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15 Marketing Ideas for Your Small Businesses (+ Free Checklist)

July 1, 2025/0 Comments/in Web Design News/by

Your small business doesn’t need a huge budget to get noticed.

In 2025, the most effective marketing doesn’t come from expensive ad campaigns or complicated funnels.

It comes from authentic content that connects with your audience.

Take Edeles Candles, for example.

This handmade candle brand has nearly 90K TikTok followers and 500K likes.

How did a small business get this kind of exposure?

By posting simple behind-the-scenes videos of candle-making.

No fancy production or big teams. Just engaging content that reaches thousands of potential customers every week.

@edeles.candles Demolding the Hourglass Candle. ✨ Better late than never, happy second Advent. 🫣🕯️ #candleshop #edelescandles #naturaldecor #candlemaking #candlediy #homedecor #demolding #demoldingvideo #wax #candle #handmade #smallbusinessowner #candlelover #candlelight #asmr #candleideas #christmascandle #giftideas ♬ Originalton – EdelesCandles

And TikTok is just one path.

In this article, you’ll find 15 marketing ideas for small businesses that drive real results.

Each one is broken down by effort, impact, and budget. So, you can choose the ones that fit your resources and goals.

Bonus: Many of the ideas are free or low-cost.

Helpful resource: Download our free Small Business Marketing Checklist to stay organized as you implement these strategies. It includes a notes section to help you plan next steps as you read.

Let’s start with one of the top tactics for small businesses — video.

1. Grab Attention with Short-Form Videos

Effort	Impact	Budget
Moderate	High	Free to low

Short-form video is hands down the best marketing idea for small business owners in 2025.

Especially if you want to increase brand awareness.

Why?

Because platforms like TikTok, Instagram Reels, and YouTube Shorts are specifically designed to push your content to people who don’t follow you.

This gives you a chance to get discovered even if you don’t have an existing audience.

For example, Toasted Mallow, a gourmet marshmallow shop, got over 1 million views on TikTok.

And they did it by sharing a no-frills look at how they make their treats:

@toastedmallow Cookie dough filled marshmallows!! #elfitup #pushin🅿️ #socialshopping #foodtiktok #music #dessert ♬ Lost – Frank Ocean

You could do something similar, no matter what you sell.

Think quick tips, transformations, or behind-the-scenes peeks. The key is posting content that’s authentic and valuable.

Pro tip: Use trending audio from TikTok, Reels, or Shorts and targeted hashtags to show algorithms your content is timely and boost your reach.

Not sure which platform to start with? Go with the one your audience already uses the most.

And don’t worry about fancy equipment. Use your phone camera and film near natural lighting for the best results.

Add engaging captions, voiceovers, and sound effects with tools like CapCut.

It’s beginner-friendly and makes your videos look polished without pro editing skills.

2. Optimize Your Google Business Profile

Effort	Impact	Budget
Moderate	High	Free

If you have a local business, optimizing your Google Business Profile (GBP) is one of the easiest (and most important) ways to help customers find you.

This is because it can majorly boost your visibility in Google Maps and local search results.

Like when someone types “car wash in jacksonville” and sees prominent listings like this:

Google SERP – Car wash in Jacksonville – Businesses

This kind of exposure can lead to more foot traffic, phone calls, and bookings.

But only if your profile is fully optimized.

Keep your info accurate and complete. Include business hours, address, website, and service areas.

Island Time Car Wash Jacksonville Florida – Contact details

Add high-quality photos that are helpful to customers and inspire confidence.

For example, post action photos and show the outside of your location so it’s easy to find.

And don’t forget reviews.

Signals like your average rating, number of reviews, and how recent they are all affect local SEO and buyer trust.

Google Maps – Car wash Jacksonville – Ratings & Reviews

Make it a habit to ask for reviews after a positive experience, and respond to every one.

(Yes, even any negative comments you get, too.)

3. Create Helpful Website and Blog Content

Effort	Impact	Budget
Moderate to high	High	Free to high

Attract your ideal customer with content on your website and blog that answers users’ questions.

This improves your chances of ranking organically and capturing steady traffic.

Use tools like Google Autocomplete, Semrush, or AnswerThePublic to uncover what your audience is asking.

Google SERP – What to wear under a dress shirt – People also ask

Then, create content that answers those questions.

(While subtly introducing your product or service as the fix.)

Use AI writing tools to speed up content creation.

ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude, and other tools can generate briefs, outlines, and content of all kinds.

Here’s a sample prompt to get started (the more details, the better):

Write a [blog post/social media caption/email newsletter] about [your topic] for [target audience – include their biggest challenges or goals]. Keep the tone [professional/conversational/friendly] and focus on [key benefit/solution]. Include [relevant examples, statistics, or case studies]. Make it [word count/length] and end with [specific call-to-action].

Heavily edit the draft for accuracy, brand voice, and your expertise.

Done right, a single blog post can become your hardest-working salesperson.

For example, Leigh McKenzie, Backlinko’s head of Growth, uses content to promote his ecommerce brand, Underfit.

Using Semrush’s Keyword Magic Tool, Leigh identifies the search terms people type into Google to find products like his.

Like “what to wear under a dress shirt” and “types of undershirts.”

Keyword Magic Tool – What to wear under a dress shirt – Keywords

Then, he creates content that directly answers those queries.

Like this blog post on what to wear under a dress shirt, which includes comparison tables and fabric tips.

It also subtly directs readers to Underfit’s products with a banner that includes trust signals.

Language like “get your money back” gives prospects the confidence to buy.

4. Use SMS to Instantly Reach Customers

Effort	Impact	Budget
Low	Moderate	Low to moderate

Want to grab your customers’ attention fast? Text them.

With open rates as high as 98%, SMS is one of the most effective ways to promote offers or send reminders.

It works especially well for service-based businesses where timing matters.

Like salons, restaurants, clinics, fitness studios, and local shops.

The key is to keep it short, clear, and genuinely useful. SMS isn’t the place for long messages or hard sells.

Smart ways to use SMS include:

Flash sales or last-minute discounts
Appointment reminders or confirmations
Shipping updates or order status
VIP-only offers or restock alerts
Event reminders or holiday hours

Test what types of messages drive the most engagement.

