1. Add Internal Links to Your Holiday Pages 

PageRank is a Google ranking factor. It is important to add links from relevant pages or websites on your website to boost your ranking on SERPs. It is also important to audit your website so that you can fix broken links or redirects. One way to include internal links organically is to include a shopping guide in your company’s blog. You can include links to sales pages and links competitor sites for price comparing. 

2. Discover Seasonal Topics

Search for holiday-specific keywords that you can include in your content for your landing pages. Keywords relevant to a holiday don’t have to include the actual name of the holiday. It can be related to the person whom people are buying for like “for dad” and “for mom.” Think about all the people your target audience may need to buy for and search for keyword those demographics may be interested in. Once you have a good list, include your keywords into headings, body copy, and meta descriptions. 

3. Update Old Seasonal Content

If you are short on time, simply update old landing pages and content. Most of the holidays stay on the same day every year, so you can pre-schedule content updates on your website and social media. Keeping seasonal pages active all year round could also help build authority for those pages which will help rank on Google. When the holiday nears, go through your content, and update new item suggestions, recommendations, and photos with new meta descriptions and alt tags. 

4. Optimize Your Google Business Profile 

This is especially important if you have a brick-and-mortar business. If you haven’t already claimed your Google Business Profile, do so. When consumers type in “______ near me”, you have a higher chance of showing up in Google Maps. Optimize everything and add your holiday hours. Share updates, offers, and events related to your business. They will appear in a carousel near the bottom of your Google Business panel. Use this to share any deals and offers for the upcoming holiday season. Here are more tips for posting straight from Google. 

5. Use Free Product Listings on Google Shopping 

Google Shopping brings in 1.2 billion monthly searches. If you are an ecommerce business, you will want to have items from your product pages listed here. To show your products in Google Shopping’s organic listings, you will need to have a Google Merchant Center account. This will help bring traffic to your product pages by showing your listing to places like Google Search, Maps, YouTube, Shopping Tab, and Images. 

6. Improve CTRs for Holiday Pages 

Higher click-through-rates means more visitors and more sales. Make sure your holiday images have optimized alt tags and meta descriptions. On you holiday pages optimize your titles with keywords and calls-to-action. Include interactive elements and videos on your landing page to increase viewer retention. Then, utilize Google Ads in combination with your landing pages. Google Ads will give you click data on what title and meta description combinations work best for a particular page.      

Improve your website’s SEO for the holidays today. Call 248.528.3600.

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How Do You Identify Content Spam?

1. Analyze Ranking Losses
2. Conduct an SEO Audit 
3. SEO Analysis to Narrow Down Problem 
   • Auditing your domain
     • Analysis of backlink gains or losses
     • Backlink audit
   • Auditing competitors 
     • Analysis of backlink gains or losses
     • Analysis of competitors’ content
   • Check your on-page SEO & technical SEO
     • Site Audit & technical issues
     • On-page check (page titles, subheadings, etc.)
   • Check for Google Updates

How Google Detects Duplicate Content 

Google is great at identifying duplicate content and detecting on which pages the content appeared first. So why do so many spam sites rank? John Mueller of Google provides some insight to why that might be:

“But even if we know which one is the original and which one is the copy, sometimes it makes sense to show a copy in the search results…And one of the situations where I have seen this happen consistently is if a website is of lower quality overall, where when our systems look at it they’re like, well we can’t really trust this website. But if a higher-quality website were to take some of this content and publish it, we would say, well we know more about this website and actually maybe we should show this content in the search results.”

— John Mueller, Google Web Trends Analyst, June 2021

Translation: Google believes that copied content should sometimes show up in search and may work better on some else’s domain rather than the original website. So, making sure your website is updated in design, function, and content is extremely important. Spammers duplicate the original content until the original page ranks worse and destroys the original website’s authority. The original site usually has fewer backlinks and is often overall smaller that the, while the spammed content aims for ranking on a national level. If you find your business’s website is under this spam attack, Google provides a dedicated form for reporting spam websites. In addition, if the spam site is spreading malware or aims to steal data, you can report these phishing attacks through Google Safe Browsing.

How is Stolen Content Used on Content Spam Websites?

1.7 million websites, 1.5 million images, and more are imported into the hijacked Search Console via the sitemap. The hacked page was also can be accessed via a WordPress to exploit. Once a site has been hacked, a thorough expansion of subpages begins. For Example, 25,800 Google results for a small pipe cleaning website that is distributing dangerous malware attacks on hacked websites. Spammers’ websites use plagiarism to not only place is search results, but in post snippets for easy SEO wins on social media platforms as well. 

