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vineri, 27 martie 2015

AdSense Insider Quarterly - March 2015

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What Does an SEO Do In Their Day-to-Day Work - Whiteboard Friday - Moz Blog

What Does an SEO Do In Their Day-to-Day Work - Whiteboard Friday

Posted on: Friday 27 March 2015 — 01:16

Posted by randfish

There's a common misconception that SEO is a "one and done" task -- that you clean up and optimize a site, and once that's done, you can focus your efforts elsewhere. There's so much more to the day-to-day work of an SEO, though, and in today's Whiteboard Friday, Rand walks us through those ongoing parts of the job.

For reference, here's a still of this week's whiteboard!

Video Transcription

Howdy, Moz fans, and welcome to another edition of Whiteboard Friday. This week I want to tackle a question I get sometimes about the day-to-day activities of an SEO and what should you do after you've completed that first site audit, sort of fixed the problems, what does the day-to-day work look like?

A lot of SEOs, especially those coming from consulting backgrounds or who've joined companies as in-house SEOs who've had kind of this big project based SEO work to do, find themselves struggling after that's done. Typically, that process is pretty straightforward. You kind of do an audit. You look at all the things on the site. You figure out what's wrong, what's missing, where are opportunities that we could execute on. Maybe you do some competitive analysis, some market analysis. You identify those fixes. You work with teams to make those changes, validate the results have been completed, and then you're sort of in this, "Well, do I go back and audit again and try to iterate and improve again?"

That doesn't feel quite right, but it also doesn't necessarily feel quite right to go to the very, very old-school SEO model of like, "All right, we've got these keywords we're trying to rank for. Let's optimize our content, get some links, check our rankings for them, and then try to rinse and repeat and keep improving." This model's pretty broken I'd say and just not reflective of the reality of opportunities that are in SEO or the reality of the tactics that work today.

So the way that I like to think about this is the SEO audit, an SEO focused audit -- which is trying to say, "What traffic could we get? What's missing? What's broken and wrong?" -- only works at the low level and the very tactical trenches of a marketing process or a business process. What you really need to do is you want to be more incrementally based, but you need to be informed by and you need to be evolving your tactics and your work based on what is the business need right now.

So this process is about saying, "What are the top level company and marketing goals overall? For everyone in the company, what are we trying to accomplish this year, this quarter, the next three year plan? What are we trying to achieve?" Then figure out areas where SEO can best contribute to that work, and then from there you're creating tactical lists of projects that maybe you're going to positively move the right needles, the ones that you've identified, and then you're going to evaluate and prioritize which ones you want to implement first, second, and third in what order, and test implement those.

So, hey we've figured out that we think that a new blog section for this particular piece of content, or we think that getting some user generated content, building up some community around this section would be terrific, or we think outreach to these kinds of publications or building up our social stats in these worlds will expose us to the right people who can earn us the amplification we'll need to rank better, etc., etc. Okay, this is a fine process, and you're going to want to do this, I would say, at least annually and maybe even think about it quarterly.

All this work is essentially centered on a customer profile universe, a universe of people. I've got my person X, Y, and Z here, but your customer universe may involve many different personas. It may involve just one type of person you're targeting that you're always trying to reach over and over again, but it probably involves also the people who influence that direct subsection of your market.

From there, you can take the, "Hey, you know what, person Z is really interested in and consumes and searches for these types of content topics and these kinds of keywords, so we're going to start by taking keyword set A or content set A and figure out our keyword list and our content list. We're going to create, launch, and promote work that supports that." It could be content pieces, could be video, could be some combination of those things in social media, all forms of content. It could be tools, whatever you want, an application.

We're going to launch that, promote it, and then work on some amplification, and then we're going to measure and learn, which is a critical part of that process. I want to not only see what are my results, but what can I learn from what we just did and hopefully I'll get better and better at iterating on this process. This process will work iteratively, kind of similar to our broken process over here or to our site audit process there. It will work iteratively, and then every now and then you should pop back up and go, "Hey, you know what, I feel like we've exhausted the easiest 80% of value that we're going to get from 20% of the work on keyword set A. Let's move on and go visit keyword set B now, and then let's go visit content set C."

