Whiteboard Friday

Howdy Moz fans! Welcome to Whiteboard Friday, the longest-running and most popular SEO video series. Featuring industry experts as guest hosts who share their hands-on SEO experience working with agencies, businesses, and consultancies. Each weekly episode delivers actionable SEO training to help you advance your career and master digital marketing.

Browse our curated favorites or check out the latest episodes below to stay on top of SEO best practices.

Search Intent and the Organic Funnel : Tom reveals how understanding search intent within the organic funnel can transform your keyword research strategy and drive better results.

The Value of SEO Beyond Traffic and Leads : Discover why SEO should be viewed as your website's foundation rather than a set-and-forget tactic, and learn to communicate its full business impact.

Top SEO Tips for 2024 : Crystal shares essential strategies for navigating SEO in an AI-driven landscape, helping you adapt and thrive in this transformative year.

Most Recent Articles on Whiteboard Friday

Should SEOs & Content Marketers Play to the Social Networks' "Stay-On-Our-Site" Algorithms?

By: Rand Fishkin

January 19, 2018

Should SEOs & Content Marketers Play to the Social Networks' "Stay-On-Our-Site" Algorithms?

Social Media | Whiteboard Friday | Content Marketing

Increasingly, social networks are tweaking their algorithms to favor content that remains on their site, rather than send users to an outside source. This spells trouble for those trying to drive traffic and visitors to external pages, but what's an SEO or content marketer to do? This edition of Whiteboard Friday goes into detail on the pros and cons of each approach, then gives Rand's recommendations on how to balance your efforts going forward.

Why Google AdWords' Keyword Volume Numbers Are Wildly Unreliable

By: Rand Fishkin

January 12, 2018

Why Google AdWords' Keyword Volume Numbers Are Wildly Unreliable

Keyword Research | Whiteboard Friday

Broad and unusable volume ranges, misalignment with other Google tools, and conflating similar yet distinct keywords — these are just a few of the serious issues that make relying on AdWords search volume data alone so dangerous. In this edition of Whiteboard Friday, we discuss those issues and offer a few alternatives for more accurate volume data.

SEO Ranking Factors & Correlation: What Does It Mean When a Metric Is Correlated with Google Rankings?

By: Rand Fishkin

January 5, 2018

SEO Ranking Factors & Correlation: What Does It Mean When a Metric Is Correlated with Google Rankings?

Advanced SEO | Whiteboard Friday

Correlations data isn't always as clear as it seems. In this Whiteboard Friday, Rand shares the myths and realities of correlations in SEO ranking factor studies, then offers five smart ways to glean more trustworthy, useful information from the data.

By: Rand Fishkin

December 29, 2017

How to Rank: The SEO Checklist

Advanced SEO | Whiteboard Friday

This edition of Whiteboard Friday covers a nine-point SEO checklist of the major items you need to cross off to rank in 2018 — and maybe get some hints on how to explain it to others, too.

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What Do Google's New, Longer Snippets Mean for SEO?

By: Rand Fishkin

December 8, 2017

What Do Google's New, Longer Snippets Mean for SEO?

Search Engines | Whiteboard Friday | SEO Basics

Snippets and meta descriptions have new character limits, and it's a big change for Google (and us SEOs). Learn about what's new and what it means for SEO in this edition of Whiteboard Friday.

Designing a Page's Content Flow to Maximize SEO Opportunity

By: Rand Fishkin

December 1, 2017

Designing a Page's Content Flow to Maximize SEO Opportunity

On-page SEO | Whiteboard Friday | User Experience (UX)

Controlling and improving the flow of your page content can actually help your SEO. In today's Whiteboard Friday, we cover the questions and goals you need to hit the bullseye on this process.

How Google AdWords (PPC) Does and Doesn't Affect Organic Results

By: Rand Fishkin

November 17, 2017

How Google AdWords (PPC) Does and Doesn't Affect Organic Results

Paid Search Marketing (PPC) | Whiteboard Friday | Advanced SEO

We're well aware that PPC can have an effect on our organic results. But what effect is that, exactly, and how does it work? This week's Whiteboard Friday covers the ways paid influences organic — and one very important way it doesn't.

How Google Gives Us Insight into Searcher Intent Through the Results

By: Rand Fishkin

November 10, 2017

How Google Gives Us Insight into Searcher Intent Through the Results

Whiteboard Friday | Search Engines

Buried inside most SERPs (especially those with more general queries) is a host of insight into Google's assumptions about searcher intent. Rand explains how you can find it.

Link Strategies that Stand the Test of Time: A Tribute to Eric Ward (Link Moses)

By: Rand Fishkin

November 3, 2017

Link Strategies that Stand the Test of Time: A Tribute to Eric Ward (Link Moses)

Whiteboard Friday | Link Building

In honor of the late SEO pioneer and our friend, Eric Ward, this episode of Whiteboard Friday covers the kinds of link strategies he worked so hard to teach.

How to Use the "Keywords by Site" Data in Tools to Improve Your Keyword Research and Targeting

By: Rand Fishkin

October 27, 2017

How to Use the "Keywords by Site" Data in Tools to Improve Your Keyword Research and Targeting

Keyword Research | Whiteboard Friday | SEO Tools

There's a powerful concept in the world of SEO software: the "keyword universe." Learn how to harness the potential of tens of millions of keywords and their rankings data in this edition of Whiteboard Friday.

How Links in Headers, Footers, Content, and Navigation Can Impact SEO

By: Rand Fishkin

October 20, 2017

How Links in Headers, Footers, Content, and Navigation Can Impact SEO

Link Building | On-page SEO | Whiteboard Friday

This week's Whiteboard Friday covers links in headers and footers, in navigation versus content, and how that can affect internal and external links, link equity, and link value between your site and others.

Writing Headlines that Serve SEO, Social Media, and Website Visitors All Together

By: Rand Fishkin

October 13, 2017

Writing Headlines that Serve SEO, Social Media, and Website Visitors All Together

SEO Copywriting | Whiteboard Friday | Content Marketing

A single headline can't do it all. You need to develop something a little different for your goals tied to SEO, social media, and site visitors. This Whiteboard Friday covers a process to help optimize your titles across multiple platforms.

Getting SEO Value from rel="nofollow" Links

By: Rand Fishkin

October 6, 2017

Getting SEO Value from rel="nofollow" Links

Link Building | Whiteboard Friday

Plenty of websites that make it easy for you to contribute don't make it easy to earn a followed link from those contributions. In this Whiteboard Friday, Rand shares five tactics to help you earn equity-passing followed links using traditionally nofollow-only platforms.

Paid Social for Content Marketing Launches

By: Kane Jamison

September 29, 2017

Paid Social for Content Marketing Launches

Content Marketing | Whiteboard Friday | Paid Search Marketing (PPC)

Boosting your signal with paid social introduces your brand to new audiences and improves traffic and overall results for your content marketing launches. Today's Whiteboard Friday highlights four straightforward, actionable tactics you can use ASAP to make those launches shine.