SEO Tools and Resources

Welcome to our weekly Search Engine Land series – Everything you need to know about Google Ads in less than 3 minutes. Every Wednesday, I highlight a different Google Ads feature, and what you need to know to get the best results from it, all in a quick 3-minute read. Let’s explore a powerful tool that can help your Google Search ads stand out and improve your click-through rates: keyword insertion. This is the closest thing we have to a “hack” in Google Ads, so be sure you’re not missing out on this tactic! I’ll cover: What is keyword insertion? Why should you use keyword insertion? How to use keyword insertion Best practices for keyword insertion …

Google AI Overview rankings – the webpages cited in the AI-generated answers – are more volatile than Google’s “classic” organic search rankings. Also, within two to three months, 70% of AI Overview rankings changed, according to a new analysis by Authoritas, an ecommerce SEO platform. Ranking volatility. Google’s organic search is volatile and has been for a while. However, AI Overviews appear to be even more volatile, based on this research. AI Overview ranking volatility score: 0.68 (8 weeks), 0.73 (13 weeks) Google Search organic ranking volatility score: 0.49 (8 weeks), 0.55 (13 weeks) Dig deeper. How volatile have Google rankings really been? AI…

Google Product Studio is now available within Google Business Profiles. This allows you to edit the background scenes of your products within your local listing using Google’s AI features. Product studio is already available within Google services including Google Merchant Center and Google Ads, and is now available within Google Business Profiles. More details. Google community manager, Kara, posted about this news in the Google Business Profile forums and wrote: “We’re excited to announce that you can now change the background scene of your product with Product Studio, a generative AI tool which helps you create engaging imagery to showcase your products.” …

Google will now associate your booking links it finds in your Google Business Profiles automatically with your Google Local Service Ads. And when a searcher fills out that booking link, that will be charged to your ads account as Google would charge you for a phone call or message within Local Service Ads. What is changed. Google said that starting yesterday, February 25, 2025, if Google detects a booking link associated with your Google Business Profiles, Google will start showing those booking links on your Local Service Ads. Google said you will be charged for those bookings like you would be charged for calls or messages through Local Service Ads. Why this…

Are you controlling your paid search campaigns, or are they controlling you? If you can’t confidently articulate your smart bidding strategies, you lose conversions and credibility. True mastery isn’t just about setting up a campaign and picking a bid strategy; it’s about owning and communicating the process effectively. This guide is your roadmap to clarity and control, breaking down 2025’s Smart Bidding into actionable insights. We’ll cover key concepts, common mistakes, and actionable tips for picking the right strategy. Smart Bidding in Google Ads: AI-powered bid optimization Smart Bidding is Google Ads’ advanced form of automated bidding. …

Shopify has become the leading online shopping platform in just a few years. It has become an anti-Amazon, helping small and large retailers worldwide run successful online stores with minimal effort. Although the ecommerce platform makes everything easy, there’s a lot you can do to improve the SEO of your online shop. In this ultimate guide, we’ll help you get on the right track by giving you many tips and tricks. In addition, we’ll tell you the best SEO app, and we have a Shopify SEO checklist for you! Table of contents Introduction What is Shopify? What is Shopify SEO? SEO basics for Shopify Technical SEO for Shopify How to increase sales in Shopify Learn more? Tr…

AI-powered search is drastically changing the way people find information. For years, ranking well in Google and Microsoft Bing has been the foundation of search visibility. But as AI-driven search gains traction, is that ranking priority shifting or staying the same? We’re in an era of uncertainty we haven’t seen since the early days of SEO – when search engines rose and fell in a battle for relevance. Time will tell which AI answer engine wins the game. SEO is still relevant, but AI is rewriting the rules. This article will break down: Six AI search players to watch and how they source content. Market share and usage trends that show where sear…

A majority of marketing leaders are diversifying and adjusting their strategies due to AI search, the fragmentation of search, and a potential Google breakup, according to a new survey from enterprise SEO platform Botify. Why we care. SEO continuing to change. Quickly. ChatGPT and other generative/answer engines have the potential to reshape the search paradigm. Meanwhile, more people believe Google’s search quality is in declining (in part due to AI Overviews taking over the most valuable space in search results and brutal algorithm updates). And many sites are seeing the erosion of organic traffic from Google. The big picture. 62% of marketing leaders said they …

