What You Need to Know About Bing’s New Link Penalties

/by

As the second largest search engine, site owners also optimize for Bing. And just recently, Bing released new link penalties that will affect private blog networks, manipulated cross-site linking, and subdomain leasing. All of these are intended to offer a better search experience and a fair platform for internet users and website owners.

Are you worried that your site will be affected? The following are the things you need to know:

Cross-site linking 

Cross-site linking is crucial in creating healthy backlinks. It’s also one of the foundations of the internet and considered to be a major ranking factor, both for Google and Bing.

However, some website owners tend to perform manipulative cross-linking for the sake of gathering traffic and visibility. Usually, these sites are owned by the same entity and made just to boost each one’s internet standing.

If Bing discovers that several sites are cross-linking to each other exclusively, it may lead to penalties. This will be a direct violation of Bing’s inorganic site structure.

Subdomain leasing

Subdomain leasing refers to the spammy activity of renting a subdomain for SEO advantage. If the mother domain has excellent search standing, the owner will decide to rent a specific subdomain to another entity. According to Bing, this is unacceptable.

Letting a third party rent a subfolder or subdomain is a form of cheat that aims to outrank competitor sites. So even if the website is brand new, it can rank fast as the internet presence of the mother domain trickles down to it.

Private blog networks

Private blog networks or PBN are very rampant on the web. Both Google and Bing pose penalties for sites using these networks. Although PBN seems harmless, it’s actually a spammy tactic that abuses the boundaries of a website.

Some websites will be split into several domains to generate as much traffic as possible. However, this is a form of cheat that gives website owners an unfair advantage. So to stop websites from using it, Bing is giving stiff penalties for websites found to be abusing the boundaries of the domain.

However, as per checking, many sites are still enjoying the benefit of PBN. So if Bing is serious about going after these websites, it has a lot more work to do.

What could go wrong?

The biggest impact that websites will suffer from these penalties is poor rankings. That’s quite a big deal and these sanctions are one of the toughest of Bing’s efforts. As much as many guilty websites are still to be discovered, it will only take a matter of time before the search engine unravels such dirty secrets.

Take note that any violation will have incurring penalties. Bing is still the second largest search engine. And if you rank poorly, you’ll lose a large chunk of potential traffic.

Final words 

It’s good to see that Bing is starting to put penalties where it’s necessary. They are now fostering a healthier competition and stiffer guidelines that will make their platform a fair ground for website owners. It’s best to quit your bad SEO habits and start playing by the rules.

How SEO can Improve Brand PR

/by

Search engine optimization is often uncharted territory for many businesses. But unknown to them, SEO can bring tons of benefits – ranging from website traffic, higher conversions, and even boosting a brand’s PR.

Bad reviews, RipOff Reports, and other nasty citings can damage your business’ reputation. But instead of wallowing in despair or trying to take off these pages, you have one more option. This option is far more effective, and it will also bring in a domino effect of benefits: SEO.

So how does it work? To answer your questions, read on.

How bad PR occurs

Bad PR can be in the form of a negative review, a bad post about your brand, or a report stating negative findings of your business. All of these rank on the web, especially if you don’t have any high-ranking pages to counter such PR.

Take note that any content that mentions your brand will show up on the web, one way or another. If the website that bears the bad PR has good SEO, more people are likely to lay eyes on it. That spells trouble for your business.

What you shouldn’t do about bad PR

As much as you may try to counter a bad PR with badmouthing, you should be smart with your next moves. You can’t correct a mistake with another mistake, as they say. So as much as possible, approach bad PR professionally.

If the damage has been done, the best that you can do is trying to offer the best solution. If someone got injured in your business, offer to pay the hospital expenses and other things needed for the person’s recovery. If the bad PR is a negative review, offer the best possible solution. By acting positively, you’re converting bad PR into good publicity.

Where SEO comes in

With such negative things being said about your brand, it’s easy to succumb to panic. However, you have one great tool to fight back: search engine optimization.

Let’s take Coca-Cola, for example. This brand occupies almost all spots on the first page of the search results. Sometimes, they even run paid searches for their brand. All of this helps fight back any bad PR that will try to rank.

So technically, you’re not removing the pages that try to smear your reputation. You’re just burying it on the depths of the search results for only a few people to see.

By outranking your enemies, you’re saving your brand from bad publicity. On the side, it also drives more traffic to your website, which translates to higher conversion. All in all, SEO is a stone that hit many birds.

However, you have to act fast since SEO takes months to show results. So even before the bad PR occurs, it’s best to rank your pages as the first line of defense.

