How to Rank in 2018: The SEO Checklist – Whiteboard Friday

Posted by randfish

It’s hard enough as it is to explain to non-SEOs how to rank a webpage. In an increasingly complicated field, to do well you’ve got to have a good handle on a wide variety of detailed subjects. This edition of Whiteboard Friday covers a nine-point checklist of the major items you’ve got to cross off to rank in the new year — and maybe get some hints on how to explain it to others, too.

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Video Transcription

Howdy, Moz fans, and welcome to a special New Year’s edition of Whiteboard Friday. This week we’re going to run through how to rank in 2018 in a brief checklist format.

So I know that many of you sometimes wonder, “Gosh, it feels overwhelming to try and explain to someone outside the SEO profession how to get a web page ranked.” Well, you know what? Let’s explore that a little bit this week on Whiteboard Friday. I sent out a tweet asking folks, “Send me a brief checklist in 280 characters or less,” and I got back some amazing responses. I have credited some folks here when they’ve contributed. There is a ton of detail to ranking in the SEO world, to try and rank in Google’s results. But when we pull out, when we go broad, I think that just a few items, in fact just the nine we’ve got here can basically take you through the majority of what’s required to rank in the year ahead. So let’s dive into that.

I. Crawlable, accessible URL whose content Google can easily crawl and parse.

So we want Googlebot’s spiders to be able to come to this page, to understand the content that’s on there in a text readable format, to understand images and visuals or video or embeds or anything else that you’ve got on the page in a way that they are going to be able to put into their web index. That is crucial. Without it, none of the rest of this stuff even matters.

II. Keyword research

We need to know and to uncover the words and phrases that searchers are actually using to solve or to get answers to the problem that they are having in your world. Those should be problems that your organization, your website is actually working to solve, that your content will help them to solve.

What you want here is a primary keyword and hopefully a set of related secondary keywords that share the searcher’s intent. So the intent behind of all of these terms and phrases should be the same so that the same content can serve it. When you do that, we now have a primary and a secondary set of keywords that we can target in our optimization efforts.

III. Investigate the SERP to find what Google believes to be relevant to the keywords’s searches

I want you to do some SERP investigation, meaning perform a search query in Google, see what comes back to you, and then figure out from there what Google believes to be relevant to the keywords searches. What does Google think is the content that will answer this searcher’s query? You’re trying to figure out intent, the type of content that’s required, and whatever missing pieces might be there. If you can find holes where, hey, no one is serving this, but I know that people want the answer to it, you might be able to fill that gap and take over that ranking position. Thanks to Gaetano, @gaetano_nyc, for the great suggestion on this one.

IV. Have the most credible, amplifiable person or team available create content that’s going to serve the searcher’s goal and solve their task better than anyone else on page one.

There are three elements here. First, we want an actually credible, worthy of amplification person or persons to create the content. Why is that? Well, because if we do that, we make amplification, we make link building, we make social sharing way more likely to happen, and our content becomes more credible, both in the eyes of searchers and visitors as well as in Google’s eyes too. So to the degree that that is possible, I would certainly urge you to do it.

Next, we’re trying to serve the searcher’s goal and solve their task, and we want to do that better than anyone else does it on page one, because if we don’t, even if we’ve optimized a lot of these other things, over time Google will realize, you know what? Searchers are frustrated with your result compared to other results, and they’re going to rank those other people higher. Huge credit to Dan Kern, @kernmedia on Twitter, for the great suggestion on this one.

V. Craft a compelling title, meta description.

Yes, Google still does use the meta description quite frequently. I know it seems like sometimes they don’t. But, in fact, there’s a high percent of the time when the actual meta description from the page is used. There’s an even higher percentage where the title is used. The URL, while Google sometimes truncates those, also used in the snippet as well as other elements. We’ll talk about schema and other kinds of markup later on. But the snippet is something that is crucial to your SEO efforts, because that determines how it displays in the search result. How Google displays your result determines whether people want to click on your listing or someone else’s. The snippet is your opportunity to say, “Come click me instead of those other guys.” If you can optimize this, both from a keyword perspective using the words and phrases that people want, as well as from a relevancy and a pure drawing the click perspective, you can really win.

VI. Intelligently employ those primary, secondary, and related keywords

Related keywords meaning those that are semantically connected that Google is going to view as critical to proving to them that your content is relevant to the searcher’s query — in the page’s text content. Why am I saying text content here? Because if you put it purely in visuals or in video or some other embeddable format that Google can’t necessarily easily parse out, eeh, they might not count it. They might not treat it as that’s actually content on the page, and you need to prove to Google that you have the relevant keywords on the page.

VII. Where relevant and possible, use rich snippets and schema markup to enhance the potential visibility that you’re going to get.

This is not possible for everyone. But in some cases, in the case that you’re getting into Google news, or in the case that you’re in the recipe world and you can get visuals and images, or in the case where you have a featured snippet opportunity and you can get the visual for that featured snippet along with that credit, or in the case where you can get rich snippets around travel or around flights, other verticals that schema is supporting right now, well, that’s great. You should take advantage of those opportunities.

VIII. Optimize the page to load fast, as fast as possible and look great.

I mean look great from a visual, UI perspective and look great from a user experience perspective, letting someone go all the way through and accomplish their task in an easy, fulfilling way on every device, at every speed, and make it secure too. Security critically important. HTTPS is not the only thing, but it is a big part of what Google cares about right now, and HTTPS was a big focus in 2016 and 2017. It will certainly continue to be a focus for Google in 2018.

IX. You need to have a great answer to the question: Who will help amplify this and why?

When you have that great answer, I mean a specific list of people and publications who are going to help you amplify it, you’ve got to execute to earn solid links and mentions and word of mouth across the web and across social media so that your content can be seen by Google’s crawlers and by human beings, by people as highly relevant and high quality.

You do all this stuff, you’re going to rank very well in 2018. Look forward to your comments, your additions, your contributions, and feel free to look through the tweet thread as well.

Thanks to all of you who contributed via Twitter and to all of you who followed us here at Moz and Whiteboard Friday in 2017. We hope you have a great year ahead. Thanks for watching. Take care.

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The Year in AdWords, SEO in 2018 & More Top Stories From December

If you’ve spent any time online in the past several weeks, you’re almost undoubtedly fatigued by the inevitable slew of year-end retrospectives and round-ups. However, at the risk of sounding like one of those insufferable hipster types, we were doing it before it was cool, and we couldn’t bid a fond farewell to 2017 without looking back at the top stories from the WordStream blog in December.

Even though many of you were preoccupied with finishing up your holiday shopping or taking a well-earned break, the world of digital marketing waits for no one. December was a very busy month here at the WordStream blog, and in case you were as busy as we were, here are the top 10 posts of the month.

1. 3 Strategies to Make Your Facebook Custom Audiences 3X More Effective

When it comes to custom audience targeting, Facebook is an absolute beast. Seriously, it’s incredible (and a little creepy) just how granularly you can target custom audience segments with your Facebook ads.

However, in the spirit of new year’s resolutions, there’s always room for improvement, and in our most popular post of December, Larry Kim outlines three actionable strategies to make your custom audiences in Facebook even more effective – three times more effective, to be precise!