As an agency owner, you need skills to write content that your clients and audiences will love. Luckily, you can learn how to do it with proper steps and helpful tools. Here, we’ll discuss how to plan, write, and optimize the content work for your clients. If you have your process down, you’ll easily create content that aligns with the client’s needs and brings in results. One of the tools we’ll use is the Yoast SEO plugin, which helps your content production. Table of contents Understanding what makes content valuable Strategic planning is the foundation Ideation and content planning Optimize your writing for readability Using Yoast SEO in your content process Ins…

AI search engines and chatbots often provide wrong answers and make up article citations, according to a new study from Columbia Journalism Review. Why we care. AI search tools have ramped up the scraping of your content so they can serve answers to their users, often resulting in no clicks to your website. Also, click-through rates from AI search and chatbots are much lower than Google Search, according to a separate, unrelated study. But hallucinating citations makes an already bad situation even worse. By the numbers. More than half of the responses from Gemini and Grok 3 cited fabricated or broken URLs that led to error pages. Also, according to the study: …

Sticking to the same set of keywords in your paid search campaigns might feel safe, but it can limit your reach. Consumers search in countless ways, often using terms you may not have considered. To stay competitive – whether you’re scaling your budget, chasing growth goals, or trying to revitalize PPC performance – you must identify and fill keyword gaps. Here’s how. Keyword tools Google’s built-in Keyword Planner (and Microsoft’s equivalent product) provides a natural starting point for researching additional keywords. The tool can automatically filter out existing keywords in your account so you can easily see new suggestions. You can use Keywo…

Performance Max (PMax) campaigns offer a machine-learning-driven approach to maximizing your ad performance across Google’s inventory. However, with its “black box” nature, optimizing PMax can feel like navigating in the dark. While adjusting budgets and bid strategies are standard levers, improving your data inputs and learning from insights are key to unlocking better results. Here’s how you can harness search term data, ad optimization strategies, and shopping feed improvements to maximize your PMax campaigns. 1. Keep optimizing your search term coverage to reduce wasted spend Performance Max may not be keyword-based, but search term control is st…

PPC automation has always been about efficiency. We’ve relied on scripts, rule-based optimizations, and APIs to manage campaigns at scale. These tools have been essential, but they all share a common limitation: they follow strict, pre-programmed logic. So people are still needed, even with simple and boring tasks. But now we’re on the cusp of a new type of automation that can further reduce our workloads and free up our brains for more engaging and strategic work. We’re close to the end of the days when a scraper breaks when a website changes its layout or a PPC script fails because it can’t determine all ways that a company’s brand might be misspe…

Early this year, I asked my team to recommend what we should stop, start, and continue doing in 2025 to improve our collaboration. As a leader, it was a valuable exercise that highlighted to me what we can do to improve different aspects of our working life. This exercise also got me thinking about how to apply the same framework to Google Ads – and use it to define what we should stop, stop, and continue doing to optimize our clients’ Google Ads programs this year. Rethinking optimization: Why Google Ads strategies must evolve Techniques once seen as “best practices” no longer work. As Google Ads has evolved, so has the complexity of optimization. …

Microsoft is bringing more transparency to its search advertising with a new feature that explains ad placement decisions directly in Bing results. Details: The feature appears as a dropdown option next to ad URLs in Bing search results Currently shows varying levels of detail depending on the user or region How it works. When users click the dropdown arrow next to a search ad’s URL, they can access a dialog box that explains why that particular advertisement was selected for display. Barry Schwartz reports seeing only a generic “Learn how your ads are chosen” message on Search Engine Roundtable. Others, like Digital Marketer, Khushal Bherwani, report …

Are you new to the world of PPC? If so, welcome! We’re thrilled to have you on board. A career in paid search offers exciting opportunities for growth, creativity, and making a real impact on businesses. Let me tell you, starting out in 2025 is a whole different ballgame than when I first started in PPC. In those days, we managed accounts overflowing with millions of keywords, manually adjusted bids, and navigated the platforms while learning how the web was shifting marketing and consumer behavior – all while serving our clients. This was a time before AI and automation, when text ads were static, and both searchers and marketers approached the inter…

Choosing the right paid media channels is key to B2B advertising success. This guide covers the best PPC platforms – Google, LinkedIn, Microsoft, and more – plus expert tactics to reach decision-makers and drive results. 1. Google Search Google is an effective way to reach B2B decision-makers when they are actively searching. But how do you ensure you’re reaching someone truly looking for a food supplier for their restaurant and not just Joe Schmoe craving a steak dinner? The key is strategic targeting. Make sure to: Use keyword lists wisely Add negative keywords like “home” or “residential” to filter out non-B2B searches. If someone searches…