And always ask for SMS opt-in at checkout and include an easy way to unsubscribe.

5. Encourage Customers to Share Their Experience on Social Media

Effort	Impact	Budget
Low	Moderate to high	Free

One of the easiest ways to build trust? Ask your customers to share their experience.

Called user-generated content (UGC), this is when customers organically share photos, videos, or reviews about your brand.

This creates authentic, unpaid social proof that builds trust and boosts visibility.

Many people will be happy to post about your products online — they may just need a little nudge.

Add a short, friendly request in your post-purchase email
Offer a small incentive, like a discount on their next order
Encourage customers to tag you on social with a branded hashtag
Include a review prompt on your thank-you or packaging insert

For example, let’s say you run a ceramic shop. When someone buys a handmade mug from your brand, include a thank you card that says:

“We’d love to see how you use your mug! Tag us @CozyClay and use #MyMorningMug to be featured.”

This simple prompt can inspire unboxing videos, photos, or short video reviews — all of which are great for reshares.

Once you start receiving tags, repost customer content, and comment on the posts. This helps you connect with your customers and further your reach.

For example, Sol, a beach beanie bag company, has a dedicated “You” Highlight on Instagram:

It features tagged Stories from real customers using their products at the beach.

This works as a social proof and a visual guide for new buyers.

6. Partner with UGC Creators

Effort	Impact	Budget
Moderate	High	Moderate

While UGC is created organically by customers, UGC creators are paid to make content for your brand.

The best part? They don’t come with the influencer price tag.

Pro tip: You’ll pay around $150 to $300 per video for UGC creator content (some creators accept free products as an incentive). In comparison, you’d pay $1,250 to $2,500 for a macro-influencer (100K to 500K followers) and $2,500+ for a mega-influencer (500K+ followers).

UGC creators produce content (like unboxings, demos, or testimonials) that you own and can use across your marketing channels.

This includes ads, social media posts, or landing pages.

The benefit? Content that feels genuine while giving you complete control over where and how it’s used.

Here’s how to get started:

Decide what kind of content you need — e.g., product demo, lifestyle use, review, testimonial
Find creators on platforms like Influee and Billo
Clarify deliverables and usage rights
Post on your socials or use in paid ads

For example, HiZoo, a massage device brand, partnered with a UGC creator who filmed herself trying their product for the first time.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by HiZoo (@hizooco)

In the video, she shares genuine reactions about how the product feels and works.

The content feels like a real customer review, not a polished ad. Which encourages likes and comments.

Instagram – Real customer review – Likes & comments

This gives the brand an opportunity to build trust and credibility (and sell more products).

Use a tool like Modash to find creators who’ve already posted about similar products to yours — they’re more likely to say yes and nail the tone you want.

7. Use AI Chatbots to Promote Your Business 24/7

Effort	Impact	Budget
Moderate	Moderate to high	Free to low

Never miss a lead or lose a customer to long wait times.

AI chatbots help you deliver instant, personalized support 24/7.

And happier customers = more sales.

Whether on your website or social media channels, chatbots make sure you’re always available to answer questions, remove buying friction, and close sales.

Chatbots can:

Answer FAQs
Take orders
Book appointments
Recommend products
Escalate customer service issues

You can even build a bot that sounds just like you.

Upload your service descriptions, common responses, and FAQs to tools like Tidio or Manychat.

This allows you to create a chatbot that mimics your tone and expertise.

For example, Attendant, a UK coffee chain, is a great example of how businesses of all sizes can use chatbots to reduce customer service inquiries.

While improving customer service at the same time.

The chatbot offers instant answers to common customer questions.

Like “are your cafes dog friendly” and “when do you end serving breakfast.”

It’s like cloning your best customer service rep, minus the payroll.

8. Collect Prospect Info with Lead Magnets

Effort	Impact	Budget
Moderate	High	Low

A lead magnet is a free resource you offer in exchange for someone’s email. Like a discount, template, or ebook.

When done right, it attracts high-intent leads who are more likely to buy over time.

Here’s how to make it work:

Solve a specific problem. Think budgeting template, skincare quiz, or a free sample tied to your product
Make it a natural extension of your offer. Sell time-tracking software? A “Weekly Productivity Planner” is a perfect match. Run a meal prep business? Offer a “3-Day Healthy Eating Kickstart.”
Promote it everywhere. Homepage banners, blog posts, social captions, link in bio, and pop-ups. Mention your lead magnet in any social media videos you create — and don’t forget to add a link to it in the caption or comments.

For example, Budget With Mel, a personal finance blogger, offers a free budgeting template on her blog.

Users provide a first name and email address to access the template.

Since the template was pre-filled with formulas that auto-calculate totals, the value is instantly clear to the user.

All they have to do is plug in numbers to instantly see where their money’s going.

It’s frictionless, helpful, and directly tied to her paid offers.

9. Create an Email Newsletter

Effort	Impact	Budget
Moderate	Moderate	Free to low

A monthly or weekly email newsletter is one of the easiest ways to stay connected to your audience.

Whether you have an ecommerce business or own a boutique, your newsletter can become a go-to resource that builds loyalty over time.

Share helpful tips, seasonal offerings, behind-the-scenes updates, and promote your products or services.

So, how do you get started?

Email marketing tools like Kit and Mailchimp offer customizable newsletter templates that make it easy to send professional newsletters.

(Without the need for design skills.)

Set a recurring send date (like every Tuesday) and stick to it.

This way, subscribers know what to expect.

Maintain your brand voice when writing your newsletter. And consider adding personalization to your strategy as you get more advanced.

Pet supplement brand Adored Beast Apothecary’s newsletter is a great example of how to mix education with subtle promotion.

For example, this issue opens with fun, educational content on dog behavior.

This keeps pet owners engaged and builds trust. Even if they’re not ready to buy something right away.

They also include links to additional content about common pet health issues.

By driving traffic back to their site, they extend the customer journey and increase the chances of a future sale.

And position themselves as a reliable expert.

The newsletter ends with a short product section recommending relevant supplements.

It’s a smooth transition from education to solution. (So it feels helpful rather than pushy.)

