DMCA request removes Moz from Google Search index
If you search for [Moz] in Google Search, you won’t be seeing the moz.com home page, that page was removed from the Google index due to a DMCA takedown request. The takedown complaint cites that Moz’s home page, along with 185 other URLs were “distribute modified, cracked and unauthorized versions” of the Dr. Driving app.
The takedown complaint. The DMCA, The Digital Millennium Copyright Act, and takedown complaint can be viewed over here. You can see the Moz home page listed on line 122. As Cyrus Shepard posted on Twitter “Crazy! You can’t access the Moz homepage from Google right now. A search for “Moz” shows an incredible 8(!) removed results from an overly-broad DMCA filing. DMCA literally lets anybody abuse the system, and it breaks Google.
Google is aware. Danny Sullivan, the Google Search Liaison responded saying “I’ve passed it on for review.” We suspect Google will reverse this issue really quickly – but so far, Moz is still not showing.
The Google search results. Here is a screenshot of the search results page showing the Moz blog coming up in the first position, not the Moz home page:
Source: DMCA request removes Moz from Google Search index
How hub-and-spoke content marketing can help improve SEO
“When we think about creating topical – evergreen, informational content – it’s sometimes hard to fit all that information on one landing page,” said Zack Kadish, SEO customer success team manager at Conductor, in a recent webinar. “So, we when think about ‘hub-and-spoke models,’ we want to think about generating content on a broad topic while diving deeper into more relevant areas on different parts of the website.”
“This can help increase organic traffic and keywords rankings, and even lead to more downstream metrics such as conversions, leads, and sales,” he added.
Similar to pillar page structures, hub-and-spoke models are designed to establish a site’s authority on the ins and outs of a given topic. But, how do they differ from other content marketing models?
“Think of the hub as the center of the wheel, and all of the spokes pointing outward,” Kadish said. “In an SEO and digital marketing lens, the hub is the main topic that we want to create more authority around. The spokes are all that supporting content that might help boost authority around that topic.”
Kadish said marketers can identify potential hub-and-spoke topics through keyword research. The higher volume, more transactional keywords are likely to be “hubs,” and the lower volume, long-tail keywords will serve best as “spokes.”
Chaz Marshall, SEO success manager at Conductor, gave a helpful example of a hub-and-spoke strategy in the same presentation:
“Let’s say civil engineering is the hub topic. If someone is researching that career path, a great subtopic to feature would be, ‘What is the average salary of a civil engineer?’ That would be a spoke.
“Each of those topics trails back to your brand, so, why not help Google and people who have never heard of your business notice that you are industry experts?” Marshall added.
Source: How hub-and-spoke content marketing can help improve SEO
Conductor CEO opens up about mental health
May is Mental Health Awareness Month. This inspired Seth Besmertnik, the CEO of enterprise SEO platform Conductor, to reveal his struggle with mental health.
His goal? To encourage his team to seek out help. And it’s a message that everyone in our community should hear.
Here are some highlights from Besmertnik’s message:
“We all face our own demons.” As Besmertnik wrote, everyone goes through tough patches. That’s what initially led him to seek therapy six years ago. He’s been going religiously every Tuesday at noon since.
- “Professional support helps.”
In the process, Besmertnik made it sound like therapy is a normal activity. Because it is. There should be no stigma attached to seeking out mental health services.
- “We are not perfect, we never will be.”
“A powerful tool to navigate life.” Besmertnik credited therapy for helping him become a better CEO and father. He noted that he has other forms of support (his wife, friends), but a therapist is different:
- “They don’t come with an agenda, and it’s the safest place in the world to explore your thoughts and experiences and learn from them over time. I’ve uncovered so much about myself through therapy. And I continue to. I’ve learned how to turn problems into opportunities through therapy.”
Source: Conductor CEO opens up about mental health
Axios news SEO playbook: Speed, authority, and brevity
If you’ve ever read Axios, you’ll remember it. At least that’s what Ryan Kellett, VP of Audience at Axios hopes.
A news article on Axios has a distinctive look. It’s all in the name of Smart Brevity.
Smart Brevity: “Axios gets you smarter, faster on what matters.” That’s their mission. And they have five excellent guiding principles:
- Audience first
- Elegant efficiency
- Smart, always
- No BS for sale
- Excellence, always
What about SEO? Axios had 24.8 million visitors in March, with 16% of traffic coming from organic search, according to Semrush’s Website Traffic Checker. (For comparative purposes, the New York Times is the largest news site, with more than a billion visitors in March – but Axios doesn’t cover nearly as many topics as the Times, CNN, or other large news publishers.)
News is incredibly competitive. And Smart Brevity seems to go against what many consider to be SEO best practices. Namely, longer and more are better.
So how does Axios make SEO and Smart Brevity work together?
Go deeper. Here are highlights from my recent Q&A with Kellett. It has been edited for smartness and brevity.
Source: Axios news SEO playbook: Speed, authority, and brevity
Google to use Customer Match lists for Smart Bidding, Optimized Targeting
Customer Match lists will be leveraged more within Google Ads, according to an email sent to advertisers this week.
These lists will soon be eligible to be used within an account to help aid Smart Bidding and/or Optimized Targeting.
This is a shift from how Customer Match lists are applied today. Advertisers currently need to manually apply these to a campaign.
Customer Match lists won’t be used with manual bidding strategies. However, advertisers may still use bid modifiers manually to adjust bids.
When this is happening. Starting in Q2. The tentative timelines for the rollout of Customer Match lists in smart bidding are:
Source: Google to use Customer Match lists for Smart Bidding, Optimized Targeting
More news:
Google lets users limit three more types of ads on YouTube, GDN