Conclusion 

Bad PR can ruin your business. But before it explodes on the internet, you can do something to minimize its impact. SEO is a great tool, not just in gaining traffic, but also in cushioning the blow of bad publicity.

4 Ways to Improve Your Google My Business Profile Right Now

/by

A Google My Business (GMB) account is crucial for every business that aims to boost its local online visibility. Aside from signing up and beefing your account with as much content you can muster, there are more ways to improve your profile. This way, you can maximize the tool’s potential in boosting your conversion and bottom line.

To leverage your GMB advantage, here are some hacks you can apply:

Don’t resort to spammy tactics

Both Google and your customers hate spammy methods. It’s annoying and it only does your business a disservice. As Google gets smarter, spammy methods will only bury your business in the depths of the search results.

Always be real and natural. This way, your customers will trust you and patronize your brand. However, you should know that Google detects when you pay a customer or business to leave fake reviews. This will flag your account and will impact your online reputation.

Remember that quality is always important than quantity. Spam content will only penalize your business accounts.

Encourage your customers to leave a review

After a customer purchases your service or product, encourage the person to leave a review on your GMB account. You can offer a small reward so you can push the customer to take the time for a short yet valuable review, but it’s best not to.

Take note that your GMB reviews will speak more about your business’ reputation than the testimonials you put up on your website. Google reviews are real and first-hand accounts of actual customers.

A potential customer will likely trust a business if it has at least 10 to 15 positive reviews on Google.

Always respond to negative reviews

Reviews aren’t always a bed of roses. Some customers will not be satisfied with your service or product, which leads to a negative review. Still, you should respond to this and try to find the best solution.

Ignoring Google reviews will not do any good. Worse, it will just linger on your account and impact your reputation. Replying to the negative review gives you a chance to regain your reputation and for the customer to edit it with better feedback.

Take note that many customers will talk about how you handle their complaints. This is a crucial aspect for almost all consumers.

Speak to your customers directly

When it comes to internet marketing, real connections make a difference. This is why the GMB Messages tool comes handy. As much as your contact information is included in your GMB account, nothing beats a personal message to your customers.

This is intended to increase customer engagement. Over time, this will increase your conversion and bottom line. Make sure that you activate this feature so you can connect with your leads and repeat customers.

Aside from that, the GMB Message tool is a great platform to send holiday greetings and nudges for customer reviews.

Conclusion  

Your GMB account is a crucial tool for your business. Always make the most out of it through simple hacks, as we discussed here.

How to Get SEO Buy-in 

/by

Let’s face it: not all business executives welcome the idea of SEO. They see it as another unnecessary expense that doesn’t have any direct benefit on their bottom line. SEO professionals tend to be outsiders who don’t have a place in their business. If ever SEO experts make it to the list, they are at the bottom. But most of the time, they are ignored.

So how can an SEO firm or marketer get buy-in from these reluctant executives? In this case, SEO becomes a second language that you have to teach non-SEO organizations. Here are some of the tips you can follow to convince these executives:

Show them the results

Most executives and business owners can be converted if you tell them the benefits SEO brings. Discuss how much revenue they can earn with search engine optimization, including its long-term benefits.

Make sure that you emphasize that SEO isn’t just about content. It’s also about web design, positive signals, branding, and other things.

Also, don’t be too salesy. Lay the cards on the table before you even discuss the price. Many companies are willing to pay more if you establish the benefit first.

Speak on their language

Can you imagine buying a pair of shoes if the salesman spits out jargon about their technology? The same goes for SEO if you want to secure buy-in. Be careful with SEO jargon; not everyone will understand it.

The best thing to do is to use plain words. For example, don’t mention the term ‘canonical page’ as if your potential client is knowledgeable of SEO jargon. Instead, tell them that it’s the master copy of a page.

Build relationships

When it comes to SEO, don’t just consider the organization as your client. Make real connections with employees so you can easily discuss SEO with them. This way, you can easily convince them that SEO matters in specific areas of their team.

Also, you can make the conversation more amicable and welcoming. This will reduce the tension as when you’re trying to sell SEO to an organization that is not familiar with you.

Give them time

As much as you can discuss SEO and its perks to an organization, you should give them time to weigh its benefits. Don’t expect them to sign a deal right off the bat. Remember that it’s still a business, and they have to consider a myriad of factors.

Also, you may need to give several proposals before finally convincing the organization to sign up to your SEO firm.

Make SEO more digestible

Again, skip the jargon and stick to plain English. Aside from that, you should also make SEO more digestible for the organization. You can do this by discussing how SEO applies to the day to day operation of their teams. This way, they can easily digest your ideas instead of dismissing it as expensive and lofty promises.

Embed SEO within their teams so they can see easily how it works.

How to Recover from the November 2019 Google Update

/by

Every year, Google releases new updates as a way to improve the user search experience. However, each update also means that site owners have to keep up to recover from the update. It’s easy to panic and be overcome with confusion. But instead of wasting your time doing the guesswork, we recommend some tips here so you’ll know what to focus on.

For the November update, here’s what you can do:

What’s new with Google?

The newest update is BERT technology. This neural system revolutionizes how search engines interpret search queries. Instead of just interpreting the meaning of each individual word, BERT will now assess the relation of these words to each other. This will impact the generation of rich snippets and the traffic of the affected sites. Also, it will change your rankings for specific keywords.

Nevertheless, BERT will only be used in 10% of all searchers. This also means that you’ll only lose the traffic that’s not helpful for your site.

What Googlers say

According to Google’s John Mueller, fixing things will not actually help you solve the problem. You have to move forward with better content that’s highly relevant to your site. This way, when BERT kicks in, it will attribute your pages to the right search query.

Why did my rankings plummet?

The release of BERT aims to match relevant pages to the proper search query. This will literally impact how you rank for your keywords. If you currently rank first for a money keyword now, you may go down a notch at second or third.

Take note that when it comes to rankings, it’s all about relevance. It’s the same reason why Google changed its nofollow attribute to a hint.

The thing about site speed

Every SEO expert knows that speed is the name of the game. But how come slow websites rank higher than your pages?

Well, Mueller emphasizes that there are more ranking factors than page speed alone. Page speed doesn’t override everything else. So even if your website is loading fast, the content quality and relevance could be the deciding factor.

Aside from site speed, you should also focus on factors on like popularity signals, relevance, website domain age, and more.

Take note that Google won’t down-rank a site just because it’s slow. They will also look at other factors as well.

What about junk links?

Even high ranking pages have junk links. But how come Google isn’t paying attention to it? Well, as long as the pages answer a search query and are highly relevant, Google will not pay attention to these links.

Take note that Google also snobs paid links. Once the link expires, it becomes a junk and the boost you get from it will also vanish. With that, your page will go back to its original ranking.

Also, Google tends to overlook keyword stuffing as long as the site is popular and is in great demand. So even if a site does keyword stuffing (which is unacceptable), they may still pop at the top of search results.

What You Need to Know About Inclusive Web Design 

/by

On top of the content that you publish regularly, inclusive web design is also an essential component of your website. This is why web designers and developers are using this aspect as a competitive edge for higher conversions. Also, it plays a big role in SEO and advanced online marketing.

Take note that it’s not just about designing. You should also use this tool to target a wider audience and to spot what’s missing on your website.

Why an inclusive website design matters

Inclusive website design helps you cater to a wider audience by making your pages as accessible as possible. This isn’t a new trend, but something that is gaining more traction over the years.

One good example here is the Alt Text of images. As much as it’s useful for keyword optimization, the main objective of this tool is to textualize an image. This way, even if it doesn’t load properly on a user, they will know what the image is about. It’s also useful among visually impaired internet users.

Also, inclusive web design allows the users to view the pages in simplified form. This way, they can access the website even if they have an unstable internet connection.

The more accessible your website is, the more useful it becomes for web users. Not just that, it also becomes appealing for search engine crawlers. That means you’re also earning more ranking points along the way.

How to make your website design more inclusive?

*Allow customizable text

For most, a font size 12 is enough to be easy on the eyes. Still, some may find it hard to read, especially if your target audience are typically seniors. It’s best to enable the customizable text function so your site visitor can tweak it as necessary. This will also make their browsing more enjoyable and they are more likely to stay longer on your pages.

*Don’t put everything in one spot

When it comes to web design, less is more. As much as you want to maximize the space, you should know that an overcrowded page is an eyesore. Try to make it as ‘breathable’ as possible. This way, your users will find it easier to navigate. Also, put yourself on your users’ shoes. Do you really want a crowded website? What else is missing which you can improve?

*Place video captions

Not everyone can understand a specific language, so if you’re expecting traffic from non-English speakers, you might as well place video captions. This way, your content will be valuable across the internet. Also, never autoplay a video. It’s an annoying habit that many web owners use.

*Consider audio transcripts

If you’re posting an audio clip, always pair it with a transcript. This way, even deaf users can appreciate and digest your content. Also, always align the text to your audio. By doing this, you’re making your content accessible to more people. Aside from the auditory impaired, those who can’t listen to an audio file can read the content on the fly.

Why Does My Website Have a High Bounce Rate?

