. After this process, check everything — your content, themes, performance, everything. Install the Health Check plugin to help find any problems. And, above all, ALWAYS back up your site before doing anything drastic.
I’m a bit hesitant to update to WordPress 5.0, can I wait?Sure! You can wait it out for a bit to see what happens. Some people rather sit on a release and update only when a supporting release becomes available. There’s no need to immediately hit that update button, especially during the busy holiday season. Or, if you do want WordPress 5.0, but not the new editor, you could always install the Classic Editor plugin and run the update once you’re sure nothing breaks. The Classic Editor plugin will receive support until December 31, 2021.
I’ve heard people describe Gutenberg as a page builder, is that true?There’s a big misunderstanding about this, but, no, Gutenberg is not a page builder — not yet at least. The new WordPress editor is also not a front-end editor. As it stands now, it is a content editor. Gutenberg introduces the blocks concept and makes it easy for you to get the most out of your content.
While the new WordPress editor makes it a lot easier to visually build a page, it won’t let you enter the territory operated by Elementor or Beaver Builder. Keep in mind that this is only the first stage of the Gutenberg project. Initially, we’ll get a revamped editor with a drastically modernized core. After that, we’ll enter stage 2 in which we’ll see a move from post to page templates. Ultimately, in stage 3, Gutenberg will evolve into full site customization.
Remember, customization is the primary goal of Gutenberg — design not so much. It will take a long time before Gutenberg will make page builders obsolete, if ever! Gutenberg was not built to put page builders out of business. On the contrary, the new editor provides a solid foundation for page builders to build on using modern technologies and a shared concept. In the end, this will improve both page builders as well as WordPress itself.
What are these blocks all about?Blocks are the core concept of the new WordPress editor. Everything we needed an editor, shortcodes, meta boxes, custom post types or widgets for, you can build with the universal concept of blocks. As we’ve said before, you can think of blocks as LEGO bricks — pick the pieces you need from the pile and build until your work is done. Blocks are consistent, findable, dynamic, easy to understand and a breeze to work with. Rearranging the blocks is simple — use the move arrows on the left side of the block, or drag and drop them. Blocks are also individual pieces of content that contain all the metadata in a simple package. If you want, you can save blocks as a reusable block to use elsewhere, thus saving you loads of time.
What will happen to my existing content?Your content will still be there, of course, and everything will probably be fine. Old content lives in the so-called classic format; this is a big blob of text instead of the blocks you’ll get when you make a new post. Of course, you can convert your existing content to blocks whenever you want. Open the post, click inside the classic block, click on the three little dots next to the text field and select Convert to Blocks. Most content should be converted without issue.
Convert classic format text convert to Gutenberg blocks
Existing and old posts probably won’t automatically convert to using Gutenberg blocks — and automated conversion processes won’t necessarily do a great job of presenting the page. At some point, website managers might need to go need back through everything they’ve written and ‘upgrade’ that content if they want those posts to remain competitive.
If you don’t want to convert your content to blocks, you can always continue to use the classic editor inside the old content. There’s an embedded version of the old editor, and you can continue to edit the old post right inside Gutenberg. If you want, you can even add a Classic block and continue to work a bit like the old days. But if you really want to kick Gutenberg to the curb, you might be better off installing the Classic Editor plugin.
What’s the best way to learn the new editor in WordPress 5.0?Our SEO wizard Jono Alderson has some great tips:
What will happen to my shortcodes?“It’s not enough to just write anymore. Many people prefer to write their content in external systems (Google Docs, Word, Notepad, etc), because historically, that’s been a cleaner/easier environment than writing directly in the WordPress editor. However, to take advantage of Gutenberg, you really need to be writing in it as you construct the page. Really taking advantage of the system requires that you think about the structure of your content, the layout, the block types, and their formatting. That’s a much more involved and conscious process, which people will need to plan and prepare for.”
