SEO Tools and Resources

Imagine this: You are a wealthy art lover seated in a room filled with beautiful paintings and surrounded by other art lovers. You have a numbered paddle in one hand and a glass of champagne in the other. You are at the center of an auction and about to bid against all the other people in the room for the artwork you want. Now imagine you are blindfolded! The auctioneer’s rapid-fire speech guides you as prices go higher and higher. You periodically raise your paddle to make a bid; you assume that those around you are doing the same. But what if they’re not? What if the joke is on you, and you’re feverishly raising your paddle again and again to win the auction w…

Do you have a website or are you thinking about creating one? And do you want to attract more people to your business? If the answer is yes, then there’s no doubt about it: SEO should be part of your marketing efforts. It’s a great way to build your brand and get people on your site. But what does it actually entail? In this post, we’ll give you an understanding of what SEO is and how you can get started! What is SEO? The acronym SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization. Let’s first get a definition from one of our principal SEO experts at Yoast, Alex Moss: SEO is both the art and science of improving a website, and pages within, to be as visible…

Google is rolling out new conversion tracking columns for Demand Gen campaigns, giving advertisers a more nuanced view of social-style performance tracking. Details. 100% attribution to last Demand Gen touchpoint. Available at campaign and ad group levels. Specifically designed for platform-to-platform comparisons. Why we care. Advertisers can now directly compare Demand Gen campaign performance with paid social platforms, using view-through conversion data that provides a more comprehensive attribution model. The big picture. The new Platform Comparable conversion columns offer a specialized tracking method that: Isolates only Demand Gen inte…

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…

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…

The way people search for information is changing, and Gen Z is leading the shift. Instead of turning to Google, they’re searching on TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, Reddit, and Discord for everything from product recommendations to restaurant reviews and how-to guides. This isn’t just a trend – it’s a fundamental shift in digital discovery. Google usage among Gen Z has dropped by 25% compared to Gen X, a 2024 Forbes study shows. eMarketer reports that 46% of Gen Z and 35% of millennials prefer social media over traditional search engines. Why? They crave fast, visual, and community-driven content rather than sifting through traditional search resu…

Google AI Overviews are now available in several new European regions today, after Google began testing them earlier this month. As a reminder, Google has expanded its AI Overviews within Google Search to over 100 different countries. This is up from just several countries last year, including the US, UK, India, Japan, Indonesia, Mexico and Brazil. Then last October AI Overviews expanded to an additional 100+ countries. New regions. Google rolled out AI Overviews in these EU regions today: Germany (German and English) Belgium (English only at launch) Ireland (English) Italy (Italian and English) Austria (German and English) Poland (Polish and …

Over the last few years, AI has upended many aspects of our world, including search. The rise of generative AI threw many of us for a loop. If you’re one of them, still scrambling to make sense of this new normal, you might be wondering: what matters most in SEO now? The answer may surprise you. It isn’t fancy new tricks – it’s mastering the fundamentals that drive traffic and rankings. As AI answer engines, like ChatGPT search and Google AI Overviews, become part of everyday life, they’re changing how people interact with search. But at their core, these tools rely on some principles that have guided SEO for years: A strong technical fo…

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. …

You’ve probably played around with Demographics in your Google Ads campaigns, but have you experimented with Detailed Demographics? This audience targeting technique is a powerful tool for reaching your ideal customers – and excluding your not-ideal customers. This article will discuss: Basic vs. Detailed Demographics: What’s the difference? What type of Detailed Demographics are available in Google Ads? How to use Detailed Demographics in your campaigns Sample use cases for Detailed Demographics Basic vs. Detailed Demographics: What’s the difference? Your basic demographic options in Google Ads are: Age. Gender. Parental status. …

