Semantic Mastery Training Overview

1. What is Semantic Mastery all about?

As an SEO professional servicing clients or even maintaining your own web properties, it's difficult to test all of the theories, software, and services available. It's difficult because:

One -- It's time consuming and we're usually busy working on client properties or managing our own sites.

Two -- It's risky to try new ideas and services without knowing for certain if they're safe. In other words, you don't want to test something on a site that is already doing well because it could end up causing more harm than good.

So that leaves us in a catch 22 situation. We want to test new ideas and strategies but usually don't have the time to properly setup test environments for each of these.

That's where Semantic Mastery comes in. We are a team of web professionals that have come together to provide real world case studies where we test all of these things and document the entire process.

2. What are we going to be sharing with our members to help them be better SEO agents?

Well our case studies are huge in that we provide all of the testing on our own web properties.

Let's put it like this, we all get marketed to all the time with new training offers, magic button software, and services promising that they're the last you'll ever need.

They all claim to be must haves and have very convincing pitches.

So what we do is, select the most promising of all of these and put them to the test.

For example, we may be testing a backlinking strategy, software, or service. In this case, we would setup several web properties and try to make them relatively identical. Then we test each of these methods on separate sites and document the process so that we can share the results and let our members decide for themselves which products and/or services they want to use based on those test results.

This way we are doing the testing and taking the chances, not you. We will be conducting these tests for both local and national terms so that no matter what line of business you're in, we'll have case studies that apply to you and your clients.

3. Tell me some of the high end products we will be testing and reviewing?

Our goal is to test most of the higher end training products. You know, the ones that require an investment. This is a priority for us because we know how expensive these courses can be and it would be nice to see some third party neutral reviews prior to shelling out hundreds and or thousands of dollars.

We won't be testing all of the WSO's and Forum Special Offers that come out. There are just too many. However when some of them come around that are promoted heavily and get a lot of attention, we will test those.

And we will also be conducting regular surveys of our members to see which training products they would like to see tested and reviewed.

The same goes for software and outsourcing services. We will be testing most of the major software and services and anything new that comes along that gets a lot of hype. And again, we will be testing additional stuff that our member's want to see tested when the demand is high enough.

In addition to the regular case studies we conduct, we will also be holding bi-weekly group coaching webinars for our members. These will consist of many things including:

Additional training that we feel is important Q&A with our members Cover changes in SEO as they happen Live site analysis, etc...

And as if that wasn't enough, we'll also be adding training modules to the member's area as we develop new methods that produce positive results.

4. If someone wants to find out more, what do they need to do?

Go to our website and opt-in to be notified of our launch date. We will be offering a special launch price at first so you don't want to miss out on that. We're looking to go live in a month so be sure to get on our notification list.

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How To SEO: Local SEO Training

1. How does Local SEO differ from national or even international SEO?

Local SEO is optimizing for search queries and terms with local intent. Generally these types of searches are performed when someone is searching for a local business. For example, take out Chinese food, or plumbing contractor. Most people will also include the city name, known as the geographic modifier, to the query but that isn’t always the case. And Google has gotten really good at determining where the search is being performed, either through your IP location or, in the case of mobile devices, where you’re physically located at the time of the search. This is different than national or global SEO since the searches have a different intent.

2. What are some things you can do with Local SEO that you can’t do or won’t work in National SEO?

There are many sections to a SERP (Search Engine Results Page) depending on the search term. When it comes to local searches, there are 3 main sections: Ads, Organic, and Maps (with the occasional Carousel that appears at the top of the page commonly seen when searching for restaurants) The ads (A.K.A. AdWords) appear first, then usually 1 – 3 organic listings, and then the maps, followed by the remaining organic listings.

With local, you want to optimize to be placed in the maps listings. You know, the results with pins next to them, usually in a “7 Pack” and lettered A – G. Obviously you need a physical location to be ranked in the maps section.

Interestingly, when you search from a mobile device, the maps listings usually come up right after the ads with maybe an occasional single organic listing between them. This is important since more than 50% of searches are now done on mobile devices. This is why the best place to be is the maps section if you’re a local business.

Something else that’s unique to local SEO is citations. Citations are places where a business can list their NAP or Name, Address, & Phone Number. This includes local and national business directories as well as industry or niche specific directories. These citations are one of the primary ranking factors for maps listings. Some of the better known citation sources would be Yelp, Yellowpages, Angie’s List, etc.

3. Would you say local SEO is somehow easier?

It’s different. Similar, but still has its own challenges. In a way I would say yes, it can be easier but that truly depends on the market. Some industries are incredibly competitive even on a local level. For example, attorneys. They spend big bucks to be ranked at the top for their respective cities. But generally speaking, you can expect to see results from a local SEO campaign long before you’d see any for a national SEO campaign.

4. How can Semantic Mastery help SEO agents do local SEO better?

We provide training for all types of SEO including social and local optimization. Since I got my start in local and still much of my business is in the local realm, I stay on top of what works. We have methods that we use that can actually “blanket” a SERP with a client’s listings. Not just their website, but also their citations, YT videos, Hangouts, web 2.0’s, and social profiles like FB pages and LinkedIn company Pages. In our training, we show how to do this for clients for total market domination. It really is very powerful.

