#search engine optimize

[cybergautam]

How to Optimize Content According to SEO: A Complete Guide for Beginners

In today's digital world, creating high-quality content is only half the battle. To ensure your content reaches its intended audience, it must be optimized for search engines. Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is the process of enhancing your content so that it appears higher in search engine results, ultimately driving more organic traffic to your website. But how exactly do you optimize content for SEO? Let's break it down into simple, actionable steps that anyone can follow.

1. Understand Your Audience and Their Intent

Before you start writing, it's crucial to understand who your audience is and what they are searching for. This step is often overlooked but is foundational to SEO. If you know what your audience wants, you can tailor your content to meet their needs, which will naturally improve its relevance and ranking.

How to Identify Your Audience's Intent:

Use Keyword Research Tools: Tools like Google Keyword Planner, Ahrefs, and SEMrush can help you discover what terms your audience is searching for.

Analyze Competitors: Look at what your competitors are doing. What topics are they covering? What keywords are they targeting?

Check Search Suggestions: Google's search suggestions and related searches can give you an idea of what people are looking for.

2. Keyword Research: The Backbone of SEO

Keywords are the phrases that people type into search engines when looking for information. Identifying and using the right keywords is essential for SEO content optimization.

Steps for Effective Keyword Research:

Start with a Seed Keyword: Begin with a broad term related to your topic.

Expand with Long-Tail Keywords: Long-tail keywords are more specific and less competitive. For example, instead of "SEO," use "how to optimize content for SEO."

Analyze Search Volume and Competition: Use tools like Ubersuggest to evaluate the search volume and competition for your keywords.

Incorporate Keywords Naturally: Once you've selected your keywords, use them naturally in your content. Avoid keyword stuffing, which can hurt your rankings.

3. Craft Compelling, SEO-Friendly Titles

Your title is the first thing people see in search results, and it's one of the most critical factors for SEO. A well-crafted title can significantly improve your click-through rate (CTR).

Tips for Writing SEO-Optimized Titles:

Include Your Primary Keyword: Your main keyword should appear in the title, ideally at the beginning.

Keep It Concise and Clear: Aim for titles between 50-60 characters. They should be clear and to the point.

Make It Engaging: Use power words, numbers, or questions to make your title more compelling. For example, "10 Proven Tips to Optimize Content for SEO in 2024."

4. Write High-Quality, Relevant Content

Search engines prioritize content that provides value to the reader. High-quality content is not only well-written but also informative, engaging, and relevant to the user's query.

How to Create High-Quality Content:

Answer the User’s Query: Make sure your content directly addresses the question or problem your audience has.

Provide In-Depth Information: Longer content often ranks better because it covers the topic more thoroughly.

Use Subheadings: Break up your content with subheadings (H2, H3 tags). This makes it easier to read and helps search engines understand your content's structure.

Include Visuals: Use images, infographics, and videos to complement your text. Visual content is more engaging and can improve your ranking in search results.

5. Optimize Meta Descriptions

A meta description is a brief summary of your content that appears under the title in search engine results. While meta descriptions don't directly affect rankings, they play a crucial role in attracting clicks.

Best Practices for Meta Descriptions:

Incorporate Keywords: Include your primary keyword to make it clear what the content is about.

Keep It Concise: Aim for 150-160 characters. It should be a short, compelling summary of your content.

Make It Persuasive: Use action words and a clear call to action (CTA) to entice users to click.

6. Use Internal and External Links Wisely

Links are a key factor in SEO. They help search engines understand the context of your content and its relationship to other content on the web.

Internal Linking:

Link to Relevant Content: Whenever you mention a topic that you've covered in another article, link to it. This keeps readers on your site longer and helps search engines crawl your site more effectively.

Use Descriptive Anchor Text: The clickable text should describe the linked content. Avoid generic terms like "click here."

External Linking:

Link to Authoritative Sources: Linking to high-authority sites can boost your content's credibility.

Ensure Relevance: Only link to external content that adds value to your readers.

7. Optimize for Mobile

With the majority of web traffic coming from mobile devices, it's essential that your content is mobile-friendly. Google uses mobile-first indexing, meaning it primarily uses the mobile version of your content for ranking.

How to Ensure Mobile Optimization:

Use Responsive Design: Ensure your website adjusts to different screen sizes and resolutions.

Keep Paragraphs Short: Long paragraphs can be difficult to read on small screens. Break up your text for better readability.

Optimize Images: Compress images to reduce load times without sacrificing quality.

8. Improve Page Speed

Page speed is a critical factor in both user experience and SEO. Slow-loading pages can lead to higher bounce rates and lower rankings.

Ways to Boost Page Speed:

Compress Images: Use tools like TinyPNG to reduce image file sizes.

Minimize HTTP Requests: Reduce the number of elements on your page, such as scripts, images, and CSS.

Use a Content Delivery Network (CDN): CDNs store copies of your site on servers around the world, reducing load times for global users.

9. Optimize for Featured Snippets

Featured snippets are short answers that appear at the top of Google's search results, often referred to as "Position Zero." Optimizing your content for featured snippets can significantly increase visibility and traffic.

How to Optimize for Featured Snippets:

Use Question-Based Subheadings: Start with a question that your content answers. For example, "How do you optimize content according to SEO?"

Provide Concise Answers: Offer a brief, clear answer to the question immediately below the subheading.

Use Lists and Tables: Structured content like lists and tables is often pulled into featured snippets.

10. Leverage Social Media

Social media can indirectly boost your SEO by increasing the visibility of your content. When your content is shared, it drives traffic and signals to search engines that your content is valuable.

Social Media Strategies for SEO:

Share Your Content: Post your content on all your social media platforms. Encourage your followers to share it as well.

Engage with Your Audience: Respond to comments and messages to build a community around your content.

Use Hashtags: Use relevant hashtags to increase the reach of your posts.

11. Regularly Update Your Content

SEO is not a one-time task. Search engines favor fresh, up-to-date content, so it's important to review and update your content regularly.

Steps for Content Maintenance:

Audit Your Content: Periodically review your content for outdated information or broken links.

Refresh Old Content: Update statistics, improve readability, and add new information to keep your content relevant.

Repurpose Content: Turn older content into different formats, such as infographics or videos, to reach a new audience.

12. Monitor Your Performance

Finally, it's essential to track your content's performance. Use analytics tools to see how well your content is ranking, how much traffic it's driving, and what areas need improvement.

Tools for Monitoring SEO:

Google Analytics: Track user behavior, traffic sources, and conversion rates.

Google Search Console: Monitor your site's presence in Google search results, check for errors, and see what keywords are driving traffic.

SEO Tools: Tools like Ahrefs and SEMrush can provide detailed insights into your content's performance and competitive landscape.

Conclusion

Optimizing content for SEO is both an art and a science. By following these steps—understanding your audience, conducting thorough keyword research, crafting compelling titles, writing high-quality content, and continually monitoring your performance—you can create content that not only ranks well in search engines but also provides real value to your readers. Remember, SEO is a long-term investment. With patience and persistence, you'll see your content rise in the search rankings, bringing more organic traffic to your site and achieving your digital marketing goals.

[milkmaannn]

YouTube Ads ecommerce guide: When, how and why

Several DTC ecommerce advertisers are doing admirably well with Facebook Ads.

But I don’t think any brand should depend on a single marketing platform.

I’ve written before about how to bring winning Facebook assets over to Google using a Performance Max campaign that replicates the social experience as best as possible.

Today, I want to make a case for when, how, and why to consider YouTube Ads.

What to know before you begin

YouTube is a unique platform – not truly search, not fully social. It’s part of Google, yet it stands on its own. As a result, it’s not easy to master.

I tackled this in 7 important YouTube Ads lessons every media buyer should know. If you don’t want to click through, here’s the gist.

Facebook and Instagram combined great targeting with a captive audience to shorten the conversion cycle, spoiling other platforms for many advertisers. On YouTube, users either watch content they enjoy or learn how to do something.

YouTube lets you target people based on something they searched for, but they’re not actually searching for it at that moment. This intent lag, combined with the diversity of intent, means the “next step” after YouTube has to be particularly compelling.

A brand with a robust organic YouTube program will outdo one that’s using the platform solely for advertising. They have high-quality content waiting for people who end up on their channel from an ad.

A7: It's funny how many companies don't leave their video ad variations unlisted on YouTube. A lot of times you can just go to their channel and see exactly what they're advertising. #ppcchat

— Joe Martinez (@MilwaukeePPC) August 6, 2019

For brand safety, you can opt out of sensitive categories at the campaign level. Paired with audience and interest targeting, you can effectively lock out people who shouldn’t see your ads.

Google leans heavily on automation, so you have to monitor your campaigns. Even with your targeting absolutely right, you still need to feed data back to Google to improve its decision-making.

The reporting for video action campaigns is more in-depth and robust than many other Google campaigns, including Performance Max. You can take advantage of this to optimize quickly and intelligently.

YouTube fits nicely into a wider marketing or media buying mix, whether you need a new platform to expand your audience or want to scale an existing campaign. But you can only succeed if you know and accept its limitations.

With that in mind, here’s why direct-to-consumer (DTC) ecommerce brands should consider YouTube Ads.

Why YouTube and DTC ecommerce pair well

Remember the frame of mind people are in when they’re browsing YouTube.

You’ve got folks in theater mode, looking for a solution or catching up on content. And you’ve got people scrolling through Shorts, similar to the endless scroll of social media.