Occasionally, you're even going to want to move one step up and say, "Hey, you know what, maybe our personas or our market is changing a little bit. We want to try targeting some new customers. We're going to look at these folks over here or this guy over here and see if we can reach them and their influencers with new kinds of content and topics and keywords, and that sort of thing."

If your site is rocking and rolling, if you've completed your audit, things are just smooth sailing, then this kind of a process is going to work much better, so long as it's tied to real business objectives. Then when you achieve results here, you can point back to, "Hey, remember I told you these are the areas SEO can contribute to our overall goals, and now I can connect these up directly. The metrics that I get from all this SEO stuff can tie directly to those areas, can tie directly to the business goals." Everyone from the CEO on down is going to love what you're doing for the company.

All right everyone, I hope you'll join me again next week for another edition of Whiteboard Friday. Take care.

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Seth's Blog : Hypergrowth

Hypergrowth

Fast growth comes from overwhelming the smallest possible audience with a product or service that so delights that they insist that their friends and colleagues use it. And hypergrowth is a version of the same thing, except those friends and colleagues quickly become even bigger fans, and tell even more people.

Often, we get sidetracked when we forget about "smallest possible." If you make the audience you're initially serving too big, you will dilute the very thing you set out to make, avoid critical mass, and compromise the magic of what you're building. You'll make average stuff for average people instead of something powerful for the few.

By "smallest possible" I don't mean, "too small." I mean the smallest number that eventually leads to the kernel of conversation that enables you to grow.

• Email to a friend •

joi, 26 martie 2015

Mish's Global Economic Trend Analysis

For Robots Only: Amazon Sponsored Contest; Soft Fingers Needed
Damn the Reports, Full Speed Ahead; Recession Overdue; Good Time to Normalize Rates?
Jobs and Employment: How Much Recession Warning Can One Expect?

For Robots Only: Amazon Sponsored Contest; Soft Fingers Needed

Posted: 26 Mar 2015 01:12 PM PDT

Amazon is sponsoring a robot warehouse automation contest to see who can pack the most boxes in the least amount of time without dropping any packages or crushing anything delicate such as cookies.

In the contest, in which human workers are not eligible to apply, the robots will have to work without any remote guidance from their creators.

Please consider the MIT Technology Review, Amazon Robot Contest May Accelerate Warehouse Automation.

Packets of Oreos, boxes of crayons, and squeaky dog toys will test the limits of robot vision and manipulation in a competition this May. Amazon is organizing the event to spur the development of more nimble-fingered product-packing machines.

Participating robots will earn points by locating products sitting somewhere on a stack of shelves, retrieving them safely, and then packing them into cardboard shipping boxes. Robots that accidentally crush a cookie or drop a toy will have points deducted. The people whose robots earn the most points will win $25,000.

Amazon has already automated some of the work done in its vast fulfillment centers. Robots in a few locations send shelves laden with products over to human workers who then grab and package them. These mobile robots, made by Kiva Systems, a company that Amazon bought in 2012 for $678 million, reduce the distance human workers have to walk in order to find products. However, no robot can yet pick and pack products with the speed and reliability of a human. Industrial robots that are already widespread in several industries are limited to extremely precise, repetitive work in highly controlled environments.

Pete Wurman, chief technology officer of Kiva Systems, says that about 30 teams from academic departments around the world will take part in the challenge, which will be held at the International Conference on Robotics and Automation in Seattle. In each round, robots will be told to pick and pack one of 25 different items from a stack of shelves resembling those found in Amazon's warehouses. Some teams are developing their own robots, while others are adapting commercially available systems with their own grippers and software.

The challenge facing the robots in Amazon's contest will be considerable. Humans have a remarkable ability to identify objects, figure out how to manipulate them, and then grasp them with just the right amount of force. This is especially hard for machines to do if an object is unfamiliar, awkwardly shaped, or sitting on a dark shelf with a bunch of other items. In the Amazon contest, the robots will have to work without any remote guidance from their creators.

