According to a study conducted by Crayon, <a href="https://smallbiztrends.com/2020/01/competitive-intelligence-statistics.html" target="blank">94% of businesses</a> invest in competitive intelligence. __Competitor analysis__ is the first step towards understanding the market and the gap your organization can capitalize on. This includes keeping track of your competitors’ websites and learning the strategies they use to improve their digital presence. 

The insight gained from this analysis can help improve on existing strategies and create new ones. This article will talk about the tools needed to monitor and track the performance of competitor websites.

# 5 Tools To Help You Track Your Competitors 
Many tools can analyze the state of your competitors’ websites and give you meaningful insight on aspects such as keyword mentions, backlinks, website changes, and even social media. The following are some examples of tools used to analyze your competitors and how they work towards helping you with insights for improving existing strategies.

## Fluxguard
Fluxguard is a tool that allows you to crawl a competitor's website, find certain web pages and monitor these pages for activity. The software can constantly crawl your competitors' websites and return meaningful insights. The data obtained from <a href="https://fluxguard.com/how-to-guides/monitor-website-changes-with-fluxguard" target="blank">monitoring website changes</a> can include cookies, headers, network activity, and the frequency of visits to the competitor's website.

This data can help you understand the types of keywords the competitor is using, the types of tracking software they have, and how they are being used to target customers. This insight can help you make specific changes to your website that will drive more traffic and result in better performance.
![Fluxguard](//images.ctfassets.net/z8uwv83tofbw/523eJpQgVyzl1kzNNeiLAo/6006256172509c5a43a680e432de5d62/Fluxguard.png)<div><center><a href="https://fluxguard.com/" target="blank">Source</a>
## Owletter
Owletter offers data about your __competitor's email marketing strategies__. It allows organizations to automatically capture emails sent to their mailing list from a website. The software then takes screenshots of this data, stores it, and analyzes it. 

The tool also alerts you about the email based on preset parameters. This process will help you learn about your competitors' email behavior and offer insight that can be used to improve your existing __email marketing strategy__.

Owletter can help you figure out the types of emails to be sent, the frequency of emails, and content ideas for future newsletters. All this data is constantly tracked to empower your email marketing campaign.
![Qwletter](//images.ctfassets.net/z8uwv83tofbw/2YP0sXs5MTinBxxpXj9gSr/81f671a09a3abfde8b84ea4574f5a999/Qwletter.png)<div><center><a href="https://www.owletter.com/" target="blank">Source</a>

## Social Blade
Social blade is free to use and mainly tracks your __competition's content__. If they have a YouTube channel, this tool will fetch data about subscribers, views, earnings, and growth. 

Moreover, it also allows you to search analytics on your competitor's Instagram, Twitch, and DailyMotion accounts. This data can serve as meaningful insight and set a benchmark to surpass your competition.
![Social Blade](//images.ctfassets.net/z8uwv83tofbw/55jXbcp2QdDeD2labbIgCk/cc92327ddd1020e4ae0c2e2890898e5f/Social_Blade.png)<div><center><a href="https://socialblade.com/" target="blank">Source</a> 

## Nozzle
Nozzle is a competitive analysis tool that lets you track the __top websites in the industry__, see any <a href="https://nozzle.io/blog/featured-snippet-competitor-analysis" target="blank">featured snippets</a> your competitors may have, find who owns <a href="https://nozzle.io/blog/google-local-rank-tracking" target="blank">local listings</a>, and even find <a href="https://nozzle.io/blog/video-rank-tracker" target="blank">video content</a> that is performing well.

This is an effective tool to monitor competitor __keyword lists__ on a monthly and quarterly basis, <a href="https://nozzle.io/blog/finding-your-top-serp-competitors-across-all-your-keyword-groups" target="blank">keeping track of organizations within your industry</a> and the global SERP landscape. It can also show you the highest-ranking URLs in your niche, so you can analyze them using SEO tools for on-site optimization and backlinks. This should allow you to focus on specific keywords and work accordingly to improve your ranking. 

![Number of Domains with Featured Snippets within a specific Keyword Group (2)](//images.ctfassets.net/z8uwv83tofbw/1EUKu30N1IqRd05WTCfgWK/befb0c9053d7c5323718315eefa446cd/Number_of_Domains_with_Featured_Snippets_within_a_specific_Keyword_Group__1_.jpeg)

## Semrush
SEMRush helps conduct a competitor analysis based on __search engine marketing strategies__. It allows you to track keywords used by your competitors and see how these keywords are ranked on global SERPs. 

Each keyword is accompanied by data such as domain authority, ranking difficulty, and the countries where it ranks the highest. If you are confused with your keyword research and want to look at some strategies that have produced results, SEMRush is your go-to tool.
![Semrush](//images.ctfassets.net/z8uwv83tofbw/1H6S1lZTpFZIfPIJrYMUGx/39067d85a53429afe7f69726e875d86d/Semrush.png)<div><center><a href="https://www.semrush.com/" target="blank">Source</a>  

# Importance Of Tracking Your Competitors' Websites
A competitor's website can give you a clear picture of how they are performing and the strategies and keywords they are using to improve their ranking on SERPs. Getting a strong ranking on search engine result pages is primary if you want to improve your traffic and customer base. Doing this can require several strategies that need to work in unison for the results to be successful and give you a favorable outcome. Creating a strategy from scratch might not always work, and even if you do put in extensive research, it is always good to analyze any data you can extract.

A competitor doing well in the market is a clear indication that whatever they are doing is working for them. Tracking the movement and changes of successful competitors can help you gain enough data to devise your own strategy or improve on your existing one.

Competitors can give you a clear picture of how the industry is functioning, and analyzing their data can offer the following benefits:

- Get competitive insights that can be incorporated into your strategies
- Find pricing and inventory gaps to capitalize on and capture the market
- Understand what types of strategies work in your niche
- Stay aware of industry trends
- Identify and plan for new competitive threats

## Wrapping up
Businesses worldwide are looking for ways to improve their marketing practices and get the word out to more people. According to a study, <a href="https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1108/17515631111106821/full/html" target="blank">90% of Fortune 500 companies</a> conduct competitor analysis to find out what others are doing to achieve these goals. The resulting data is then used to devise branding and marketing strategies that deliver results faster than shooting in the dark.

Experts believe that the best way to see if a strategy works is by seeing if someone else is doing it and how it is performing. Learning from the performance of your competitors can help you tweak your own strategies and eventually produce similar - if not better - results. Several tools in the market can track the competitor's website and precisely track each aspect of the competitor and how they are going about their daily operations.

When done right, competitor analysis can be a shortcut to explosive growth and lightning-fast sales for new businesses


Competitors

The following are tools used to analyze your competitors and how they work towards helping you with insights for improving existing strategies.

The tools needed to monitor and track the performance of competitor websites.

Get One Step Ahead Of Your Competitors - 5 Tools To Help You Track Their Movements

Most business owners understand the importance of ranking well in Google Maps. If you are in the SEO business, <a href="https://nozzle.io/features" target="blank">search enginge position analysis</a> isn't the only concern. Helping your clients to rank well in Google Maps is also what you do. Even if you understand the fundamentals of local SEO, Google is constantly updating its algorithm. Keeping up with these updates is the key to outranking your competition.

Google made several changes to local search this year, and some of them affect how a business ranks in Google Maps. If you want to know how to rank better in Google Maps in 2022, you need to know about these changes.

In 2016, Google introduced what SEOs call the “map pack”, “3-pack”, or “local pack”. The new design featured a map of just three business listings. This small change dramatically affected local SEO. There were no longer 7 spots, but only an elusive three. Getting your business to rank in the map pack became the main focus of local SEO.

## Why rank better in Google Maps?
It is not necessary for every business to be in Google Maps. However, for local businesses, ranking better in Google Maps is the best way to bring in more local customers and ultimately make more money. 

If someone is searching for your business on Google Maps, they will most likely search “local business near me”. So, if you own a pizza restaurant, for example, if someone is looking for pizza, they will most likely search for “pizza near me”.

This is what makes ranking well in Google Maps so important. If your business isn’t in the top 3 spots, your customers may never find you. The map pack shows up at the top of the page <a href="https://www.seoclarity.net/how-googles-local-pack-update-has-reshaped-the-organic-landscape-12952/" target="blank">in 93 percent of Google searches</a>, according to SEO Clarity, which makes ranking in the map pack the best way for small businesses to be found in Google.

Every business is trying to get into this coveted spot in Google Maps. With every business vying for it, how do you get there? And what’s changed in 2022?

If you want a competitive edge, keep reading. Here is how to rank better in Google Maps in 2022.
![google-maps](//images.ctfassets.net/z8uwv83tofbw/5Fno8XdXYYukJrtvKs5gci/960062999b80fdb274573c95a4deee05/google-maps.png)
## How does Google decide which businesses rank in Google Maps?

Understanding how Google picks which businesses they display in Google Maps will help you to understand how to rank better. Google Maps was created for local businesses - not so much for online businesses. 

It was mainly designed for brick-and-mortar businesses to help customers and clients locate them on the map. This is why proximity is such an important ranking factor. Google tries to show you the businesses that are closest to you in proximity.

However, just adding your business to Google Maps doesn’t automatically make your business show up first, even if you are the closest in proximity. Google uses numerous ranking factors to determine which business shows up on top. And, Google tells you exactly what they are looking for.

### These are the ranking <a href="https://support.google.com/business/answer/7091?hl=en#zippy=%2Center-complete-data%2Cadd-photos%2Crelevance%2Cdistance%2Cprominence" target="blank">factors Google looks for</a>: 

__Relevance__: This means how closely your business matches what someone is searching for when they do a Google search. They determine this based on your business name, description, and what people say in your Google Reviews.

