SEO Tools and Resources

Headings structure your content for both readers and search engines. They help users scan a page, understand its content, and quickly locate the information they need. Search engines and AI systems use headings to interpret the topic and structure of your content. By using one clear H1, supported by well-written H2 and H3 headings, you can improve readability, accessibility, and SEO simultaneously. Table of contents What are headings? Why are headings important for SEO? Why are headings important for readers? How to use headings correctly How many H1 headings should you use? How to use H2 and H3 headings Common mistakes when using headings Headings and accessibility…

Most brands don’t realize how much traffic they lose each day to unauthorized bidding, affiliate violations, and ad hijacking. Industry data shows ad fraud reached an estimated $84 billion of global digital ad spend in 2023. If your branded CPCs keep rising or competitors keep appearing above you in searches for your own name, this PPC brand protection guide can help you understand why – and what to do next. What is brand protection in PPC? Brand protection is the practice of defending your brand from unauthorized use of your branded search terms in PPC and from deceptive or fraudulent ad placements. The goal: make sure people searching for your bran…

Semify acquired Dragon Metrics, a Hong Kong–based SEO, AI, and PPC reporting platform known for its international reach. The move boosts Semify’s reporting strength and AI optimization tools as the search landscape shifts more toward AI. Why we care. Dragon Metrics customers can expect business as usual, plus faster product updates. Co-founder Simon Lesser said on LinkedIn that the platform will stay a standalone brand with the same contacts and product experience. Customers also gain access to Semify’s growing AI optimization methodology and future software integrations. About the acquisition. Semify announced on Dec. 8 that it is acquiring Dragon Metrics: F…

Shopify is expanding its advertising ambitions with the launch of the Shopify Product Network, a new system that surfaces products from across participating merchants—even if the item isn’t carried by the store a shopper is currently visiting. The pitch. If a shopper searches for “organic cleaning supplies” on a Shopify store that doesn’t carry that product, the Product Network may show alternatives from other merchants. Items can also appear natively on another merchant’s homepage, indistinguishable from the store’s own inventory. Shoppers purchase all items in a single cart, often without knowing some items come from other merchants. Shopify’s angle. The Product…

LinkedIn is introducing new ad innovations designed to help B2B marketers strengthen brand awareness, personalize messaging, and accelerate creative workflows — all aimed at reaching potential buyers earlier in the funnel. What’s new: Reserved Ads give marketers front-row placement in the LinkedIn feed, ensuring premium visibility, predictable impressions, and a higher share of top-of-feed attention than competitors. The format works across Video, Thought Leader, Single Image, and Document Ads, letting brands maximize creative impact. Ad personalization allows messages to dynamically adjust using member profile data like first name, job title, industry, or com…

Google is releasing the Google Ads API Developer Assistant v1.0, a new Gemini CLI extension that lets developers interact with the Ads API using natural language — turning plain-English prompts into answers, code, and even live API calls. How it works: The assistant sits inside the Gemini CLI and uses project context from GEMINI.md and configuration files to generate accurate code based on the user’s environment. Ask a question — for example, “How do I filter by date in GAQL?” — and it delivers instant guidance. Describe a task — “Show me campaigns with the most conversions in the last 30 days” — and it outputs both the GAQL query and a complete Python script aligned …

Instagram launched Your Algorithm in the U.S. today, a tool that lets people see – and directly edit – the topics shaping their Reels recommendations. Why we care. This could reshape how users discover content. When people signal interest in specific niches, hobbies, or brands – from running shoes to vintage clothing to home organizers – Instagram may surface more of that content, boosting reach for brands that publish relevant Reels. How it works. A new Reels icon opens a personalized list of topics (e.g., sports, thrifting, horror movies, pop music, chess, day in the life, college football, skateboarding) Instagram believes “you’ve been into” lately, generated b…

Google is updating the links within AI Mode to encourage searchers to click on those links. Google also expanded its Web Guides labs test to the all tab, you still need to opt-in to the experiment. Links in AI Mode. Robby Stein, VP of Product, Google Search, wrote, “We’re increasing the number of inline links in AI Mode, and updating the design of those links to make them more useful.” We’ve seen Google testing variations of inline links and contextual links in AI Mode and Google is now releasing some of those user experiences. Robby Stein told us in August Google would be releasing some of these features and here they are. Google is also adding contextual introdu…

