Whilst the farcical American presidential race is stealing column space for all the wrong reasons, we at Relevance are bringing you the news that really matters to SEO from Moz’s latest news. This instalment includes a huge announcement from Google, hacking updates and some useful strategy building advice. Read on to be in the know.
1. Google finally updated Penguin
SEOers, rejoice. Penguin is now operating in real-time. Dr Pete Meyers has tracked the release of Penguin 4.0 and paired MozCast data with in-SERP research in this fascinating must read article.
2. 13 link tips and tricks
These strategies are sure-fire ways to improve your content and attract more and more visitors to your site. With just a few minutes of reading and a few more for implementation, you could be overwhelmed with traffic before you know it. Read up before your competitors do.
3. Know your Possum from your Penguin
Whilst all the excitement in this week’s countdown is reserved for Penguin, let’s not forget the other Google update that has become affectionately known as ‘Possum’. Columnist Joy Hawkins gives us the lowdown on the recent algorithm update and tells us how it’s affected search rankings.
4. How Expedia turns clicks to sales
Expedia is a travel site behemoth but how have they made even more improvements since they came under Microsoft’s wing? This highly detailed and fascinating article reveals all and will give you plenty of ideas to use on your own site. Don’t miss out.
5. Get me in those Google answer boxes
How do you get a spot in those beautiful boxes? Randy Fishking tells us all about featured snippets and how they can help you secure a coveted spot at the top of Google’s results. All with the help of some basic but insightful whiteboard diagrams.
6. How thank you pages can push your conversion rates
Copyhackers blogger, Talia, explains how everything we know about conversion funnels are wrong. According to the professional Conversion Optimization Advisor, just saying thank you can up your conversion rates and even your retention significantly. Read her pearls of wisdom to boost your business.
7. The nifty python script to help you calculate keyword growth
This article does exactly what it says in the headline. Pauls Shapiro has created some handy code so that you can collect info on more than one URL at a time. An interesting read and a golden nugget of time saving goodness. What’s not to love?
8. Putting the Google disavow rumours to rest
More focus on the effects of Penguin 4.0 in this must-read article from Jennifer Slegg. This time she gets to the bottom of speculation that the update has changed the way we should think about Disavow files. Check out this insightful article to put your mind to rest.
9. Azfer Saeed’s spot data issue walkthrough
The article is only just longer than the headline but it’s packed full of information and tips for those SEOers who pull together monthly, quarterly or other regularly scheduled data reports.
10. Have you been pwned?
If Yahoo! Can be hacked, what hope do the rest of us have? To find out whether your account or site has been hacked like many others, click through and enter it into the handy search bar. Good luck.