Ann Smarty

Articles by: Ann Smarty

Ann Smarty

Ann Smarty is the founder of Smarty Marketing, a boutique SEO agency based in New York, and Viral Content Bee, a social media promotion tool.

Ann's search engine optimization career began in 2010. She is the former editor-in-chief of Search Engine Journal and contributor to prominent search and social blogs, including Small Business Trends and Mashable.

Ann is also a frequent speaker at Pubcon and many other digital marketing events.

Contact Ann via email or LinkedIn.

Technical SEO
How Domain Names Impact SEO

February 24, 2022 • Ann Smarty

SEO myths surrounding domain names include age, registration length, embedded keywords, and more. Contributor Ann Smarty debunks those while addressing a name's importance in this helpful piece.
SEO Tools
SEO Tools from Google and Bing

February 17, 2022 • Ann Smarty

Many independent tools emulate the behavior of search engine crawlers. But the best tools come from the search engines themselves: Google Search Console and Bing Webmaster Tools.
Link Building
Stop Using Domain Authority for SEO Backlinks

February 10, 2022 • Ann Smarty

SEOs have devised metrics, such as "domain authority," to assess a site for backlink solicitations. Those metrics have nothing to do with Google, however. That's the problem.
SEO Tools
My Favorite SEO Keyword Tools

February 3, 2022 • Ann Smarty

Keyword research is knowing what consumers are searching for and their words to describe those items. Contributor Ann Smarty lists her go-to tools, with explanations.
Technical SEO
How to Use Google Autocomplete for SEO

January 27, 2022 • Ann Smarty

Google autocomplete is a staple for identifying keywords to optimize organic rankings. The tool's functionality has expanded to include refinements and entities.
SEO Tools
SEO: 6 Critical Search Console Reports

January 20, 2022 • Ann Smarty

Google Search Console provides essential tools to improve traffic from organic search. The data comes from the source: Google itself. Here are six reports to monitor frequently.
Technical SEO
SEO for Google’s ‘People also ask’

January 12, 2022 • Ann Smarty

Google's "People also ask" section is a treasure trove of questions from potential customers. It's an optimization opportunity — for rankings in Google as well as conversions on an ecommerce site.
On-page SEO
SEO: How to Optimize Title Tags for Ecommerce

January 6, 2022 • Ann Smarty

Google once relied heavily on title tags to match search queries to web pages. That's no longer the case, as Google can discern a searcher's intent and deliver results accordingly. Nonetheless, titles remain important, as contributor Ann Smarty explains.
Technical SEO
How HTML Headings Help SEO

December 30, 2021 • Ann Smarty

HTML headings are phrases or short sentences introducing a new section of content. Google has confirmed that headings help communicate the content's purpose. But search engine optimizers often debate how, exactly, Google uses those headings.
Technical SEO
SEO: Drive Clicks with Video Rich Snippets

December 23, 2021 • Ann Smarty

Video rich snippets are enriched organic search results in Google. They're an opportunity to generate more clicks, especially on mobile. Publishers often mistake video rich snippets with video carousels.
Technical SEO
SEO for Brand-name Queries

December 16, 2021 • Ann Smarty

Organic search results on brand-name queries can influence the buying journey. Brand-driven search results on Google appear in multiple sections, although brands have limited control over their appearance and ranking.
Technical SEO
SEO: Updating Content for Higher Click-throughs

December 8, 2021 • Ann Smarty

Google claims that it shows dates in organic search snippets when its algorithm determines they would be relevant and helpful. In reality, dates are extremely common and have a big impact on click-throughs. Google offers clear guidelines as to how to communicate dates to its algorithm.
Technical SEO
How to Generate Traffic from Google Discover

December 2, 2021 • Ann Smarty

Google is not just a search engine. It's also a discovery engine. The difference is huge. Searchers have an idea of what they are looking for. They know what they need. But the discovery engine attempts to discern the interests of searchers regardless of their queries. In a sense, Google Discover informs searchers of what they need before they realize it.
SEO Tools
3 Ways Google’s Search Console Improves Organic Clicks

November 25, 2021 • Ann Smarty

Google's Search Console is one of the most helpful search-engine-optimization tools. Moreover, Search Console provides data straight from the source: Google. It is also free. Here are three ways to use Search Console to generate more clicks from your organic listings.
Technical SEO
SEO: Google’s Video Carousels Are a Big Opportunity

November 18, 2021 • Ann Smarty

Google's search result pages have greatly changed over the past decade. In addition to clickable listings, we now see highly visible, often interactive results in diverse formats. One of the newer sections is video carousels.
Technical SEO
Structured Snippets: The Low-hanging Fruit of SEO

November 11, 2021 • Ann Smarty

I addressed rich snippets last week, explaining how they can enhance organic search listings for ecommerce product pages. Structured snippets are similar in concept, but they don't receive as much attention in the context of organic search. I'll address structured snippets in this post.
Technical SEO
Using Rich Snippets for Ecommerce Product Pages

November 4, 2021 • Ann Smarty

Rich snippets are additional details in organic listings that stand out in search results. Ratings, prices, FAQs, videos — all are examples of rich snippets. "Structured markup" is programming code that creates rich snippets. Any website can contain structured markup — Schema.org is the most popular type.