The Moz Blog

Free Local SEO Tools That Belong in Your Kit

If you've been looking to ramp up your local SEO work without busting your budget, this is the post for you. Local SEO expert Miriam Ellis shares over 25 free tools, spreadsheets, resources, and more to make your job easier in the year ahead.

What to Do When a New Potential SEO Client Contacts You

How do you react when a new potential client contacts you? Discerning between a good fit and an adequate (or poor) fit can be key to both retaining those clients and growing your business. John Doherty walks you through the client vetting process, including the initial call and how to determine whether you should pitch your project or move on.

Why Google AdWords' Keyword Volume Numbers Are Wildly Unreliable

Broad and unusable volume ranges, misalignment with other Google tools, and conflating similar yet distinct keywords — these are just a few of the serious issues that make relying on AdWords search volume data alone so dangerous. In this edition of Whiteboard Friday, we discuss those issues and offer a few alternatives for more accurate volume data.

9 Predictions for SEO in 2018

For the past ten years, Rand has made a set of predictions for SEO in the year ahead, and for all ten years he's been largely correct. Check out what he got right in 2017, and pay close attention to his predictions for 2018 — they're doozies!

How to Troubleshoot Local Ranking Failures [Updated for 2018]

Your site's local rankings are dropping fast — is it because of Possum? Local Service Ads? Lack of organic authority? Or something else entirely? Miriam Ellis uncovers the most common causes of lost or low local rankings in the Google SERPs and helps you diagnose just what went wrong with her actionable 10-point checklist.

Selling SEO to the C-Suite: How to Convince Company Executives to Support SEO

If you've ever had trouble getting buy-in or budget approval for SEO, you know how hard it can be to convince stakeholders of the value of your work. Rebecca Maynes offers up advice on how to present your case to execs, educate them on the points they care about, and win respect (and budget) for your SEO efforts.

SEO Ranking Factors & Correlation: What Does It Mean When a Metric Is Correlated with Google Rankings?

Correlations data isn't always as clear as it seems. In this Whiteboard Friday, Rand shares the myths and realities of correlations in SEO ranking factor studies, then offers five smart ways to glean more trustworthy, useful information from the data.

How Does Mobile-First Indexing Work, and How Does It Impact SEO?

Slowly but surely, mobile-first indexing is coming. In this post, Bridget Randolph explains what’s changing and answers commonly asked questions about how this change will affect SEO. If you've got one we haven't covered, leave it in the comments!

How to Rank: The SEO Checklist

This edition of Whiteboard Friday covers a nine-point SEO checklist of the major items you need to cross off to rank in 2018 — and maybe get some hints on how to explain it to others, too.

The Very Best of the Moz Blog 2017: Our Top 50 Posts

We've curated a hefty list of the Moz Blog's top posts throughout the year, covering all of our most popular categories. Come check out what you may have missed, see which community members made the Top 10 Comments, and help us ring in 2018 right!

Followerwonk Is Moving On to a New, Loving Home

We've been searching for the perfect home for our Twitter analytics tool, and it finally found us. Please join us in congratulating the new owner of Followerwonk!

Use as Directed: A Content Marketing Plan for Robust Business Performance

Most marketers utilize content marketing, but it's not always clear how to use it effectively, measure your results, or see actual business value from the effort. Alexandra Tachalova shares tactical advice for preparing a content marketing plan that will prove valuable for your bottom line.