marți, 28 iulie 2015

Seth's Blog : Predicting the future isn't easy

Predicting the future isn't easy

The best plans are based on trends, not specific events.

Here's a hopeless task: There are 18 candidates in the GOP race.

If you can rank them in the order they're going to drop out, I'll give you a signed copy of my new book or $10,000, your choice. The chances of being correct are 1:18!, or about one in six quadrillion, so I think the prize is safe.

On the other hand, this blog's twitter account is consistently creeping toward 500,000 followers. If you can guess the date, I'll send you a signed book. Your odds are a lot better on this one.

When in doubt, pick projects where the factors you need to have in place are on the road the audience is already on.

       

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​The 2015 Online Marketing Industry Survey - Moz Blog

​The 2015 Online Marketing Industry Survey

Posted by Dr-Pete

It's been another wild year in search marketing. Mobilegeddon crushed our Twitter streams, but not our dreams, and Matt Cutts stepped out of the spotlight to make way for an uncertain Google future. Pandas and Penguins continue to torment us, but most days, like anyone else, we were just trying to get the job done and earn a living.

This year, over 3,600 brave souls, each one more intelligent and good-looking than the last, completed our survey. While the last survey was technically "2014", we collected data for it in late 2013, so the 2015 survey reflects about 18 months of industry changes.

A few highlights

Let's dig in. Almost half (49%) of our 2015 respondents involved in search marketing were in-house marketers. In-house teams still tend to be small – 71% of our in-house marketers reported only 1-3 people in their company being involved in search marketing at least quarter-time. These teams do have substantial influence, though, with 86% reporting that they were involved in purchasing decisions.

Agency search marketers reported larger teams and more diverse responsibilities. More than one-third (36%) of agency marketers in our survey reported working with more than 20 clients in the previous year. Agencies covered a wide range of services, with the top 5 being:

More than four-fifths (81%) of agency respondents reported providing both SEO and SEM services for clients. Please note that respondents could select more than one service/tool/etc., so the charts in this post will not add up to 100%.

The vast majority of respondents (85%) reported being directly involved with content marketing, which was on par with 2014. Nearly two-thirds (66%) of agency content marketers reported "Content for SEO purposes" as their top activity, although "Building Content Strategy" came in a solid second at 44% of respondents.

Top tools

Where do we get such wonderful toys? We marketers love our tools, so let's take a look at the Top 10 tools across a range of categories. Please note that this survey was conducted here on Moz, and our audience certainly has a pro-Moz slant.

Up first, here are the Top 10 SEO tools in our survey:

Just like last time, Google Webmaster Tools (now "Search Console") leads the way. Moz Pro and Majestic slipped a little bit, and Firebug fell out of the Top 10. The core players remained fairly stable.

Here are the Top 10 Content tools in our survey:

Even with its uncertain future, Google Alerts continues to be widely used. There are a lot of newcomers to the content tools world, so year-over-year comparisons are tricky. Expect even more players in this market in the coming year.

Following are our respondents' Top 10 analytics tools:

For an industry that complains about Google so much, we sure do seem to love their stuff. Google Analytics dominates, crushing the enterprise players, at least in the mid-market. KISSmetrics gained solid ground (from the #10 spot last time), while home-brewed tools slipped a bit. CrazyEgg and WordPress Stats remain very popular since our last survey.

Finally, here are the Top 10 social tools used by our respondents:

Facebook Insights and Hootsuite retained the top spots from last year, but newcomer Twitter Analytics rocketed into the #3 position. LinkedIn Insights emerged as a strong contender, too. Overall usage of all social tools increased. Tweetdeck held the #6 spot in 2014, with 19% usage, but dropped to #10 this year, even bumping up slightly to 20%.

Of course, digging into social tools naturally begs the question of which social networks are at the top of our lists.

The Top 6 are unchanged since our last survey, and it's clear that the barriers to entry to compete with the big social networks are only getting higher. Instagram doubled its usage (from 11% of respondents last time), but this still wasn't enough to overtake Pinterest. Reddit and Quora saw steady growth, and StumbleUpon slipped out of the Top 10.

Top activities

So, what exactly do we do with these tools and all of our time? Across all online marketers in our survey, the Top 5 activities were:

For in-house marketers, "Site Audits" dropped to the #6 position and "Brand Strategy" jumped up to the #3 spot. Naturally, in-house marketers have more resources to focus on strategy.

For agencies and consultants, "Site Audits" bumped up to #2, and "Managing People" pushed down social media to take the #5 position. Larger agency teams require more traditional people wrangling.