/by

Managing bounce rate is one of the trickiest parts of owning a website. It pertains to the rate of visitors that leave your website after a few seconds or after viewing several pages. A high bounce rate is a bad sign. It can say a lot of things about your website, including its navigability and appeal to users.

Still, bounce rates aren’t always a bad thing. At some point, your visitors will leave your website, which is quite normal. So when should you panic? Here’s a tier you can refer to:

25% or lower – Exceptional

26% to 40% – just the right level

41% to 55% – can be considered average but still normal

56% to 70% – higher than the considered normal but can be acceptable depending on the niche

Higher than 70% – something is really wrong and it needs an immediate fix

If your website falls in the higher spectrum, you need to consider the following reasons for the excessive bounce rate:

Technical problems 

People will often leave your website for another option if it often yields 404 pages. Also, if your website is very difficult to navigate on mobile, expect that your visitor will look somewhere else.

The easiest way to diagnose the problem is to put yourself in the shoes of your visitors. Check your website to know the technical difficulties they are experiencing.

Slow loading time

Slow page speeds aren’t just an enemy in terms of bounce rate. They can also hurt your rankings in Google. Since slow loading is an unpleasant experience, your visitor will just close the tab and look for the next option. This also spells trouble on your search engine results ranking.

It’s best to perform a site audit to know what’s causing the slow loading. Your site could make use of compressing images or videos, fixing coding errors, and solving other related problems.

Poor content

Internet users want content they can easily digest. So if you’re writing in a PhD dissertation tone, expect that your visitors will give it a pass. Always write in a conversational manner and make sure that the header tags are easy to skim.

A sea of text is a bad sign and the sight of it is enough reason for a site visitor to look somewhere else. Take note that writing for the web is way different than writing for a school paper or a publication.

It’s best to check your copywriting skills. Also, avoid very salesy content. As much as you want to market your service or product, you don’t want to put off potential customers with your pushy content.

Conclusion

A high bounce rate is a sign that something’s wrong with your website. A complete audit will help you see the bigger picture. Through that, you can apply the necessary solution. Always start with the basic problems and move to complicated ones until you have fixed all of it. Just remember that bounce rates aren’t always bad. You just have to get the right balance based on your site’s niche.

 

What is BERT and What Does it Mean for SEO 

/by

Google is marking yet another stride in search with the release of its proprietary technology called BERT. This stands for Bidirectional Encoder Representations from Transformers. It aims to process the query by interpreting words in relation to other words in the sentence. With this, the BERT technology can assess the thought of a sentence instead of interpreting a word by itself.

And with every major algorithm and ranking factor being changed, it impacts SEO experts and site owners. Take note that Google claims that BERT is the biggest innovation in search for the past five years. That alone is enough reason for site owners to be worried.

How BERT will impact SEO

Currently, BERT will be used only in 1 out of 10 searches in the U.S. using the English language. Its complexity is the reason behind the limited scope, as Google says it’s too intricate that BERT goes beyond the limits of their hardware.

Also, BERT will be used for rich snippets in all the countries where it’s currently available. This way, the audience will get better results and websites with more high-quality content will be given priority.

Take note that BERT isn’t a hit and miss algorithm. It has undergone rigorous testing. This way, Google can ensure that it will serve the users with better search results. In Google-speak, BERT is a neural-network-based technique that aims to analyze content as if it’s the search engine’s natural language.

Site owners should keep up

Over the years, Google has constantly introduced changes and new technology to improve the search experience. Also, it ensures that queries are answered in a natural way, with the best possible results.

For now, Google hasn’t commented about how drastic the change BERT will bring in the search engine. Site owners don’t have to panic since this technology is only being used for 10% of all searches. Unlike full-scale algorithm updates, the impact of BERT would be minimal, at least for now.

Nevertheless, it always pays to stay abreast of every Google update. Soon enough, we can expect BERT to advance and be used on a larger chunk of internet searches.

While it’s still in its infancy, it’s best to understand how BERT works and what you can do to optimize your site for this new algorithm.

Experts say that you don’t really have to ‘prepare’ for BERT. Besides, it’s not created to penalize or change how you rank drastically. The worse thing that could happen is when you lose traffic because you’re optimizing for the wrong audience.

The only preparation you need for BERT is creating relevant and high-quality content. Don’t panic if you lose traffic due to BERT. If you assess it, you’re not actually benefiting from it since those visitors aren’t warm leads.

Conclusion

BERT is another algorithm that Google released to improve the search experience. As a website owner, you don’t have to panic. All you have to do is focus on creating relevant content and following current algorithms that govern your ranking.