Google is rolling out Preferred Sources globally after launching the feature in the US and India last August. Plus, Google announced a new feature Spotlighting subscriptions that highlights links from your news subscriptions within Gemini and will later come to Google Search via AI Overviewa and AI Mode. Preferred Sources. Preferred sources let searchers star sources within the Top Stories section of Google Search, and then Google will use that information to show more stories from that starred source. It was in beta in June and then rolled old in the US and India in August. It is now rolling out globally. Robby Stein, VP of Product, Google Search, wrote, “We’re n…

YouTube is rolling out new ad features for Shorts aimed at helping brands stretch their holiday marketing budgets — and capitalize on short-form video momentum. What’s new: Comments on Shorts ads: Advertisers can now enable comments on eligible Shorts ads, bringing the ad experience closer to organic content and creating new avenues for real-time audience engagement. Creator links to brand sites: Shorts creators posting branded content can now link directly to a brand’s website — giving viewers a seamless path from discovery to action. Shorts ads on mobile web: YouTube is expanding Shorts ad placement to the mobile web, adding another surface to reach viewe…

Do you want to immediately raise the blood pressure of the Google Ads practitioner sitting next to you? Say one word: Recommendations. If you’ve spent any time in the Google Ads platform, you’ve seen Recommendations jumping out at you on every screen: when you’re adding keywords, when you’re adjusting your campaign settings, when you’re changing your bid strategy, when you’re minding your own business! And we’ve all received that email from a client asking why their “Optimization Score” is falling. In this article, I’ll explain what Recommendations actually are (and aren’t), where they come from, and how you should handle them. Why does everyone hate Google A…

Pinterest attracts users who want inspiration and solutions, not passive browsing. The platform now reaches 600 million monthly active users, many of whom arrive with clear intent to research, plan, or purchase. That makes its ad formats especially valuable for marketers who want to appear in moments when people are actively looking for ideas and products. Here’s how each format works and when to consider it. Ad formats explained Pinterest Ads offers a variety of ad formats, many of which aren’t available on other social media platforms. Let’s take a look at what formats they offer and when you might want to consider using them. Carousel ads …

Google Discover is less aligned to Google Search ranking, Andy Almeida from the Google Trust and Safety team, said yesterday at the Google Search Central Live event in Zurich yesterday. A slide he posted on how existing systems help the Google Discover team solve problems, the slide says: “Minimal alignment to search ranking gives us the tools we need to combat emerging abuse.” What this means. It seems that this is an admission that Google Discover is not using Google’s search systems as tightly as it may have in the past for when it comes to combating abuse on that platform. I asked Andy Almeida at the event what this means, and he said it means …

Google isn’t rewarding whoever buys the most ads or uploads the glossiest photos. It’s rewarding the business that matches what people expect in the moment. That’s why the old checklist approach to local SEO breaks down – it assumes every customer behaves the same. In other words, Google does play favorites, the “signal-fit” kind. Google’s ranking system isn’t swinging blindly; it’s tuned to intent, behavior, and category nuance. However, recent trends call that old assumption into question. A single formula doesn’t guide Google’s Local Pack – it’s shaped by how people actually search. The notion that a generic playbook can successfully deliver the …

With generative AI tools attracting hundreds of millions of users and AI-enhanced results appearing in more search experiences, the way people discover brands is changing. Traditional SEO metrics alone no longer capture this full picture. Welcome to the era of generative engine optimization (GEO). If you aren’t tracking your brand’s visibility across AI search engines, you’re flying blind. The AI search revolution is already here The numbers are striking: 58% of consumers have replaced traditional search engines with generative AI tools for product recommendations, according to Capgemini research. Traditional organic search traffic is expected to decli…

Google added a new section to the core updates search developer documentation that confirms it releases smaller core updates without announcing those updates. Google has told us this before, but has now added it explicitly to the search documentation. What is new. Google added this new paragraph: However, you don’t necessarily have to wait for a major core update to see the effect of your improvements. We’re continually making updates to our search algorithms, including smaller core updates. These updates are not announced because they aren’t widely noticeable, but they are another way that your content can see a rise in position (if you’ve made improvements). …

Most AI chats have no commercial intent, users usually ask short questions, and most conversations end after just two turns. Those findings come from a recent analysis by Dan Petrovic, director of AI SEO agency Dejan, who examined millions of conversational turns to show how people actually use AI assistants. Why we care. As SEOs and marketers race to “optimize for AI,” Petrovic’s analysis suggests the industry is misreading how people actually use AI assistants. Most chats function as multi-step tasks, not keyword-style queries. And users aren’t flooding AI with “buy” queries – they’re exploring problems and comparing options. By the numbers. Petrovic analyzed 4.…