__Distance__: How close your business is to the person searching. 

__Prominence__: According to Google, prominence is determined by information Google has about a business from links, articles, and directories. Google also looks at your Google reviews. Having a higher percentage of positive ratings will improve your prominence in Google.

Wonder why your reviews aren't showing up? Check out <a href="https://nozzle.io/blog/why-arent-my-google-reviews-showing-up-10-possible-reasons-why" target="blank">this article</a>.

## Google Maps Ranking Factors

Ranking in Google Maps is similar to ranking in organic search. Google looks at on-page and off-page factors. However, unlike organic search, where on-page SEO is done on your website, in Google Maps the on-page SEO is done on your Google Business Profile. This is why a business can rank well in Google Maps even if they don’t have a website. Here are some of the on-page and off-page SEO factors Google uses to rank businesses in Google Maps.

__Google Business Profile SEO__

- GBP (Google Business Profile) Optimization
- Google Reviews
- GBP Updates
- Behavioral Signals

__Google Maps Off-Page SEO__

- Citations
- Website SEO
- Backlinks
- Social Signals

## How to Optimize Your GBP (Google Business Profile)
The first step to ranking on Google Maps is to claim your Google Business Profile. To create a Google Business Profile go to https://www.google.com/business/. Claim your listing and verify it. Once your listing is verified, optimize your profile. 

__Use your keywords in your GBP name__

Use your keywords in your profile name if possible. Make sure your profile name reflects what your business actually does. For example, if you own a fitness center, use a name like ABC Fitness Center instead of just ABC Company. Although including keywords in your profile name can help with SEO, Google is cracking down on business owners using keyword spam to rank well in Google Maps. Therefore, having keywords in your profile name may not be as beneficial in 2022 as it was before.

__Fill out your GBP completely__

Fill out every section of your GBP including your physical address, phone number, category, and attributes. Make sure to provide a description of your business using your keywords, location, and the products or services you offer. Also, add your hours of operation.

Select the best category for your business. If you are not sure which category to choose, do a search for your keyword and see what category your competitors are using. Add as many secondary categories to your profile as you can (but be sure they are relevant).

Select appropriate <a href="https://support.google.com/business/answer/9049526?hl=en&co=GENIE.Platform%3DDesktop" target="blank">attributes</a>, for example, identified as woman-owned or veteran-owned. Select a short name for your profile. And, make sure to create a free Google website, even if you have your own website. Your Google.business.site will display information about your business, your contact info, and all your GBP updates. 

__Add photos__

Adding photos to your profile helps more than you might think. “Businesses with photos receive 42% more requests for driving directions to their location from users on Google, and 35% more clicks through to their websites than businesses that don’t have photos”, according to a <a href="https://www.brightlocal.com/research/google-my-business-insights-study/" target="blank">Google insight study</a>.

__Post updates__

Post updates on your GBP regularly. Although this does not help directly with SEO, it may help with the click-through rate. It also adds content to your Google business website if you have added one.

__Ask clients and customers for Google Reviews__

Google Reviews are one of the ways Google decides how popular your business is and what people in your location have to say about your business. Having positive Google reviews will improve your prominence and ranking in Google Maps. 

Asking your clients and customers to leave a review for your business is one of the best ways to get more Google reviews. However, many business owners have noticed that Google is filtering more reviews, even from legitimate happy customers. Since Google knows reviews are an important ranking factor, they have tightened the ropes on fake Google reviews. If you are <a href="https://localu.org/unfilter-missing-google-reviews/" target="blank">missing Google reviews</a>, Google’s filtering system may be why.

Don’t just ask for reviews, reply to your customer's reviews. According to Google, this is one way to make your <a href="https://support.google.com/business/answer/6335804?hl=en" target="blank">Google Business Profile awesome</a>.

__GBP Behavioral Signals__ 

If you want to rank better in Google Maps in 2022, focus on improving interaction on your Google Business Profile. Google doesn’t just look at the information on your GBP. They also look at what your customers do when they find you. For example, do they call you? Do they visit your website? Do they search for directions? These actions show Google how customers feel about your business. 

## __Google Maps Off-Page SEO__

The truth is it’s possible to rank well in Google Maps just by having an optimized GBP and positive Google reviews. However, there are other important factors that can improve your position in Google Maps. These are off-page SEO signals such as information from your website, directories, social media, articles, and backlinks.

__Website Optimization__

Optimizing your website will improve both your organic search results and your ranking in Google Maps. This is because Google looks for information about your business across the web to determine how they rank you. This includes the information on your website.

__How to optimize your website for Google Maps__

Optimize your website for local keywords. For example, if you own a real estate business, you might optimize your website for “Atlanta realtor” or “best realtor in Atlanta” or “Atlanta real estate”. 

Also, add location pages or city pages for specific cities you service. This will tell Google you provide services in that city and provide more information about what services you provide for that location.

Include your name, address, and phone number on your website. Embed a Google map to your business as well. You can add this in the footer of your website or your contact page.

Add schema markup to your website. <a href="https://www.badasswebgoddess.com/schema-markup-for-seo-google-maps/" target="blank">Schema markup</a> is code that can be added to your website to tell Google more about your business. It provides information like where you are located, your phone number, your business hours, and what social media profiles are associated with your business.

__Citations listing your NAP (Name, Address, and Phone Number) __

One of the ways Google determines your prominence in Google Maps is based on the information it collects from links, articles, and directories. Mentions of your business’ name, address, and phone number are known as citations. Citations are generally considered listings in directories like Yellow Pages, Manta, Yelp, or Angie’s List. Local business directories or industry-specific directories are also a good way to build citations.

__Backlinks__

A lot of SEOs think <a href="https://www.badasswebgoddess.com/what-helps-more-with-local-seo-citations-or-backlinks/" target="blank">citations and backlinks</a> are the same things. While directories often include a link back to your website, which technically makes it a backlink, they are different. A citation is any mention of your business name, address, and phone number on another website. A backlink is a link from another website back to your website. 

A backlink doesn’t always include your name, address, or phone number. It can link to your website’s home page or internal pages or blog posts. Having more backlinks will help you to rank better in local searches. 

__Social Signals__

Having an active social media presence may improve your ranking in Google, although it may help more indirectly than directly. There is a lot of debate in the SEO community about how much social media helps with SEO or if it helps at all. However, having an active social media presence can help because it drives traffic to your website, can generate natural backlinks (from people who might not have otherwise seen your content), and encourages customers to visit your website. 

## What’s Changed with Google Maps and what to expect in 2022

In 2021, Google made quite a few changes to Google Maps, including making it easier for business owners to get listed in Google Maps, changing the name of Google My Business to Google Business Profile, changing the look of the map pack, and adding new features for business owners.

__Google changed the name of Google My Business to Google Business Profile__

On November 4, 2021, Google changed the name of its business profiles from <a href="https://support.google.com/business/thread/133876833/introducing-new-updates-to-business-profile?hl=en" target="blank">Google My Business to Google Business Profile</a> and made it easier for business owners to claim and verify their business information on Google Maps.

There are now two ways to get your business listed in Google Maps. You can go to https://www.google.com/business/ to create your Google Business Profile or you can simply search for your business name in Google Maps. If you don’t see it listed, search for your business address. Then click on Add your business. This will take you to the Google Business Profile page where you can set up your profile.

__Google added new features for business owners__

In addition, Google added <a href="https://blog.google/products/ads-commerce/connect-local-holiday-shoppers/" target="blank">several new features for business owners</a>. You can now message your visitors directly from search, without having to log in to your business profile. You can also see your call history to see which visitors found you in Google Maps and called you from your profile.

Shop owners can now display their inventory directly from Google. Shoppers can now search for which stores have the item they are looking for in stock. This is a win for customers and shop owners as many customers check to see which stores have a product on hand before they shop there.

__Google added several new attributes__

There are now a wide range of attributes businesses can add to their profile, <a href="https://www.seroundtable.com/google-my-business-crowd-lgbtq-friendly-transgender-safespace-32287.html" target="blank">including LBTQ+ friendly</a>, and health and safety features like “staff wears masks”. In 2022, there may be more attributes added to GBP. Be sure to check for new attributes in the upcoming year.

__Google changed the way the map pack is displayed__
![map-pack-chicago](//images.ctfassets.net/z8uwv83tofbw/4VEnH5GSCZYra2CmvO286p/0eb015658fbe1f8f303cb23a17da15f8/map-pack-chicago.jpg)

In 2021, Google redesigned the map pack. Now when you search for a business on Google, the map is larger and more prominent than before. The businesses also appear on the left side of the map instead of underneath it.

__Google rolled out the “Vicinity Update”__

In 2021, Google started cracking down on spam. In the <a href="https://www.sterlingsky.ca/vicinity-algorithm-update/" target="blank">most recent Vicinity update</a>, businesses that were dominating local search simply because they had keywords in their business name noticed significant drops in their ranking in Google Maps. A keyword in your business name is no longer as important as your prominence and proximity.

Google confirmed the algorithm update in December. Although they did not specifically say that the latest algorithm places a heavier emphasis on proximity, they did say that the update “involved a rebalancing of various factors we consider in generating local search results.” 

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Our November 2021 local search update has concluded. It began Nov 30 and ran through Dec 8. It involved a rebalancing of various factors we consider in generating local search results. General guidance for businesses remains the same as covered here: <a href="https://t.co/uyXFfmUEIR">https://t.co/uyXFfmUEIR</a></p>&mdash; Google Search Central (@googlesearchc) <a href="https://twitter.com/googlesearchc/status/1471546117125029889?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 16, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

What the Vicinity update did, essentially, was bring proximity back as one of Google’s main ranking factors. Google has stated before that the three factors they look at are relevance, distance, and prominence. 