2. The Year in AdWords: The 27 Biggest Stories of 2017

Keeping up with the near-constant stream of updates, additions, and tweaks that Google makes to its AdWords platform every year can be a full-time job in itself. It’s one of the most frequent complaints we hear from digital marketers and small businesses, which is why Allen compiled this round-up of the 27 biggest AdWords stories of the year in this post. How many of these updates snuck past you while you were busy with other things?

3. Top 10: Best Video Editing Software for Beginners

With so much emphasis being placed on the importance of video content these days, more and more people are getting started with editing their own videos.

If you’re planning to master the fundamentals of video editing as a new year’s resolution, you should check out this post by Gordon which breaks down the pros and cons of 10 video editing software suites from a newbie’s perspective.

4. 7 Hard Truths About SEO in 2018

Every new year brings with it a tsunami of content focused on what we should expect in the world of SEO. However, with semantic and contextual search poised to become even more prevalent in 2018, the future of SEO has never been more uncertain. In our fourth-most popular post of December, guest blogger Tom Whiley of Hallam Internet explores seven hard truths about what SEOs should anticipate next year.

5. Major Changes to Google Ad Grants: What Your Nonprofit Needs to Know

Not content to endlessly tinker with AdWords this year, Google also made several sweeping changes to its Ad Grants program. More than 35,000 nonprofits worldwide rely on this program to help achieve their marketing and advertising goals, which is why if you work for or run a nonprofit, you need to read this post by Allen.

Some of these changes are truly immense, so be sure to get the lowdown on what you need to know to avoid being caught out.

6. 9 Quality Sources for Beautiful Landing Page Templates

Building beautiful, high-converting landing pages is easier than ever, but even so, some marketers and small-business owners simply don’t have the time or expertise to create their own. That’s why Margot put together this excellent list of nine quality sources for landing page templates. From drag-and-drop page editors to fully Bootstrap-compatible templates, there’s something for everyone. Now there’s truly no excuse for not overhauling those grotesque landing pages you’ve been meaning to update!

7. Every Important Google Algorithm Update Since 2003

Remember earlier when we talked about how often Google tinkers with AdWords? Wouldn’t it be interesting to see a full list of the most important algorithm updates Google has made during the past 14 years? Well, now you can!

In this post, Gordon breaks down every single major Google algorithm update made since 2003. How many of these do you remember?

8. 5 Must-Have Tools to Help Manage Your Digital Marketing Agency

Agencies face unique challenges, not least of which is managing multiple accounts – sometimes as many as several hundred – while still trying to find and secure new business. Fortunately, there are plenty of tools that digital marketing agencies can use to stay ahead of the curve, and in this post, Ben Wood of Hallam Internet evaluates five such tools.

9. 7 of the Biggest Facebook Advertising Updates in 2017

Our penultimate post of this month’s round-up is another retrospective, but I promise it’s well worth checking out. Margot explores seven of the most significant updates to Facebook Ads we saw this year, and examines how they could affect your campaigns in 2018.

From new measures intended to combat disinformation (or what Facebook calls “foreign interference”) to redesigned tools for international advertisers, there were plenty of major changes to Facebook Ads this year. If you’re advertising on Facebook, this post is essential reading.

10. Social Media for Nonprofits: 6 Ways to Make a Difference

In our final post of 2017’s final best-of round-up, yours truly looks at six ways you can more effectively leverage the power of social media for your nonprofit organization. Complete with plenty of real-world examples of nonprofits that are crushing it on social, this actionable guide will help you attract new followers, engage with your most loyal advocates, and spread the word about the work your nonprofit is doing to make the world a better place.

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The Very Best of the Moz Blog 2017: Our Top 50 Posts

Posted by FeliciaCrawford

Now, I know we technically have a few days left in 2017, but I’m ready to dive head-first into a fond, full-blown retrospective. Each year we look back on what we’ve published, compiling and sharing the pieces you liked best. Normally we divvy it up via various metrics: traffic, 1Metric score, total thumbs up, total comments, the best of YouMoz, and so on and so forth. This year, however, we’re doing things just a little differently.

A lot has changed in the past year…

The way we run the blog has changed in a few significant ways from the days of yesteryear. YouMoz, our user-generated content blog, was retired in the autumn of 2016 (though we hope to resurrect it in another form someday). We reduced our publishing frequency a bit, and refocused our content on core SEO topics after spending 2015 and 2016 branching out into other marketing subjects (like social media and content marketing). We also made some big changes with regards to commenting: we closed comments on posts older than 30 days (they became veritable spam factories), and implemented stricter moderation filters to better catch spammy comments fishing for either a link or easy MozPoints.

And if I’m being completely honest, I don’t think the “Best of” posts from years past have offered you, our beloved readers, as much value as they should’ve. The most excited comments on those posts occur when someone discovers a gem they’d missed, when a post reaches out to you from the masses of online content clamoring for your attention and speaks to you. The way we formerly ranked “the best” resulted in a lot of overlap; the same few posts with lots of thumbs up, a busy comments section, and high traffic overwhelmed the leaderboard.

What criteria now determines “best”?

At the end of 2017, we’re starting fresh. First, I’ve taken our ten most popular blog post categories by traffic — these represent the topics readers are actively seeking information on. Next, I thought about which metric matters most to me when I consider the success of a blog post. Traffic, thumbs, social shares… Nice to see, yes, but they don’t paint a very clear picture of a post’s impact. I found myself returning to my favorite blog post metric again and again: the comments.

A post with a lively comments section can be many things. Perhaps it sparked questions or debate; perhaps the findings were controversial; perhaps it was simply inspiring. Whatever the reason, a heavily commented-on post represents something that struck a chord, that convinced a person to peek out from behind their keyboard shield and contribute a thought, that coaxed a little extra effort and commitment from our community. As a silent lurker myself, I am consistently blown away by the humility, genius, and generosity you all display in the blog comments section every day.

So there we have it: this year’s Best of the Moz Blog 2017 is a list of the top five most-commented posts in the top ten blog categories. That’s fifty unique blog posts throughout the year on a variety of topics, some of which you may have missed. Most blog posts fall into several of our categories, but every post will only be listed once; if it’s hit the top five in a more popular category, I’ve taken it out of the running for the rest. It’s my sincere hope that this list uncovers something useful for you, something that helps make your job and day just a little easier.

Without further ado, let’s get this party started!

(If you’re curious, check out the Best of 2016 and the Best of 2015, too.)

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The top 5 Whiteboard Fridays

Whiteboard Friday is far and away our most popular blog category, earning three times as much traffic as the rest. Because it always overlaps with at least one other category, you’re bound to get a tidy grab bag of SEO takeaways with this list!

10 Things that DO NOT (Directly) Affect Your Google Rankings

Rand Fishkin, September 22nd

Thumbs: 85
Comments: 180

What do the age of your site, your headline H1/H2 preference, bounce rate, and shared hosting all have in common? You might’ve gotten a hint from the title: not a single one of them directly affects your Google rankings. In this rather comforting Whiteboard Friday, Rand lists out ten factors commonly thought to influence your rankings that Google simply doesn’t care about.

