The Moz Blog

A Look Back at a Great 2017: 5 Major Moz Product Investments and a Sneak Peek Into 2018

We spent much of 2017 improving and reinforcing our SEO products to better serve the experts who use them. Check out the biggest updates from the past year, and get a sneak peek at what we have planned for 2018!

How to Face 3 Fundamental Challenges Standing Between SEOs and Clients/Bosses

SEO is more important in 2018 than it's ever been, but the biggest challenges SEOs face still revolve around getting clients and bosses to see its value. In this post, Serge Stefoglo shares methods to tackle three of the most-reported hurdles SEOs must jump to prove their worth.

What Does It Mean to "Write for SEO" in 2018?

Writers regularly receive dangerously incorrect advice on how to write for SEO. To protect your site from Google penalties and ensure your writing is appropriate for modern SEO standards, Rand outlines outdated practices and a brief 5-step writing process for 2018.

How to Earn More Links and Social Shares: Insights From 759 Content Marketing Campaigns

What's the best way to earn links and social shares from content marketing? Your content should have an emotional hook, be surprising, and/or have broad appeal. There's also the matter of effective outreach. Learn what works from the results of 700+ content marketing campaigns.

How Is Google's New "Questions and Answers" Feature Being Used? [Case Study]

One of Google's newest features in the local SERPs doesn't seem to have great adoption by business owners. How are people Google's new Questions & Answers, and who gets the most benefit from participation? Check out the takeaways from this case study by Miriam Ellis.

Why It Can Pay to Get Links from Domains that Don't Always Rank Highly

Contrary to popular opinion, high ranking pages aren't always the best targets for link building. This Whiteboard Friday delves into the pros and cons of targeting top ranking sites for links, and why you should consider a link intersect strategy, targeting sites that rank for broader topics, and earning links from publications ranking beyond page 1 of the SERPs.

An Investigation Into Google's Maccabees Update

When his site was unexpectedly hit by a recent core Google algorithm update, one SEO was determined to find out why. Follow along with all the steps taken to see just what went wrong and how to determine the right fix.

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

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.

Free Local SEO Tools That Belong in Your Kit

If you've been looking to ramp up your local SEO work without busting your budget, this is the post for you. Local SEO expert Miriam Ellis shares over 25 free tools, spreadsheets, resources, and more to make your job easier in the year ahead.

What to Do When a New Potential SEO Client Contacts You

How do you react when a new potential client contacts you? Discerning between a good fit and an adequate (or poor) fit can be key to both retaining those clients and growing your business. John Doherty walks you through the client vetting process, including the initial call and how to determine whether you should pitch your project or move on.

Why Google AdWords' Keyword Volume Numbers Are Wildly Unreliable

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.

9 Predictions for SEO in 2018

For the past ten years, Rand has made a set of predictions for SEO in the year ahead, and for all ten years he's been largely correct. Check out what he got right in 2017, and pay close attention to his predictions for 2018 — they're doozies!