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SEO Site Audits: Getting Started
Lindsay Wassell

SEO Site Audits: Getting Started

A typical SEO site audit takes me around 50 hours to complete. If it is a small site (<1000 pages), I am working efficiently, and the client hasn't requested a lot of extra pieces, this estimate can come in as low as 35 hours. If the site is large and has a lot of issues to document, the time investment inches closer to 70 hours. At SEOmoz, we usually asked for a project time-line of...

An Illustrated Guide to the Science of Influence &amp; Persuasion
Rand Fishkin

An Illustrated Guide to the Science of Influence & Persuasion

Conversion rate optmization - the practice of improving the quantity of visitors who take a desired action on your site - has been a hot topic this year. There's both an art and a science to the process of turning browsers into buyers and drive-by readers into email subscribers, Facebook fans and Twitter followers. In my opinion, no marketer should be engaging in this work without having read R...

A Simple Guide to .htaccess
Luke Jones

A Simple Guide to .htaccess

The .htaccess file on mod_rewrite enabled servers (usually Unix-based but sometimes decent Windows hosts) can be an SEOs dream (and sometimes nightmare). The small file that should be found in the root folder is what you will use to fix a lot of the crawling errors with rewrites and redirects. On small, static sites, they can even be used to create more usable, pretty URLs. An introduct...

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Wrong Page Ranking in the Results? 6 Common Causes &amp; 5 Solutions
Rand Fishkin

Wrong Page Ranking in the Results? 6 Common Causes & 5 Solutions

Sometimes, the page you're trying to rank - the one that visitors will find relevant and useful to their query - isn't the page the engines have chosen to place first. When this happens, it can be a frustrating experience trying to determine what course of action to take. In this blog post, I'll walk through five potential solutions, as well as talk about some of the root causes of this problem.

Keyword Research Tools - Build Your Own Adventure
S

Keyword Research Tools - Build Your Own Adventure

My mother used to scold me for misusing my toys, playing with my food and for having a bit too much energy. She was well within her rights, as I was a bit of a handful, but at the moment one particular phrase really sticks out in my mind “Is that what that was made for Sam? Use it the right way, please.” Whether I was riding down the stairs in a sleepin...

May 2010 Linkscape Update (and Whiteboard Explanations of How We Do It)
Rand Fishkin

May 2010 Linkscape Update (and Whiteboard Explanations of How We Do It)

As some of you likely noticed, Linkscape's index updated today with fresh data crawled over the past 30 days. Rather than simply provide the usual index update statistics, we thought it would be fun to do some whiteboard diagrams of how we make a Linkscape update happen here at the mozplex. We also felt guilty because our camera ate tonight's WB Friday (but Scott's working hard to get it u...

The SEOmoz Office Gets a New Do
Jennifer Sable Lopez

The SEOmoz Office Gets a New Do

As you may have heard, SEOmoz has moved offices (woo hoo!). So we thought it would be nice to take you on a tour of our new digs. We're quite proud that we outgrew the old space and needed a bigger place. Pleas follow along as I take you on a tour of the new office. First, as you first step out of the elevator you may think, "Wow, this really is a cool space." But then...

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The Halo Effect on SEO Campaigns
Charlie Gray

The Halo Effect on SEO Campaigns

When working with prospective clients, we often talk with them about the many long-tail or related keywords that they may show up for, in addition to the primary keyword, as we optimize their website structure, increase their content, and improve their link profile. At OrangeSoda, we refer to this as the "halo effect," but it is also referred to as the umbrella effect, keyword as...

Overcome the Google Analytics Learning Curve in 20 Minutes
Danny Dover

Overcome the Google Analytics Learning Curve in 20 Minutes

As recently as a month ago I was a victim of a state of mind I call Analytics Dismissal Disorder. This mindset is common after hearing about the importance of analytics, installing the tracking code and then getting overwhelmed by all of the graphs and scary numbers. When I suffered from analytics dismissal disorder (which my doctors called A.D.D. for short), I knew Google Analytics wa...

Google Analytics Event Tracking to Monitor Calls to Action
Casey Henry

Google Analytics Event Tracking to Monitor Calls to Action

Analytics is one of those things that hasn’t always been at the top of my priority list until recently. Google Analytics has many features I’ve never used before because I haven’t had the time to sit down and really investigate what they can do for me and my clients. A few months ago, in one of my late night GA adventures, I found a section on event tracking, a small love soon formed.