SEO Tools and Resources

If you try to add a new business to Google Business Profiles today, you may run into difficulties. When you get to the screen where you add your phone number and website address, Google won’t let you proceed to the next step. It is unclear if there is an issue with phone numbers in general, which may be causing this bug, or not. But there are also businesses reporting their phone numbers are being removed and also rejected from their Google Business Profiles. More details. As noted, on this screen, the “Next” button, simply won’t take you to the next screen: Google product expert, Vinay Toshniwal, wrote in the Google Business Profile forums: I’ve com…

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…

Google is now rolling out access to AI Mode to its second batch of users. Google first allowed Google One AI Premium subscribers access to AI mode, when it first launched on March 5th. If you opted into AI Mode and are based in the United States, you may now have access. How to access AI Mode. Once you again access then you should be able to access AI Mode – here is how: Go to www.google.com, enter a question in the Search bar, and tap the “AI Mode” tab below the Search bar. Go directly to the AI Mode tab on Google Search at: google.com/aimode. In the Google app, tap the AI Mode icon below the Search bar on the home screen. The initial bug. When Goog…

Google Merchant Center click reporting is changing on April 21, 2025, where clicks will be reported in the same manner Google Ads reports clicks. Google said this will align click reporting with Google Ads and thus may impact some current and historical data reported in Merchant Center. What is changing. Google wrote in this email, “As of April 21, 2025, we’re updating Google Merchant Center to align click reporting with Google Ads.” The email goes on to say: “This change reflects new advertising formats that have different types of interactions. While Google Ads reports clicks separately from other interactions, Merchant Center currently reports all intera…

SEO is something of a nebulous concept. To some, SEO is technical; to others, it is creative. Neither of these is 100% right or wrong. SEO is all of this and more, depending entirely on the unique situation and goals of the business looking to use SEO. This loose definition leads to some common and fairly troublesome issues. One of these issues, which we see repeatedly and completely derails the success of projects – even by experienced agencies – is the misunderstanding between SEO strategy and SEO planning. This article defines these terms and shows a simple way to ensure both strategy and planning are tackled with the rigor that the modern, h…

People are making more purchases online, whether from home on a laptop or on their mobile phone while on the go. In 2025, retail e-commerce sales are estimated to exceed 4.3 trillion U.S. dollars worldwide, and this number is expected to go up in the following years. Naturally, this rise in online shopping has come with a surge in online stores worldwide. How can you make sure your online store stands out and reaches the right people? Ecommerce SEO can help drive up those sales numbers. In this guide, we’ll explain every aspect and help you get started! Table of contents What is ecommerce SEO? Branding is key Technical ecommerce SEO User experience improves conversi…

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…

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…

When Google launched the March 2025 core update last week, Google said there will be a series of improvements aimed to help “better surface relevant, satisfying content” from content creators “thoughtout this year.” But you should not expect all sites to fully recover by the end of the 2025 year, that simply won’t happen. What Google said. Danny Sullivan, the Google Search Liaison, in a conversation on X with Travel blogger, Nate Hank, explained that there is a caveat to the statement about surfacing those sites better in Google Search again. Sullivan wrote, “With the important caveat that this doesn’t mean all sites will go back up to wherever they were if they are …

Google is rolling out a significant update to its Performance Max campaigns, giving advertisers more transparency and control over their ad placements. The big picture: Performance Max search terms are now visible in the standard Search Terms report Advertisers can add negative keywords directly from the report The update integrates with Google’s recent addition of negative keyword capabilities for Performance Max Why we care. This change addresses one of the biggest criticisms of Performance Max campaigns: lack of visibility into which search queries trigger ads. Advertisers now have the same level of insight and control they’re accustomed to with stan…

PPC marketing isn’t easy. Juggling campaigns across Google, Microsoft Bing, and social platforms while maximizing every click is a challenge – and those clicks aren’t cheap. That’s why Chrome extensions are PPC game-changers. They sit in your browser, ready to help without the hassle of switching tools. Imagine this: you’re analyzing competitors, tweaking ad copy, and tracking keywords – all without juggling tabs or draining your focus. The best part? Most top extensions are free. No budget approvals, no learning curve – just click, install, and start optimizing faster. Whether you’re a PPC pro or just starting out, the right Chrome extensions ca…

Relying solely on Google for search visibility is no longer viable today. Search behavior is diversifying, particularly among younger demographics. Gen Z is increasingly turning to platforms like TikTok, Pinterest, and Reddit for information discovery. This shift highlights the need for brands to embrace a total search strategy – an approach that integrates multiple search and discovery channels to create a more holistic and resilient search presence. The risks of Google dependency Google’s algorithm changes frequently, and core updates can significantly impact website rankings overnight. Over-reliance on a single search engine makes brands vulner…