10. Turn Reviews and Testimonials into Visual Proof

Effort	Impact	Budget
Low to moderate	Moderate	Free to low

Got happy customers?

Turn their praise into visual content that does the selling for you.

Collect reviews from emails, DMs, social media comments, or your Google Business Profile.

Or ask a happy client to record a 30-second selfie-style video.

Then, share these testimonials on your social media accounts. Like the owner of popular TikTok account Destiny Media Marketing does.

To promote her business, she collects client reviews and turns them into persuasive carousel posts.

TikTok – Destiny Media Marketing – Client reviews

She also shares short testimonial videos.

Like this one from a satisfied client who left her a glowing review about her services.

@destinymediamarketing Thank you so much Katie Grace Films 🤍 #clienttestimonial #websitedevelopment #webdesign #websitedesign #videographer ♬ original sound – Priscilla Marketing Specialist

Pro tip: Create a dedicated Instagram Story Highlight called “Happy Customers” or “Reviews” so new visitors can immediately see social proof when they visit your profile.

11. Share Visual Content on Pinterest

Effort	Impact	Budget
Moderate	Moderate to high	Free to low

Pinterest is a hidden gem for generating sustained traffic to your small business website or online store.

A single, well-optimized Pin can continue driving clicks and conversions for months (or even years).

Take Budget With Mel as an example.

One of her top traffic sources is Pinterest.

Traffic Analytics – Budget With Mel – Top Sources

So, how is she making this platform work for her?

By sharing simple yet valuable infographics that link to her blog.

This helps funnel targeted readers directly to her content.

Funnel target readers directly to content

Most importantly, her blog has a lead magnet that turns visitors into email subscribers.

This means she’s not just getting one-time visitors — she’s building a list of potential customers she can reach again and again.

Here’s how to replicate Mel’s success:

Create valuable Pins: Turn your best tips, products, or blog posts into eye-catching visuals using a template-friendly design tool like Canva
Organize strategically: Set up boards by category (like “Budgeting Tips” or “Gift Ideas”) to make your content easy to find
Optimize for search: Include relevant keywords in your Pin titles and descriptions — people search Pinterest like Google
Drive traffic: Link every Pin to a blog post, lead magnet, or product page to convert browsers into customers

Further reading: 6 Best Social Media Management Tools (Tried & Tested)

12. Amplify Your Reach by Boosting Your Social Posts

Effort	Impact	Budget
Moderate	High	Flexible

If your social media post already gets a decent engagement — saves, likes, comments — that’s your cue to boost it.

You can do this on Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, and Pinterest.

LinkedIn also supports boosting, but only from company pages, not personal profiles.

And even a small budget can help your top-performing posts reach more people without driving up costs.

This approach is more effective than boosting random posts.

Why? Because you already know the content resonates with your audience.

How to start:

Choose a social media post that’s performing well organically
Set a daily budget (even $5-$10 per day can work)
Target based on location, interest, and behavior
Let the ad run for a few days before making any tweaks

But don’t just boost ads.

Promote a mix of content, like blog posts, how-to videos, product highlights, and behind-the-scenes clips.

Prioritize posts that feel authentic and aligned with your brand voice.

Pro tip: Need a little help creating engaging social content? Tools like Semrush’s AI Video Marketing Automator and AI Social Content Generator turn your blog posts into short videos and social posts in seconds — no video editing or design experience required.

13. Create a Loyalty Program That Feels Personal

Effort	Impact	Budget
Moderate	High	Low

Small, thoughtful touches can turn one-time buyers into loyal fans.

Start with a simple reward system (digital or physical) that feels fun and easy to use.

Think stamps, punch cards, or online progress trackers.

After five or 10 purchases, offer a reward that feels like a win: a free drink, a low-cost product (under $5), a bonus add-on, or early access to something new.

The key? Make it feel personal and let customers see how close they are to earning their reward.

Bonus points if you personalize it with their name, preferences, or purchase history.

For example, a toy store owner explained on Reddit how they created “instant repeat customers” with a playful loyalty program.

Kids earn pirate coins and vinyl stickers with each purchase. After five coins, they trade them in for a free toy.

It’s low-cost, but it works because it feels personal, rewarding, and fun. (And the adults like it, too!)

14. Build Trust and Authority on LinkedIn

Effort	Impact	Budget
Moderate	High	Free

LinkedIn is one of the best places to build credibility and attract clients.

Especially if you sell services, offer consulting, or work with other businesses.

Why?

Because it puts you in front of decision-makers actively looking for business solutions.

But success on LinkedIn isn’t all about pitching your services.

It’s about consistently sharing helpful, real-world insights that show you know your stuff.

LinkedIn – Taylor Scher – Trust and Authority

Over time, this positions you as a go-to expert.

And turns your content into a client acquisition tool that works even when you’re not actively prospecting.

Here’s how to get started: Pick one to two topics you want to be known for.

And post at least once a week.

Share industry-relevant stories, lessons, business updates, or tips.

LinkedIn – Daniel Korenblum – Content as client acquisition tool

Still don’t know what to post?

Use ChatGPT or Claude to draft LinkedIn post ideas from your blog content.

Prompt it with the following:

Turn this blog post into a conversational first-person LinkedIn post with a story-driven hook.

But don’t just post your own content. Comment meaningfully on industry posts, too.

LinkedIn – Meaningfully comment on industry

This showcases your expertise and gets you noticed by potential clients.

15. Co-Host Lives, Webinars, or Giveaways

Effort	Impact	Budget
Moderate	Moderate	Free to low

Want fast reach without paying for ads? Team up with a creator or business that shares your target audience.

Co-hosting a live, webinar, or giveaway helps you both get in front of new, relevant followers.

To make it work:

Choose a partner in your niche or local community (but not a direct competitor)
Bring something valuable: a quick tutorial, product demo, Q&A, or prize
Plan your next step: What should viewers do after? Follow you? Sign up? Claim an offer?

Promote it ahead of time on both profiles. During the event, keep it lively, helpful, and interactive. Answer questions and encourage participation for the best results.

For example, if you have a B2B audience, you could team up with an expert or company in your space to host a short, high-value webinar.

Like a 30-minute how-to or industry trends Q&A.

