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23 Awesome SEO Blogs Everyone Should Read

24 August, 2010

Search engine marketing is constantly changing. Like social media and other aspects of online marketing, search engines are working to deliver better results for their users. To do this, they are focusing on new areas like localization and social search. As a marketer, it is important to keep up with all of this news, so here is our reading list of search engine optimization (SEO) blogs that will help make you a better marketer. 

1. SEOmoz Blog - SEOmoz has become the gold standard for SEO information and how-to articles. Its team of contributors offers an article per day to help expand your SEO knowledge.

2. Marketing Pilgrim - Andy Beal and his team of talented writers break search engine and internet marketing news and discuss major industry trends impacting marketers.

3. Search Engine Land - This is one of the best search engine blogs for in-depth news and analysis of the search marketing industry.

4. Search Engine Journal - From link building to the newest changes from Google, Search Engine Journal covers news and tactics related to the search engine marketing industry.

5. Search Engine Roundtable - For detailed discussion and explanations of the fine details of search engine marketing, Search Engine Roundtable has you covered.

6. SEO Book - For reviews of the newest SEO tools to analysis of search engine changes, check our SEO Book.

7. ReelSEO - ReelSEO is a resource for marketers looking to learn more about online video's impact on on search engine marketing.

8. Yoast - Yoast is a how-to focused blog that covers tactics for improving SEO as well as user experience for your website.

9. aimClear - The aimClear blog includes articles about a wide range of search marketing topics, including SEO and PPC.

10. Biznology - This blog discusses many SEO-related issues but has recently focused on content marketing and its connection to SEO.

11. Blue Glass Blog - The talented team over at Blue Glass discusses important industry issues as well as tools.

12. CanuckSEO - Jim Rudnick provides tips and tricks for improving search engine optimization as well as other search engine marketing related topics.

13. Daily SEO Tip - Are you a fan of sites that provide a tip per day? Then this might be the blog for you, offering tips and tricks to help support your search engine marketing strategies.

14. Distilled Blog - The team at Distilled provides insights and musings about the intersection of search and social media.

15. GeoLocalSEO - If local and mobile search is your interest, then the GeoLocalSEO blog is a resource you should check out for tips and tricks related to the local and mobile search industry.

16. Google Webmaster Central Blog - When working in the search marketing industry, you must know what the search engines are doing. Google's webmaster blog gives search marketers insights into the changes and updates to Google.

17. Graywolf's SEO Blog - Michael Gray shares SEO-related commentary and advice in his blog.

18. Industrial Search Engine Marketing - If you are a B2B company looking for search engine marketing guidance, then this is a great resource for you.

19. John Battelle's Search Blog - A co-founder of Wired magazine and a search engine marketing pioneer, Battelle's musings cover search and much more.

20. Junta42 Blog - Content marketing is critical to SEO success. The team at Junta42 shares insights and tips for successful content marketing.

21. Matt Cutts - Matt is Google's most famous search engine engineer who shares his thoughts and insights on search engine optimization.

22. Outspoken Media - This team of bloggers discusses all aspects of search engine marketing while providing tactical information and industry commentary.

23. SEO Copywriting - Copy is a critical part of SEO success. This blog goes into more detail than most about the best practices of SEO copywriting.

UPDATE: After some suggestions from our readers we have decided to add another blog to this list.

24. Search Engine Watch - This multi-author blog was reccomended by several readers and covers a wide variety of search marketing issues.

What other blogs do you think should be added to this list?

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12 Amazing SEO Infographics

18 August, 2010

Search engine optimization (SEO) is an industry and practice in constant flux. As search engines continue to work toward improving the results returned for their users, marketers must continue to optimize websites and create relevant content to build relevancy and authority. Check out these awesome infographics for some visual instruction and information about SEO:

1. Order of SEO Operations

2. SEO Tactics

3. Search Engine Marketing ROI

4. The Visual FAQ of SEO

5. SEO vs. PPC

6. SEO Check List

7. SEO Factors

8. Long Tail SEO

9. SEO ROI Is King

10. Local Search

11. The Social Media Effect

12. SEO Spider Trap

 

Did you find these infographics helpful?

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5 Items to Delete From Your Website Today

20 August, 2010

Our blog along with many others are full of advice and instructions of things to add to your website. These often include: start a blog, monitor social media, or optimize your site for search engines. While all of these things are important, today I would like you to do something completely different: think about things you should stop doing.

When we add ideas and actions, websites become more complicated. Complication creates confusion and often translates to lower effectiveness.  So today instead of telling you to add new things, we offer a few suggestions on things to remove from your business website.

1. Complicated Animations - Flash-based animations can be bad for search engine optimization, but they can also complicate the website experience for visitors. Remember that when users visit your website they looking for something specific. Animations can often be slow to load, which slows down the user and can make them abandon your website. Perform a test. Remove your animation for a set period of time and see how it impacts metrics like lead conversion and time-on-site.