How to do Keyword Research the Easy Way 

/by

Do you find keyword research burdensome? If so, you’re probably making it harder than it needs to be. If you’re managing your business’ pay-per-click or SEO campaigns, you must know how to perform keyword research properly. It’s essential if you want to increase ROI from your campaigns.

Why we overcomplicate keyword search

Many business owners and PPC managers fall victim to this habit. Even though we have a wide range of tools available to simplify the process, the result is often the culprit. In just one click, a keyword search software will spit out thousands of potential keywords. Basically, the first step to research is easy-peasy. But when it comes to choosing the keywords you will use, that’s where things can become confusing.

Google recommends a maximum of 20 keywords per ad group. Still, it doesn’t mean you always need to hit the ceiling. You can use 10, 15, or anything less than 20.

Also, there’s no need to assess each keyword that the software will yield. This is time-consuming and you’ll just make the process complicated. Don’t let the minor details blindside you. Instead, opt for well-curated keywords that fit your ad group perfectly.

Stop wasting your time 

It’s easy to get lost in the middle of keyword research if you’re going to let yourself drown on blog posts and resources that use the same keywords. This will eat up your time and make the process way harder. Sure, you can look for low competition keywords with high traffic, but have you considered keyword intent?

Keyword intent is your lodestar when researching for keywords. It’s also the key to determine which keywords you need to use in the sea of options.

Take note that internet users will not search for a specific query for no reason. Their intent will fall into four different categories: navigational, transactional, informational, and commercial.

Ask yourself this: what’s the purpose of your ad campaign? Do you want to inform, or do you want to convert? From here, you’ll know which keywords suit your ad campaign.

Keyword research is always worth it

As much as you can shoot blindly with a bunch of keywords, researching ensures that your ads will become successful. You probably heard it, time and again, how important keyword research is.

Aside from targeting the right audience, the keywords you use will also impact your ad rank and quality score. Although testing is part of the process, you can cut the hassle by trimming down the unnecessary processes. Besides, if you’re only required to write a one-page essay, there’s no need to produce 10 pages. Sure, you want to impress, but you’ll end up getting the same grade as everyone else.

Final words

With the abundance of keyword research tools, you can easily find the best phrases to optimize. You just have to know your goal so you can perform the right process. Most of all, don’t overcomplicate things. Keyword research is crucial, but it doesn’t mean you’re going to spend all your time on it.

 

Organic Search Drives the Majority of Web Traffic

/by

Ever since the beginning of the internet, organic search has ruled web traffic. In fact, about 70% of the revenue for B2B companies came as a result of organic search. Over the past five years, organic search has become even more important. In fact, it accounts for over 68% of all trackable website traffic on the entire web. With this growing organic traffic, small businesses need to keep up.

What the numbers say

Unlike social media with a flat referral rate of ~5%, organic search takes up to 76% of the referral share. The B2B industry enjoys the most organic visits at 64.1%, followed technology at 59.8%.

On the other hand, channel visits only took up 20.6% for B2B industries. It’s the highest in media and entertainment at 32.7%. Nevertheless, it didn’t top the traffic organic search brings.

As for social visits, the level is tied at a single-digit percentage. The highest rate recorded is 8.2% in the media and entertainment industry, while the lowest is at 2.7% in the technology.

Organic search vs. paid search 

Organic traffic is free and it doesn’t have the same limits that paid search does. The latter is a limited campaign where the website owner runs a PPC campaign. With this, paid search is limited to what you can spend and the scope of your campaign.

On the other hand, organic search is reliant on SEO. Although search engine optimization takes time to bear fruits, it lasts longer than paid search. Besides, various think tanks have stressed the value of organic search both in rankings and conversion.

Also, organic search through SEO works around the clock to bring in traffic. Still, unlike with PPC, it’s unlikely your website’s traffic will not drop in an instant. As much as PPC offers instant traffic, it will also cause an abrupt decline in traffic once you stopped paying.

Why should businesses care about organic search?

For all of the reasons we have discussed above and many more. Organic search is

simply the best and most cost-effective way to drive long-term traffic to your website

. What’s more, by focusing on SEO, you’ll naturally be improving your website through better content and more backlinks.

The traffic quality from organic search also tends to be higher than PPC or social traffic. That’s because customers actively come to your site to find answers rather than because they have seen an ad.

Moreover, small businesses especially will benefit a lot from organic search. Since it’s free, organic search becomes a more viable option to market your website. PPC can quickly become expensive with costs that spiral out of hands. That alone can drive new businesses, especially local businesses

Final words

Organic search is the leading traffic generator on the web. This is why businesses should utilize every possible method to boost their online presence through SEO. Instead of investing in PPC campaigns alone, the wait is worth it with organic search. It offers long-lasting benefits at a lower cost.