They use backlinks alongside known, relevant text content in social media linking to completely different domains to boost these domains and entire sentences are taken from third-party content to post on Facebook to enhance their own content. Sometimes text content is taken from a webpage with a top 3 ranking and appears on a competitor’s Facebook profile. 

OnlySpams.expert by Seybold found 17% stolen content on a website at the top 3 Google SERPs Page. That may not sound a lot, but for a 10,000-word article, 17% is 1,700 stolen words. When attackers’ websites are removed from the index after a webspam report is sent to Google, rankings may recover, but a complete recovery under continued DDoS attacks and restoring an online store’s top rankings can take up to 7 months with considerable SEO skills. That is a lot time taken away from authority and brand building. 

Avoid negative SEO tactics and create an ethical SEO strategy with us. Call 248.528.360 

The post How to Detect & Combat Negative SEO Tactics appeared first on Miller Media, Digital Marketing Agency, PPC, Industrial Web Design, WordPress.

1. Title Tags 

Title tags appear within the search engine result below the URL and above the meta description. Create on-brand and eye-catching titles with optimized keywords. Target 51-55 characters for the best odds that Google won’t rewrite your title tags. Try to use the language of your target audience with an exact-match keyword. Make sure it matches the intent of your audience. Also make sure it is descriptive of the content because if inaccurate your bounce rate will increase instead of decreasing. An example of an effective title tag might be if a manufacturing company searches “web design near me and your title reads “Stunning Websites for the Industrial Market”. 

2. Detailed Snappy Headings

Putting target keywords in page headings and subheadings is a simple, but a surprisingly forgotten way to optimize your page’s search results. Your H1 should be crafty, compelling, clear, concise, and front-loaded with keywords to draw your target audience into the main content. Utilizing descriptive keywords in your H2s and H3s is also a great way to break up long content, making it easier for the user to find what they are looking for. Any and every type of page can benefit from optimizing subheadings, including templatized pages like ecommerce product detail page and other standardized listings, not just information websites. 

3. Rich Content (no matter the length)

On Page SEO relies on semantic search and natural language processing. Great content should answer the query, anticipate the user’s next questions, and answer those in advance. Make the most of shorter content by being intentional with every word. Make sure your content is rich with terms semantically related to your target keyword. Try swapping out pronouns like “it” for words that are more descriptive. Make sure your writing is easy to read by people and machines. Resist fragments and run-on sentences.  

4. Internal Links with Optimized Anchor Text

Internal links are easy high impact on-page SEO optimization. It anchors text to a destination page and facilitates a path to purchase. Optimize anchor text with your target keywords or semantic terms. Also choose link placement wisely because links with related content will reap more benefit to your target landing page. 

5. E-A-T Signals 

E-A-T is a way Google measures the value of your content and stands for Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness. Add high-quality external citations to informational content, long-form articles and other sources with an author that is reputable. E-A-T signals are not only there for users but for quality Raters, awards, testimonials, and studies that can all add value for your target audience. Establishing beneficial purpose and demonstrating trustworthiness is important for rankings, conversion, and thus overall lead generation. Visitors are more likely to choose to company that looks like they know what they are talking about vs one with no expert opinion. 

6. FAQs & “People Also Ask” Content 

Research on SERPs and the People Also Ask (PAA) box based on your target audience. PAA allows Google to increase the number featured on Snippets, which means answering an important question will increase the chance on SERP longevity. Target PAA that have weak answers that can be improved upon. If the current PAA results are accurate and you don’t expect to unseat the current ranking page, you should still incorporate these questions in your content to be seen as an authority. Directly ask the relevant questions in subheadings and answering in list or paragraph format as appropriate. For long form articles, put this directly in an H2. For ecommerce pages, create a dedicated FAQ section.

7. Descriptive Image Alt Text 

Make sure your alt text is optimized and falls into the “truly essential” grouping. Descriptive alt text is always critical for visually impaired users, especially if they rely on a e-reader. This does not only apply to photos, but infographic as other flat images as well. Google and other search engines value descriptions due to its ability to target a wide range of users.  