2. Industry Jargon - Your website should be written for your customers. Assuming that potential customers know and understand industry terminology is a mistake. Look through your website and highlight terms that are not commonly used outside of industry circles. If you aren’t sure if a word should be removed, ask one of your customers if they are familiar with it. Delete the highlighted words and replace them with more common explanations.

3. Images - Images are important. Images help to tell a story. However, many websites have too many images. The problem with having too many images is that they can drastically slow down the load time for your website in a web broswer. Search engines also take into consideration page load times when ranking websites. Websites that have been around for a while can often collect lots of images, and some of them no longer go with the content of the site. Keep some images, but go through and remove all images from your website that don’t help tell your company’s story.

4. Long Pages of Text - Research has shown that Internet users don’t like to scroll. Having a product page that is full of text and graphs that takes several scolls to reach the bottom is asking for your information to be ignored. The truth is that if you have long text pages of your website, you are probably trying to communicate too many ideas on that page. Read through and ask yourself, “Is this all about one topic?” If the answer is “no,” then divide that page into a couple short pages that each contain a single idea. This type of simplification will make it easier for your visitors and search engines to understand what your site and business is aobut.

5. “Contact Us” Form - Contact us forms don’t work. Instead of qualified leads, they mostly attract spam. Having your business contact information as part of your website is critical. However, when it comes to using forms, use landing pages. Landing pages provide a dedicated form that is connected to a lead generation offer. For example, if you have a form connected to a free assessment, you clearly know that submissions from that form are related to potential customers who want a free assessment. You don’t have this clarity with a contact us form, and response rates for dedicated landing pages are much higher.

Do you Agree? Which of these will you be deleting from your website?

 

Photo Credit: M i x y

Free Download: Marketing Data: 50+ Marketing Charts and Graphs

HubSpot has compiled over 50 original marketing charts and graphs on topics including Lead Generation, Blogging and Social Media, Marketing Budgets, Twitter and Facebook Download the ebook now! to have access to these charts for use in your own presentations

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25-point Website Usability Checklist

02 October, 2009
I've been thinking a lot lately about my process. Experience is a powerful thing, but it's rare that we really sit down and try to map out what we know. A while back, as part of my 5-point Website Clinic, I developed a 25-point website usability checklist - a way to create some method out of my madness and make sure that I don't forget anything critical when I'm working with a new client.

Even though it's part of one of my paid offerings, I've decided to share this checklist. A few disclaimers: First, I don't claim this list is comprehensive or unique. Jakob Nielsen has a great 113-point checklist in his book, Homepage Usability, for example. This is just my way of organizing what I think is important while trying to keep it manageable. Second, my usage of terms may vary from yours. I use "usability" in a very broad sense, and my use of "accessibility" isn't quite industry standard. Don't like it? Write your own checklist ;) Finally, an advance warning that this post is pretty long.

Basic Overview

The list is split into 4 roughly equal sections, (I) Accessibility, (II) Identity, (III) Navigation, and (IV) Content. I'll describe and rationalize all of the sections and line items below, but you can also download the checklist as a simple, 1-page PDF. I try to keep it simple with 3 basic ratings: (1) Green Check = Good/Pass, (2) Red Check = Needs work, but no disaster, (3) Red X = Bad/Fail. Not all points are necessarily applicable to all sites.

Section I. Accessibility

This section contains not only traditional accessibility issues, but anything that might keep a visitor from being able to access the information on a website. If no one can load your site, or the type is too small to read, all of the usability in the world won't matter.

1. Site Load-time Is Reasonable
Call me old-school, but I still like to see sites come in under 100KB (60KB is even better). If a site takes forever to load, most people will just leave. Yes, many of us have broadband now, but that makes our patience even thinner.

2. Adequate Text-to-Background Contrast
Dark-gray on light-gray may seem stylish, but I'm not going to ruin my eyesight to read your blog. Eyes and monitors vary wildly, so keep your core copy contrast high. Good, old-fashioned black-on-white is still best most of the time.

3. Font Size/Spacing Is Easy to Read
Opinions vary on the ideal size for text, but err on the side of slightly too big. Poor readability increases frustration, and frustration leads to site abandonment. Also, make sure your line spacing is adequate - white-space is a designer's best friend.

4. Flash & Add-ons Are Used Sparingly
No matter how great your site looks, people won't wait 5 minutes for a plug-in to load. Use new technology sparingly and only when it really enhances your goals. Sticking to standard HTML/CSS is also a plus for search engines.

5. Images Have Appropriate ALT Tags
Not only do sight-impaired visitors use ALT tags, but search engines need them to understand your images. This is especially critical when you use images for key content, such as menu items.

6. Site Has Custom Not-found/404 Page
If a page on your site doesn't exist, a white page with "404 Not Found" is a good way to lose a customer. Create a custom 404 page, preferably one that guides your visitors to content.

Section II. Identity

A key question when someone first comes to your site is "Who are you?" It's important to answer it quickly, and make the paths to obvious follow-up questions ("What do you do?", "Why should I trust you?", etc.) clear.