With Google’s introduction of its vision match feature, users can now describe a product they’re looking for, and AI will generate suggestions similar to that item. The real kicker is that the product generated likely doesn’t exist. The AI will create something that you want, show you the product, and then try to match the AI product with items from the real world. It sounds like a streamlined, user-friendly shopping experience that could revolutionize online shopping yet again. But does it actually enhance our shopping journey? Are these AI-generated results truly more effective than the product results we get from traditional Google search? …

Microsoft released Copilot within Bing Webmaster Tools to all users today, the company announced today. Initially, Microsoft had a beta release to only 10,000 trusted users of Bing Webmaster Tools but now the feature is generally available to all users. What is Copilot in Bing Webmaster Tools. Copilot in Bing Webmaster Tools promises to provide “instant, accurate and contextually relevant answers to [user] queries.” It is engineered to provide “streamline workflows, enhance productivity, and provide valuable insights,” Microsoft initially said. Copilot in Bing Webmaster Tools aims at “helping webmasters manage their search optimization efforts more efficiently, im…

Google is testing placing special and very clickable links in its AI Overviwws, but not to publishers or your own website, but rather back to its own search results. You got that right, Google is testing linking the AI Overviews back to new search queries on Google.com. What it looks like. I posted a screenshot and video from Sachin Patel who spotted this change on the Search Engine Roundtable – here they are: Clicking on those underlined links in the text of the AI Overview, both at the top and in the middle section, will take you back to a new Google Search. The smaller link icons take you to the side panel links, those go to publishers and external website…

If users don’t interact with your page in Google’s search results, Google may remove that page from its results – or possibly even its index. That’s according to a recent short video Google’s Martin Splitt posted on the Google Search Central YouTube channel. This information confirms what Google said in their recent (since 2019) communication and once again with the Navboost details from the DOJ trails, and the data leak. What Google said. Here is a partial quote from the video, which I will embed below: “If they are not showing up so it’s either that the query is a bit weird or that the query hasn’t actually been asked that much or that we have other pag…

How does adding coordinates to the EXIF data affect local rank? Our team wanted to find out. That’s why we recently conducted a 10-week study on the effects of geotagging for local rank. The geotagged images seemed to only affect the ranking for “near me” queries in the areas the EXIF data coordinates specified. Their impact on those queries in those areas was positive and statistically significant. However, the study also found that queries that mentioned specific towns saw a decrease in ranking during the same period. In other words, when EXIF data targeted Salt Lake City, Utah, the query [lawn care near me] saw a significant increase in rank. For the sa…

A new profile of Elizabeth Reid, the head of Google Search, confirms that Google is moving away from its longstanding model of sending its users to websites. As one former unnamed senior executive put it: “Giving traffic to publisher sites is kind of a necessary evil.” As for the iconic Google Search bar? It will slowly lose prominence in the Google Search experience, due to the continuing growth of voice and visual search, Reid said. Necessary evil. Google has been increasingly focused on keeping users inside Google properties, reducing the need to click through to external sites. A former Google senior executive told Bloomberg that supporting publishers was inci…

Are you tired of your social media efforts not achieving the results you hoped for? It might be time to scale up your social media optimization efforts. Your content might be good, but you could do various enhancements to make it stand out. For instance, your content needs proper metadata for X, Facebook, and the like to appear properly on each platform. Yoast SEO can help you do this quickly. Table of contents What is social media optimization? Facebook and other social media X Use templates for social media snippets What about Pinterest? Conclusion on social media optimization Sharing your freshly written (or optimized) content on social media is important…

Do you need to create a 301 redirect in your WordPress site? You’ve come to the right place! We’ll show you how to set up 301 redirects using three methods. Do you know if you need to use a redirect or whether a 301 redirect is right? No worries, we’ll explain that, too. Redirects in a nutshell The name ‘redirect’ says it all: It sends visitors traveling from a specific page to an alternative one instead. Or, if there’s no alternative, an HTTP header (similar to redirects) can make that clear to users and search engines. It’s like registering a change of address when you move house. What if an old friend visits your old home to visit you? A redirect is like a front…