Here's a much more detailed breakdown of how we spend our time in 2015:

In terms of overall demand for services, the Top 5 winners (calculated by % reporting increase - % reporting decrease were):

Demand for CRO is growing at a steady clip, but analytics still leads the way. Both "Content Creation" (#2) and "Content Curation" (#6) showed solid demand increases.

Some categories reported both gains and losses – 30% of respondents reported increased demand for "Link Building", while 20% reported decreased demand. Similarly, 20% reported increased demand for "Link Removal", while almost as many (17%) reported decreased demand. This may be a result of overall demand shifts, or it may represent more specialization by agencies and consultants.

What's in store for 2016?

It's clear that our job as online marketers is becoming more diverse, more challenging, and more strategic. We have to have a command of a wide array of tools and tactics, and that's not going to slow down any time soon. On the bright side, companies are more aware of what we do, and they're more willing to spend the money to have it done. Our evolution has barely begun as an industry, and you can expect more changes and growth in the coming year.

Raw data download

If you'd like to take a look through the raw results from this year's survey (we've removed identifying information like email addresses from all responses), we've got that for you here:

Download the raw results


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Seth's Blog : What is your art?

What is your art?

I define art as having nothing at all to do with painting.

Art is a human act, a generous contribution, something that might not work, and it is intended to change the recipient for the better, often causing a connection to happen.

Five elements that are difficult to find and worth seeking out. Human, generous, risky, change and connection.

You can be perfect or you can make art.

You can keep track of what you get in return, or you can make art.

You can enjoy the status quo, or you can make art. 

The most difficult part might be in choosing whether you want to make art at all, and committing to what it requires of you. 

       

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luni, 27 iulie 2015

Mish's Global Economic Trend Analysis

Mish's Global Economic Trend Analysis


Stench from Chicago so Bad, Fitch Finally Smells It

Posted: 27 Jul 2015 03:32 PM PDT

At long last, the stench from Chicago is so strong that Fitch can finally smell it. Fitch just now downgraded Chicago Board of Education General Obligation bonds to junk status.

Fitch and the S&P were holdouts because there's money to be made by purposely pretending a manure factory is a rose garden.

MarketWatch reports Fitch Downgrades Chicago Board of Ed (IL) ULTGOs to 'BB+'.

Fitch Ratings has downgraded the Chicago Board of Education, IL's (the board) approximately $6.1 billion of unlimited tax general obligation (ULTGO) bonds to 'BB+' from 'BBB-'. The rating has been placed on Negative Watch.

Rating Drivers

  • Continued financial stress
  • Dependency on borrowing
  • Cash flow drain
  • Pension liability weakness
  • Poor labor history
  • Unfavorable debt position
  • Structural imbalances
  • Mounting fixed costs
  • Limited options to address large budgetary gaps
  • Growing gap for fiscal year 2016
  • Liquidity concerns
  • Negative cash balances
  • Swap termination triggers

Fitch can finally smell enough stench from the above rating drivers to label the bonds as junk.

The "J" Word

The downgrade from BBB- to BB+ is a downgrade to a "non-investment" rating, commonly labeled "junk". Curiously, MarketWatch just could not bear the say the "J-Word".

MarketWatch reports "Fitch would downgrade the rating further if there is not clear and meaningful progress over the next several months in reducing the large structural imbalance."

I think we can count on that.

Deep Into Junk

On May 20, I spoke with Sean Egan at the rating agency Egan-Jones how he would rate these bonds. His reply was "Deep Into Junk".

For details, please see CNBC's Santelli and Mish Discuss Municipal Bonds; Egan-Jones on Chicago; S&P Blames Moody's; Message to Bondholders.

Rate Shop Whores

S&P noses are still immune to the stench. On July 2, the S&P cut Chicago Board of Education's GO rating to 'BBB', still investment grade.

And on July 8, the S&P Lowered Chicago GO Bonds one notch to "BBB-Plus", also investment grade.

When the smell hits the collective noses at the S&P remains to be seen, but I suspect quickly. Rate shop whores simply can never be first with downgrades.

For a discussion of how the SEC is to blame for the current environment of Fantsayland bond ratings please see Rate Shopping Whores and Chicago's Bond Rating.

Solutions

Instead of tackling the underlying problems, Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel nickels and dimes businesses to death, further makes Chicago an uncompetitive place to do business, and threatens massive property tax hikes. Emanuel also expects $500 million from the state even though the state budget (which Governor Bruce Rauner correctly refuses to sign) is $4 billion in the hole.

For details and recommended solutions, please see Santelli Exchange with Mish: Public Debt, Taxation, Legacy Issues.