"We tried to pick out a variety of different products that were representative of our catalogue and that pose different kinds of grasping challenges," Wurman said. "Like plastic wrap; difficult-to-grab little dog toys; things you don't want to crush, like the Oreos."

While the Amazon challenge might seem simple, Saxena believes it could quickly make an impact in the real world. "If robots are able to handle even the light types of grasping tasks the contest proposes," he says, "we could actually start to see a lot of robots helping people with different tasks."

The preceding MIT review describes the 2015 ICRA Contest May 26-30 in Seattle.

2014 Participant Video

The above video shows the 2014 University of Colorado Amazon Picking Entry.

The Baxter robot actually seems a bit clumsy because grasping and packing random objects is not a precisely repetitive action.

The University of Colorado video gets interesting towards the end, highlighting advancements in "soft fingers" and human-like skin.

Meet Baxter

I discussed Baxter on January 22, 2013 in Meet "Baxter" the Robot Out to Get Your Minimum-Wage, No Benefits, Part-Time Job, Because He's Still Much Cheaper; Fed Cannot Win a Fight Against Robots.

Soft Fingers Needed

Soft fingers and better motions are needed to win the 2015 contest, and they are coming (image from the University of Colorado video).

Anything that can be automated, will. The higher the minimum wage and the lower the interest rate, the more incentive companies have to replace humans with hardware and software robots.

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

Damn the Reports, Full Speed Ahead; Recession Overdue; Good Time to Normalize Rates?

Posted: 26 Mar 2015 11:58 AM PDT

Here's one for the I'll believe it when I see it category: Fed Officials say Rate Hike Plan Intact Despite Weak U.S. Data.

In separate events in Frankfurt and Detroit, St. Louis Fed President James Bullard and Atlanta Fed President Dennis Lockhart said U.S. monetary policy might need to be adjusted in light of the economy's steady improvement since the 2007-2009 financial crisis.

"Now may be a good time to begin normalizing U.S. monetary policy so that it is set appropriately for an improving economy over the next two years," Bullard said at a conference in the German financial hub.

The challenge now, Lockhart said, is to sort out whether recent weakness in exports, manufacturing and capital investment indicate the start of an economic slowdown or other temporary factors such as the soaring value of the U.S. dollar.

Lockhart said he is confident for now that the weakness is "transitory," and still regards it as highly likely that the Fed will raise rates at either its June, July or September meetings.

"We're still on a solid track ... The economy is throwing off some mixed signals at the moment and I think that is going to be passing or transitory," Lockhart said in an interview with CNBC from a Detroit investment conference.

"In the beginning when the dollar declined I was prepared to, to some extent, dismiss the influence of the dollar as being not great because our economy is not so export-dependent, but I'm upgrading it as a factor to watch," he said.

Totally Clueless

In simple terms, Lockhart may as well have said that he is "totally clueless."

We are going on 7 years of economic expansion.

The San Francisco Fed has an interesting report on the Duration and Timing of Recessions.

NBER records show that, over the period from the mid-1940s until 2007, the average recession lasted 10 months, while the average expansion lasted 57 months, giving us an average business cycle of 67 months or about 5 years and seven months. However, there has been considerable variation in the length of business cycle expansions and contractions in the past.

The shortest recession between the mid-1940s and 2007 lasted only six months, from January to July 1980. The two longest recessions during the period lasted 16 months each, one extending from November 1973 to March 1975, and the other from July 1981 to November 1982. In both of these periods there was a noticeable decline in real GDP.

In contrast to the relatively short duration of most recessions, periods of expansion tend to last much longer, helping the economy expand over time. The shortest expansion period from the mid-1940s until 2007 lasted only 24 months, from April 1958 to April 1960. The longest expansion continued from March 1991 to March 2001, setting a record of 120 consecutive months of growth.

Recession Overdue

Statistically speaking, a recession is overdue although there is wide variance in both the length of recessions and recoveries.

Yet, there is very little reason to believe weak report after weak report is "transitory". The idea "we're still on a solid track," is downright ludicrous.

Good Time to Normalize Rates?