As privacy regulations evolve and consumer expectations shift, marketers face a growing challenge: delivering personalized experiences while respecting data privacy. How can you navigate this changing landscape without sacrificing engagement? Join MarTech.org’s upcoming webinar, Balancing Personalization and Privacy, to explore best practices for responsibly collecting and managing first-party data, building trust with privacy-conscious consumers, and simplifying data integration across large organizations. Our expert speaker will also address key industry challenges, from handling highly regulated sectors to adapting to opt-out technologies like Apple’s Do Not Tr…

Change is the only constant – a truth marketers, especially those in SEO, know all too well. The search landscape is shifting faster than ever, with AI-powered tools like ChatGPT, Perplexity, Claude, and Gemini reshaping how people find and interact with information. Yet, despite all the innovation, the core principles of SEO remain as relevant as ever. While AI-enhanced search engines may seem like a revolutionary leap, they still rely on the foundational elements that have driven search success for years. This article explores how time-tested SEO strategies – like site structure, indexing, and keyword optimization – still play a crucial role in an AI-d…

Short-form videos may dominate social media, but long-form content remains essential – especially on YouTube. From in-depth tutorials to video podcasts, longer videos can drive engagement, build communities, and even get featured in Google’s AI Overviews. If you’re looking to make the most of long-form video in 2025, here are the key strategies you need to know. Why long-form videos still matter in 2025 Right now, three key shifts are reshaping YouTube: “Learning content” (how-to videos, travel hacks, DIY guides, and product reviews) averaged 15.2% more views than the YouTube platform-wide average in 2024, a Tubular Labs report found. More people now…

Google updated its documentation on how the Google Ads auction works to say, “We run different auctions for each ad location.” Previously, that document did not say that and the PPC community is wondering what changed and why Google did not announce this change more broadly. What changed. Google added these lines to the top of that document: “When someone searches on Google, we run different auctions for each ad location – for example top ads are selected by a different ad auction from ads that show in other ad locations. Your ads will only show once in a single ad location, but across ad locations your ads can show more than once.” Why the change. Googl…

Optimized targeting is one default Google Ads feature that gets a ton of vitriol. Sure, it’s not the best choice for everyone. However, there are definite use cases for this automated targeting feature. Let’s explore: is optimized targeting your friend or foe in Google Ads? We’ll cover: What is optimized targeting in Google Ads? Which campaign types are compatible with optimized targeting? Which bid strategies are compatible with optimized targeting? Optimized targeting vs. Audience expansion Optimized targeting vs. Performance Max How to evaluate optimized targeting: is it working? Should you use optimized targeting? What is optimize…

Chegg, the publicly traded education technology company, has sued Google over its AI Overviews, claiming they have hurt its traffic and revenue. The company said that AI Overviews is “materially impacting our acquisitions, revenue, and employees.” What Chegg said. Chegg wrote: Second, we announced the filing of a complaint against Google LLC and Alphabet Inc. These two actions are connected, as we would not need to review strategic alternatives if Google hadn’t launched AI Overviews, or AIO, retaining traffic that historically had come to Chegg, materially impacting our acquisitions, revenue, and employees. Chegg has a superior product for education, as evident b…

If you’re spending time and money adding keyword-rich content to your website, hoping to improve your Google Maps rankings, you’re wasting resources. Website content does not influence your visibility in Google Maps – but there are proven strategies that do. The SEO myth: Blogging and Google Maps rankings When Google Maps first launched, it appeared to pull keywords from local business websites to help match businesses with local searches. Because of this perceived influence, local SEO experts have long advocated for blogging and content marketing. However, this belief is based on incorrect correlations. Adding content to your website – if it is…

Maximizing return on ad spend (ROAS) in Google Ads is crucial for driving profitability. However, without revenue data, PPC advertisers often default to focusing on cost per purchase – a strategy that can limit long-term growth. While ROAS optimization enhances ad spend efficiency, it falls short if it doesn’t account for customer lifetime value (LTV). To stay competitive, you must move beyond short-term returns and embrace LTV-based ROAS optimization. This ensures you’re capturing the full value of your customers over time. This article will break down how to: Shift from short-term ROAS to LTV-based ROAS. Use static conversion values to improve…