June 2022 SEO Questions & Answers Can duplicate Yelp listings affect SEO? It is well understood that having duplicated content can have a negative impact on your SEO efforts because it can be confusing for search engines to determine which listing is the original and which is the duplicate. This often results in your listings being ranked lower in search results, or even being removed from SERPs entirely. If you have a business with multiple listings on Yelp, you might be wondering how can duplicate Yelp listings affect SEO for your website? The short answer to this question is that the duplicate Yelp listing will not incur a duplicate content penalty on your website. However, you should still seek to consolidate your Yelp listings to ensure information about your business remains consistent as some local SEO platforms pull from Yelp and if the information on a duplicate post does not match your real life information you can expect to be penalized in local SEO results such as Google Maps and Apple Maps. Do draft WordPress posts unpublished affect your SEO? WordPress draft posts will not affect your SEO in a negative manner such as incurring a duplicate content penalty for your blog because the posts are unpublished by WordPress, meaning they are not being indexed by Google which will not display unpublished posts in SERPs. Is directory submission good for SEO? There is no definitive answer to this question, as the efficacy of directory submissions in terms of search engine optimization (SEO) depends on several factors, including the quality of the directory, the relevance of the directory to your website's topic, and how well the directory is respected by search engines. In general, however, submitting your website to well-established, reputable directories can be beneficial to your SEO efforts because you will increase your organic share of voice in SERPs, meaning your brand name will appear more frequently in searches for products associated with your brand which can help indirectly build category relevance. Some good directories to consider adding your website to are the Yahoo! Directory, DMOZ, and Business.com." Are pingbacks good for SEO? Like backlinks, pingbacks are a good way to increase the link popularity of your site and improve your search engine optimization. A pingback is a link from one blog post to another, and when a post is pinged back, it means that the post has been linked to from another site. This is a good way to get more exposure for your site, and it can also help to improve your search engine ranking.
Understanding Web 3.0: Your Guide to NFTs and Guide to the Metaverse What is an NFT? A non-fungible token (NFT) is a unique digital asset. NFTs are not interchangeable, and each one is unique. NFTs can be used to represent items such as digital art, collectibles, and in-game items. What is the metaverse? The metaverse is a term used to describe the virtual world in which people can interact with each other and with digital objects in a realistic way. the metaverse is a natural extension of web 3.0, which is the next stage of the internet. Web 3.0 is often described as a more user-friendly and interactive internet, where users can easily connect and share information. What is Web 3.0? In the vein of Web 2.0, Web 3.0 refers to the next generation of the internet. It is expected to be more interactive, intelligent, and user-friendly than Web 2.0. Some of the technologies that are often associated with Web 3.0 include artificial intelligence, virtual reality, and blockchain. How are NFTs used in the Metaverse? Since Web 3.0 is still in its infancy the relationship between the metaverse and NFTs is still be explored and in many ways, created. NFTs could be used to create and represent virtual assets in the metaverse, or they could be used to create unique, one-of-a-kind experiences that can be shared and experienced by people in the metaverse. A major difference between early metaverses and the web 3.0 metaverse will be the widespread presence of virtual currencies, digital tokens, and NFTs. How to create an NFT? There are a few different ways to create an NFT, but the easiest way is to use a service like Decentraland. These platforms allow you to create and manage your own digital assets, and they also provide a marketplace where you can buy and sell NFTs. The general steps that go into the creation of an NFT will differ as platforms evolve but usually: The artist creates a digital or physical piece of art The artist submits the artwork to a minting service or platform. The minting service or platform verifies the authenticity of the