Reading Time: 2 min It’s a trend that has been growing for years, but the number of “zero-click” searches on Google continues to grow (where a zero-click search is one where the user doesn’t ever click through to a website). In a recent post on the SparkToro blog, Rand Fishkin points out that in 2024 only 360 of every […]
Websites
All of your old Google Analytics data will vanish on July 1
Reading Time: < 1 min In the last move of Google’s weird switch from “Universal Analytics” (“UA”, the Google Analytics that everyone has used for years) to “Google Analytics 4” will happen in just a few weeks. For those not familiar with this, Google Analytics is software used to track information about your website visitors, and Google made a massive […]
There’s still a world outside these walls
Reading Time: 3 min For those of you over 40, you can likely still remember the “good old days” on the internet, back when people set up their own places to visit, rather than relying on a handful of huge companies trying to lock your attention inside of their walls (which is very likely how you found this post). […]
Blogs are still among the highest-ranking pages
Reading Time: < 1 min While it’s been well-established that users don’t click on the “blog” page for most sites, having those posts can still be incredibly valuable. The purpose of most blogs (not this one) are to drive people to the website via Google search, and then lead them to the pages that matter (registration, purchase, etc). For those […]
Artwork is signed because it matters who created it
Reading Time: < 1 min I’ve mentioned a few times on here that I’m not a fan of companies that put a “designed by” link in the footer of websites that they create. Google clearly says not to do it, and putting a link there is entirely for the (misguided) advantage of the designer, to the detriment of the site […]
Why should your website rank higher than theirs?
Reading Time: < 1 min A few weeks ago I was chatting with a friend and he was upset that his site wasn’t ranking first on Google for a particular keyword. We ran the search, and sure enough he was in fifth. I proposed a very simple challenge: click the top ranking, and then tell me if his site really […]
Process drives outcomes
Reading Time: < 1 min Solid processes can be difficult to build, and perhaps a bit boring to follow, but a lack of processes can make it difficult to reach your goals. In his book “Win Without Pitching“, author Blair Enns mentions this concept a few times, summarized here: In almost any of our repeated endeavors, it is the strength […]
Branded searches matter too
Reading Time: 2 min When companies invest in SEO (Search Engine Optimization), their main focus is on unbranded terms. For example, if you’re a roofer you might be trying to rank for things like “roof replacement”, “roofing in Marietta” and other terms like that. This is a fantastic approach, but it often overshadows the value of focusing on your […]
The internet was better when people weren’t afraid to link out
Reading Time: 2 min Over the past decade, presumably to try to help their websites rank higher in Google, most websites just don’t link out to others anymore. It’s common to read a news article that mentions an event or a video, but then the article doesn’t link to the source. That’s not by accident, as they’re trying to […]
Tax the things you want to see less of
Reading Time: 2 min Taxes can serve a few purposes — they can help bring in more money to the government, and they can encourage people to do less of a particular behavior (and often they do both). Toll lanes bring in revenue but also limit who is on them so that they’re a faster way to go. If […]