Entries by Brandon Hess

Alternatives to Homepage Carousel Sliders (Say No to Sliders)

I could spend an entire post describing all the ways sliders are bad for SEO, conversion, page speed and usability.  The reasons why you should avoid homepage sliders have been been the subject of multiple case studies over the years.  If you’re using or considering the use of a content slider on your website, you’re hopefully […]

SEO Pitfalls: Recovering from a Website Redesign

Finally, the redesign you’ve been working on for months has launched.  A few weeks later you proudly pull together a report, ready to show everyone that all the pain and anxiety was worth it. However, as you begin to compare metrics you start to realize the hero’s journey you wanted to tell may actually be […]

Writing SEO Titles that Encourage Clicks

If you’ve been working in the SEO field for any length of time, you’re likely familiar with the standard Title template: Primary Keyword | Secondary Keyword | Tertiary Keywords | Brand Name The idea that it’s good SEO to have all your keywords in your Title Element, while a proven method, has begun to lose […]

Tools to Help with Keyword Research in 2017

SEO continues to evolve as it always has and one of the core aspects of SEO, keyword research, is no different. While the classic method of keyword research has been identifying the best keyword opportunities and then creating individual pages with on-page content focusing on those exact keywords, Google’s continued focus on user-intent has forced […]

How to Prepare for Google’s Mobile-First Index Change

If you follow the SEO industry, you’ve likely heard that Google has begun testing its Mobile-First Index.  If not, the short-version is Google currently indexes both the Desktop and Mobile versions of your website based on the Desktop version.  Google now plans to flip that and begin indexing your Desktop & Mobile versions based on […]

3 Free Blogging Tools to Combat Writer’s Block

Writing, regularly, is difficult for most. It requires a deep well of inspiration and discipline, tightly aligned with the ability to allow the perfectionist within us all to let go of the reins on a regular basis. However, the myth usually surrounds the enviable idea that most writers are at least writing about their passions. […]