artwork. The minting service or platform mints the artwork into an NFT. The NFT is stored on a blockchain and can be bought, sold, or traded like any other cryptocurrency. How to buy NFTs? NFTs can be bought in a variety of ways, including online marketplaces, online auctions, and directly from the creators themselves. Some of the most popular NFT marketplaces include OpenSea, Rarible, and SuperRare. To buy an NFT, you will need to create an account on one of these marketplaces and deposit cryptocurrency into your account or contact a creator directly to exchange crypto wallet addresses. How to sell an NFT? The process to sell and NFT is similar to the buying process. Generally the most common way to sell an NFT is through an online marketplace. There are a number of online platforms that allow you to list and sell your NFTs, and the most popular ones include OpenSea, Rarible, and SuperRare. When listing your NFT for sale, you will need to set a price and provide a description. It is also a good idea to include a link to the digital file so potential buyers can preview it. Best NFT marketplace? While there are many to choose from, as of 2022 OpenSea is the largest and most popular NFT marketplace with over 2 million users. It has a wide range of NFTs available for sale, including art, collectibles, and gaming items. OpenSea also has a built-in wallet so you can store your NFTs in one place. How to buy land in the metaverse? The best way to buy land in the metaverse will vary depending on the specific virtual world you are interested in. However, generally when buying metaverse land you should do your research and make sure you understand the virtual world you are interested in and the process for buying property within that world. Also remember never to spend more than you can afford on metaverse land. Should you invest in the metaverse? Some people believe that the metaverse will be a powerful and influential force in the future, while others believe that it is nothing more than a fad. Ultimately, it is up to the individual to decide whether or not to invest in the metaverse. However, it is worth remembering that there is singular metaverse, so while the concept may gain more widespread adoption your favorite metaverse could fail and stop existing. How to make money with NFT? There are a few ways to make money with NFTs. The most common is to create and sell them. You can also earn royalties from selling NFTs, or from having your NFTs used in games or other applications. Finally, you can earn interest on your NFTs by holding them in a wallet that supports NFTs.
Engagements. Breakups. Weddings. Pregnancy announcements. Needless to say, a lot of major life events filled peoples’ timelines during the COVID-19 pandemic. One of our personal favorites to see at AMP was the increase in pet adoptions – specifically dogs. This surge in furry friends not only brought smiles to our faces, but an important question to the front of our SEO team’s minds: What is the most popular dog breed since COVID? An analysis of the most queried “adopt + dog breed” searches shows which kinds of pooches Americans gravitated towards when looking for some extra company during the doldrums of the COVID-19 quarantine, and which dogs breeds are the least popular according to organic search data. How did you determine the most popular dog breeds? To identify the most popular pups during COVID, AMP used DogTime.com’s list of All Dog Breeds to create a list of 455 dog breeds and breed-mixes. We then added the word “adopt” before each breed, meaning breed names like “Border Collie” became “Adopt Border Collie.” Once we had our final list, we entered the queries into Google Ads Keyword Planner and exported the last 48 months worth of Monthly Search Volume data about each breed, going back to April 2017. “MSV” is the rough number of queries a keyword gets in organic search. Since Google is the most popular search engine in the country by far, we use their data to paint the most accurate picture we can of the search habits of the American public. Using this data, we can visualize interest spikes for certains breeds and try to correlate them with real world events – most notably the COVID-19 stay-at-home orders when many American realized just how empty their houses could get as hours spent inside turned to days and weeks. Most popular dog breeds before and after COVID: Keyword Avg MSV adopt golden retriever 14,300 adopt french bulldog 13,815 adopt corgi 11,219 adopt pug 9,952 adopt greyhound 8,075 adopt husky 7,260 adopt dachshund 6,525 adopt poodle 6,144 adopt pomeranian 5,681 adopt chihuahua 