Moz: Moving Beyond Traditional SEO
Key players in online marketing are moving away from
traditional SEO consulting and moving toward a more holistic view of marketing
analytics to better understand customer behavior and increase revenue for their
clients. Moz is a great example of a company who has realized this trend.
Beginning in SEO, Moz has progressed into expanding their product
functionality, creating a unique environment for all knowledge levels, and ultimately,
innovating more comprehensive online marketing tools.
Who is Moz?
Started in 2004 as a search engine optimization (SEO)
consulting company, Moz has undergone tremendous growth since inception. Within
three years, Moz advanced into offering its own SEO tools, including Mozscape
and a web app, earning itself a well-regarded name in the SEO community. In the
last year, Moz has made another significant shift, transitioning from SEOmoz to
Moz. Now a provider of inbound marketing analytics, Moz is evolving to give
customers better access to actionable insights beyond traditional SEO. [1]
How is Moz transitioning from traditional SEO?
People are becoming increasingly interested in using SEO and
other forms of digital analytics to drive growth and revenue. Customers are
looking for tools that not only focus on data collection and reporting, but
also provide real value to their marketing goals. This is a particular issue
with firms who do not have any existing digital analytics infrastructure, and where
companies like Moz step in. Known for being accessible to those who have no
prior knowledge of SEO or analytics, Moz has altered its strategy to better
meet the needs of a larger customer group. [3] Through a complete overhaul of
its SEO tool offerings, Moz now provides users with Moz Analytics, an encompassing
tool with “more of a focus on measuring your efforts rather than actually
“doing” and managing your SEO work”. [4]
What are Moz’s current tactics?
With the introduction of Moz Analytics, Moz now offers a
tool that contains all inbound marketing data. The following elements are included:
- Content analysis
- Link metrics
- Search marketing
- Social analytics
- Brand mentions
- Competitive analysis [1]
In offering this comprehensive tool, Moz is attempting to
combine different analytics elements to provide a broader picture of how each
works together. Now customers can get a better sense for how certain content
may affect brand mentions. And, they get the benefit of receiving integrated
information about multiple social media outlets. Even competitor tracking is
included.
But something that makes Moz really stand out is the value
it places on helping users truly understand analytics, which is one of their
biggest competitive advantages. On the Moz website, many learning materials are
available from “The Beginner’s Guide to SEO” to Moz Academy to Mozinars—all are
provided to ensure that customers are able to take full advantage of Moz’s
tools to improve marketing, which is somewhat unique and very helpful for
newbies. [3]
Now Moz Analytics is only recently out of its launch phase,
and as such, Moz will be focusing on adding additional important features, such
as a content section. [1] Although some reviewers still see Moz Analytics as
SEO at its core or prefer other tools such as Raven Tools or Web CEO Online, it
is likely that Moz will continue to grow and respond accordingly. [4]
For a more detailed look at Moz’s tactics and plans for
growth, here is a link to a summary post on The Moz Blog.
Signaling an Industry Shift
Analysts are in very high demand, and more and more
companies are striving to make analytics an integral part of marketing as a
whole. In fact, a Forbes article just named 2014 as “The Year of Digital
Marketing Analytics”. [6] [7] In conjunction, analytics tool providers are
trying to ensure the online marketing community has the best tools for the job.
With Moz’s rebranding, its actions coincide well with this
year’s title. In making this shift, Moz intends to provide not only “the most
robust, competitive set of data available” but also “data [that] helps you
prioritize your next move.” [1]
And it is likely an industry trend that will continue. The
marketing community wants comprehensive tools that provide value and insight aligned
with business goals, and Moz Analytics took one big step in giving them just
that.