Have a B2C small business? Co-host a giveaway with a like-minded brand (or three).

To boost reach, ask participants to follow both accounts and tag a friend to enter.

Turn These Small Business Marketing Ideas into Results

You don’t need a big team or a big budget to make progress.

The most effective marketing plans start with a few smart tactics tailored to your audience and goals.

Pick three quick wins you can knock out this week:

Post a behind-the-scenes Reel with trending audio
Ask one happy customer for a review or photo
Boost a blog post or product on Facebook

Then, keep the momentum going.

Collect emails with a simple lead magnet or share helpful tips in a monthly newsletter.

Small, consistent actions like these build trust and drive real results over time.

Ready to get started? Download our free Small Business Marketing Checklist to prioritize your top tactics and track your progress.

Next, read our small business SEO guide to learn how to build authority and improve your online visibility.

The post 15 Marketing Ideas for Your Small Businesses (+ Free Checklist) appeared first on Backlinko.

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How to Create an SEO Report That Wins Trust (and Budgets)

July 1, 2025/0 Comments/in Web Design News/by

Most SEO reports go unread.

Or, worse — they get skimmed, misunderstood, and ignored.

But knowing how to create an SEO report that demands attention can change everything.

It’s not just a performance recap.

It’s a strategic tool that helps you build trust with decision-makers. Win bigger budgets. And keep your SEO efforts on track.

In this article, you’ll learn how to:

Create SEO reports that people actually read (and act on)
Tie SEO performance to business goals
Highlight wins and uncover growth opportunities

Free resource: Download our SEO Report Template. It has ready-made sections for tracking key metrics, visualizing performance, and presenting clear next steps.

What Is an SEO Report and Why Is It Important?

An SEO report is a tool for measuring performance and shaping strategy.

It tracks key metrics like traffic, rankings, and conversions.

Then, connects them to business outcomes, opportunities, and priorities.

A strong SEO report helps answer:

What changed?
Why did it happen?
What should we do next?

For example, let’s say you run SEO for a workplace furniture ecommerce company.

You notice a spike in traffic and rankings for your category page on ergonomic office chairs.

Here’s how a useful SEO report would break that down:

Backlinko – SEO Report Template – Keyword Rankings

It’s a clear, focused snapshot that distills the data into what improved, why it happened, and why it matters.

How to Create an SEO Report That Drives Results

Too many SEO reports dump data without insight.

Traffic, rankings, and top pages might look impressive — but they don’t tell the full story.

And without context, stakeholders are left guessing.

The best SEO reports connect the dots. They tie performance to business goals, spotlight what’s working, and make the next move obvious.

Here’s how to build one that actually drives results:

Step 1: Determine the Stakeholders

Before pulling data or building charts, get clear on who you’re reporting to.

Knowing your audience should shape your whole report, from the SEO stats you’re using to how you communicate them.

Ask yourself:

Who will read this?
What do they know about SEO?
Who will be making the decisions?
What decision do I want them to make?

And here’s one more that’s just as important:

Have I asked what metrics actually matter to them?

A quick conversation can surface priorities that no dashboard will show you.

From there, tailor the format, metrics, and language accordingly.

(This is where many SEO reports go sideways — too much data, not enough direction.)

Here’s a quick breakdown of how to match your audience to your data and format:

Stakeholder	What They Care About	What to Show	Format Tips
CMO / Exec	Revenue, ROI, brand authority	Conversions, organic-assisted revenue	Keep it short, visual, and business-focused
Marketing Team / Managers	Channel performance, goal tracking	Traffic trends, keyword growth, top pages	Include takeaways and next steps
Product Team	Feature discovery, UX gaps	Search query trends, on-page feedback	Highlight qualitative insights and opportunities
Small Business Client	Clear wins, reviews, local visibility	Local rankings, top queries	Use plain language and short summaries

For example, if your primary audience is a CEO or CMO, you probably wouldn’t lead with details about unindexed pages or on-page engagement time.

Likewise, a report for a small business owner with zero SEO background shouldn’t be packed with complex metrics or jargon.

They need simple wins, clear summaries, and next steps they can act on.

Pro tip: When your SEO report serves multiple audiences, prioritize what matters most to decision-makers — like ROI, growth, and performance. Then, layer in tailored insights for other teams (product, content, dev, etc.) in separate sections or an appendix.

How to Report to Non-SEO Audiences

Working with clients who don’t speak SEO?

You can help them level up their knowledge by translating industry terms into easy-to-understand language.

Add simple explanations to your reports and introduce new concepts one at a time.

Here are three ways you can do this in your SEO reports:

1. Include key takeaways to clarify complex points.

Backlinko – SEO Report Template – SERP Visibility

2. Add links to educational resources on SEO concepts.

Backlinko – SEO Report Template – Technical SEO

3. Add short videos with explanations of the client’s data or performance.

Backlinko – SEO Report Template – Content

Step 2: Decide Which Metrics Matter Most

Start with the key SEO metrics every report needs, no matter the audience.

Metric	Why It Matters
Conversions	Connects SEO to real business results. Key for proving SEO ROI.
Organic traffic + engagement (including click-through rates and average position)	Shows how well your pages attract and keep search visitors — great for spotting what’s working.
Organic impressions	Highlights search visibility and signals growth or dips in core topics
Keyword trends (rankings, top non-branded keywords)	Shows what’s gaining traction and where to focus next. Helps spot cannibalization or decay.
Backlink profile health	Keeps tabs on link trust and growth. Important for authority.
Technical health	Identifies site issues that hurt SEO. Vital for maintaining crawlability and indexability.
SERP features	Tracks special placements that boost visibility (e.g., featured snippets, video results, or shopping carousels)
LLM visibility	Shows brand mentions and citations in AI tools like ChatGPT, Gemini, and Perplexity — key for influence in AI-driven discovery.

You can find the majority of your must-have metrics in SEO tools like Google Search Console (GSC) or Semrush.

Add-On SEO Report Metrics

Once you’ve covered the essentials, you can layer in additional metrics depending on your team’s strategy and goals.