What Do Google’s New, Longer Snippets Mean for SEO?

Rand Fishkin, December 8th

Thumbs: 100
Comments: 136

Featured snippets and meta descriptions have brand-new character limits, and it’s a huge change for Google and SEOs alike. Learn about what’s new, when it changed, and what it all means for SEO in this episode of Whiteboard Friday. (And this is cheating, but for good measure, you might follow up with Dr. Pete’s official recommendation for meta description lengths in 2018.)

What Links Can You Get that Comply with Google’s Guidelines?

Marie Haynes, January 20th

Thumbs: 68
Comments: 112

If you’ve ever been the victim of a Google penalty, you know how painful it can be to identify the problem and recover from the hit. Even if you’ve been penalty-free thus far, the threat of getting penalized is a source of worry. But how can you avoid it, when it seems like unnatural links lurk around every corner?

In this Whiteboard Friday, we warmly welcome Google penalty and unnatural link expert Marie Haynes as she shares how to earn links that do comply with Google’s guidelines, that will keep your site out of trouble, and that can make a real impact.

7 ‹Title Tag› Hacks for Increased Rankings + Traffic – Whiteboard Friday

Cyrus Shepard, May 5th

Thumbs: 185
Comments: 103

You may find yourself wondering whether the humble title tag still matters in modern SEO. When it comes to your click-through rate, the answer is a resounding yes! In this Whiteboard Friday, we welcome back our good friend Cyrus Shepard to talk about 7 ways you can revamp your title tags to increase your site traffic and rankings.

Comment Marketing: How to Earn Benefits from Community Participation

Rand Fishkin, January 13th

Thumbs: 53
Comments: 97

It’s been a few years since we’ve covered the topic of comment marketing, but that doesn’t mean it’s out of date. There are clever, intentional ways to market yourself and your brand in the comments sections of sites, and there’s less competition now than ever before. In this Whiteboard Friday, Rand details what you can do to get noticed in the comments and the benefits you’ll reap from high-quality contributions.

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The top 5 posts in On-Page SEO

The results of our recent Moz Blog Reader Survey highlighted on-page SEO as the topic you’d most like to learn about, so it’s not surprising to see that this category sits right under Whiteboard Friday for popularity. There’s an interesting theme that emerges from these top posts: it seems we’re still working on many of the same things, but how we treat them has necessarily changed over time.

How Links in Headers, Footers, Content, and Navigation Can Impact SEO – Whiteboard Friday

Rand Fishkin, October 20th

Thumbs: 68
Comments: 92

Which link is more valuable: the one in your nav, or the one in the content of your page? Now, how about if one of those in-content links is an image, and one is text? Not all links are created equal, and getting familiar with the details will help you build a stronger linking structure. This Whiteboard Friday covers links in headers and footers, in navigation versus content, and how that can affect internal and external links, link equity, and link value between your site and others.

It’s Time to Stop Doing On-Page SEO Like It’s 2012

Rand Fishkin, February 6th

Thumbs: 84
Comments: 91

On-page SEO has evolved in the past five years. Rand outlines the changes in five succinct tactics: move beyond keyword repetition rules; searcher intent matters more than raw keywords; related topics are essential; links don’t always beat on-page; and topical authority is more important than ever.

The Wonderful World of SEO Meta Tags [Refreshed for 2017]

Kate Morris, April 13th

Thumbs: 46
Comments: 67

Which meta tags are absolutely necessary, which are dependent on your situation, and which should you absolutely ignore or remove? Kate Morris refreshes her original 2010 post on the subject of meta tags, sharing a few new tips and reiterating what’s remained the same over the past 7 years.

Designing a Page’s Content Flow to Maximize SEO Opportunity – Whiteboard Friday

Rand Fishkin, December 1st

Thumbs: 54
Comments: 48

Controlling and improving the flow of your on-site content can actually help your SEO. What’s the best way to capitalize on the opportunity present in your page design? Rand covers the questions you need to ask (and answer) and the goals you should strive for in this edition of Whiteboard Friday.

How to Do a Content Audit [Updated for 2017]

Everett Sizemore, March 22nd

Thumbs: 49
Comments: 31

Learn how to do content audits for SEO in this comprehensive, updated guide by Everett Sizemore, including tips for crawling large websites, rendering JavaScript content, and auditing dynamic mobile content.

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The top 5 posts in Local SEO

Local SEO overlaps with what we think of as traditional SEO in many ways, so it’s not surprising at all to see this category near the top. There’s still a lot of doubt and apprehension, it seems, when it comes to local SEO best practices and what really works, and the top posts in this category reflect that.

Local SEO Spam Tactics Are Working: How You Can Fight Back

Casey Meraz, March 28th

Thumbs: 48
Comments: 75

It’s very clear that spam tactics in Google’s local results are earning higher rankings. In this post, Casey Meraz identifies exactly what spammers are doing to get ahead, what they can get away with, and what you can do to fight back against the problem plaguing local results.

Not-Actually-the-Best Local SEO Practices

Miriam Ellis, December 11th

Thumbs: 47
Comments: 72

Not all common practices in local SEO are the best practices. In fact, some of them can be pretty darn harmful. Check out Miriam’s list of what-not-to-dos (and what-you-should-actually-dos) in this comprehensive blog post.

The 2017 Local SEO Forecast: 10 Predictions According to Mozzers

Miriam Ellis, February 14th

Thumbs: 35
Comments: 67

From Google providing intimate details about businesses to Amazon expanding even further into the local scene, local SEO stood to see a lot of change this year. Check out what the SEOs at Moz had to say about what to prepare for in 2017.

Proximity to Searcher is the New #1 Local Search Ranking Factor

Darren Shaw, February 22nd

Thumbs: 58
Comments: 65

Forget everything you thought you knew about the most impactful local ranking factors — searcher proximity just may be the number-one thing influencing where a local business shows on the SERPs.

How to Perform a Basic Local Business Competitive Audit

Miriam Ellis, August 22nd

Thumbs: 32
Comments: 65

Are you outranked in Google’s Local Pack? Then it’s high time to perform a competitive business audit. Use this example analysis and downloadable spreadsheet to analyze the strengths and weaknesses of multiple businesses and devise a plan to win.

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The top 5 posts in Basic SEO

Basic SEO is another category that enjoys a lot of overlap with other topics; perhaps that’s one reason why it’s so popular. This year’s top posts in this category cover a range of subjects, and all are pretty useful for someone learning (or leveling up in) SEO.

Aren’t 301s, 302s, and Canonicals All Basically the Same? – Whiteboard Friday

Dr. Pete, March 3rd

Thumbs: 62
Comments: 69

They say history repeats itself. In the case of the great 301 vs 302 vs rel=canonical debate, it repeats itself about every three months. In this Whiteboard Friday, Dr. Pete explains how bots and humans experience pages differently depending on which solution you use, why it matters, and how each choice may be treated by Google.

