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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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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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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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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
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.
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Technical SEO
SEO for Sitelinks
September 22, 2022 • Ann Smarty
Organic sitelinks expand a listing's prominence in search results. But optimizing for sitelinks is frequently unclear. Here's what we know.
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On-page SEO
5 Browser Extensions for On-page SEO
September 14, 2022 • Ann Smarty
Broken links, nofollow attributes, anchor text, structured data — all impact organic search rankings. Here are five handy (and free) extensions to make monitoring quick and easy.
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Technical SEO
4 SEO Opportunities in Google Search Console
September 8, 2022 • Ann Smarty
Duplicate content, unknown keywords, poor click rates, and structured data errors — all represent opportunities to improve organic traffic.
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Technical SEO
FAQs for ‘Video pages’ in Search Console
August 29, 2022 • Ann Smarty
Google's new "Video pages" report in Search Console has generated many questions from users. Contributor Ann Smarty addresses four of those questions in this helpful post.
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Keyword Research
SEO: Keyword Research for a New Site
August 23, 2022 • Ann Smarty
A new site has no history of search queries that drive traffic and sales. But it can still research and optimize keywords. Here's how.
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Keyword Research
SEO: How to Assess Keyword Difficulty
August 18, 2022 • Ann Smarty
Optimizing for keywords can improve a page's organic rankings. But the competition for keywords varies. Here's how to tell which ones are worth the effort.
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Technical SEO
SEO for Animated GIFs
August 11, 2022 • Ann Smarty
Animated GIFs can provide unique, crawlable page content, boosting organic search rankings. But GIFs can also harm rankings if poorly executed. We explain.
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SEO Tools
6 Keyword Tools for Video SEO
August 4, 2022 • Ann Smarty
The intent of consumers searching for videos often differs from searches of other content types. Ecommerce merchants should optimize for both. We explain.
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Technical SEO
SEO for Featured Snippets
July 28, 2022 • Ann Smarty
Featured snippets appear at the top of Google's organic search results. Optimizing for snippets is different than for standard listings. Here's how.
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On-page SEO
SEO: 4 Ways to Surface Shopify Pages
July 21, 2022 • Ann Smarty
Product pages on ecommerce sites can get buried in the navigation, making them difficult for search engines to access. Here's how to surface deep pages on Shopify.
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SEO Tools
SEO: WordPress Plugins to Surface Older Posts
July 14, 2022 • Ann Smarty
Posts in an active blog fade into the archives. The result is no internal links from new content — and less visibility. Here's how WordPress owners can keep older content prominent.
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SEO Tools
5 Tools to Monitor Your SEO Competitors
July 7, 2022 • Ann Smarty
Looking to monitor your organic search competitors? Here are five handy (and affordable) tools to track rankings, content updates, links, and more.
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SEO Tools
7 Free Chrome Extensions for SEO
June 30, 2022 • Ann Smarty
Chrome extensions can streamline keyword research, analytics tracking, competitor analysis, and more. Contributor Ann Smarty lists her seven favorite Chrome extensions for SEO.
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Amazon & Marketplaces
SEO: Amazon Keyword Research Tools
June 23, 2022 • Ann Smarty
Consumers conduct more product searches on Amazon than on any other site, including Google. Hence understanding those search terms on Amazon informs merchants not just on that platform, but for Google optimization, too.
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SEO Tools
5 Rank Tracking Tools for Organic Search
June 16, 2022 • Ann Smarty
Monitoring rankings remains the best way to track organic search performance. In this piece, we list five helpful tools to track your site's positions and your competitors'.
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SEO Tools
My 5 Favorite SEO Newsletters
June 9, 2022 • Ann Smarty
Staying informed on the latest search engine optimization tactics doesn't have to take a lot of time. Here are five newsletters that will keep you updated quickly and succinctly.
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SEO Tools
Local SEO: 9 Free Tools
June 2, 2022 • Ann Smarty
Consumers increasingly use the internet to locate and scrutinize local businesses before visiting. Thus SEO for brick-and-mortar retailers is critical for walk-in traffic.