7. Company Logo Is Prominently Placed
Put your logo or brand where it's easy to find, and that usually means the upper-left of the screen. People expect it, and they like it when you make their lives easy.

8. Tagline Makes Company's Purpose Clear
Answer "What do you do?" concisely with a descriptive tagline. Avoid marketing jargon and boil your unique value proposition down to a few words. This is also a plus for SEO.

9. Home-page Is Digestible In 5 Seconds
In usability, we often talk about the 5-second rule. There's some disagreement over just how many seconds you get, but website visitors are a fickle bunch, and they need to get the basic gist of your home-page in just a few moments.

10. Clear Path to Company Information
The good old "About Us" page may seem boring, but confidence is important on the web, and people need an easy way to learn more about you.

11. Clear Path to Contact Information
Similarly, visitors want to know that they can get in touch with you if they need to. It's also hard to do business if no one can contact you. Preferably, list your contact information as text (not in an image) - it'll get picked up by search engines, including local searches.

Section III. Navigation

Once people generally know who you are and what you do, they need clear paths to the content that interests them. Information architecture is a huge topic, but these points cover some of the basics.

12. Main Navigation Is Easily Identifiable
Almost every site on the web has had a main menu since the first browsers came on the market. Make your main navigation easy to find, read, and use. If you have two or more navigation areas, make it clear why they're different.

13. Navigation Labels Are Clear & Concise
Don't say "Communicate Online With Our Team" when "Contact Us" will do just fine. Your main navigation should be short, to the point, and easy for mere mortals to grasp.

14. Number of Buttons/Links Is Reasonable
Psychologists like to argue about how many pieces of information we can process, but if you start to get past 7-or-so menu items, think hard about whether you need them. If you've got 3 layers of flyaway Javascript menus, do yourself a favor and start over.

15. Company Logo Is Linked to Home-page
This may sound minor, but people expect logos to link to home-pages, and when they don't, confusion follows. I've seen video of users clicking on a logo over and over, with no idea what to do next.

16. Links Are Consistent & Easy to Identify
The underlined, blue link is a staple of the web. A little artistic license is ok, but consider at least making your links either blue or underlined. Links should stand out, and you should use them sparingly enough that they don't disrupt your content.

17. Site Search Is Easy to Access
If you have a site search, make sure it's prominent. Usability guidelines tend to prefer the upper-right corner of the page. Keep the button simple and clear - "Search" still works best for most sites.

Section IV. Content

You've heard it before - Content is king. If you don't want the kingdom to crumble, though, content needs to be consistent, organized, and easy to skim through.

18. Major Headings Are Clear & Descriptive
Most people don't read online, they skim. Use headings (major and minor) to set content apart and keep it organized. Headings should be clear, and for SEO benefit, using heading tags (<H1>, <H2>, etc.).

19. Critical Content Is Above The Fold
The "fold" is that imaginary line where the bottom of your screen cuts off a page. Content can fall below the fold, but anything critical to understanding who you are or what you do (especially on the home-page) should fit on that first screen. Average screen resolution these days is about 1024x768, depending on your audience.

20. Styles & Colors Are Consistent
Make sure people know they're still on your site by being consistent - confuse them and you'll lose them. Layout, headings, and styles should be consistent site-wide, and colors should usually have the same meaning. Don't use red headers on one page, red links on another, and red text somewhere else.

21. Emphasis (bold, etc.) Is Used Sparingly
It's a fact of human cognition: try to draw attention to everything and you'll effectively draw attention to nothing. We've all seen that site, the one with a red, blinking, underlined "NEW!" next to everything. Don't be that guy.

22. Ads & Pop-ups Are Unobtrusive
Ads are a fact of life, but integrate them nicely into your site. Don't try to force ads and pop-ups down peoples' throats. Also, do people a favor and make your ads clear. If you blur the line between ads and content too much, your content may suffer.

23. Main Copy Is Concise & Explanatory
This isn't a lesson in copywriting, but look at your home-page - can you say the same thing in half as many words? Try to be concrete and descriptive and avoid jargon - nobody cares if you can "leverage your synergies".

24. URLs Are Meaningful & User-friendly
This is a point of some debate, but meaningful keyword-based URLs are generally good for both visitors and search engines. You don't have to re-engineer an entire site just to get new URLs, but do what you can to make them descriptive and friendly.

25. HTML Page Titles Are Explanatory
More importantly, your page titles (in the <TITLE> tag) should be descriptive, unique, and not jammed full of keywords. Page titles are the first thing search-engine visitors see, and if those titles don't make sense or look spammy, they'll move on to the next result.

» Download the 25-point Website Usability Checklist (1-page PDF)
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Why Your Website Developer and SEO Keep Asking You For Content

16 August, 2010
Anyone that has been in this business for awhile knows that getting content for clients’ websites is not an easy task. In fact, a lack of content and/or photos are the only two things that cause our projects to launch later than planned. We want to explain to you why it is so important and [...]
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