Google’s first page is pretty much the promised land for all web-pages. And, why shouldn’t it be?  Sure, it takes effort and time to get there. But, once you’re there the traffic basically takes care of itself. You only need a fraction of all the effort you put in earlier to stay there. Unfortunately, climbing the SERP ladder is easier said than done. Only 5.7% of the pages on the internet will rank on the first page of a targeted search phrase.  What’s even more harrowing is that only 0.78% of Google searchers click on second-page results. Suffice to say, you need to take your SEO efforts to the next level to stay competitive. Fortunately, the answers here may be closer to home

There are about 36,000 digital marketing agencies worldwide, based on our research on platforms like UpCity, Clutch, and our trials and users. Out of these, about 60% have SEO services integrated into their main activities. New agencies keep appearing, even in the current challenging context — more than 200 were created so far in 2020. With this in mind, our team at SEOmonitor designed a strategic experiment in three parts, starting from the question —  How would you build an SEO agency in 2020?  In the first part, we’ve explored trends, based on search data, and Gartner’s Hype Cycle to understand what’s transient and what’s here to stay, whether or not accelerated by the pandemic. In this second part, we’re looking at the

The SEO community is always looking for new ranking factors and we have discovered over two hundred of them so far. But there may be hundreds more actually used by Google. Luckily, we don’t have to work on all of them. Most have very little weight in SEO and are often used as tie-breakers rather than ranking signals. Instead, here is the definitive list of Google ranking factors, each of which can make or break your search optimization strategy. 1. Backlinks Even though Google is planning to move away from backlinks in the future, they still remain the most important ranking factor for your pages. Except it is now too risky to use black hat SEO strategies — your links have

This is a question that often pops up in daily conversations between SEO specialists and small business owners. SEO keeps getting harder as time passes so it is normal for SMBs to have problems.There is this common misconception that search engine optimization is simple for the large sites. This is incorrect. They just have more resources available.Yes.SEO is more difficult for smaller businesses.Why is that?You Do Not Have Enough Money To Pay For SEOThis is the number one reason why SEO is difficult for smaller businesses. Bigger companies have more money to spend on advertising, marketing, and SEO. Smaller firms and startups simply cannot spend that much.What few people understand is that search engine optimization is not cheap. It

When it comes to SEO, there’s a lot to contend with.Keywords, links, and in-depth content all impact your ability to rank in the almighty search engines.It’s like competing in the fast-food arena today – tacos or burgers?But what about breadcrumbs?No, we’re not talking about the tasty breading for chicken parm.Breadcrumbs are a navigational feature for your website, and they can have an awesome impact on SEO and user experience.There’s still a ton of websites that don’t implement breadcrumbs – which is a huge mistake, not just because they impact SEO but also because they are pretty easy to implement.Here’s what you need to know about what breadcrumbs are, how they impact SEO, and common mistakes to avoid.What Are Breadcrumbs

30-second summary: Unlike paid media, earned media lacks the tools to form trustworthy predictions about the outcomes, which can make potential SEO customers indecisive. A quick look at the typical story of how the pitching process works and the top reasons that make customers indecisive about an SEO proposal. SEOmonitor looks into all the aspects of pitching an SEO proposal, the key components, and how to help your customers say a loud yes instead of a silent no. Unlike paid media, earned media lacks the tools to form trustworthy predictions about the outcomes, which can make potential SEO customers indecisive. Let’s take a typical story of how the SEO proposal and pitching process works. Sarah, the CEO of a successful SEO agency, gets

Kicking yourself because of a recent SEO oversight?You’re not alone.SEO has become a complex field that simply getting down the basics can be a behemoth task.And the average SEO strategy covers a lot!There are keywords, meta tags, and off-page optimizations to take care of, aside from more advanced tips, tools, and tricks to learn and use to get the job done well.It can be overwhelming.Also, because of the metrics, we can’t hide from any mistakes or oversights because the numbers will show it.You can be the most detail-oriented, diligent professional out there but the fact is: there’s plenty of room for things to go wrong, or for you to slip up even when you’re at the top of your

I don’t want to trivialize the amount of work and planning that went into this major win.More than 600 links in one month with two people, with one-to-one outreach, is an anomaly for many SEO professionals or content marketers.But the work started way before the actual project began, and I’ll explain further about how to align the right resources to realize similar results.Open rates on email campaigns can be lower, but you can expect them to be 10-25%.This assumes you have an opt-in email list.Link building has traditionally implemented cold email tactics, which holds a sub-5% open rate and even lower successful placement rates.A micro-targeted outreach campaign can increase response rates for sure, but niche email outreach still isn’t

30-second summary: Most marketers combine SEO and paid media campaigns, but the marketing budget between the two should not necessarily be split down the middle. Paid media campaigns, which include PPC, social, and influencer campaigns, are a one-and-done expense, meaning the investment doesn’t build on itself. SEO can take weeks or months to show results, but after the effort, it’s cost-effective and sustainable. All in all, SEO should be prioritized if you’re focused on the longevity of your company’s marketing scheme. Elevation Marketing’s Vice President of Strategy and Marketing Services explains why SEO gives more bang for your buck. US digital ad spending was expected to grow 19% to $129.34 billion by 2020, finally surpassing traditional advertising methods. According to eMarketer, this figure accounts for

The common misconception about SEO is that it's time-consuming and difficult. As a website owner, you probably don't have much time to study the ins and outs of SEO optimization. What's more, you don't want to overspend to have a professional do it for you. Fortunately, there are SEO optimization techniques you can do yourself to put your page in a better position. Paired with the right and affordable SEO tools, you'll have little to no difficulty boosting your website standing!To do this, all you need is to perform these simple tasks daily and you should see a significant improvement in your website's traffic and sales figures. All you need to do is focus on a few simple tasks