8. Valid Schema Markup 

Schema Markup is a collection of code snippets that can be placed on any page of a website. It is used to call out specific aspects of the page in the search results. Pages with structured data tend to receive higher click-through rates than those without, as the snippets are more engaging and attractive to searchers. A good example are recipes. Google any recipe and the top will show a photo, link, rating, time, and mini description of the subject. This is very important to ecommerce business as it will entice more users to click on your partner. 

Need help with your on-page SEO strategy? Call 248.528.360 

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1.  Content Ideas & Identify Target Keywords

Focus on conversion first, then client consideration, and lastly awareness. In the conversion phase use long-tail keywords. They have a lower search volume but have higher purchase intent rate. Ask these 3 questions when coming up with content ideas in the client consideration phase:

• What are our customers’ pain points?
• Which of those pain point topics can we write compelling content about that puts a spotlight on our product or service as a solution?
• Which keywords match those topics? 

Lastly, for awareness, start with popular local keywords, then expand based on growth or the next area that your target audience is located. 

2. SERP Analysis 

Inserting the target keyword into your title tag and subheadings is a good start, but it is not enough. Research the types of content that ranks already. Is it “how to” articles or landing pages or quick list for Google’s scheme? Are there any subtopics being discussed these popular articles that you didn’t think of? Think about how you can improve the articles on the top results page. If you can come up with a winning article with search intent in mind users will spend more time on your post, click into things, and thus display “on page behavior signals” that tell Google’s algorithm your piece is useful. Google is more likely to rank you higher and the searcher is more likely to feel your brand understands their needs, increasing the chance your product will convert. 

3. Structure Your Article 

First think about the type of post your content is going to be. Is it a guide, list, or how to, etc. Look at what users are typing into Google to answer their question. Using the SERP analysis think about the improvements to information currently out there. From a reader’s perspective, it was difficult to tell what the differences were between products, and which one would be the best fit for them. Include subtopics needed to rank and be specific in how you sell your product or service by incorporating how it can solve the problem the client is searching for to solve. This will help you stand out from other products that user generic fluff words. Create a list or outline using this info in mind. Structure like this: 

• Header (main topics)
• Sub header (subtopics)
• Paragraph 1 (problem) 
• Paragraph 2 (Solution) 
• Recap
• Conclusion with Calls-to-action

4. Write the Content 

Make the time to write the content thoroughly and edit it. If you are a busy business owner, you might not have the time to do this. You have 2 options if you can’t accomplish this task yourself. One, hirer an internal team consisting of a researcher, writer, editor, and social media manager. Two, hirer an agency who has all these positions and other professionals to help you out. You and the agency can develop a content marketing strategy that covers your website, social media, and any other marketing material your business needs to operate. You can update the strategy every time you have a new business goal you need to accomplish. 

5. On-Page SEO

Go through or have professional go through and check or edit alt tags and meta descriptions. Google’s algorithm is favoring websites and content that accessible-friendly. This will also help potential clients that use e-readers understand your content as well as boost you Google SERP ranking because you are reaching a wider range audience. Also check back links within your article to see if they are active. Broken links can hurt SEO, so it is important that those a functioning. Make sure the layout is attractive and easy to read. If your article is dense, break up the photos with images or visual aids.

Need help developing an excellent content strategy?  Call 248.528.360 

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1. Written Content 

2. Title Tags 

3. Page URL

4. Image Alt Text 

5. Internal & External Links 

If you are struggling with these factors call 248.528.3600

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Semantic search has sparked a lot of buzz in the SEO space. We’ve heard about entity SEO, conversational content, optimizing for topics (as opposed to keywords), and even completely ditching old-school SEO tactics, like link building and keyword targeting, in favor of creating the most relevant and useful piece of content there is, and letting Google do the rest.

What’s semantic search?  Semantic search aims to improve search accuracy by understanding searcher intent, contextual meaning of terms, and relationships between words to provide more relevant search results.

There is no doubt that the search landscape is changing, but it’s important to realize that these changes are very gradual. Keywords are still important, but they have a lot of company: things like relevance, comprehensiveness, and usability matter just as much. In 2017, optimizing your pages for engines exclusively won’t cut it; but focusing on the user alone isn’t something search engines are able to pick up on either. Instead of running to the extremes, cater for both humans and engines: create high-quality content and provide the best user experience you can; but don’t forget to do your keyword research and competitor analysis to incorporate topically relevant terms into your content.  On-page SEO in 2017-RankBrain & Semantic Search>

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