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Think like a search marketer to drive growth with YouTube https://ift.tt/2SpQQfl Today’s consumers are constantly moving between channels and devices, and video is becoming an increasingly important part of their journey. In fact, in a study we conducted at Google, eighty percent of shoppers told us they have switched between search and video when they’re researching products to buy. Which begs the question, as a search marketer, how do you effectively add video to your strategy? Custom intent audiences is the answer. They take a useful signal (what people are looking for) and let you engage them across different media. These audiences are designed to work with the search skill set that you already have with a few differences on the margins. (I’m focusing on video for today, but remember that you can also create these audiences on display and Gmail.) What are custom intent audiences?Custom intent audiences help you reach customers on YouTube based on the terms they use to search for products or services on Google.com. You select a set of keywords, then your video ads will be shown to people whose past queries match your keywords when they’re watching YouTube. There are a lot of similarities and differences vs. traditional search campaigns when working with custom intent audiences. Let’s start with the similarities. Think like a search marketerIn many ways managing video campaigns with custom intent audiences should be quite familiar:
When to not think like a search marketerWhile video campaigns with custom intent audiences by and large start out like a search campaign, there are some key differences that you should keep in mind.
ConclusionI love search marketing. With custom intent audiences, you can apply a honed search skillset to video. And if you’re on the fence, consider this: On average, advertisers that run YouTube video ads in addition to Search ads see three percent higher search conversion rates and four percent lower search CPAs versus advertisers who run search ads alone. Video is now an integral part of a well-balanced performance campaign. Opinions expressed in this article are those of the guest author and not necessarily Search Engine Land. Staff authors are listed here. About The AuthorMatt Lawson is Vice President of Ads Marketing for Google, responsible for a broad portfolio of ads products including search, shopping, display, and analytics. SEO via Search Engine Land https://ift.tt/1BDlNnc February 25, 2019 at 07:06AM
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Content structure and structured data: Will they impact featured snippets? https://ift.tt/2H0FBrO In this article, I explore the difference between Structured Data and content structure as a continuation of John Mueller’s response in the Hangout. I also provide some advice on getting Featured Snippet tables that I’ve gleaned through research and rigorous testing. As an SEO who is in Google’s trenches day in and day out, I’ve learned over time the importance of targeting Featured Snippet opportunities. This is especially the case if your client is already ranking on the first page of Google, but their content is not the page being featured. One of my favorite of the different types of Featured Snippets, is when Google is showing a table in the search results already for your competitor’s site. I even made a video where I challenged myself to take a Featured Snippet table away from my biggest competitor, Amazon. Thankfully, we won that battle and my table has survived to tell the tale: Content Structure vs. Structured Data (in the Context of SEO)The big question: is it a type of Structured Data or the structure of the content itself that helps a piece of content get featured? I reached out to Knowledge Graph Strategist Aaron Bradley, who explained: “No table data is “structured data” in the form of schema.org structured data prescribed by the search engines (note that Dataset provides a mechanism about describing a table, rather than of exposing property/value pairs in a table). In parsing tables, Google absolutely uses that tabular data to generate featured snippets, but the semantics Google uses to construct those snippets (i.e. the meaning of the table and its elements) are derived as a result of Google’s extraction process, rather than being based on explicit structured data.” Aaron’s response points to the structure of the content being the contributing factor, which relates to how the table was built on the page with HTML. Further to this, there is no specific Featured Snippet Structured Data markup that currently exists. It is, however, useful to be aware of the history of Google patents relating to this topic, as a hint to what the future could hold. There is a big difference between Structured Data and content structure in the context of SEO. Structured Data refers to when you implement a type of markup on a webpage, which helps to give additional details surrounding the page content. Improved relevance and understanding of your content can result in both higher rankings on Google, along with having some control over SERP features such as rich snippets with reviews, information in the Knowledge Panel and much more. You can learn more about Structured Data in codelabs. Content structure, on the other hand, relates to organizing the HTML on a page. This can be headings, the title tag and meta description, or alt tags for images. In the case of my Featured Snippet table, I used HTML with Bootstrap for easy CSS formatting. For my page, I’m using both Structured Data and a clear content structure. In terms of Structured