But unlike Facebook, ads on YouTube are interruptive. Whether they appear at the start of a video or in the middle, you’re asking for attention when people would rather be doing something else.

But if there’s one thing DTC ecommerce advertisers are good at, it’s thumb-stopping hooks.

Ultimately, both platforms are about the retention graph. Like Facebook, YouTube shows you a chart of how many viewers stay on a video until the end. You’ll want to refer to that chart and tweak your creatives accordingly.

How do you get more people to stay to the end? Make your content more interesting.

With a strong hook and compelling storyline, your “ad” could be anything from a music video to a fix-it guide.

As long as it’s entertaining, people will watch videos several minutes in length because that’s what they came to YouTube for.

Another approach is to build around short-form, snackable content. Take your winning ads from Facebook, chop them up if they’re longer than 60 seconds, and populate your channel with several organic Shorts.

You can use these to start advertising (see below for how to set this up). Any content that does well organically should also do well in the ads platform and vice versa.

5 recommendations for new YouTube advertisers

It’s easy to get things wrong on YouTube, from unrealistic expectations to expecting crystal clear attribution. But with the right approach, an already strong brand will likely be elevated further.

Here are five things you should do to give your brand the best chance of achieving that.

1. Know what you’re getting into

YouTube has over 2.68 billion users, making it the second-largest search engine behind Google. So once you’ve tapped out other networks – Search, Shopping, Performance Max, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and everything else – YouTube offers tremendous scale to diversify further.

Note: Google’s attribution is largely click-based, so you won’t see as many reported conversions. Both your ROAS and CPA will be lower than you’re accustomed to, while campaigns will need more time before you start seeing the results in post-purchase surveys.

2. Understand the platform

YouTube Shorts is particularly interesting, but Google doesn’t offer the ability to create a Shorts-only campaign. There are ways of getting past this – kind of. 

Create a new video action campaign that targets only mobile devices. This somewhat forces the system to go only to mobile devices, and in that format, it tends to lean towards Shorts. 

Be sure to only provide vertical video assets shorter than 60 seconds.

3. Adopt the right mindset

You won’t get the same ROAS you do on Facebook, at least not the same reported ROAS. But it can provide a similar level of incremental revenue and scale. 

Your approach must differ since YouTube is about creating awareness so other platforms can win more conversions. 

Whatever revenue is reported by Google, know that it’s just a drop in the bucket in terms of its incremental impact on your business.

4. Don’t try too much at once

If you go in heavy with YouTube, there’s a good chance you won’t get any results. Start with one campaign and see how things go. YouTube is budget-intensive. 

Without sufficient investment, there’s a good chance that you’ll go months without seeing any scale. Or worse, pull the plug on what could have been a high-potential campaign.

5. Use your own attribution

There’s a strong chance you already use post-purchase surveys to ask customers where they first heard about your brand. This is a good way to find people who discovered you on YouTube but converted elsewhere. 

But it’s self-identifying and not foolproof, so you may wish to consider tools like Northbeam or Triple Whale to measure impact. Just remember, no attribution is ever perfect.

YouTube is the next frontier for high-performing ecommerce brands

I like to think of YouTube Ads clicks as the beginning of a beautiful journey.

Some people go on to become website traffic and enter your remarketing campaigns. Some will join your email list. A few may not click or visit your site but think about you later and look for you by name, eventually entering your funnel via a branded ad.

Naturally, attribution and reporting aren’t robust enough to track all that. So you’ll need to be patient, trust in YouTube as well as your own creatives, and look for incremental correlation rather than causation. This means not testing out other platforms as you expand to YouTube.

Keep in mind what YouTube means to people. It’s a source of entertainment, an escape from reality. A place where people go to have their biases confirmed, problems are solved, and businesses and careers are made.

It’s only natural that users value their time there and have demanding attention spans.

But if you’re sitting on winning assets that offer and align with what they’re looking for, ignoring YouTube is as good as leaving money on the table.

Opinions expressed in this article are those of the guest author and not necessarily Search Engine Land. Staff authors are listed here.

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About the author

Menachem Ani, Founder of JXT Group, is a digital advertising expert with over a decade of success developing high-impact marketing strategies for online retailers and lead-generation clients.

Read more here https://sites.google.com/view/gorilladigitalseo/services/seo-optimization

[bloodyboybreakdowns]

Google Search Console may show more breadcrumb warnings

Google has updated its breadcrumbs rich results report within Google Search Console to potentially show more warnings and notices around structured data issues with your breadcrumb markup. This update started on June 8, 2023 and may result in an increase in the number of warnings that show in that report.

What Google wrote. Google posted the update and said:

“Search Console started to show a warning when sites use the HTML id attribute to specify an ID for Breadcrumb structured data. As a result, you may see an increase in warnings in your Breadcrumb report. See the Breadcrumb documentation for more information on how to specify IDs.”

Google Search breadcrumb. A breadcrumb in Google search is when Google shows the path of where the page is located within the site directly in the search results snippets. “A breadcrumb trail on a page indicates the page’s position in the site hierarchy, and it may help users understand and explore a site effectively,” Google wrote.

Why we care. You may want to check out the breadcrumbs report in Search Console to see if there are any new warnings or errors showing up. You can then decide if you want to address those warnings and resolve any issues that Google may have reported on.

Add Search Engine Land to your Google News feed.    

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New on Search Engine Land

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About the author

Barry Schwartz a Contributing Editor to Search Engine Land and a member of the programming team for SMX events. He owns RustyBrick, a NY based web consulting firm. He also runs Search Engine Roundtable, a popular search blog on very advanced SEM topics. Barry can be followed on Twitter here.

Read more here https://sites.google.com/view/gorilladigitalseo/services/social-channels-management

[rainfestive]

Google Search Console may show more breadcrumb warnings

Google has updated its breadcrumbs rich results report within Google Search Console to potentially show more warnings and notices around structured data issues with your breadcrumb markup. This update started on June 8, 2023 and may result in an increase in the number of warnings that show in that report.

What Google wrote. Google posted the update and said:

“Search Console started to show a warning when sites use the HTML id attribute to specify an ID for Breadcrumb structured data. As a result, you may see an increase in warnings in your Breadcrumb report. See the Breadcrumb documentation for more information on how to specify IDs.”

Google Search breadcrumb. A breadcrumb in Google search is when Google shows the path of where the page is located within the site directly in the search results snippets. “A breadcrumb trail on a page indicates the page’s position in the site hierarchy, and it may help users understand and explore a site effectively,” Google wrote.

Why we care. You may want to check out the breadcrumbs report in Search Console to see if there are any new warnings or errors showing up. You can then decide if you want to address those warnings and resolve any issues that Google may have reported on.

Add Search Engine Land to your Google News feed.    

Related stories

New on Search Engine Land

<![CDATA[ @media screen and (min-width: 800px) #div-gpt-ad-3191538-7 display: flex !important; justify-content: center !important; align-items: center !important; min-width:770px; min-height:260px; @media screen and (min-width: 1279px) #div-gpt-ad-3191538-7 display: flex !important; justify-content: center !important; align-items: center !important; min-width:800px!important; min-height:440px!important; ]]>

About the author

Barry Schwartz a Contributing Editor to Search Engine Land and a member of the programming team for SMX events. He owns RustyBrick, a NY based web consulting firm. He also runs Search Engine Roundtable, a popular search blog on very advanced SEM topics. Barry can be followed on Twitter here.

Read more here https://sites.google.com/view/gorilladigitalseo/services/social-channels-management

[atwhisky]

How to build your own SEO ‘second brain’ (and why you need it)

Whether you’re an internal SEO whiz or a digital agency pro, chances are you’ve experienced one or more of these all-too-familiar problems:

Feeling drowned in an ocean of ever-evolving industry trends.

Spending forever in the set-up phase, building deliverable trackers, audit sheets, keyword map templates, content briefs, and backlog grooming can feel like you’re on a never-ending treadmill.

Yes, I’ve been there too. I felt the relentless churn and knew that something had to shift dramatically if I wanted to continue growing as an SEO. 

This realization led me to discover the game-changing concept of building a “second brain,” an idea popularized by Tiago Forte. 

I’ve since applied this concept to my own SEO practices. Below, I’ll cover how you can build your own SEO second brain.

Why you should consider building an SEO second brain 

Before building a second brain, let’s examine what an organic brain excels at and where it falls short. Here’s a quick snapshot:

Our brains are great at:

Generating original ideas.

Interconnecting ideas and spinning compelling narratives.

Fostering empathy with others.

But terrible at:

Retaining information over a prolonged period.

Segmenting and categorizing stored data.

Retrieving and applying stored information.

By delegating the latter tasks to an external database or a “second brain,” you can better store and retrieve crucial documentation, templates, and key learnings between websites.

Most importantly, never again will you forget crucial information when you most need it.

How to start building your own SEO second brain

Building your second brain may seem daunting initially, but take it one step at a time, and you’ll get there. Start with the following steps and tips:

Selecting the right tools to suit the way you work

Structuring your second brain with the PARA system

Operating your second brain: Start with idea capturing

A quick walkthrough of my own SEO second brain

You can use plenty of systems and platforms to build a second brain. It all comes down to your preference and which platform you’re most comfortable with. 

I use Notion to build my SEO second brain (and operate most of my SEO projects), so I’ll use examples from Notion throughout this article.

