Local SEO

Answer Engine Optimization (AEO) is one of the most important topics in search right now. It’s about making sure your brand shows up inside AI-generated answers — not just on traditional SERPs. As large language models (LLMs) like ChatGPT, Gemini, and Perplexity reshape discovery, AEO ensures your content gets mentioned and cited where buyers are asking questions. But here’s the bigger truth: AEO is just one piece of a larger shift. We’re entering the era of Search Everywhere. Discovery no longer happens in a single Google results page. It’s happening across AI chat, overviews, forums, video, and social. And new data shows just how fast this shift is accelerating.…

I analyzed over one million keywords across 10 industries. The average cost per click (CPC) for Google Search ads in 2025 is $8.34. And the median CPC is $4.52. Legal had the highest average CPC at $22.75. Ecommerce had the lowest, at just $0.82 per click. But there’s no flat rate for CPC. Even if two advertisers bid on the same keyword, they won’t pay the same. Costs can vary based on several factors — and CPC is just one part of the equation. Google Ads pricing also involves other expenses that can affect your total budget. In this guide, you’ll learn: How much Google Ads really cost What your budget should be How you can lower your ad costs (without hurting …

AI is already reshaping how buyers discover and choose brands. When someone asks ChatGPT or Google AI Mode about your category, two things happen: Brands are mentioned in the answer Sources are cited as proof Most companies get one or the other. Very few win both. And that’s the problem. According to the latest Semrush Enterprise AI Visibility Index, only a small fraction of companies appear in AI answers as both seen (mentions) and trusted (citations). That gap is the opportunity. We’re proposing the Seen & Trusted (S&T) Framework — a systematic approach to help your brand earn mentions in AI answers and citations as a trusted source. Do both, and you …

If you do any kind of marketing, you’ve probably come across at least one of these acronyms recently: GEO: Generative Engine Optimization AEO: Answer Engine Optimization LLMO: Large Language Model Optimization AIO: Artificial Intelligence Optimization Here’s the truth: They all mean essentially the same thing. But they are subtly different from SEO (search engine optimization). This article will tell you where they’re similar, where they’re different, and what you need to know as a marketer. SEO vs. Everything Else Explained There might be shades of nuance between these acronyms, but the goal with all of them is the same. They all aim to optimize your (or your clien…

You can create the most helpful, well-optimized content on the web. But if you mess up the title tag, none of that will matter. The title tag is the blue, clickable headline that shows up in search results. It’s also your one shot at convincing a reader to choose your content over everyone else’s. A subtle tweak to the title tag can make all the difference. Take this example from the Backlinko blog: rain Original title tag: “17 Ways to Get More Views on YouTube in 2025” Position: 4th in search results Improved title tag: “17 Powerful Tactics To Get More YouTube Views in 2025″ Position: 1st in search results and the featured snippet Same topic, same content. Wi…

Substack was initially released in August 2023 as a graphic design platform. Within its first year since release, Canva hit a milestone of 600 thousand users. Now, over 220 million users create designs in Canva and the company hit $3 billion in annualized revenue. Canva Statistics (Top Picks) Canva has 220 million active users worldwide. Canva has 21 million paying users. Substack hit $3 billion in annualized revenue. Around 5000 employees work at Canva. Canva Monthly Active Users According to the company update shared in December 2024, Canva has over 220 million monthly active users. That’s up from 200 million active users in October 2024. Canva grew its monthly a…

You’re setting goals. Publishing content. Reporting on growth. But deep down, you’re still asking: “Are we aiming too high? Too low? Are we even on track?” That uncertainty is normal — but it’s also a signal that you need an SEO forecast. At Backlinko, we do SEO forecasting throughout the year. We use it to map planned content, track production costs, and project traffic and revenue gains. This approach lets us prioritize effectively. Pivot when content underperforms. And build lasting trust with our stakeholders. As Leigh McKenzie, our Head of SEO puts it: “Forecasting is har…

Whenever you move content, change domain names, or simply tweak a page’s URL, you’ll likely use a redirect. This ensures your users (and Google) get to the right page, and it preserves the SEO value from your backlinks. You can use .htaccess redirects specifically to do this. But I get that messing with your site’s server files can sound daunting. So the goal of this guide is to make .htaccess redirects as accessible as possible. To help, there are two free resources you’ll find in this post: A simple spreadsheet to automatically generate rules for the most common scenarios An…

