56. Becoming an SEO Strategist Instead of a Tactician with Marcus Tober

Nov 16, 2016

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Marcus Tober got his start by founding Ecards and More (now called Bonnyprints), which had around 180,000 unique visitors per day by the time he sold it in 2008. Since then, his focus has been on Searchmetrics, of which he is the founder and CTO. He’s an SEO innovator whose influence and insights led to him being named “Search Personality of the Year” at the European Search Awards 2016.

He’s a regular speaker at conferences and has been quoted in journals and magazines, and after this conversation with him, the reason is clear: he has an incredibly deep understanding of the details of SEO and what it takes to create good content. To top it off, he gives clear examples that can illuminate a confusing concept in a way that will help you apply it to your own case.

Find Out More About Marcus Here:

Marcus.tober on Facebook @marcustober on Twitter Marcus Tober on LinkedIn Searchmetrics

In This Episode:

[03:04] - Marcus responds to Stephan’s question about needing to base content creation on data (rather than just writing whatever you think your audience may want to hear). In his response, Marcus gives some great insight into creating content, all while explaining how Searchmetrics works.
[08:17] - Marcus talks about the differentiation between coming up with a topic and a list of keywords. He discusses the relevance of intentions by using the example of hairstyles.
[11:49] - We hear a bit about how Google’s changes mean that marketers should now focus on having happy users instead of good rankings.
[13:04] - A lot of people still view content the old way in terms of creating throwaway content based around a specific keyword.
[15:48] - Where is the future in SEO if we’re moving away from checklists? How should we be preparing today?
[21:13] - Marcus tells us the steps we need to keep in mind for mobile searches and gives the concept of “mobile-first design.”
[23:33] - Marcus clarifies what he meant in his reference to “AI first.”
[25:12] - After Stephan’s suggestion that interactive voice commands (rather than the keyboard) are the interface to the web of the future, Marcus agrees and elaborates.
[28:53] - Marcus talks a bit about the new ranking factors. He clarifies by giving an example about the length of pages by word count. We also learn about the extensive research his company has done through ranking-factor analysis.
[33:28] - Stephan asks Marcus which SEO rumors he can squash.
[35:20] - One of the myths out there is that Google is using your own analytics data against you, Stephan says. Marcus gives his thoughts, which is that Google doesn’t need to do that because they have enough data from Chrome and search behavior.
[37:07] - Marcus talks about dwell time versus bounce rate. He points out that users in some areas are more likely to look for more results and points out how this can make the bounce rate a poor indicator in these fields.
[39:02] - After every major Google update, Marcus’s company makes a report on the biggest winners and losers. He talks more about how that’s calculated and how they’re able to see patterns across pages.
[42:29] - Marcus explains his thoughts on RankBrain and explains how it works.
[45:00] - What are the next steps for someone who wants to work with Marcus’s toolset? The answer: if you go to searchmetrics.com/content, you can apply for a demo.
[47:22] - We learn why Searchmetrics is being released this way, rather than simply giving it a large release.

Links and Resources:

Marcus.tober on Facebook @marcustober on Twitter Marcus Tober on LinkedIn Searchmetrics Mobile-first design AI first Searchmetrics Winners and Losers RankBrain