SEO Tools and Resources

LinkedIn Ads consistently delivers some of the highest-quality B2B leads in paid media. But it also has a reputation for being very expensive — for both cost-per-click (CPC) and cost-per-lead (CPL) metrics. Because of that reputation, I wanted to test a theory: that I could get low CPCs and low-cost qualified leads from LinkedIn Ads by creating a highly valuable, audience-specific piece of content. As an agency, we usually run LinkedIn Ads campaigns for our clients. We don’t really run many paid ads for ourselves. However, to have the most control over this test, I decided that Saltbox Solutions would be the guinea pig. (Disclosure: I’m the director of strategy at…

Privacy laws are tightening, browser extensions are blocking data, and ad platforms are demanding cleaner data. As a result, how you track user behavior online is changing fast. Server-side tagging can help you reduce data loss while collecting cleaner, privacy-compliant data. Here’s what server-side tagging is, when it makes sense to implement it, and our experience with providers like Elevar and Littledata. What is server-side tagging? Traditionally, tracking scripts like Meta Pixel or Google Analytics run in the browser. This is client-side (browser-side) tagging. With server-side tagging, those scripts run on a server you control instead of the visitor’…

Many of us use various generative AI tools to generate marketing ideas and improve ad campaign outcomes. Prompting can be a powerful alternative to working solo or brainstorming with colleagues. It improves productivity and expands your options. In this article, I’ll cover some of my favorite marketing prompts for ad campaigns. Use these suggestions to spark ideas for your own prompts. Why use prompts for online ads? Prompts quickly give you a range of ad elements — triggers, emotions, actions, and audiences. You can often repurpose prompt outputs across channels and initiatives — ads, email, landing pages, social media, and offers. When you get clo…

Topical authority is a key concept in SEO, but it doesn’t account for how search and AI systems choose between competing sources. The missing layer isn’t in content or structure. It’s in the signals that determine selection once a topic is understood — the difference between being eligible and being chosen. Topical authority explains content, not selection Topical authority is foundational for SEO and now AEO and AAO. But the framework the industry calls topical authority is incomplete. It covers semantics, content, and structure, but that’s just one part of a three-row, nine-cell model that defines topical ownership. Topical authority describes what you’v…

A major shift is underway in digital advertising: Meta Platforms is projected to generate more ad revenue than Google in 2026, signaling how marketers are increasingly favoring automated, performance-driven platforms. Driving the news. According to Emarketer, Meta is expected to bring in $243.46 billion in global ad revenue this year, narrowly topping Google’s projected $239.54 billion. Meta is forecast to capture 26.8% of global ad spend. Google is projected to take 26.4%. It would be the first time Google has lost the top spot in digital ad revenue. Why we care. Meta’s growth suggests brands are getting more value from automated, performance-focused t…

Paid search success used to be driven by optimizations. You adjusted bids, restructured campaigns, refined match types, and added negatives. Performance moved accordingly. That’s still how many accounts are managed. When I audit them, they often look “well optimized”: active management, no glaring structural deficiencies, and targets that match achieved ROAS. On paper, everything checks out. But performance is quietly stuck. Google Ads no longer responds to isolated optimizations. It builds on what you’ve been rewarding. So when I hear, “That didn’t work,” it usually means the change didn’t override months of prior signals. What most advertisers still call opt…

Google announced updates to Chrome that let searchers use AI Mode in a more “engaging” and “deeper” way. Chrome lets you do all of this without switching tabs and potentially losing your place. What is new. Chrome added these new features: (1) Search side-by-side: When you’re using AI Mode in Chrome desktop, clicking a link will open the webpage side-by-side with AI Mode. This makes it easier to visit relevant websites, compare details, and ask follow-up questions while maintaining the context of your search. Here is what it looks like: (2) Search across your tabs: On Chrome desktop or mobile, you can tap the new “plus” menu on the New Tab page (or t…

An ecommerce company hires your PPC agency to explore paid search. A solid plan follows, and after approval, the campaigns go live. Soon, you’re seeing stellar results: high conversion volumes and a healthy ROAS. On the surface, the strategy is a resounding success. But look closer. Some of these conversions might have occurred anyway via direct or organic search traffic — meaning the campaigns may not be driving real growth. Too often, this goes unmeasured. To truly understand performance, you need to look at incremental lift and marginal ROAS. The truth about ROAS Perhaps you’ve heard about eBay’s paid search experiment? They were spending hea…