Data, I’m just using the LocalBusiness markup from schema.org with JSON-LD. Correct implementation can be tested through Google’s Structured Data Testing Tool, among others. A Featured Snippet Case Study using the HTML for a <table>The content within and surrounding my table resulted in us being able to steal the Featured Snippet away from Amazon. Let’s take a look at the HTML and analyse some of the important attributes that contributed to this. 1. The primary heading Google selected for their search results The first important component of my content structure is the heading. I decided on a H2 in this case, as it was the second level in the heading hierarchy for the page. The current H1 for the page didn’t relate specifically to the information provided in the table, so the H2 made sense in this context. Here’s what the heading tag used in the Featured Snippet looks like on my page: As I was targeting the keyword “portion size plate” (among others), I needed to at least have a variation of this within the H2. This helps to build relevance and gives Google confidence that the information within the table relates closely to the search term. 2. Additional content to help build context for my table Originally, when I first tried to capture the Featured Snippet, all I had was the H2 and the table itself. This wasn’t enough for Google, so they decided to keep Amazon as the featured result. I needed to build more context surrounding my table to make it more appealing for Google. I did this by adding additional text, along with an unordered list with bolded text. This helped give some additional detail – which ended up being the reason I was able to take the position and retain it long-term. 3. Arranging important information in a table The table had a lot of different components. Ideally, I wanted it to look nice and engaging on the page, but also have some functionality that could assist with sales. Most importantly, the table is built correctly with HTML, rather than fancy CSS that looks like a table but isn’t actually one. CSS tables are one of the things John said in the Hangout to avoid if trying to obtain a Featured Snippet. Here’s what the columns look like, with bolding used as a visual preference: And now the rows. The first row: The second row: And the third row, which has hyperlinks for the product pages embedded. I’ve never seen Google use this in the context of Featured Snippets, although it’s a nice feature to have for the user either way. The fourth row. This is the last row shown in Google’s search results in the case of my Featured Snippet. Any information added to this section, along with the rows above, should be considered when trying to entice a visitor to click-through to the site. The fifth row is completely hidden for the query. Similar to the information made visible above, the same consideration needs to be made for this content. Does the user need to see this in order to click on the result? And the same goes for the final row. This section isn’t as important and aligned between two of the columns to make the table look tidier for the reader. The HTML above is for a standard table with rows and columns, along with links to product pages when mentioned and bolded headings so they stand out more on the page. I also went for the striped rows version of the Bootstrap table as a design preference. Here’s what the finished product looks like: I’m now left with an easy-to-digest table that looks great on all devices and can be easily extracted by Google for the Featured Snippet. The result is that I’m now ranking in the top Organic position and also directly above that with the Featured Snippet. Completing this task, among others, has allowed me to have some nice growth in the past few months on my site, as can be seen in the below Google Search Console screenshot: In my experience, when you get a Featured Snippet added for your site, you’ll see a massive uptick in Impressions in particular (even if your Organic ranking remains unchanged). Clicks tend to follow a similar trend, though not at the same rate as Impressions. This is mainly because users won’t always click on your result, although you’re much more likely to be considered in voice search (for which we don’t currently have a reliable reporting platform in SEO just yet). The ideal situation is that your site will be ranking for different variations for the targeted Featured Snippet opportunity, not just an individual search term. Here’s some of the variations I’m currently maintaining in Australia and how they look on different devices: Learn more about targeting Featured Snippets on GoogleIt can be incredibly difficult to win Featured Snippets. And just adding a table to your page without strategic direction won’t yield the same result I had in many cases. The key is to get added to the featured result, then hold on to it long-term. Here’s a list of articles that I would consider a “must read” when learning how to get Featured Snippets: There is also this webinar on Search Metrics by Eli Schwartz that I listened to recently which is well worth tuning in for. Eli addresses an area that I hadn’t heard anyone speak about – the issue of getting Featured Snippets and not seeing the same increase in Clicks as you do with Impressions. Eli’s approach views this as looking at getting featured as an advertising opportunity, similar to what you would do with Paid Advertising methods. A framework suggested was that these opportunities should be viewed as a Cost Per Impression (CPM) model, where you’re paying $x amount each time a user sees your search result and brand. It is however important