The StepForth Web Marketing Blog
Informing on SEO, SEM, and PPC since 2001
SEO 101 Ep 414: Google Changing Site Titles Doesn’t Affect Ranking but Click Through Rate is a Concern
Google confirms their automatic changes to title tags in search results do not affect rankings, but there is little doubt the “improved” titles can be less click-worthy. Scott and Ross also discuss a concern with the next version of Chrome that includes the ability to...
SEO 101 Ep 413: New Author.URL Schema Recommended by Google
Google’s recommendation to use the new Author.url link to a central profile of the author’s bio harkens back to the days of rel=author and Google Authorship. The gents also discuss standard updates to Google tools, news on the Links Spam Update, optimizing Google My...
SEO 101 Ep 398: Google SEO Tips for 2021
Ross Dunn and guest host, Scott Van Achte, review Moz’s SEO tips for 2021 and share their own. They also cover some of the latest search news in mobile, local SEO, and a search engine taking more user share than many expected it would. [spreaker type=player...
SEO 101 Ep 397: Examining Google’s December Core Update
Google’s December Core Update was immense and it stirred up a lot of emotions (positive and negative) for site owners who improved rankings or were devastated by the update. Ross and Scott review what is known about the update, who was affected, and how to respond to...
Google Page Experience Update Applies to Mobile Only
In May 2021 Google will launch the Google Page Experience update and at that time a variety of factors will come into play that may drastically impact your organic rankings. Until recently most SEO’s had assumed that this would be a blanked update affecting most...
SEO 101 Ep 396: Business Mentorship and SEO with John Espley
Ross interviews John Espley, Chief Connector at ConnectionSkills.ca about his work with small and medium businesses and how businesses connect with SEO, link building, and online marketing overall. The discussion often touches on the merits of networking and how...
Blog Post Indexing Issue with WIX – Solved
Ask an SEO about what content management systems they find challenging to work with and almost undoubtedly they will mention WIX. There are many aspects of the WIX CMS that can present SEO challenges that simply do not exist when using other platforms. This article is...
SEO 101 Episode 395: Interview with Roger Montti on Google Passages, Link Building, and More
In this episode, Ross interviews prolific Search Engine Journal writer, Roger Montti on his start in the SEO business and the work he does. The discussion then moves on to the latest news from Google such as passages, common SEO issues he encounters with client sites,...
SEO 101 Episode 394: Google Passages and the Future of Search with Barry Schwartz
Summary of SEO 101 Episode 394 John and Ross welcome the one and only Barry Schwartz on the show - finally! Barry is the founder and editor of Search Engine Roundtable, CEO of RustyBrick, and News Editor at Search Engine Land. The show first touches on Barry’s origin...
SEO 101 Episode 393: Key Takeaways from the Google SearchOn Event
Summary of SEO 101 Episode 393 John and Ross discuss a few pieces of search news before diving into the important news that came out of the recent SearchOn event by Google. Discussed was the ground breaking news about “passages” that Google will be releasing in the...
SEO 101 Episode 392: Trouble with the Indexation Request Tool, Google Bugs, WordPress APO, Google Goes Mobile-Only, How Caffeine Works and More
Summary of SEO 101 Episode 392 Google causes concern for many as it turns off the indexation request tool to make infrastructure updates. John and Ross speculate the updates are partly due to some recently publicized Google bugs while sharing those details. Ross...
SEO 101 Episode 391: Google’s Relationship with SEOs, Rare Bing News, and Local SEO Updates
Summary of SEO 101 Episode 391 The hosts discuss the meeting between the excellent Barry Schwartz from Search Engine Round Table and Martin Splitt from Google about Google’s relationship with the SEO community. They also delve into rare updates from that other search...
SEO 101 Episode 390: HTTP2 Update for Googlebot, More Google My Business Issues and Mueller Files
Summary of SEO 101 Episode 390 Guest co-host, Scott Van Achte discusses the latest SEO news with Ross Dunn such as upgrades to Googlebot, support for regional schema in videos, and another glitch with Google My Business Insights. The hosts also discuss a number of...
SEO 101 Episode 389: Google Algorithm Weirdness, Mueller Files, and SEO Questions Answered
Summary of SEO 101 Episode 389 From the Google local algorithm to Google Discover, Ross and John discuss the algorithmic glitches and weirdness over the past few weeks. They also talk about picking the best domain for a rebranding, the nosnippet tag, the pros and cons...
SEO 101 Episode 388: People Cards, Google Glitches, a WordPress Warning, and a Question Answered
Summary of SEO 101 Episode 388 Google is launching People Cards in India to allow individuals to create their own rolodex-like listing in Google (shades of authorship?), Google suffered a massive indexing glitch, Firefox renews with Google and you won’t believe how...
How To Write The Perfect Blog Post!
Writing high-quality content plays an important role in marketing your business; however, the design and layout are just as important to leave a lasting impression online. There is no secret formula to creating a fully packaged article, but here are several tips on...
SEO 101 Episode 387: Mobile-First Deadline Extended, Google My Business Tests Paid Profiles, and more.
Summary of SEO 101 Episode 387 Google has extended it’s mobile-first deadline in order to minimize negative impacts on many sites during the pandemic. Google My Business has begun testing the inevitable paid upgrade to Google My Business listings. John and Ross also...
SEO 101 Episode 386: Google’s New “Off the Record” Podcast, Structured Data Insights, and an SEO Question Answered
Summary of SEO 101 Episode 386 John and Ross discuss the feasibility of “algorithm-proofing” a website, insight into the past indexing issues with Google, and news on the increased use of descriptive text with images in search. They follow-up with insights from the...