A great way to identify which tool to use for building your SEO second brain is to get to know your style of information organization. Here are some examples Forte mentions:

The architect: Prefers systematizing information in a hierarchical manner, focusing on large-scale projects and using a systems mindset. They have to be careful not to force information into their system when it doesn’t fit. Apps like Notion and Craft are well-suited to this style.

The gardener: Thrives on cultivating many ideas at the same time, favoring relationships and connections. They must beware of getting easily distracted by new, unrelated information. Apps like Obsidian and Roam are well-suited to this style.

The librarian: Practical and project-oriented, they like to capture information from diverse sources and curate a collection of knowledge. Their pitfall might be amassing content without using it. Apps like Evernote and Microsoft OneNote are well-suited to this style.

The student: Usually new to knowledge management or focusing on a specific part of their life. They favor ease of use and avoid complexity. Apps like Apple Notes or Google Keep are well-suited to this style.

Structuring your second brain with the PARA system 

The PARA system stands for:

Projects: Specific tasks linked to a goal or deadline.

Areas: Responsibilities that need to be maintained over time.

Resources: A topic or theme of ongoing interest.

Archives: Inactive items from the other three categories.

Here are some examples of which SEO tasks suit each category.

Projects: Your most important and time-sensitive tasks.

Example: Optimize the internal linking structure for a core landing page by the end of the week.

Areas: Your ongoing optimization efforts and routine tasks.

Example: Create monthly performance reports.

Resources: Shared credentials and background information.

Example: CMS logins and target personas.

Archives: Completed tasks and documentation

Example: Title tags updated over the past 24 months.

I’ve adopted some version of the PARA framework to manage SEO campaigns for 35+ websites. 

It’s a game-changer to help me get the most impactful tasks done first and still deliver on smaller issues.

But how does this help me better manage SEO projects?

Traditionally, SEOs tend to structure our work into static categories like keyword research, technical audit, link building, and content production. However, this doesn’t mirror the dynamic nature of SEO projects.

This conventional and static way of organizing information is like categorizing your kitchen by individual ingredients rather than usage and priority (a fun analogy credited to Forte). 

Wouldn’t it be odd to organize your kitchen by carrots, potatoes, and fruits rather than stovetop items, pantry goods, and fridge contents?

Like kitchens, static file structures can lead to “cross-contamination” between outdated and fresh documents, making it challenging to locate the most relevant information quickly.

Enter the PARA framework – a dynamic solution reflecting the shifting priorities of an SEO project:

Immediate concerns reside in the Project folder.

Ongoing work belongs to the Area folder.

Thematic and research material is kept in the Resources folder.

Completed tasks and old data go into the Archives folder.

This way, PARA keeps your SEO project fluid, organized, and current.

Operating your second brain: Start with idea capturing

Let’s say you’ve built an SEO second brain of your own. How do you go about using it in the best way possible?

For me, it’s all about idea capturing. This is the act of quickly and effortlessly storing information you’ve encountered throughout the day in a temporary repository.

It’s the single most important mechanism to master in operating a second brain.

That’s because it enables me to quickly and passively store new information in a temporary space of my second brain so that I can later revisit and move it to relevant sections of the brain.

These can include:

Important algorithm or industry updates.

Interesting articles on new tactics I can apply to my own websites.

Add meeting notes and recordings throughout the day.

Insightful conversations I’ve had with my colleagues.

I’ve built an empty page in my second brain called the Idea Capturing Station, meant to do just this, keeping it immediately accessible to me at all times on both desktop and mobile.

Here’s an example of how I quickly capture an interesting article on desktop:

And here’s how I quickly capture a new idea on mobile:

A quick walkthrough of my own SEO second brain

Here’s a quick snapshot of what my SEO second brain dashboard looks like.

Each of these individual areas, like Project Timeline, is then linked to separate databases where I store and organize information hierarchically. That’s right. I’m a classic architect when it comes to information organization.

In reality, however, I rarely use this dashboard. I use the tool’s internal search function to find specific areas of my second brain I want to navigate to. 

For instance, if I’d like to find one of my project timelines, I can search for it and hop straight to it like so.

Building reusable templates

One of the most useful “powers” of this second brain is its ability to create reusable templates, giving me an almost instant set-up each time we onboard a new client at my agency.

With just a few clicks, I am able to populate a full SEO roadmap timeline, each broken into tickets with specified templates to be delegated to team members and shared with clients. Here are a few examples:

Keyword mapping

Content production

Documentation at hand

What about that time you forgot a key piece of information or statistic while meeting with stakeholders?

I have a database called the Knowledge Bank that allows me to pull up key information to reference at all times.

Let’s say I’m trying to convince some stakeholders that it can be worthwhile pursuing keywords with “zero search volume.” 

In the middle of the conversation, I vaguely recall having read an article by Steve Toff on discovering zero search volume keywords, showing strong evidence of their ROI potential.

In this case, I can quickly search for the article on my second brain and reference the article almost instantly.

How to make the most of your second brain? Exercise it! 

My second brain is far from complete and probably always will be (very much like our organic brains!). 

The key here is to exercise our SEO second brain regularly so that we get better at using it to store, retrieve and synthesize information.

Once you’re familiar, extend your second brain to other domains of life!

Our second brain goes far beyond SEO at Criclabs, the digital agency I’m running. We use it to track new hires, document company processes, run employee portals and more.

The good news is many of us already have an SEO second brain in the works, whether we know it or not. If you have a shared drive to store information or occasionally take notes on your phone, your SEO second brain is already on its way. 

What you can do now is what we SEOs know best, optimize it!

Opinions expressed in this article are those of the guest author and not necessarily Search Engine Land. Staff authors are listed here.

Add Search Engine Land to your Google News feed.    

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About the author

Toon is an organic growth expert and co-founder of Criclabs, a digital agency based in Bangkok. He's worked with global brands like Electrolux, Greenpeace, and a multitude of startups deliver organic growth to their digital products.

Read more here https://sites.google.com/view/gorilladigitalseo/home

[homesickforthesonoran]

How to build your own SEO ‘second brain’ (and why you need it)

Whether you’re an internal SEO whiz or a digital agency pro, chances are you’ve experienced one or more of these all-too-familiar problems:

Feeling drowned in an ocean of ever-evolving industry trends.

Spending forever in the set-up phase, building deliverable trackers, audit sheets, keyword map templates, content briefs, and backlog grooming can feel like you’re on a never-ending treadmill.

Yes, I’ve been there too. I felt the relentless churn and knew that something had to shift dramatically if I wanted to continue growing as an SEO. 

This realization led me to discover the game-changing concept of building a “second brain,” an idea popularized by Tiago Forte. 

I’ve since applied this concept to my own SEO practices. Below, I’ll cover how you can build your own SEO second brain.

Why you should consider building an SEO second brain 

Before building a second brain, let’s examine what an organic brain excels at and where it falls short. Here’s a quick snapshot:

Our brains are great at:

Generating original ideas.

Interconnecting ideas and spinning compelling narratives.

Fostering empathy with others.

But terrible at:

Retaining information over a prolonged period.

Segmenting and categorizing stored data.

Retrieving and applying stored information.

By delegating the latter tasks to an external database or a “second brain,” you can better store and retrieve crucial documentation, templates, and key learnings between websites.

Most importantly, never again will you forget crucial information when you most need it.

How to start building your own SEO second brain

Building your second brain may seem daunting initially, but take it one step at a time, and you’ll get there. Start with the following steps and tips:

Selecting the right tools to suit the way you work

Structuring your second brain with the PARA system

Operating your second brain: Start with idea capturing

A quick walkthrough of my own SEO second brain

You can use plenty of systems and platforms to build a second brain. It all comes down to your preference and which platform you’re most comfortable with. 

I use Notion to build my SEO second brain (and operate most of my SEO projects), so I’ll use examples from Notion throughout this article.

A great way to identify which tool to use for building your SEO second brain is to get to know your style of information organization. Here are some examples Forte mentions:

The architect: Prefers systematizing information in a hierarchical manner, focusing on large-scale projects and using a systems mindset. They have to be careful not to force information into their system when it doesn’t fit. Apps like Notion and Craft are well-suited to this style.

The gardener: Thrives on cultivating many ideas at the same time, favoring relationships and connections. They must beware of getting easily distracted by new, unrelated information. Apps like Obsidian and Roam are well-suited to this style.

The librarian: Practical and project-oriented, they like to capture information from diverse sources and curate a collection of knowledge. Their pitfall might be amassing content without using it. Apps like Evernote and Microsoft OneNote are well-suited to this style.

The student: Usually new to knowledge management or focusing on a specific part of their life. They favor ease of use and avoid complexity. Apps like Apple Notes or Google Keep are well-suited to this style.

Structuring your second brain with the PARA system 

The PARA system stands for:

Projects: Specific tasks linked to a goal or deadline.

Areas: Responsibilities that need to be maintained over time.

Resources: A topic or theme of ongoing interest.

Archives: Inactive items from the other three categories.

Here are some examples of which SEO tasks suit each category.

Projects: Your most important and time-sensitive tasks.

Example: Optimize the internal linking structure for a core landing page by the end of the week.

Areas: Your ongoing optimization efforts and routine tasks.

Example: Create monthly performance reports.

Resources: Shared credentials and background information.

Example: CMS logins and target personas.

Archives: Completed tasks and documentation

Example: Title tags updated over the past 24 months.

I’ve adopted some version of the PARA framework to manage SEO campaigns for 35+ websites. 