As 2022 moves forward there may be more changes in store for Google. Overall, Google’s aim is to improve user experience. This includes making Google Maps more useful to customers using their services.


map-pack-chicago

This is how to rank better in Google Maps in 2022.

How to rank better in Google Maps in 2022

![4 Ways To Find Zero Search Volume Keywords That Bring Traffic](//images.contentful.com/z8uwv83tofbw/1ZZOM0gOy4cHFIcJsTOKsH/44c6b67dd1100e81270f9ce16e87a851/4_Ways_To_Find_Zero_Search_Volume_Keywords_That_Bring_Traffic.jpg)
Everyone wants to be number one for high-volume keywords. They contribute to a large number of organic visitors, conversions, and sales.

However, ranking for high-volume keywords isn’t always easy or possible. It requires going above and beyond the competition for the restricted number of first-page spots.

What if you’re a small company struggling to appear higher on search? There is a simple solution: focus your SEO campaign on long-tail, low-frequency keywords. 

Do you wish to attract targeted traffic, aiming at those who are looking for specific information? Locate low-competition keywords and target them, giving yourself a far better chance of ranking well. Let’s look at what zero search volume keywords are, how you can find them, and why it’s worth the effort.

## What Are the Benefits of Targeting Low-Volume Keywords?

Zero search volume keywords can bring organic traffic from Google even if tools like Ahrefs, Moz, SEMrush, and Keywords Everywhere suggest that no one is searching for them.

What else can targeting low-volume keywords offer? Including these terms in your SEO strategy provides a lot more advantages, such as: 

- __Relevance__ to your buyers. Long-tail keywords are usually low-volume terms that are extremely fitting for your target market. And the better content hits the mark, the more likely users will convert.

- Creating interest around __a new or small niche__. Low-volume keywords are better suited for one-time search queries Google may never see again.

- __Diversity__. You can <a href="https://nozzle.io/blog/where-to-add-keywords-in-your-content-to-improve-your-ranking" target="blank">add multiple low-volume keywords</a> to one page to increase traffic potential.

- __Commercial intent__, meaning you can add buying keywords to attract customers that will convert. At the same time, they have a great return on investment (ROI) to cover the expense of the content.

When you choose keywords for your piece, you select the primary phrase. As you compose your article, product page, or other sections on the website, you will unconsciously add extra secondary and LSI keywords to drive traffic to your site.

These are phrases people will look for and get relevant results. It applies to search engines and on-site search as well, so they’re crucial by all means.

For example, visitors don’t want to scroll through an array of cardigans on the website. They may type the phrase “emerald green cardigan” to specify the request and choose from the store’s assortment offered in the <a href="https://onilab.com/blog/how-to-improve-magento-search/" target="blank">Magento on-site search results</a> or any other results, depending on your CMS.

Let’s dive deeper into the peculiarities of terms with zero search, how to find and use them.

## Four Ways to Conduct Zero Search Volume Keyword Research

### 1. Leveraging Tools to Define Search Volume

The first way to find zero search volume keywords is to use the <a href="https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/keyword-surfer/bafijghppfhdpldihckdcadbcobikaca/" target="blank">Keyword Surfer</a> or <a href="https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/keywords-everywhere-keywo/hbapdpeemoojbophdfndmlgdhppljgmp" target="blank">Keywords Everywhere</a> tools. These are free browser extensions forecasting a monthly search volume and giving other insights. You’ll have a short report while searching on Google.

The figures below are the estimated search volume and cost per click for Google Adwords campaigns. The results are received from Keyword Surfer.
![Leveraging Tools to Define Search Volume](//images.contentful.com/z8uwv83tofbw/4jVrC3JAmIDt2NTvl9lPzd/0c6ccb2f1e3b101457ef138fccc03006/Leveraging_Tools_to_Define_Search_Volume.png)

As you can see, there are some phrases with zero value. It means people don’t look for “*customer retention strategies saas*” or *“customer retention strategies definition*”. However, they search for similar questions, so adding these keywords will help you increase the traffic volume to the website.

If you proceed with the search, you’ll see several boxes to the right. The tools provide you with keyword ideas based on the similarity with the initial phrase.
![Leveraging Tools to Define Search Volume-2](//images.contentful.com/z8uwv83tofbw/3wa1CB2ShAUxH5pWVpm2op/75dd159fc2b7f2a2abac9c7c4bbef751/Leveraging_Tools_to_Define_Search_Volume-2.png)
Have you noticed the figures below the titles? These are also valuable details. For example:

- the estimated monthly traffic for a selected region;
- the article total word count;
- how many times the author used the “*customer retention strategies*” keyword.
![Leveraging Tools to Define Search Volume-3](//images.contentful.com/z8uwv83tofbw/44Ie2loKyuDLgiu83k4hoo/05396691d7b8a49c1a303ced814750d6/Leveraging_Tools_to_Define_Search_Volume-3.png)
You can also copy or export the list of long-tail keywords, trend data, and what other people search for, thanks to Keywords Everywhere.

### 2. Analyzing Related Searches

Compare the drop-down box and __related searches__ at the bottom of the Google results page below. They almost always return the same phrases.
![Analyzing Related Searches](//images.contentful.com/z8uwv83tofbw/3KQ4PkkW2p7I9fmWIKzI40/a2c3ac038b41529f6fce9efffa0812e4/Analyzing_Related_Searches.png)
The problem with checking them is that you have to scroll down to the bottom of the page. And they don’t have the additional information from the keyword research Chrome extensions. As a result, this method doesn’t consider whether or not the keyword has any search volume.

What if you need to know the exact figure or process a lot of keywords? In this case, you’ll need the above-mentioned plugins. They will allow you to see the statistics when you type the query and streamline the selection process.

Don’t stop your search after finding several suggestions from Google. You can __uncover more precise keywords__ by entering your initial keyword ideas and then searching for them on Google again.

Let’s get back to my previous example. I used the “*customer retention strategies ecommerce*” query to get more variants. Broader initial phrases, such as the one shown below, give you some good ideas if you repeat the procedure with the original suggestions.
![Analyzing Related Searches-2](//images.contentful.com/z8uwv83tofbw/5z1kvVzSNTAFp3IQHBNeAE/4e76e1195a0667b2d4c88368a5d47a55/Analyzing_Related_Searches-2.png)
We see that the first keyword phrase doesn’t have any monthly searches. But as Google suggests, using this strategy, we can gain more organic visitors, provided we appear in the top three results for it.

### 3. Looking for Zero Search Volume Keywords with the Alphabet Soup Method

The third method under discussion is the alphabet soup strategy for keyword research. It involves the recently evolved Google autocomplete feature.

Unlike the related searches strategy, this one will take some time and effort on your part. But it’s worth it for generating <a href="https://nozzle.io/blog/unlimited-keyword-rank-tracking" target="blank">keywords that rank</a> and drive traffic.
<br>
How does it allow you to utilize Google for keyword research? Type your primary keyword into the Google search bar. Let it be “brown mascara”. The image below shows that all you have to do is __add a letter of the alphabet__ after it. The autocomplete will provide you with various new options.
![Looking for Zero Search Volume Keywords with the Alphabet Soup Method](//images.contentful.com/z8uwv83tofbw/2R50ahOr1Knd91lDO2w5r1/5f61651513f80302d3a74552200f28c1/Looking_for_Zero_Search_Volume_Keywords_with_the_Alphabet_Soup_Method.png)
The keywords with the lowest expected monthly search volume on this first pass usually have the most organic traffic potential. You can take this phrase for a second run using the alphabet soup method.
![Looking for Zero Search Volume Keywords with the Alphabet Soup Method-2](//images.contentful.com/z8uwv83tofbw/4mbjupMNv8BIepQIDyMHoo/338131e512afabd5c47ba34317374220/Looking_for_Zero_Search_Volume_Keywords_with_the_Alphabet_Soup_Method-2.png)
These keywords typically have significantly lower traffic levels. But having less traffic doesn’t always mean something bad.

They have less competition from other websites, making them much simpler to rank. If your niche is large enough, you may perform a third run on these keywords, but they bring almost no visitors.

### 4. Getting Insights from the People Also Ask Method

When searching for something, you’ll probably see this section.
![Getting Insights from the People Also Ask Method](//images.contentful.com/z8uwv83tofbw/5cI4T5WL0AcCbb0GsxTWnU/2936c9ff66446b1b1e0af5c6739d6f4e/Getting_Insights_from_the_People_Also_Ask_Method.png)
That’s __what people usually ask__, mentioning your keyword in their questions. And these options may hint you at what suitable keywords you may use.

The widget usually displays four questions. But if you open and close the bottom drop-down, you can extend it and receive more requests. Keep expanding the bottom question to see more ideas.

Note that the lower the suggestion list goes, the less relevant the questions to the initial keyword. However, they are generally niche relevant and may still be valuable to you.

These questions aren’t low-volume keywords, even though they may have no expected monthly searches. Why do they appear zero volume when you check them? The reason is that they’re complete questions rather than the actual search. 

Consider the question, “*What are customer retention strategies?*”. The exact query has no monthly search volume anticipated. But if we remove the beginning of the query and check “customer retention strategies”, we’ll notice that this term has an 880 search volume.
![Getting Insights from the People Also Ask Method-2](//images.contentful.com/z8uwv83tofbw/1HqFr7Fduh4DeYDD4l49Qa/5808fd6cf23250480a997eed3da58fbc/Getting_Insights_from_the_People_Also_Ask_Method-2.png)
If you use the <a href="https://nozzle.io/blog/evolution-google-serp" target="blank">People Also Ask</a> section to locate a zero or low competition keyword, take away parts of the questions to find the actual search phrase. Then examine its estimated search volume to get an idea of prospective future traffic.

