Adrian Cojocariu - cognitiveSEO Author

We keep hearing that content is king. Write great content, content here, content there. But how true is that statement? Is there such a thing as an SEO Content Strategy that you can use to rank #1 with zero backlinks?     Like most answers in SEO, this one is also 'it depends'.   Keep reading and I'll explain exactly why.   While you might not be able to get to position one without any backlinks for a highly competitive keyword, you'll definitely be able to increase [...]

SEO is hard. But it doesn't have to be. If you don't have time for well-defined strategies or plans, it's crucial to at least follow a series of SEO best practices.   Therefore, let's see the checklist you need to go through to make sure you're securing high Google ranks.      Is SEO Still Relevant in 2020? What Are the Best SEO Practices for 2020 Optimize for Search Intent Perform In-Depth Keyword Research Target One Main Topic & Keyword Use Your Focus [...]

Hey, we get it. The URL structure is a difficult SEO topic. It's not easy to master, but not impossible, either. In fact, we're here to make things easier for you.   In this article, we'll try to answer all your questions and provide examples for a better understanding of how the structure of your URLs influence your SEO strategies.     Even if you own an eCommerce website or are struggling with Local SEO and Wordpress, after reading this article you'll know how to set up [...]

If you want to become a good SEO, you need to have a holistic view on all SEO related topics and there are some technical elements that you must understand, even if they're not quite easy to digest. One of these topics is schema markup.   Schema markup and structured data had a role in SEO for years now and it seems that major search engines recommend them. But what exactly is schema markup? And, more importantly, how does it impact the SEO process?   After reading this article, [...]

As SEO evolves, it gets more and more human-centered and people in the industry begin to question old techniques, targeted mostly at search engines. Such is the case with Sitemaps, which have been around for ages.   Do sitemaps still matter for SEO in 2022 or are they just a waste of time? When and why should you use them? And how can you optimize them for maximum SEO results?     In this article, you'll find out the answers to all those questions, so keep reading!   [...]

Not long ago, Google has released version 68 of the Chrome Web Browser. In this version, websites that don't run on HTTPS will be marked as Not Secure. This might lead to the following question: does Google value websites with SSL certificates more? Will they rank better? Is it worth to make the switch?   In this article (Updated 2020) you'll find out whether SSL certificates matter for SEO or not. You'll also learn exactly how to migrate your website from HTTP to HTTPS without suffering [...]

The internet gives a business the power to compete on a global level. Gone are the days when your only competitor was the other shop across the road. If you sell your products or services on a website, you have the power to quickly expand beyond your country's borders, without spending millions of dollars on opening new physical stores.   But in order to do this, you have to speak their native or preferred language. And, in order to speak their language, you need to translate your website [...]

Outranking your competition can be very difficult, especially if your website is rather new. What's even more frustrating is when you can't outrank competitors which have spammy backlink profiles. Why doesn't Google penalize them? Why does it rank you lower than them in the Google search results, even though you play the game by the book?   Google's algorithm has evolved a lot over the years. The main purpose of the improvements was to be able to better distinguish natural links from arti [...]

We live in a world of information overload. If 10 years ago it was hard to find content at all, now there's way too much of it! Which one is good? Which one is bad? We don't know.   While this subject is very complex, it's clear that Google is attempting to solve these content issues in its search results. One of the biggest issues they've encountered in the digital marketing world is what they call thin content.     But what exactly is thin content? Should you worry about [...]

Content is the weapon of SEO. And SEOs like to use a twofold weapon, one that would win them the fight both on short-term and long-term. They call it seasonal (or topical) content and evergreen content. And, as always, there's a debate between them: evergreen content vs topical content. Which one is better?   The thing is, is it a matter of "and" or "or"? Do topical content and evergreen content go hand in hand, or go separate ways?  This debate is not only applicable to content marketi [...]