Mike "Mish" Shedlock
http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com

Final Second Quarter "GDPNow" Forecast 2.4% vs. Bloomberg Consensus 2.9%

Posted: 27 Jul 2015 01:44 PM PDT

The Atlanta Fed second quarter GDPNow final estimate came in at 2.4%.



The second quarter GDP official "advance" estimate from the BEA is due out Thursday, July 30 along with the annual revision of the National Income and Product Accounts (NIPA).

The Bloomberg Consensus Estimate for second quarter GDP is 2.9%, a half percentage-point higher than the Atlanta Fed model.

I will take the under.

First quarter GDP releases by the BEA have been all over the map. The initial reading was +0.2%, revised to -0.7%, then revised again to -0.2%.

Whatever number comes out Thursday, expect revisions, possibly in both directions. I expect the final first quarter and/or second quarter GDP to be revised lower.

Mike "Mish" Shedlock
http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com

Witch Hunt is On; Foolish Ideas on Stopping the Shanghai Carnage; US Bubble Will Burst Too

Posted: 27 Jul 2015 12:08 PM PDT

Nearly 1,800 stocks, over 60% of issues traded on the Shanghai and Shenzhen stock exchanges fell by the daily limit of 10% and were halted according to a Financial Times report.

When contacted by the Financial Times, the China Securities Regulatory Commission refused to answer any questions.

The amusing comment of the day comes from Zhu Ning, deputy dean at Shanghai Advanced Institute of Finance: "If [the government] does nothing then all its previous efforts will have been wasted but if they continue with the rescue efforts then the hole will get bigger and bigger. We hope the regulators will respect the market and the rules of the market."

In reality, previous efforts were wasted the moment they were tried. Price discovery is now lacking, and that is a huge problem in and of itself.

Absurd Cries for More Intervention and Liquidity

On Monday, Zhu Baoliang, director of the economic forecast department of the State Information Centre, a government research agency, told Reuters the stock market crash was having a deep impact on the real economy and that it was "essential for the authorities to cut interest rates and loosen monetary policy further."

Bear in mind that it was excessive liquidity that created China's property bubble followed by the stock market bubble.

Thus, Zhu Baoliang is another charlatan promoting the inane notion that the cure is the same as the disease. In effect, Baoliang wants to give alcohol to alcoholics.

Witch Hunt is On

The witch Hunt is on. That means the ridiculous notion of blaming the shorts is in full swing.

Chinese regulators even launched a website encouraging people to name the shorts, further stating those found guilty will be "dealt with severely".

Loss of Control

ZeroHedge discusses shorts in What Loss of Control Looks Like.

Actually, regulators were never in control in the first place. It only appears that way when things are going well.

Shorts Not the Problem

Shorts are not the problem here. Nor were shorts the problem in 2000 and 2008 in the US. Indeed it was the shorts who understood the true nature of the stock market:

  • Dotcom companies in 2000-2001 with no earnings were absurdly priced.
  • Financial corporations, home builders, etc. were in the same situation in 2008.

"Real Economy" Worries

Chinese officials are worried the crash will hurt the "real economy". That's something they should have worried about before they blew the bubble.

Moreover, the notion that the "real economy" was doing well in the first place is silly. Rather, speculative activities, and unrealized profits on those activities only made it appear the "real economy" was doing better that it really was.

It's too late to do anything now.

The only policy that makes any sense is to stand back and do nothing. Doing anything else just fosters more "moral hazard" speculative behaviors.

Pointing the Finger in the Right Direction

The Fed had a direct role in fostering US speculation in 2000 and 2008, just as the Chinese "regulators" fostered speculation in real estate and stocks in China over the past few years.

US stocks are back in bubble territory and the only reason why that is not perfectly obvious is the crash has not yet started here.

US Bubble Will Burst Too

When the US bubble bursts, we will see more blame the shorts mentality here, just as we see in China now, and also as happened in 2000 and 2008 in the US.

The Fed will never point the finger where it belongs: At themselves.

Mike "Mish" Shedlock
http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com

Chinese Stocks Plunge 8.5%, Biggest Decline Since February 2007

Posted: 27 Jul 2015 01:23 AM PDT

The crash in Chinese stocks continued today following a respite last week.

Shares on the Shanghai index plunged 8.48%, the Biggest One-Day Plunge Since February 2007.
The CSI300 index of the largest listed companies in Shanghai and Shenzhen fell 8.6 percent, to 3,818.73, while the Shanghai Composite Index SSEC lost 8.5 percent, to 3,725.56 points.

The drops were the biggest since Feb. 27, 2007.

It wasn't immediately clear what caused such a sharp tumble in the afternoon session. At midday, the two indexes were down about 2.5 percent.