5,546 Do you know someone with a new Golden? Evidence suggests you might. Maybe it was all the Tucker Budzyn videos we were watching during quarantine, but as can be plainly seen, the popularity of Golden Retrievers surged higher than any other breed during quarantine and continued to do so after, reaching new highs in interest in November 2020 and January 2021. Before the quarantine, the ever-Instagramable French Bulldog (or “Dutchie” as they are known colloquially) was the most sought-after dog during the majority of months throughout the last four years. You can see it indicated by the orange line on the graph. Many other breeds have been the “breed of the month” since May 2017. Corgis, Greyhounds, and Pugs have all competed for the top spot. “Adopt Greyhound” in particular experienced a major MSV increase in November of 2018, which correlates with a ban on Greyhound racing overwhelmingly passed by Florida voters in that month. Since at the time Florida contained 11 of the country’s 17 remaining dog tracks, there was a massive newsburst relating to how Americans could adopt these soon to be jobless pups. https://lifehacker.com/how-to-adopt-a-racing-greyhound-after-the-florida-ban-1830343694 Which dog breeds are the most adopted according to organic search interest? When users are specifically looking to “adopt” a breed, these are the ten breeds they are most likely to search: Keyword Avg MSV adopt golden retriever 14,300 adopt french bulldog 13,815 adopt corgi 11,219 adopt pug 9,952 adopt greyhound 8,075 adopt husky 7,260 adopt dachshund 6,525 adopt poodle 6,144 adopt pomeranian 5,681 adopt chihuahua 5,546 According to our data, April and May 2020 were nearly tied for the most popular month ever to adopt a dog, showing that at a time when spirits were down and man needed a friend, there was none better than his (or her) best. With this in mind, humans have been doing a great job upholding their end of the bargain. Since the start of the pandemic, interest in adopting different breeds of dogs has grown by an average of 81% over pre-quarantine numbers. Which breeds benefited most from the COVID-19 stay-at-home orders? The Lagotto Romagnolo sticks out to us as the single breed with the greatest increase in sustained interest resulting from the stay-at-home orders, presumably because “I just adopted a new Lagotto Romagnolo” is so fun to say. This guy https://dogtime.com/dog-breeds/lagotto-romagnolo Over the last 48 months, 67.85% of all searches for “adopt Lagotto Romagnolo” came during the last 13 months, March 2020 to April 2021. In March 2020, MSV was 480 searches a month; however, April showed a growth of 83% to 880. Which are the least popular dog breeds during stay-at-home orders? Pretty much all dogs got a boost during the COVID lockdowns from the Affenpinscher to the Yorkshire Terrier. That being said, some breeds did see a reduction in adoption interest since the start of quarantine, or at least didn’t experience the interest bump that other breeds saw. The least popular breeds during quarantine are shown below and they are, for the most part, unsurprisingly, NOT creatures you would want to be stuck with indoors. The honorees are semi-feral Canaan Dog- a variety of Jordanian street dog, and the presumably entirely feral Australian Dingo. Cute, but not an optimal Netflix companion. The 3.5 billion different Google searches that take place every single day are all the result of human curiosity. We trust search engines with our most intimate and our most mundane questions. While your individual search history will always hopefully remain anonymous, the aggregate search history of the public at large is not. If a query is asked often enough, by enough unique individuals, it will be assigned an average number of monthly searches. We can make use of this information by exploring the many different queries relating to a topic and analyzing how the search volume of different queries changes from month to month. By utilizing our Search Intelligence services, AMP can help you unlock a trove of valuable market intelligence data sourced directly from the Google queries of your customers. If you have an interest in analyzing search data to drive brand & business decisions or in monitoring search data on an ongoing basis for up-to-date audience insights, you may want to learn more about our SEO agency services.