to understand how Google determines an Impression first. For example, if a user lands on the first page of Google, an Impression is recorded even when your result hasn’t been scrolled into view (it’s when the page loads). Key takeaways from Google, Featured Snippet studies and the <table> case studyIn summary, there are no concrete findings that suggest Google currently uses Structured Data to generate Featured Snippets. This has been confirmed through multiple studies and Google’s John Mueller has given confidence in this research by suggesting he believes this to be the case also. Featured Snippet tables are a fun SEO task to go after. The data you can provide Google, if completed correctly, can be used in a variety of ways. This is the same for the user. Who doesn’t like reading information in an organized table that is easy to consume? I hope this article provides you with a nice collection of resources in going after these types of opportunities and allows you to have some confidence in your approach. Although the introduction of Featured Snippets on Google can be a bit of drag (fewer Clicks), there’s plenty of traffic being left on the table if they are ignored. Opinions expressed in this article are those of the guest author and not necessarily Search Engine Land. Staff authors are listed here. About The AuthorBrodie is a senior SEO specialist at one of Melbourne’s leading SEO agencies, Optimising. He is also the host of Linkedin video series "100% Organic." You can find him writing about ideas and happenings on Google through his personal blog, BrodieClark.com. SEO via Search Engine Land https://ift.tt/1BDlNnc February 25, 2019 at 07:01AM Google Search Console New Products Report & Merchant/Manufacturer Center Upgrades https://ift.tt/2EdTUX1 Google announced on Friday some upgrades to products in Google search. Specifically, Google Search Console added a new enhancements report like I covered at Search Engine Land, to show you how your product market is doing. They also added the ability for Product data feeds uploaded to Google Merchant Center will now be eligible for display in results on surfaces like Search and Google Images and up-to-date product information through Google Manufacturer Center. SEO via Search Engine Roundtable https://ift.tt/1sYxUD0 February 25, 2019 at 06:54AM
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Google Ads Tests Large Image In Search Ads https://ift.tt/2TdCPGa Google is back at it, testing large images in their search ads. Glenn Gabe posted about this on Twitter on Friday and Search Engine Land received a comment from Google on it. Google has done this for automative ads starting in 2016 but they started testing large images for search ads back in 2013. SEO via Search Engine Roundtable https://ift.tt/1sYxUD0 February 25, 2019 at 06:36AM
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Google’s John Mueller on Affiliate Links in YMYL Topics by @martinibuster https://ift.tt/2Xp9NCv In a Google Webmaster Hangout, Google’s John Mueller was asked if affiliate links in websites dealing with sensitive topics were being targeted. John Mueller answered the question then expanded his answer to address how Google handles all affiliate sites in general. Does Google Target Affiliate Sites?This has been a topic of discussion since the early days of SEO. As far back as the early 2000’s affiliates suspected that Google had a bias against affiliate sites. There is a long history of a belief in a Google bias against affiliate sites. Background on Google Targeting Affiliate Site Theory:Affiliates Hid their Affiliate LinksSEOs responded to this rumor by hiding their affiliate links. The idea was that if Google didn’t see the affiliate links then the site wouldn’t be penalized. SEOs Hid Affiliate Links with JavaScriptOne method of hiding links was to mask them via JavaScript then robot text block the folder where the JavaScript was being called from. That way Google couldn’t see the link. Affiliates Hid Affiliate Links with RedirectsAnother way was to pass the affiliate link through a redirect that was also blocked to Google. Rumor that Affiliate Algorithm Applied to AdSense SitesIt was also rumored that the same algorithm that targeted affiliate sites was later used by Google to target low quality websites known as Made for AdSense (MFA) sites. Simultaneously, AdWords advertisers who were arbitraging from AdWords to their MFA sites saw their quality scores drop to a score of 1. Matt Cutts Confirms Google Identifies Affiliate LinksIn a 2012 interview, within the context of a question about nofollow and affiliate links, Matt Cutts confirmed that Google can identify affiliate links and “handles” them. By handling them, he presumably means that Google is able to prevent them from passing PageRank. He states that Google knows the big networks and can handle them on their side (watch video here). That was not an admission that Google was targeting affiliate sites. It was only an admission that Google was targeting the affiliate links themselves in order to prevent them from passing PageRank. Sensitive Topics and Affiliate LinksThe question asked of John Mueller was about sites focused on sensitive topics that also contained affiliate links. This may be a reference to Your Money or Your Life (YMYL) topics. Affiliate Links on YMYL TopicsYMYL topics are those that can impact a person’s life. These are topics in finance, medical, legal, banking and so on. The question asked:
John Mueller Affirms the Importance of Site QualityJohn Mueller responded that it was not about how the transaction occurs. It’s all about the quality of the site.