"The recent rebound had been swift and strong, so there's need for a technical correction," said Yang Hai, strategist at Kaiiyuan Securities.
Immediately Clear

It should be immediately clear stocks are in a bubble, so there is no need to search for a "reason" for the plunge.

If anything, one might wonder why the stocks rose to such absurd valuations in the first place.

$SSEC Shanghai Index



Stock rose from about 2300 in November to 5178 in June. That was an advance of 125% or so in about seven months. Today's decline is shown by the second blue arrow.

Since the plunge in June, China stepped in to directly buy stocks, prohibit short selling, halted trading on half the companies, and prohibited large shareholders from selling any shares for six months.

Expectation of such moral-hazard maneuvers coupled with cheap money is exactly what fuels bubble activity in the first place.

Amusingly, margin buying is still at or near record levels.

Mike "Mish" Shedlock
http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com  

Damn Cool Pics

Damn Cool Pics


Rebellious Owl Gets Confronted By Police After Jaywalking

Posted: 27 Jul 2015 05:48 PM PDT

The Boulder County Sheriff's Department had a recent stand off with a renegade owl after they caught him jaywalking. The owl stood his ground for quite a while before making a dangerous escape.
























He-man’s Archenemy Skeletor Learns To Twerk [Video]

Posted: 27 Jul 2015 02:34 PM PDT



Porn Star Builds Darth Vader Replica Out Of Sex Toys

Posted: 27 Jul 2015 01:48 PM PDT

Adult film star Kayla-Jane Danger wasn't afraid to let her nerdy side show during a recent visit to an adult toy store. She rounded up some sex toys then proceeded to show her love of the dark side by putting them all together to make Darth Vader.
























Celebrating 25 Years of the Americans with Disabilities Act

This year we celebrate the 25th anniversary of the passage of an historic piece of legislation, the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). For the millions of Americans living with a disability, the ADA provides protection from discrimination and guarantees equal opportunities in order to promote accommodations that can help people live full, productive lives. As someone in long-term recovery from a substance use disorder, I strongly share this ideal.

Just as people with physical disabilities benefit under the ADA, people in recovery from substance use disorders are also protected by this landmark legislation .  Our communities have a lot in common - we both face some of the same discrimination, stigma, and historical restriction of opportunities. Our shared experience brings us together.

With approximately 56.7 million Americans living with a disability and an estimated 21.6 million Americans living with a substance use disorder, we are a significant portion of the US population. 12 Despite our numbers, we still face stigma and discrimination in healthcare, education, housing, and employment. The Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) is working to dismantle the stigma experienced by individuals with substance use disorders, just as the National Council on Disability (NCD) and many others are working to abolish discrimination and stigma surrounding all disabilities.  If we combine our numbers, our voices, and our collective experience, we have the opportunity to make our voices heard in all walks of life.

As we celebrate the ADA, let us commit to join forces to address the common challenges faced by our communities. Together, we can work on increasing access to treatment for all people and create a higher standard of care and accommodations through cultural competency training. We can make a significant impact in destigmatizing disability, encouraging compassion and tolerance, and advocating for equality for all persons.

We can carry out that work today, as we celebrate the ADA. But we can also continue that work as we celebrate National Alcohol and Drug Addiction Recovery Month. Each September, ONDCP joins with the millions of people in recovery to observe Recovery Month, and I want to ask you to join the celebration. 
This year the theme is "Join the Voices for Recovery: Visible, Vocal, Valuable!"

Together, we can join voices to reduce stigma and spread our shared message of effective treatment and successful recovery for anybody with a substance use disorder or disability.

For more resources and to learn more, please visit these links:

http://www.recoverymonth.gov/
http://www.dol.gov/dol/topic/disability/
https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/disability-employment/
http://www.facesandvoicesofrecovery.org/
http://www.facingaddiction.org/
http://www.transformingyouthrecovery.org/
http://youngpeopleinrecovery.org/
https://www.ncd.gov

1  2010 Census data, http://www.census.gov/prod/2012pubs/p70-131.pdf
2  2013 National Drug Use and Health Survey, http://www.samhsa.gov/data/sites/default/files/NSDUH-SR200-RecoveryMonth-2014/NSDUH-SR200-RecoveryMonth-2014.htm

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How to Learn SEO: Choose Your Own Adventure Edition - Moz Blog

How to Learn SEO: Choose Your Own Adventure Edition

Posted by Isla_McKetta

"How can I learn SEO?" is a deceptively simple question. The standard approach is to attempt to appeal to anyone who's interested in SEO without any idea of your previous experience or the actual reasons you want to learn SEO. That's fun. Especially the part about weeding through tons of information that might not even apply to what you want to learn.