Is this a good time to normalize rates?

Let's answer it this way: It's better than a month from now but not as good as two years ago. In fact, for the second time, rates never should have gotten as low as they did for as long as they did.

The Fed has sponsored three asset bubbles in recent history, each of increasing amplitude.

Three Major Bubbles

Dot-Com bubble
Housing and credit bubble
Global equity and junk bond bubble

Bubble number three is still expanding. Few admit that it's a bubble, simply because it hasn't popped yet.

If the Fed does hike (which is doubtful because Yellen is calling the shots, not Bullard or Lockhart), most will point a finger and say the "Fed caused a needless recession".

Nothing could be further from the truth.

By blowing yet another asset bubble, the Fed guaranteed another hugely destructive asset deflation bust.

Why hike? The reason to hike is the bigger the bubble, the bigger the bust, something the Fed should have thought about in advance but didn't, and never does.

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

Jobs and Employment: How Much Recession Warning Can One Expect?

Posted: 26 Mar 2015 12:17 AM PDT

Watching the Wrong Things

Many market watchers have their eye on jobs and the unemployment rate as the determinant of when the Fed will hike.

Let's investigate the wisdom of that approach with actual data.

I downloaded seasonally adjusted employment and jobs data for the last five recessions from the BLS. Because the recessions start in different months, use of seasonally adjusted data is mandatory for this exercise.

My focus is on jobs and employment in the period three months prior to the recession to three months after the recession.

I used the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) report on US Business Cycle Expansions and Contractions as the official arbiter as to when recessions begin.

Jobs are from the Establishment Survey. Employment is from the Household Survey. Results are similar.

Recessions vs. Employment (in Thousands)

Recession Date	Employ -3 Months	Employ -2 Months	Employ -1 Months	Employ -0 Months	Employ +1 Months	Employ +2 Months	Employ +3 Months	Peak Employment
1980-01	99,404	99,574	99,933	99,879	99,995	99,713	99,233	1 Month Later
1981-07	101,056	101,048	100,298	100,693	100,689	100,064	100,378	1 Month Later
1990-07	118,852	119,151	118,983	118,810	118,802	118,524	118,536	1 Month Prior
2001-03	137,614	137,778	137,612	137,783	137,299	137,092	136,873	Recession Start
2007-12	146,244	145,946	146,595	146,273	146,378	146,156	146,086	1 Month Prior

Recessions vs. Jobs (in Thousands)

Recession Date	Jobs -3 Months	Jobs -2 Months	Jobs -1 Months	Jobs -0 Months	Jobs +1 Months	Jobs +2 Months	Jobs +3 Months	Peak Jobs
1980-01	90,482	90,576	90,673	90,802	90,882	90,994	90,850	2 Months Later
1981-07	91,283	91,293	91,490	91,602	91,566	91,479	91,380	Recession Start
1990-07	109,687	109,839	109,862	109,834	109,613	109,525	109,366	1 Month Prior
2001-03	132,723	132,696	132,767	132,742	132,460	132,422	132,291	1 Month Prior
2007-12	138,053	138,136	138,253	138,350	138,365	138,278	138,199	1 Month Later

How Much Warning Can One Expect?

The answer is clearly none.

In the previous five recessions, jobs peaked two months after the start of the recession once, one month later once, one month prior twice, and once during the recession month.

In the previous five recessions, employment peaked one month after the start of the recession twice, one month prior twice, and once during the recession month.

The NBER says the last US recession started in December of 2007 and lasted until June of 2009. Let's take a closer look at stats from that recession.

2007-2009 Recession Stats

Jobs were higher three months after the recession started than two months before the recession started.
Jobs were higher two months after the recession started than one month before.
Employment was higher three months after the recession started than two months before.
Employment was higher two months after the recession started than one month before.

In the last recession, jobs and employment did not provide a clear signal for months.

Negative Data Pours In

With the exceptions of jobs, most other data has been negative.