It’s a game-changer to help me get the most impactful tasks done first and still deliver on smaller issues.

But how does this help me better manage SEO projects?

Traditionally, SEOs tend to structure our work into static categories like keyword research, technical audit, link building, and content production. However, this doesn’t mirror the dynamic nature of SEO projects.

This conventional and static way of organizing information is like categorizing your kitchen by individual ingredients rather than usage and priority (a fun analogy credited to Forte). 

Wouldn’t it be odd to organize your kitchen by carrots, potatoes, and fruits rather than stovetop items, pantry goods, and fridge contents?

Like kitchens, static file structures can lead to “cross-contamination” between outdated and fresh documents, making it challenging to locate the most relevant information quickly.

Enter the PARA framework – a dynamic solution reflecting the shifting priorities of an SEO project:

Immediate concerns reside in the Project folder.

Ongoing work belongs to the Area folder.

Thematic and research material is kept in the Resources folder.

Completed tasks and old data go into the Archives folder.

This way, PARA keeps your SEO project fluid, organized, and current.

Operating your second brain: Start with idea capturing

Let’s say you’ve built an SEO second brain of your own. How do you go about using it in the best way possible?

For me, it’s all about idea capturing. This is the act of quickly and effortlessly storing information you’ve encountered throughout the day in a temporary repository.

It’s the single most important mechanism to master in operating a second brain.

That’s because it enables me to quickly and passively store new information in a temporary space of my second brain so that I can later revisit and move it to relevant sections of the brain.

These can include:

Important algorithm or industry updates.

Interesting articles on new tactics I can apply to my own websites.

Add meeting notes and recordings throughout the day.

Insightful conversations I’ve had with my colleagues.

I’ve built an empty page in my second brain called the Idea Capturing Station, meant to do just this, keeping it immediately accessible to me at all times on both desktop and mobile.

Here’s an example of how I quickly capture an interesting article on desktop:

And here’s how I quickly capture a new idea on mobile:

A quick walkthrough of my own SEO second brain

Here’s a quick snapshot of what my SEO second brain dashboard looks like.

Each of these individual areas, like Project Timeline, is then linked to separate databases where I store and organize information hierarchically. That’s right. I’m a classic architect when it comes to information organization.

In reality, however, I rarely use this dashboard. I use the tool’s internal search function to find specific areas of my second brain I want to navigate to. 

For instance, if I’d like to find one of my project timelines, I can search for it and hop straight to it like so.

Building reusable templates

One of the most useful “powers” of this second brain is its ability to create reusable templates, giving me an almost instant set-up each time we onboard a new client at my agency.

With just a few clicks, I am able to populate a full SEO roadmap timeline, each broken into tickets with specified templates to be delegated to team members and shared with clients. Here are a few examples:

Keyword mapping

Content production

Documentation at hand

What about that time you forgot a key piece of information or statistic while meeting with stakeholders?

I have a database called the Knowledge Bank that allows me to pull up key information to reference at all times.

Let’s say I’m trying to convince some stakeholders that it can be worthwhile pursuing keywords with “zero search volume.” 

In the middle of the conversation, I vaguely recall having read an article by Steve Toff on discovering zero search volume keywords, showing strong evidence of their ROI potential.

In this case, I can quickly search for the article on my second brain and reference the article almost instantly.

How to make the most of your second brain? Exercise it! 

My second brain is far from complete and probably always will be (very much like our organic brains!). 

The key here is to exercise our SEO second brain regularly so that we get better at using it to store, retrieve and synthesize information.

Once you’re familiar, extend your second brain to other domains of life!

Our second brain goes far beyond SEO at Criclabs, the digital agency I’m running. We use it to track new hires, document company processes, run employee portals and more.

The good news is many of us already have an SEO second brain in the works, whether we know it or not. If you have a shared drive to store information or occasionally take notes on your phone, your SEO second brain is already on its way. 

What you can do now is what we SEOs know best, optimize it!

Opinions expressed in this article are those of the guest author and not necessarily Search Engine Land. Staff authors are listed here.

Add Search Engine Land to your Google News feed.    

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About the author

Toon is an organic growth expert and co-founder of Criclabs, a digital agency based in Bangkok. He's worked with global brands like Electrolux, Greenpeace, and a multitude of startups deliver organic growth to their digital products.

Read more here https://sites.google.com/view/gorilladigitalseo/home

[sailor-italian-coconut]

Google Search Console may show more breadcrumb warnings

Google has updated its breadcrumbs rich results report within Google Search Console to potentially show more warnings and notices around structured data issues with your breadcrumb markup. This update started on June 8, 2023 and may result in an increase in the number of warnings that show in that report.

What Google wrote. Google posted the update and said:

“Search Console started to show a warning when sites use the HTML id attribute to specify an ID for Breadcrumb structured data. As a result, you may see an increase in warnings in your Breadcrumb report. See the Breadcrumb documentation for more information on how to specify IDs.”

Google Search breadcrumb. A breadcrumb in Google search is when Google shows the path of where the page is located within the site directly in the search results snippets. “A breadcrumb trail on a page indicates the page’s position in the site hierarchy, and it may help users understand and explore a site effectively,” Google wrote.

Why we care. You may want to check out the breadcrumbs report in Search Console to see if there are any new warnings or errors showing up. You can then decide if you want to address those warnings and resolve any issues that Google may have reported on.

Add Search Engine Land to your Google News feed.    

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About the author

Barry Schwartz a Contributing Editor to Search Engine Land and a member of the programming team for SMX events. He owns RustyBrick, a NY based web consulting firm. He also runs Search Engine Roundtable, a popular search blog on very advanced SEM topics. Barry can be followed on Twitter here.

Read more here https://sites.google.com/view/gorilladigitalseo/services/social-channels-management

[melatonin-groove]

YouTube Ads ecommerce guide: When, how and why

Several DTC ecommerce advertisers are doing admirably well with Facebook Ads.

But I don’t think any brand should depend on a single marketing platform.

I’ve written before about how to bring winning Facebook assets over to Google using a Performance Max campaign that replicates the social experience as best as possible.

Today, I want to make a case for when, how, and why to consider YouTube Ads.

What to know before you begin

YouTube is a unique platform – not truly search, not fully social. It’s part of Google, yet it stands on its own. As a result, it’s not easy to master.

I tackled this in 7 important YouTube Ads lessons every media buyer should know. If you don’t want to click through, here’s the gist.

Facebook and Instagram combined great targeting with a captive audience to shorten the conversion cycle, spoiling other platforms for many advertisers. On YouTube, users either watch content they enjoy or learn how to do something.

YouTube lets you target people based on something they searched for, but they’re not actually searching for it at that moment. This intent lag, combined with the diversity of intent, means the “next step” after YouTube has to be particularly compelling.

A brand with a robust organic YouTube program will outdo one that’s using the platform solely for advertising. They have high-quality content waiting for people who end up on their channel from an ad.

A7: It's funny how many companies don't leave their video ad variations unlisted on YouTube. A lot of times you can just go to their channel and see exactly what they're advertising. #ppcchat

— Joe Martinez (@MilwaukeePPC) August 6, 2019

For brand safety, you can opt out of sensitive categories at the campaign level. Paired with audience and interest targeting, you can effectively lock out people who shouldn’t see your ads.

Google leans heavily on automation, so you have to monitor your campaigns. Even with your targeting absolutely right, you still need to feed data back to Google to improve its decision-making.

The reporting for video action campaigns is more in-depth and robust than many other Google campaigns, including Performance Max. You can take advantage of this to optimize quickly and intelligently.

YouTube fits nicely into a wider marketing or media buying mix, whether you need a new platform to expand your audience or want to scale an existing campaign. But you can only succeed if you know and accept its limitations.

With that in mind, here’s why direct-to-consumer (DTC) ecommerce brands should consider YouTube Ads.

Why YouTube and DTC ecommerce pair well

Remember the frame of mind people are in when they’re browsing YouTube.

You’ve got folks in theater mode, looking for a solution or catching up on content. And you’ve got people scrolling through Shorts, similar to the endless scroll of social media.

But unlike Facebook, ads on YouTube are interruptive. Whether they appear at the start of a video or in the middle, you’re asking for attention when people would rather be doing something else.

But if there’s one thing DTC ecommerce advertisers are good at, it’s thumb-stopping hooks.

Ultimately, both platforms are about the retention graph. Like Facebook, YouTube shows you a chart of how many viewers stay on a video until the end. You’ll want to refer to that chart and tweak your creatives accordingly.

How do you get more people to stay to the end? Make your content more interesting.

With a strong hook and compelling storyline, your “ad” could be anything from a music video to a fix-it guide.

As long as it’s entertaining, people will watch videos several minutes in length because that’s what they came to YouTube for.

Another approach is to build around short-form, snackable content. Take your winning ads from Facebook, chop them up if they’re longer than 60 seconds, and populate your channel with several organic Shorts.

You can use these to start advertising (see below for how to set this up). Any content that does well organically should also do well in the ads platform and vice versa.

5 recommendations for new YouTube advertisers

It’s easy to get things wrong on YouTube, from unrealistic expectations to expecting crystal clear attribution. But with the right approach, an already strong brand will likely be elevated further.

Here are five things you should do to give your brand the best chance of achieving that.

1. Know what you’re getting into

YouTube has over 2.68 billion users, making it the second-largest search engine behind Google. So once you’ve tapped out other networks – Search, Shopping, Performance Max, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and everything else – YouTube offers tremendous scale to diversify further.