So let's fix that. This guide is written to help you choose your own SEO adventure. If you know very little about SEO and just want to learn enough to impress your CMO, start at the beginning and stop when you feel like you understand enough concepts. Or if you've been doing SEO for years but need a brush up on the latest tips and tricks before impressing a potential client or employer, there's a path for you too. Be sure to follow the links. They refer you to resources that are much more in-depth than we could reproduce in one post.


First choose your character

SEO Newbie

You may know what a title tag is, but you aren't quite sure how to use it or why. The SEO Newbie could be a web developing hobbyist on the verge of a new obsession or someone looking for the next growing career path. Regardless, you have the most to learn (and the most to gain) from this adventure.

Start at the very beginning with What is SEO? and explore as many paths as you can. You might be surprised at the bits of information you pick up along the way. For a guided tour, follow the teal boxes. Don't forget to bookmark this page so you can come back and learn more once you've absorbed each batch of info.

Veteran SEO

You were doing SEO back in the days of AltaVista, so you know all the things to know. Except maybe you took a break for a few years or decided to swap that black hat for a gray (or even white) one and need to know what's the what with the major changes in the past few years.

Make a quick stop at the Algorithm Change History to catch up on the latest updates and penalties. After that, we'll guide you through some of the topics that are more likely to have changed since you last checked. Just look for the purple boxes.

SEO-Curious Marketer

You've heard of SEO. You might even have worked with a few SEOs. Now you're ready to dig in and understand what everyone's talking about and how you can use all that new info to improve your marketing (and maybe level up your career at the same time).

Start with What is SEO? and look for shortcuts in orange boxes along the path to gather highlights. You can always dig deeper into any topic you find especially interesting.

Whichever path you choose, don't worry, we'll keep weaving you in and out of the sections that are relevant to your learning needs; just look for the color that's relevant to your chosen character.


Table of contents

For you table of contents types who like to read straight through rather than have someone set the path for you, here's a quick look at what we'll be covering:

  1. What is SEO?
  2. Building an SEO-friendly site
  3. Content and related markup
  4. On-site related topics
  5. Link-related topics
  6. Other optimization
  7. Test your new skills
  8. Celebrate your success
  9. Other resources

1. What is SEO?

what is seo?

First things first. It's hard to learn the ins and outs of SEO (search engine optimization) before you even know what it is. In the following short video, Rand Fishkin (a.k.a. the Wizard of Moz) defines SEO as "The practice of increasing the quantity and quality of the traffic that you earn through the organic results in search engines like Google, Yahoo, and Bing."

Watch it to understand the difference between paid search and organic search and a few basic things about improving click-throughs from search pages.

Ranking factors

A lot of different factors, from site speed to content quality, are important in SEO. These are, as far as anyone can tell, the factors that search engines use in determining whether or not to show your page to searchers. For a great intro to those elements and how they interact to affect your site's overall ranking, check out Search Engine Land's Periodic Table of SEO Success Factors.

Why SEO?

That's all nice, but if SEO is starting to seem like a lot of work, you probably want to understand whether SEO is even worth it. The short answer is that yes, SEO is worth it, but only if you want potential customers to be able to find your site when they're searching on Google (or any other search engine).

Yes, search engines are crawling your site, but those crawlers aren't as sophisticated as you might like. SEO gives you more control over how your site is represented in those search engine results pages. Good SEO can also improve how users experience your site. Learn more with Why Search Engine Marketing is Necessary.

About search engines

Who are these search engines anyway and why do we spend so much time worrying about how they see our sites? To get the best answer, let's look at that question from two points of view: search engines and searchers.

How search engines operate

First, it's important to understand how search engines crawl sites, build their indexes, and ultimately determine what's relevant to a user's query. Some of the specifics are trade secrets, but this section of the Beginner's Guide to SEO offers a solid overview. And for an introduction to how Google ranks pages, watch this video:

As you're learning about SEO, remember that not everything you read on the Internet should be treated as gospel. Here are some common myths and misconceptions about search engines.

The human side of search

Understanding how people use search engines is as crucial to SEO as understanding their needs is to marketing. Learn about classic search query patterns and how people scan search results here.

Search engine results pages

So far we've dropped a lot of phrases like "search results" and "search pages," but what does any of that really mean? Search Engine Land does a great job of decoding the standard search engine results page (SERP). It's a strong foundation for understanding why everyone is shooting to be in the top ten search results. But one thing you'll find the more you get into SEO is that SERPs are rapidly evolving. Ads move, knowledge graphs appear (and disappear) and sometimes local search results invade. Dr. Pete takes you on a tour of how SERPs have changed and why ten blue links are probably a thing of the past in this article.

