Today, we have a very special guest on Blurbpoint board: co-founder of Inbound.org, former CEO & Co-founder of Moz.com, the rock star of SEO empire, board member at presentation software startup Haiku Deck, who’s strongly addicted to anything related to content, search and social media marketing, who’s co-authored a couple of books on SEO and often found on speaking and keynoting at the renowned online marketing events and conferences; his influence is felt by a lot of SEO geeks, he’s an individual contributor to the Moz teams, and most importantly (his favorite title), he’s husband to the amazing Everywhereist. And here’s Rand Fishkin answering the questions, the Blurbpoint team longed to ask
Ravi: 1. In regards to the Google RankBrain, what SEO experts should incorporate into their SEO strategy?
Rand : “Rankbrain is helping Google better understand query intent, which means that the content marketers create for their websites needs to do a better job of this, too. My advice is summed up in this Whiteboard Friday on the topic. Basically, you want to gain a deep understanding of what searchers want — not just some of what they’re seeking, but the end goals they have when they type or speak those words into Google. Then, you need to create content and a user experience that delivers answers to all those questions, and a path for the searcher to solve their problem. Rankbrain is about search experience more than the use of specific keywords or links, and thus, it’s in providing that experience that you can stand out.“
Ravi: 2. What the best you suggest to do when the targeted keywords stuck on the 2nd page in Google? (I think many SEO’s facing this)
Rand : “Two things (unfortunately, neither are simple):
One – understand what separates your result from those on the first page. That could be domain authority or link equity of the page. It could be anchor text. It could be content or keyword targeting. It could be the user experience and engagement rate. It might be the degree to which other sites are perceived as authorities on the topic. This is a challenging process, but it needs to be addressed before you can take action.
Two – shore up your weakness with marketing and content investment campaigns dedicated to that goal. If your website provides a poor user experience compared to your competitors, you need to address that. If you don’t have the links you need to compete, you’ve got to get those. If your site/brand isn’t perceived as an authority in this field, you’ve got a branding and PR and awareness campaign to undertake.“
Ravi : 3. What SEO tools do you suggest to increase the website performance?
Rand : “If we’re talking about raw site speed, Google’s Page Speed Insights is pretty solid. If it’s broader web marketing, I’m obviously a bit biased, but I have a few favorites. For keyword research, I like Keyword Explorer. For on-the-go page/site analysis, I like the Mozbar. For link research, I’m a fan of Majestic. For crawl issues, OnPage.org is really solid. For rank tracking, I like Moz Pro Campaigns. And for on-page optimization, related topics and the other onpage SEO features in Moz are strong, too.“
Ravi : 4.For our readers, could you please share a picture of work culture you have at Moz?
Rand : Sure! You can see a bunch of them here:
