
If you were to ask an SEO what the hardest part of their job is - most would reply: link building. It’s one of those tasks that, whilst being super-important in order to get good rankings on Google, it involves a whole range of skills that don’t quite align with many of the more technical skills most SEO’s will have. 

Whilst I've been working as an <a href="https://matttutt.me/" target="blank">independent SEO consultant</a> for nearly 10 years, link building is one of those tasks I really love, but almost requires me to activate another part of my brain. It requires creativity, research, optimism, enthusiasm, anticipation, and a whole range of other emotions, patience being a massive part of the process too.

And as most decent SEO's out there will tell you links are extremely important if you want your website to be found on Google, it's probably a surprise that there aren't more SEO's offering link building as part of their own remit. 

To add to this, lots of businesses fall into the trap of thinking that you can outsource link building without any further thought, and that it’s just another task to tick off the marketing to-do list. 

In this article we want to explain the dangers of doing this, and the ways in which you can at least consider outsourcing your backlink building without it coming back to bite you on your backside. 

## Why outsource link building in the first place?

In simple terms it's no different to hiring a specialist to do a job for you - if you can find a genuine agency or consultant that specialises in building links, generating brand exposure, improving your digital PR, or however else you want to define it, it seems like a win-win situation. You get the expertise and skills of the service provider, who in turn will help you to get those links you need to boost your organic rankings and traffic, whilst the service provider gets paid handsomely for their role in the process. 

If you own a small business that doesn't have access to SEO specialists that offer link building services then it's natural you might start to look for businesses that do offer link building services. It might be that an SEO consultant has advised you following a link audit that you need better coverage online to boost your organic rankings, so you end up beginning that search for those elusive link builders.
In typical SEO consultant style, whilst they might be very happy to tell you about your link problem, not many SEO’s are actually willing to get down into the nitty-gritty and help you to solve that link problem (cough, apart from myself, cough).

## How to find genuine, good link builders online

If you do start looking around online for people or agencies that offer link building then you need to be super careful about who you pick to work with. So much money gets wasted on this area of SEO and you wouldn't want the same to happen to you. Here are a few things you should look for when finding good quality link builders online:

# 1 - Do they have any good references?

This is a common one but if you're beginning your search from scratch then perhaps you have no references available. Double check by asking around in your network to see if someone can recommend a good link builder or agency that specialises in helping to build brands online. Try to find someone that has worked with a connection of yours and has had good results. Don't blindly believe any unsolicited recommendations or (even-worse!) fall for any of those spam emails that everyone seems to get on a nearly daily basis offering link building/selling links (or is it just me that gets those?).

# 2 - What results have they achieved for other businesses?

Don't allow yourself to be blinded by the promise of a link placed on the likes of the BBC.com or TheGuardian.com. Whilst those might be huge publications which carry a lot of authority, ultimately you want to find a service provider that will put your link in front of your intended target audience - not going after broad coverage just for the sake of it. Whilst sometimes that might still be classed as a great link, many times it’s best to go more specific. It's usually better to get a link from a site that might result in actual sales or enquiries for your business vs a link that only generates "impressions" or page views, unless that is the actual goal of the business that has hired you. 

Ideally you want to get links that bring referral traffic - where people are actually clicking it to visit your page as it's of real interest to them. No links just for the sake of them.
Any agency or link builder worth their salt will understand this and should be communicating it clearly on their website, with regard to the results they've achieved for past clients. That might include metrics like:

- Links placed (total count)
- Links placed by website type
- Links placed by website category
- Traffic generated by links obtained
- Transactions completed from links obtained

# 3 - What does their onboarding process look like?

This might be an odd question to ask before you've started to work with them but it's a good one to get a nice feel for how the relationship may progress, and whether or not it will be a valuable experience or not. For me, before even thinking of helping a client to acquire links, I need to sit down with them and go through a bit of a “business-data-download”. I need to understand how their business works, the types of clients they target, how clients sign up with them. In general, anything that might help me to understand them better at the initial stage of the relationship. This is especially true if it's a business that operates in an industry I've not worked in before. Ultimately with this data I can probably begin to pick up ideas as to the types of coverage that might be worthwhile for them. 

If a link builder says there's no such onboarding process, and that all they need is your website address and the funds to get started, then to me there would be loud alarm bells ringing. It sounds like they're just going to be winging it and not actively putting in the extra effort I feel is required to get good lasting results in the current market. 

# 4 - What kind of campaigns have they run previously?

This relates to point #2 above but in this case we'd specifically be asking to see examples of the campaigns that had been run for past clients. That might involve sharing the pages in which links were obtained for the client, so you can see the manner in which the link was placed and to better understand the context. A popular form of link building is that of data based research, which later gets pitched to relevant journalists and industry publications. This is a good practice, as it might help you to pick up on whether the link builder in question will be doing what I'd call long-term link building vs shortcut link building. 

An example of a shortcut link might be someone simply spamming the comments section of a blog with links to your site (a terrible idea and something you shouldn't ever be paying for!), or they might be paying a blog to insert an article that talks about your business and includes a link back to your site. That's likely another terrible idea as the site in question is selling links, something that is officially against Google's webmaster guidelines and could result in your site getting penalised in the search results. When you find a site that sells links in this way they're likely doing it at quite some scale and will inevitably get caught out by Google at some point down the line.

With this question you're looking to see the effort that has gone into running these campaigns. Lots of effort = good, it's probably a safe, evergreen link method with little or no risk to your business. Low effort = bad, it might be something that either has no benefit to your website or could result in some kind of penalty from Google (aka not worth the risk).

# 5 - Have they worked with clients in your industry before - and do they currently?

There can be a conflict of interest if you begin to work with an agency or link builder that is already working with a rival company of yours. If they are happy to accept you whilst working with that client then it might not be the sign of a very ethical agency or one with your best interests at heart. 

Asking to hear how they've worked with a client in your industry in the past can be a great way to learn about the results they've obtained and to hear about those publications where they might have landed previous coverage. You'd probably know first-hand whether those publications are the kinds that your target customer or demographic reads, which really is going to be key to a successful link building campaign.  

# 6 - How do they decide upon the keywords to be tracking during the campaign?

This is where there might be some overlap with the SEO consultant or agency that you’re working with currently. You’d want to be in agreement as to the keywords you feel are important for your business, those you’ve decided that you should be ranking higher for on Google. 

Some businesses might know these weak spots and want to improve them, but many will want the opinion of an SEO expert who can, after careful keyword research, determine those that are relevant to your business and which have a healthy search volume associated with them.

Once you have decided upon those keywords you’d need to ensure someone is tracking the rankings for them - which is where a rank tracker like Nozzle comes into play. It’s important to ask the link builder about how (or if) they plan on making use of these keywords in their efforts, and as to whether they’d be tracking these ranking improvements on their side or not. 

Most decent link building providers will include reports that will highlight any ranking improvements since their campaigns were launched. Otherwise ultimately you might find yourself asking what the point of building links is, if not to improve your organic rankings.

## In summary - should my business outsource its link building?

I personally dislike the idea of outsourcing anything. It gives the idea of selling something short, just getting it off your plate for the sake of it. If I heard a business I worked with was outsourcing their link building efforts, I’d be worried what the impact would be.
Whilst it’s true that Google claim that they’re able to ignore the majority of “bad links” that get placed on the web (which if you think about it, would make negative SEO such a huge problem if it wasn’t true), you do still see and hear of stories where link building has clearly gone wrong. 

I do think there is a place for hiring a good digital PR consultant, or a great link builder specialist. I think there are some brilliant people - and agencies - out there for those looking to get some great links placed (if you had to put me on the spot I’d tell you that <a href="https://neomam.com/" target="blank">NeoMam</a> are one of the leaders in terms of building great, linkable content as well as doing things the <a href="https://neomam.com/about" target="blank">right way</a>) but for the most part you do have to be extremely careful when it comes to outsourcing your link building efforts completely. 

What about you - are there other factors that should be taken into consideration when outsourcing link building? Maybe you’ve outsourced your own and have some stories to share? Feel free to drop a comment below!


link building2

6 factors to consider when trying to find genuine, good link builders online.


6 Factors that Companies Need to Consider when Thinking About Outsourcing Link Building

6 Factors to Outsourcing Link Building

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, helping your clients to rank well in Google Maps is 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.

## 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

If you want to rank higher in search engines, you need a stronger domain authority. And to get a stronger domain authority, you need stronger links pointing back to your website. But of course nothing in SEO is straightforward; if you just start building links indiscriminately, you could end up <a href="https://nozzle.io/blog/mistakes-in-seo-that-can-lead-to-google-ranking-drop" target="blank">getting your site penalized</a> or delisted entirely.

Accordingly, it's vital to maintain a natural backlink profile. But newcomers and experienced professionals alike often find it difficult to figure out exactly what a “natural” backlink profile looks like. That's why we put together this list of simple rules which, if followed, should allow you to build a near perfect backlink profile for SEO.

*Why Is a Natural Backlink Profile So Important?*

*Why is it so important that your backlink profile appears natural?*

![backlink profile](//images.ctfassets.net/z8uwv83tofbw/5wScRwo88c86245OaeHkzX/a87886c5adab1b8a19c378db81ce3945/backlink_profile.png)

The most obvious answer is that you'll protect your site from possible penalties. Maintaining natural links is a way of keeping Google happy with your website, incentivizing them to rank your site higher and discouraging negative actions. 

But it's also important to remember that natural links are valuable for users as well. Visitors who stumble upon your site for the first time after encountering an interesting, valuable link will be much happier with your brand than people who see you spamming links on irrelevant sources.

## Simple Rules to Follow

So what are the simple rules you can follow to keep your backlink profile as natural as possible?

### 1. Start slow. 
![start slow](//images.ctfassets.net/z8uwv83tofbw/3C3nQPo8GHmsa0EklGMWwa/5460773dbf5d5abf9280aaec907c15f9/start_slow.png)
Too many newcomers to the field are eager to build links as quickly and as aggressively as possible. While it's somewhat true that more links are better, <a href="https://seo.co/link-building/plan/" target="blank">if you build links too quickly or too aggressively</a>, you're going to invite a penalty. 

It's much better to start slow and gradually scale up your efforts; build links one at a time and don't build too many links in a given time period. While the exact formula for the number of links allowed will depend on factors like the age of your domain and the industry in which you're operating, for the most part, a common sense approach will work.

### 2. Make content your top priority. 
![quality content](//images.ctfassets.net/z8uwv83tofbw/6DlRyrREDi53Z6w6ZA9Ysm/74d4ac578e666e3458c6322f2acb1c96/quality_content.png)
Natural links are entirely dependent on high-quality content. Your links should be pointing to high-quality content and should be housed in high-quality content. In fact, guest author posts on external websites are the top strategy for building natural links in SEO. As long as the quality of your content is the top priority, you'll have a much easier time making your links look natural.

### 3. Build a maximum of three links on a given source (to start). 
![link building](//images.ctfassets.net/z8uwv83tofbw/4MZwhjbz5BmaPCQiy3mYdx/e0d1981085501109b7eec6c3fe6d7d1c/linkbuilding.png)
Try not to build too many links on the same source. Repetitive or additional links on the same source are going to have diminishing returns for your domain authority; each link after the first will still send referral traffic your way, but will be significantly less valuable for ranking purposes. It's much better if you try to build links on a wide variety of different publishers.

### 4. Make sure every link points to quality content. 
![write quality content](//images.ctfassets.net/z8uwv83tofbw/6ReOrbW7paPOiuL1iJjSqC/fcd7e2c3038a672218df214045ec5126/write_quality_content.png)
In line with our points on quality, make sure every link you build points to some valuable piece of content on your main site. Visitors should be welcomed with relevant, well written, and detailed content. Otherwise, your entire strategy could fall apart.

### 5. Write for the publisher and the audience. 
![write for audience](//images.ctfassets.net/z8uwv83tofbw/cJ2yOaZz5s61VG5PZmxR2/98d171a1a4b09d0726f064d33c7aa6c0/write_for_audience.png)
When writing and publishing guest posts, make your top priority the publisher and/or the audience. Your link and the content that houses it should provide something of value to these people; if it doesn't, it may be better to seek a different source.

### 6. House every link in relevant anchor text. 

Anchor text is <a href="https://moz.com/learn/seo/anchor-text" target="blank">something of a debatable issue</a> in the SEO community, but one thing is for sure: your anchor text needs to be relevant. If you stuff it with keywords trying to aggressively get clicks, the link is not going to work.

### 7. Continue pushing for more (gradually). 
![collaborate](//images.ctfassets.net/z8uwv83tofbw/2Qm5SY0CaKw7VknRuXsyOe/b6abdda7752fef380b4adedc1af95f38/collaborate.png)
If you want to keep climbing ranks, you'll need to keep pushing your backlink building strategy, reaching out to new publishers and building a larger volume of links. Keep pushing for more if you want to continue your growth – just don't get too aggressive.

### 8. Practice natural link earning.
![natural links](//images.ctfassets.net/z8uwv83tofbw/5ekMKlxJA19rXemL8QqQgJ/b5c2eb110e6bafc14dd4ebbe752cd9cc/natural_links.png)
Building links manually is a reliable way to keep your link momentum, but it's also a good idea to practice natural link earning. Write amazing on-site content and make an effort to distribute it to as many people as possible; if you have citable facts and statistics, people will link to you naturally.

### In Conclusion

Whether you're just starting out or are trying to push for a top spot yourself after years of effort, it's important to take your backlink profile seriously. With these rules and strategies, you should have no trouble keeping your backlink profile clean and maximizing your search engine rankings.


Nate Nead

quality backlinks

Build a near perfect backlink profile for SEO.

8 Rules to Follow to Guarantee a Natural Backlink Profile

Ranking higher in the search results is the goal of every content marketer and blogger. That’s because over <a href="https://www.smartinsights.com/search-engine-optimisation-seo/seo-analytics/comparison-of-google-clickthrough-rates-by-position/" target="blank">62% of the available clicks</a> on Page #1 go to the top three positions in the search results.

But how do you rank higher in the search results?

That’s what you’ll discover in this article: seven tips for ranking higher in the SERPs.

# #1 - Optimize your meta tags

Every time you publish a new blog post or article, you should optimize the meta tags. Meta tags tell the search engines what your article is about.
There are only two meta tags you need to focus on: the title tag and the meta description
![optimize your meta tags](//images.ctfassets.net/z8uwv83tofbw/2UlKjdbq2zwruWczqZjdKK/b555e8a2e29811a1d469612102df3d5e/optimize_your_meta_tags.png)

## Title tag

Often called the SEO title, the title tag is the title of your article as it appears in the search results. It’s the first thing a searcher looks at when they see your SERP snippet in the search results.

Your title tag should contain your keyword and a benefit. What will the reader get from reading your article?

If you can, try to also include in your title tag:

- A number
- A power word
- A positive or negative sentiment

Numbers are easier to relate to than words. They tell the reader this is a listicle that can be skimmed and easily digested.

Power words are words that trigger an emotional response. Examples are:

- Discover
- Extraordinary
- Latest
- Unforgettable
- Irresistible
- Awe-Inspiring
- Shocking
- Step-by-Step
- Surprising

Here is a list of <a href="https://sumo.com/stories/power-words" target="blank">over 400 power words</a>.

Try to avoid title tags that are neutral in sentiment. People are either trying to get something or avoid something, so titles that have a positive or negative sentiment get more clicks.

Here are some examples:

- 5 Things You Should __Never Do__ When Selling a House (negative sentiment)
- 7 Tips For __Getting More__ Followers on Twitter (positive sentiment)

## Meta description

The other tag you need to optimize is the meta description. This is the 3 to 4 lines of text that appear in your SERP snippet, beneath the title tag. Your meta description should include:

- Your keyword
- A benefit from reading the article
- A Call To Action (CTA) (e.g. “Discover how to…”)

# #2 - Understand the search intent of the keyword phrase

To rank on Page #1 of the search results, you need to understand the search intent behind the keyword.  Search intent, also known as user intent and keyword intent, is a person’s purpose when they type a search query into a search engine. What is it they were looking for when they typed in that query?

I once did some keyword research and found a keyword with good monthly search volume and low competition. The keyword was ‘best free serp checker’. I decided I would write a blog post about ‘best free serp checkers’.

But then I typed that keyword into Google and what I found made me change my mind. Every single result on Page #1 of Google for that search query was an application or a piece of software for checking SERP results.

That was the search intent behind that keyword. People who typed that keyword into Google were not looking for an article comparing SERP checkers. They were looking for the software itself.

There are three main kinds of search intent:

__*Informational search*__

These are queries where the searcher is looking for information. An example would be ‘How many grams in an ounce’ or ‘what is a dslr camera’ or ‘lcd tv vs led tv’.

__*Commercial search*__

These are queries where the searcher is looking to buy a product or a service. Examples of commercial searches would be ‘best dslr cameras’, or ‘best lcd tvs’, or ‘flights to Rome’.

__*Transactional search*__

Transactional queries are ones where the searcher has gathered all the information they need and is ready to buy. Examples of transactional queries would be ‘dslr cameras under $1000’ or ‘lcd tvs under $2000’ or ‘cheapest flights to Rome’.

When you look at the search results for your chosen keyword, take note of what kind of results are showing up in the SERPs. Are they informational, commercial, or transactional? Your web page will need to match the type of search result that Google is showing for that keyword.

# #3 - Study the top 5 search results

A lot of people don’t realize that the secret to ranking on Page #1 of Google is staring you in the face. The top 5 results on Google for any given keyword contain all the clues you need.

That’s why you should closely examine the top-ranking pages for your chosen keyword.

Look at the type of articles that are ranking in the top results. Are they listicles, definitive guides, ‘how-to’ articles, or definitional articles?
If the top five articles for your keyword are listicles, then your article should be a listicle as well. Because that’s the kind of content that Google wants to show for that keyword.

Also, look at the word count of the top five articles. If they all have 2000 to 3000 words, then your article will have to be in that range as well. But if they are all 500 to 1000 words, then that’s the range you should aim for. I’ve sometimes gone up two or three positions in the search results simply by deleting 1000 words.

But the most important thing to do when you study the top five search results is to take note of the topics and subtopics that those articles cover. Your article will need to cover the same topics and subtopics. Ideally, your article should cover more topics and subtopics associated with that keyword than any other article on Page #1 of the search results.

To get an overall picture of the topics covered, copy and paste the headings and subheadings from the top 5 search results into a Google docs file. Sort them into categories and eliminate duplicates. Then make sure that your article covers all of those topics and subtopics.

You can add topics and subtopics to your article by looking at the ‘People Also Ask’ section and the ‘Related Searches’ section.

![people also ask](//images.ctfassets.net/z8uwv83tofbw/5535blCD03ebiBaLfcd5iS/7df75224853e73026d3371a1cf868bf8/people_also_ask.png)
![search results](//images.ctfassets.net/z8uwv83tofbw/69auwEeMwz0uorUF9jHQ0b/f2f9efb7b5563e2cad17d595d8c5d07d/search_results.png)

# #4 - Write powerful introductions

The Google algorithm records how long people stay on your page. The longer they stay, the more likely it is that your page answered their query. But if they click away within a few seconds, that tells Google that your page wasn’t a good match for the search query.

And that’s why a strong introduction is one of the keys to ranking well on Google. One of the most effective formulas for writing introductions is PAS:

- Pain
- Agitate
- Solve

Show the reader you understand their problem. Then paint a vivid picture of why it’s a problem. And finally, tell the reader there’s a solution and that’s what your article is about.

Here’s an example from <a href="https://backlinko.com/how-to-get-backlinks" target="blank">an article by Brian Dean</a>:

![write powerful introductions](//images.ctfassets.net/z8uwv83tofbw/1hxhuaJqNXw7cPcqHj2VOB/d7dbda5ca31cf1ec8d003cfd24b39e9a/write_powerful_introductions.png)

# #5 - Use transitional phrases

Transitional phrases are the lubricant that keeps your readers moving down the page. Transitions are a way of moving from one topic to the next. They are like signposts guiding the reader through your article.

But transitional phrases do much more than that.

They can also make your article conversational. They can give the reader a sense that you are having a one-to-one chat with them. And that’s the secret to reader engagement. 

Here are some examples:

- I think you’ll agree with me when I say…
- Here’s why that’s important…
- You won’t believe what we discovered…
- But there’s a catch…
- Fortunately, there’s a simple solution…

These phrases build a relationship with the reader. They make the reader feel that you understand them.

When the reader feels that you understand them, they’ll stay with you right to the end of the article. And that’s going to increase your ‘time on page’ (aka ‘dwell time’) which will improve your rankings.

You can read more about how to use transitional phrases in my SmartBlogger article: 

<a href="https://smartblogger.com/transitional-phrases/" target="blank">How to Use Transitional Words & Phrases to Make Your Writing Flow (with Examples)</a>

# #6 - Get your website to score high for core web vitals (CWV)

In 2020 Google announced three new page experience signals which affect how well a page will rank in the search results:

- LCP (Largest Contentful Paint)
- FID (First Input Delay)
- CLS (Cumulative Layout Shift)

These core web vitals are mainly about speed but they also deal with other aspects of user experience. For example, cumulative layout shift is the unexpected shifting of webpage elements while the page is still loading. This happens when content changes dimensions while the page is loading. A common cause of CLS is unspecified image dimensions. When the dimensions of an image have not been set, the space allocated to an image will change as the text in the page loads. 

You can check your website’s core web vitals in Google Search Console:

![google search console](//images.ctfassets.net/z8uwv83tofbw/4J7RYRyOZmxbRRZ7BsZQaO/1d43d02c17297248bfd80ca1dbddaf98/google_search_console.png)

You can also get a CWV report on individual pages using <a href="https://pagespeed.web.dev/" target="blank">Google’s Page Speed Insights</a> tool:

![page speed insights](//images.ctfassets.net/z8uwv83tofbw/92z3aEbhu9TmcBvBFUPBN/482f48c900913b59c94f833da1c05584/page_speed_insights.png)

Core Web Vitals are mostly about speed - how fast your web page loads.
The best ways to improve your core web vitals are:

1. Change to a web host that has a faster server response time
2. Install a caching and speed optimization plugin such as <a href="https://wp-rocket.me/" target="blank">WP Rocket</a> or <a href="https://wordpress.org/plugins/w3-total-cache/" target="blank">W3 Total Cache</a>
3. Optimize your images by making sure that they are not larger than they need to be (e.g. displaying an image 3000 pixels wide in a space that is only 850 pixels wide)
4. Use an image optimizer such as <a href="https://shortpixel.com/" target="blank">Short Pixel</a> or <a href="https://wpmudev.com/project/wp-smush-pro/" target="blank">Smush</a> to compress the images on your website.
5. Use a content delivery network (CDN) to deliver static web page resources such as image videos, images, Javascript, and CSS.

# #7 - Build Backlinks

Backlinks from relevant sites in your niche are <a href="https://ahrefs.com/blog/google-ranking-factors/" target="blank">arguably the most most important ranking factor</a>.

Here are three ways to build backlinks safely.

__*Contribute to HARO*__

HARO or Help A Reporter Out is a service that links journalists with sources. Journalists are frequently racing to meet deadlines and they often need quotes to use in their articles at very short notice.

When you register at HARO as a source, you can respond to journalists’ queries and get linked to from their major websites with high DA or domain authority.
What sets HARO apart from other link-building strategies is that the queries come to you. Instead of cold pitching people who are probably not interested in hearing from you, these link-building opportunities come knocking on your door. Three times a day you’ll receive an email from HARO with queries that you can answer. 

For more information on this, see my article <a href="https://robpowellbizblog.com/how-to-use-haro/" target="blank">How To Use HARO for Link Building</a>.

__*Publish Roundup Posts*__

People love seeing their name in a list of experts and they love sharing it with other people. And that’s why expert roundups are a good way of building backlinks. 

Reach out to 25 - 50 experts in your niche and ask them for a tip on a particular topic. When your article is live, send them a link and you’ll find that 20% to 30% will either share it on social media or link to it from their ‘About’ page.

__*Publish Top List Posts*__

Top list posts are articles that list the top experts or websites in a particular field. Here are some examples:

- 30 Top Marketers on Twitter
- 25 Top WordPress Blogs
- 35 Top Copywriters on Instagram

Once your article is live, send each featured expert or website a link to your article. You’ll find that a good proportion will link to it on their website as ‘social proof’.

### Conclusion
The search engine results or SERPs are hotly contested territory: the competition is intense. But these seven techniques will give you an edge over your competitors and help push your pages higher up the search results.
Even if you only implement two or three of these techniques, you will eventually see your rankings improve.


rank higher

Seven tips for ranking higher in the SERPs

7 Tips for Ranking Higher in the Search Results

# Our Experience with HARO as a Source

<a href="https://www.helpareporter.com/" target="blank">Help A Reporter Out</a>, or HARO, as it is affectionately called by its users, is a go-to link-building tool for SEOs all over the US. With a wealth of opportunities to acquire links from both respectable domains and smaller sites, HARO seems like the perfect channel for growing and maintaining a balanced link portfolio.

![HARO](//images.ctfassets.net/z8uwv83tofbw/3gRPep5EgVMVoKfUDuIyPw/77f4efa42d90788c50c225efa7a092e4/HARO.png)

But in practice, it’s not so easy. HARO requests ask for quotes or contributions to articles in exchange for credit and often a link. What about those times when there’s nothing you can answer, either because there are no requests in your industry or all relevant requests require qualifications you don’t have? And when you can answer requests, will you even get a link? And what kind of link? Considering all the variables makes you wonder: is the time you spend scrolling through your HARO email and writing responses even worth it?

We decided to test out how profitable HARO was for us. Making HARO a moderate to high priority, we gathered data on our experience, which you can read about below. We hope this article will give you an idea of where HARO should rank in your list of priorities.

### In case you're short on time, here’s our conclusion up front:

HARO isn’t perfect, but what is? It is still a valuable tool for link building, and links from HARO comprise a noticeable percentage of our total acquired links (almost 20%).

### Want the details? Here’s our experience:

Over the course of __3 months__, we regularly replied to HARO requests in our industry. During those 3 months we found __111 applicable requests__: requests that our team had the qualifications, background, and ability to answer.

With a team composed of marketing, data, and development experts, most (78) of the applicable HARO requests happened to be in the Business and Finance category. We noted 14 in General, 14 in High Tech, and 5 in various other categories.

Giving HARO moderate- to high-priority status among our daily tasks, we ended up __responding to 68 requests__. That’s __61%__ of the total answerable requests.

We acquired __12 links__ from our efforts. That’s an __18% success rate__.

__More about our acquired links:__
- 11 of those links were followed, 1 was no-followed. 
- All of our links included our brand name in the Anchor Text. 
- Most (8) of the links we got were in Business and Finance, 3 were in General, 1 in High Tech.
- The time between submitting and acquiring a link was variable and depended on the outlet. The shortest time that passed was 1 day, and the longest was 82 days.

Links acquired through HARO make up almost __20%__ of our total acquired links.

# Our Experience with HARO as a Journalist

We’ve used HARO as a journalist a handful of times. It’s great when you need quotes or even just ideas for an article or blog post. It’s a win-win situation—you get content, and your contributors get links and credit. All you have to do is submit a query requesting contributions, specify your requirements, filter through the responses you receive, and give your final contributors credit and links.

__What kinds of posts is HARO best for?__
- __Expert Roundups:__ Ask the HARO community about a topic in your field. Compile insightful quotes from qualified responders into a relevant blog post.
- __Polls:__ HARO is useful to get a feel for a wide variety of opinions about a topic from people in your industry, although social media may be a better option for polls.
- __Any post where you need an expert opinion or want to add credibility:__ HARO can be used when you aren’t qualified to answer a question that needs answering. You can draw from the expertise of others in your industry. Their qualifications will add credibility to your article.

__We prefer pitches that:__
- __Actually answer the question:__ We asked what we asked for a reason.
- __Aren’t self-promotional:__ Our goal is to create useful content for our target audience, not to advertise for our contributors.
- __Provide relevant examples:__ If we already have an idea of what we want to say in our article, we love examples because they connect with our audience and help flesh out our content.
- __Use clear, grammatically correct language:__ Editing pitches takes time, and time is valuable; we'd rather spend it elsewhere. Vague language does no one any good in the business world.
- __Are catchy and quotable:__ Unless we're looking to feature a few lengthy pitches, we favor concise pitches that say a lot in few words. Think bite-sized advice that carries its own authority and personality.
- __Provide real value:__ We want to provide real value to our audience and to get them to come back for more, and we follow the same standard with our HARO pitches. Cut the fluff and everyone's happier.

We always give our contributors do-follow links.

### The Process

We submitted queries 4-5 days before the deadline we needed the pitches by. Our queries were __approved 1-2 days after submission__.

We were surprised at the number of replies we received for each query. The number of replies we received ranged roughly from __30 to 90__, depending on how broad our query topic was.

Some people on our team favored earlier response submissions because by the time we got around to the later submissions, we were exhausted.

At first, we tried sifting through all the responses by email, copying them onto a spreadsheet, then further narrowing down our selections from there. This was very inefficient, so we ended up asking our responders to fill out a Google Form, which sent the pitches straight to a spreadsheet. Still, filtering through HARO replies is a long and sometimes tedious task.

__Additional stats on the responses we received:__
- Average Percentage of Usable Responses: 87%
- Average Percentage of Usable Responses Used: 71% 

Not only do you get content when you use HARO as a journalist. You can also get links from it if you put in the effort to compile useful content. For example, we got a link from Forbes to a post we wrote using HARO as a journalist. This was an unsolicited surprise and a good example of how a little can go a long way. Check it out <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbesagencycouncil/2021/09/22/how-to-drive-traffic-with-low-hanging-keywords/?sh=321cbbc51ec7" target="blank">here</a> (our link's anchor text = "survey").

HARO is a very useful tool to use as a journalist, even if the process can be tedious. We highly recommend it.

Hopefully our experience with HARO as a source and as a journalist was helpful to you. Still not sure whether HARO is right for you? Try it out and decide for yourself!

HARO

Is HARO worth your time? Are the rewards worth the effort? We say... yes, within reason. Read on to learn more about our experience with HARO.

Is HARO worth the effort? Here's our experience with HARO as a Source and as a Journalist.

HARO: Worth It or Waste of Time?

HARO (Help A Reporter Out): Our Experience

# Content Marketing For Small Businesses And Coaches [2022 Edition]
The online coaching space is mutating faster than the coronavirus.

If your small online coaching business wants to make money in 2022 you need to market yourself differently.

Differently means standing out among the other <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2021/03/26/what-is-a-life-coach.html#:~:text=ICF%20estimates%20there%20are%2071%2C000,Global%20Coaching%20Study%20Final%20Report." target="blank">71,000 coaches</a> out there. To do so, you can't take any shortcuts.

The preferred shortcuts of so many other coaches involve paid ads and DMing on Instagram and LinkedIn.

But these marketing channels just don’t work for small businesses. 
How do I know? 

Because I've tried them and I've gotten burned.

You don't need to invest heavily and fail to realize that paid ads and cold calling don't work. 

Just think back to the last time that you responded to an email from a stranger or clicked on an ad on your Facebook feed. If you're struggling to recall a time in which you gave into disruptive advertising, then I've made my point.

Back in 2012 I started <a href="https://emlovz.com/" target="blank">emlovz.com</a> (a dating coaching site) and applied every shortcut I could.

We tried:

- Google AdWords
- YouTube Ads
- FB Ads
- Cold outreach

Nothing worked.

We were about to call it quits before I decided to try one last maneuver: <a href="https://thomasanthony.co/whats-the-difference-between-inbound-vs-outbound-marketing/" target="blank">inbound marketing</a>.

__Inbound marketing__ is all about attracting attention through high-value content. 

Think <a href="https://thomasanthony.co/articles/" target="blank">articles</a> that answer a searcher's burning questions, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zHO8hSNDfi8" target="blank">YouTube videos</a> that potential clients can binge for hours, and a podcast that they're dying to listen to every morning on the way to work.
![Outbound vs inbound marketing](//images.ctfassets.net/z8uwv83tofbw/1o0DLeygQw7B8v1RRH1Q21/36b664bdaf79d72a2b7a42b73b3c2535/Outbound_vs_inbound_marketing.png)

We decided to invest heavily in creating unique content that addressed our ideal client's pain points.

Five years later and emlovz has experienced a sea change we could only dream of.

Nowadays emlovz.com is one of the largest coaching sites in the dating space.

In fact, emlovz.com sees enough traffic for me to claim we're a 1% website with regards to traffic.
![Inbound marketing](//images.ctfassets.net/z8uwv83tofbw/5Y5rdfHWwNrqvQVvkKaES4/3502a2a2a39663727386d7005ef40c30/Image_2.png)

As you can see from the screenshot above, we've racked up just under 3 million clicks from May to September of 2021.

But has this translated into earnings?

Yep.

emlovz is also in the top <a href="https://www.ziprecruiter.com/Salaries/Online-Coaching-Salary#:~:text=While%20ZipRecruiter%20is%20seeing%20annual,annually%20across%20the%20United%20States." target="blank">5% percentile as far as online coaching revenues go</a>.
![top 5 percent](//images.ctfassets.net/z8uwv83tofbw/Oqtcp4pciQQmZ1WW6Og2Y/e8aca0bfc60ac8dc9b0885090c1737b3/top_5-.jpg)

*So how did we go from 0 traffic and 0 revenue to a top 5% coaching company?*

It was because I decided to stop skipping the line and we decided to start adding value to peoples' lives with evergreen lead funnels like high-quality articles and YouTube videos.

In this article, we'll break down everything you need to do to launch an effective content marketing strategy even if you’re a coach or small business. 

## Content Marketing For Small Businesses
"In this day and age, a big part of <a href="https://technerds.com/how-ai-can-transform-content-marketing-in-2022/" target="blank">content marketing</a> is connecting with the customer on a personal level. When done correctly, content marketing can go a long way in building brand trust and adding value to your business."

It doesn't matter if you're the personal finance messiah, if you don't have a quality marketing strategy to connect with people and spread the green word, no one will know you exist.

In the first portion of this article let's take a look at the vehicles you'll use to attract potential customers.

### Blogging Up The Traffic 

Blogging isn't an activity reserved for teenagers and soccer moms.

Creating high-quality written content is the best way B2B, B2C, and coaches like yourself can attract users to your website.

Google Search is where people go when they want to learn something and/or want to spend money.

With a market share of over 90%, it's no surprise that <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2021/05/18/how-does-google-make-money-advertising-business-breakdown-.html#:~:text=More%20than%2080%25%20of%20Alphabet's,ad%20spending%20globally%20in%202021." target="blank">Alphabet makes 80% of its earnings through ads</a>. 

With all eyes on Google, ranking on the first page (but specifically within the first three results) can bring serious traffic to your business.
![organic keyword research](//images.ctfassets.net/z8uwv83tofbw/39GAnFHdCUM2hpcxlfMO8u/da9bd93a30b4fdccb8495f3e4fd7fe1c/organic_keyword_research.png)

Getting to the top of Google means your website and brand is an authority.
Being an authority is exactly how to make money through content marketing in 2022.

By landing at the top of a <a href="https://www.wordstream.com/serp" target="blank">SERP</a> and providing a future client with helpful information, you're building trust, respect, interest, and ideally a following.

__This is something that paid ads just can't do.__

I should also mention that creating targeted content is also more pocket-friendly than throwing money at paid ads.

To generate the same traffic with paid ads (which we don't use at all) that we do through our blogs we'd have to spend $36,800 every month.
![organic research](//images.ctfassets.net/z8uwv83tofbw/4SpaZGpUDJ7j0fgHQYY4C5/bb58b66c9d00688306e64dad3908b04e/organic_research.jpg)

Instead, we spend just a fraction of creating viral pieces of content that thousands of people read every day.

### YouTube Videos That Are Binge-Worthy

Blogs aren't the only content strategy for small businesses. 

YouTube is the #2 best evergreen lead source you can find on the internet today. 

However, many experts think that <a href="https://quoracreative.com/article/video-vs-written-content" target="blank">video is the future of content marketing</a>. 

They say this because:

- Videos have higher engagement than written content
- The average consumer spends 100 minutes a day watching video
- <a href="https://blog.hootsuite.com/youtube-stats-marketers/" target="blank">YouTube is the world's second most visited website</a>
- Views increase as more people work from home

When you're blogging - you're catching an evergreen traffic funnel of "__readers__." 

When you're pumping out youtube videos - you're catching an evergreen funnel of "__viewers__."

Generally speaking, there are lots of people who consume content either/or.

For example, about <a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2021/09/21/who-doesnt-read-books-in-america/" target="blank">25% of Americans haven't touched a book in the last year</a>.

You can bet the first $10k you make from online coaching that those same people prefer watching your content to reading it.

By only creating written content you're refusing to speak to a large portion of potential clients.

But hey, even if your ideal clients love reading, who doesn't like watching a video every once in a while.

Speaking of which…

At emlovz, before we meet with a new inbound client. we automatically email them a form to complete - and we ask them where they found us.

Many say <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zHO8hSNDfi8" target="blank">YouTube</a>.
![keyword strategy session](//images.ctfassets.net/z8uwv83tofbw/FsjLun9ZC05SZaRjZUeJf/6e810c355d30e65d47ad81ea176027e4/keyword_strategy_session.png)

Only choosing a certain type of content means only speaking to certain customers.

Create evergreen written and video content to cast a wide net and speak to as many potential clients as possible.

### YouTube/TikTok Educational Shorts 

Nobody has time or patience to watch a 20-minute YouTube video anymore.

As we've seen with the rise of TikTok, YouTube Shorts, IG reels, and yes even Quibi, consumers are beginning to favor short-form video.

Refining your content marketing strategy means creating targeted short-form videos.

After you write a 2k-word blog post and then repurpose it for a long-form YouTube video, you now want to make bite-sized videos clips.

Here's an example of what a <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rpStGznWoLM&feature=emb_title" target="blank">YouTube short looks like</a>.

So how did this YouTube Short perform?

Take a look at the analytics provided by YouTube below.
![YouTube analytics](//images.ctfassets.net/z8uwv83tofbw/74tyX3QLJC2gwWu6RVicyi/670650efb26d1d7f09eb88592062011f/YouTube_analytics.png)

3 YouTube subscribers in just 287 views.

Think about that for a second - you take 1 minute to create a short, upload it to youtube, and 3 new subscribers in a matter of a day or two.

Remember, __one subscriber today could turn into a $5k client of yours in the coming months__ (after they follow you for a bit). 

### Guest Posting Boosts Perceived Value Of Your Website

Guest blogging, also called “guest posting” is the act of writing content for another company's website.

Generally, guest bloggers write for similar websites within their industry in order to attract traffic back to their website.

Guest posting needs to be a marketing tool you use -- not only will you be introduced to another company's audience, but any do-follow links that you embed in the guest post will <a href="https://moz.com/learn/seo/backlinks#:~:text=Backlinks%20are%20especially%20valuable%20for,from%20one%20site%20to%20another.&text=If%20many%20sites%20link%20to,worth%20surfacing%20on%20a%20SERP." target="blank">BOOST your domain authority</a> -- just make sure you're guest posting on sites with a higher domain authority or Alexa ranking.

You can use tools like SEMRUSH and AHREFS to confirm a website's domain authority.

## Think LONG TERM From The Start

Creating a quality content marketing strategy involves understanding who your target audience is and which areas of content creation are worth investing in.

All your content creation efforts won't be worth a thing if you don't first establish your ideal audience.

### Select A Niche!

There are over <a href="https://ilifecoachtraining.com/life-coaching-is-currently-a-2-billion-industry/#:~:text=There%20are%20currently%2020%2C000%20coaches,second%20only%20to%20Information%20Technology." target="blank">20,000 coaches in the USA</a>20,000 coaches in the USA.

Most are defined as __"life coaches."__

A life coach is pretty explanatory, it's a coach that helps someone get their life together.

The issue with this is that our lives are layered, nuanced, and all our problems can't be fixed by some life guru that magically has all the answers.

To stand out you must define your niche.

What kind of coach or small business are you?

You could label yourself as a generic "life coach" but what sets you apart from all the other coaches out there?

Either way, you'll need to define your niche.

Emyli for example isn't a life coach, she's a __dating coach. More specifically she's a dating coach for men that targets men in urban areas that are upper-middle class and between the ages of 30-50__.

You may think that by creating a super-defined niche you're turning your back on a large swath of people.

That's true, but it's only one way to think about refining who you are and your target audience.

I like to think that by creating a specific niche you're able to create more meaningful services and content for the audience that your coaching skills can best serve.

### Side Hustle Until You’re In The Green

Be sensible when starting off.

I understand your desire to ditch your corporate job and dive headfirst into the water - but not everyone knows how to swim and even fewer of us know how to swim using the correct technique.

Don't be afraid to build your small business and make money through online coaching as a side hustle to start.

Hell, Emyli didn't leave her corporate job until our revenue was close to $70k.
Take your time to learn the ropes and build a sustainable business before <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/leadership-lessons-from-alexander-great-hern%C3%A1n-cort%C3%A9s-jay-harrison/" target="blank">burning the ships</a>. 

### Delegate And Build A Small Army Of Creators

Being an entrepreneur is a lot like running a country - albeit an incredibly small one.

As the president of your newfound country, you can't possibly imagine doing everything yourself.

How are you supposed to run each branch of your country, build the infrastructure, and make diplomatic visits to other countries all by yourself?

The best entrepreneurs know how to delegate.

Your first appointments as an entrepreneur should be to hire a:

- Ghostwriter
- Social media intern

This is certainly the case if you're building your business as a side hustle and don't have 5-10 hours a week to create new content and execute an SM strategy.

## Research and Build Your Small Business Program BEFORE You Launch

Whether you’re a coach or small business owner you first need to understand your target audience before launching.

Jumping into the fire that is being a small business owner will only work if you first know what you’re getting yourself into.

Don’t get burned by refusing to do your due diligence in learning both about your competitors and target audience. 

Use SEO tools like SEM Rush and Ahrefs to figure out what type of content your ideal client is interested in learning about. 

During the nascent stage of your company, it’s important to identify your ideal client and understand their pain points. You can do this by interviewing those you think would be interested in your business. 

Understanding their psyche and pairing that with keywords they’re looking for is a recipe for creating amazing content. 

If you have more questions about content marketing for small businesses and coaches feel free to check out my website and <a href="https://thomasanthony.co/" target="blank">contact me for a brief strategy call</a>. 

content marketing for small business

A break down of everything you need to do to launch an effective content marketing strategy even if you’re a coach or small business.

Content Marketing For Small Businesses And Coaches [2022 Edition]

![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


![44 Underutilized SEO Strategies and Tactics](//images.contentful.com/z8uwv83tofbw/3Fl6DS4NzmZwOc5OJECq2X/fb00d3f59ce36fc2efb316c467b304e2/44_Underutilized_SEO_Strategies_and_Tactics.jpg)
Recently I asked marketing and SEO professionals what they felt the most underutilized SEO strategy or tactic was. With over 100 responses I was able to compile them into these calegories:

<a href="https://nozzle.io/blog/1-underutilized-keyword-research-strategies" target="blank">#1- Underutilized Keyword Research Strategies</a>
<br>
<a href="https://nozzle.io/blog/2-underutilized-onsite-optimization-strategies" target="blank">#2- Underutilized Onsite Optimization Strategies</a>
<br>
<a href="https://nozzle.io/blog/3-underutilized-content-strategies" target="blank">#3- Underutilized Content Strategies</a>
<br>
<a href="https://nozzle.io/blog/4-underutilized-link-building-strategies" target="blank">#4- Underutilized Link Building Strategies</a>
<br>
<a href="https://nozzle.io/blog/5-underutilized-technical-seo-strategies" target="blank">#5- Underutilized Technical SEO Strategies</a>
<br>
<a href="https://nozzle.io/blog/6-underutilized-local-seo-strategies" target="blank">#6- Underutilized Local SEO strategies</a>
<br>
<a href="https://nozzle.io/blog/7-underutilized-video-seo-strategies" target="blank">#7- Underutilized Video SEO Strategies</a>
<br>
<a href="https://nozzle.io/blog/8-miscellaneous-underutilized-seo-strategies" target="blank">#8- Miscellaneous Underutilized SEO Strategies</a>

My intent is to shed some light on a strategy or two that you haven't focused on yet, or perhaps remind you of some SEO basics that you haven't thought about in a while. Who knows? Implementing one of these underutilized strategies may be all that you need to push your rankings to the next level.


44 Underutilized SEO Strategies and Tactics

In response to the query, "What is the most underutilized SEO strategy?" I received over 100 responses, and here they are organized into 8 categories.

![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

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

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

### 2nd 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>


Blog - Content Marketing