Note: Google’s attribution is largely click-based, so you won’t see as many reported conversions. Both your ROAS and CPA will be lower than you’re accustomed to, while campaigns will need more time before you start seeing the results in post-purchase surveys.

2. Understand the platform

YouTube Shorts is particularly interesting, but Google doesn’t offer the ability to create a Shorts-only campaign. There are ways of getting past this – kind of. 

Create a new video action campaign that targets only mobile devices. This somewhat forces the system to go only to mobile devices, and in that format, it tends to lean towards Shorts. 

Be sure to only provide vertical video assets shorter than 60 seconds.

3. Adopt the right mindset

You won’t get the same ROAS you do on Facebook, at least not the same reported ROAS. But it can provide a similar level of incremental revenue and scale. 

Your approach must differ since YouTube is about creating awareness so other platforms can win more conversions. 

Whatever revenue is reported by Google, know that it’s just a drop in the bucket in terms of its incremental impact on your business.

4. Don’t try too much at once

If you go in heavy with YouTube, there’s a good chance you won’t get any results. Start with one campaign and see how things go. YouTube is budget-intensive. 

Without sufficient investment, there’s a good chance that you’ll go months without seeing any scale. Or worse, pull the plug on what could have been a high-potential campaign.

5. Use your own attribution

There’s a strong chance you already use post-purchase surveys to ask customers where they first heard about your brand. This is a good way to find people who discovered you on YouTube but converted elsewhere. 

But it’s self-identifying and not foolproof, so you may wish to consider tools like Northbeam or Triple Whale to measure impact. Just remember, no attribution is ever perfect.

YouTube is the next frontier for high-performing ecommerce brands

I like to think of YouTube Ads clicks as the beginning of a beautiful journey.

Some people go on to become website traffic and enter your remarketing campaigns. Some will join your email list. A few may not click or visit your site but think about you later and look for you by name, eventually entering your funnel via a branded ad.

Naturally, attribution and reporting aren’t robust enough to track all that. So you’ll need to be patient, trust in YouTube as well as your own creatives, and look for incremental correlation rather than causation. This means not testing out other platforms as you expand to YouTube.

Keep in mind what YouTube means to people. It’s a source of entertainment, an escape from reality. A place where people go to have their biases confirmed, problems are solved, and businesses and careers are made.

It’s only natural that users value their time there and have demanding attention spans.

But if you’re sitting on winning assets that offer and align with what they’re looking for, ignoring YouTube is as good as leaving money on the table.

Opinions expressed in this article are those of the guest author and not necessarily Search Engine Land. Staff authors are listed here.

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About the author

Menachem Ani, Founder of JXT Group, is a digital advertising expert with over a decade of success developing high-impact marketing strategies for online retailers and lead-generation clients.

Read more here https://sites.google.com/view/gorilladigitalseo/services/seo-optimization

[beyond4baked20]

How to build your own SEO ‘second brain’ (and why you need it)

Whether you’re an internal SEO whiz or a digital agency pro, chances are you’ve experienced one or more of these all-too-familiar problems:

Feeling drowned in an ocean of ever-evolving industry trends.

Spending forever in the set-up phase, building deliverable trackers, audit sheets, keyword map templates, content briefs, and backlog grooming can feel like you’re on a never-ending treadmill.

Yes, I’ve been there too. I felt the relentless churn and knew that something had to shift dramatically if I wanted to continue growing as an SEO. 

This realization led me to discover the game-changing concept of building a “second brain,” an idea popularized by Tiago Forte. 

I’ve since applied this concept to my own SEO practices. Below, I’ll cover how you can build your own SEO second brain.

Why you should consider building an SEO second brain 

Before building a second brain, let’s examine what an organic brain excels at and where it falls short. Here’s a quick snapshot:

Our brains are great at:

Generating original ideas.

Interconnecting ideas and spinning compelling narratives.

Fostering empathy with others.

But terrible at:

Retaining information over a prolonged period.

Segmenting and categorizing stored data.

Retrieving and applying stored information.

By delegating the latter tasks to an external database or a “second brain,” you can better store and retrieve crucial documentation, templates, and key learnings between websites.

Most importantly, never again will you forget crucial information when you most need it.

How to start building your own SEO second brain

Building your second brain may seem daunting initially, but take it one step at a time, and you’ll get there. Start with the following steps and tips:

Selecting the right tools to suit the way you work

Structuring your second brain with the PARA system

Operating your second brain: Start with idea capturing

A quick walkthrough of my own SEO second brain

You can use plenty of systems and platforms to build a second brain. It all comes down to your preference and which platform you’re most comfortable with. 

I use Notion to build my SEO second brain (and operate most of my SEO projects), so I’ll use examples from Notion throughout this article.

A great way to identify which tool to use for building your SEO second brain is to get to know your style of information organization. Here are some examples Forte mentions:

The architect: Prefers systematizing information in a hierarchical manner, focusing on large-scale projects and using a systems mindset. They have to be careful not to force information into their system when it doesn’t fit. Apps like Notion and Craft are well-suited to this style.

The gardener: Thrives on cultivating many ideas at the same time, favoring relationships and connections. They must beware of getting easily distracted by new, unrelated information. Apps like Obsidian and Roam are well-suited to this style.

The librarian: Practical and project-oriented, they like to capture information from diverse sources and curate a collection of knowledge. Their pitfall might be amassing content without using it. Apps like Evernote and Microsoft OneNote are well-suited to this style.

The student: Usually new to knowledge management or focusing on a specific part of their life. They favor ease of use and avoid complexity. Apps like Apple Notes or Google Keep are well-suited to this style.

Structuring your second brain with the PARA system 

The PARA system stands for:

Projects: Specific tasks linked to a goal or deadline.

Areas: Responsibilities that need to be maintained over time.

Resources: A topic or theme of ongoing interest.

Archives: Inactive items from the other three categories.

Here are some examples of which SEO tasks suit each category.

Projects: Your most important and time-sensitive tasks.

Example: Optimize the internal linking structure for a core landing page by the end of the week.

Areas: Your ongoing optimization efforts and routine tasks.

Example: Create monthly performance reports.

Resources: Shared credentials and background information.

Example: CMS logins and target personas.

Archives: Completed tasks and documentation

Example: Title tags updated over the past 24 months.

I’ve adopted some version of the PARA framework to manage SEO campaigns for 35+ websites. 

It’s a game-changer to help me get the most impactful tasks done first and still deliver on smaller issues.

But how does this help me better manage SEO projects?

Traditionally, SEOs tend to structure our work into static categories like keyword research, technical audit, link building, and content production. However, this doesn’t mirror the dynamic nature of SEO projects.

This conventional and static way of organizing information is like categorizing your kitchen by individual ingredients rather than usage and priority (a fun analogy credited to Forte). 

Wouldn’t it be odd to organize your kitchen by carrots, potatoes, and fruits rather than stovetop items, pantry goods, and fridge contents?

Like kitchens, static file structures can lead to “cross-contamination” between outdated and fresh documents, making it challenging to locate the most relevant information quickly.

Enter the PARA framework – a dynamic solution reflecting the shifting priorities of an SEO project:

Immediate concerns reside in the Project folder.

Ongoing work belongs to the Area folder.

Thematic and research material is kept in the Resources folder.

Completed tasks and old data go into the Archives folder.

This way, PARA keeps your SEO project fluid, organized, and current.

Operating your second brain: Start with idea capturing

Let’s say you’ve built an SEO second brain of your own. How do you go about using it in the best way possible?

For me, it’s all about idea capturing. This is the act of quickly and effortlessly storing information you’ve encountered throughout the day in a temporary repository.

It’s the single most important mechanism to master in operating a second brain.

That’s because it enables me to quickly and passively store new information in a temporary space of my second brain so that I can later revisit and move it to relevant sections of the brain.

These can include:

Important algorithm or industry updates.

Interesting articles on new tactics I can apply to my own websites.

Add meeting notes and recordings throughout the day.

Insightful conversations I’ve had with my colleagues.

I’ve built an empty page in my second brain called the Idea Capturing Station, meant to do just this, keeping it immediately accessible to me at all times on both desktop and mobile.

Here’s an example of how I quickly capture an interesting article on desktop:

And here’s how I quickly capture a new idea on mobile:

A quick walkthrough of my own SEO second brain

Here’s a quick snapshot of what my SEO second brain dashboard looks like.

Each of these individual areas, like Project Timeline, is then linked to separate databases where I store and organize information hierarchically. That’s right. I’m a classic architect when it comes to information organization.

In reality, however, I rarely use this dashboard. I use the tool’s internal search function to find specific areas of my second brain I want to navigate to. 

For instance, if I’d like to find one of my project timelines, I can search for it and hop straight to it like so.

Building reusable templates

One of the most useful “powers” of this second brain is its ability to create reusable templates, giving me an almost instant set-up each time we onboard a new client at my agency.

With just a few clicks, I am able to populate a full SEO roadmap timeline, each broken into tickets with specified templates to be delegated to team members and shared with clients. Here are a few examples:

Keyword mapping

Content production

Documentation at hand

What about that time you forgot a key piece of information or statistic while meeting with stakeholders?

I have a database called the Knowledge Bank that allows me to pull up key information to reference at all times.

Let’s say I’m trying to convince some stakeholders that it can be worthwhile pursuing keywords with “zero search volume.” 

