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joi, 22 ianuarie 2015

5 Years of SEO Changes and Better Goal-Setting - Videos from MozTalk 2

Posted: 21 Jan 2015 04:14 PM PST

Have you ever noticed how Rand is often speaking at conferences all around the world? Well, we realized that those of us here in Seattle rarely get to see them. So we started MozTalks, a free event here at the MozPlex.

It normally runs 2-3 hours with multiple speakers, one of whom is Rand. The event is hosted at the Moz HQ and offers time for mingling, appetizers, refreshments and of course, swag. The series is still evolving as we continue to test out new ideas (maybe taking the show on the road), so be on the lookout for any updates.

The world of marketing and SEO continues to change, but are you changing with it? Staying on the cutting edge should always be a priority, especially since early adoption has proven more beneficial than ever. Sticking with what works isn't enough anymore, and marketing isn't just about analyzing our successes and failures or understanding our returns and losses. It's about what we do next.

In the presentations below, Rand and Dr. Pete will dive deep into where metrics serve us best, as well as what really works to drive traffic and what's better left behind.

Rand: What Changed? A Brief Look at How SEO has Evolved over the Last 5 Years

Dr. Pete: From Lag to Lead: Actionable Analytics

Top takeaways

We asked both presenters for a few of their top takeaways from their talks, and they've got some gems. Here's what they had to say:

From Rand

Keyword matching has become intent matching, which doesn't mean we should avoid using keywords, but it does mean we need to change the way we determine which pages to build, which to canonicalize, and how to structure our sites and content.
The job title "SEO" may be limiting the influence we have, and we may need broader authority to impact SEO in the modern era. The onus is on marketers to make teams, clients, and execs aware of these new requirements, so they understand what we need to do in order to grow search traffic.
Webspam has gone from Google's problem to our problem. The onus is on marketers to stay wary and up-to-date with how Google is seeing their links and their site.

From Dr. Pete

As content marketers, we can't afford to see only the forest or the trees. We have to understand a wide variety of metrics, and combine them in new and insightful ways.
We have to stop looking backward using lag goals like "Get 100,000 Likes in Q4." They aren't actionable, and succeed or fail, we have no way to repeat success. We have to focus on objectives that drive specific, measurable actions.

Missed the previous talk?

The first MozTalk featured Rand and his wife Geraldine, known in the blogosphere as The Everywhereist. Rand covered what bloggers need to know about SEO, and Geraldine talked about how to make your blog audience fall in love with you. Check them both out here:

Need-to-Know SEO and Making Your Blog Audience Fall in Love - Videos from MozTalk 1

Join us for the next one

Our next free MozTalk is set for Thursday, April 2nd, and we're still finalizing plans. We'll be sure to post the videos on this blog for those of you who can't make it, but if you're in town, keep your eyes open for more details. We hope to see you there!

Sign up for The Moz Top 10, a semimonthly mailer updating you on the top ten hottest pieces of SEO news, tips, and rad links uncovered by the Moz team. Think of it as your exclusive digest of stuff you don't have time to hunt down but want to read!

Seth's Blog : A weekend seminar for those making a ruckus

A weekend seminar for those making a ruckus

Interrupt your rhythm and spend a few days with me and 80 people in a hurry to make a difference. Over the years I've discovered that these seminars work.

You can details and a link to apply right here. It's March 6, 7 and 8 just outside of New York City.

Having people apply for a seminar is an interesting choice. It certainly takes a lot more time (for you and for us) and also makes it more difficult to promote. In this case, I think it's worth it. The people in the room with you are as important (sometimes more important) than the person on stage. The connections and support and inspiration you get from those around you have a significant impact on who you will become.

We're limiting applications to 200, on a first-come, first-served basis, and then alerting successful applicants after a day or two.

The goal is simple: to create a posture of forward motion, a platform you can use to elevate your work, your company and your team.

You can find the details (and some photos) on this page. It's not inexpensive, and it's not for everyone, but for those that can find the time and urgency to step up and come, I hope it will be a turning point for you.

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Seth's Blog : Optimistic time (vs. honest time)

Optimistic time (vs. honest time)

Optimistic time seems like a good idea. "We'll ship in January." "The conference will start at noon." "I'll be there in ten minutes."

The hope is that the expectation of completion will raise our expectations and increase the chances that something will actually happen.