If you’re prioritizing:	Include metrics like:
User engagement	Scroll depth, bounce rates, dwell time, and GA4 engagement metrics
Topical authority	How well your content ranks for key themes
E-E-A-T signals	Mentions, expert authorship, branded searches, trust indicators (e.g., social shares)
Content library ranking efficiency	What % of your pages rank in the top 10 to guide pruning or reinvestment.

Further reading: Curious about some of these add-on metrics? Check out our guides on bounce rate and dwell time.

Step 3: Turn Raw Data Into Actionable Insights

Raw data doesn’t drive decisions — clear stories do.

Knowing how to create an SEO report means turning numbers into narratives.

It needs to clearly tell a story around these questions.

Is our SEO strategy working?
What changed?
Why did it change?
What should we do next?

One of the best ways to tell the story is through time-based comparisons.

Show how SEO performance has changed month-over-month (MoM), quarter-over-quarter (QoQ), or year-over-year (YoY).

Highlighting changes over time makes it easier for stakeholders to spot trends. And understand why they matter.

Backlinko – SEO Report Template – Conversions

For most SEO teams, the challenge isn’t collecting data. It’s translating it into context stakeholders care about.

Raw numbers might make sense if you’re inside the tools every day.

But executives and cross-functional teams need more than charts. They need meaning.

The best reports go beyond what changed. They explain why —and connect the dots to business impact.

Like this:

Metric	Increase Might Mean	Decrease Might Mean
Organic traffic + engagement (CTR, avg. position)	Higher rankings or better-optimized content	Rankings drop or poor user experience (UX)
Organic impressions	More visibility in search	Lost rankings or SERP features
Keyword trends	New or improved keyword rankings	Declining rankings or outdated content
SERP features tracking	Gaining authority in SERPs	Dropped from features or lost relevance
Conversions	SEO traffic is converting better	Traffic mismatches or UX issues
Backlink profile health	More quality links or mentions	Lost links or declining authority

Translate percentages and numbers to what actually happened:

What new pages were published?
Did your development team ship technical fixes?
How many backlinks were earned?
Are algorithm changes or seasonal searches a factor?

Most importantly, link the SEO impact to business terms.

For example, let’s say your top product page jumped from position No. 9 to No. 3.

In the same month, inbound demo requests doubled.

That’s not just a ranking improvement. It’s a signal that higher visibility on the right terms is driving qualified traffic.

In this case, the takeaway isn’t just “rankings are up” — it’s that SEO is contributing directly to revenue growth.

Step 4: Showcase the Results

A great SEO report doesn’t overwhelm your reader — it guides them.

It frames wins. Flags issues. And makes the next move crystal clear.

Executive Summary

Start with a snapshot that shows where things stand.

The Executive Summary gives a high-level view of key metrics and overall performance trends.

So, stakeholders can get the big picture fast.

Keep it sharp and clear. Spotlight what’s working, what’s driving it, and where to go from here.

Backlinko – SEO Report Template – Executive Summary

Performance Metrics

This section covers your core SEO performance data — like traffic, rankings, keywords, and backlinks.

Backlinko – SEO Report Template – Organic Traffic

Include context and key takeaways.

When showcasing trends, show the progress over time, not just one-off wins.

And use visuals as much as possible.

Charts, graphs, and annotated screenshots really can make your performance insights pop.

Backlinko – SEO Report Template – Backlinks

Next Steps

What needs to be tackled next?

Here’s your chance to include those thoughts for your stakeholders.

Include clear, actionable recommendations, like a fresh SEO audit or doubling down on high-performing content.

Backlinko – SEO Report Template – Next Steps

Appendix

This optional section includes deeper data for teams, stakeholders, and ongoing projects.

It helps keep the main report focused, while still delivering the context others may need.

Backlinko – SEO Report Template – Appendix

Bonus move: Once your report is done, record a short walkthrough to present it. It’s a great way to highlight key takeaways, explain the big picture, and guide stakeholders through anything they might overlook.

Mistakes to Avoid in Your SEO Report

Even with the right data, your SEO report can still fall flat if it’s hard to interpret, misaligned with business goals, or missing a clear takeaway.

Here are some common mistakes to avoid — and how to fix them.

Reporting Data Without Context

Don’t just drop data into your report. Make it meaningful.

Show how it relates to business goals and your site’s overall SEO performance.

For every metric, briefly explain what it means, why it matters, and what action it might prompt your team or your client to take.

Surfacing Issues Without Providing Solutions

Reporting on every issue isn’t helpful unless it impacts your site’s SEO performance.

For example, say you note that a group of pages are experiencing index issues.

Include a hypothesis on why this is happening and how you might recommend fixing it.

Surfacing Issues Without Providing Solutions

Listing Every Keyword Ranking

A full list of keyword shifts (especially minor ones) can bury your most important wins.

Instead, spotlight high-impact keywords — non-branded terms driving traffic or tied to revenue pages.

Including Every. Single. Page.

Reporting on every page creates noise, not insight.

Focus on the top 10 pages for organic traffic, or spotlight the top page in each key topic cluster.

Ignoring Business Outcomes

Your report might show SEO progress. But, does it show business progress?

Tie your work to signups, revenue, pipeline, brand visibility — whatever matters to your decision-makers.

Telling, Not Showing

You shared the data. But did you explain the story?

Use visuals, comparisons (e.g., MoM or QoQ), and commentary to walk the reader through what changed, why, and what’s next.

Show the Impact. Earn the Buy-In.

SEO reporting isn’t just about checking a box.

It’s your opportunity to show impact, earn trust, and steer strategy.

Surface insights that get stakeholders aligned and excited about what’s possible.

Want to make it easier on yourself?

Download Backlinko’s free SEO report template to create reports that stand out and get results.

The post How to Create an SEO Report That Wins Trust (and Budgets) appeared first on Backlinko.

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The new Search Console Insights report is here

June 30, 2025/0 Comments/in Google Search, Web Design News/by

We’re excited to announce the launch of the new Search Console Insights report. The new report offers
even more insights and a deeper integration with Search Console’s Performance report.
With this change, we aim to streamline your workflow, make it easier to find opportunities to improve your
site’s performance, and provide more ways to explore specific areas of interest.