In the middle of the conversation, I vaguely recall having read an article by Steve Toff on discovering zero search volume keywords, showing strong evidence of their ROI potential.

In this case, I can quickly search for the article on my second brain and reference the article almost instantly.

How to make the most of your second brain? Exercise it! 

My second brain is far from complete and probably always will be (very much like our organic brains!). 

The key here is to exercise our SEO second brain regularly so that we get better at using it to store, retrieve and synthesize information.

Once you’re familiar, extend your second brain to other domains of life!

Our second brain goes far beyond SEO at Criclabs, the digital agency I’m running. We use it to track new hires, document company processes, run employee portals and more.

The good news is many of us already have an SEO second brain in the works, whether we know it or not. If you have a shared drive to store information or occasionally take notes on your phone, your SEO second brain is already on its way. 

What you can do now is what we SEOs know best, optimize it!

Opinions expressed in this article are those of the guest author and not necessarily Search Engine Land. Staff authors are listed here.

Add Search Engine Land to your Google News feed.    

Related stories

New on Search Engine Land

<![CDATA[ @media screen and (min-width: 800px) #div-gpt-ad-3191538-7 display: flex !important; justify-content: center !important; align-items: center !important; min-width:770px; min-height:260px; @media screen and (min-width: 1279px) #div-gpt-ad-3191538-7 display: flex !important; justify-content: center !important; align-items: center !important; min-width:800px!important; min-height:440px!important; ]]>

About the author

Toon is an organic growth expert and co-founder of Criclabs, a digital agency based in Bangkok. He's worked with global brands like Electrolux, Greenpeace, and a multitude of startups deliver organic growth to their digital products.

Read more here https://sites.google.com/view/gorilladigitalseo/home

[helpyoudraw]

The Significance of Online Marketing for Your Business

""

In today's electronic age, having a strong on the internet visibility is necessary for any type of business to prosper. One of the essential elements of an effective on-line visibility is online marketing. Online marketing, also called online advertising and marketing or electronic advertising and marketing, is the practice of promoting a services or product utilizing various online networks such as social media, online search engine, email, as well as websites.Internet advertising

uses numerous advantages for services of all dimensions. One of the largest advantages is the ability to reach a broader audience. With over 4 billion net individuals worldwide, companies can target and also communicate with possible customers from all over the globe. Additionally, online marketing permits businesses to track as well as evaluate their advertising initiatives in real-time, giving useful insights right into what jobs and what does not. This information can be made use of to maximize marketing techniques and increase roi(ROI ). Finally, net advertising is an important tool for any kind of company seeking to prosper in today's electronic age. By making use of numerous online channels, businesses can enhance their on the internet existence, get to a larger audience, and also drive more sales. To get going with web marketing, companies ought to first determine their target market and establish a thorough approach that includes social networks advertising and marketing, search engine optimization(SEO), e-mail marketing, and also internet site optimization.

Read more here https://sites.google.com/view/gorilladigitalseo/services/social-channels-management

[neighbour-art]

How to build your own SEO ‘second brain’ (and why you need it)

Whether you’re an internal SEO whiz or a digital agency pro, chances are you’ve experienced one or more of these all-too-familiar problems:

Feeling drowned in an ocean of ever-evolving industry trends.

Spending forever in the set-up phase, building deliverable trackers, audit sheets, keyword map templates, content briefs, and backlog grooming can feel like you’re on a never-ending treadmill.

Yes, I’ve been there too. I felt the relentless churn and knew that something had to shift dramatically if I wanted to continue growing as an SEO. 

This realization led me to discover the game-changing concept of building a “second brain,” an idea popularized by Tiago Forte. 

I’ve since applied this concept to my own SEO practices. Below, I’ll cover how you can build your own SEO second brain.

Why you should consider building an SEO second brain 

Before building a second brain, let’s examine what an organic brain excels at and where it falls short. Here’s a quick snapshot:

Our brains are great at:

Generating original ideas.

Interconnecting ideas and spinning compelling narratives.

Fostering empathy with others.

But terrible at:

Retaining information over a prolonged period.

Segmenting and categorizing stored data.

Retrieving and applying stored information.

By delegating the latter tasks to an external database or a “second brain,” you can better store and retrieve crucial documentation, templates, and key learnings between websites.

Most importantly, never again will you forget crucial information when you most need it.

How to start building your own SEO second brain

Building your second brain may seem daunting initially, but take it one step at a time, and you’ll get there. Start with the following steps and tips:

Selecting the right tools to suit the way you work

Structuring your second brain with the PARA system

Operating your second brain: Start with idea capturing

A quick walkthrough of my own SEO second brain

You can use plenty of systems and platforms to build a second brain. It all comes down to your preference and which platform you’re most comfortable with. 

I use Notion to build my SEO second brain (and operate most of my SEO projects), so I’ll use examples from Notion throughout this article.

A great way to identify which tool to use for building your SEO second brain is to get to know your style of information organization. Here are some examples Forte mentions:

The architect: Prefers systematizing information in a hierarchical manner, focusing on large-scale projects and using a systems mindset. They have to be careful not to force information into their system when it doesn’t fit. Apps like Notion and Craft are well-suited to this style.

The gardener: Thrives on cultivating many ideas at the same time, favoring relationships and connections. They must beware of getting easily distracted by new, unrelated information. Apps like Obsidian and Roam are well-suited to this style.

The librarian: Practical and project-oriented, they like to capture information from diverse sources and curate a collection of knowledge. Their pitfall might be amassing content without using it. Apps like Evernote and Microsoft OneNote are well-suited to this style.

The student: Usually new to knowledge management or focusing on a specific part of their life. They favor ease of use and avoid complexity. Apps like Apple Notes or Google Keep are well-suited to this style.

Structuring your second brain with the PARA system 

The PARA system stands for:

Projects: Specific tasks linked to a goal or deadline.

Areas: Responsibilities that need to be maintained over time.

Resources: A topic or theme of ongoing interest.

Archives: Inactive items from the other three categories.

Here are some examples of which SEO tasks suit each category.

Projects: Your most important and time-sensitive tasks.

Example: Optimize the internal linking structure for a core landing page by the end of the week.

Areas: Your ongoing optimization efforts and routine tasks.

Example: Create monthly performance reports.

Resources: Shared credentials and background information.

Example: CMS logins and target personas.

Archives: Completed tasks and documentation

Example: Title tags updated over the past 24 months.

I’ve adopted some version of the PARA framework to manage SEO campaigns for 35+ websites. 

It’s a game-changer to help me get the most impactful tasks done first and still deliver on smaller issues.

But how does this help me better manage SEO projects?

Traditionally, SEOs tend to structure our work into static categories like keyword research, technical audit, link building, and content production. However, this doesn’t mirror the dynamic nature of SEO projects.

This conventional and static way of organizing information is like categorizing your kitchen by individual ingredients rather than usage and priority (a fun analogy credited to Forte). 

Wouldn’t it be odd to organize your kitchen by carrots, potatoes, and fruits rather than stovetop items, pantry goods, and fridge contents?

Like kitchens, static file structures can lead to “cross-contamination” between outdated and fresh documents, making it challenging to locate the most relevant information quickly.

Enter the PARA framework – a dynamic solution reflecting the shifting priorities of an SEO project:

Immediate concerns reside in the Project folder.

Ongoing work belongs to the Area folder.

Thematic and research material is kept in the Resources folder.

Completed tasks and old data go into the Archives folder.

This way, PARA keeps your SEO project fluid, organized, and current.

Operating your second brain: Start with idea capturing

Let’s say you’ve built an SEO second brain of your own. How do you go about using it in the best way possible?

For me, it’s all about idea capturing. This is the act of quickly and effortlessly storing information you’ve encountered throughout the day in a temporary repository.

It’s the single most important mechanism to master in operating a second brain.

That’s because it enables me to quickly and passively store new information in a temporary space of my second brain so that I can later revisit and move it to relevant sections of the brain.

These can include:

Important algorithm or industry updates.

Interesting articles on new tactics I can apply to my own websites.

Add meeting notes and recordings throughout the day.

Insightful conversations I’ve had with my colleagues.

I’ve built an empty page in my second brain called the Idea Capturing Station, meant to do just this, keeping it immediately accessible to me at all times on both desktop and mobile.

Here’s an example of how I quickly capture an interesting article on desktop:

And here’s how I quickly capture a new idea on mobile:

A quick walkthrough of my own SEO second brain

Here’s a quick snapshot of what my SEO second brain dashboard looks like.

Each of these individual areas, like Project Timeline, is then linked to separate databases where I store and organize information hierarchically. That’s right. I’m a classic architect when it comes to information organization.

In reality, however, I rarely use this dashboard. I use the tool’s internal search function to find specific areas of my second brain I want to navigate to. 

For instance, if I’d like to find one of my project timelines, I can search for it and hop straight to it like so.

Building reusable templates

One of the most useful “powers” of this second brain is its ability to create reusable templates, giving me an almost instant set-up each time we onboard a new client at my agency.

With just a few clicks, I am able to populate a full SEO roadmap timeline, each broken into tickets with specified templates to be delegated to team members and shared with clients. Here are a few examples:

Keyword mapping

Content production

Documentation at hand

What about that time you forgot a key piece of information or statistic while meeting with stakeholders?

I have a database called the Knowledge Bank that allows me to pull up key information to reference at all times.

Let’s say I’m trying to convince some stakeholders that it can be worthwhile pursuing keywords with “zero search volume.” 