And with the new semantic web, there are ways to markup content using semantic markup such as Schema.org and RDFa that can really help a business to rank. These are some of the many things we cover in the member’s training.

local seo training

Additional reading - http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL1oO3mUVEcfrZXPVXbGZGXEb2h3YSWyNp

How To SEO: Social Signals as a Ranking Factor

In this Hangout, we talk about social signals and their impact on SEO and search engine rankings. There has been a lot of debate about this topic and we want to add our two cents to the discussion.

Can social signals alone rank a site in Google search? Yes AND no...

In tests we have conducted, buying spam social signals (unrelated and/or from a non-interested crowd) to a well optimized post did not provide any SEO benefit.

But when we have targeted the proper audience with the same type of post and with the same level of optimization, we were able to rank the post. This is because it wasn't just social signals that the post accrued. It also gained social links. Organic social links.

There is most certainly a difference. And when you combine natural (organic) social links with corresponding social signals (likes, +1's, Retweets, etc), you also get targeted traffic to the post, which is also a positive ranking signal.

So the short answer is: IT DEPENDS. You can't rank with SPAM social signals alone. But with targeted social signals, you most certainly can, but this is due in large part because of the natural links that will be created as a result.

Another positive effect that this social signals can have is the transfer of Domain Authority. Since most social media platforms have perfect (100) or near perfect Domain Authority, DA for your target property will increase. We have seen brand new sites increase from DA of 1 to a DA of 20+ in 30 days from just social signals alone!

semantic mastery

Supplemental reading http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL1oO3mUVEcfrZXPVXbGZGXEb2h3YSWyNp

How To SEO: Domain Authority | Semantic Mastery

1. When you are talking about Domain Authority, what are you really referring to?

Domain Authority is a measure of the strength of a domain. It’s a metric that covers the entire domain including all pages and subdomains.

It takes into account many factors such as referring domains, inbound link count, link quality, and many others. Moz uses over 40 signals to calculate Domain Authority.

Another way to think about it is it’s kind of like a measurement of a domain’s popularity and what it can get away with.

Google sets rules that websites must pass to appear high in the search results. A site with little or no DA, such as with a brand new site, has the strictest set of rules that it must follow.

Conversely, a site with a really high DA generally has much more leeway since a level of trust or authority has already been established.

Consider this, 3 of the most popular sites on the web are WP.com, FB, & YouTube. They each have a perfect DA which is a score of 100. That’s why it’s so much easier to rank a WP.com blog, a FB page, or a YT video (relative to a new webpage).

We know that you can build links to these types of properties much more aggressively without having to worry too much about getting slapped. We can build way more links, way faster, and be much more targeted with our anchor text and these properties will rank very quickly.

Try that with a new website and you’re almost guaranteed to get punished, if not de-indexed.

So in other words, the higher the DA, the more abuse the property can withstand.

2. How is this different from “traditional beliefs”?

Well if you mean Page Rank, that is Google’s proprietary scoring system which has been the Gold Standard for SEO purposes for many years.

PR is an older scoring system, in fact it was Google’s first. It uses similar signals to determine the importance of a web page. PR was a page based metric which is similar to Moz’s Page Authority measurement.

The problem with PR is that it has been historically easy to manipulate, whereas DA isn’t.

3. You speak of Domain Authority affecting rankings, How does that work in the new Web 3.0 environment?

All things being equal, a page on a high DA site will outrank a page on a site with low DA. Again, we go back to the common knowledge of how simple it is to rank a WP.com page or a YT video. So the trick is to learn how DA effects how a page rnks and how we can utilize this knowledge to our advantage. 4. How can Semantic Mastery help people understand and execute Domain Authority better?

We have some case studies being developed that go into more detail and we will also show how to take advantage of the perfect and near perfect DA sites for our own benefit.

domain authority

You may additionally want to consider this -- http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL1oO3mUVEcfrZXPVXbGZGXEb2h3YSWyNp

How To SEO: YouTube & Hangouts SEO & Silo Structure

This week in the Semantic Mastery series we take a look at how YouTube fits into and plays its part in the Semantic Web or Web 3.0 as perhaps it's better known.

Our expert is Semantic Mastery Supremo Bradley Benner who tells me there's a lot more to YouTube than just videos.

So on that note, we're going to dig deep into Google Hangouts and ranking them as well as YouTube Silo Structures.

semantic mastery

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How To SEO: Content Syndication & Automation

Semantic Mastery started life in 2013 in order to pioneer the 'New SEO' also known as Web 3.0 or the Semantic Web.

In this Hangout, Bradley Benner talks about the mysterious art of using silos in web sites.

We find out what silos are, the difference between the two basic types and the results when compared to non-silo sites.

I guarantee you will be amazed.

social media

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How To SEO: Website Silo Architecture

Semantic Mastery started life in 2013 in order to pioneer the 'New SEO' also known as Web 3.0 or the Semantic Web.

In this Hangout, Bradley Benner talks about the mysterious art of using physical and virtual silos in web sites.

We find out what silos are, the difference between the two basic types and the results when compared to non-silo sites.

I guarantee you will be amazed.

website silo architecture

You could also want to consider this -- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zY3sSsnSKPw