Read more at Read More

10 tips to streamline your blog content workflow

June 27, 2025/0 Comments/in Web Design News, Yoast SEO/by

Content production seems quite simple, in principle. You develop an idea, write about it, do SEO checks, and click publish. Simple, right? It never turns out that way, especially when working with a team. Miscommunications, last-minute changes, and confusion about what needs to happen when. We’ve all been there! Try these ten tips to streamline your digital content workflow and eliminate much stress.

Before we start

Before we start, remember that the ‘perfect’ content workflow probably doesn’t exist. After all, every piece of content is unique, so a one-size-fits-all process is unlikely to produce the highest quality results. If your high-quality, unique content is taking forever to finish, you might struggle to meet deadlines or keep to a schedule. If that sounds like you or your organization, take a look at our tips and see how you can improve.

1. Start the process with clear goals

Whether you’re working alone or as part of a bigger team, it’s important to have a clear idea of all the steps involved and how long each step might take. Not every digital content process is the same. For instance, social media posts don’t need to be optimized for search engines, while blog posts targeting organic traffic do. Regardless of your end goal, the first step is always to start with clear goals.

Want to cover all your bases? Try to answer as many of these questions as you can, as clearly as you can:

What topic are you focusing on? How in-depth will you go?
Who are you writing for? Who is your audience?
What are you trying to achieve? More website visits, increased sales, and more social shares?
How will people be able to find your content? Where will you share it, and when?

If you specify your ideas and plans clearly at the beginning, it can help you and your team align your plans. It also helps you to stay on track, which can save you a lot of back-and-forth later on!

2. Identify contributors and stakeholders

If you’re working in a team, our next tip is as important as the first. Why? Even if you’re clear about your goals, does everyone involved agree with your action plan? That’s why you need to identify your essential contributors and key stakeholders.

Depending on how big your organization is and how well-developed your process is already, making a list of contributors and stakeholders could be a lot of hard work, or a total no-brainer. If you sometimes find that your digital content workflow reaches a bottleneck (or descends to total chaos) because blockers arise from unexpected sources, it could be a sign that you need to do more work in this area.

Once you’ve come up with your plan, it’s a good idea to share it with any essential colleagues who need to give approval in the end before you start doing the real work. If you can get these people to agree with your initial plan, you can refer back to this later to explain creative choices and decisions you might need to make. When you let key parties know what to expect, you can avoid a lot of “What is this? What were you thinking?” kind of conversations.

3. Visualize your content workflow

It can be beneficial to visualize your content workflow, even if it seems daunting. At a minimum, you should write out the basic steps. If you add boxes and arrows to link the steps together, this can help to make the journey through the steps clearer (especially if there are moments when you need to loop back and repeat an earlier step). You can create this however feels comfortable to you — you could choose basic office software like Microsoft Word or Google Docs (Yoast SEO has a handy Google Docs add-on), you could try more advanced software like Visio or Lucidchart, or you could sketch it out on paper. It’s up to you!

For instance, your workflow could look like the first example written out in steps, or like the image below if you use a visualization tool. If, like us, you’re working in WordPress or Google Docs with the Yoast SEO plugin enabled, you can incorporate the features that you use into your workflow too.

Use Yoast SEO in Google Docs

Optimize as you draft for SEO, inclusivity, and readability. The Yoast SEO Google Docs add-on lets you export content ready for WordPress, no reformatting required.

Get Yoast for Google Docs add-onOnly $5 / month (ex VAT)

Content workflow example 1

Create a content brief with the agreement of any necessary colleagues
Carry out keyword research using Google Trends and the Semrush keyword data tool in Yoast SEO Premium
Create an article outline using a title and headings that relate to your keywords and the expected search intent
Check if your stakeholders agree with the article outline: If yes, then continue; If no, go back to steps 1-3
Write your draft in WordPress or Google Docs, taking the readability and SEO optimization suggestions from the Yoast SEO plugin into account
Add a featured image in the Post Settings tab and a social image in the Social media appearance tab
Make sure the SEO title, meta description and slug are all a suitable length and describe the content well
Use the Public Preview option in WordPress to share a preview of the post with everyone who needs to give feedback or approval
If feedback needs to be implemented, then implement it! If you’ve made any important changes, go back to get feedback and approval again!
Once everyone who needs to has approved it, your post is ready to publish.

Content workflow example 2

An example of a content workflow made with Jira software — An example of a Jira workflow for tracking blog projects

4. Assign activities and responsibilities to team members

Even if you have a solid content workflow on paper, it’s important to ensure that each time you go through it, everyone is clear about who is doing what. Not only that, but how and when will different team members communicate with each other to hand over tasks or ask questions? Clearing these kinds of things up in advance can save a lot of hassle for everyone involved.

If these tasks aren’t a regular part of your team’s working day, they’ll also need to manage their own schedule to accommodate the tasks. If so, make sure that they have time to work on your planned content. It’s also worth checking what other priorities your contributors are juggling, as these could prevent progress if they become too demanding. Maybe you have the authority to make your planned content a top priority. If that’s your intention, make sure everyone involved knows that this should be #1 on their to-do list!

5. Set sub-deadlines and contact moments

Naturally, you’ll want to set a deadline for when your content is going to be published. But if you think you can just send out an initial set of instructions, with one final deadline for all the tasks, and nothing concrete in between… Then things are quite likely to go wrong.

To achieve a much more reliable plan of action, you should include sub-deadlines and contact moments at key points in the content process. These help to keep everyone’s work aligned as the piece of content is developed, and can help you to avoid process bottlenecks by identifying issues early on. It’s also wise to schedule your own internal deadlines to have your content ready at least a week before you intend to publish it. That way, you can avoid last-minute changes (and all the mistakes that are likely to come with them). We’ll come back to this point later.

6. Agree on standards and priorities

So at this point, if you’ve followed all of our tips, you might be planning in sub-deadlines like ‘rough draft is ready’ or ‘final draft for approval’. Before you build all your hopes and dreams around these mini-deliverables, you’ll need to clarify how rough this rough draft can be! After all, you don’t want to end up disappointed because you only received a basic article outline and a few bullet point lists when you were expecting something almost finished.