What Do Capricorns Hate? The Burning (with hatred) Questions We Google About the Twelve Signs of the Zodiac For Valentines Day 2021 we decided to explore the top "hate" queries associated with every astrological sign according to their Google search volume. Since we're SEOs and not astrologers, in addition to our search intelligence insights we'll also include the top image associated with every query. Also make sure to check out our companion piece to this article, The Most Loved Zodiac Sign, Search Listening, and Why I’m Glad I’m not a Gemini, for more Zodiac search volume fun! What Do Capricorns Hate "What do Capricorns hate" was tied with "Scorpio hates" for the position of most searched “sign” + “hate” query. According to the highest ranking image for this query, Capricorns dislike it when negative and critical people are discouraging and disparaging to others. They understandably dislike self-important people along with moochers, liars, flakes, and gossips. Capricorns can easily tell the difference between clever and obnoxious behavior and dislike the latter. There were eight instances where Google showed search volume for a sign plus the word “hates”. We thought it would be interesting to share the most common “hates” queries by MSV along with some other bonus insights. Keyword Volume scorpio hates 140 virgo hates 110 taurus hates 90 sagittarius hates 90 libra hates 40 aries hates 10 capricorn hates 10 aquarius hates 10 Scorpio Hates Self sufficient Scorpios hate relying on others, not being in control and being left unaware. They despise disloyalty, dishonesty, and greed. They aren't fond of the dispassionate and people who can't take a joke, but also don't you dare tell a Scorpio to "get over it". Scorpios don't like emotionally closed off behavior and having to explain or justify their own emotions. You can be assured that if you've just met a Scorpio, their guarded nature means they probably don't trust you yet. If you are an unmotivated freeloading failure, don't expect any sympathy from a Scorpio. Virgo Hates Keep your hands to yourself around a Virgo! They don't love touchy people who fiddle with objects around them. Virgos also don’t care for incompetent, careless, and stupid people. Boasting and whining around a Virgo is not a key to their heart. If you have a stubborn personality you might have a hard time getting along with a Virgo. Taurus Hates If you would describe yourself as a nitpicker then there is a good chance a Taurus will perceive you as pestering. Hypocritical behavior and flip flopping is especially annoying to a Taurus who values sticking to your guns. Loud and impatient behavior is a sure way to get under a Taurus's skin. Sagittarius Hates Nothing irks a Sagittarius more than assuming they are lying to you. Like Scorpio, Sag hates it when people can't take a joke. They are disinclined towards unenthusiastic people and cynical people. They don't want anyone trying to control them and hate it when folks don't play fair. Being a sore loser and not accepting when you are wrong is a sure way to get a Sagittarius on your bad side. Libra Hates Selfish, inconsiderate, and unfair behavior is extremely annoying to a Libra. Don't plan on rushing them into making a decision and always offer to return a favor you owe them. If you take advantage of a Libra's friendly nature they might not forgive you and they revile it when you bring chaos and uncertainty to their life. Aries Hates Sluggish time-wasting behavior is bothersome to Aries. Don't get in the way of a motivated Aries and don't be indirect with them either. You won't succeed in tempering their relentless optimism with cautiousness or pessimism but you'll bug them if you try. Capricorn Hates Like we said, Capricorns hate dream-crushers and the overly negative. They also reserve extra dislike for fake people and obnoxious people. Aquarius Hates Nothing turns off an Aquarius more than pushy, showy, or overbearing behavior. Give an Aquarius plenty of space and always demonstrate open mindedness when you're around them. An Aquarius considers themselves a dedicated friend so it can be extra hurtful to them if you question their friendship and authenticity. Bonus Insights "Why do people hate Capricorns" gets 110 searches a month, it's safe to say lots of other signs find this sign ornery. "Virgo man hates being ignored" also gets 110 searches a month so don't do that if you're trying to win one over. "I hate Virgo men" was the top "I hate" query with 90 searches a month. Tied for second place for this undistinguished prize with an MSV of 50 is Taurus women, Libra men, Tauruses in general, and "being a Pisces", which hits us right in the feels. The Bronze medal for "I hate" is a tie at 40 MSV between "Aries men" and "Pisces" in general. Like how we pulled these insights from search data? Learn more about our SEO agency services.
