To build organic traffic to your web content in 2020, what is the first step you will take?
Get social media shares!
Nope, not even close.
Richard Cummings
Director of SEO, Social Media, and Web Content Development at The SEO System
Richard Cummings has been practicing online marketing for many years and has setup and optimized hundreds of WordPress sites.He founded The SEO System to provide SEO, social media, and online marketing services and software to businesses.
Latest posts by Richard Cummings (see all)
- Indexing Requests Currently Suspended [Google Search Console] - October 15, 2020
- Google Analytics and Google Tag Manager Code:Do I Need Both? - September 19, 2020
- WordPress X Theme:How To Setup Google Tag Manager - September 17, 2020
Web Page Title Not Showing on Bing/Yahoo or Says “Official Site”
Several clients have asked me about their web page titles not showing up properly on Bing and Yahoo.
Frequently, instead of the web page title, Bing and Yahoo will say “Company Name – Official Site“ as you see depicted in the image to the right.
These images are taken from a Yahoo and Bing search for the company Intel. However, instead of saying “Intel | Data Center Solutions, IOT, and PC Innovation” which is what their HTML title element (technically, the title is an element and not a meta tag) says, the title of the web page simply says “Intel – Official Site”.
You may take solace in the fact that, if it’s happening to Intel, you probably cannot do anything about it.
But you’d be wrong.
So, let’s take a look at why this is important, why it’s happening, and what you can do about it.
How To Track the Facebook “Call Now” Button
The Facebook “Call Now” button introduced a great way for customers to immediately contact your business when they are using Facebook on their cell phone.
But, after implementing the “Call Now” feature in your Facebook local awareness ads, you will have one obvious question that Facebook is less willing to answer: Are people clicking your Facebook “Call Now button?
A Review: Facebook Keys to Success Webinar by Jon Loomer
I just “completed” Jon Loomer’s Facebook Keys to Success Webinar and will provide you with a quick review of it here.
Why do I use the word “completed” in quotes? Well, as you’ll see below, it’s long and I did not quite make it through the entire video. That is not to say that the content is not engaging, though I do offer some suggestions below; the content is engaging but I was specifically interested in particular sections and so I focused on those.
One of the particular sections that I was interested in was Facebook Ad targeting. And coincidentally, as quick proof that his methods do work, I signed up for the webinar via a Facebook targeted ad.
Google Branding Websites as “Not Secure” – Live Examples – August 2018 Update
Since my article long ago exposing the 10 Facts & Myths of Secure (HTTPS) websites and my more recent Definitive HTTPS/SSL WordPress Upgrade Guide, Google has now provided increased incentive for those of you who have not yet upgraded your website to HTTPS — they will brand you as “Not Secure”!
The Google official announcement states that: “Beginning in January 2017 (Chrome 56), we’ll mark HTTP pages that collect passwords or credit cards as non-secure, as part of a long-term plan to mark all HTTP sites as non-secure.”
Important Post Update – August 2018: Google Chrome now labels all http sites as ‘not secure’…not just pages with forms on them.
Google AdWords Now Limits Average Monthly Searches for “Low Spenders”
If you’ve recently logged into Google AdWords to get keyword data, you may notice that the “Average Monthly Searches” column is now not nearly as useful.
The Average Monthly Search column in AdWords may now show something like the photo below:
The 10-Step HTTPS/SSL WordPress Upgrade [2020 Edition]
I am going to give you the exact instructions on how to upgrade your WordPress website to SSL in under 3 hours AND in just 10 easy steps.
It’s 2020 and you are falling behind the competition if your WordPress website is not HTTPS/SSL! If you’re still not convinced, here are 5 great reasons your site should be HTTPS.
“But wait,” you ask. “I’ve heard that a WordPress SSL conversion takes tons of research and planning.”
The One Giant SEO Mistake That You Are Making
If you were to name the one giant SEO mistake that you are making, what would it be?
“Who me? I’m not making any mistakes”.
You and I know that we all make mistakes and you are probably making this one giant SEO mistake.
My inspiration for this post comes from my SEO article of the week by Stephan Spencer: 5 super-common SEO mistakes content marketers make.
In his article, Stephan lists these 5 SEO mistakes that everyone is making:
- Hustling for likes instead of links
- Misplacing the content
- Targeting the wrong audience
- Being activity-focused
- No help from a power user
I highly recommend Stephan’s article as he articulates each position thoroughly.Read More
Google Unnatural Links Penalty Strikes Again!
On Saturday, many webmasters received a stinging letter from Google that begins: “Google has detected a pattern of links from your site to other sites that is either unnatural or irrelevant.”
It’s as if it’s 2010 again when many webmasters were receiving Google Webspam penalties and having their websites completed decimated.
6 years later…should this still be happening? I just asked this question rhetorically on Twitter:
@rustybrick Hmm…Google can build a self-driving car but they can't automatically de-value sites without crippling those who link to them!
— The SEO System (@TheSEOSystem) April 11, 2016
How To Easily Repurpose Blog Posts for Video
Video accounted for 64% of all Internet traffic this past year. By 2019, experts estimate this number to escalate to 80%. How will you tap into this market?
One great way to do this is to repurpose your current and future web content — especially your blogs post — into educational and entertaining videos.
What’s in it for you? The benefits are clear: If you don’t do online video marketing, you will be missing out on 80% of all web traffic!Read More
The “Passing” of PageRank: A Round Up of the Top 10 Posts
The tool that many SEO’s have used for several years, Google PageRank, is officially dead…or dying. Sources say that PageRank data will be unavailable within a couple of weeks.
I still see the PageRank data in my Chrome Open SEO browser and stats toolbar as you see below:
But, presumably, this data will disappear in short order.
So, what is the reaction of the masses? Let’s take a look at the top posts with quotable Tweets about the death of PageRank in this weekly round-up.
Read More
Can/Should I Auto-Message My Followers on Twitter?
Question: I’ve only been using Twitter for about one year and I notice that a lot of people that I follow send me a direct message like: “Thanks for the follow. I’d like to offer you free access to this small business marketing PDF as a token of my appreciation. ”
So, my question is this: How are these people auto-messaging me via Twitter and, secondly, is this considered a good business practice or is it spammy suicide? Thanks, Gina in South Carolina
Answer: Gina, unknowingly, you have opened a can of worms that is the subject of much debate. Let’s tackle the first part of your question and then we’ll get into the sometimes “heated” debate about whether you should auto-direct message people who follow you on Twitter.
Read More
9 Powerful Blog Title Generators That Drastically Increase Click-Thrus!
Today, we bring you our updated 2020 reviews of the top 9 most powerful blog title generators on the market.
Why are these reviews important?
Because 80% of readers NEVER make it past the article title (see more stats below)!
Read More
9 Startling Mobile Marketing Stats You Must Know in 2018
Statistics tell a story and the latest mobile marketing statistics tell this story:
You have to optimize everything you do online for mobile!
“Whatever, I’m gettin’ by just fine without it. Can people just stop shouting about mobile this and mobile that?”“.
Not until you listen — sometimes you just need cold hard facts to spur you to action.
So here are 9 startling mobile marketing statistics you must know (and act on!) in 2018, each introduced with a corresponding Tweet.
Read More