Mark is the Content Strategy Director for Perficient Digital, a leading digital agency serving many of the top global brands. They have over twelve years of experience in digital marketing and has built a strong reputation as a social media and content marketing expert. In a Reddit interview, Rand Fishkin of Moz named Mark as one of his top five people tofollow on social media. They are a columnist for Marketing Land and a VIP Columnist for Search Engine Journal. Mark is also a regular speaker at industry conferences such as MozCon, PubCon, and SMX.
Mark can be reached on Twitter @marktraphagen or via LinkedIn.
Recent Posts with Mark Traphagen
486 | Executing Enterprise SEO at Scale with Mitul Gandhi and Mark TraphaganInterview / podcastThere’s such a growth in SEO technology. It’s time to take a moment and learn how one of these firms use what they learn from companies that use them to deliver best services. We’re talking to Mitul Gandhi and Mark Traphagen, seoClarity today on the EDGE.
How Mitul came into the SEO industry…and why?
Software had to originate out of a need.
seoClarity first had to understand how to scale themselves
What insights did you have from consulting and how did you would them into the product?
If two or more clients ask for it, seoClarity delivers it
Custom SAS product delivery at a boutique level to customers, exemplifying what the listening process should be.
The Growth of SEO Technology
The gaps Mitul sees at the enterprise level of collaboration between departments
How do you help companies bridge that last mile between insights and action? [...]
March 18, 2022- 481 | SEO SaaS Technology Growth with Mitul Gandhi and Mark TraphaganInterview / podcastYou can have all the data and insights, but taking action is the biggest roadblock in Enterprise SEO
There’s such a growth in SEO technology. It’s time to take a moment and learn how one of these firms use what they learn from companies that use them to deliver best services. We’re talking to Mitul Gandhi and Mark Traphagen, seoClarity today on the EDGE.
How Mitul came into the SEO industry…and why?
Software had to originate out of a need.
seoClarity first had to understand how to scale themselves
What insights did you have from consulting and how did you would them into the product?
If two or more clients ask for it, seoClarity delivers it
Custom SAS product delivery at a boutique level to customers, exemplifying what the listening process should be.
The Growth of SEO Technology
The gaps Mitul sees at the enterprise level of collaboration between departments
How do you help companies bridge that last mile between insights and action?
[...]
February 23, 2022
- 427 | Matching User Intent on Google Search with Mark TraphagenInterview / podcastSome shifts are necessary to understand user intent and how to meet the needs of your users. Looking at Google SERP topography with VP of Product Marketing and Training atseoClarity Mark Traphagen, metrics become pivotal when attempting to rank on Google Search.
What are some other metrics that should be more important than just rank?
It’s not about rank, at some point it’s a brand marketing position.
Does Google even want to give you a click?
We can waste a lot of time complaining about changes from Google…Google’s taking with one hand, giving with another.
Over 1200 SERP features on Google
Google’s Goal
Matching User Intent on Google Search
A significant piece of user intent is understanding the changes on a search engine. A heavy focus on rank can end up guiding websites to walls. Sometimes companies find their links ranking high, then a few months later, it just keeps dropping, and they’re left wondering why this happened. They’re left asking: What did we do wrong? There is a considerable amount of myopic focus on rank, but rank does not reflect the topography of the SERP.
Other Metrics That Should Surpass Rank’s Importance
Aside from the actual SERP position and the real estate a website is taking up on the page, the number one metric considered is traffic. Focus on bringing traffic insights and having those be the motivator when creating content. When it comes down to it, not considering the fundamental key performance indicators, any keyword tracked for ranking is a human judgment. Some tools can help make better judgments, but there will always be a finite set of keywords that one person thinks is important. However, Google is not limited to just that set of keywords.
Google can look at any content and detect several keywords and content that it can use for ranking. Google can essentially choose anything to be relevant to what the user intent is. If you’re only concentrating on a finite set of keywords, then you’re missing the larger picture. There could be certain aspects and pages that you’re missing that are doing well because you’re focused on just ranking high with specific content. It’s pertinent to know that visibility and ranking at the top of the Google search page do not mean that you’re visible. Your traffic awareness is much more important than ranking.
