MozPod

MozCon brings SEO industry leaders for a 3 day conference, where they present tactical strategies to drive revenue through digital marketing. In this week’s LIVE episode, we had Sarah Bird, Hayley Sherman and Brian Childs share insight on what occurred during MozCon. They point out sessions that they enjoyed most, topics that were trending, and key takeaway. If you don’t want to miss out on next year’s MozCon you can get Early bird tickets (with a generous discount) here: http://bit.ly/Mozcon2019

Curious about how speech recognition functions? Neil Martinsen-Burrell, Sr. Data Scientist at Moz, joins MozPod to describe the science behind voice recognition technology. Building on the great podcast with Purna, Neil dives into how we should understand speech recognition models, how language is understood by machines, the technical hurdles involved, and a bunch of other incredible stuff. Neil does a great job of blowing our minds, yet again.

Curious about the ins & outs of voice search? Purna Virji of Microsoft joins Hayley Sherman on MozPod to share her insights. Purna discusses how & why we are using voice search, how it differs from the more standard text input search, & what's next on the horizon. She also breaks down the difference between three "avenues" of voice search: traditional, digital assistants, & chatbots. Purna's blog posts can be found here: http://bit.ly/MozPod39-blog; http://bit.ly/MozPod39-chatbots. She mentions a few other resources during the conversation: https://bit.ly/2wE8Op1 ; https://gtnr.it/2z428RS; Dr. Pete: bit.ly/MozPod30

Shannon McGuirk, Head of PR and Content at Aira.net, joins Brian Childs to discuss the evolution of PR in a digital world. She starts by describing how PR activities have evolved since the days of print media and then shares her perspective about how digital marketing and PR have converged. PR professionals are changing how they evaluate their efforts. You should too. You'll hear the questions you need to ask your PR firm and the metrics they need to be tracking.

Aleyda Solis de Orainti regresa a MozPod y habla sobre SEO Internacional con Heidi Noonan-Mejicanos. En esta oportunidad, la charla trata sobre los retos que existen en el mundo de SEO para sitios web que se expanden a otros países. Da consejos sobre cómo estructurar un sitio, los beneficios de expandir, y la importancia de las características del lenguaje y los modismos propios de cada país.

Sherry Bonelli returns to MozPod to discuss Car Dealership SEO best practices. Almost every digital marketer will be approached by a dealership & Sherry tells us what to look at during a site audit. She talks about the common challenges you will discover, & how to think about car dealership websites. If you want to work with car dealerships, please listen to this episode. It's a fascinating discussion. 

Kate Morris of Craftsy.com discusses how to use content to improve the performance of your eCommerce site. She shares some interesting ways to segment content, align it with search intent, and measure the impact. Kate has over 15 years of experience in search marketing and it's great to get her perspective as an expert in paid marketing where everything comes down to conversion rates. She is interviewed by host Brian Childs.

Britney Muller is back for another episode of 2Bs in a Pod with host Brian Childs. 2Bs talks about the latest SEO news and topics, keeping you informed on important trends. In this episode, Britney shares some recent articles about Google's algorithm research and features that are being tested in Google's search results. She brings us up to speed on the concept of reinforcement learning and how SERP features may be playing a role. You can find the resources Britney references here: Google Tests Submitting Question Directly In Search Results: https://bit.ly/2rq3FMf ; Google Publishes New Algorithm Research: https://bit.ly/2wiX6zL ; The Shallowness of Google Translate: https://theatln.tc/2nrxngN

Ian Lurie is CEO and Founder of Portent, a Seattle-based internet marketing agency. Ian joins the pod to discuss the concept of writing for search, and what it means for content development. Is there such thing as writing for search anymore? Ian discusses that providing quality content stems from doing your research, delivering necessary information, and writing well. It's not for the search engines anymore - but for the people visiting the site. Ian's ebook on Lean Content can be found here: http://bit.ly/LeanContenteBook

In March 2018, Google ran a global test of zero-results pages. These were search result pages that contained no organic links and only one knowledge card. Dr. Pete Meyers of Moz chats with host Brian Childs about the initial analysis of the Zero-Results test, why he believes it was conducted, and how businesses should think about the implications. His article on the subject is here: https://moz.com/blog/zero-result-serps

Bridget Randolph, a freelance SEO in New York and Chief Strategist at Cavi Consulting, helps us answer the important questions about the mobile first index. What is the mobile-first Index? What do I need to prepare for it? What are some best practices for building websites? Bridget also shares insight about things she has seen work well on sites when optimizing for mobile and some case studies of things that haven't worked. If you have clients asking about how to optimize for their mobile experience, this conversation will help tease out the nuance between design considerations and technical SEO options. If you want to learn more about Bridget's work, you can contact her at www.bridgetrandolph.com

Thinking of attending an SEO conference? Britney Muller from Moz is a regular speaker at conferences around the world. She provides an insider view on the biggest SEO conferences, how they differ in size and format, and recommendations on how to take advantage of the experience. Learn about Search Love, MozCon, SMX Advanced, and others. If you are in the process of choosing a conference to attend, we hope this discussion will provide some great insights and advice. Also, don't miss out on the big news about Britney's pet duck!

