SEO
Our huge library of search engine optimization articles addresses strategies and tactics for ecommerce businesses. Our 12-part “How-to” series explains the basics. Advanced topics include faceted navigation, crawling and indexing, cross-border optimization, and much more.
Keyword Research | Link Building | On-page SEO | SEO Tools | Technical SEO-
SEO Tools
3 Tools to Create SEO Content Briefs
March 14, 2023 • Ann Smarty
SEO content briefs can ensure an article is helpful to humans and optimized for search engines. Here are key elements of a brief and tools to help create it.
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SEO Tools
ChatGPT for SEO Content
March 9, 2023 • Ann Smarty
ChatGPT can kick out endless content. Should search engine optimizers use it?
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Keyword Research
AI Chat and Keyword Research
February 26, 2023 • Armando Roggio
ChatGPT, Jasper, and other AI-powered tools are handy idea generators for SEO keywords, including query intent, entities, search volume, and more.
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Keyword Research
SEO: 3 Tools to Find Related Keywords
February 22, 2023 • Ann Smarty
Google has long relied on semantic search — producing results based on the intent of the query. Optimizing content for many intent-based keywords can improve rankings.
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Technical SEO
How to Optimize for AI ‘Answer Engines’
February 20, 2023 • Armando Roggio
The merging of AI-driven chat into traditional search engines could transform organic results, producing relatively few answers to queries rather than an extended list of URLs.
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SEO Tools
Tools to Create, Optimize Meta Descriptions
February 16, 2023 • Ann Smarty
Meta descriptions do not influence organic rankings. But the descriptions appear in search snippets more often than not and thus impact clicks on organic listings.
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SEO Tools
AI Won’t Kill SEO, but Plan Anyway
February 12, 2023 • Armando Roggio
AI-driven search is coming. Despite rampant speculation, it will not doom organic search traffic. It may even be an opportunity.
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On-page SEO
SEO: Canonical Tags Dos and Don’ts
February 8, 2023 • Ann Smarty
Canonical tags can help Google, Bing, and other search engines resolve duplicate content conflicts. But the tag is only a hint, and search engines may ignore it. Here's our guide for using canonicals.
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On-page SEO
Readability for SEO: Myths and Reality
February 2, 2023 • Ann Smarty
A metric for the readability of an article is imprecise and often inaccurate. And there's no evidence that readability is a direct Google ranking factor.
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SEO Tools
5 Ways to Use ChatGPT for SEO
January 26, 2023 • Ann Smarty
Google thus far disallows AI-generated content in its index. But the SEO benefit of ChatGPT and similar tools is increased productivity, not producing entire articles.
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SEO Tools
Using Google Cache for SEO
January 19, 2023 • Ann Smarty
Google cache is a repository of billions of archived web pages. Analyzing a page's cache version can help optimize it for organic rankings. Here's how.
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Link Building
SEO: Can Google Crawl Your Links?
January 12, 2023 • Ann Smarty
Links remain a key ranking factor for Google. But not all links are accessible. Here's how to confirm whether Google can crawl links on your site.
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Technical SEO
SEO: How to Index a Page in Google
January 5, 2023 • Ann Smarty
Adding web pages to its index is Google's first step in evaluating rankings. Here's how to ensure indexation and speed it up when necessary.
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SEO Tools
How to Use Web Crawlers for SEO
December 22, 2022 • Ann Smarty
Web crawler tools are essential for search engine optimization, but the info they provide can be overwhelming. Here's how to prioritize and cut through the clutter.
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SEO
Q&A: Barry Schwartz, Publisher of Search Engine Roundtable
December 21, 2022 • Kerry Murdock
Barry Schwartz is a pioneering tech publisher, journalist, and search engine authority. He just celebrated his 19-year anniversary with Search Engine Roundtable, having launched the site in 2003.
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Link Building
How to Find an Author’s Email for Link-building
December 15, 2022 • Ann Smarty
Backlinks remain a key organic search ranking factor in Google. But obtaining those links is hard work. It starts with author outreach.
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SEO Tools
3 Tools to Identify SEO Competitors
December 8, 2022 • Ann Smarty
Identifying competitors for organic search rankings is more difficult than it appears, potentially involving thousands of keywords and a slew of domains.
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On-page SEO
SEO and Out-of-stock Product Pages
November 30, 2022 • Ann Smarty
Product pages for out-of-stock items retain backlinks and organic traffic. But they frustrate and alienate shoppers. That's the dilemma.
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On-page SEO
How to Fix Orphan Pages for SEO
November 24, 2022 • Ann Smarty
Pages with no internal backlinks can harm overall organic search rankings. Here's how to discover, analyze, and fix orphan and near-orphan pages.
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Technical SEO
How to Create and Manage 301 Redirects with Shopify
November 23, 2022 • Armando Roggio
Redirecting one URL to another is a common web-management task. Changing platforms, for example, typically involves redirects. Here's how to manage redirects in Shopify.
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On-page SEO
SEO and Interstitials
November 17, 2022 • Ann Smarty
Popups on a website drive email signups and revenue. They can also disrupt users' experiences, running afoul of Google's ranking algorithms.
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Technical SEO
SEO: Answer Boxes vs. Featured Snippets
November 10, 2022 • Ann Smarty
Featured snippets are traffic generators. Answer boxes are not. Here's the difference.
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SEO
Anatomy of Google’s Organic Search Snippets
November 3, 2022 • Ann Smarty
Google's standard organic snippets have evolved over the years, but three elements remain constant: title, URL, and description. Here's how to optimize them for more clicks.
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Link Building
The Black Art of Backlink Buying
November 1, 2022 • Armando Roggio
Buying backlinks to improve search engine rankings is a black art. But what if the link has the "sponsored" attribute?
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SEO Tools
SEO Tools for Assessing Used Domain Names
October 27, 2022 • Ann Smarty
Buying a second-hand domain name can be risky for SEO. Here are three tools to uncover a domain's history.
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SEO Tools
AI-based Content Is the Next SEO Tool
October 25, 2022 • Armando Roggio
Over time, SEO practitioners and content marketers will likely need artificial intelligence to keep up in the organic-search arms race. We explain in this must-read piece.
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SEO Tools
3 Tools to Build, Validate Schema Markup
October 20, 2022 • Ann Smarty
Structured data markup from Schema.org is the de-facto industry standard — and increasingly important to Google. Here are tools for implementing, testing, and improving.
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SEO Tools
5 Tools to Extract Data from Google’s SERPs
October 13, 2022 • Ann Smarty
An analysis of Google's search results can offer insights as to why one page ranks above another. Here are handy tools for that task.
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On-page SEO
7 Steps to On-site Video SEO
October 6, 2022 • Ann Smarty
Videos appear in Google's search results in multiple sections. Here's how to optimize on-site videos for top organic rankings.
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On-page SEO
How Images Help Overall SEO
September 29, 2022 • Ann Smarty
Optimizing images for Google helps overall rankings, not just Image search. Here's how.