Shortcodes are used for loads of reasons, so it was a priority for the Gutenberg team to make sure that everything continues to work as it should. Shortcodes will live on in separate shortcode blocks, and you can keep using them as you did before. Eventually, you’re better off turning these shortcodes into blocks. This way, your shortcode content becomes visual content, and you can see what happens when you add it to a post. No need to keep clicking that Preview button to see how it looks on the front end. What’s more, shortcodes become part of the consistent Gutenberg language and will be a lot easier to understand for everyone.
Will Gutenberg work with the plugins I use?The WordPress ecosystem prides itself on its extensibility — you can find loads and loads of plugins for every task imaginable. This comes with a cost though, as it is impossible to test every combination of these plugins to find problems. So, it’s hard to say if the plugins you use will continue to work like before. Not only does that depend on your configuration, but also on the willingness of the plugin developer to keep the plugin updated.
Will Gutenberg work with my theme?WordPress 5.0 should work fine with any theme, but it could be that theme builders still need to build in Gutenberg-specific features like block styling and full-width images. The same goes for page builders; there’s a chance that your custom work needs some fine-tuning. As we’ve said before, test everything before updating your live site.
Will Gutenberg hurt my rankings?Rest assured, Gutenberg will not kill your rankings. You do, however, need to take care when updating. If for some reason, your site has a lot of errors after updating and you’re not quick to fix them, search engines might see this a sign of bad maintenance and take that into account when evaluating your rankings. This is another reason why you should test everything thoroughly before hitting that Update button on your live site!
Does Gutenberg have any other implications for SEO?A potential worry we have is one of site speed — and we all know site speed influences SEO. Currently, Gutenberg adds a bit of overhead to your site that might have an impact on loading speed. Adding this across the board for a load of sites might make a whole piece of the web somewhat slower. While it is unclear what the effect of this might be, we know search engines prefer fast sites, so we hope this issue will be solved.
Plugins for Gutenberg might pose a risk, says Jono:
“Plugins are going to start adding support for all sorts of different types of blocks. Some of them are going to make a mess. We’re anticipating plugins which add blocks which make sites slow, add messy inline code, cause conflicts, and duplicate functionality – people will need to be careful when they consider which plugins they use!”
On the other hand, Gutenberg produces very nice, clean HTML compared to real site builders. Not to mention the elegant way we can now work with structured data, as we do with our Yoast SEO structured data content blocks. Gutenberg also gives us a lot of tools to improve the way we work with content.
Can I use Gutenberg with assistive technologies?There’s been a big discussion about the accessibility of Gutenberg. While the Gutenberg team said from the start “accessibility was not an afterthought,” it does feel like it was. Several members of the accessibility team even resigned because of the sad state of affairs. So, to answer the question is Gutenberg accessible? No, not fully. It will take a while before that will happen, if ever. It’s not a perfect situation, but there’s always the Classic Editor plugin as an ultimate fallback. Gutenberg is in development for nearly two years and, to keep momentum, it has to be rolled out sooner, rather than later. In that regard, accessibility experts have shared a lot of grievances over Gutenberg, but, looking back, might not have contributed enough to fix or prevent those issues.
I can’t cope with this change! Why can’t everything stay the same?We can understand the frustration, but to stay ahead and to evolve, WordPress needs to keep moving. While the process leading up to Gutenberg might not have been the prettiest, everyone felt the old editor was long in the tooth and in drastic need of an update. But the beauty of this new editor is that it not only transports it to the 21st century but that it has the potential to jump some light years ahead! Much of what we’ve been dreaming of will become possible.
But of course, we all need time to adjust to it. We’ve been using the classic editor for many years and built up a lot of muscle memory. That’s why Jono’s suggestion is so good: work inside the editor, get accustomed to it so you can unlock the full potential of it!
Please tell me your favorite time-saving tip!Ok, one of the things I find myself using a lot in WordPress 5.0 is the / shortcut. Type this in an empty block, followed by the first letters of the block you want and you will be instantly presented with the block you’re looking for. You can use this for everything! Try it; it’s awesome.
Read more: What is Gutenberg? »
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