seo

Penguin 2.0 Initial Findings – A Deeper Update, But Not Broader [Analysis]

Penguin 2.0 launched on Wednesday, May 22nd, and it’s an update that most SEOs have been eagerly awaiting.  Leading up to the rollout, all signs pointed to a nasty algorithm update that was going to be bigger and badder than the Penguin 1.0.  There was a lot of speculation about how aggressive it would be, … Read more

SEO Findings From Google’s Phantom Update on May 8th, 2013 | Was It Penguin 2.0 in the Wild?

In early May there was a lot of chatter in the webmaster forums about a major Google update.  Google wouldn’t confirm that it occurred (big shock), but the level of chatter was significant.  Not long after that, Matt Cutts announced that Penguin 2.0 would be rolling out within the next few weeks, and that it … Read more

Robots.txt and Invisible Characters – How One Hidden Character Could Cause SEO Problems

If you’ve read some of my blog posts in the past, then you know I perform a lot of SEO technical audits.  As one of the checks during SEO audits, I always analyze a client’s robots.txt file to ensure it’s not blocking important directories or files.  If you’re not familiar with robots.txt, it’s a text … Read more

You Might Be Losing Out – How To Make Sure Sitelink Extensions in Bing Ads Are Tracked Properly [Tutorial]

Bing Ads released sitelink extensions in October of 2012, which enables advertisers to provide additional links in their text ads.  Google AdWords has had ad sitelinks for some time, so this was a great addition by our friends at Bing Ads.  For example, if you were an ecommerce website selling sporting goods, you could provide … Read more

Facebook Graph Search Update: Facebook Now Passing Keywords to Destination Websites, Can Track in Google Analytics

Facebook Graph Search launched in January, and I was fortunate to have early access.  Upon gaining access, I began heavily testing Facebook’s new social search capabilities.  That research led to my first post covering my initial thoughts about Graph Search, including its impact on local search, privacy, reputation management, etc.  You should check out that … Read more

How To Properly Demote Sitelinks in Google Search Console (GSC)

{Important Update on 10/13/16: Demote sitelinks has been removed from GSC.} Google just announced that they have REMOVED the demote sitelinks setting from Google Search Console (GSC). The announcement on Google+, which is now shut down, explained that Google has gotten much better at surfacing the correct sitelinks, so they believe the functionality isn’t necessary anymore in … Read more

Faulty Redirects, Duplicate Content, and SEO – How a Redirect Glitch Created Hundreds of Thousands of Duplicate Pages

With the release of index status in Google Webmaster Tools, many webmasters are now questioning why their “not selected” numbers are high.  They wonder if those numbers are good, bad, normal, etc?  Unfortunately, there’s not an easy answer to that question, since it depends on the site at hand.  But, you can definitely look at … Read more

Introducing SEO Bootcamp Princeton, A Hands-On SEO Training Course in Princeton NJ

I absolutely love getting in front of a group of people to speak about SEO (and always have).  Over the past several years, I’ve led SEO training classes for clients covering a wide range of topics, from technical SEO to keyword research to content optimization to linkbuilding strategy.  Although I’ve really enjoyed leading classes like … Read more

Hunting False Negatives – How To Avoid False Negatives When Checking Redirects After a Website Redesign or Migration [Screaming Frog Tutorial]

Every webmaster has to deal with a website redesign or migration at some point.  And redesigns and migrations often mean that your URL structure will be impacted.  From an SEO perspective, when URL’s need to change, it’s critically important that you have a solid 301 redirection plan in place.  If you don’t, you can pay … Read more

Dynamic Search Ads (DSA) in Google AdWords – How Your Technical SEO Problems Just Impacted Your SEM Campaigns

In October of 2011, Google began testing Dynamic Search Ads (DSA) in AdWords.  It was a bold move and signaled a change in how paid search could operate in the future.  Using dynamic search ads, advertisers could greatly expand their reach by enabling AdWords to match queries with content in Google’s organic index.  Instead of … Read more

Adjusted Bounce Rate in Google Analytics – One Step Closer to Actual Bounce Rate

I’ve written extensively in the past about Bounce Rate both here on my blog and on Search Engine Journal.  Bounce Rate is an incredibly powerful metric, and can help marketers better understand the quality of their traffic, and the quality of their content.  If you’re not familiar with Bounce Rate, it’s the percentage of visits … Read more