Durable Goods: On March 25 Durable Goods Orders Unexpectedly Decline, Business Spending Declines 6th Month
Retail Sales Declined Third Month: On March 12, the Commerce Department announced retail sales were down for the third consecutive month. Economists blamed the weather. I knocked that assessment in Weather Unexpectedly Much Worse Than Economists Previously Thought.
Wholesale Trade: On March 10, the Commerce Department reported sales were down while inventories rose. I used that report to say "I Stick With My Recession Call".
Factory Orders: On March 5, US Factory Orders Unexpectedly Decline 6th Month.

Economists keep watching jobs, a lagging indicator, somehow convinced that jobs tell the story of what the Fed is about to do. Such a focus is complete silliness. When it's clear that jobs have turned, the economy will likely be in recession.

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

Damn Cool Pics

Man Reunites With Nurse That Changed His Life 40 Years Later
10 Dirty Hotel Secrets That The Owners Don't Want You To Know
Obama Forgets To Salute Marine, See What Happens After That! [Video]
The Top 15 Most Dangerous Neighborhoods In The United States
Farmer And His Son Build Transformers From Scrap Metal in China

Man Reunites With Nurse That Changed His Life 40 Years Later

Posted: 26 Mar 2015 11:33 AM PDT

Gary Bentley reunited with a nurse that changed his life at Vulcan Park Sunday afternoon. When he was a kid he had open heart surgery and he always remembered Nurse Kathy for being so nice to him during his hospital stay. He spent a lot of time trying to track her down and 40 years later he found a way to express his gratitude.

10 Dirty Hotel Secrets That The Owners Don't Want You To Know

Posted: 26 Mar 2015 11:27 AM PDT

Everyone has stayed in a hotel at some point in their lives but there's a lot of stuff that goes on behind the scenes that you don't know about. Today you're going to learn all the dirty little secrets that the hotels don't want you to know. This will change how you look at hotels forever.

Obama Forgets To Salute Marine, See What Happens After That! [Video]

Posted: 26 Mar 2015 10:38 AM PDT

President Obama forgot to salute when he boarded Marine One. He later realized his mistake and went back to the Marine.

The Top 15 Most Dangerous Neighborhoods In The United States

Posted: 26 Mar 2015 10:16 AM PDT

If you're planning to move to the United States of America make sure to stay as far away from these neighborhoods as possible.

15. Baltimore, MD (E Oliver St / N Broadway)
1 in 12 chance of becoming a victim

14. Oklahoma City, OK (NE 36th St / N Martin Luther King Ave)
1 in 12 chance of becoming a victim

13. East St. Louis, IL (Caseyville Ave / N Park Dr)
1 in 12 chance of becoming a victim

12. New Orleans, LA (Marais St)
1 in 12 chance of becoming a victim

11. Detroit, MI (W Jeffries Fwy / Seebaldt St)
1 in 12 chance of becoming a victim

10. Camden, NJ (Whitman Park)
1 in 12 chance of becoming a victim

9. Detroit, MI (Broadstreet Ave / Cortland St)
1 in 12 chance of becoming a victim

8. Detroit, MI (Wyoming St / Orangelawn St)
1 in 12 chance of becoming a victim

7. Rochester, NY (Orange St / W Broad St)
1 in 11 chance of becoming a victim

6. Memphis, TN (Chelsea Ave / N Claybrook St)
1 in 11 chance of becoming a victim

5. Rockford, IL (7th St / E Jefferson St)
1 in 11chance of becoming a victim

4. Saginaw, MI (E Holland Ave / E Genesee Ave)
1 in 11 chance of becoming a victim

3. Atlanta, GA (Mcdaniel St SW / Mary St SW)
1 in 10 chance of becoming a victim

2. Jackson, TN (James Buchanan Dr / 1st St)
1 in 10 chance of becoming a victim

1. East St. Louis, IL (City Center)
1 in 10 chance of becoming a victim

Farmer And His Son Build Transformers From Scrap Metal in China

Posted: 25 Mar 2015 08:19 PM PDT

A father and son team from China have been using scrap metal to build sculptures of Transformers and they've been very successful. They're currently making over $160,000 a year from these replicas this team is going viral thanks to their impeccable creations.