Penalties and algorithm updates

And then there's the darker side of SEO, because once there's a system, there's someone trying to game that system. Spend more than a few minutes talking to anyone about SEO and you'll hear something or other about black hat tactics like keyword stuffing and unnatural linking.

If you decide to use these tactics, you might soon become acquainted with search engine penalties. These algorithm updates, like Hummingbird and Penguin, are implemented by search engines at various intervals. The official word is that these updates improve user experience, but they can also be effective ways to penalize SEOs using spammy tactics. Learn more about Google's algorithm updates. That page includes not only a full history of prior penalties, but it's consistently refreshed when a new algorithm update is confirmed.

SEO veterans, you get to skip ahead of the class now to learn about the current state of page speed, mobile web development, and competitive research along with info on the best tools available today.

Analytics platforms (or how to measure SEO)

As you can see, a lot of work can go into SEO, but the results can be pretty incredible, too. To track your progress in topping the SERPs, make sure you're using an analytics platform like Google Analytics or Omniture. You can get by with something like Rank Tracker to track rankings on keywords as a start, but eventually you're going to want some of the data those more sophisticated tools offer.

Brain full? You've just learned everything a beginner needs to know about what SEO is. Go take a walk or get some coffee and let all that info soak in.

Before you go, save this bookmark.

SEO newbies, when you come back, you'll be in exactly the right place to start putting some of your new knowledge into action by practicing how to build an SEO-friendly site.

SEO-curious marketers, you might not want to go to the trouble of actually building a site, but you'll learn a lot by reading through the next section and the related materials.


2. Building an SEO-friendly site

site building blocks

First of all, don't freak out, you don't have to build a totally new site to get something out of this section. But if you're an SEO Newbie intent on making a career of this, you might want to set up a practice site to really get your hands dirty and learn everything you can.

About domains and URLs

Before you start worrying about site content and structure (aka the fun stuff), you have a real chance to set your site up for success by using a strong domain name and developing a URL structure that's SEO and user friendly. This stuff can be hard to change later when you have hundreds (or thousands) of pages in place, so you'll be glad you started out on the right foot.

Domains

While you're decades too late to score "buy.com," it's never too late to find the right domain name for you. This resource will help you sort through the SEO dos and SEO don'ts of selecting a root domain and TLD (don't worry, all is explained) that are memorable without being spammy. There's even info on what to consider if you have to change your domain name.

Don't skip the section on subdomains—it could save you from making some rookie duplicate content errors.

Anatomy of a URL

Oh the SEO havoc that can ensue when your URLs aren't set up quite right. Learn what not to do.

Site structure

Woo-hoo! Now that you have a site, it's time to think about how best to structure your site. Remember that you want to be thinking about both search engines and users as you set up that site. For example, that amazing Javascript menu you had designed might not be bot-friendly.

Things to think about at this point are that your content is indexable (that the crawlers can actually find it) and that you don't have any orphaned pages. Learn more about those issues here.

Sitemaps

And then you're going to need a sitemap. Sitemaps help search engines index your content and understand the relationships between pages. So where better to get advice on how to build and implement a sitemap than straight from Google.

Internal links

Another vital way to show search engines what pages are most important/related (and to help humans navigate your content) is through internal links. You want enough links to show users what's what, but not so many that it's impossible to tell what's really important/related. Read more about optimal link structure and passing ranking power.

Page speed

How long it takes a page on your site to load (page speed) mattered when we were all using desktops, but it's crucial now that so much Internet traffic comes from mobile devices, plus it's one factor in how pages get ranked. So whether you're new to SEO or looking for new tricks, page speed might be a good place to start.

Use Google's PageSpeed Insights to get specific recommendations on how to speed up your site and then get crackin'.

Mobile web development

Speaking of mobile traffic, is your site mobile friendly? Learn about the difference between responsive designs and device-specific solutions on our mobile optimization page. You'll also see a list of don'ts for mobile design (ever tried to close a pop-up on your iPhone?). This only gets more important the more mobile traffic you get (and want).

Phew! That was a lot of information, but once you've absorbed it all, you'll have an excellent handle on site structure (which will save you a lot of trouble down the line). Bookmark this spot, then take a well-deserved break. We'll start back here together when you're ready.


3. Content and related markup

content

Now that you have that site framework all set up, it's time to get to the good stuff—populating it with content!

Competitor analysis

Before you write or post too much of your own content, you might want to see what's working (and what isn't) for your competitors. This analysis helps you identify those competitors and then understand what their links, rankings, and keywords look like. It's important to update this research occasionally because your competition might change over time.

Veteran SEOs, you can skip straight ahead to Schema structured data unless you want a refresh on any other topics related to content.