Back in the early 2000s, keyword stuffing actually worked. All you had to do was repeat the same phrases, and you could rank pretty well. (Readability be damned.) I’m not exaggerating here — these sites were literally littered with keywords. Like this one from 2005. Yes, this is a real site I found on The Wayback Machine. And yes, “online casinos” was used enough times to make your eyes burn. But that game is over. Today, keyword stuffing makes your content unreadable and unrankable. Google’s smarter. Users are pickier. And spammy tactics? They get flagged fast. So, if you’re still stuffing keywords, you’re not just stuck in the past — you’re tanking your chanc…

There are many tools that let you schedule content across different social media platforms. But: Not all of them are built to match your unique workflow. Some focus on collaboration, others on planning. That’s why I’ve handpicked the best tools and highlighted the features that go beyond basic scheduling. Here’s an overview of the best social media management tools included in this article: Best for Pricing Buffer Content creators and small teams that need help generating content ideas and staying consistent Starts at $6/month per channel; limited free plan available Planable Marketing teams that need a centralized hub to collaborate on all types of conte…

Running PPC campaigns isn’t for the faint of heart. You’re constantly juggling dashboards, tweaking campaigns, and fielding requests from clients who wanted performance reports yesterday. That’s why the best PPC tools don’t just offer features. They help you move faster. In this guide, I’ve curated this list of the best PPC tools marketers swear by, organized by use case. The goal? To help you quickly find what fits your workflow and skip the ones that don’t. What Are the Best PPC Tools? PPC Tool Best for Price Semrush Advertising Toolkit All-in-one PPC campaign management Starts at $139.95/month. 14-day Pro trial available. Spyfu Competitor research Start…

Your sitemap is exactly what it sounds like: a map of your site’s pages. A good sitemap organizes all your most important pages logically, and it can help Google crawl and understand your site. Free template: Want to create your own visual sitemap like the example above? Download our free Canva template here. Below, I’ll go through 19 example sitemaps and explain the key best practices …

Meta tags are snippets of HTML code that live in your webpage’s <head> section. Your website’s visitors won’t see them. But search engines, browsers, and social media platforms can see and use them. You can think of meta tags as a way to tell Google and other search engines about what your page contains and how they should display it in search results. Some meta tags are more important than others. In fact, there are really only a couple of meta tags you need to worry about. I’ll explain exactly what these are below and how you can optimize yours. The Components of a Meta Tag Here’s what a basic meta tag looks like: <meta name="description" content="This is …

Strategic ecommerce keyword research can help you reach the right audience and directly impact your bottom line. Just look at Cosmetify’s success. This beauty retailer was struggling with an all-too-common challenge: no traffic on its revenue-generating pages. The team identified and mapped transactional keywords to these money pages. Dorothy Edgar, SEO Manager at Cosmetify, shares more about her strategy: “We also created new money pages to fit customer needs and gaps in our current website hierarchy. For example, we segmented the fragrance category page into ‘women’s perfume …

SEO reporting transforms raw data into actionable decisions. It shows clients and teams exactly what’s working — and what isn’t. But here’s the painful truth: You can waste hours each month collecting data from various platforms. Like copying numbers from Google Analytics, Search Console, and rank trackers into spreadsheets. Then struggling to make it look presentable. Oh, and this is for one website. If you’re managing many projects, reporting can get VERY tedious (and costly). That’s why I’ve handpicked a list of four dedicated SEO reporting tools that: Save time by automatically collating data from your favorite SEO and analytics platforms Help you build client-…

Like it or not, we’re all at the mercy of Google’s ranking systems. Systems that reward some sites with high rankings. And wipe others off the SERPs overnight. But it’s not all doom and gloom. Google provides fairly detailed guidelines about the type of content it’s looking for: helpful content. We follow these guidelines here at Backlinko. For example, our SEO strategy guide dominates the search results. And ranks for more than 3.2K long tail keywords: But this wasn’t by luck. We aim for every article we publish to meet — or exceed — Google’s helpful content standards. And you can, too. After reading this article, you’ll have 10 Google-approved strategies fo…

This guide will show you how to use ChatGPT the right way. Brand new to using it? I’ll help you skip the rookie mistakes that leave most beginners frustrated. Tried it before and had an average experience? No problem. You’ll learn how to refine your approach to get useful, high-quality responses (finally). Because here’s the thing: ChatGPT IS a powerful tool. But only if you know how to use it effectively. Let’s make that happen. What is ChatGPT (And What Can It Do)? ChatGPT is an AI assistant that answers your questions like a human would. It can also generate ideas and assist with writing, problem-solving, and research tasks. How does it do this? It analyzes …