In fact, though, there are huge costs to optimistic time. When you announce things based on optimism, the rest of the world you're engaging with builds plans around you and your announcement. And the cost of the person who doesn't have your software or is sitting around a meeting room for hours waiting is high indeed.

The alternative is honest time. Time without recourse or negotiation. The Metro North train leaves at 5:52. Not 5:55, no matter how much you want it to wait.

The software ships, the conference starts--at precisely when we say it will. So the world plans on it and depends on it and effectiveness grows.

It doesn't ship because it's ready. It ships because it's due.

(Amazingly, this rule makes things ready a lot more often).

It's a point of view and a contract with yourself. It ships when I said it would.

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miercuri, 21 ianuarie 2015

Mish's Global Economic Trend Analysis

Central Bank Impotence: ECB as Impotent as Obama
Canadian Recession Coming Up: Yield Curve Inverts Following Unexpected Rate Cut; Loonie at Six-Year Low
Job Site of the Future: Unmanned Bulldozers and Drones for Routine Construction

Central Bank Impotence: ECB as Impotent as Obama

Posted: 21 Jan 2015 05:49 PM PST

Yesterday, President Obama gave a State of the Union Address that contained a series of proposals for US Congress on raising taxes, free education, and carbon taxes.

I commented Obama Howls at the Moon.

Every Obama proposal is Dead-on-Arrival. Obama may as well fired a spaceship at the sun. The spaceship would melt long before it got there.

Draghi vs. Obama

On Thursday, in just a few hours, ECB president Mario Draghi gets his "moment in the sun". And like Obama who telegraphed his speech in advance, rumor has it ECB Eyes €50bn Monthly Bond Purchases.

So What?

Many may be wondering "Can it possibly matter?"

Actually, it does matter, but only in the negative sense. As Steen Jakobsen chief economist of Saxo Bank in Denmark explains "Euro is Not a Good Idea and ECB About to Make Biggest Mistake in History" .

Steen's rationale, fully explained in a subsequent post is that Lower Interest Rates May Reduce Consumption. That is a proposition that Michael Pettis at China Financial Markets and Lacy Hunt at Hoisington Management both agree with.

Lacy Hunt pinged me with this thought ...

"Academic research indicates that QE in the US contracted rather than expanded economic activity, just as it did in Japan. Thus, Steen could have made the even stronger case that since it didn't work in the US or Japan, it will not work in for the ECB."

For a detailed explanation, please see Grand Experiment Failure; Bankers Prefer Bubbles; Europe is not USA; Final Epitaph.

Gaming the Reaction

I have no particular insights into what ECB president Mario Draghi will say tomorrow. Yet, I suspect he will attempt some surprise move. Surprise moves seem to be the central bank move of the day.

Regardless, whatever the ECB does, those in Germany will say he did too much. Keynesian and Monetarist clowns will howl he did too little, especially if the initial reaction is bad.

Central Bank Impotence

Here's the deal: Like president Obama, the ECB is impotent. Both bark at the moon. They only thing the ECB can do is make matters worse. Obama cannot do anything at all.

If the initial reaction from Draghi's announcement is good (something I highly doubt), it will die soon enough.

Central bank credibility is blowing up in smoke left and right. It started with "Rabbit Hole Intervention" by the Swiss National Bank. (See Wild Moves in Swiss Franc as Switzerland Abandons Euro Peg; Morals of the Story).

Credibility declined more with the announcement Denmark Announces Currency Peg is "Secure".

Central bank credibility took another plunge today with the surprise rate cut by the Canadian Central Bank. Here's my take: Canadian Recession Coming Up: Yield Curve Inverts Following Unexpected Rate Cut; Loonie at Six-Year Low.

Transparency?

Fancy that. Multiple central bank shocking announcements in short order. What happened to the alleged increase in central bank transparency?

Looking Ahead

Later this year, the Fed is supposed to hike rates. 100% of economists expect just that!

Well, what if the Fed does not hike? Or what if the Fed does not hike as much as the market expects? And what will gold do if that happens?

That's a lot of "what ifs", but since when have 100% of economists ever been right?