Google is rolling out a new Data Manager API designed to help advertisers more easily connect their first-party data to Google’s AI-powered ad tools — aiming to boost measurement, targeting and performance without the complexity of juggling multiple systems. Why we care. The Data Manager API makes it easier to feed high-quality first-party data into Google’s AI, which directly improves targeting, measurement, and bidding performance. By replacing multiple APIs with one streamlined connection, it reduces engineering work and speeds up how quickly insights flow back into campaigns. As cookies fade, this becomes a key tool for getting better results from the data adverti…

Google cites retailers only 4% of the time, while ChatGPT does it 36% of the time. That 9x gap means shoppers on each platform get steered in very different ways, according to new BrightEdge data. Why we care. Millions of shoppers now turn to AI for deals and gift ideas, but product discovery works differently on the two leading AI search platforms. Google leans on what people say, while ChatGPT focuses more on where you can buy it. What each AI prioritizes. Google AI Overviews cite YouTube reviews, Reddit threads, and editorial sites, while ChatGPT cite retail giants like Amazon, Walmart, Target, and Best Buy. Google AI Overviews prioritize: YouTube revi…

Generative systems like ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude, and Perplexity are quietly taking over the early parts of discovery – the “what should I know?” stage that once sent millions of people to your website. Visibility now isn’t just about who ranks. It’s about who gets referenced inside the models that guide those decisions. The metrics we’ve lived by – impressions, sessions, CTR – still matter, but they no longer tell the full story. Mentions, citations, and structured visibility signals are becoming the new levers of trust and the path to revenue. This article pulls together data from Siege Media’s two-year content performance study, Grow and Convert’s conv…

Evaluating SEO tools has never been more complicated. Costs keep rising, and promises for new AI features are everywhere. This combination is hardly convincing when you need leadership to approve a new tool or expand the budget for an existing one. Your boss still expects SEO to show business impact – not how many keywords or prompts you can track, how fast you can optimize content, or what your visibility score is. That is exactly where most tools still fail miserably. The landscape adds even more friction. Features are bundled into confusing packages and add-on models, and the number of solutions has grown sharply in the last 12 months. …

In 2026 and well beyond, a core part of the performance marketer’s charter is learning to leverage AI to drive growth and efficiency. Anyone who isn’t actively evaluating new AI tools to improve or streamline their PPC work is doing their brand or clients a disservice. The challenge is that keeping up with these tools has become almost a full-time job, which is why my agency has made AI a priority in our structured knowledge-sharing. As a team, we’ve honed in on favorites across creative, campaign management, and AI search measurement. This article breaks down key options in each category, with brief reviews and a callout of my current pick. One ove…

In 1997, Apple launched a campaign that became cultural gospel. “Think Different” celebrated the rebels, the misfits, the troublemakers. The ones who saw things differently. The ones who changed the world. Apple understood something fundamental: the constraints that limited imagination weren’t real. They were inherited. Accepted. Assumed. And the people who broke through weren’t smarter or more talented. They simply refused to believe the constraints applied to them. Twenty-eight years later, marketing faces its own Think Different moment. The constraints are gone. Technology has removed them. AI can generate infinite variants. Data platforms deliver real-t…

Google announced new weekly and monthly views within the Google Search Console performance reports adds weekly and monthly views. This gives you more granular data and analysis of your reports over a longer period of time, and not just the 24-hour view. What it looks like. Here are photos I took from the announcement which took place at the Google Search Central event in Zurich this morning: Why we care. This is a small update but it gives SEOs, publishers and site owners access to more granular data. It may help you dive in and see why you saw a change in your performance data on a specific month, week or day. View the full article

Google is being forced to cap all default search and AI app deals at one year. This will end the long-term agreements (think: Apple, Samsung) that helped secure its default status on billions of devices. Just don’t expect this to end Google’s search dynasty anytime soon. Driving the news. Judge Amit Mehta on Friday called the one-year cap a “hard-and-fast termination requirement” needed to enforce antitrust remedies after his 2024 ruling that Google illegally monopolized search and search ads, Business Insider reported. In September, Mehta ruled on Google search deals: “Google will be barred from entering or maintaining any exclusive contract relating to the dist…