How to Prioritize SEO Tasks [+Worksheet]

Britney Muller, September 21st

Thumbs: 41
Comments: 64

An absolute essential if you want to keep yourself from getting overwhelmed, Moz’s own SEO Britney Muller offers five tips for prioritizing your SEO work: setting specific goals, identifying important pages for conversions, uncovering technical opportunities via a site crawl, time management, and providing consistent benchmarks and reporting.

5 Tactics to Earn Links Without Having to Directly Ask – Whiteboard Friday

Rand Fishkin, July 28th

Thumbs: 71
Comments: 63

Typical link outreach is a tired sport, and we’ve all but alienated most content creators with our constant link requests. In this Whiteboard Friday, Rand outlines five smart ways to earn links to your site without having to beg.

“SEO Is Always Changing”… Or Is It?: Debunking the Myth and Getting Back to Basics

Bridget Randolph, July 19th

Thumbs: 56
Comments: 60

We’re so fond of the idea that SEO is hard because it’s always changing. But is that really true? Bridget Randolph challenges a common industry refrain and brings us back to the basics of what’s really important in our work.

How to Target Multiple Keywords with One Page – Next Level

Brian Childs, June 15th

Thumbs: 45
Comments: 56

In this edition of our educational Next Level series, you’ll learn an easy workflow for researching and targeting multiple keywords with a single page.

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The top five posts in Link Building

A thousand years from now, when the Space Needle has toppled into Puget Sound and our great-great-great-great-etc. grandchildren are living on Mars, link building will still prove to be one of the most popular subjects on the Moz Blog. And you get a double-whammy of goodness this year, because they just so happen to all be Whiteboard Fridays!

Should SEOs Care About Internal Links? – Whiteboard Friday

Rand Fishkin, May 26th

Thumbs: 85
Comments: 87

Internal links are one of those essential SEO items you have to get right to avoid getting them really wrong. Rand shares 18 tips to help inform your strategy, going into detail about their attributes, internal vs. external links, ideal link structures, and much, much more in this edition of Whiteboard Friday.

How to Prioritize Your Link Building Efforts & Opportunities – Whiteboard Friday

Rand Fishkin, February 17th

Thumbs: 73
Comments: 81

We all know how effective link building efforts can be, but it can be an intimidating, frustrating process — and sometimes even a chore. In this Whiteboard Friday, Rand builds out a framework you can start using today to streamline and simplify the link building process for you, your teammates, and yes, even your interns.

The 3 Easiest Link Building Tactics Any Website Can Use to Acquire Their First 50 Links – Whiteboard Friday

Rand Fishkin, September 8th

Thumbs: 81
Comments: 77

Without a solid base of links, your site won’t be competitive in the SERPs — even if you do everything else right. But building your first few links can be difficult and discouraging, especially for new websites. Never fear — Rand is here to share three relatively quick, easy, and tool-free (read: actually free) methods to build that solid base and earn yourself links.

When and How to Use Domain Authority, Page Authority, and Link Count Metrics – Whiteboard Friday

Rand Fishkin, June 16th

Thumbs: 50
Comments: 71

How can you effectively apply link metrics like Domain Authority and Page Authority alongside your other SEO metrics? Where and when does it make sense to take them into account, and what exactly do they mean? In this Whiteboard Friday, Rand answers these questions and more, arming you with the knowledge you need to better understand and execute your SEO work.

Image Link Building – Whiteboard Friday

Britney Muller, December 15th

Thumbs: 48
Comments: 63

Image link building is a delicate art. There are some distinct considerations from traditional link building, and doing it successfully requires a balance of creativity, curiosity, and having the right tools on hand. In this Whiteboard Friday, Moz’s own SEO and link building aficionado Britney Muller offers up concrete advice for successfully building links via images.

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The top 5 posts in Advanced SEO

2017’s top posts in the advanced SEO category cover just about every post type we like to publish (and that you like to read): in-depth case studies, Whiteboard Fridays, best practice advice, and solid how-tos.

[Case Study] How We Ranked #1 for a High-Volume Keyword in Under 3 Months

Dmitry Dragilev, April 19th

Thumbs: 73
Comments: 140

If you’ve been struggling to take the number-one spot in the SERPs for a competitive keyword, take a cue from this case study. Dmitry Dragilev shares his team’s 8-step methodology for ranking first in a popular niche.

How Google AdWords (PPC) Does and Doesn’t Affect Organic Results – Whiteboard Friday

Rand Fishkin, November 17th

Thumbs: 68
Comments: 89

It’s common industry knowledge that PPC can have an effect on our organic results. But what effect is that, exactly, and how does it work? In this Whiteboard Friday, Rand covers the ways paid ads influence organic results — and one very important way they don’t.

SEO Best Practices for Canonical URLs + the Rel=Canonical Tag – Whiteboard Friday

Rand Fishkin, July 14th

Thumbs: 62
Comments: 87

If you’ve ever had any questions about the canonical tag, well, have we got the Whiteboard Friday for you. In this episode, Rand defines what rel=canonical means and its intended purpose, when it’s recommended you use it, how to use it, and sticky situations to avoid.

How to Uncover Hidden Keyword-Level Data Using Google Sheets

Sarah Lively, February 13th

Thumbs: 42
Comments: 83

Which keywords are driving your organic traffic? Keyword-level data doesn’t have to be (not provided). Sarah Lively shares a smart solution using two free add-ons for Google Sheets.

How Long Should Your Meta Description Be? (2018 Edition)

Dr. Pete, December 19th

Thumbs: 49
Comments: 76

The end of November saw a spike in the average length of SERP snippets. Across 90K results, we found a definite increase but many oddities, such as video snippets. Our data suggests that many snippets are exceeding 300 characters, and we recommend a new meta description limit of 300 characters.

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The top 5 posts in Technical SEO

Technical SEO posts are some of my favorite categories to publish (which is perhaps a strange sentiment coming from a poetry major). The debate that recently raged — about whether it’s necessary or unnecessary for SEO — will always stick with many of us, as will Rand’s excellent Whiteboard Friday rebuttal on the topic.

XML Sitemaps: The Most Misunderstood Tool in the SEO’s Toolbox

Michael Cottam, April 11th

Thumbs: 43
Comments: 83

XML sitemaps are a powerful tool for SEOs, but are often misunderstood and misused. Michael Cottam explains how to leverage XML sitemaps to identify and resolve indexation problems.

JavaScript & SEO: Making Your Bot Experience As Good As Your User Experience

Alexis Sanders, June 20th

Thumbs: 56
Comments: 79

More and more, we’re realizing it’s incredibly important for us as SEOs to understand JavaScript’s impact on search experience. Can search engines see your content and experience your site the way a user does? If not, what solutions can you use to fix it?

Pros and Cons of HTTPS Services: Traditional vs Let’s Encrypt vs Cloudflare

JR Ridley, September 13th

Thumbs: 38
Comments: 78

Thinking about going secure? It’s more important than ever, with Google issuing security warnings for many non-secure sites in Chrome. This comparison of three popular HTTPS services will help you determine the best option for implementing an SSL certification on your site.