SEO As a Brand Marketing Decision
As soon as you’re interacting with a Google SERP, you see what Google believes is most important regarding user intent. There is a certain brand stake once they rank high and are visible. In addition, visibility is now showing users that that brand is one that they may want to go back to. Search visibility used to be simple, but there’s much more to take into consideration now. While Google may be taking up page space with its features which continually push organic web links down in the ranking, organic results still go beyond traditional optimization. This leaves websites wondering if it is worthless to try and fill content just to get featured. At the core of it all, no matter if the link gets clicked on or not, SEO is becoming a marketing decision. Success can’t be a linear transaction anymore; success is measured by the consistency and composition of traffic, traffic that can be gained through the correct marketing strategies.
Google: Strives to Be Useful for The User
Examining what Google is looking at when deciding rank, it’s no secret that Google wants to be as useful for the user as possible. Their features strive for user satisfaction on a Google SERP, leaving users to need to click less and less. Does that mean that it is counterproductive for brands to focus on getting clicks and ranking solely? User satisfaction means more ad revenue for Google, so they will continue to go down whatever route their data tells them is the most satisfying for the user, regardless of the work you put in.
Complaining About Google: Is It a Waste of Time?
The SEO industry can waste time complaining about Google and its goal of user satisfaction. However, the best way to thrive is by dealing with the reality of the situation and figuring out where to pivot. Those businesses that can thrive find ways to survive in the face of adversity and find ways to expand through new necessary avenues of business. Do what you must do and concentrate on the action needed to get to where you want to go. Take a larger look at the big picture to understand the full context regarding how Google is presenting you and your competitor to the user. A brand could be losing rank but gaining a following. It’s essential to focus on how one can consistently hold some rank and gain a following. Google may be stealing traffic in areas that didn’t matter as much as we thought.
Understanding Opportunities of New SERP Features
Google may be taking away visibility in some respects, but it also gives the ability to appear and be relevant for much broader user queries to brands. Being able to understand relevance at a much deeper level is giving more opportunity to brands. The opportunity to match user intent is greater than ever. The ability to match and understand audience similarities across several keywords and incorporate them into content gives more brands much bigger chances to be seen.
Google has over 1200 SERP features, which is an individual thing that Google puts in a SERP that is not just a blue line link. Google only uses features in very specific queries. On any given SERP, the features can be different. If you ignore how the page looks, you’re missing a huge factor to consider when determining your visibility. Different SERP features indicate how Google understands that key concept, which you can use to create useful content. Google’s goal is not just to answer each question but also to understand what satisfies human beings. In the past, there may have been a gap between what made human beings happy and what made search engines happy in terms of SEO, but now you don’t need to think like that anymore. If you’re trying to satisfy the user, then you’ll satisfy the search engine. Keywords are evidence of where we’ve been, not where we’re going. [...]
June 14, 2021
- 425 | The Problems and Future of Enterprise SEO with Mark TraphagenInterview / podcastWhat are the problems when analyzing and acting on data from an enterprise-level SEO projects. With hundreds of thousands of pages to deal with, the utilization of machine learning is fastly becoming an essential resource. Mark Traphagen of SEO Clarity gives us their insights into these issues. They also give us a perspective of what is a good make-up of an enterprise SEO skill set. Happy to have been able to catchup with Mark and have a good solid discussion.
Getting behind the curtain of Big Data inside of a SEO software provider
The biggest issue in enterprise SEO. The time to move from data to insight to action
Listening to SEO’s is an important part of developing SaaS SEO software
How many enterprise SEOS actually “get” the goals of their business? What have you seen from the most successful SEOs?
Do we have to move as fast as Google is?
Matching our machine learning to the Google machine
Who is Mark Traphagen?
Mark Traphagen is the VP of Product Marketing and Training at seoClarity. They are a respected speaker and writer of topics including SEO, social media, and Concept Marketing. Mark is considered one of the most influential content and social media authors across various industries. At seoClarity, Mark oversees positioning and market awareness, as well as products and services. They also manage all internal and client-facing training. They’ve been known to offer Enterprise SEO guidance and insights to several firms.
