The Most-Read Digital Marketing Blog Posts of 2016

Hello friends! Happy New Year!

We’re looking forward to a lot of exciting new products and services to share with you in 2017, including an upgrade to our blog. The exciting commitment we’ve made — Bruce made — is more posts by him. Stay connected with weekly posts from Bruce by subscribing to the blog here.

In 2016 we were busy bringing digital marketers answers to the toughest questions surrounding SEO, content marketing and PPC. Out of more than 100 articles, these are the top 12 most-read articles on the Bruce Clay Blog this year.

From managing SEO projects to understanding the Facebook algorithm, keeping your website fresh to disavowing links, here’s the year’s most popular posts for you to read up on as you head into the New Year!

1. The Always Up-to-Date SEO Checklist

Just getting started optimizing websites? Here’s a checklist to keep on-hand to keep in-hand as you embark on an SEO project. We update this SEO list regularly so it reflects all the updates to ranking factors as they emerge.

2. What Is Google PageRank, How Is It Earned & Does It Matter in 2016?

PageRank is the score Google gives pages when determining the quality and quantity of links pointing to a web page. Find out why PageRank is a critical SEO component and how to better your PageRank.

3. 30 SEO Interview Questions You Should Be Prepared For

If you’re looking to hire an in-house SEO analyst, we want to help you find the right one. That’s because our most successful SEO consulting happens when there’s a competent SEO manager working in-house. So we compiled the questions we would ask of a prospective SEO analyst in an interview. It’s a must-read for anyone making digital marketing hiring decisions.

4. The Digital Marketing Conference Calendar

The Digital Marketing Conference Calendar is your one-stop shop for planning your digital marketing conference attendance. Discover more than 100 search engine optimization, paid search, social media and content marketing events happening around the world. This conference calendar is updated regularly, and undergoes a massive update each January. Next week, the calendar will be published anew to reflect the conferences of 2017! Subscribe to the blog to get the 2017 edition delivered straight to your inbox.

6. Keep It Fresh: Steps for Updating Your Website Content

One of the factors Google takes into consideration when determining a site’s maintenance (an important ranking factor) is how up-to-date the content is. This article explains the process of cataloging content, identifying what needs to be updated, evaluating content performance, strategizing content updates and monitoring the results post-update.

7. Advanced Search Operators for Yahoo, Bing and Google

If you’re researching a site you’re working on, investigating a competitor’s site, or trying to locate something specific online, advanced search operators can come in extremely handy. Develop ninja-like search skills with this useful guide.

8. 43 Reasons SEOs Can’t Fear Change: 2016 Digital Marketing Predictions

Digital marketing thought-leaders Bruce Clay, Eric Enge, Cindy Krum and more shared what they were anticipating for the industry in 2016. It’s interesting to look back on this January article now and see how accurate their predictions were. Next month, we’ll have a new predictions post for 2017. Subscribe to the blog to get the predictions for 2017 when we publish them next month!

9. All-In-One Mobile SEO & Design Checklist

Learn about mobile SEO and how to take your mobile user experience and mobile search rankings from good to great with this hands-on optimization checklist! We updated this post in light of Google’s change to a mobile-first index  as well as new technologies including AMP and PWAs.

10. The Complete Guide to Disavowing Links for Google and Bing

A September 2016 update of Penguin — Google’s link analysis algorithm — brought the sophistication with which Google judges links into sharp focus. It’s vital that SEOs closely evaluate every link pointing to their site to determine its quality and relevance. If the link is found wanting, it’s time to disavow. This article is your complete guide to disavowing links for Google and Bing.

11. What Is the Facebook Algorithm?

Facebook’s News Feed filtration system takes into consideration as many as 100,000 individually weighted factors to deliver the most authoritative, relevant and timely content to individuals. Learn more about these factors and how to optimize your content on Facebook to increase your organic reach.

12. 15 Social Media Manager Interview Questions

If you want to hire a social media manager but want some guidance on vetting candidates, this article will guide you through the criteria we would look for in a social media manager and the questions we would ask.

We are excited to see what 2017 has in store for digital marketers. Bruce will be a familiar face on the blog tackling critical “why does this matter?” questions to help the C-suite make strategic decisions. And we’ll continue to cover breaking SEO, PPC, content marketing and social media news, and provide in-depth, tactical guides to fuel your next digital marketing win.

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Kristi Kellogg is a journalist, news hound, professional copywriter, and social (media) butterfly. Currently, she is a senior SEO content writer for Conde Nast. Her articles appear in newspapers, magazines, across the Internet and in books such as "Content Marketing Strategies for Professionals" and "The Media Relations Guidebook." Formerly, she was the social media editor at Bruce Clay Inc.

See Kristi's author page for links to connect on social media.