John Mueller affirmed that it’s possible for an affiliate site to rank well if it is the best result for a query.
Affiliate Links and YMYL TopicsJohn Mueller then confirmed that this approach to affiliate sites was across the board:
John Mueller made it clear that Google does not target sites because they have affiliate links regardless of the topic. Although John Mueller did not specifically mention YMYL topics, he said this applies across the board, which obviously includes YMYL topics. Google’s Official Policy on Affiliate SitesGoogle has a developer page about affiliate sites. John Mueller’s statement agrees with what is stated there:
It’s clear that Google does not target affiliate sites, regardless of the topic. Affiliate sites are judged using the same criteria as any other site. Watch the Google Hangout here: Subscribe to SEJGet our daily newsletter from SEJ's Founder Loren Baker about the latest news in the industry! SEO via Search Engine Journal https://ift.tt/1QNKwvh February 25, 2019 at 05:05AM
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We Dipped Our Toes Into Double Featured Snippets https://ift.tt/2Xlklmh Posted by TheMozTeam This post was originally published on the STAT blog. Featured snippets, a vehicle for voice search and the answers to our most pressing questions, have doubled on the SERPs — but not in the way we usually mean. This time, instead of appearing on two times the number of SERPS, two snippets are appearing on the same SERP. Hoo! In all our years of obsessively stalking snippets, this is one of the first documented cases of them doing something a little different. And we are here for it. While it’s still early days for the double-snippet SERP, we’re giving you everything we’ve got so far. And the bottom line is this: double the snippets mean double the opportunity. Google's case for double-snippet SERPsThe first time we heard mention of more than one snippet per SERP was at the end of January in Google’s “reintroduction” to featured snippets. Not yet launched, details on the feature were a little sparse. We learned that they’re “to help people better locate information” and “may also eventually help in cases where you can get contradictory information when asking about the same thing but in different ways.” Thankfully, we only had to wait a month before Google released them into the wild and gave us a little more insight into their purpose. Calling them “multifaceted” featured snippets (a definition we’re not entirely sure we’re down with), Google explained that they’re currently serving “‘multi-intent’ queries, which are queries that have several potential intentions or purposes associated,” and will eventually expand to queries that need more than one piece of information to answer. With that knowledge in our back pocket, let’s get to the good stuff. The double snippet rollout is starting off smallSince the US-en market is Google’s favorite testing ground for new features and the largest locale being tracked in STAT, it made sense to focus our research there. We chose to analyze mobile SERPs over desktop because of Google’s (finally released) mobile-first indexing, and also because that’s where Google told us they were starting. After waiting for enough two-snippet SERPs to show up so we could get our (proper) analysis on, we pulled our data at the end March. Out of the mobile keywords currently tracking in the US-en market in STAT, 122,501 had a featured snippet present, and of those, 1.06 percent had more than one to its name. With only 1,299 double-snippet SERPs to analyze, we admit that our sample size is smaller than our big data nerd selves would like. That said, it is indicative of how petite this release currently is. Two snippets appear for noun-heavy queriesOur first order of business was to see what kind of keywords two snippets were appearing for. If we can zero in on what Google might deem “multi-intent,” then we can optimize accordingly. By weighting our double-snippet keywords by tf-idf, we found that nouns such as “insurance,” “computer,” “job,” and “surgery” were the primary triggers — like in [general liability insurance policy] and [spinal stenosis surgery]. It’s important to note that we don’t see this mirrored in single-snippet SERPs. When we refreshed our snippet research in November 2017, we saw that snippets appeared most often for “how,” followed closely by “does,” “to,” “what,” and “is.” These are all words that typically compose full sentence questions. Essentially, without those interrogative words, Google is left to guess what the actual question is. Take our [general liability insurance policy]keyword as an example — does the searcher want to know what a general liability insurance policy is or how to get one? Because of how vague the query is, it’s likely the searcher wants to know everything they can about the topic. And so, instead of having to pick, Google’s finally caught onto the wisdom of the Old El Paso taco girl — why not have both? Better leapfrogging and double duty domainsNext, we wanted to know where you’d need to rank in order to win one (or both) of the snippets on this new SERP. This is what we typically call “source position.” On a single-snippet SERP and ignoring any SERP features, Google pulls from the first organic rank 31 percent of the time. On double-snippet SERPs, the top snippet pulls from the first organic rank 24.84 percent of the time, and the bottom pulls from organic ranks 5–10 more often than solo snippets.