If you’re managing multiple campaigns for your brand or your clients, you know how hard it is to scale landing page creation without sacrificing performance. This guide breaks it down—with real examples, tactical insights, and repeatable strategies from a designer who helped generate 14.8 million conversions using Unbounce. Inside, you’ll get: 5 high-performing landing page designs from SaaS, education, and entertainment industries Conversion-driven tactics you can apply to your own campaigns Smart tips for building faster, designing for mobile, and increasing results without reinventing the wheel Whether you’re designing in-house or outsourcing to …

In December Google added 24-hour data to the Search Performance report in Google Search Console. Now, that data will soon be available in the Search Console API, and you get not just the past 24-hours of that 24-hour data, you can get the hourly data for the past 8 days. Announcement. This was announced by Daniel Waisberg, from the Google Search team, at the Google Search Central Live event in New York City just a minute ago. 24-hour data. When Google announced this originally, Google said this “view includes data from the last available 24 hours and will appear with a delay of only a few hours.” Google added: “The ’24 hours’ view includes hourly granula…

Google’s AI Mode became available earlier this month as a Google Search Labs experiment. After researching dozens of keywords across transactional, navigational, commercial, and informational intents, here’s what SEOs and marketers need to know about Google’s AI Mode. It’s genuinely AI-powered The query [cheap flights] produced many different outputs, ranging from 370 to 449 words, with anywhere from 13 to 39 right-sidebar citations. Local intent is everywhere Even for queries where location makes zero sense, queries like [online courses], [subscribe newsletter], and [youtube login] included location context. Navigation patterns Searches f…

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…

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…

SEO keeps evolving faster than most of us can handle. If you’re finding it hard to keep up with all the changes in search, you’re not the only one. I’ve talked to dozens of marketing teams this quarter, and they all tell me the same thing: the old SEO playbook just isn’t working anymore. Whether you’re running your company’s search strategy or working with clients, you need a smarter approach that puts users first and works across all the places people search online. This guide shows you key areas that are driving SEO success right now in 2025. It’s based on what’s working for the most successful marketing teams I work with. You’ll get practical ti…

Reddit’s presence in Google Search has surged over the last year, largely thanks to the Google-Reddit content licensing deal. As a result, Reddit threads are claiming prime real estate in search results, often outranking brand websites and even original content sources. While Reddit isn’t new, its growing influence has put it back in the spotlight. Yet many marketers either overlook Reddit entirely or mishandle it – resulting in missed opportunities or even backlash from its notoriously protective community. This guide covers everything you need to know about leveraging Reddit for SEO – finding ranking opportunities, engaging authentically, and boosting …

Brands that have built success on Meta’s ad ecosystem have mastered the art of the thumb-stopping creative. However, as competition heats up and audiences saturate one PPC platform, acquisition costs typically go up. This is when social-first advertisers might start to explore a different channel, like Google Ads. Google’s advertising ecosystem is based on search intent, which fundamentally differs from Meta’s, built around behavioral and interest-based targeting. As people actively search for products, Google offers a massive advantage: It knows exactly what they want. Between legacy campaigns (like Search, Shopping, and YouTube) and newer technolo…

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…

Shopify is one of the most impressive internet success stories. According to BuiltWith, the Canadian ecommerce giant now powers almost five million stores worldwide. Merchants choose Shopify for its ease of use, robust features, scalability, and cost-effectiveness. Let’s go over the main reasons for choosing Shopify. Table of contents What is Shopify and what does it do? How does Shopify work? 7 Key benefits of choosing Shopify Unique selling points of Shopify Considerations before choosing Shopify These are the main reasons to choose Shopify What is Shopify and what does it do? Shopify is an ecommerce platform that has everything under one roof. It’s a c…

Generative AI is rewriting the SEO playbook. The days of simply ranking high and earning clicks are fading and being replaced by a zero-click reality where the search journey is fragmented across multiple touchpoints. Google still dominates the search market, but AI-powered answer engines have quickly emerged as alternative discovery tools. ChatGPT alone has seen impressive growth, doubling its users in the past six months alone. As of February 2025, it has 400 million weekly active users. Visibility now comes down to being a part of the answers users see – wherever they search – and whether or not they click. Some might say it’s time to prepare for th…

Detailed and specialized content that lives deeper within your website may be key to winning citations and brand visibility in Google’s AI Overviews, according to enterprise SEO platform BrightEdge. By the numbers. Based on a new analysis of millions of URLs cited by Google’s AI Overviews, BrightEdge found that: 82.5% of citations linked to deep content pages (two or more clicks away from the homepage) 0.5% of citations linked to homepages. 86% of citations appeared for only one keyword. Why we care. The homepage historically has been considered the most important page on a website, with primary category, product, or service pages not far behind (those …

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…