Welcome to the spring edition, of what is now becoming a monthly roundup of what I consider to be some of the best SEO and internet marketing article.  Without much ado, here are some of the most exciting and informative articles I came across during the month of March 2017.

“March 2017 Google Webmaster Report“ by Barry Schwartz on SE Round Table. Last month was very busy in Google. Their rolled out search algorithm which impacted many sites. Also they penalised Natural News (in few days the penalty was revoked).

 

“The 2017 Local SEO Forecast: 10 Predictions According to Mozzers” by Miriam Ellis on Moz blog.

  1. There will be a major shakeup in local SEO ranking factors.
  2. Feature diversification will continue to mature.
  3. Voice search will influence features in Google and Amazon results.
  4. Google will begin to provide incredibly specific details about local businesses.
  5. Diminishing free packs
  6. Voice search will rise
  7. Expansion of attributes
  8. Ethical businesses will thrive
  9. Google will remain dominant
  10. Amazon’s local impact will increase

 

 

“5 Clever Facebook Video Ad Hacks That Will Lower Your CPM by 81%” by Neil Patel on Quick Sprout.

  1. Only feature videos that you know get engagement
  2. Keep them short and sweet
  3. Advertise “without advertising”
  4. Add captions
  5. Add music for those who do listen

 

 

“We Analyzed 1.3 Million YouTube Videos. Here’s What We Learned About YouTube SEO” by Brian Dean on Backlinko. You can read full report by clicking the link above. I will just list the key foundings:

 

  1. Comments appear to be an influential ranking factor. We found that a video’s comment count strongly correlates with higher rankings.
  2. Longer videos significantly outperform shorter videos. The average length of a first page YouTube video is 14 minutes, 50 seconds.
  3. We discovered that video views have a significant correlation with rankings.
  4. The number of shares a video generates is strongly tied to first page YouTube rankings.
  5. There’s a moderate correlation between a channel’s subscriber size and rankings. This means that even small channels have a chance to rank their videos in YouTube.

 

 

“Google’s Gary Illyes: “We Have 3 Updates a Day” by Garry Illyes on Search Engine Journal. Googler Garry Illyes told in response to someone’s tweet that Google has 3 updates a day. And if you see some changes in your site positions, it does not mean there was a major update.

 

“Study: How valuable is it to have keywords in your domain URL?” by Rebecca Sentence on Search Engine Watch. There has been a lot of thoughts about the SEO value of having a keyword in URL. In 2009 Matt Cutts confirmed that it is not a major factor.

 

A new study shows that 2/3 of all websites ranked well in Google actually has a keyword in domain name.

 

“What Makes a Conversion Optimizer? 8 Experts on Separating the Pros from the Pretenders” by Aaron Orendorff on unbounce. 8 experts were asked the following questions:

  1. What makes someone a genuine conversion optimizer?
  2. How can you spot a fake CRO expert or agency?

Some responses are very interesting and I consider them as very good advices.

 

“Implement These 3 Superior Link Building Boosters in 2017” by Sam Hurley on Digital Current.

Sam shows very good tips so I will not be talking too much about them, I’ll just list them here:

  • Linkable assets
  • Influencer leverage
  • Link hustling

 

“7 Tips To Help Turn A Failing Facebook Ad Campaign Into A Profitable One” by Nathaniel Cheung on Inbound blog. Here are the tips:

Tip #1 – Analyze And Segment Your Audience

Tip #2 – Add More Specificity To Your Ad Copy

Tip #3 – Use A Story

Tip #4 – Inject More Proof & Credibility

Tip #5 – Double-Check Ad Display Frequency

Tip #6 – Revisit Your Offer

Tip #7 – Find New Audiences To Test

“24 Business & Marketing Podcasts to Listen To in 2017” by Ana Gotter on snappa blog. To be honest I did not have a time to listen all 24 podcasts from this post. I listen just few of them and I really loved it. Fantastic work by Ana. You do not need to search podcasts online, everything is in one place.

 

“Smashing Semantic SEO in 2017 & Beyond: The Ultimate Guide” by Sam Hurley on digitalcurrent.

Tactic #1: Craft Killer Contextual Content

Tactic #2: Master Google’s Knowledge Graph

Tactic #3: Supercharge Your Brand Presence

 

 

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