And when we dug into who’s answering all these questions, we discovered that 5.70 percent of our double-snippet SERPs had the same domain in both snippets. This begs the obvious question: is your content ready to do double duty? Snippet headers provide clarity and keyword ideasIn what feels like the first new addition to the feature in a long time, there’s now a header on top of each snippet, which states the question it’s set out to answer. With reports of headers on solo snippets (and “People also search for” boxes attached to the bottom — will this madness never end?!), this may be a sneak peek at the new norm. Instead of relying on guesses alone, we can turn to these headers for what a searcher is likely looking for — we’ll trust in Google’s excellent consumer research. Using our [general liability insurance policy] example once more, Google points us to “what is general liabilities insurance” and “what does a business insurance policy cover” as good interpretations.
So, not only does a second snippet mean double the goodness that you usually get with just one, it also means more insight into intent and another keyword to track and optimize for. Both snippets prefer paragraph formattingNext, it was time to give formatting a look-see to determine whether the snippets appearing in twos behave any differently than their solo counterparts. To do that, we gathered every snippet on our double-snippet SERPs and compared them against our November 2017 data, back when pairs weren’t a thing.
It follows, then, that the most common pairing of snippets was paragraph-paragraph — this appeared on 85.68 percent of our SERPs. The least common, at 0.31 percent, was the table-table coupling. We can give two reasons for this behavior. One, if a query can have multiple interpretations, it makes sense that a paragraph answer would provide the necessary space to explain each of them, and two, Google really doesn’t like tables. We saw double-snippet testing in actionWhen looking at the total number of snippets we had on hand, we realised that the only way everything added up was if a few SERPs had more than two snippets. And lo! Eleven of our keywords returned anywhere from six to 12 snippets. For a hot minute we were concerned that Google was planning a full-SERP snippet takeover, but when we searched those keywords a few days later, we discovered that we’d caught testing in action. Here’s what we saw play out for the keyword [severe lower back pain]:
The multiple snippets appearing for [full-time employment] left us scratching our head a bit:
Share your double-snippet SERP experiencesIt goes without saying — but here we are saying it anyway — that we’ll be keeping an eye on the scope of this release and will report back on any new revelations. In the meantime, we’re keen to know what you’re seeing. Have you had any double-snippet SERPs yet? Were they in a market outside the US? What keywords were surfacing them? Sign up for The Moz Top 10, a semimonthly mailer updating you on the top ten hottest pieces of SEO news, tips, and rad links uncovered by the Moz team. Think of it as your exclusive digest of stuff you don't have time to hunt down but want to read! SEO via SEOmoz Blog https://moz.com/blog February 25, 2019 at 02:21AM
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Google Responds to Uproar Over Unlinked Featured Snippets by @martinibuster https://ift.tt/2IwO8Fj Search marketing consultant Cyrus Shepherd tweeted about a featured snippet with zero links back to the websites from which the information came from. The SEO community responded with comparisons of Google to scrapers. Overall, the response was less than positive. Google’s Danny Sullivan responded with an explanation of Google’s position on these kinds of featured snippets. Unlinked Featured SnippetsIn these kinds of featured snippets, Google makes it difficult to click through to the site from where Google indexed the information. The unlinked featured snippet displays a small triangular icon that has no label to identify what it is for. Once clicked, the website information becomes visible. The icon is small and not everyone may understand that it represents “more information.” SEOs contributed observations, with Ian Lurie of Portent tweeting that this is evidence of Google’s transformation into a publisher.