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

Canadian Recession Coming Up: Yield Curve Inverts Following Unexpected Rate Cut; Loonie at Six-Year Low

Posted: 21 Jan 2015 01:06 PM PST

Currency wars pick up steam today with still more unexpected central bank actions. Please consider Canadian Central Bank Unexpectedly Lowers Interest Rates.

Canada's dollar sank the most in more than three years after the central bank unexpectedly cut interest rates, saying crude oil's collapse will slow inflation and weigh on the economy.

The currency reached the weakest level in almost six years after the Bank of Canada reduced economic forecasts and lowered the benchmark rate target to 0.75 percent, from 1 percent, where it's been since 2010. Government bonds climbed, pushing yields on two-, 10- and 30-year debt to record lows. Crude, Canada's biggest export, has tumbled more than 50 percent since June amid a global glut.

"They are taking pre-emptive steps," Thomas Costerg, an economist at Standard Chartered Bank, said in a phone interview from New York. "If oil prices remain under pressure, you could potentially see further cuts. This was not expected, and it's going to put pressure on the loonie."

Preemptive Steps

How much more preemption before the derivative bubble blows sky high? On that question we find out more tomorrow.

US Dollar vs. Canadian Dollar

click on chart for sharper image

Since mid-2011 the "loonie" has lost about 24% vs. the US dollar. However, the dollar is a lot weaker than its Canadian counterpart compared to late 2001.

Canadian Yield Curve Inverts

30-year: 2.044% (Today's Low 1.998%)
10-Year: 1.426% (Today's Low 1.366%)
05-Year: 0.791% (Down 19 basis points, an 18% decline)
03-Year: 0.590% (Down 27 basis points, a 31% decline)
02-Year: 0.560% (Down 29 basis points, a 34% decline)
01-Year: 0.580% (Down 34 basis points, a 37% decline)
01-Month: 0.640% (Down 22 basis points, a 26% decline)

Blue Ribbon Announcement

Canada wins the blue ribbon for the first G-7 yield curve inversion since central bankers started unleashing competitive "preemptive" rate cuts.

Yield on the Canadian 1-year note, 2year-note, and 3-year note are all inverted (lower than yield on the 1-month note).

In addition, yield on on the 1-year note is inverted with the 2- and 3-year notes.

I smell a Canadian recession (and more surprise actions). A bust of the Canadian real estate bubble, one of the biggest in the world, is also on the way.

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

Job Site of the Future: Unmanned Bulldozers and Drones for Routine Construction

Posted: 21 Jan 2015 11:17 AM PST

Why pay an expensive bulldozer driver for foundation work when a drone from the sky paired with an unmanned bulldozer on the ground can compute 3-D plans and do the job better and faster?

Construction workers move over. You are next to be unneeded, unwanted, and unloved.

The Wall Street Journal reports Drones' Next Job: Construction Work.

Construction-equipment maker Komatsu Ltd. has plans to solve a potential shortage of construction workers in Japan: Let drones and driverless bulldozers do part of the work.

Tokyo-based Komatsu said Tuesday it plans to use unmanned aircraft, bulldozers and excavators to automate much of the early foundation work on construction sites.

Under Komatsu's plans, U.S.-made drones would scan job sites from the air and send images to computers to build three-dimensional models of the terrain. Komatsu's unmanned bulldozers and excavators would then use those models to carry out design plans, digging holes and moving earth.

The drones, made by San Francisco startup Skycatch Inc., and construction equipment would move along largely preprogrammed routes. The goal is to automate the construction site, leaving humans to program the machines and then push a button to send them to work. Human operators would also monitor progress and can jump in to take control of a machine if necessary.

Companies have started employing automated trucks and other equipment at mines in recent years, but Komatsu's program appears to be one of the most ambitious plans to automate work in a setting as dynamic as a construction site.

The Skycatch drones are programmed to automatically fly over a set area and use sensors to collect data on the terrain below. The drones even return to ground stations and swap in new batteries when power is running low.

Job Site of the Future

"We think this is the future job site," said Akinori Onodera, president of the Komatsu.

The future comes fast these days. Most likely, this will be routine in a few years or so.

Meanwhile, the Fed (central banks in general), and governments are hell-bent on policies that are guaranteed to make matters worse.

Low interest rates to finance such operations, coupled with rising minimum wage demands provides maximum leverage for drones, unmanned vehicles, hardware robots, and software robots to replace humans far quicker than otherwise would happen.

Further Review