Mastering Google Search Operators in 67 Easy Steps

Dr. Pete, March 1st

Thumbs: 82
Comments: 76

Google search operators are like chess – knowing how the pieces move doesn’t make you a master. Dive into 67 examples, from content research to site audits, and level up your search operator game.

Unlocking Hidden Gems Within Schema.org

Alexis Sanders, October 18th

Thumbs: 45
Comments: 69

Schema.org can be a confusing resource if you’re trying to learn how to use and implement structured data. This mini-guide arms you with the right kind of thinking to tackle your next structured data project.

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The top 5 posts in Keyword Research

The posts generating the most buzz in our keyword research category seem to revolve around quick yet effective wins and tactical advice. And with time constraints being one of the biggest challenges reported in our Reader’s Survey, it’s really no surprise.

The Lazy Writer’s Guide to 30-Minute Keyword Research

Britney Muller, July 26th

Thumbs: 52
Comments: 54

Keyword research doesn’t have to be a marathon bender. A brisk 30-minute walk can provide incredible insights — insights that connect you with a wider audience on a deeper level. Britney Muller shares several ways to get your keyword research tasks done efficiently and well.

The Keyword + Year Content/Rankings Hack – Whiteboard Friday

Rand Fishkin, February 10th

Thumbs: 63
Comments: 49

What’s the secret to earning site traffic from competitive keywords with decent search volume? The answer could be as easy as 1, 2, 3 — or more precisely, 2, 0, 1, 7. In this Whiteboard Friday, Rand lets you in on a relatively straightforward tactic that can help you compete in a tough space using very fresh content.

3 Tactics for Hyperlocal Keywords – Whiteboard Friday

Rand Fishkin, February 24th

Thumbs: 63
Comments: 47

Trying to target a small, specific region with your keywords can prove frustrating. While reaching a high-intent local audience is incredibly valuable, without volume data to inform your keyword research, you’ll find yourself hitting a wall. In this Whiteboard Friday, Rand shares how to uncover powerful, laser-focused keywords that will reach exactly the right people.

Which of My Competitor’s Keywords Should (& Shouldn’t ) I Target? – Whiteboard Friday

Rand Fishkin, November 24th

Thumbs: 45
Comments: 44

You don’t want to try to rank for every one of your competitors’ keywords. Like most things with SEO, it’s important to be strategic and intentional with your decisions. In this Whiteboard Friday, Rand shares his recommended process for understanding your funnel, identifying the right competitors to track, and prioritizing which of their keywords you ought to target.

NEW in Keyword Explorer: See Who Ranks & How Much with Keywords by Site

Rand Fishkin, October 23rd

Thumbs: 41
Comments: 43

It’s not often that a product-focused post makes our blog’s Best of the Year list, so this is both interesting and heartening to see. We worked really hard to bring better data and more usefulness to Keyword Explorer this year, and y’all left some really kind sentiments in the comments. Thanks for always being here for us, folks!

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The top 5 posts in Content

I won’t say it, I promise. But content is just as important as ever, and the rather vague advice of “create great content and the rest will come” has certainly gotten a bit exhausting over the years. We’ve made an effort to publish more actionable ways to think about and use content, and it seems like that’s been resonating with you so far!

Refurbishing Top Content – Whiteboard Friday

Britney Muller, February 3rd

Thumbs: 66
Comments: 82

You’ve got top-performing content on your site that does really well. Maybe it’s highly converting, maybe it garners the most qualified traffic — but it’s just sitting there gathering dust. Isn’t there something else you can do with content that’s clearly proven its worth?

As it turns out, there is! In this Whiteboard Friday, Britney Muller shares three easy steps for identifying, repurposing, and republishing your top content to juice every drop of goodness out of it.

What We Learned From Analyzing 1.4 Million Featured Snippets

A.J. Ghergich, January 17th

Thumbs: 48
Comments: 78

From optimal snippet length, to practical application tips, to which queries prefer tables, lists, or paragraphs, learn everything you need to know to supercharge your snippet wins.

The Perfect Blog Post Length and Publishing Frequency is B?!!$#÷x – Whiteboard Friday

Rand Fishkin, August 18th

Thumbs: 76
Comments: 65

The perfect blog post length or publishing frequency doesn’t actually exist. “Perfect” isn’t universal — your content’s success depends on tons of personalized factors. In this Whiteboard Friday, Rand explains why the idea of “perfect” is baloney when it comes to your blog, and lists what you should actually be looking for in a successful publishing strategy.

Learning to Re-Share: 4 Strategies to Renew, Refresh, and Recycle Content for Bigger Reach

Jen Carney, August 2nd

Thumbs: 31
Comments: 51

You’ve spend too much time and effort on content creation to share it only once. Check out four smart strategies you can implement today to improve the reach of your existing content.

How to Build the Right Content Marketing Strategy for SEO Growth

Alli Berry, November 15th

Thumbs: 30
Comments: 51

Keywords are important for innumerable SEO tasks, but driving your content marketing strategy isn’t one of them. Your strategy should be based on the audience you’re trying to reach if you want your organic traffic to convert.

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Paid Search Marketing

While it perhaps seems a little strange for an SEO blog to cover, paid search plays an important part in our digital marketing world, and as reported in our Reader’s Survey, plenty of us wear more than one hat. Here are the top posts from 2017 that generated the most commentary about all things paid:

Do iPhone Users Spend More Online Than Android Users?

Martin Meany, October 11th

Thumbs: 27
Comments: 71

iPhone users tend to spend 3x as much as Android users, according to an analysis of 31 million mobile e-commerce sessions. Digital marketers can capitalize on this revelation via Facebook and AdWords.

Branding Success: How to Use PPC to Amplify Your Brand

Purna Virji, February 21st

Thumbs: 34
Comments: 44

You might be surprised to learn that branding and PPC go hand-in-hand. Find out how to leverage your PPC campaigns to strengthen your brand and win conversions and loyalty from your customers.

No, Paid Search Audiences Won’t Replace Keywords

Kirk Williams, May 30th

Thumbs: 33
Comments: 29

Keywords or audience targeting? Kirk Williams sets out to argue that far from being dead, keywords are still the most useful tool in the paid search marketer’s toolbox.

Paid Social for Content Marketing Launches – Whiteboard Friday

Kane Jamison, September 29th

Thumbs: 31
Comments: 29

Stuck in a content marketing rut? Relying on your existing newsletter, social followers, or email outreach won’t do your launches justice. Boosting your signal with paid social both introduces your brand to new audiences and improves your launch’s traffic and results. In this Whiteboard Friday, we’re welcoming back our good friend Kane Jamison to highlight four straightforward, actionable tactics you can start using ASAP.

The Step-By-Step Guide to Testing Voice Search Via PPC

Purna Virji, March 21st

Thumbs: 30
Comments: 24

Conversational interfaces are becoming more and more popular, but it’s hard to know where to start when it comes to voice search. A $50 PPC budget is enough to jumpstart your voice search keyword list and strategy — learn how in this step-by-step guide.