If you’re using tools like Yoast SEO, you’ll also want to make it clear what results are acceptable to you: for instance, do you expect the readability analysis to always be green, but the SEO analysis doesn’t have to be when it’s not written for ranking purposes? Do you expect the internal linking suggestions to be added as a requirement, or are these just to be used as suggestions? Make sure everyone agrees about how you use your tools and what the end goal is.

7. Allow time for final checks and changes

If you have a regular content publishing schedule that you want to keep to, it’s a good idea to prepare your drafts with a decent amount of time to spare. That way, you can avoid stressing about deadlines and last-minute changes. Here are a few things that really ought to be on your pre-publication checklist, especially if they’re not already incorporated in your content development process:

Check the SEO of your post using the Yoast SEO analysis. Is it good enough?
Check the readability of your post using the readability analysis. Is it good enough?
Have you added a featured image?
Have you added an OG image and title for optimized social sharing?
Is the slug short and descriptive?
Have you added internal links to and from other relevant pages on your site?
If you use tags/categories, have you selected all the right options?
Are comments enabled/disabled according to your preferences for this post?
Is the correct date/time set for your post?

Yoast SEO for Google Docs add-on — Using Yoast SEO in Google Docs makes it much easier to work across teams

As you can see, there’s quite a lot to do even after a post is written, so don’t underestimate how long these checks will take.

Got a good basic content process, but still having issues? This is what to check:

8. Do you create unnecessary work?

Sometimes tasks become more complicated than they really need to be. Are there times when one small change causes a cascade of new issues to deal with? This can be a sign that you need to rethink the order of your steps and who is involved. Small changes should be easy, right?

Often, it’s obvious who should be doing what and how the process should continue. But it’s not always. For instance, if you have a graphic design team, do they need to make every change themselves? Can you make things easier by enabling your writing team to change text and background colors themselves, for instance?

Another type of problem can arise if you don’t have a clear decision-maker in place. Sure, there might be lots of people who should have a say about the content in the end. But who makes the final decisions? If it’s not clear who is responsible for which decisions, you might end up with all your best experts trying to reach an agreement about every little thing. That can be tricky, and it can waste loads of time! Make it easier by giving specific individuals ownership of specific aspects of the process.

9. Are things not going according to plan?

Sometimes things go wrong, in spite of your best efforts. But if things are often going wrong in your content production process, you should investigate the cause of your problems. It’s always a good idea to reach out to the people involved in the steps that are going wrong. What challenges are they facing? Does the existing process make things easier for them or more difficult? And very importantly, ask if they have any ideas to improve the process!

Don’t be afraid to try something new if what you’re doing isn’t working. Even if your new idea doesn’t work out any better, you can always learn from it and try something different next time! Or put it this way: trying anything is better than burying your head in the sand and continuing with a broken content development process.

10. Doing extra tasks that aren’t part of the plan?

Last but not least: are you making life harder by adding in ‘nice-to-have’ extras that weren’t part of the plan? It’s an easy mistake to make! After all, when you really care about the content you’re creating, your natural instinct is to keep improving and make it the best that it can be. Even though that means making a whole new infographic. Even though that infographic wasn’t a part of the original plan. Your team can make it happen, right? Or else you can just push the deadline back…

It’s great to aim high when it comes to making quality content. But if you’re ambitious, late-arriving ideas become a burden to the process, you might want to start categorizing them into “must-have” and “nice-to-have” content elements. That way, everyone knows which parts to prioritize and which parts can be left out if they’re too difficult to achieve within the original plan. And don’t forget that one of the biggest advantages of publishing digital content is that you can continue to improve it and share it again whenever you want!

Streamline your content workflow, but don’t let it rule you!

Those are our ten tips! It can be really worthwhile to streamline your content workflow, especially if you’re experiencing issues and bottlenecks in the process. Naturally, every situation is different, and each piece of content comes with its own opportunities and challenges, too. So you need to think about what works for you and what doesn’t in order to adapt your content process.

Try to keep a balance and avoid making a content process that’s too strict or inflexible. You don’t want to set up a rigid process that dictates your editorial decisions and rules your creative output. It’s a creative process, after all! So it’s always good to keep some room for flexibility, but just how much is up to you.

Remember: whatever your content workflow looks like, WordPress, Google Docs, and the Yoast SEO plugin can help you! From your main topic and focus keyphrase, through to the final touches you add just before publishing, the tools can form checkpoints to easily align your team and your goals.

The post 10 tips to streamline your blog content workflow appeared first on Yoast.

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12 AI tools that will elevate your SEO game

June 24, 2025/0 Comments/in Web Design News, Yoast SEO/by

In the last few years, we have seen loads of exciting developments in AI. New tools are popping up left and right, helping with a wide range of tasks. AI is finding its place in every market, from writing to keyword research to fact-checking. The rise of this phenomenon is undeniable. Let’s explore a few AI tools that can support your SEO efforts.

We’ve listed 12 tools that can help you with your SEO in different ways. That said, it’s important to maintain a healthy balance between AI support and human input. AI can help us greatly, especially with getting started and saving time on easy tasks. Authenticity and trustworthiness still matter, both for your audience and SEO.

Don’t let AI take over entirely or erase your unique perspective.. Don’t underestimate your importance in this process and always stay critical of the output. Check the tone of voice and the facts, and rewrite anything that feels off. In the end, this human element will get you to the top of the search results.

1. ChatGPT (Plus)

Let’s start with a tool you’ve probably heard of: ChatGPT. This is a text-based AI model that interacts with you in a conversational way to answer any question you have. Or fulfill any content request you have. This means ChatGPT can assist with a broad range of tasks.

Another great feature is the ability to tweak your request as you go. So if you ask ChatGPT to write an introduction for a blog post on a specific topic and the answer it comes up with is too long, you can then ask it to shorten it and it will do so. If you’re not happy with the tone of voice, you can ask it to change that. Or if you don’t like it at all, you can ask ChatGPT to rewrite it altogether. You can also craft more specific prompts to get better results from the start. This allows you to keep tweaking the text until you’re satisfied with it.

Screenshot of AI tool ChatGPT — Screenshot of ChatGPT and the model options showing

If you use ChatGPT plus, which is the paid version, you can also use the dropdown at the top left corner to select a model fitted to your needs. As you can see, these other models give you more options. But the free version of ChatGPT can still handle most basic content requests.

