The Top 3 Tools For Productive SEO

As the Search Engine Optimization (SEO) industry grows with leaps and bounds, so have the tools available to specialists within the industry. The analysis is a key attribute to good SEO and getting an edge over your competition in Vancouver and beyond. To give an example, a simple analysis of which “keywords” to rank for on search engines can help focus your efforts on a more effective path to higher traffic.

So in the large pool of resources available for SEO, which tools are the best? Let us take a look at three of the most popular tools being used around the world today.

Firstly, let us take a look at SEMrush. This service offers a very broad spectrum of analytical tools, an “all-in-one” so to speak, making it popular with SEO experts. SEMrush’s strongest point is its keywords analytics. You can see what keywords bring in the most traffic and which keywords your competition is using and having success with. There is also a function that allows you to see related keywords; this gives you the chance to target new search terms that have a higher potential for more traffic.

SEM Rush

The competitor analysis is also another powerful tool worthy of mention. SEMrush gives you an overall competitor analysis in the overview section and further information in some of the more in-depth analysis. How is this useful? Seeing what terms your competitors are ranking for, and where they are getting their traffic is a very powerful knowledge. Using this feature can help you learn from what your competitors are doing.
However, SEMrush also has the other SEO necessities included. Some of the other features include link profiles, traffic analysis, search positions and advertising research. As mentioned this is a great all-round tool for optimizing a website.

Majestic SEO search tool is another great analytical instrument. This site has a focus on website trust and backlink data. Respectable SEO specialists know the value of backlinks. By looking at the incoming links of a URL, and to a lesser degree its internal and outbound links, search engines can place value on sites and use this as a factor for ranking. Therefore, it is very valuable to analyze your sites “link profile.”

Majestic SEO
Majestic’s data is obtained from its analysis of a given URL’s link profile. As an overview it uses two measurements to express this data a) Trust Flow and b) Citation Flow. As the names suggest, the Trust flow is a measure of the quality of inbound links to a URL, while the Citation Flow is a measure of the volume of links to the URL. This provides you with a great insight into where a webpage stands regarding both trust and popularity. A powerful tool for any webmaster.

Majestic also gives an in-depth look at the links themselves. For instance, you can find information on what sort of domains (e.g. .gov, .edu, .com) are linking to a URL. Also, a user can see what anchor text is used on these inbound links. Majestic even goes as far as giving you a backlink history of the URL, so that a user can see when a site has had success with gaining links or has lost incoming links. This is a popular tool and site for a good reason. The in-depth information into a site’s link profile is an invaluable insight for marketers and SEO specialists. By studying the quality of links and the volume of links a site owner can in some ways see how Google or other search engines view their site.

Finally, the MOZ Open Site Explorer, our third powerful tool for SEO analysis. Similar to Majestic, MOZ Open Site Explorer gives the user a two-tier ranking system to gauge the trust levels of a webpage. The first is the domain authority and the second is the page authority. Again similar to Majestic it also gives information on inbound links to the site.

MOZ Site

The MOZ Domain Authority is a number value out of 100 that reflects the potential worth of the overall domain of the given URL. Or in other words, the whole websites value from the given page or URL.
Similarly, the page authority is a measure of the potential value to a search engine of the page or URL itself. Once again these statistics are a great indication of how a search engine views a website or webpage, and can potentially reflect where it will rank.

With this tool, MOZ also includes link information. A user can gain insight into all sorts of useful information regarding the inbound links to a page or URL. While this may be a little more basic than the information provided by Majestic, the interface is very simple to use and can provide basic link information quickly and accurately.

In summary, these three tools are a must have in an SEO toolbox, even if you just want to rank for local Vancouver terms. While all three have free use, they come with limitations and the upgrades may be worth consideration for serious SEO experts and specialists. Each has strengths and weaknesses, but when used concurrently they provide an in-depth analysis to compliment your Search Engine Optimization campaign.

What Is “Mobilegeddon” And Will It Effect Your Website

In the search engine optimization world it has been hard to escape the news of the newly implemented Google Mobile-Friendly update. As the launch date approached many web outlets were dubbing this new update the “Mobilegeddon” in anticipation of the effects that it could potentially have on webpage rankings. However, many are still left in the dark as to what exactly this update is and how it could potentially affect them.

What exactly is Mobilegeddon?

Search engines use complex algorithms and formulas to calculate where your website should appear in various search results. These algorithms factor in various elements, for example, the number of visits to your webpage or the quality of content. Google is known for keeping the most up to date algorithms. Therefore, it was no surprise that with the recent sharp rise in the use of mobile devices that they would factor this into their ranking results.

It was announced that on the 21st of April Google would now consider how Mobile-Friendly your website was in determining how well you would rank on their search results.

What are the results so far?

With a code-name like Mobilegeddon you could almost expect an apocalyptic change in search engine results and rankings. However, the results brought about by the Mobile-Friendly update are considered reasonable at this stage. Keeping in mind that this is just the beginning of the update, it would be realistic to imagine that the algorithm will continue to produce changes over the coming months. Now is the time to consider whether your website complies with the new update so that your future search rankings are not affected.

How to comply with the Mobile-Friendly update:

Making your website compatible with the new changes to Google’s algorithm is easy.

First, Google actually allows you to test whether your website is Mobile-Friendly or not. You can do this through submitting your url to the following link: https://www.google.com/webmasters/tools/mobile-friendly/

Second, if your website doesn’t pass the test it is time for some updates. For example, by utilizing a Mobile-Friendly responsive theme on WordPress you can easily comply with the current algorithm.

You can also take advantage of Mobile Site Builders to bring your website up to the necessary Mobile-Friendly requirements.

Third, for more information check out the official Google Mobile-Friendly FAQ found at this link:

http://googlewebmastercentral.blogspot.com/2015/04/faqs-april-21st-mobile-friendly.html

Mobile is the future.

The truth is that Smartphones and tablets are here to stay. Google even reported that they get more search queries through mobile devices than personal computers. It would be safe to assume that as this technology grows and becomes ever increasingly popular Google will continue to incorporate more Mobile-Friendly factors into their algorithms. To keep up with the demands of web users, along with the search engines they use, it is essential to incorporate Mobile-Friendly elements into your website design and search engine optimization practices.