Even the most-savvy SEO specialists will occasionally stumble across an issue they don’t know how to solve. But if you’re the resident expert at your company, where can you turn for help?
I asked members of our search and internal marketing teams what their favorite SEO-related resources are. Here are some of the best:
Google basically wrote the rules of search, so they’re almost always your best resource for determining how to rank better. Their suite of Google Webmasters tools can help you accomplish your SEO goals.
The Webmasters Help Community is extremely useful. It hosts a frequently asked questions section where you can solve common issues quickly. There’s also a forum where you can ask questions about a variety of different categories, including “Crawling, Indexing and Ranking,” “Security, Malware and Hacked Sites,” “Structured Data” and “Search Console.”
The Webmaster Central Blog supplies up-to-date information about the latest changes in Google. For instance, they wrote a blog about the recent changes to “nofollow” links.
Google also offers their Search Console which is a free service that can help you track your website’s performance and troubleshoot any errors that arise. It is particularly useful for determining how your audience is finding your site. You can look into the queries people search before entering different pages, discovering how your personas are discovering your content.
Google Analytics can also help you develop a deeper understanding of your audience and report on your findings. It provides tools for you to analyze where you are generating the most traffic and segment visitors based on source and location.
Another useful program is the Google Keyword Planner, which is part of Google Ads. While it is very helpful for paid search purposes, the tool is also beneficial for SEO. It helps you find related keywords, research historical keyword trends and determine how competitive it is to rank for each term.
Additional Resources
Some other resources to check out include the Google Search Developers Guide, which includes assets on being mobile-friendly, enhancing your podcast and understanding search features, and the Search Engine Optimization (SEO) Starter Guide, which offers a thorough overview of SEO basics.
Moz
Moz was founded in 2004 with the mission of simplifying SEO for marketers. They have a wide variety of assets to do just that.
The SEO Learning Center is one of the most helpful areas of their site. They provide detailed information about many SEO and website fundamentals like on-site SEO, ranking and visibility, links and link building, keywords, content marketing, mobile SEO and much more.
They also have more specific sections under each category. For instance, under On-Site SEO they have information about title tags, meta descriptions, alt text, duplicate content, URLs and other categories that allow you to dig deeper into each topic. We use the Title Tag Preview Tool all the time at New Breed to see how our blog titles will display in search results.
Like Google, Moz has a community where users can ask questions and hone their SEO skills. The Community and Events page includes access to the blog which features content from a variety of industry contributors across a range of categories. Users of all skill levels can find useful information there.
Google Algorithm Update History
Moz also maintains a list of Google algorithm updates. They have information as far back as 2000, so you can cross-reference trends in your search rankings with Google updates and take advantage of changes as they come down the pipeline.
Overall, Moz’s biggest strength is their affiliation with domain authority. It’s a score that they developed to predict how well a given website will rank on results pages. Moz provides a link explorer that allows users to analyze URLs and includes information about authority. They also developed a free Chrome extension that automatically generates a site’s authority score.
Additional Resources
Other Moz assets to check out include a variety of free SEO tools and a list of guides, whitepapers and case studies in their resource center.
Neil Patel
Neil Patel is widely regarded as an SEO whiz, and he has a breadth of knowledge that he shares on his website.
Neil developed a tool called Ubersuggest which allows users to search certain domains or keywords to see what search results look like surrounding those queries. For instance, if you search a domain it can show you the top-ranking pages for that site. If you search a keyword, it can show you related terms and generate content ideas for you.
Neil’s blog offers helpful information on a wide range of digital marketing topics. You can select from content marketing, conversion rate optimization, e-commerce, email marketing, entrepreneurship, marketing, online marketing, paid ads, social media and, of course, SEO. He also hosts a wealth of videos and short podcasts on the page, so you can consume information in numerous formats.
You can use the backlink checker on Neil’s site to determine the number and quality of backlinks for a specific domain. You can analyze your domain and compare it to your competitors’ sites to determine where you can improve your backlinking strategy.
Like both the Ubersuggest and Backlinking tool, the SEO Analyzer allows you to enter a domain and view how it ranks on various success indicators. Once the tool evaluates your domain, it gives you a few actionable ways to improve. You can also search competitors’ domains to find ways to capitalize on their errors.
Search Engine Land
Search Engine Land is a blog with insights on a large number of SEO topics. It’s designed to offer you a breadth of information so you can capitalize on your efforts across numerous platforms.
Apart from having an overall SEO category where you can peruse everything Search Engine Land posts on the topic, you can look at specific categories. For instance, they have a large number of blogs about Google SEO.
You can also check out content specific to Bing SEO. You’ll find other content such as paid search material mixed in as well, but this is a great resource if you are trying to enhance your SEO and SEM efforts at the same time.
Search Engine Land also offers advice on how to rank well for local searches. There are a number of nuances for companies in this space, so the site includes information on a variety of marketing fronts. While not all of the posts are related to SEO, there are plenty of valuable insights to consider implementing in your strategy.
Additional Tools
The blog features sections on mobile and retail, so you can adapt your search strategy, and marketing strategy in general, to industry best practices.
Other Tools
Reddit is a user-generated content site where individuals can post about an abundance of topics. It’s a much more informal platform than the other resources listed here, so it tends to be a bit dicier. Since Reddit hosts such a large community of users, though, any questions you pose will likely be answered.
You can use Alexa to see which keywords your domain is ranking for. You can also identify keyword gaps on your site and analyze which terms would be easiest for you to rank for given the state of your domain. Beyond that, Alexa is a great tool for competitive research.
This site provides information on SEO, PPC, content and social media. They release news about SEO and thought-provoking blogs to help both beginners and professionals get more out of their search efforts.
Quora is a question and answer website. Like Reddit, it houses content on a number of topics. There is an active SEO community on the site, so you should be able to get your questions answered (or answer others’ questions if you prefer). You can also follow different channels in the platform, allowing you to easily segment your feed based on topic.
Key Takeaway
You have a lot of options to choose from when searching for SEO resources online. Many of them can provide the information you’re looking for. Personally, I use many of the assets listed here on a regular basis.
Since there are so many resources available, though, deciding which ones to use can become overwhelming. Sometimes keeping it simple is better.
Find the resources you think are most useful and stick with those, and if you discover a new resource that can help you fill gaps in your SEO strategy, bookmark it so you can easily find it in your time of need.
New Breed has some resources too. We share insights from our SEO strategists on our blog in addition to providing downloadable templates and checklists.