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Top comments by thumbs up

Comments are my favorite blog post success metric, and it simply wouldn’t do if we didn’t honor the folks who contributed the most popular comments in 2017. Thank you, all of you, for sharing your thoughts with the greater Moz and SEO community, and for taking precious time out of your day to make the blog a more interesting and better place. And for all the comment lurkers out there like me, I offer you solemn solidarity and zero judgment (but I’d be delighted to see y’all venture out from behind the screen now and again ;).

1. Praveen Sharma on “10 Things that DO NOT (Directly) Affect Your Google Rankings – Whiteboard Friday” – 58 thumbs up

Short, sweet, accurate, relevant advice is the name of the game. We’ve had feedback before that some readers come to the blog for the comments as much as the post itself, and this example shows why. Thanks for sharing your insight, Praveen!

2. SEOMG on “7 ‹Title Tag› Hacks for Increased Rankings + Traffic – Whiteboard Friday” – 42 thumbs up

Much like the above, this comment exemplifies clear, useful examples related to the post topic. You rock, SEOMG!

3. Praveen Sharma on “The 3 Easiest Link Building Tactics Any Website Can Use to Acquire Their First 50 Links – Whiteboard Friday” – 39 thumbs up

Swooping in again with another helpful tidbit to add to the blog post at hand, Praveen’s made it on the Top 10 list twice. We really appreciate your contributions, Praveen!

4. Trevor Klein on “Moz Transitions: Rand to Step Away from Operations and into Advisory Role in Early 2018” – 38 thumbs up

A bittersweet comment that clearly struck a chord with many in our community. Rand, I hope you know how much we all love and appreciate you! And Trevor, thank you so much for your candid and genuine thoughts; you truly spoke for all of us there.

5. Gianluca Fiorelli on “SEO Best Practices for Canonical URLs + the Rel=Canonical Tag – Whiteboard Friday” – 30 thumbs up

Gianluca’s comments on the Moz Blog are legendary; each one is a treasure, a miniature blog post in and of itself. Thank you for sharing your smarts with us, Gianluca!

6. Rand Fishkin on “What Do Google’s New, Longer Snippets Mean for SEO? – Whiteboard Friday” – 28 thumbs up

By using the comments section to clarify a few points about his Whiteboard Friday video and highlight his advice, Rand adds extra value and oomph to the post as a whole… and the community responded. Thank you for always leaving 10X comments, Rand!

7. Eric Hahn on “10 Things that DO NOT (Directly) Affect Your Google Rankings – Whiteboard Friday” – 26 thumbs up

The discussion in the thread spurred by this helpful, on-topic comment is the kind of lively, educational back-and-forth we love to witness. Thank you for inspiring folks to ask questions and learn, Eric!

8. Igor Gorbenko on “What Do Google’s New, Longer Snippets Mean for SEO? – Whiteboard Friday” – 25 thumbs up

It makes me really happy that our community has — and rewards — such awesome personality. Igor, thank you for your wit and your insights! ᕕ(⌐■_■)ᕗ ♪♬

9. Tim Soulo on “Moz Transitions: Rand to Step Away from Operations and into Advisory Role in Early 2018” – 22 thumbs up

The blog community definitely resonated with all the heartfelt, personal stories shared on this post. Tim, thank you for sharing!

10. Gianluca Fiorelli on “Comment Marketing: How to Earn Benefits from Community Participation – Whiteboard Friday” – 21 thumbs up

In an incredibly meta turn of events, Gianluca’s comment on our Comment Marketing Whiteboard Friday rounds out the list of 2017’s top comments on the Moz Blog. I don’t think there’s a person on this Internet that’s done a better job of personal comment marketing than Gianluca!

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Here’s to you!

Thank you all, each and every one of you, for helping to keep our little community a thriving, nurturing place to learn SEO, share ideas, and hey, even make mistakes now and again. It’s an honor to have a hand in providing content to such a TAGFEE and brilliant group of people, and I can’t describe how excited I am for all that 2018 will bring.

Let me know in the comments how you liked the change-up this year, what other “Best of” formats or lists you might find helpful, and any other ponderings or thoughts you might have — and thank you again for reading!

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!

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WordStream’s Top 20 Stories of the Year

The online advertising and digital marketing industries saw dozens of exciting developments this year, but 2017 also brought with it new challenges to be overcome, not least of which the fraught political and economic environment in which many small businesses are now struggling to survive.

As is customary here at WordStream, it’s time to take a look back at the most popular content from the WordStream blog of 2017. Many of our most popular stories reflect the ongoing tensions experienced by many digital marketers this year, and highlight just how fast some companies move (and how badly they break things).

Whether you had an incredible 2017 or can’t wait for the whole ordeal to be over, here are the 20 most popular articles we created this year.

1. Facebook Ad Benchmarks for YOUR Industry [New Data]

Our most popular post of 2017 by a country mile, this original data revealing Facebook advertising performance benchmarks was a huge hit with WordStream readers. Covering a range of common metrics, including average cost-per-click, cost-per-action, conversion rates, and click-through rates, this data shows just how steep the competition is across 18 industry verticals, providing readers with an invaluable glimpse into the current state of advertising on the world’s largest social media platform.

Although original research data like this is always popular with our readers, it should come as little surprise that this was our most popular post of 2017. The number of businesses advertising on Facebook continues to grow rapidly, and while Facebook remains a cost-effective way to reach new audiences and expand your reach, competition has never been more intense. Combined with lingering concerns about Facebook’s influence over the wider online advertising landscape and online advertising business models in general, many small businesses and digital marketers have been forced to reevaluate their current strategies, making this data invaluable.

2. 40 Essential Social Media Marketing Statistics for 2017

Following hot on the heels of our Facebook advertising benchmarks, this post of social media marketing stats was also immensely popular with our readers.

It’s far from uncommon to see posts like this toward the beginning and end of the year. Although they’re usually fun and interesting, posts like this also provide readers with a snapshot of the wider social media marketing landscape. Some of these stats will come as little surprise to digital marketers, but others reveal just how demanding the social media space has become in recent years. As we head into 2018, competition for clicks is likely to intensify further, highlighting the need for marketers and small businesses to remain agile and ahead of the curve when it comes to their social strategies in increasingly competitive markets.

3. The 15 Best Instagram Marketing Campaigns of 2017

One of the biggest developments in the online advertising space this year was Instagram’s continued rise as an advertising platform, and this guest post from Wishpond’s Carlo Pacis was a sure-fire hit.

This post isn’t merely a round-up of Instagram campaigns that performed well this year – it’s an overview of how major brands and smaller companies alike are adapting and changing to meet the needs of consumers and the changing ways in which people interact online. Instagram is leaving social media platforms such as Twitter in the dust, and with campaigns like these, it’s not hard to see why. If you’re advertising on Instagram, you could do far worse than check out these 15 campaigns for a little creative inspiration.

4. 37 Staggering Video Marketing Statistics for 2017

Alongside the somewhat predictable emphasis on social we saw throughout the year, the so-called “pivot to video” was another of 2017’s most significant developments in content. Dozens of larger publishers culled their editorial staff this year in favor of producing more video content, a move that has largely backfired and prompted some much-needed soul-searching at some of the web’s most renowned digital media brands.