### To Sum Up

I described the following possible ways to find zero search queries:

- Keyword Surfer or Keywords Everywhere extensions
- the related search approach
- the alphabet soup method
- the “people also ask” option

Ideally, you should combine all four because doing so may help you compile your keyword list faster. This may help you diversify your existing keyword research methods to enhance your page content. In turn, this will attract more organic visitors to your website.

Do you still think going after low-volume keywords is a waste of time or money? Before you dismiss them, review the suggestions above to determine whether you’re missing out on any gold mine opportunities. Some unusual keywords may pay off in terms of traffic and conversions.


4 Ways To Find Zero Search Volume Keywords That Bring Traffic

Discussing why and how to locate low-competition keywords and target them.

<br>
__Other Categories in this Series:__
<a href="https://nozzle.io/blog/1-underutilized-keyword-research-strategies" target="blank">#1- Underutilized Keyword Research Strategies</a>
<a href="https://nozzle.io/blog/2-underutilized-onsite-optimization-strategies" target="blank">#2- Underutilized Onsite Optimization Strategies</a>
<a href="https://nozzle.io/blog/4-underutilized-link-building-strategies" target="blank">#4- Underutilized Link Building Strategies</a>
<a href="https://nozzle.io/blog/5-underutilized-technical-seo-strategies" target="blank">#5- Underutilized Technical SEO Strategies</a>
<a href="https://nozzle.io/blog/6-underutilized-local-seo-strategies" target="blank">#6- Underutilized Local SEO strategies</a>
<a href="https://nozzle.io/blog/7-underutilized-video-seo-strategies" target="blank">#7- Underutilized Video SEO Strategies</a>
<a href="https://nozzle.io/blog/8-miscellaneous-underutilized-seo-strategies" target="blank">#8- Miscellaneous Underutilized SEO Strategies</a>


content

This is what the experts say are the most underutilized SEO strategies regarding content.

#3- Underutilized Content Strategies

Digital Content Marketing Strategy - Developing A Content Marketing Strategy - Content Strategy For Digital Marketing

![The best plagiarism tool](//images.contentful.com/z8uwv83tofbw/7ITwPaDzHePK0CkhQbeXfC/2d2e0fe87256874aad0a69b28ac3b530/image.png)

Plagiarism isn’t always intentional. People usually write out their ideas thinking that they are original, but sometimes someone has already published those same concepts, making their content suspicious. Even 1% of plagiarism in their writing can make it unreliable, causing trouble for writers. We all want to adhere to [Google’s policies](https://support.google.com/adsense/thread/62311527/how-much-plagiarism-is-allowed-for-news-website?hl=en) when we add and share our writing content.
Numerous plagiarism checking tools are available to help you avoid any unintentional plagiarism by easily identifying and removing it from your articles.
Hundreds of online plagiarism checkers have been introduced, and it can be difficult to judge the best one.
The following parameters are found in a good plagiarism checking tool:

⦁	These tools enable you to enter the content in a variety of ways like pasting the material into the text field, or uploading text and document files.
⦁	It provides results quickly.
⦁	It also tells you where your content was copied from.
Here we will talk about the three best plagiarism checkers and discuss their features. 

These tools are the best for users as they meet all of the necessary elements you’d need to check for plagiarism.
⦁	Prepostseo.com
⦁	Grammarly.com
⦁	Smallseotool.com

Let's compare the features of each tool and decide which one is the best of them.

### [Prepostseo.com](https://www.prepostseo.com/plagiarism-checker)

The Plagiarism Checker tool by Prepostseo is a web tool for detecting duplicate material. 
It checks for plagiarism and displays the results with a percentage. Users can then check out the duplications that were made in their content.
An advanced algorithm used in this tool makes it easy to take out the copied or paraphrased content

![Example image](//images.contentful.com/z8uwv83tofbw/2yqYmfbdPkViq4XXjoiWXk/ee29098a374a5d75b5efde79451e905e/image.png)

Let's discuss this tool's advanced features that make it unique and top among all the plagiarism checkers.
⦁	Secure to use
Privacy is the issue of every person in modern times. Everyone wants to keep their data safe and secure.
This tool provides comfort to the users as it doesn't keep their data. Instead, it deletes the data of the user instantly after each use.
⦁	Generates reports
After using this tool, a user can generate a report which will highlight the content that is plagiarized.
The user can remove those plagiarized lines and download their content after making them unique.
⦁	Results with sources
While generating the results, the plagiarized content gets highlighted. In addition, the source of these lines is provided from where it was copied.
A user can visit those websites and make their content different after changing the plagiarized content.
⦁	Mobile application
This tool brings ease for the users as one can download the application on a mobile device and use it there.

![Tool bar image](//images.contentful.com/z8uwv83tofbw/3a6RtCKOriv6SwrCC7JJkm/d80fa15c2c29b57b0439e45847c9ff00/image.png)

⦁	The free and paid version
A user can get both free and paid versions of this tool. If you are willing to use this tool for free, you can upload 1000 words.
For more words, get the premium version and enjoy all the features with increasing the word count.
Here is the list of the word limit for this plagiarism checker.

![Word Count](//images.ctfassets.net/z8uwv83tofbw/6UBAMpjz62NLSVuMxlU8zr/5e5644bfc2384f8e19cb735cb01a328d/image.png)

These are some basic paid versions. The prices vary with the number of words you need to use. 

![Pricing image](//images.contentful.com/z8uwv83tofbw/3teL7ApMbedWkqKxXYcNYU/bfc18daaf18551a8bfba9bac446eec32/image.png)

### Grammarly.com

This is also one of the best online tools that help users to make their content unique and error-free.
The primary work of this tool is to remove the grammatical errors from the content, but it is also quite good in detecting plagiarism.
Let's talk about the features of this tool that are immensely helpful in making your content plagiarism-free.

⦁	Writing enrichment
As told earlier, the basic purpose of this tool is to make the content grammatically perfect.
So, this tool helps the user improve their writing career by making the content error-free.

⦁	Comparison with billions of pages
When the content is placed in this tool, it compares it with billions of other web page databases.
Here it matches the content, takes out the text copied from other websites, and highlights it.

![Grammarly image](//images.contentful.com/z8uwv83tofbw/1CYuaCDP8QsmajnMMjn0JT/96cf72907549051c69f4f85060aa311e/image.png)

⦁	Upload files directly
This tool has an option where the user can directly upload the files instead of pasting the data.
Users can click on the import button, insert the file there, and check for plagiarism quite easily.

⦁	Efficient
The working of this tool is swift. It provides the results quickly which makes it efficient to use in your work.

⦁	Freemium
This tool has both free and paid versions. For basic features, you can avail them for free. For advanced features, you have to go for premium plans.

For premium plans you have to pay $12 per month in which you can improve the clarity and make the text error-free.
If you are running a business, you can get an offer to pay $12.50 per member each month and enjoy all of their features.

### Smallseotools.com

Many people trust this plagiarism checker all around the world due to its proficiency.
This tool is free to use and provides plagiarism features without any cost.
This tool is one of the best plagiarism checkers due to the features that help to make the content SEO optimized.

⦁	Compatible for the Cloud
This tool is compatible with the Cloud enabling someone who keeps their files in the Cloud to have direct access in uploading them there.
The user has to choose the content then the plagiarism checker will directly access those files and check for plagiarism.

![Smallseotools image](//images.contentful.com/z8uwv83tofbw/55oMHlBhhkmE4RYyXppaM9/57da5336a7a4e1c6d5ef22d735e26b16/image.png)

⦁	Gives percentage
When the user checks the plagiarism, they can get the result in a percentage, which shows the amount of content that is copied.
A user can remove the copied content from there and make it 100% unique. 

![smallseotools](//images.contentful.com/z8uwv83tofbw/1uZ0hbTU2hELn9HbeBc0yk/da44349381d47ab03e4cd666c5199da1/smallseotools.png)

⦁	Download reports
After getting the plagiarism report, one can download it directly from there. This factor brings ease for the user.
It also helps by keeping the user's record in a database to access at any time for future use.

⦁	Multiple languages
A user can get the results in different languages as it is supported. Other than English, you can convert your content to русский, 日本語, italiano, français, Português, Español, Deutsche, 中文.

### Who can use these tools?
The plagiarism tools are straightforward to use, and anyone can use them to get the copied text from their content.Whether you are a teacher, student, blogger, writer, or journalist, you can use these tools to make your content plagiarism-free.

### Which tool is best to use?
All of the tools mentioned above are full of features but the Plagiarism Checker tool of Prepostseo is the best of all.
This plagiarism checker has both paid and free versions, but the most important thing is its accessibility on mobile.
I ran my own test using the same content in all three tools and Prepostseo caught the maximum amount of plagiarism from the content I used..
It checks every online database and gives the best results. Also, it provides links to the copied content.
The features provided by Prepostseo make this tool stand out from the rest. The other two tools are also helpful for the users, but they are subpar to Prepostseo.