In the middle of the conversation, I vaguely recall having read an article by Steve Toff on discovering zero search volume keywords, showing strong evidence of their ROI potential.

In this case, I can quickly search for the article on my second brain and reference the article almost instantly.

How to make the most of your second brain? Exercise it! 

My second brain is far from complete and probably always will be (very much like our organic brains!). 

The key here is to exercise our SEO second brain regularly so that we get better at using it to store, retrieve and synthesize information.

Once you’re familiar, extend your second brain to other domains of life!

Our second brain goes far beyond SEO at Criclabs, the digital agency I’m running. We use it to track new hires, document company processes, run employee portals and more.

The good news is many of us already have an SEO second brain in the works, whether we know it or not. If you have a shared drive to store information or occasionally take notes on your phone, your SEO second brain is already on its way. 

What you can do now is what we SEOs know best, optimize it!

Opinions expressed in this article are those of the guest author and not necessarily Search Engine Land. Staff authors are listed here.

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About the author

Toon is an organic growth expert and co-founder of Criclabs, a digital agency based in Bangkok. He's worked with global brands like Electrolux, Greenpeace, and a multitude of startups deliver organic growth to their digital products.

Read more here https://sites.google.com/view/gorilladigitalseo/home

[yourfightagainstdemons]

How to run your digital agency from anywhere in the world

Imagine if you could merge work and pleasure, spending your afternoons basking in the sunshine or exploring a new city. You feel happy that business is taken care of and that you can relax and enjoy your surroundings stress-free. 

Well, imagine no longer.

In this article, I’ll share tips from 10+ years of experience in doing just that. My mission is to illustrate that such a lifestyle isn’t merely a far-fetched dream but an attainable reality, one that can be tailored to suit you. 

Whether that means sneaking in an extra holiday each year, spending a few months traveling Asia, or even relocating to a different country, it’s all possible.

For the last 16 years, I have owned and run a small digital marketing agency. During that time, I have traveled extensively, rarely took time off from work completely (don’t judge – I love it that way!), made the permanent move to Spain and managed a pretty successful business worldwide. 

Learn how to run your business from anywhere in the world. The secret is how you manage your workspace, time, boundaries, team and technology.

1. Plan your workspace

To make your travel and work arrangements smoother, start by researching the availability of internet services and power reliability in the country you’re visiting. Knowing the circumstances upfront will help you plan better.

If you intend to work from your accommodation, designate a specific space as your dedicated desk. Avoid makeshift setups on furniture or using the kitchen counter, as these can become problematic. Packing and unpacking your desk each time you need to use the dining table is also inconvenient.

Consider a co-working space, but check their operating hours to ensure they align with your work schedule. Conduct thorough research before your trip to make informed decisions.

2. Manage your time 

Optimize your productivity by leveraging different time zones. If you can work while your clients sleep, you’ll accomplish more. Consider adopting the “5 a.m. club” mindset. 

Create a schedule that combines overlapping working hours with dedicated uninterrupted time for deep work or batched tasks. This allows for focused work without distractions while still having time for meetings, calls, and team communication.

Maintain discipline to step away from work and enjoy your surroundings. The goal is to work fewer hours overall, so maximizing your efficiency is crucial. 

Utilize techniques like task batching and time blocking to stay focused and avoid task-switching. 

Pre-complete and schedule tasks like social media posting, blogging, and email newsletters if your travels are short-term.

Get the daily newsletter search marketers rely on.

3. Set your boundaries

When traveling with family or in a distracting environment, noise-canceling headphones are essential. Playing music while you work can help block distractions and signal that you shouldn't be interrupted. 

Communicate clearly with your travel companions that during work hours, you're focused and interruptions should be limited to emergencies. Likewise, when you're not working, dedicate your time fully to them. Strict adherence to these boundaries is vital.

Establish boundaries with your clients as well. As long as you can communicate and deliver work, most clients won't mind your physical location.

Consider adding a note to your email signature before traveling, informing recipients that your working hours may vary and you may not respond immediately. 

Alternatively, specify specific times for email responses. Stick to the schedule consistently. This allows clients and colleagues to adapt to your communication patterns in advance, allowing you to address any issues before your trip.

4. Empower your team to take the reins

You'll be pleasantly surprised by how much your team can handle without your constant input. It may be challenging for business owners to let go completely, but you and your team will adapt to your absence during an extended period away. 

This allows you to focus on essential tasks that require your attention while empowering your team to take on more responsibility without constant approval-seeking.

Maintaining open communication channels is crucial for remote work. Schedule regular team meetings – at least twice a week – to discuss work-related matters concisely and bond with your team. 

Despite not having informal chats, showing genuine interest in your team members fosters honest and open relationships.

Encourage the team to have discussions without your involvement for minor day-to-day issues. If you don't have a team, consider hiring a freelancer to handle basic administrative tasks and manage client communications while traveling. 

Clearly define their responsibilities, create standard operating procedures (SOPs) in advance, and bring them in at least two weeks before your departure. 

Even if they work only a few hours daily, having someone there can greatly ease your mental load. You might even find it difficult to let them go once you return.

5. Choose the right tech

For most travel situations, pack essentials like your laptop, noise-canceling headphones (highly recommended!), adapters, mobile phones, and chargers.

If you anticipate limited WiFi access, consider bringing a universal WiFi dongle. In case you can't connect online, don't panic. Things will likely run smoothly without you, and you'll regain connectivity soon.

Ensure your files are stored in the cloud rather than solely on your laptop to avoid potential stress from loss, damage, or theft.

Keep a paper copy of important phone numbers, your passport, visas, ID cards, and travel insurance. Use a waterproof folder and separate them from your laptop and phone whenever possible.

Additionally, store copies of important documents on your phone, password-protected for security.

Don't forget to pack spare chargers and adapters for your tech, as they can break unexpectedly during travel.

Make the most out of your experience

The main goal is to enjoy the country you're visiting, as that's the reason for your travel. Immerse yourself in the culture, try local cuisine, and explore and interact with locals. Working abroad for three months but seeing little beyond a hotel room would be unfortunate.

Consider starting work early and finishing at lunchtime to have the rest of the day for leisure. This provides an uninterrupted time when clients and team members are typically unavailable. Feeling confident that everything can wait until the next day contributes to a more relaxed mindset.

Designate a team member to contact you only for important matters, such as a significant drop in a client's website traffic. Knowing they will reach out only for urgent issues allows you to leave your temporary office.

To stay present in the moment, consider using a cheaper phone while out exploring and leaving your work phone at your accommodation. It may take some adjustment, but it helps prevent constant email refreshing and allows you to engage in your activities fully. Choose the approach that suits your personality best.

If taking an extended trip makes you nervous, start with shorter school holidays and gradually extend them until you feel comfortable being away for longer periods.

Lastly, try not to worry about your clients' perceptions. As someone who lives abroad, most of my client interactions occur remotely. Clients have become accustomed to it and sometimes even envy the lifestyle.

Opinions expressed in this article are those of the guest author and not necessarily Search Engine Land. Staff authors are listed here.

Add Search Engine Land to your Google News feed.    

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New on Search Engine Land

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About the author

Claire Taylor co-founded her Digital Marketing Agency, TU Marketing, in 2007. What sets Claire apart is her holistic and flexible approach and she has helped countless clients achieve online growth and success in what is often a crowded and competitive space. Claire loves business but also love to spend time travelling and challenging herself physically and mentally. From running ultra-marathons, racing against horses in Wales, through to trekking across Peru. You’ll often find her out in the countryside running or hiking with her dog Darcy and day dreaming about her next adventure.

Read more here https://sites.google.com/view/gorilladigitalseo/services/paid-ads-optimization

[yungmalta]

Google Ad business faces breakup after being charged with EU antitrust violations

Google may be forced to sell part of its ad business after being charged with violating the European Union’s antitrust laws. Following a lengthy investigation, the European Commission suggested that “mandatory divestment” is the only way the search engine can resolve the issue.

Why we care: If Google does sell part of its ad business, it could mark the start of a new digital marketing era with a more competitive market and fairer pricing. This could potentially lead to more transparency, greater campaign control for advertisers and increased innovation, which could prompt the creation of new ad tools.

What’s happening: The European Commission conducted a report into the operation of Google Ads and found that the search engine typically tends to favor its own ads, causing difficulties for competing providers.

When discussing potential solutions, the commission said that behavioral improvements would not be enough to rectify the matter. Instead, it has recommended that the search giant sells off part of its business.

What has Google said? Google released a statement today criticizing the commission’s findings. Dan Taylor, Vice President of Google Ads, wrote:

“The Statement of Objections from the European Commission sets out claims that are not new and relate to a narrow part of our advertising business. It fails to recognize how advanced advertising technology helps merchants reach customers and grow their businesses — while lowering costs and expanding choices for consumers.

“Ad tech is fiercely competitive and constantly evolving. We compete with hundreds of companies in this space, including household names like Amazon, Microsoft, and Meta as well as specialized advertising technology companies like Criteo, The Trade Desk, and many others. Even media companies and retailers now offer competing advertising technologies.

“The digital advertising market enjoys competitive pricing, lively innovation, and robust competition — helping advertisers, publishers, and consumers. We look forward to showing how our ad tech tools help make the internet open, and accessible — and how breaking them would diminish the availability of free, ad-supported content that benefits everyone.”