SEO newbies, you'll want a deep understanding of keyword research, SEO copywriting, and the other content-related topics in this section. Get yourself a coffee and then settle back in to learn a ton.

Marketers, this is your chance to learn all the basics for SEO-friendly content, so stick with us for a spell. You won't need the same depth of understanding as someone who plans to do SEO for a living, so let your curiosity guide you as deep into any of these topics as you want to go.

Keyword research

You may feel like you just did keyword research in the last step, but it's crucial enough that we're going to dive a little deeper here. Understand the value of a particular keyword and see what kind of shot you have at ranking for it by reading Chapter 5 of the Beginner's Guide to SEO.

SEO copywriting

We promised you'd get to actually create content and that time is finally here! Now that you have an understanding of the competitive landscape and the keywords you want to (and can) rank for, write away. Remember that while you're really writing content for users, a few simple tips can help your content stand out to search engines too. Isn't it nice when something does double duty?

On-page factors and meta data

For really search engine-friendly content, you're going to want to make sure your meta data is all in order. That includes title tags, meta descriptions, and alt attributes.

Go the extra mile by incorporating Schema structured data into your content. This additional info gives search engines the data they need to include rich snippets (like review boxes) below your search results.

Veteran SEOs, it's a good idea to skip ahead to on-site related topics now.

Newbies, your SEO education is not complete without a solid understanding of duplicate content, SEO for video, and how to measure success, so stick with this section until the end.

Marketers, duplicate content is something you're going to hear a lot about and it doesn't hurt to understand video SEO and how to measure success, so continue to read onward in this section.

Duplicate content

Duplicate content is the bane of a website. Even if you think you've done everything right with your content, there's a chance that a dynamic URL or something else is surfacing that same content to crawlers more than once. Not only does Google fail to see the logic in "twice as much is twice as nice" but they might also penalize you for it. Navigate around the most common pitfalls.

SEO for video

Content doesn't just mean words, but unfortunately, the crawlers aren't (yet) sophisticated enough to parse things like images and video. If your alt attributes are in good shape, you're covered for images, but there are some SEO tactics you need to incorporate if you're using video on your site. The good news is that once your video SEO is in good shape, video content often gets better rankings than text.

Measuring success

So you've got all that content on your site, but how do you know if it's actually helping your SEO? At the beginning is a good time to set yourself up to measure your success so you can establish a baseline. Learn more about what metrics you should be tracking and how.

Time for yet another well-earned break. Grab a nap if you can and then spend a day or so observing how these issues are handled by other sites on the web. For maximum learning, try practicing some of your newfound knowledge on a site you have access to.

Set your bookmarks before you go.

When you're ready to continue learning SEO, Newbies should make a stop at on-site related topics to get familiar with Robots.txt and HTTPS.

Any veterans still hanging about might want to take a quick read through on-site related topics to see what might have changed with Robots.txt and to take in the latest wisdom on HTTPS.

Marketers, you get to sit that one out and head straight on over to link-related topics.


4. On-site related topics

on-site seo fixes

For the true SEO aficionado, there are some technical details that you must get right. We've all heard stories of people accidentally blocking their site from being crawled and then wondering where all the traffic is. To keep from being one of these, learn about Robots.txt: how it helps you get found and when blocking robots is not actually effective.

The other technical on-site topic you'll want to master is the switching of your site from HTTP to HTTPS without slowing down your site or losing traffic. This is especially important since Google announced that HTTPS is a ranking factor.

See how far you've leveled up already by getting current on just those two topics? Bet you aren't even tired yet.

Newbies, it's time to dive straight into link-related topics.

Veterans, go check out guest blogging for a look at how that practice has changed.


5. Link-related topics

links

You now know a lot about how to make your site SEO friendly. Now it's time to look at how to bend the rest of the Internet to your SEO will. Don't worry, this'll be TAGFEE.

External links

External links are a fantastic way to show search engines that your site is credible and useful. They're also a great way for users to find you by navigating from sites they already use. In short, they build your authority with humans and bots.

There are two effective ways to get more links from external sources: you can either earn them or build them. Chances are that you'll get the best results by focusing on some combination of those two tactics.

Notice how we didn't say "buy them"? Don't buy links.

Guest blogging

One tried and true way to build external links is through guest blogging, although this tactic has evolved a lot in the past few years. What used to be an "I give you content, you give me a link" sort of exchange has given way to guest blogging with a purpose.

Veterans, go ahead and pop on over to conversion rate optimization unless you want a refresh on link-related topics like link nofollow and canonicalization.

Link quality

When you're out there on the Internet trying to build links, be sure you're looking for good quality links. Those are links that come from sites that are trustworthy, popular, and relevant to your content. For more information on factors search engines use to determine link value, read this page.

