Google’s “Force” Update The May 4, 2020 Google Core Update is being dubbed the “Force Update” because it rolled out on Star Wars Day. The update dropped traffic to many websites dramatically and created high search volatility. One measure of search volatility, which uses a scale of 1-10, saw an increase from 2.9 to 9.4 on May 4th.1 So, volatility rose from the bottom 29th percentile, all the way to the 94th percentile in one day. Did Your Traffic Drop? One of the most important things to...
Search engine optimization, or SEO, is a term that has been around for a long time. Originally coined back in the 1990s, SEO has been used to describe a variety of techniques used to improve how a site positions in Search Engine Results Pages (SERPs). Originally, SEO was just that. There wasn’t white hat, black hat, or any other precursors used to describe the techniques used. It was all just SEO. Over time, this changed. As search engines evolved, they became more and more aware of the tactics used...
As Panda 4.1 rolls out, we’re now able to see who’s getting the ranking recognition they hoped for, and who may be taking an algorithmic hit. As always, Google is aiming for quality over quantity, and this round of Panda may be giving extra recognition to those that may not be able to produce a lot of great content, but own what they already have. Observation #1: Meeting Guidelines Does Not Mean Success “I’m not doing anything wrong – why am I not ranking well?” According to Panda, doing nothing wrong...
Optimizing your website specifically for the search engines no longer works and it’s costing your business time and money. That’s a pretty bold statement—intentionally–because it’s true. Instead, to rank well for search queries relevant to your business, you should be optimizing all of your marketing efforts for your potential clients. This is straight from Google. It isn’t new, but unfortunately, it doesn’t seem to be making its way around (to agencies or their clients) quickly enough or clearly...
Rejection is part of life, and that’s especially true in the marketing world. Even the best marketing campaigns fall short with the majority of viewers. While it’s easy to get discouraged by negative results, the best way to approach a long situation is to look at the positives. You can learn just as much about your customers by looking at the people who don’t follow your links as you learn from people who want to learn more about your company. It’s simply a matter of examining the problem from a...
Great SEO Means a Solid Strategy Solid SEO strategy simply can’t be ignored in today’s content driven marketing landscape, but putting all of your eggs in the SEO basket can be a major misstep, especially when your SEO isn’t earning its keep. If you’re overly reliant on SEO and not seeing the success you want, you may need to diversify your marketing strategy. But how can you tell if your SEO plan is failing? Read below for ten tell-tale signs of a failing strategy. Copycat Content...