Despite the difficulties experienced by some brands in video content, video marketing remains a powerfully persuasive way to reach new audiences with your message. With more than 500 million hours of video content watched on YouTube alone every single day, it’s little wonder why so many companies are focused on delivering more video content. Check out this and other fascinating video marketing stats in this post to learn more.

5. How Much Do Instagram Ads Cost? Plus 8 Tips for Saving Money

Facebook may be a social media powerhouse, but did you know that Instagram posts attract around 10 times the engagement of Facebook posts? In light of facts like this, it’s easy to see how Instagram has rapidly become the cornerstone of many companies’ social media strategies.

However, as is the case with every online ad platform, questions invariably circle back to costs before long, especially for advertisers new to paid social. In this post, Lisa Lacy breaks down the factors that will affect the cost of your Instagram advertising campaigns, and offers eight great tips for making your Instagram budget go further. With Instagram’s popularity likely to continue well into 2018 and beyond, this post is essential reading for all Instagram advertisers.

6. 33 Mind-Boggling Instagram Stats and Facts for 2017

There’s no disputing that Instagram has become a major player in the paid social space – but why? Well, how about the fact that roughly one-third of teenagers consider Instagram to be the most important social media platform? Or that most Instagram users are in the 18-29 year-old age demographic prized by many advertisers?

When you look at these and the other facts in this post, it soon becomes clear why Instagram has made such an impact in the online advertising industry. Boasting a vast audience of motivated, engaged users in highly lucrative demographics, Instagram offers the kind of reach and influence that was unthought of just a few years ago – something we’re likely to see more of in 2018.

7. The 25 Most Expensive Keywords in AdWords – 2017 Edition!

When WordStream assembled its list of the most expense keywords in AdWords back in 2011, it became one of our most popular content pieces ever almost immediately. As popular as this data was, the world of online advertising costs rarely stands still, which is why we produced this brand-new data for 2017.

As with many of the trends we saw throughout the year, the most expense keywords in AdWords reveal a great deal more than just specific metrics – they show how AdWords has changed in recent years and how these changes have affected the cost of doing business on the world’s largest online advertising platform. Some keyword categories, such as those in the legal sector, are perennially costly keywords that have long been among the most expense, but there were several unexpected entries in this year’s edition, such as the growing popularity – and expense – of keywords for services such as bail bonds and casinos.

Overall, this data serves not only as a rule of thumb concerning what you can expect to bid for the most expensive AdWords keywords, but also as a fascinating look at which sectors have experienced dramatic growth in the PPC space.

8. 19 Marketing Conferences You Can’t Miss in 2017

I joined WordStream almost four years ago, and in that time, the digital marketing space has changed tremendously. Although there have been dozens of developments in advertising technology and new services to help us reach our audiences, one of the biggest changes in digital marketing has been the increase in popularity of marketing conferences.

Today, digital marketers of all stripes are spoiled for choice when it comes to conferences. There are events dedicated to specific marketing disciplines such as conversion rate optimization, and more generalized events such as HubSpot’s enormously popular UNBOUND conference have attracted speakers including Alec Baldwin, Arianna Huffington, Serena Williams, and Malcolm Gladwell.

Not so long ago, it would have been difficult to even name almost 20 marketing conferences. Next year, we might have to be even more discerning about which shows we attend.

9. 11 Examples of Great Customer Testimonial Pages

Our next post in this year’s most-read round-up is this guide to outstanding customer testimonial pages courtesy of Margot da Cunha.

Customer testimonials are among digital marketers’ most persuasive tools, and this post highlighted 11 examples that could serve as inspiration for your own site. In addition to offering actionable tips for creating your own customer testimonial pages, this post serves as a powerful reminder of the importance of word-of-mouth marketing, even in today’s primarily digital space.

As social media has become inextricably interwoven into virtually every fiber of the internet, the power of customer testimonials and other types of recommendations have become even more important. Consumers may have more choices than ever before, but this means that companies large and small must try even harder to attract and retain customers. This technique might not be the “sexiest” way to grow your business, but customer testimonials are likely to remain very important to digital marketers hoping to find new audiences.

10. 31 Must-Ask Interview Questions for Marketing Jobs

2017 was a tumultuous year in many ways, but for people hoping to find new opportunities, it was savage. Prolonged political and economic uncertainty created a volatile and unpredictable job market, and the digital marketing space was no exception. The opportunities are there, but competition for prime roles in marketing has never been more intense.

In this post, Mary Lister offered digital marketers 31 specific questions to ask prospective hires during their next interview. It may be tough to find new gigs these days, but it’s almost as difficult for companies to find the most talented people looking for new opportunities. With almost half of digital marketers reporting difficulty finding skilled creative professionals this year, it’s more important than ever for marketing teams to know exactly how to find the most talented marketers out there – and which questions to ask.

11. How to Use Google AdWords [Infographic]

Sometimes, you need to get back to the basics, and that’s exactly what we did with this original infographic on how to use Google AdWords.

Aside from offering newcomers to paid search with an intuitive way to visualize how AdWords works and the various considerations that should factor into PPC workflows, this guide also served as a guiding light to experienced advertisers. Competition on AdWords has intensified greatly in recent years, highlighting the importance of a solid understanding of the goals that should serve as the basis for AdWords campaigns.

AdWords certainly has more bells and whistles than it did even this time last year, but even the most sophisticated tools will only get you so far. Whether you’re an experienced AdWords advertiser or are planning your very first PPC campaign for 2018, this original infographic can help you identify your most urgent business goals and how you can achieve them.

12. 10 Companies Using Machine Learning in Cool Ways

One of the biggest and most exciting technological trends we saw throughout 2017 was the continued growth in adoption of machine-learning and artificial intelligence (AI) technologies.

Companies of all sizes are jumping firmly on the machine-learning bandwagon. From simple customer service chatbots to fully integrated, predictive machine-learning systems, AI was big news in digital marketing this year. In this post, yours truly looked at 10 companies using machine learning in new and exciting ways, which revealed just how prevalent AI is becoming across virtually all sectors.

What’s next for machine learning and AI? The growing popularity of fintech startups and cryptocurrencies seem poised to further shape technologies such as the blockchain, an area that appears ripe for further innovation through AI applications, and the traditional sales cycle also seems likely to experience dramatic change in the coming years thanks to machine-learning and AI technologies.

Regardless of which industry you’re in, it seems almost inevitable that AI and machine learning with continue to disrupt the status quo.

13. The Comprehensive Guide to Online Advertising Costs

PPC and digital marketing move at a break-neck pace, but one of the very few constants is advertisers’ concerns about the costs of launching an online advertising campaign.

In this post, I cover virtually every element that can affect the cost of online advertising campaigns across a range of platforms. We looked at the individual costs associated with specific platforms including Google AdWords, Facebook Ads, and Instagram Ads, as well as the nuances of costs for PPC ads versus display ads in addition to the differences in various pricing models such as CPM.

Posts about advertising costs are almost always perennially popular. For all the innovation we see in a given year when it comes to advertising features or targeting options, it all comes back to cold, hard cash for many advertisers. According to data from Adobe Digital Insights, the average online advertisement costs approximately 12% more today than it did two years ago, an increase in price more than five times that of the rate of inflation and 70% more than televised advertisements, highlighting the urgency with which many businesses are attempting to reduce their advertising costs.