Pageviews are a web analytics metric that counts each time a visitor loads or reloads a page on your website. Each instance of a user viewing a page is one pageview, regardless of whether the same user views the same page multiple times. Tracking pageviews helps you measure traffic volume and understand which content attracts the most attention. But: Pageviews are not the most important metric you should track. I’ll explain why below, but first let’s clarify what they are in the context of a few other metrics. Pageviews vs. Users vs. Sessions Pageviews represent the total number of times people view your pages. If someone visits your homepage, clicks to your blog, t…

What people say about your brand online shapes your reputation. This could be reviews, social mentions, or business listings. Keeping up with all of them takes A LOT of time and effort. Online reputation management (ORM) tools help you monitor brand mentions, manage reviews, and keep business details consistent across directories. But each tool has its specialties. I researched and tested the best ORM tools available. And found the top five that’ll make your life easier. Here’s what you’ll find in this guide: The best tool for tracking social mentions The easiest way to manage and respond to reviews A solution that automatically updates your business listings 5 Be…

If you publish writing, you’d be crazy not to use artificial intelligence. It’s like telling a carpenter not to use a drill. You can build a deck without one. But why would you? Writers have always embraced new tools to improve their craft. The challenge with AI, or any technology, is that we want the easy way out. We hope the tech will magically automate everything. And for mediocre content, AI is the perfect solution. But creating exceptional content is HARD. No matter what tool you use. For example, I used AI extensively to write this article. Yet, it still took me 40+ hours to produce. Why? AI has made me realize how much I can improve my content. And you ca…

If you’ve ever run an ad campaign, you know that keyword costs can quickly eat up your budget. This is especially true if you’re not strategic about your selections. Of course, you can’t control all the factors that determine pricing. But you can reduce costs by choosing the right keywords and creating experiences that convert. Take digital marketing agency Turn Key Lead, for example. They reduced a mortgage bank client’s cost per conversion in Google Ads by 30% in seven days. Source How’d they do it? Through keyword and landing page optimization—tactics you’ll master today. In this guide, you’ll learn: How to find keyword costs using proven tools Optimization t…

The internet is full of recycled lists claiming to reveal the “most profitable blog niche ideas.” But most lack any actual data to back up their recommendations. That’s why we decided to do something different. We analyzed 100 blog niches using a comprehensive methodology to identify the top 25 opportunities based on cold, hard numbers. This included: Search volume data Keyword difficulty scores Average cost per click (CPC) Search intent Short- and long-term growth trends For each winning niche, we created a detailed scorecard that ranks its performance across three critical dimensions: Growth, monetization, and ranking potential. These metrics are presented on …

Want to 2X, 3X, or even 4X your ecommerce sales? Start by diagnosing what’s working on your site and what isn’t. Then, apply targeted fixes based on real data. Not hunches. In this guide, I’m sharing my lessons and strategies from 10+ years in digital marketing. Plus, I interviewed four leading ecommerce website optimization experts for their best conversion-driving insights: Leigh McKenzie from UnderFit (also head of SEO @ Backlinko) Rishi Rawat from Frictionless Commerce Anna Bolton from Conversion Copy Co. Kurt Philip from Convertica Let’s start by identifying the biggest roadblocks standing between you and more revenue. Phase 1: Analyze and Diagnose Your Site…

Similarweb is powerful for digital intelligence. But like any tool, it has limitations. You might want deeper insights into your competitors’ content strategies. Or need more reliable data for SEO planning. Or you’re simply looking for a more affordable solution. I’ve spent months testing and researching the best Similarweb alternatives to see how they compare. Four tools stand out as replacements. This guide covers the top options for: Market trends Advanced SEO analysis Ad intelligence Similarweb Limitations While Similarweb excels at competitor intelligence, it might not fit everyone. Here are some key limitations: Limited SEO and keyword research features: …

WordPress redirects ensure your users (and Google) can find your content when you: Change the URL Combine two pieces of content Move your entire site to a new domain Using redirects avoids creating broken links (bad for user experience), or losing the authority of your backlinks (bad for your SEO). In this guide, I’ll show you how to redirect your WordPress URLs with and without plugins. When Should You Use WordPress Redirects? You typically set up WordPress redirects any time you want visitors (and search engines) to end up at a different URL than the one they originally tried to access. That might be because you changed an old link, or because you’re testing a new…