Mike Blumenthal, Co-Founder of Get Five Stars and Local SEO Genius, joins MozPod with host Brian Childs to chat about the new Question and Answers Feature in Google Local listings. The Q&A feature came out in late 2017 and shows up on knowledge panel results for businesses. Mike reviews some of the analysis he has done on Q&A users by industry vertical, the opportunities and shortcomings of this feature, and how businesses can get ahead using his framework. Q&A appears to provide a great opportunity for agencies to provide value to their clients, so definitely listen for some of Mike's nuggets of wisdom. Some of the articles mentioned in today's pod: The Big Guide to Google's Q&A: bit.ly/2H7J4CY Google's Policy Guidelines for Maps: bit.ly/2H8cLnl

Connor Folley is CEO of Downstream, a Seattle-based technology company focused on helping companies scale their presence on Amazon. Connor joins the pod to talk about Amazon Marketing Services (AMS) which is the large and growing paid advertising channel on the Amazon platform. You will learn all about what AMS is, how it works, and the expected growth of Amazon paid ads over the next few years. (Hint: It's huge). Connor helps us make the connection between SEO and paid channels, as well as describes when and how companies should engage in ads on Amazon and elsewhere. You can read more about Connor's business, Downstream, here: https://www.downstreamimpact.com/

Eric Enge is the founder and CEO of Stone Temple Consulting (stonetemple.com) and joins the pod to talk about Accelerated Mobile Pages, commonly referred to as "AMP". Page Load Speed is a hot topic in SEO and AMP is one of the methods business owners can use to speed up their results. Eric describes what AMP is, how it works, why it's important, and gives a really great breakdown of the subject. He also provides insight into how to approach transitioning pages to AMP as well as whether it is even needed for your site. You can check out his article on the Moz Blog here, which is the basis for our conversation: https://moz.com/blog/amp-digital-marketing-2018

In this episode, Britney shares some recent articles about the importance of site speed. We augment this with impressions from the movie speed (Brian as Keanu Reeves and Britney as Sandra Bullock). Britney has also been trying out Google's new online course about Machine Learning, and shares some of the insights she has gained from that experience. One area in particular Britney brings up related to machine learning are developments taking place with Google Assistant. https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/google/google-chrome-to-feature-built-in-image-lazy-loading/ AMP: The Missing Controversy: https://developers.google.com/machine-learning/crash-course/ml-intro

Aleyda Solis, owner of Orainti consulting, joins host Brian Childs for an insightful deep dive into International SEO. Aleyda describes how to approach International SEO as well as some of the common ways businesses get this practice wrong. We begin by defining terms and illustrating how important cultural context is when optimizing for different languages. I really enjoyed this discussion because of how multi-faceted International SEO is and some of the matter-of-fact insights Aleyda provides. You can learn more about Aleyda Solis and Orainti Consulting here: https://www.orainti.com/

JR Ridley of GoFishDigital is interviewed by Hayley Sherman about options for implementing HTTPS. Later this year, Google will begin enhancing the identification of sites without security certificates. JR describes the kinds of sites where this will be most impactful and covers three common security certificate options: Traditional HTTPS migration, Lets Encrypt, and CloudFlare Flexible SSL. In the discussion, JR refers to the following resources: Here is an overview of the upcoming changes coming to Google results: http://bit.ly/2GuWgQD And here is a use case for a large scale HTTPS migration: http://bit.ly/2HwFy4R If you didn't already hear Dana DiTomaso's MozPod interview, it is a great primer for this discussion about HTTPS implementation options. In this interview, Dana describes what security certificates are and why they are important: http://bit.ly/2EHW9F5

Britney Muller joins the pod for another episode of "2B's in a Pod" (Britney & Brian ... 2Bs... get it?) where we talk about some current events and topics shaking up the SEO industry. In this episode of 2Bs, Britney shares a set of in-depth articles from MobileMoxie about how the Internet of Things (IoT) could potentially impact SEO. Britney brings us up to speed on concepts like PWAs, Smart Devices, and Actions. We also recorded a video of this podcast, so keep an eye out on YouTube for that. Here is the article we discuss: https://mobilemoxie.com/blog/mobile-first-indexing-whole-new-google-voice-first-article-1-3/

