A couple years ago I was brought in on a project after a new site had been launched and the client lost 60% of their lead flow. This was a client that relied on their website almost exclusively for all their leads. This was a complete restructure, "reskinning," and merging of 3 different websites. A […]

What are 301 redirects? 301 redirects are a function of a web server that allows for a web page (or other file) to change address. The term "301 redirect" is used because web servers send a status code with every request that communicate the results from that request. If you try to go to a […]

I recently listened to an interview with the founder of Thumbtack on Y Combinator startup podcast that hit on a subject I've always been really interested in… How to overcome chicken and egg problems. Online communities, social networks, and marketplaces are ultimate examples of the chicken and egg problem. Take Facebook as an example. The […]

One of the reasons search is such an effective marketing channel is because of the level of granularity with which you can target if you understand the concept of intent. This is the same reason you should (almost) never use broad match keywords in PPC advertising. Broad match is sort of the default match type […]

I've always "encouraged" my team to use an agenda for nearly every call or meeting outside of simple check ins. I always thought they were overkill. I find that most people feel that way. I'm not the type of person who likes to spend time going through unnecessary formalities, so I've always hated the idea […]

You may have heard the search engines like "fresh content." In other words, that you'll drive more traffic if you publish more content more frequently. All things being equal that's true; publish 10 pieces of content and you'll get more traffic than publishing 5 pieces of the exact same quality. I'm using the term "quality" […]

Two weeks ago I bought an Apple Watch. Here's how it happened… I was browsing my favorite website one day and saw an ad for an "Apple Watch." I was totally unfamiliar with the Apple brand and had never heard of their watch, so I clicked the ad purely out of curiosity. I landed on […]

Meta descriptions are simple. They seem complex, but they’re not. They seem complex because there are lots of little details to worry about and nobody really distills it down to the simplest instructions that tell you exactly what to do. So I’m going to do that with this guide. I'm going to take the rare […]

What is search intent? When people talk about intent, they're generally referring to one of two concepts: The high-level classification of a searcher's goal: Is it navigational, informational, commercial, or transactional? This is the traditional meaning of intent. The specific goal of the search: For example, when someone searches "basketball," are they looking to buy a […]

Let's say you're having a website redesigned. What are the main things you're focused on? For most companies, the process looks something like this: Look through design portfolios to narrow the selection. Contact those firms to get pricing information. Narrow the choices to a few contenders and speak with each of them. Hire one. Communicate information about […]