Search remained the largest force in digital advertising in 2025. However, its growth slowed as total U.S. ad revenue climbed to a record $294.6 billion. Search still dominates. Search generated $114.2 billion, accounting for 38.8% of total digital ad revenue, according to the latest IAB/PwC Internet Advertising Revenue Report. But growth slowed to 11%, down from 15.9% in 2024, as advertisers shifted more budget into faster-growing formats and as AI began reshaping how users discover information. Overall market growth accelerated as the year went on. It climbed from 12.2% in Q1 to 15.4% in Q4. The fourth quarter alone brought in $85 billion, even without majo…

OpenAI is continuing its push into ad-supported monetization — a strategy it began earlier this year — by expanding ads to more countries while keeping premium tiers ad-free. Driving the news. OpenAI is starting to roll out ads for users on Free and Go plans in Australia, New Zealand, and Canada. The rollout applies only to lower-tier plans. Paid tiers — including Pro, Business, Enterprise, and Education — will remain ad-free. Why we care. This opens up a new and rapidly growing channel to reach users inside AI-driven experiences. As OpenAI expands ads into more markets, it signals early opportunities to test and understand how advertising works in convers…

You’ve audited your client’s website and compiled performance data. You’ve identified what’s working, what can be improved, and your recommendations for future strategies. But how do you turn that data into a presentation that’s easy to explain and builds trust? Start with stories. Storytelling isn’t just for entertainment. It’s how people make sense of information. That’s what makes it so effective for data presentation. One of the simplest ways to structure that story is the three-act structure. It’s a familiar framework used everywhere, from Aristotle’s Poetics to Star Wars. What is the three-act structure? The three-act structure is a simple framework…

Google is experimenting with video ads inside the local pack, signaling a shift toward more immersive, visual formats in location-based search. Driving the news. The test was spotted by Anthony Higman, who shared that Google is integrating “immersive map view videos” into PPC ads tied to local results. These video ads appear within the local pack — the map-based listings that show businesses near a user’s search. What’s new. Instead of static listings or text-based ads, some advertisers may now have the option to surface video content directly in local search results. The feature appears tied to settings within Google Ads’ Location Manager. I…

Google is upgrading Google Ads call campaign measurement with a new AI-qualified call leads feature, designed to optimize for lead quality — not just call length. What’s new. AI-qualified call leads use machine learning to analyze calls and determine whether they represent meaningful business opportunities. The system then feeds that higher-quality data into bidding and reporting. Zoom in. Advertisers will get AI-generated call summaries and tags, giving more transparency into what happened during each interaction. At the same time, smart bidding can prioritize higher-value leads based on these signals rather than simple time thresholds. Why we care. Call camp…

Google is rolling out App Consent Insights in Google Ads, giving advertisers a clearer view into how consent signals impact app campaign performance. What’s new. The new diagnostics view breaks down consent data across apps, platforms, regions, and traffic sources, helping marketers pinpoint gaps in their setup. Zoom in. Advertisers can see an overall consent rating — like “Excellent,” “Good,” or “Poor” — alongside a live count of apps actively sending consented data. A detailed table also shows consent rates for conversions, including splits between EEA and non-EEA users. Why we care. As privacy regulations tighten, consent isn’t just a compliance box — i…

Google released the March 2026 spam update less than 24 hours ago and it is already done rolling out. The update finished today, March 25, 2026 at 10:40am ET. This update was released yesterday, March 24, 2026 at 3:20 p.m. It took 19 hours and 30 minutes to fully rollout, which is super fast. Why we care. This is the second announced Google algorithm update of 2026. It’s unclear what spam this update targets, but if you see ranking or traffic changes in the next few days, it could be due to it. More on spam update. Google’s documentation says: “While Google’s automated systems to detect search spam are constantly operating, we occasionally make notable im…

The March 2026 Google core update drove far higher ranking volatility than the December 2025 core update. Nearly 80% of top-three results shifted, and almost one in four top-10 pages fell out of the top 100, according to SE Ranking data shared exclusively with Search Engine Land. The data. Volatility increased across every ranking tier. In the top 3, 79.5% of URLs changed positions, up from 66.8% in December. In the top 10, 90.7% shifted, compared to 83.1%. Stability dropped sharply. Only 20.5% of top 3 URLs held their exact position, down from 33.1%. In the top 10, that fell to 9.3%, from 16.9%. Churn intensified at the top. About 24.1% of …

AI is changing search and rewriting the rules. If your brand isn’t visible in AI-generated answers, you have a bigger problem than just traffic. You’re missing out on trust, credibility, and customers who now expect AI to recommend the best options everywhere. Table of contents Why modern SEO is about AI visibility AI search is a blind spot for most Controlling the narrative of your brand Yoast AI Brand Insights is here to help Understanding the AI visibility metrics 5 Ways to improve your AI brand visibility How to influence LLMs to mention your brand The future of brand visibility is AI-driven Ready to take control of your AI brand visibility? We see that …