14. 11 Changes & New Features Coming to AdWords: What You Need to Know

In May 2017, Google held its Marketing Next event in Mountain View, California. At this hotly anticipated event, Google tantalized attendees with a range of impressive tools, features, and functionality planned for its AdWords platform, and WordStream’s Mark Irvine was at the event to cover the various exciting announcements Google made during the show.

Of course, forthcoming AdWords features are always popular with our readers. In any given year, Google makes dozens of major updates and hundreds of smaller tweaks to AdWords, and even the most avid digital marketers can struggle to keep up with the pace. This is far more than just professional curiosity, however – it’s an often-vital indication of the direction in which Google expects to pivot based on wider online advertising trends, providing marketers with a glimpse at the priorities Google plans to tackle in the near future.

Among the biggest announcements at Google Marketing Next was the prominence of semantic search and the death knell of keyword-centric advertising. Many experts believe Google intends to move beyond keyword targeting in the future, instead favoring machine learning applications and contextual targeting, among other emerging technologies.

If Google is preparing for the end of traditional keywords, it’s high time we all sat up and paid attention.

15. Features vs. Benefits: What’s the Difference and Why It Matters

Oftentimes, digital marketers spend a great deal of time, money, and energy learning about new targeting techniques, specific tools, and alternative metrics to evaluate the performance of their campaigns. Although it’s crucial for marketers to keep up-to-date with new developments, many companies are missing vital opportunities to broaden their reach by making poor choices when it comes to traditional marketing concepts such as messaging.

In this post, I covered the myriad differences between features and benefits. These two concepts may be closely related, but far too many companies favor messaging that highlights their products’ features rather than the benefits they confer upon their users.

I don’t have any hard data to back this up, but I suspect we’ll see a renewed focus on the fundamentals of marketing in 2018 and beyond. For all the bells and whistles offered by the various advertising platforms through which we reach our audiences, there’s no substitute for a solid grasp of underlying marketing concepts like this. As budgets are stretched further than ever and competition intensifies further, it will become even more crucial for marketers to leverage the fundamentals in their campaigns if they hope to remain competitive.

16. Value of a #1 Google Ranking Down 37% in Two Years?

There are few things marketers dread more than a mysterious drop in performance following an algorithmic update by Google. Previous major updates such as Hummingbird and Penguin decimated traffic to millions of sites and sent webmasters into a panic, but other changes can be far less noticeable – but can still wreak havoc on your traffic.

Case in point, a significant drop in traffic that Elisa Gabbert observed in WordStream’s organic click-through rate traffic for certain terms. After noticing the initial decline, Elisa, Meg Lister, and Josh Brackett delved deep into the data to see exactly what was going on. Their discovery? That organic CTR had dropped by approximately 37% in the span of just two years. This post explores the underlying reasons for this precipitous drop, as well as the implications it could have for millions of advertisers and publishers.

Case studies like this are always popular, not least because they effectively highlight the risks of relying on certain sources of traffic and the dangers of assuming that once-secured positions are guaranteed. They also demonstrate the importance of regularly examining your analytics data to ensure that subtle algorithmic changes don’t result in catastrophic losses in traffic.

17. Beginner’s Guide to Keyword Search Volume for Marketers

Search volume is a tricky metric for many advertisers. Higher search volumes typically mean greater potential reach, but bring with them greater competition and often higher costs. Lower search volumes, on the other hand, may seem like cost-effective, low-hanging fruit, but targeting these keywords may not always work out, either. Factor in additional considerations such as domain authority and things can become overwhelming quite quickly.

That’s why I wrote this beginner’s guide to keyword search volume for marketers. In this post, we cover the basics of keyword search volume before moving onto general SEO concepts you should be aware of and an evaluation of several keyword tools that can help you identify the right keyword opportunities for your next campaign.

As with our features versus benefits post from earlier, the popularity of this post leads me to believe that content focusing on fundamental concepts – particularly in the rapidly changing world of SEO – will continue to be popular and valuable to marketers well into 2018. With more than 2.5 million blog posts published every single day, the need to maximize visibility is paramount to digital marketers, and with more competition than ever before, a solid understanding of concepts such as keyword search volume will be crucial to success next year and in coming years.

18. GIFs Will Revolutionize Your Facebook Ads – Here’s How to Use Them

It’s fascinating to see how the various ways in which people express themselves online often end up being coopted by online advertisers. We saw this in 2015 when emoji became available to PPC advertisers (with a significant accompanying lift in CTR, too), and we saw it again earlier this year when Facebook announced it would begin allowing advertisers to include animated gifs in their advertisements.

Far from a mere gimmick, the inclusion of animated gifs as visual assets to be used in Facebook ads is significant. According to Facebook, “shorter videos get more completed views” than longer videos, which makes gifs – which are typically 15 seconds or less in duration – a potentially incredible addition to Facebook ads.

The inclusion of animated gifs as visual assets in Facebook ads could also point to further development and evolution of online ads in the future. Not so long ago it would have been almost inconceivable that little icons and symbols would be available in PPC ads, and although emoji might never become truly mainstream on AdWords, their introduction shows that attitudes toward what online ads can be are changing. Who knows what else we could see in the coming years?

19. The Last Guide to AdWords Account Structure You’ll Ever Need

In our penultimate entry in this year’s end-of-year round-up, we turn our focus to another fundamental best practice – account structure.

It might not be the sexiest topic in online advertising, or even the most accessible. That does not diminish the crucial importance of structuring your AdWords account as optimally as possible, and that’s exactly what Bobby Kitteridge does in this post. Even if you’ve been advertising on AdWords for years, I’d wager there are a few tips you could apply to your own account before launching your next campaign.

Again, we don’t have the data to back this up, but the consistent popularity of our content focusing on PPC best practices and establishment conventions concerning things like account structure may prove that demand for easily understood, actionable content remains very high. This could be due to an increase in the number of small businesses turning to PPC as a way to grow their business, as well as the continued pressures of an increasingly competitive market forcing marketers to shore up weaknesses that they might have been able to ignore in the past.

20. 35 Face-Melting Email Marketing Stats for 2017

To wave goodbye (and good riddance) to 2017 and welcome 2018 with a champagne toast, we have Allen’s guide to 35 unbelievable email marketing statistics.

Despite how effective email marketing can be, email gets a bad rap. Often (mistakenly) seen as antiquated and of limited value, email marketing can take a back seat to more exciting techniques such as local social marketing. However, overlook email marketing at your peril. Despite being relatively advanced in years, at least in internet time, email still delivers amazing results, often at a fraction of the cost of paid social and even the most tightly optimized PPC campaigns.

I suspect we’ll continue to see creative ideas for email marketing in 2018 and beyond. It’s just too effective – and commonplace – to be going anywhere any time soon, and while flashier techniques might hog their share of the limelight, email marketing is a solid workhorse of a strategy that delivers results.

From myself and everyone here at the WordStream blog, Happy New Year!

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