Welcome to the Q&A Forum

Recently, I wrote a Moz post on what I think comprises effective online marketing outreach via email: Why You Should Steal My Daughter's Playbook for Effective Email Outreach Though I'm by no means an outreach expert, it's a topic I do feel qualified to talk about, owing to having worked with numerous PR/Outreach folks, seeing what works and what does not, and because of my experience working for and with Fortune 25s in a sales, outreach capacity. I'm wondering... What's the biggest challenge you've faced with regard to outreach? How are you addressing it? What's the No. 1 tactic you've used to attain success in email outreach? RS

My latest post on the Moz Blog, Featured Snippets: A Dead-Simple Tactic for Making, explores how to keep Featured Snippets once you have them. I'm curious to know how many brands are actively working to get in the answer box, and for those who are, what's been the results?

We've been waiting on the latest Penguin rollout so long it would have been appropriate for Google to launch it with a creepy meme titled "I'm baaack." But now that it's here, what changes are you seeing to the websites you monitor or manage? We'd very much enjoy hearing you stories, thoughts and proposed courses of action below in the comments. If you need to get up to speed on Penguin 4.0, Dr. Pete's post, Penguin 4.0: Was it Worth the Wait?, is a great place to start, as is the latest Whiteboard Friday by Rand: Penguin 4.0: How the Real-Time Penguin-in-the-Core-Alg Model Changes SEO. RS

When the content developed Moz Content, I was excited as can be about having another tool in the content marketing and content strategy repertoire. I knew it could and would help marketers better identify the content they should be creating and make it easier for them to move the needle for their brands. Since it's been available, I've had fun using Moz Content, seeing it as a great vehicle for flattening the learning curve for content ideation and creation. In a recent post, Here's How I'm Using Moz Content for Mining Local Link Opportunities, David Farkas described how brands can use Moz Content to better create localized content. I'd like to know how you're using it, or if you're using it: Have you tried Moz Content? And if not, what's stopping you? If you have used it, what are you really liking? What would you change? What, if any, additional features you'd like to see added? What tips can you share for helping others get the most out of the tool? Looking forward to reading the comments below.

In a recent post, Craig Bradshaw shared how creating a URL profiler can work wonders for brands looking to learn what links competitors have attained and which links your brand should be trying to acquire. We're wondering if your marketing team has made use of URL profiiers, for your brand or the brands you support, and if so have you found them to be worthwhile? RS

Data is an important element of content marketing. Storytelling, too, gets readers' attention and has been shown to be instrumental in prospects and customers forming strong connections to brands. But using data and storytelling helps produce some of the strongest content there is to be shared, says Nichole Elizabeth DeMeré in her latest YouMoz article, Here’s How to Combine Storytelling and Data to Produce Persuasive Content. What are your thoughts? Think data and storytelling work best separately? Read the post are share your thoughts below. RS

We've heard a lot about Rich Snippets in the last few years, especially with regard to how they can help move the needle for ecomm brands. In the latest YouMoz post - 5 Essential E-Commerce Rich Snippets for Your Store  - Aleh Barysevich provides some easy-to-follow tips he's used to help brands find success using Rich Snippets. What about you? Have you found Rich Snippets to be all they're cracked up to be?  

Hello there, In the latest YouMoz post, "Case Study: How We Gained More than 100 Links for a Travel Website via Content Marketing," Tom McLoughlin recommends an idea for content creation that is sure to elicit strong opinions from all sides: "Websites like Fiverr and Upwork are fantastic resources for finding freelancers who do great work. It simply takes a bit of initial time to sift through and separate the wheat from the chaff. Once that’s done, give the freelancers a detailed brief and tell them exactly what you want." What's your opinion? Have you had good experiences using these sites? If so, what have you found as the keys to making the working relationship a success.

In the last year, we've searched for ways to make YouMoz more interesting, more exciting and more inviting for the Moz community. The blog really does belong to the community, for it's the place where many novel ideas are shared, discussed, and further developed. Aside from being a great place to share ideas, though, YouMoz is also the primary vehicle by which many now-household names in online marketing were discovered. (Many of the top posts on YouMoz eventually find their way onto the main Moz Blog.) YouMoz belongs to the community. The blog was created as a place for the community to share and engage around bright ideas, in addition to being a vehicle for provoking thought around new concepts, strategies and tactics. For both aspiring and established authors, YouMoz has become a popular destination in the online marketing space. In the quest to make YouMoz even better, we’ve come with a few ideas to ensure that everyone continues to feel as though they can contribute to the blog. Beginning today, we’re introducing what we hope becomes four common formats for YouMoz: My Story, Headsmacking Tips, Problem Solved and Here’s How: My Story: The name pretty much says it all. Share with the community an interesting story related to online marketing. The story could be funny, personal or informational. As long as it’s interesting, well-written, and a benefit to the community, we’d love to hear it. A great example of the type of post we’re looking for is Mike Ramsey’s From Zero to a Million: 20 Lessons for Starting an Internet Marketing Agency. Headsmacking Tip: We’re bringing this format, first shared by Rand years ago on the main blog, out of the mothballs. Simply share with the audience an awesome online marketing-related tip that could make their jobs easier. (Example:Headsmacking Tip #21: Write Better Headlines Than Anyone Else.) Problem Solved: Tell the audience how you solved a significant marketing problem, making it easier for you to do your job. Share the nitty-gritty details, and include any graphics or tips needed for the community to solve the problem for themselves. (Example: A Simple Guide to Overcoming Ad Blindness for Publishers.) Here’s How: This style of post is meant to be a little more wide-ranging, allowing you to share with the audience ways they can successfully deploy a technique, tactic, strategy, tool or anything else you’ve gleaned that might be of value to marketers. (Examples: How to Write Emails That Get Opened Every Time and The 10 Tools I Use to Monitor Social Media More Effectively. A big shout out to Katy Katz for the inaugural post in this category: Here’s How to Write an Email That Throws off a Whole Room’s Productivity.) Sounds easy enough, doesn’t it? Don’t overthink it. Read our guidelines, then dive in and get started. Also, we’d love to hear what you think about these new formats. Plus, we welcome your comments or questions. Feel free to share your thoughts below