Mark has been a teacher for many years and a salesman for about ten years. When they attended grad school in the late 90s-early 2000s, they began working at the campus bookstore. As the bookstore started to be overshadowed by Amazon, their boss tasked him with making a webpage. Being an avid blogger, Mark built a website and expanded its reach over two years. It was during this time that they stumbled upon SEO. After finishing up school with this positive experience, they moved to North Carolina and began work with an agency. At the agency, they listened, learned, and absorbed, eventually leading them to where they are now.
Behind the Big Data Curtain of Enterprise SEO Industry
At seoClarity, Mark fills an in-house role with an SEO software platform. This has allowed them to take a deeper look at problems and see behind the data curtain. They are exposed to a constant stream of massive amounts of data. They learn from the different strategies that companies use to see what is and isn’t helpful with SEO. Mark can analyze the ranking and shifting environments of data.
Diving into the Biggest Issue with Enterprise SEO: Scalability
When discussing the ways SeoClarity helps its clients, Mark claims that a significant problem within the digital marketing realm is the desire to move fast when analyzing data. They point out one of the biggest problems in Enterprise SEO: scalability. Scale your page, scale the mountains of politics, and scale the abundance of data. Data is coming instantaneously; there is time spent extracting the vital content, determining what the information means, and trying to communicate results to others.
Additional time is then spent on setting up and carrying out the action that fixes a problem or takes advantage of the information analyzed. SeoClarity focuses on the time that scalability takes and aids enterprise-level SEO to move from data to insights and into action. Mark and their team focus on this significant gap in technique at the enterprise level and how to reduce it. SeoClarity offers automated insights that can be gained from the data, making it easier for their clients. Mark claims that machine-learning insights have come to be a necessity.
The Importance of Listening to SEOs and Clients
Mark emphasizes that their assets are their clients because they face the problems that Mark addresses every day. They listen carefully and offer a service that builds what clients ask for. They go into their work, asking themselves, “How can we apply things like machine-learning to solve that problem at the scale it needs to be solved?” For them, machine learning is an experimental lab. Them and their team go through months of testing, learning, and adapting. It’s is crucial to stay informed through forums, videos, and social media to gain insight into what works, what doesn’t, and what people want to view.
SEOs and Understanding Business Goals
Mark explains that SEOs are analytically minded, and there is usually a misunderstanding between them and the executives of the software provider. When asked: “How do SEOs process the goal of business?” Mark says there’s a need to be more integrated to improve workflow and establish understanding.
There’s a success with those who realize that they must integrate SEOs with all the teams, such as marketing and technology. This integration strategy is essential to build relationships and communicate the value of SaaS to the executives. Mark states that websites have become more aware of this necessity, but the question remains of how to track it and make it happen.
Do We Have to Move as Fast as Google?
Mark’s reply to this question: yes and no. Google’s reputation is built on speed. There are ways that you need to be adjusting and staying aware, as Google is moving to improve.
However, Mark says that there’s little value in chasing the algorithm. People think keeping up with Google is essential, which leaves them in a panic, leading to more problems. Mark advises not to panic; to focus on a bigger perspective. The average SEO thinks optimization is keeping up with every bit of change Google makes, but at the moment, it is hard to discern what the changes mean.
There is more value in trying to determine the more significant moves over time. You want to focus on the user experience and show the web search engine that you deserve the traffic to your page.
Matching Our Machine to the Google Machine: Worth it?
Mark asserts that trying to match our machine to Google’s machine isn’t beneficial. We must understand the larger context and where the market is heading when it comes to machine learning. Mark teaches clients to concentrate on bigger issues. They push the URA principles: usability, relevance, and authority. Usability determines if the site is accessible to search engines and users. Relevance focuses on the content, optimization, internal linking, and everything that helps Google match you with the best audience. Authority focuses on how you demonstrate to search engines that you’re a trusted authority.
These principles help set priorities. Through seoClarity, Mark offers the Actual Insights tool, which assesses issues within your site and possible opportunities, then assigns priority levels to them. This tool drives results and optimizes task management, as well. Mark finds success when they are bringing their client’s results.
[...]
June 5, 2021
