Organic Search Party: Our Top SEO Columns of 2016

Which stories got the SEO community fired up this year? Check out Search Engine Land's top "All Things SEO" and "Link Week" columns of 2016 to find out!

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Each year brings a plethora of changes to search engine optimization, and 2016 was no different. From the rollout of Accelerated Mobile Pages to the long-awaited real-time Penguin update, the SEO world had a lot of exciting news to digest this year. With the help of our All Things SEO and Link Week columnists, readers were able to stay informed and adapt to these changes as needed.

As the SEO industry matures, the skills needed to remain on the cutting edge have become increasingly complex. This was evident in the fact that two of our top ten SEO columns were primers on more technical topics like implementing Accelerated Mobile Pages and making the switch to HTTPS. Search optimizers are clearly looking to up their game by learning about more advanced topics.

Or are they? Also popular this year were pieces targeting those who are new to the industry, such as Stephan Spencer’s “7 quick SEO hacks for the SEO newbie” and John Lincoln’s “6 Big Mistakes That SEO Rookies Make.” It seems there’s room for SEOs of all levels here on Search Engine Land!

And in case you don’t know where you fall on the spectrum from rookie to guru, columnist Eric Enge put together a handy quiz to test your knowledge of SEO. It’s not too late to take it!

For these stories and more, check out Search Engine Land’s top ten SEO columns of 2016:

  1. How To Get Started With Accelerated Mobile Pages (AMP) by Paul Shapiro, published on 2/24/2016.
    Social activity: Facebook 632, Google+ 194, LinkedIn 524
  2. Infographic: 11 amazing hacks that will boost your organic click-through rates by Larry Kim, published on 10/5/2016. Social activity: Facebook 1086, Google+ 0, LinkedIn 821
  3. Test Your Knowledge Of SEO by Eric Enge, published on 1/5/2016.
    Social activity: Facebook 900, Google+ 189, LinkedIn 594
  4. HTTP to HTTPS: An SEO’s guide to securing a website by Patrick Stox, published on 4/14/2016.
    Social activity: Facebook 962, Google+ 219, LinkedIn 619
  5. KPIs for SEO: measuring SEO success by Marcus Miller, published on 8/5/2016.
    Social activity: Facebook 894, Google+ 0, LinkedIn 929
  6. 7 quick SEO hacks for the SEO newbie by Stephan Spencer, published on 8/25/2016.
    Social activity: Facebook 970, Google+ 0, LinkedIn 733
  7. SEO is as dirty as ever by Patrick Stox, published on 7/7/2016.
    Social activity: Facebook 991, Google+ 0, LinkedIn 885
  8. The real impact of Google’s new paid search ad layout on organic search by Winston Burton, published on 3/29/2016.
    Social activity: Facebook 953, Google+ 224, LinkedIn 1271
  9. 6 Big Mistakes That SEO Rookies Make by John E Lincoln, published on 1/15/2016.
    Social activity: Facebook 744, Google+ 0, LinkedIn 532
  10. 7 e-commerce SEO trends we’re seeing in 2016 by Jayson DeMers, published on 6/14/2016.
    Social activity: Facebook 1096, Google+ 0, LinkedIn 1201

Methodology: Columns published in 2016 are ranked in order of pageviews measured by Google Analytics. Data includes all columns published through November 30, 2016. Social data provided by SharedCount


Opinions expressed in this article are those of the guest author and not necessarily Search Engine Land. Staff authors are listed here.


About the author

Jessica Thompson
Contributor
Jessica Thompson was Features Editor at Search Engine Land, MarTech and MarTech Today. She is a well-rounded digital media enthusiast with a keen interest in all things Internet marketing. Jessica earned her B.A. in English from Drew University and has since gone on to fill a wide variety of roles over the course of her career, including web designer, copywriter, editor, SEO consultant, online marketing specialist and marketing manager. Most recently, she worked at Advance Digital, where she conducted digital optimization training for journalists and provided high-level SEO and social media recommendations for 12 major regional news websites, including NJ.com.

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