Has this happened before? Earlier this year, nine U.S. states (Michigan, Nebraska, Arizona, Illinois, Minnesota, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Washington, and West Virginia), joined forces to bring a similar lawsuit against Google.

The states accused the search engine’s ad business of violating antitrust regulations. To rectify the matter, they urged Google to break up its Ad Manager suite, claiming it was exploiting its online advertising dominance. Google denied the claims and asked for the case to be dismissed.

In 2020, Google was also accused of breaching antitrust laws again in order to sustain its position as the leading search engine. This case is set for trial in September.

Deeper dive: You can read Google’s full response to the European Commission announcement about its advertising technology.

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About the author

Nicola Agius is Paid Media Editor of Search Engine Land after joining in 2023. She covers paid search, paid social, retail media and more. Prior to this, she was SEO Director at Jungle Creations (2020-2023), overseeing the company’s editorial strategy for multiple websites. She has over 15 years of experience in journalism and has previously worked at OK! Magazine (2010-2014), Mail Online (2014-2015), Mirror (2015-2017), Digital Spy (2017-2018) and The Sun (2018-2020). She also previously teamed up with SEO agency Blue Array to co-author Amazon bestselling book ‘Mastering In-House SEO’.

Read more here https://sites.google.com/view/jedi-digital-marketing/social-media-management

[seraj89]

Google Search Console may show more breadcrumb warnings

Google has updated its breadcrumbs rich results report within Google Search Console to potentially show more warnings and notices around structured data issues with your breadcrumb markup. This update started on June 8, 2023 and may result in an increase in the number of warnings that show in that report.

What Google wrote. Google posted the update and said:

“Search Console started to show a warning when sites use the HTML id attribute to specify an ID for Breadcrumb structured data. As a result, you may see an increase in warnings in your Breadcrumb report. See the Breadcrumb documentation for more information on how to specify IDs.”

Google Search breadcrumb. A breadcrumb in Google search is when Google shows the path of where the page is located within the site directly in the search results snippets. “A breadcrumb trail on a page indicates the page’s position in the site hierarchy, and it may help users understand and explore a site effectively,” Google wrote.

Why we care. You may want to check out the breadcrumbs report in Search Console to see if there are any new warnings or errors showing up. You can then decide if you want to address those warnings and resolve any issues that Google may have reported on.

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About the author

Barry Schwartz a Contributing Editor to Search Engine Land and a member of the programming team for SMX events. He owns RustyBrick, a NY based web consulting firm. He also runs Search Engine Roundtable, a popular search blog on very advanced SEM topics. Barry can be followed on Twitter here.

Read more here https://sites.google.com/view/gorilladigitalseo/services/social-channels-management

[nakoosrebloggingblog]

How to run your digital agency from anywhere in the world

Imagine if you could merge work and pleasure, spending your afternoons basking in the sunshine or exploring a new city. You feel happy that business is taken care of and that you can relax and enjoy your surroundings stress-free. 

Well, imagine no longer.

In this article, I’ll share tips from 10+ years of experience in doing just that. My mission is to illustrate that such a lifestyle isn’t merely a far-fetched dream but an attainable reality, one that can be tailored to suit you. 

Whether that means sneaking in an extra holiday each year, spending a few months traveling Asia, or even relocating to a different country, it’s all possible.

For the last 16 years, I have owned and run a small digital marketing agency. During that time, I have traveled extensively, rarely took time off from work completely (don’t judge – I love it that way!), made the permanent move to Spain and managed a pretty successful business worldwide. 

Learn how to run your business from anywhere in the world. The secret is how you manage your workspace, time, boundaries, team and technology.

1. Plan your workspace

To make your travel and work arrangements smoother, start by researching the availability of internet services and power reliability in the country you’re visiting. Knowing the circumstances upfront will help you plan better.

If you intend to work from your accommodation, designate a specific space as your dedicated desk. Avoid makeshift setups on furniture or using the kitchen counter, as these can become problematic. Packing and unpacking your desk each time you need to use the dining table is also inconvenient.

Consider a co-working space, but check their operating hours to ensure they align with your work schedule. Conduct thorough research before your trip to make informed decisions.

2. Manage your time 

Optimize your productivity by leveraging different time zones. If you can work while your clients sleep, you’ll accomplish more. Consider adopting the “5 a.m. club” mindset. 

Create a schedule that combines overlapping working hours with dedicated uninterrupted time for deep work or batched tasks. This allows for focused work without distractions while still having time for meetings, calls, and team communication.

Maintain discipline to step away from work and enjoy your surroundings. The goal is to work fewer hours overall, so maximizing your efficiency is crucial. 

Utilize techniques like task batching and time blocking to stay focused and avoid task-switching. 

Pre-complete and schedule tasks like social media posting, blogging, and email newsletters if your travels are short-term.

Get the daily newsletter search marketers rely on.

3. Set your boundaries

When traveling with family or in a distracting environment, noise-canceling headphones are essential. Playing music while you work can help block distractions and signal that you shouldn't be interrupted. 

Communicate clearly with your travel companions that during work hours, you're focused and interruptions should be limited to emergencies. Likewise, when you're not working, dedicate your time fully to them. Strict adherence to these boundaries is vital.

Establish boundaries with your clients as well. As long as you can communicate and deliver work, most clients won't mind your physical location.

Consider adding a note to your email signature before traveling, informing recipients that your working hours may vary and you may not respond immediately. 

Alternatively, specify specific times for email responses. Stick to the schedule consistently. This allows clients and colleagues to adapt to your communication patterns in advance, allowing you to address any issues before your trip.

4. Empower your team to take the reins

You'll be pleasantly surprised by how much your team can handle without your constant input. It may be challenging for business owners to let go completely, but you and your team will adapt to your absence during an extended period away. 

This allows you to focus on essential tasks that require your attention while empowering your team to take on more responsibility without constant approval-seeking.

Maintaining open communication channels is crucial for remote work. Schedule regular team meetings – at least twice a week – to discuss work-related matters concisely and bond with your team. 

Despite not having informal chats, showing genuine interest in your team members fosters honest and open relationships.

Encourage the team to have discussions without your involvement for minor day-to-day issues. If you don't have a team, consider hiring a freelancer to handle basic administrative tasks and manage client communications while traveling. 

Clearly define their responsibilities, create standard operating procedures (SOPs) in advance, and bring them in at least two weeks before your departure. 

Even if they work only a few hours daily, having someone there can greatly ease your mental load. You might even find it difficult to let them go once you return.

5. Choose the right tech

For most travel situations, pack essentials like your laptop, noise-canceling headphones (highly recommended!), adapters, mobile phones, and chargers.

If you anticipate limited WiFi access, consider bringing a universal WiFi dongle. In case you can't connect online, don't panic. Things will likely run smoothly without you, and you'll regain connectivity soon.

Ensure your files are stored in the cloud rather than solely on your laptop to avoid potential stress from loss, damage, or theft.

Keep a paper copy of important phone numbers, your passport, visas, ID cards, and travel insurance. Use a waterproof folder and separate them from your laptop and phone whenever possible.

Additionally, store copies of important documents on your phone, password-protected for security.

Don't forget to pack spare chargers and adapters for your tech, as they can break unexpectedly during travel.

Make the most out of your experience

The main goal is to enjoy the country you're visiting, as that's the reason for your travel. Immerse yourself in the culture, try local cuisine, and explore and interact with locals. Working abroad for three months but seeing little beyond a hotel room would be unfortunate.

Consider starting work early and finishing at lunchtime to have the rest of the day for leisure. This provides an uninterrupted time when clients and team members are typically unavailable. Feeling confident that everything can wait until the next day contributes to a more relaxed mindset.

Designate a team member to contact you only for important matters, such as a significant drop in a client's website traffic. Knowing they will reach out only for urgent issues allows you to leave your temporary office.

To stay present in the moment, consider using a cheaper phone while out exploring and leaving your work phone at your accommodation. It may take some adjustment, but it helps prevent constant email refreshing and allows you to engage in your activities fully. Choose the approach that suits your personality best.

If taking an extended trip makes you nervous, start with shorter school holidays and gradually extend them until you feel comfortable being away for longer periods.

Lastly, try not to worry about your clients' perceptions. As someone who lives abroad, most of my client interactions occur remotely. Clients have become accustomed to it and sometimes even envy the lifestyle.

Opinions expressed in this article are those of the guest author and not necessarily Search Engine Land. Staff authors are listed here.

Add Search Engine Land to your Google News feed.    

Related stories

New on Search Engine Land

<![CDATA[ @media screen and (min-width: 800px) #div-gpt-ad-3191538-7 display: flex !important; justify-content: center !important; align-items: center !important; min-width:770px; min-height:260px; @media screen and (min-width: 1279px) #div-gpt-ad-3191538-7 display: flex !important; justify-content: center !important; align-items: center !important; min-width:800px!important; min-height:440px!important; ]]>

About the author

Claire Taylor co-founded her Digital Marketing Agency, TU Marketing, in 2007. What sets Claire apart is her holistic and flexible approach and she has helped countless clients achieve online growth and success in what is often a crowded and competitive space. Claire loves business but also love to spend time travelling and challenging herself physically and mentally. From running ultra-marathons, racing against horses in Wales, through to trekking across Peru. You’ll often find her out in the countryside running or hiking with her dog Darcy and day dreaming about her next adventure.

Read more here https://sites.google.com/view/gorilladigitalseo/services/paid-ads-optimization