Google held the algorithmic keys, but no vendor ever controlled the interface. Even at its peak, the biggest SEO players were tooling providers. They didn’t have the user engagement, data control, or network effects to become hubs where SEO activity is concentrated. Clickstream data — records of the links users click as they navigate websites — is arguably the clearest window into real user behavior. Historically, though, this data has been prohibitively hard to access, locked behind ISPs, SDKS, browser extensions, and data brokers.
Before starting the hiring process, determine why you’re hiring an SEO specialist in the first place. Google Keyword Planner, a free tool, can also help you search for words or phrases related to your products or services. To stay ahead of the constantly evolving algorithms and industry trends, you can read about them through industry-leading blogs covering SEO and marketing topics.
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When you improve your organic click-through rate more people will click on your site in the search results. In fact, podcasts might be the most underrated link building strategy on the planet. For example, a while back I noticed that lots of people were building links from guest posting. Google’s Hummingbird update allows Google to go beyond simple keywords. Well, Google doesn’t want to rank sites that are bloated with thin, low-quality content. But what you may not know is that you can use this same approach with alternate search engines.
The more commonalities between pages, the higher the probability that a given subtopic is important to the searchers. There’s an interesting analysis of the “coffee” keyword by Kayle Larkin. I highly recommend it if you want to get a SEO Anomaly hint on how to spot these kinds of opportunities. We’ll talk about search intent more in the next step of this guide. Usually, searchers either want to learn something, buy something, or find a specific website.
Mangools Alternative: Serpstat
If you’re unhappy with your rankings or traffic, you can consider all of the previous items on this list and tweak your content accordingly. SEO, or search engine optimization, is the process of optimizing websites so that they rank well on search engines through organic (non paid) searches. This is one of the most crucial marketing strategies for any business. Many keyword research tools like Semrush and Backlinko display search intent of keywords. Making it easier to understand what users are likely looking for.
- But the problem with a tool like Screaming Frog is that it doesn’t dive into what the problem is or how to fix it.
- This helps in improving visibility and content relevance for the target audience.
- Many things come into play when you’re making sure your web application operates as intended and has an online presence.
- You need to design your site with an easy-to-navigate architecture, including a robots.txt file that Google can crawl.
- The Backlink Audit tool will show you how to do all of that—step by step.
In fact, I’ve had many clients tell me that they want to rank for super competitive search queries like “weight loss” and “insurance”. For more information on what to track (and how), check out our guide to the most important SEO metrics to stay on top of. But for a keyword like “best smartphones,” people want to make sure they’re about to read something current. And users will typically click on another result that looks less spammy.