### Final words
To check for plagiarism and help you write unique content, these tools can be pretty helpful.
You can directly download your files, increasing your work efficiency.
If you purchase the paid version of this tool, you will get extra features like increasing word count and more search queries, which seems like a great investment to the quality of your writing.


online-plagiarism-checker

Numerous plagiarism checking tools are available to help you avoid any unintentional plagiarism by easily identifying and removing it from your articles. Let's compare the features of these tools and decide which one is the best of them.
⦁	Prepostseo.com
⦁	Grammarly.com
⦁	Smallseotool.com

Analyzing which is the best plagiarism tool among Prepostseo, Grammarly and Smallseotools

Which is the best plagiarism tool among Prepostseo, Grammarly and Smallseotools

## What is a featured snippet?

Featured snippets are brief snippets of text that aim to answer the user's question more quickly when doing a google search. The content that is used in the featured snippet section is usually pulled from the website itself within google's index to quickly be accessible to the searchers.

![Featured Snippet example picture](//images.ctfassets.net/z8uwv83tofbw/SAxylakXiQpcmDIoZPP0f/8df97bc0bb4fa7c30b4a37233a410fd5/Screen_Shot_2021-01-17_at_11.02.25_AM.jpg)

## How does a featured snippet work?

Featured snippets can help to boost your brand's visibility. Usually, you will see an increase in your site's activity by organically showing up at the top of Google within the featured snippet section. Being in the featured snippet section can greatly put you ahead of your competitors.

## What does a featured snippet do?

The featured snippet is there to help assist the users in what they are searching for. For example, if someone is looking for information on how to build a greenhouse. You will see that Lowe's is at the top of the featured snippet section answering the user's question in a video with a step-by-step process on how to build a greenhouse. By Lowe's doing this it helps them get more eyeballs on their video and inevitably more clicks.

![Featured Snippet Google Search on How to Build a Greenhouse](//images.ctfassets.net/z8uwv83tofbw/6tFKhvgLNYfrOKucbM0qFF/e73c3b3d0bc51367ed5c5d13eb06f63b/Screen_Shot_2021-01-17_at_10.42.55_AM.jpg)

## Why is a featured snippet important?

Featured snippets are important because they're always in the number one position on google. The number one position will typically get more clicks to their site and conversions. Also, it takes up a lot of real estate on the page. This compels people to click on it because it's the first thing they see when searching for an answer to a question on google.

## What are the different types of featured snippets?

Generally, there are three commonly used feature snippet types.

  - __Paragraph__ (answers the question in a text format)

  - __Table__ (data is pulled for a structured answer in table format)

  - __List__ (Ex: answers are given in a step by step process)

## Use Nozzle to monitor all the featured snippets in your industry

Since Nozzle is a full SERP monitoring tool, our data can show you who owns every single featured snippet in your space.

![Domains that own featured snippets](//images.ctfassets.net/z8uwv83tofbw/3Qhf9zJ2ApgPzSnNOT3etk/ac026636c76755526cdba2a8086dbce1/Domains_that_own_featured_snippets.jpg)

![Featured Snippet filter for dog toys keywords on desktop](//images.ctfassets.net/z8uwv83tofbw/601thZKtTzKm1OkW9lRCza/6c5afbe35d44407b021bec306276ed1d/Featured_Snippet_filter_for_dog_toys_keywords_on_desktop.jpg)

Check out our <a href="https://nozzle.io/blog/featured-snippet-competitor-analysis" target="blank">deep dive article</a> on this subject to learn how to do it.

Armed with this info, you can set an SEO strategy to overtake the featured snippets that you deem most important. Every month or quarter, you can showcase the efforts of your campaign from within Nozzle’s UI or by sending the data to Google Data Studio.


Google Search on Featured Snippets

Understanding the Power of Featured Snippets

Google Featured Snippets- The Importance of Ranking for Them 

People Also Ask boxes are becoming increasingly important in the world of SEO. In fact, PAA boxes now appear in the results for nearly half of all Google searches, according to studies by <a href="https://www.semrush.com/blog/how-to-maximize-people-also-ask-seo-opportunities-study/" target="blank">SEMrush</a> and <a href="https://ahrefs.com/blog/people-also-ask/" target="blank">Ahrefs</a>. This is interesting information, but how much does it really help you? The studies were conducted with a broad range of keywords, many of which are completely unrelated to your line of work.

When it comes to setting SEO strategy for your specific industry, you need to take a more personalized approach and look at how often PAA boxes appear in your keyword sets to determine where to focus your efforts. If they appear in 80% of the SERPs for your keywords, for example, you’ll want to spend a lot more time optimizing for PAA boxes than if they show up in, say, 30%.

That’s what we’re here to help you with. Let’s take a look at PAA frequency in several industries.

We analyzed 15 keyword sets from multiple different industries. Using Google’s Keyword Planner, we found hundreds of keywords for each of the following topics:

- Accounting software
- Auto repair
- Basketball training
- Couch
- Dog toys
- Drones
- Earbuds
- Health insurance
- How to Cook
- Mortgage
- Office leasing
- Potted plants
- Saving tips
- Sewing
- Ski equipment

And here’s the drill down:

![industry-specific people also ask data](//images.ctfassets.net/z8uwv83tofbw/1jhu22Viffu7gAU80BIcip/37800bef3a753e769856117bb6442424/Industry_Comparison.PNG)

As you can see, the number of PAA appearances ranged from about 32% to nearly 93%. That’s a whopping difference!

The percentages also varied by device, as shown in the graph below:

![industry-specific paa data device comparison](//images.ctfassets.net/z8uwv83tofbw/6a3ns4TqsQzzMdNxt7bJRB/65050f070651bbecb8d8e703b2337eb9/Device_Comparison.PNG)

When you do the deep dive analysis for your specific industry it becomes clear if you should spend more or less time optimizing for PAA questions. In this case, if you sell health insurance, make cooking tutorials, or offer accounting software, make optimizing for Google’s People Also Ask boxes a high priority. With office leasing, on the other hand, you should probably focus your efforts elsewhere.

What's more, Nozzle can analyze industry-specific PAA data over months to give you a magnified view of how important People Also Ask boxes are for your industry over time.

We tried this with keywords related to camping equipment over about 6 months. Check out the results:

![paa frequency over time for a specific industry](//images.ctfassets.net/z8uwv83tofbw/3JVKgjs8fK4roYSc9x0tV2/8e9515728d8f80e0fb902825e9535b24/PAA_over_time.PNG)

The PAA frequency varied by over 15%! But what exactly does this mean for the industry? If there's an increase in PAA box appearances, companies in that industry should <a href="https://nozzle.io/paa" target="blank">use Nozzle to extract the PAAs</a> again and get the new questions to send to their content team. If there's a drop, your SEO strategy might shift away from PAA optimization. Furthermore, you can look for seasonal trends and strategize accordingly.

Find more information about our keywords and data on our <a href="https://datastudio.google.com/reporting/de9a4331-ca52-4669-bd33-a8a8e058ce74" target="blank">interactive report</a>. 

If you’re interested in other industries for a future blog post, let us know in the comments.

Like what you saw above? Nozzle can generate <a href="https://nozzle.io/paa" target="blank">PAA data for your own keyword set</a>, including an extracted list of all the questions that Google serves up! It’s a highly targeted list of content ideas that your content team will appreciate.


Ian Campbell

Ian Campbell Profile Pic

PAA by Industry: Featured Image

It is important to analyze PAAs by industry and take a personalized approach when setting SEO strategy.

We analyzed 15 keyword sets to break down why analyzing People Also Asked frequency by industry matters.

The Importance of Analyzing PAAs by Industry

Use Industry-Specific People Also Ask Frequency to Help Set SEO Strategy

<a href="https://nozzle.io/paa" target="blank">Click Here to generate your free PAA Content Idea Report!</a>

Every SEO and content team knows that your website needs more content. But not just any content; content your targeted audience wants to know.

As a content marketer or SEO, you have probably asked yourself the something like the following:

How do I generate ideas for content creation?
Where can I find content ideas?
How do I get ideas for blog posts and articles?

The answer is: __WRITE ANSWERS TO THE QUESTIONS "THE PEOPLE" WANT TO KNOW!__

What are those questions, you ask?

Introducing... 

## The PAA Content Idea Report

<a href="https://nozzle.io/paa" target="blank">Click Here to generate your free PAA Content Idea Report!</a>

Everyone has seen a "People also ask" box. Google shows them on almost half of all SERPs.

Here is one that appeared for the term "track the whole SERP":

![People also ask - track the whole SERP](//images.ctfassets.net/z8uwv83tofbw/1pRvKmjybb11FVQ8R1XFVQ/cb96aca6ea16ac15fbbeb5d979aa9752/People_also_ask_-_track_the_whole_SERP.png)

Google deems these questions to be very related to the searcher's intent which is why your website should be answering these questions for all of your keyword topics.

And yes, that could potentially be hundreds or thousands of questions depending on how many topics/categories/products/services you have on your website.

More importantly, you need to know which of these questions appeared the most across each of your keyword groups.

Using Nozzle's PAA Expansion Method, you can generate this very powerful list.

### First example:

In the first example below, an initial list of 250 phrases turned into 417 unique questions.

![PAA Expansion Method - 250 camping phrases](//images.ctfassets.net/z8uwv83tofbw/5VdZZyxy2bawDiS403IdGV/c8a94e55671f24c2b3e19e6690da4121/PAA_Expansion_Method_-_250_camping_phrases.JPG)

Then I took those 417 questions and put them in Nozzle and ran a one time pull to generate an even bigger list of related questions. The result being 1,131 unique questions.

![PAA Expansion Method - 2nd iteration for camping phrases](//images.ctfassets.net/z8uwv83tofbw/4QAT1iJuBjbbsP53YBsalw/23ce1cd9fd6979d24d0bf2cf57271eb2/PAA_Expansion_Method_-_2nd_iteration_for_camping_phrases.JPG)

You can play around with this specific <a href="https://datastudio.google.com/u/0/reporting/a7e49d0a-5478-45fb-ac8b-1f4ceff391f7" target="blank">REI Demo PAA Report here.</a> 

Use the filters to see questions specifically related to each keyword group or to pull up a list that only includes specific terms like "cooler", "chair", or "butane".

### Second Example:

In this example, I started with only 3 phrases and used the PAA Expansion Method 4 times to end up with a list of 1,033 unique questions related to Christmas.

![PAA Expansion Method - starting with 3 christmas phrases](//images.ctfassets.net/z8uwv83tofbw/6xJqpA8uUtLmrbNy6HjXsY/3b89df64bac8d08a6ebd6b5f76f5f22e/PAA_Expansion_Method_-_starting_with_3_christmas_phrases.JPG)

Play around with the <a href="https://datastudio.google.com/u/0/reporting/570ca191-1b12-4b4c-aac8-b630b99b02cf" target="blank">Christmas PAA Expansion here.</a>

Lets end with a quote from a happy PAA Deliverable recipient:

> You just gave me a year's worth of content ideas for this project!

To generate your very own PAA deliverable to give you the warm fuzzies, <a href="https://nozzle.io/paa">click here.</a>


PAA Expansion Method - 250 camping phrases

PAA Content Idea Report

The PAA Content Idea Report - Build A People Also Ask Question List

Once upon a time, the search engine was like a fishing rod that would pull content up based on how keyword-dense it was.

Website owners were more focused on writing content that included lots of keywords that they inserted everywhere they could. This meant that a reader was greeted with the same key phrase in the title of the article as well as in the first line, the first heading, and repeatedly throughout the content.

However, in the past few years, Google has made it increasingly clear that it has grown smarter with age. It no longer rewards a higher position based on how many keywords you’re sprinkling throughout your content.

Starting with Panda, Google takes into account content quality ranking factors to position your content in the search engine results pages (SERPs). For instance, content gets ranked based on how reader-friendly and useful it is.

The days of inserting a keyword that doesn’t make much grammatical sense are over. Writers have to make sure they write content that pleases humans to attract Google’s attention. And they also have to play smarter – insert relevant keywords more strategically than just follow a laid-out formula.

## What most websites get wrong

Consider John. He has recently created a new business website and has a blog page for it. John sets out to find writers who can write him SEO-friendly posts for his site with the hopes to attract more traffic to his business. But, because he’s so desperate for success and he’s not up to date with the latest Google guidelines, his focus is on creating keyword-rich posts.

Question is, even if John’s writer adds the correct keywords and uses them wisely throughout the content, do John’s blog posts have a chance of ranking immediately?

Not really. Even if John’s content contains a good load of keywords placed in a 2500-word guide, Google still wouldn’t tug it up to the first or even seventh page. 

This is because the algorithm also looks at other factors than just how detailed and keyword enriched a content piece is. You see, there are more than <a href="https://backlinko.com/google-ranking-factors" target="blank">200 ranking factors</a> that Google looks at to determine where it should place your page in the results.

Majorly, it looks at the authority and credibility of a site. Therefore, if a website has <a href="https://nozzle.io/blog/building-backlinks-should-be-building-your-brand" target="blank">more links from authoritative sites</a> pointing toward it, the higher its spot will be in the SERPs. Furthermore, you want as many links as possible to each piece of content on your site to build up your website’s authority.

Now, building authority and credibility takes time. And this process requires you to write unique, evidence-based, and worthy content that speaks to humans. After all, other high-quality sites will only give you backlinks when they find your content to be a helpful, educational resource.

Put simply, don’t merely focus on keywords when you start out. Write conversationally and provide value in your posts. Most importantly, have a proper, well-thought-out content plan to crawl your way up in the SERPs.

As for other ranking factors, here’s a look at the <a href="https://ahrefs.com/blog/google-ranking-factors/" target="blank">top 10 Google ranking factors</a> that you shouldn’t ignore.

## So, you should write for your readers. But how to go about that?

Think of it like this – how do you, as a reader, react to content that chokes your throat with its obvious keyword volume? You roll your eyes and leave the page to go to another that serves you with an in-depth solution to your query. Even better if the article packs in some additional tips.

If you understand what you, as a reader, expect from the content you come across on the web, then you’d be able to nail what Google (and your readers) want from it. But content that is filled with jargon, difficult words, and hasn’t been structured well repels you.

Google gets this which is why it positions content that is authoritative, valuable, and readable at the top. Put simply, your content should be:

-  __Well researched and full of value__ – readers should leave with actionable takeaways from what you’ve written.
-  __Easy to read__ – write in simple language and shorter paragraphs. Also, use bullet points + headings, and structure your content properly.
-   __Interesting__ – add relevant images such as graphics and screenshots to explain your point and make your content clearer and more interesting.
-   __Conversational__ – speak to your audience by addressing them and be natural in your writing.
-   __Properly edited__ – cut out fluff and make sure your piece <a href="https://alafiyamemon.com/2020/04/13/how-to-edit-your-writing/" target="blank">doesn’t include any grammatical or other errors.</a>

Look at how properly structured this Evernote blog post is. It has short paragraphs, uses heading tags, bullet points, and simple language:

![ Should you write for your readers or the search engine?](//images.ctfassets.net/z8uwv83tofbw/3pFD1BLQWYYOCW9tdqnjWX/82aa5009c151cbe0d1a5ff2198f7d0b8/PICTURE_1_Should_you_write_for_your_readers_or_the_search_engine)

<a href="https://evernote.com/blog/capture-ideas-accomplish-more/" target="blank">source</a>

## Don’t forget to optimize for the search engine too

Yes, you should write for humans and Google bots are adapting more to measuring your article based on how reader-friendly it is. But this doesn’t translate to completely forgetting about keywords and other algorithm-attracting guidelines.

Google wants you to write content that answers people’s queries in-depth, which is often better achieved with longer content. It also appreciates if you use relevant and applicable keywords at the right places. Moreover, you get brownie points for adding internal and high-quality external links.

So, along with writing for your readers, also make sure you pay heed to the following SEO factors:

- __Content length__ – as per HubSpot’s latest data, your blog post should ideally be 2,100 to 2,400 words long. The length of your article can vary depending on whether you are writing a how-to guide or a listicle. <a href="https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/how-long-should-your-blog-posts-be-faq" target="blank">Here’s what HubSpot has to say</a> regarding the length of your blog post. 

- __Links__ – make your article more resourceful or evidence-based by adding outbound links to credible sources. Also, link internally to other relevant, informative blog posts you’ve written.

- __Focus keyword__ – use tools like <a href="https://www.semrush.com/" target="blank">SEMrush</a> or <a href="https://neilpatel.com/ubersuggest/" target="blank">Ubersuggest</a> to find your keywords and then <a href="https://nozzle.io/blog/where-to-add-keywords-in-your-content-to-improve-your-ranking" target="blank">place these keywords naturally</a> in your title, image tags, URL, and meta description. Keep in mind finding the right keywords isn’t easy. Consider using long-tail keywords too and ponder over a reader’s search intent before finalizing which keywords to include.

Take a look at how strategically the focus keyword has been used in this Visme blog post that also happens to be conversational and easy-to-read.

![Choosing the right infographic for your blog post](//images.ctfassets.net/z8uwv83tofbw/n1dAJeIRmKbFtTLRqxxWp/246035f2211ccc63008c4206952ad9f2/PICTURE_3_Should_you_write_for_your_readers_or_the_search_engine)

<a href="https://visme.co/blog/infographic-dimensions/" target="blank">source</a>

## Summing Up – user and Google friendly writing practices can go hand in hand

Once you get the hang of it, it won’t be challenging to create content that is pleasing to both your readers and search engines. If anything, Google wants you to write for your readers, which is why it insists you use keywords intelligently rather than forcefully.

The only reason Google favors long-form content is that people want more detailed solutions when they enter a query. You’re unlikely to be able to jam in all the value and information that cover a topic within just 250 words, isn’t it? It also wants you to add links for offering further value to readers – they should be able to dive deeper into a topic with just a click. In short, write for both your readers and the search engine. 


Choosing the right infographic for your blog post

Once you get the hang of it, it won’t be challenging to create content that is pleasing to both your readers and search engines. If anything, Google wants you to write for your readers, which is why it insists you use keywords intelligently rather than forcefully.

Important tips on how to write an SEO optimized blog post.

Should You Write For Your Readers Or The Search Engines?

How to write an SEO optimized blog post

<a href="https://nozzle.io/paa" target="blank">Click Here to generate your free PAA Report!</a>

All great marketers and content strategists know that your website needs to contain answers to every question your target audience is asking themselves. The first step is to collect all these questions. How do you do this?

By asking:
- Your sales people what questions they are constantly answering
- Your existing clients
- Your client fulfillment or customer service teams
- Your product managers

Or you could just ask Google. Well, you should still do all of the above but using Nozzle to extract questions from thousands of SERPs is the fastest way to generate a solid list.

A high percentage of SERPs contain a search feature called People Also Ask. When a PAA box is present, there will be four questions by default.

![People Also Ask Box - Questions to Answer In Your Website's Content](//images.ctfassets.net/z8uwv83tofbw/7HQvx9ik2F6okDSUCPZgk7/0d0ed5f1e54d8ddbfaf1b5eacb1d9fb9/People_also_ask_-_Michael_Jordan_is_the_greatest__1_.png)

Google increasingly does a great job at understanding the searcher's intent for every keyword.

<img src='//images.ctfassets.net/z8uwv83tofbw/3GskWGs821pNzVGxaRzpmI/40dfaf7db1002673cb6f011ff7662bbd/1.21_Gigawatts' style='float: left; margin: 1rem;' /><br><br>Google has a ton, and I mean A TON of data and 2 decades of a lot of very smart people working on algorithms to understand the searcher's intent for every query.

<br>

When Google serves up a People Also Ask box, it means those four questions are extremely relevant.

Imagine if you could extract all the questions for hundreds, or even thousands, of SERPs and sort them by most appearances across your huge keyword set.

<img src='//images.ctfassets.net/z8uwv83tofbw/QYtfZjdobB4nGZekkqLhd/a693ea1bcdcf9e6424f6421583219d02/Ignite_those_questions_on_your_website.gif' style='float: right; margin: 1rem;' /><br><br><br><br><br><br>Well then you'd have, what Alexander Hamilton would call, an extremely useful list of questions to answer within the content of your website.

<br><br><br><br><br><br><br>

Below is an image of a list of PAA questions that I extracted from a list of a hundred camping stove phrases. I then sent the data to Google Data Studio to organize in a nice, clean report.

<a href="https://datastudio.google.com/u/0/reporting/6a3202fc-6ec9-4a6c-a5a5-cef9ec3a7617/page/ytUbB" target="blank">Click here to peruse this Data Studio Template.</a>

![Unique Questions from PAA Search Features in Google Data Studio Template](//images.ctfassets.net/z8uwv83tofbw/6Ody1YWpLlq3kEHWMe2IC7/13c4949a144737ccc2c911b406d0a405/Unique_Questions_from_PAA_Search_Features_GDS_Template.png)

<a href="https://nozzle.io/paa" target="blank">Click Here to generate your free PAA Report!</a>

Unique Questions from PAA Search Features in Google Data Studio Template

Collect questions from People Also Ask boxes from as many SERPs as your content marketing heart desires.

How To Find All The Questions Your Target Audience Is Asking

Backlinks, love them, or hate them, are a critical component to doing search engine optimization.

While there are a variety of methods that have changed over the years as Google rolls out more algorithm updates based on feathered and furry animals or Sesame Street characters, one thing is for certain—backlinks still remain an integral part of how a website ranks.

## Creating High-Quality Backlinks
One of the most common questions for most people in digital marketing is "how to create quality backlinks."

Unfortunately, for a lot of marketers, this is where things start to get confusing. 

After all, how do you create “quality links?”

Here are a few things I’ll be discussing in this article:
- [Common link building pitfalls](#pitfalls)
- [Why entities matter when building links](#buildYourBrand)
- [Actionable link building](#actionableLinkBuilding)
- [Content juicing](#contentJuicing)
- [Leveraging automation](#leveragingAutomation)
- [Link continuity and UX](#walkingAMile)

<a name="pitfalls"></a>
## Backlink Pitfalls
Typically, there are a couple of common pitfalls when people build backlinks.

### Pitfall 1: Content Only Strategy
It’s true, content is king. However, content without links is a lot like having a car without any fuel. Sure, it looks nice and may get the attention of a few people—but how far can that really get you? 

Even with the most experienced wordsmith at the helm, content without links may be overtaken by sites that are seen as more authoritative and trusted. 

So how the heck does a site become more trusted? 
In spite of all the advancements Google has made in its algorithm, links still provide one of the clearest signals that a website can be trusted. The more links from quality sources can equate into traffic increases and additional authority within a particular market.

### Pitfall 2: Link Only Strategy
If you’re relying on links alone to rank your site it’s probably not going to happen. 

That’s not to say you can’t brute force a website up in search results, there are plenty of case studies showing how this can be done. However, using this method, will most likely not stick without a lot of additional effort. Additionally, you’re probably going to be penalized depending on how aggressively you’re seeking those links. This approach is commonly classified as a black hat tactic.

The problem is that many people in this camp tend to have horrible content (looking at you lazy spinner). It's blasé and uninspired. In order to get a link from someone, you must have content worth linking to.

The sad reality is that, without quality content, links alone won't get you very far. You must have something worth linking to if you want a link from a quality site. 

To be truly effective, you need *both* content and links.

## Build Your Brand

Before building links, I cannot underscore the importance of getting your on-page SEO dialed in.

Making sure your on-page SEO is correctly implemented will help ease the process of backlink building. In fact, you’ll need far fewer backlinks to rank well.This means you’ll need to spend some time on your titles, descriptions and headings, adjusting site architecture, improving internal linking, and structured data. 

As Google moves from the web of strings (search queries) to the web of things (relationships) working on your entity becomes increasingly more important. Similarly, an understanding of natural language processing (NLP) and semantic search can provide a competitive edge.

Brand building, or building links around a brand is a fundamental part of marketing. If done properly, it can weather the storm in spite of algorithm updates. Wouldn’t that be nice—"worryless SEO?"

<a name ="buildYourBrand"></a>
## Building Your Brand Using Entity-Based SEO

In case you’re not familiar with what entities are and how they relate to SEO, I’d recommend checking out this article on <a href="https://www.searchenginejournal.com/entity-seo/277231/" target="blank">Search Engine Journal.</a> Entities are defined as, “A thing or concept that is singular, unique, well-defined and distinguishable.”

To illustrate this in something less abstract, entities often trigger knowledge panel results or additional SERP features. Unfortunately, Google doesn’t always get this correct. In most cases, this is due to multiple results that may be unclear.

As a simple example, the word “cars” could mean a lot of things. By itself (without any kind of clarification) you could be talking about any of the following:
●	An automobile
●	The Disney-Pixar movie
●	The 1970’s new wave band (You’re just what I needed…🎶)

![cars-image-carousel](//images.ctfassets.net/z8uwv83tofbw/6qaYVk8xREa34y9gsGB9Zh/c1207d10db4bbfae91b9c7551236c665/cars-image-carousel.jpg)

However, when we provide additional context and add keywords to the page like, “1964 Shelby Cobra,” “muffler,” or “transmission system” it becomes quite clear that the keyword “cars” is clearly talking about an automobile.

![cars-disambiguation-image](//images.ctfassets.net/z8uwv83tofbw/14Z67XgL9HrKudpGCVa0mW/a4d901a4791c0561aece4eb190125580/cars-disambiguation-image.jpg)

Disambiguation can be a powerful thing when paired with the implementation of structured data markup.

## Brand-Based Link Building

<a href="https://www.link-assistant.com/news/entity-case-study.html" target="blank">Using entity-based SEO</a> can have a significant impact on brand visibility. When you get your entity right, it only takes a few links to provide a decent amount of “push.”

So how is this done? Connecting relationships between your brand and other keywords that are so strong, you’re seen as the definitive result.

Think about brands like Kleenex or Google. You’d never say, “I’m going to get a facial tissue”—you’d say please get me a Kleenex. This is because Kleenex has become synonymous with the brand. Some could even argue that they are THE brand and others are the generic version.

The same could be said about Google. We rarely say “I’m going to run a search query” on a particular topic. We say, “I’m going to Google that.”

While this is an overly simplified way to look at brand building, the concept should be quite clear. You want to be the definitive brand that represents the entity.

To start brand building, obviously consider all of the profiles that any business should have. These can provide additional signals that validate your entity:
- Google My Business (if a local business)
- Facebook
- Instagram
- Twitter
- Linkedin
- YouTube
- Yelp
- Pinterest
- Vimeo
- Foursquare
- Crunchbase

Branded properties help provide signals that can serve as a foundation for your link building efforts. Like our example of Kleenex and Google, we want to be ubiquitous. You don’t need to be active on each of the platforms, but claiming these profiles increases your brand’s footprint as well as prevents your competitors from hijacking your brand.

Next consider places in which you can start building brand signals. These could be places in which you share photos, whitepapers, resources, or news. You could also consider building citations as long as the site isn’t too spammy. 

To get you started, consider the following:
- Press release news rooms
- Whatsapp
- Tumblr
- Flickr
- Blogger
- Slideshare
- Issuu
- Medium
- Alignable
- Upcity
- Paper.li

When building these additional profiles, remember that you’re creating signals about your business. At this point, I’m not too concerned with follow vs nofollow links—it’s simply getting your name out there.

<a name="actionableLinkBuilding"></a>
## Actionable Link Building

Before embarking on a link building campaign, take a moment to develop your plan. Having a blueprint in place can help you identify potential pitfalls.

A blueprint can also serve as an anchor point that you can refer back to. I’ve found this to be invaluable, especially when you’re in the middle of a campaign and things get crazy.

Sometimes, you need that reference to keep the campaign focused and on-track.

The key questions to ask when creating your plan are:
1.	__What do you hope to accomplish with the campaign?__ This should follow SMART goal setting (specific, measurable, actionable, realistic, and time-based)
2.	__Who do you want a link from?__ Before starting a link building campaign, ask yourself who/where you want a link from‒this could be another website, social shares, public relations or brand recognition.
3.	__Is this time-sensitive or evergreen?__ I almost always opt for links to evergreen content, since they’re easier to obtain when content juicing.

<a name="contentJuicing"></a>
## Content Juicing

One of my favorite link building techniques is a repurposing technique I refer to as “content juicing.” 

This method leverages off-page branded assets that can pass link equity back to your primary property.

When you have a piece of content, think of the various ways that you could repurpose and leverage it on as many mediums as possible.