Thinking of doing an HTTPS migration? Listen to this episode first. Dana DiTomaso gives practical advice on why and when to do an HTTPS migration. I love this discussion for the little nuggets of wisdom Dana provides, like: consider the sales cycle (just because its a slow month on your site doesn't mean your migration team isn't busy). Those little details make this such a valuable conversation. If you're a digital marketing beginner, I also ask basics like what is a security certificate, how do they impact SEO, and what is HTTPS anyway? Dana brings a wealth of experience to this discussion. A few resources Dana mentions: HTTPS checklist by Aleyda Solis: http://bit.ly/2Eh1IG3 Article from SEMRush about the differences between types of security certificates: http://bit.ly/2mCvlfi We hope you enjoy the discussion.

Ruth Burr Reedy shares insights with host Hayley Sherman about the importance of effectively onboarding clients to your agency. Ruth discusses some of the most common factors that lead to poor client engagement and how to avoid them. This includes making sure sales teams are aligned with service delivery, setting expectations early, and some behaviors your team can apply today that will lead to better relationships down the road. If you are an agency and trying to figure out how to improve your client onboarding process, this discussion is for you.

MozPod interviews Connor Folley of Downstream about SEO ranking factors for the Amazon eCommerce platform. Connor is an Amazon veteran and shares insight about how Amazon differs from traditional search. This includes a great description of the process and priorities Amazon uses to display a given product. Listen for how Amazon search is used in the buyer funnel. If you'd like to learn more about Connor's company Downstream, you can visit his site here: downstreamimpact.com

Sarah Bird, the CEO of Moz, shares some stories about how Moz got started and where it is headed. In particular, she talks about her perspective on the how businesses should think about the role of SEO in their portfolio of digital marketing services. One important factor is the recognition of how people emotionally and psychologically respond to branding.

J.P. Cummins, an expert on Blockchain and BitCoin, describes what blockchain technology does, how it has evolved alongside BitCoin, and what SEOs should understand about how it can change transactions in the near future.  JP also describes a few examples of how blockchain technology is being applied to paid marketing channels. Hope you enjoy. 

Alexis Sanders from Merkle (merkleinc.com) provides an excellent overview of structured data and why it matters for SEO. She describe how to get started with schema markup and various applications of using structured data on your site. She also describes the use of a markup generator tool available here: https://technicalseo.com/seo-tools/schema-markup-generator/

Britney Muller, Moz's in-house SEO, joins MozPod in our first installation of 'Two Peas in a Pod" where we discuss recent news about Search Optimization. In this episode, Britney shares details about a recent article published by A.J. Ghergich called "Large-Scale Study: How to Rank for Featured Snippets in 2018" This amazing article analyzes 1.6 million Featured Snippets across over 80 million keywords. Incredible effort. Britney breaks it down for us on 2Peas/1Pod.  Check out the article here: http://bit.ly/2BuX06K

Kevin Indig is an SEO expert working at Atlassian and deeply involved in the startup community in Silicon Valley. Kevin shares his perspective on how startups and entrepreneurs can use SEO to launch and grow their businesses. He provides a great overview of best practices and things to avoid.    During the podcast Kevin mentions a couple of really helpful tools. Here are the links: Moz Keyword Explorer HotJar InspectLet

Alli Berry, SEO and Content Marketing Manager at TwoOctobers in Denver (twooctobers.com), shares how to combine SEO and Content Marketing. Alli describes where SEO tactics can be best utilized in a comprehensive digital strategy and provides examples from her work at Kaplan Professional.

Dr. Pete Meyers discusses his analysis of changes all SEOs should be aware of and the magnitude of their impact. He summarizes this analysis in a presentation available on SlideShare: http://bit.ly/2yGdrfn

Jacob Butler of the Moz Local team describes common SEO business listing issues

Dr. Neil Martinsen-Burrell, a statistician on the Data Science team at Moz, shares his perspective on the development of Page Authority and Domain Authority. Great data and interesting stats.

MozPod interviews PageOnePower about how search engines place value on links. Colin, Cory, and Nicholas share the wisdom from working at a link building company.

Carl Schmidt, CTO and cofounder of Unbounce, discusses the Unbounce Conversion Rate Benchmark Report and what SEOs can learn from analysis of over 74 million landing page visitors. Great for content writers.