The dog days of summer are upon us—that special time from July to about Mid-August marked by the most sweltering days of the year.

Well, if you’ve been focusing on your online business to escape the heat, you’re out of luck. It’s rising in here, too. But if you’re reading this, you can take the heat. So, let’s get to the advice that will keep you cooking.

First, check out these data-laden case studies to make sense of recent changes. We’ll start by looking at whether CTR is a ranking factor, some tests into the best backlink checker and, what’s working for SEO in 2019. Then, I have a case study for you built off my link service.

After that, I’ll take you through the guides that will show you how to drive traffic to your site, analyze your competitors, and cheaply boost content linkability like a pro. After my choice of guides, I’ll show you the ones Cyrus Shephard considers the best for SEO this year.

Finally, the month’s big news and lively discussions. If you’ve been wondering what’s causing rule-abiding sites to lose traffic or why some GMB reviews are missing—your answers are a few scrolls away.

Your answer as to whether CTR is a ranking factor? Let’s start by looking at what Dan Taylor has to say. read more…

Got your cookouts, fireworks and family vacations out of the way? Good. Because summer school is now in session and there will be a test. This month’s roundup comes with one of the heaviest collections of case studies and guides that I’ve ever published.

First up, my case studies are going to give you data experts’ perspective on some of the most vital trends in search, including Google’s June core update, the best CMS platforms and what clients expect from SEO services.

Then, my collected guides are going to teach you some intensely valuable lessons about how to be an amazing SEO, fix a plateauing rank and understand how Google values different types of links.

Finally, there weren’t many big news items last month, but what there were, you better not have missed. I’m going to cover the shutdown of CCN and what it means that Google has canceled support of robots.txt.

I’ve got a lot to cover, so better jump right in. Let’s start with one of the first really in-depth data dives into the June 2019 core update. read more…

School may have just gotten out for the summer, but this month’s roundup is going to take you right back to class. From beginning to end, it’s all information that’s going to make you better at what you do.

First up, the month’s juiciest case studies. You’ll learn what an insufficient amount of links will do to you, what the numbers say about how to write great content, and what an in-depth analysis says about the best correlational SEO tools.

After that—the month’s guides that will make you a better SEO. You’ll pick up a stack of new linkbuilding tricks, the means to rank beyond your location, the keys to long-tail keywords and what it really means to optimize for searcher intent.

Finally, the news. You’ll learn what Google announced (yes, seriously) for their algorithm update, the signs that Google is better at judging medical sites, whether text-only ads are on the way out and why everyone is freaking out about favicons.

So, let’s get started with the first big case study. You may know linkbuilding is important, but do you know that without it…you’re doomed? read more…

If you love data, you’ll love this month’s roundup of the biggest news in SEO. Scraping and analytical tools are developing rapidly and more people than ever are digging deep into the data to give us the juiciest insights we’ve ever seen.

Appropriately, this month’s roundup begins with a series of killer case studies that use as many as millions of points of data to reveal what it means to rank quality content, build quality links, and craft superior anchor text.

Up after that are the month’s best guides. They’ll teach you the next steps when Google isn’t indexing your site, how to use the disavow tool safely and how to scale your low-budget campaigns up when you’re ready for the big leagues.

Finally, we get to the news. If last month was a stressful one for you, you’re not alone. A lot of things went wonky with search results and console tools. We’re going to talk about some of what went wrong, whether they’re fixed and if you can expect the problems to come back.

Let’s get started. First, a deep in-depth look at how Google ranks your content. read more…