From automating review responses to suppressing negative search results, AI is making online reputation management (ORM) faster, smarter, and more effective. But while AI offers powerful tools, businesses must use them strategically to maintain authenticity and trust. Here’s how AI is reshaping ORM – and what brands need to do to keep up. Online reputation management in the age of AI In today’s digital-first world, a brand’s online reputation is more than just a reflection of its customer service. It’s a key driver of success or failure. A single negative news story, an influx of bad reviews, or even an outdated piece of content ranking high on Googl…

Traffic from generative AI surged to U.S. retail sites over the holiday season and that trend has continued into 2025, according to new Adobe data. Between Nov. 1 and Dec. 31, traffic from generative AI sources increased by 1,300% compared to the year prior (up 1,950% YoY on Cyber Monday). This trend continued beyond the holiday season, Adobe found. In February, traffic from generative AI sources increased by 1,200% compared to July 2024. The percentages are high because generative AI tools are so new. ChatGPT debuted its research preview on Nov. 30. 2022. Generative AI traffic remains modest compared to other channels, such as paid search or email, but the …

Whether it’s time, money, or expertise, marketing resources are finite. In today’s world, with advances in AI and more efficient tools than ever, businesses expect better results with fewer resources. That means every second spent on an SEO campaign matters. To keep up, SEOs must focus on actions that truly move the needle – without wasting time or unnecessary effort. This article highlights SEO activities that have diminishing returns – where the effort eventually outweighs the benefits – and offers tips on optimizing more effectively. 1. Page speed improvements Not long ago, I had a client who was obsessed with page speed. The site’s page spe…

Being great at PPC isn’t just about launching campaigns and optimizing bids. It’s about making an impact, proving your value, and building a reputation that accelerates your career. Whether you’re an in-house marketer, agency professional, or freelancer, standing out in the PPC world requires technical excellence and strategic visibility. After working at several agencies before starting my own, I’ve seen firsthand what separates top-tier PPC professionals from the rest. Success in this industry isn’t just about knowing the platforms. It’s about positioning yourself as an indispensable expert. While this playbook is built around PPC, the principles …

Microsoft Advertising is ramping up enforcement of its user consent policies for advertisers targeting users in the EEA, UK, and Switzerland. Starting May 5, all advertisers using Universal Event Tracking (UET) must provide an explicit consent signal to avoid disruptions in ad performance. What’s changing: Microsoft requires advertisers to ensure user consent before dropping Microsoft device identifiers (e.g., cookies) on user devices. New enforcement measures will be phased in, culminating in full implementation by the May deadline. Advertisers must send explicit consent signals via one of Microsoft’s approved methods to maintain compliance. Why we car…

Consumers are redefining what loyalty looks like. Values like sustainability, authenticity, and transparency are driving decisions — and personalization is no longer a nice-to-have, it’s expected. Whether you’re shaping in-house campaigns or developing strategies for clients, this new white paper, Beyond the Purchase: The Future of Consumer Behavior in 2025, breaks down the trends that matter most for marketers right now. Inside, you’ll discover: How values-based marketing is reshaping customer expectations Where immersive experiences like AR, VR, and live streaming fit in Why hyper-personalization and real-time engagement are key to conversion How t…

Microsoft has confirmed it uses schema markup to help its LLMs (large language models) understand your content. There has been a debate around if AI models and LLMs use schema or structured data, and at least Microsoft has confirmed they do. Source. Fabrice Canel from Microsoft’s Bing confirmed this while on stage at SMX Munich the other day. David wrote, “Fabrice Canel confirms that schema markup helps Microsoft’s LLMs understand your content in his excellent SMX – Search Marketing Expo in Munich presentation.” David Mihm posted on LinkedIn these details, which later Fabrice Canel confirmed in the comments area. Fabrice added, “Gen AIs value fresh content in…