Google can render JavaScript. That’s no longer up for debate. But that doesn’t mean it always does — or that it does so instantly or perfectly. Since Google’s 2024 comments suggesting it renders all HTML pages, many developers have questioned whether no-JavaScript fallbacks are still necessary. Two years later, the answer is clearer and more nuanced. Google’s stance on JavaScript rendering In July 2024, Google sparked debate during an episode of Search Off the Record titled “Rendering JavaScript for Google Search.” When asked how Google decides which pages to render, Martin Splitt said: “If it’s so expensive, how do we decide which page should get rendere…

Google search traffic is dropping. If you’ve spent years building organic strategies, watching it happen in real time is uncomfortable. But it’s also clarifying. I started seeing the shift across SaaS clients. Pages that had driven steady traffic for years — educational, top-of-funnel (TOFU) content — were losing ground. Not because the content got worse, but because users no longer needed to click. AI Overviews were doing the job for them. That forced a decision: keep defending the old model or adjust the strategy. I chose to adjust. What became clear pretty quickly is that while informational content is losing clicks, bottom-of-funnel (BOFU) content is hold…

AI has quickly become the most overconfident line item in the modern marketing roadmap. Budgets are shifting. Teams are being restructured. Vendors are being evaluated almost exclusively through the lens of how “AI-powered” they appear. There is a growing assumption that once the right models are in place, performance will follow. Better targeting. Smarter segmentation. Higher conversion. More efficient spend. It sounds almost inevitable. But there is a quieter reality beneath the momentum. One that rarely makes it into boardroom conversations or conference keynotes. Most organizations are not struggling to use AI. They are struggling to feed it. And w…

If you know anything about Google Ads Asset Studio, you’ve heard the hype: “Google just killed every excuse for not running video ads.” “Total game changer! You don’t need a production budget anymore.” “Upload a few product images and get campaign-ready video in minutes.” From Google Ads > Tools > Asset Studio, you can build, manage, and scale images and videos across ad formats. The recent addition of Veo (Google’s AI video generation model) and Nano Banana Pro means you can now turn a handful of product images into full-motion video ads, for free, in no time. Apparently, video creative is no longer a constraint. But does Asset Studio actuall…

Picture this: Your company relies on Data Studio for SEO reporting. It’s right before your next big meeting when you’re planning to present results… but Data Studio has an outage (again) and suddenly you have nothing to show. That’s embarrassing. And it happens more than it should. It wasn’t even a year ago that I touted the benefits of Looker Studio (now Data Studio) for SEO reporting. Now the platform feels archaic compared to the agentic coding tools available today. Here’s how rigid SEO dashboards like those produced in Data Studio are holding you back and why code-driven SEO reporting is the only way to remain efficient and competitive. The pr…

You can now do in 20 minutes what used to take a full afternoon. Feed two Semrush exports into Claude or ChatGPT, and you’ll get a polished competitor analysis – complete with topic clusters, gap tables, and prioritized briefs. The output looks convincing. The tables are clean. The recommendations sound confident. That’s the problem. AI can organize and summarize data quickly, but it can’t make strategic decisions. Without the right workflow, prompts, and validation, you risk acting on insights that sound right but lack depth. Used correctly, though, AI can surface meaningful patterns – revealing differences in topical depth, content coverage, and authority si…

Google is updating how Google Ads paces budgets for campaigns using ad schedules, shifting toward full monthly spend targets regardless of how many days ads actually run. What’s changing. Starting June 1, campaigns will pace toward the full monthly budget limit (30.4x the daily budget), even if ads are only eligible to run on certain days. Previously, pacing was typically based on the number of active days in the schedule. What’s not changing. Daily and monthly caps remain the same. Campaigns still won’t exceed 2x the daily budget in a single day or 30.4x over a month, and ads won’t serve on disabled days. Why we care. Advertisers using limited schedules —…

Advertisers are sharing their experience of a new Ads Manager interface for ChatGPT, signaling a shift toward a more mature advertising platform with real-time campaign control. What’s new. The Ads Manager is described as a dashboard where marketers can run, monitor, and optimize campaigns in real time — a major step up from current reporting and controls. Digital marketers Juozas Kaziukėnas and Glenn Gabe shared images of what they saw. Why we care. Until now, ChatGPT ads have been early-stage and limited, with advertisers reportedly relying on basic reporting like weekly CSV files. The move to a full Ads Manager suggests OpenAI is building infra…