A part of AMP’s Search Intelligence service is monitoring and analyzing changes in monthly keyword data such as estimated impressions and average monthly search volume to uncover insights about an audience or category. If you’re familiar with our Google Search Trends Insights series, you’ll know we’re already fans of using Google Trends to work out what’s weighing most heavily on the American mind. Today, we want to apply our Search Intelligence service to tomorrow’s election to see if we can predict which candidate is going to win in three critical midwestern swing states. To make these predictions, we used Google Keyword Planner’s Estimated Impressions metric to gauge the relative popularity of Trump and Biden branded merchandise. We used this US News article to decide which swing states to analyze and we have some interesting insights to share for three of them- Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Wisconsin. Our Thinking In 2016, the small Chinese city of Yiwu accurately predicted the outcome of the American election by noting that the city’s many small goods factories were selling much more Trump merchandise versus Clinton merchandise. We are applying the same rationale, that demand for merchandise tracks popular support, to several swing counties located in swing states. By using Google Keyword Planner’s Estimated Impressions metric, we can speculate how popular each candidate’s merch has been in each county and thus how that county is likely to vote. While it’s true that not every voter orders a sign or hat online, we still believe the data is useful because voters who vocally support a candidate may be likely to influence their friends, family, and neighbors. Can Search Behavior Be Predictive? Search insights, like the ones we gathered from Google Trends and Keyword Planner, can be a good indicator of future events because it can be used to identify historic trends which are likely to continue. Businesses can use this data to determine which types of products they should be producing and how they should be marketing those products. By analyzing search insights about a topic over time, you can discover the increased public demand for a certain product type or variety. This particular function of Search Intelligence is called search listening. For example, we can conduct a search listening exercise on a topic like “multivitamin” and uncover the insight that “multivitamin” keywords modified by the words “iron free” are seeing an increase in popularity, or that “sugar free multivitamin” is seeing a decline. Search Intelligence vs. Polling Search Intelligence can deliver insights you aren’t likely to get from other methods such as focus groups or polling. This is because Search Intelligence data is self-selected. You’re analyzing a population’s Google searches instead of depending on a third party pollster to successfully make contact with a person and then successfully persuade them to answer a question honestly. Search Intelligence data comes from people who sought out the search engine and entered their burning questions into it. Search engines are judgment free environments which are accessible to a huge swath of the population, so the data we can glean from them should be valued as an important input when examining or predicting behavior. Methodology To determine the relative popularity of Trump and Biden in the swing counties, a list of 40 “merchandise” associated keywords was inputted to Keyword Planner and then their estimated monthly impressions for November 2020 were aggregated and divided between “Trump supporting keywords” and “Biden supporting keywords”. In total, there are 40 keywords divided into eight categories: Button Flag Hat Merchandise Shirt Sign Sticker Store All variations of a candidate’s name and campaign are accounted for, so not only are we tracking estimated impressions for “Trump sign” and “Biden sign” but also variations such as “Joe Biden sign” and “Trump Pence sign”. Predicted State Victors According to Merch Sold in Swing Counties If estimated merchandise impressions were the sole metric which decided the outcome of the election in these swing counties, we would feel confident calling the following three states for either President Donald Trump or Former Vice President and presidential candidate Joe Biden. Pennsylvania – Winner: Trump Our Search Intelligence analysis indicates that President Donald Trump is likely to win Pennsylvania. He appears to have maintained his 2016 support in the seven counties he won in the previous elections and appears to be ahead of Former Vice President and presidential candidate Biden in two more counties, including the critical swing county of Lackawanna. In Lackawanna county three of the top five merchandise searches belong to Trump. Trump also appears to be winning the Philadelphia suburb of Montgomery County. The query “Trump store” has nearly 1.6X the amount of estimated impressions as the highest Biden query, “Biden Harris sign”. It is worth noting here that at the time this data was aggregated the Real Clear Politics average of polls was giving Biden a +3.6 advantage in the state and that the political futures market PredictIt had Biden as a clear favorite, with one share of “Yes Biden will win PA” selling for $0.63 whereas shares of “Yes Trump will win PA” were only selling for $0.39. Michigan – Winner: Biden President Donald Trump appears to be losing ground in Michigan. According to this Search Intelligence analysis Trump is behind Biden in three of the four counties he won last time and all other counties which went Clinton in 2016. Looking at the two swing counties Trump is losing in 2020, the advantage in merch impressions clearly belongs to Joe Biden. Wisconsin – Winner: Trump Trump merchandise is generating more impressions than Biden merchandise in four of the five Wisconsin swing counties. Trump is underperforming Biden in Kenosha county, a county he won in 2016 but to make up for this he is overperforming in Eau Claire and La Crosse counties. With Trump winning merchandise impressions in 70% of total counties and 80% of swing counties, the data shows that he is doing better in the state than either the RCP average of poll or PredictIt indicate. At AMP Agency, we provide our clients with search insights as a data point to inform business decisions. Our passion for this leads us to explore search insights around major events such as elections as well because it’s another data point we can use to inform ourselves and understand the world around us. If you’re already practicing Social Listening or are gathering insights from polls or focus groups, Search Intelligence is another great tool to add to the mix. After all, no one lies to Google. To learn more about Search Intelligence and our SEO services, contact us.