Anchor text

Anchor text is simply the text that's used in a link whether it's a link to a site or within that site. The implications of anchor text, though, reach farther because while keywords in anchor text can help your site rank for those words, it's easy for keyword-stuffed anchor text to look spammy. Learn more about best practices for anchor text.

Nofollow

"Nofollow" is a designation you can apply to a link to keep it from passing any link equity (that's kind of like the SEO equivalent of an up-vote). What might surprise you is that links don't need to be "followed" to pass human authority. Even nofollowed links can help you build awareness and get more links. So when you're linking to a site (or to other content on your site) think about whether that link leads to something you're proud to be associated with.

HTTP status codes

Every Internet user eventually encounters a 404 error page, but that's just one of the many HTTP status codes found on the web. Learn the difference between a 500 and a 503 along with some best practices for 404 pages here.

Redirection

One of the most useful HTTP status codes for SEOs is the 301 redirect which is used to tell search engines a page has permanently moved elsewhere (and passes a good share of link equity). Gather all the in-depth info you ever needed about 301s and other redirects.

Canonicalization

Perhaps because it's one of the hardest SEO words to pronounce, canonicalization has a reputation for being complex. But the basic concept is simple: you have two (or more) pages that have similar content and canonicalization allows you to either combine those pages (using redirects) or indicate which version of the page you want search engines to treat as paramount. Read up on the details of using canonicalization to handle duplicate content.

You've now mastered so much SEO knowledge that you could teach the stuff (at least on a 101 level). If you've read and digested all the links along the way, you now know so much more about SEO than when you started.

But you're so self-motivated that you want to know even more, don't you?

Newbies, read closely through other optimization to refine your knowledge and apply those newly-minted optimization skills to even more aspects of the sites you're working on.

Marketers, you've done a fabulous job powering through all these topics and there's no doubt you can hold your own in the next SEO team meeting. To take your understanding of optimization even further, skim other optimization.
Or scoot on ahead and test your skills with the SEO Expert Quiz.


6. Other optimization

other optimization - funnel

There are many ways (beyond the basic SEO knowledge you've been accruing here) to give your site an optimization boost. Find (and fix) what's keeping potential customers from converting with conversion rate optimization, get your storefronts found on the web with local SEO, and find out how to prep your site to show up in international SERPs with international SEO.

Conversion rate optimization (CRO)

If shoppers are abandoning their carts so fast you're looking around for the tornado, your marketing funnel is acting more like a sieve and it's time to plug some holes. Stop the bleeding with Paddy Moogan's five-step framework for CRO. And keep on learning by keeping up with the latest CRO posts from the Moz Blog.

Local SEO

Even if you do most of your business in person at a local shop, customers are still trying to use the Internet to find you (and your hours, phone number, menu, etc.). Make sure they're getting the right info (and finding you before they find your competitor across the street) by investing some time learning about local SEO. On that page you can also sign up for the Local 7-Pack, a monthly newsletter highlighting the top local SEO news you need to know. Or, watch for the latest local SEO developments on the Moz Blog.

International SEO

A global customer base is a good thing to have, but you want to use international SEO to make sure potential customers in the UK are finding your British shipping policies instead of your American ones. Master hreflang to direct Chinese customers to content using simplified Chinese characters while you send Taiwanese customers to content that uses the traditional characters they're used to. And find out how your site structure and whether you're using a country code top-level domain (ccTLD) (like ".uk") affects your SEO and potential ranking in international SERPs.

SEO newbies, we really can't call you newbies anymore. Congratulations! No one has read deeper into this blog post or learned more along the way than you have.

SEO veterans, you knew a lot of this already, but now you're up to date on the latest tips, tricks, and techniques.

And SEO-curious marketers, if you're still hanging around, bravo! You can safely add "speaks SEO" as a feather in your cap.

You're all ready to test your skills against the experts and prove just how much you've learned, take the SEO Expert Quiz and brag about your score.


7. Test your new skills

quiz scale

Feel like you've mastered SEO already? Take the New SEO Expert Quiz to see how you stack up.

8. You did it!

SEO award

Congratulations! You're well on your way to SEO mastery. Bask in that glow for a moment or two before moving on to your next project.

9. Other resources

The fun thing about a developing field like SEO is that the learning and adventure never end. Whether you're looking for more advanced knowledge or just to learn in a different format, try Distilled U's interactive modules or Market Motive's web-based classes. If you're looking for a job in SEO, Carl Hendy might just have your roadmap.

Thanks for following along with this choose your own adventure version of how to learn SEO. Share your favorite resources and ask us about any topics we might have missed in the comments.


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