Rand Fishkin tweeted an indirect comparison of Google to a scraper:
Another Twitter member tweeted that it was the death of web publishers:
Danny Sullivan Affirms Google’s Commitment to PublishersThat’s when Google’s Danny Sullivan stepped to give a strong affirmation that Google in fact cares about the publisher ecosystem and that this is a major concern for Google. Here is what Danny Sullivan tweeted:
Danny then followed up by giving an inside look at how the concern over sustaining the publisher “ecosystem” is a top priority in meetings he has attended.
Danny Sullivan then tweeted that search is always evolving and encouraged SEOs to view these as opportunities and not obstacles.
A feisty discussion continued, with a Twitter member noting there was no attribution or link and compared unlinked featured snippets to plagiarism.
That response received generally positive feedback, with this tweet by Thom Craver being representative of the general mood:
Why the SEO Community is Upset over Unlinked Featured SnippetsThere is a perception that Google encourages publishers to create quality content then uses it without proper attribution. There is also an extremist point of view that Google wants to force publishers to advertise in Google AdWords in order to buy visibility. The point of view that Google wants to force publishers into paying for clicks is naive. It is naive because it ignores the voluminous historical evidence that Google has consistently supported web publishers. The fact that there are liaisons between Google and publishers is evidence that Google understands that Google’s stability depends on the vitality of the publishing community. Read the Twitter discussion here. Screenshots by Author, Modified by Author Subscribe to SEJGet our daily newsletter from SEJ's Founder Loren Baker about the latest news in the industry! SEO via Search Engine Journal https://ift.tt/1QNKwvh February 24, 2019 at 07:26PM
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Facebook Messenger Tests a Separate Folder for Business Messages by @MattGSouthern https://ift.tt/2tzXOEF Facebook is testing a new way of organizing messages from business pages in Messenger. Social Media Examiner discovered this update and shared an example on their page: Several other Facebook users are reporting seeing this as well. It was later stated in a developer community that this is currently a test with a minimal number of Messenger users, with no plans to expand at this time. For those unable to read the text in the image above, it says:
So if you’re not yet seeing this folder, you’re not alone. Clearly, this can assist users with separating business messages from personal messages. It can also assist Facebook page admins with keeping their personal messages separated from customer messages. This change, if it ends up rolling out more widely, may even make users more inclined to opt-in to Messenger bots and stay engaged with them. At first glance, it would seem this change has numerous benefits to both users and businesses. Time will tell if it ends up becoming a permanent feature. Subscribe to SEJGet our daily newsletter from SEJ's Founder Loren Baker about the latest news in the industry! SEO via Search Engine Journal https://ift.tt/1QNKwvh February 24, 2019 at 03:24PM
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New Google Featured Snippets Combine Content From Multiple Publishers by @MattGSouthern https://ift.tt/2tzRugf Google is now displaying featured snippets that pull content from multiple publishers and combine it into one result. The featured snippet answers questions for searchers by creating a listicle of sorts. Here’s an example shared by Cyrus Shepard for the query “seeds with highest omega 3:”
As Shepard points out, the trouble with these featured snippets is they do not do the best job of directing traffic to publishers. If a searcher gets the answer they’re looking for in the snippet, there’s no need to click through to another site. However, if the searcher decides to expand the snippet with one of the drop down menus they’ll see not one but multiple links to other sites. You can get a better look at how the snippet functions in this example shared by Jon Henshaw:
Many still share the same concern of publishers not getting enough credit in these snippets. The concerns prompted Google’s Danny Sullivan to respond and explain the company’s line of thinking behind these snippets. In a series of tweet, Sullivan states:
Sullivan continues by adding that these snippets are not brand new and have been out for months. Personally I have not encountered them and, judging by the amount of attention this is getting on Twitter, many others haven’t either. Ultimately, these snippets are designed to let users explore and find information. Although it’s a different way of finding information, it’s still what search has always strived to do for users. Sullivan concludes his train of thought with a rhetorical question:
Search has evolved since inception and this is a sign of its continued evolution. Subscribe to SEJGet our daily newsletter from SEJ's Founder Loren Baker about the latest news in the industry! SEO via Search Engine Journal https://ift.tt/1QNKwvh February 24, 2019 at 03:05PM |
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