SEO Tools and Resources

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…

The European Commission is preparing to charge Google with violating the Digital Markets Act (DMA) after the tech giant’s proposed changes to search results failed to satisfy regulators and rivals, according to sources familiar with the matter. The big picture. The EU has been investigating Google since March 2023 over concerns that it favors its own services — like Google Shopping, Flights, and Hotels — over competitors in search results. Google’s recent tweaks to search results were meant to address regulator and industry concerns, but critics argue the changes don’t go far enough. The company has warned that further modifications could remove useful feature…

Google Ads is making a major change to its Search Partner Network by automatically opting all accounts out of serving ads on parked domains, websites that are registered but not actively developed, starting March 19. Details: Google will automatically opt out all advertiser accounts from showing ads on parked domains. The change will roll out gradually over several months. Advertisers can still manually opt in through their account’s Content suitability settings. Why we care. The change will affect all advertisers using Google’s Search Partner Network, potentially reducing ad reach but improving quality of ad placements. Between the lines. While Goo…

A panel of three PPC marketing experts – Greg Finn (Cypress North), Kerri Amodio (Refine Labs), and Menachem Ani (JXT Group) – tackled a fundamental question at SMX Next: Is AI making marketers better? The panel discussed artificial intelligence’s evolving role in marketing, offering insights into its promises and pitfalls. The discussion was nuanced. While AI excels at increasing output quantity, there are serious concerns about quality. The new PPC mindset Finn notably argued that AI is potentially making marketing worse when used as a complete solution rather than a strategic tool: “Is it being able to produce more items and content, things lik…

Even in 2025, as platforms like LinkedIn (not known for creativity) double down on video, many new clients coming to us still haven’t made it part of their organic strategy. So, why should you invest in video? Here are three key reasons: Increased SERP visibility: With a targeted strategy, YouTube videos have a higher chance of appearing prominently in the SERPs, enhancing brand visibility and driving organic traffic. Higher (and longer-lasting) engagement: Video content fosters deeper engagement, encouraging longer view times and generating sustained traffic over months or years. Multi-platform reach: Optimized videos could appear on both Google …

Geotargeting is one of the most powerful tools in a PPC advertiser’s arsenal. Whether you’re running ads for a local business, an international ecommerce brand, or a luxury travel destination, targeting the right locations can significantly impact performance. While most advertisers understand the basics (i.e., choosing countries, cities, or setting a radius), many aren’t fully leveraging the more advanced geotargeting capabilities available in Google Ads today. The ability to target based on intent, real-time conditions, competitor locations, and hyperlocal precision can give campaigns a serious competitive edge. This article explores the full spectrum o…

Google is enhancing Search ads with AI-powered changes that aim to increase asset flexibility, improve performance, and deliver more relevant ad experiences. Driving the news. Here’s what’s changing: Greater flexibility in RSAs: Google’s AI now assembles and serves headlines, descriptions, and assets dynamically to improve performance. In some cases, Google may omit certain content, like descriptions, if doing so leads to better engagement. New ways to use existing assets: Headlines that weren’t used in RSAs can now appear as sitelinks if they’re predicted to boost performance. Up to two RSA headlines may serve in the space previously reserved for si…

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…

LinkedIn introduced two new features aimed at helping marketers optimize their campaigns and prove their impact: the Conversions API (CAPI) and the Revenue Attribution Report (RAR). Driving the news: Conversions API (CAPI). Enables marketers to securely connect first-party online and offline data to LinkedIn. Tracks conversions from website actions, phone sales, and in-person events. Sends marketing data directly from a server to LinkedIn to measure campaign performance. Helps optimize campaigns using LinkedIn’s analytics. Revenue Attribution Report (RAR). Connects CRM data to LinkedIn campaigns for long-term tracking. Extends review periods up…

Ever notice how website visitors rarely follow the exact path you’ve planned for them? You might build great landing pages for different customer types, but visitors have their own plans. They Google something random and land on your blog post. They click a link from social media that drops them into your resources section. Or they skip your homepage completely and jump straight to a product page. This creates a problem. How do you make sure your website works for all your target customers when they aren’t following your planned customer journeys? The answer is simple: Build your entire website, not just specific landing pages, with y…

Google now lets you use AI to generate backgrounds for the images you add within Google Posts in your Google Business Profiles. “When creating a post for your customers in the Maps app, you can create an engaging AI-generated background for the photos you plan to use in the post,” Victoria Kroll from Google wrote. This is similar to the AI-generation image features Google has for shopping ads, product studio, even in products in Business Profiles and more. How it works. To add an AI-generated background, tap “Transform with AI” when adding a photo to your post in Maps on iPhone, select a theme, and generate. To create a post with an AI-generated background …

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…

As of a few days ago, Google now allows advertisers to use fingerprinting to track users across devices and websites, collecting data points like IP addresses, operating system details, and screen resolution. Why we care. Google’s decision to permit fingerprinting, a powerful user-tracking technique it banned in 2019, raises significant privacy concerns and has already drawn regulatory scrutiny. By allowing fingerprinting, Google gives advertisers a powerful way to track users across devices without relying on cookies, potentially improving ad personalization and attribution. However, the move also raises legal and ethical concerns, as regulators, especially in th…