![content juicing diagram - link building technique](//images.ctfassets.net/z8uwv83tofbw/5xdwzVnEAZhG97TRTHkBzY/585678e78e81b0da6559e43b63950193/content-juicing-diagram.png)

As an example, you might consider the following:
1.	Create a vlog or video interview
2.	Cut the vlog into short clips for snippets or social posts
3.	Separate the audio from the video and create a podcast
4.	Convert the audio to text using a service like Rev
5.	Add additional content to the text as necessary and use as a blog
6.	Create an infographic, incorporate visuals, and create a video thumbnail
7.	Create additional resources for your blog (Google slides can work very well for this purpose)
8.	Before publishing the blog, use the previous assets you’ve created to allow users to read, listen, or watch your blog—whichever happens to be their preferred medium

The key component of content juicing is to provide multiple platforms in which a user can engage with your content. Additionally, a call to action should assist in driving traffic back to your website. Ideally, this would be in the form of a link or call to action.

When considering this method, it’s important to run your properties through a link tracer, such as wheregoes.com or Link Redirect Trace Extension, to make sure that you’re getting value from the links you’re building.

<div style="position: relative; padding-bottom: 56.25%; height: 0;"><iframe src="https://www.loom.com/embed/c3ff8981a4174699a621ccd18096089b" frameborder="0" webkitallowfullscreen mozallowfullscreen allowfullscreen style="position: absolute; top: 0; left: 0; width: 100%; height: 100%;"></iframe></div>

![link redirect trace Chrome Extension Example](//images.ctfassets.net/z8uwv83tofbw/3c8V1Ks0Jaqvf4GALNPePW/f888499256605459b980628bb04233b0/link-redirect-trace.png)

<a name="leveragingAutomation"></a>

## Leveraging Automation

This is more of a content syndication method, not necessarily a link-building strategy. Still, it can enhance your brand signals, which can have an effect on people linking to you.

It goes without saying, but consider the platform you’re publishing content to. Facebook users consume content in a different way than Instagram users. 

Also, it’s important to note there’s no substitute for personalized engagement. Using automation to schedule or promote your content can buy you a ton of time!

Whether you do this manually or through automated processes is irrelevant. The point is that you want to promote your content on several channels and create signals that point back to your primary entity. 

Another benefit of automation is that you can schedule many top-of-funnel activities, such as posting your content and focus on engagement. Imagine, spending 2-3 hours on developing the content for the entire month, then interacting with users—this allows you to spend more time cultivating meaningful relationships.

<a name="walkingAMile"></a>
## Walking A Mile In Your Customer’s Shoes

Be honest, when was the last time you did a top-to-bottom screenshot of your website or social media page and analyzed it. 

For that matter, when was the last time you’d evaluated the engagement of a page?

It doesn’t have to be a laborious process. I’m talking super-simple, knee-jerk analysis:
- Is there cohesiveness in the links and messaging?
- Does your content elicit a reaction from people? If so, what does that look like?
- Is your content and backlink strategy in-line with what other big players in your industry are doing?

Doing something this simple can uncover some opportunities.

Consider interlinking content together using traditional silos throughout your branded properties. This is one way to funnel authority to your primary pieces of content. It’s also a powerful link building method that you can control.

Also, just because you’ve promoted a piece of content once or twice, doesn’t mean you have to stop. Keep building links to your evergreen content on a monthly basis. This will help increase the relevancy and authority of not only the link, but also your entity.

### Conclusion

Link building doesn’t have to be difficult. By focusing on your entity, creating quality brand signals, repurposing content into multiple mediums, you can create quality links. 

Quit thinking of yourself as an SEO or link builder. Instead, think of yourself as a marketer and focus on places you can promote the brand. This can help uncover opportunities you may have previously overlooked.

Remember: create for humans, optimize for bots.


content juicing diagram - link building technique

Backlinks still remain an integral part of how a website ranks. Build your brand and your backlinks at the same time using the 'content juicing' method and more.

Backlinks, love them, or hate them, are a critical component to doing search engine optimization.

Building Backlinks Should Be Building Your Brand

Have you ever pondered the time disparity between how long it takes to build something versus destroy it?

For example:

- I spent dozens of hours over the course of five months putting together a 5,000 piece puzzle; it took only 2 minutes to destroy it and put it back into the box.
- A building takes months to construct and days to demolish.
- A great marriage takes years to nurture and develop but can be ruined in a matter of weeks, days, or even minutes.
- A wooden marble track I build with my kids takes minutes to construct but one accidental movement knocks it down in seconds.

The same fast-acting destruction can happen to all of your hard work and efforts in SEO. It takes weeks, months, and years to build up a well optimized site with tons of authority and backlinks and buttoned up technical SEO. In a matter of minutes, it can all be destroyed because of a simple mistake, oversight, or decision made by the upper brass.

Let's take a look at five destructive SEO tactics--er--mishaps that can ruin all your SEO progress before you finish reading this post.

## 1. Noindexing your whole site

![car crashing into garage door is like noindexing your website](//images.ctfassets.net/z8uwv83tofbw/3CEjn5gIFrO1Lna0DYpMao/0a90efcf44da1694285bd4e8ee904bd2/car_crashing_into_garage_door_is_like_noindexing_your_website.gif)

I've seen this happen several times over the years, mostly by accident.

One website I worked on a few years back launched some site updates with their robots.txt file disallowing their whole site. This company lost weeks of organic traffic before anyone realized this huge oversight. Unfortunately, this happened twice.

It makes sense to have your staging site disallow search engine indexing but you need to have a process in place to change that when you launch. Since this time, they have added an automated process that corrects the robots.txt file when moving from staging to launched.

## 2. Deleting all of your informational pages

![shooting a pole at a window pane is like deleting all of your informational and authoritative web pages](//images.ctfassets.net/z8uwv83tofbw/2qxfOayNOxVc4Ytv6LkM8X/e5c8a1ad426d0d07106a4adac23f9bfb/shooting_a_pole_at_a_window_pane_is_like_deleting_all_of_your_informational_and_authoritative_web_pages.gif)

Rankings and organic traffic can suffer as a result of business decisions. Eoghan Henn, co founder of <a href="https://www.searchviu.com/en/" target="blank">searchVIU</a>, shared a case study that showed the <a href="https://searchengineland.com/case-study-the-true-value-of-informational-content-for-e-commerce-seo-327692" target="blank">negative impact of deleting informational pages with link authority</a> from a website.

The homepage and category pages lost most of their top rankings for search queries responsible for generating revenue for the company resulting in a loss of about one-third of its overall visibility in the SERPs. Ouch! 

## 3. Failing to redirect an old domain to a new domain

![knocking down shelfs with a forklift is like not implementing 301 redirects properly](//images.ctfassets.net/z8uwv83tofbw/PWv0RVJUaC8A4qJJdb5oe/3d5942acf73dd3e91d514c2c411e01c0/knocking_down_shelfs_with_a_forklift_is_like_not_implementing_301_redirects_properly.gif)

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">A disappointing few months on this one...client moving domains wouldn&#39;t redirect the previous domain. Even worse, they then let the old domain expire &amp; it&#39;s been grabbed by someone else. We gave them *plenty* of warnings...it had 1 million links pointing to it 😱 <a href="https://t.co/Zbd0hC44W2">pic.twitter.com/Zbd0hC44W2</a></p>&mdash; Will O&#39;Hara 👨🏽‍💻 (@willohara) <a href="https://twitter.com/willohara/status/1132750204661305351?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 26, 2019</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

This has to be one of the saddest SEO stories out there. Unfortunately, it happens way more than it should.

Here's another example from the same twitter thread. As you can see, we SEOs like to commiserate with each other.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Been there. Site&#39;s blog had 800k links, 10k pages of content, and back when we measured those things? A PR10. <br><br>They moved it to Tumblr, carried over none of content, and redirected none of the pages. <br><br>I nearly cried lol<br><br>So hard to save clients from themselves at times :)</p>&mdash; Kristine Schachinger (@schachin) <a href="https://twitter.com/schachin/status/1132952136730308608?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 27, 2019</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>


## 4. Removing a large quantity of valuable backlinks

![exploding a watermelon with rubberbands is like deleting your backlinks one by one](//images.ctfassets.net/z8uwv83tofbw/5FUWKi8EPbH76qBlTVXARV/ec96b5e5d586b0226393d63b70b191fc/exploding_a_watermelon_with_rubberbands_is_like_deleting_your_backlinks_one_by_one.gif)

One healthcare company, after an FDA inspection, decided to immediately ask hundreds of websites to remove the link pointing to their website until approved content could be verified.  As a result, a large quantity of their links disappeared over night.

Eventually, most of those links were reacquired once they could verify that all verbiage on each individual site was compliant with the FDA's approved messaging.

## 5. Not adding optimized content to every important page

![house falling into a river is like ignoring adding optimized content to your web pages](//images.ctfassets.net/z8uwv83tofbw/7LfeTRdr7tSLSLCMQPCwL2/f0dffbbf4ac70eecc3d23b798371cba9/house_falling_into_a_river_is_like_ignoring_adding_optimized_content_to_your_web_pages.gif)

Every important page on a website will fare better with optimized content. Choosing to not add more content to important pages can hurt your ability to rank for more keywords.

I recently wrote about the <a href="https://nozzle.io/blog/success-story-adding-content-to-ecommerce-category-pages" target="blank">results of one ecommerce site</a> that added a few paragraphs of content to all their ecommerce category landing pages. After it was all done, they ranked in the top ten for 800 more phrases than before they added the content.

__In Conclusion:__

Sometimes frustrating decisions are made that affect your job as an SEO. Do your best to communicate to the decision makers the ranking and organic traffic consequences and what that will mean to the bottom line. You can't win them all but you can come out looking like you know what you're talking about.

In the end, if you can avoid any of the above SEO disasters, then give yourself a pat on the back.


car crashing into garage door is like noindexing your website

In business, decisions sometimes are made that will impede or destroy all of your SEO progress. Look out for these and good luck.

Blog - Content Marketing