Google announced it is expanding AI Overviews to show on more Google Lens results, including more novel or unique images. This is still only showing on a subset of searches, but now more than when Google first added AI Overviews to Google Lens in May of 2024. Plus, Google is also adding to its Chrome app and Google app for iOS a new Lens feature that lets you select and search whatever’s on your screen with just a simple gesture. AI Overviews and Lens. Google wrote, “now, with help from our advanced AI models, Lens can go much further and provide information on the contents of more novel or unique images. For those kinds of queries, AI Overviews will begin to appe…

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 announced new creative tools in Google Ads, leveraging its Imagen 3 AI model to generate lifestyle imagery across Performance Max, Demand Gen, Display, and Apps campaigns. How it works. Advertisers can input specific prompts like “middle-aged man chopping carrots,” with options to customize age, gender, race, and ethnicity while maintaining control over final image selection. Key features: Text-to-image AI generation for humans – a first for Google Ads. Asset-audience recommendations to improve ad targeting. Asset testing for Performance Max campaigns with feed-only strategies. AI-generated image suggestions coming soon for even faster creativ…

In the crowded field of AI-powered SEO tools, one open-source large language model (LLM) is quietly gaining traction: DeepSeek. While giants like Google and OpenAI dominate the LLM landscape, DeepSeek offers a different approach. Free to use and with a focus on coding and logical reasoning, it presents a unique opportunity for SEOs, particularly those focused on technical optimization. Is DeepSeek the hidden gem SEOs have been searching for, or are its limitations too significant to ignore? Let’s dive in. What is DeepSeek? DeepSeek is an open-source large language model developed by DeepSeek AI, a China-based research lab. It was launched in la…

SEO isn’t what it used to be. With AI-driven search results, increasing zero-click searches, and more competition for user attention, ranking on Google is tougher than ever. But search is still a major traffic driver – if you adapt. The key? Treat SEO as part of a broader, integrated marketing strategy. This article breaks down a simple framework to align SEO with your overall marketing funnel, ensuring you reach, engage, and convert your ideal customers effectively. The evolving SEO challenge: Why optimization alone isn’t enough Nowadays, it’s not enough to have a well-optimized and search engine-friendly website. The modern SERP is a …

An SEO audit is a health checkup of your site. It allows you to know what works and what does not, and it allows you to make improvements based on what you find. This can lead to improved performance — both on the search results pages and how visitors engage with your website. Table of contents What is an SEO audit? An SEO audit checklist Step 1: Preparing an SEO audit Step 2: User experience & content SEO Step 3: General on-page SEO Step 4: Site speed and engagement Step 5: Monitoring and tracking results Conclusion on doing SEO audits What is an SEO audit? An SEO audit looks at how well a website performs in search results to find areas that need wo…

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…

The traditional marketing funnel doesn’t reflect how users actually search and engage with content today—and it’s hurting your SEO. With access to more data than ever before, marketers now have a better framework for driving organic traffic: the spiderweb. By structuring your content strategy around interconnected, high-value pages, you can drive faster rankings, more organic traffic, and better user experiences. Join Think Spiderwebs, Not Funnels For Remarkable SEO Results with Ryan Brock to learn: Why traditional funnels waste organic traffic opportunities What Gartner and leading researchers say about the modern buyer’s journey How to shift your cont…

A new “Advanced Plans” section within Google Ads’ Reach Planner tool was spotted by digital marketing expert Brent Neale. The big picture. The tool represents Google’s continued push toward automated campaign optimization, offering AI-driven recommendations for budget allocation. How it works. Advanced Plans suggests a mix of ad types based on advertisers’ goals, creating specific plans for both conversion creation and capture. Why we care. The feature could help advertisers more effectively allocate their budgets across different ad types based on specific conversion goals. Between the lines. This appears to be part of Google’s broader strategy to sim…

Google announced the public beta of Display & Video 360 API v4 last week, alongside significant updates to v3. Key changes in v4. Mandatory optimization objective field for new insertion orders Removal of Campaign and InsertionOrder resource targeting management Renaming of FirstAndThirdPartyAudience to FirstPartyAndPartnerAudience Additional features in v3 and v4. Asset-based creative support Integral Ad Science quality sync integration Expanded geographic region targeting options Why we care. The beta release of Display & Video 360 API v4 and new v3 features gives advertisers enhanced capabilities for programmatic advertising ma…

“Why can’t we just use AI to do it?” Whether you’re on the brand or agency side of SEO, I’m guessing you’ve heard some version of this from an exec or a client with little knowledge of AI tools, SEO principles, or both. I’ve been asked that question multiple times because the other party saw or heard about modest success from LLM-generated content that got some clicks and impressions. My answer: because thousands of LLM-produced pieces of content do not a successful SEO program make. This article dives into the human and AI roles in today’s SEO landscape, including: What people are getting wrong about AI and content. What AI can and can’t do for S…

With so many PPC agencies claiming to be experts, how do you separate true performers from the ones who just talk a good game? This guide walks you through a no-nonsense evaluation process to find an agency that delivers real results. 1. Define your goals first Before reaching out to agencies, have a clear understanding of what you want to achieve with PPC. Are you looking for lead generation, ecommerce sales, local service inquiries, or brand awareness? Knowing your objectives will help you ask the right questions and assess whether an agency is a good fit. Also, factor in your budget constraints and expected ROI. A good agency should work …