2. Yoast SEO & WooCommerce SEO

Yoast SEO comes with several AI features. The most recent one is Yoast AI Optimize, which helps you improve your content based on the feedback you get—inline, where you are working. Yoast AI Optimize highlights suggested changes for certain assessments in the Yoast SEO Analysis, allowing you to easily apply or dismiss them. This ensures that the final decision always remains in your hands.

Yoast AI Optimize gives you inline suggestions and a one-click solution to improve your content

The second AI feature generates SEO titles, meta descriptions, and social snippets for you. It looks at the content already there and gives you a few options with the click of a button. This saves you the hassle of doing it manually and provides you with relevant titles, meta descriptions, and social snippets to increase your click-through rates.

screenshot of AI tool Yoast SEO — Screenshot of the AI meta description generator in Yoast SEO Premium

The AI features are part of our paid plugin, Yoast SEO Premium. This comes with a yearly subscription plan, but an affordable one. We want to make our features available to as many people as possible.

Unlock AI features in Yoast SEO Premium

Get this feature and much more for your WordPress site with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin!

Get Yoast SEO Premium Only $99 / year (ex VAT)

We’ve also added this feature to Yoast WooCommerce SEO a short while back. This helps you make your products stand out on the search result page and get those clicks to your website. So if you have an online shop and are looking to optimize your product pages, it’s worth taking a look at that product as well.

3. Jasper

Another tool you can use to produce content is Jasper. But it is more focused on producing marketing content like blog posts, social posts, email and website copy. Where ChatGPT targets a wider audience, Jasper focuses on people working in marketing and entrepreneurs who do their marketing themselves. Utilizing the AI tool works pretty similarly, where you put in a request and Jasper provides you with content specifically created for a newsletter or post (or something else).

It also allows you to upload a style guide or examples of your content so that it can learn your preferred tone of voice. In addition, you can also give it information about your company like the products or services you provide, your audience and even a campaign brief. Jasper uses all of this to understand the goal of the content you’re requesting and to create content that is on-brand and detailed. What’s cool about this tool is that it also comes in the form of a browser extension. Allowing you to use it while you’re working on your content in WordPress, Gmail and other places.

screenshot of AI tool Jasper used in Gmail — *Screenshot of Jasper browser extension being used in Gmail*

It’s good to know that Jasper works with a monthly (or yearly) subscription plan, so this is a paid tool. They have a few options you can check out and a free trial if you want to give it a try before subscribing.

4. Keyword Insights

A vital but time-consuming part of SEO is keyword research. That’s why one of the AI tools we’ve picked is focused on that specifically. You can use Keyword Insights to find new keyword ideas and cluster them. By filling in a keyword it gives you loads of related keywords and their search volumes. Keyword Insights also helps you categorize keywords by clustering them properly and it allows you to upload other files to get those keywords in there as well. It gives you a nice overview of all your keywords per cluster and all the relevant data to figure out which ones you want to work on. The tool actually uses an algorithm to quickly show you which keyword is the best choice at the moment.

screenshot of AI tool Keyword Insights — An overview of related keywords in Keyword Insights

After you’re done with that, you can actually use the writing assistant to get started with writing. What’s cool about this writing feature is that it gives you an overview of the top headings of other websites that rank high on that keyword. Or it can even generate an outline for you. Which can be great inspiration to get started with the structure of your text. It also helps you write the text by suggesting relevant content for the article you’re working on.

Keyword Insights is a paid tool, that has several pricing options depending on your needs. A few of those options also enable team sharing, which comes in handy when you have multiple people working on your SEO. It has loads of interesting features to do keyword research in an organized way. But a very important sidenote is that it can be tempting to let the tool also do all the writing for you. Which might result in content that is far from original and authentic and will not get you that top result in Google. As it will be mainly based on what’s already out there. So make sure to check out the keyword features, but be mindful of how you use the writing assistant.

5. Semrush SEO Writing Assistant

Another writing tool powered by AI is the SEO Writing Assistant you can find in Semrush. This tool analyzes your text in terms of SEO, readability, originality and tone of voice. It gives you suggestions based on this analysis and also comes with a few features to optimize your text, such as the Rephraser, Compose and Ask AI. What’s great about the Originality section is that this helps you create content that’s not like everyone else’s, something you risk when using AI in your content creation. This can help you figure out whether you need to change your angle and it also checks your content for plagiarism.

Another reason we’re mentioning this tool is because Semrush in general is a great tool for SEO. So having this option in there is a great addition to their set of tools. The SEO Writing Assistant is part of Semrush’s Content Marketing Platform, which is included with two of their three subscription plans. You can also sign up for a free trial to give it a whirl.

6. MarketMuse

When looking at AI tools that can help you elevate your SEO, MarketMuse is another one we want to mention. In short, MarketMuse is content planning and optimization software that comes with loads of SEO and automization features. The idea is that it puts everything you need in one place and automates content audits for you. Helping suggest what to work on next instead of guessing or speculating what does or doesn’t work.

screenshot of AI tool MarketMuse — The Topic Navigator section in MarketMuse

It can help you do keyword research, plan your content and write. All based on personalized data, as they analyze your website and also look at competitors in your field. Which can save you loads of time and help you make informed decisions. Without having to switch between different tools and documents or sheets. It’s all in one place. As most AI tools discussed so far, MarketMuse works with a monthly subscription plan and gives you a few options to choose from.

7. Originality.ai

The name might already be an indicator of what this AI tool can do for you. Originality.ai helps you fact-check your text and also checks it for plagiarism. Being trustworthy is an important factor in SEO right now, and will probably remain important, so you need to get your facts straight. And make sure you’re not accidentally committing plagiarism, a growing risk in today’s AI-heavy landscapes.. Funnily enough, it also comes with an AI Content Detector which is pretty good in detecting content written by AI. Even if it has been paraphrased.

screenshot of AI tool Originality.ai — The fact checker in Originality.ai

Originality.ai comes with a monthly subscription option and a pay-as-you-go option which gives you a bunch of credits to get started. Unfortunately, there is no free trial, but if you go to their website you can find loads of information (and some examples) of how the features work. There’s also a demo of their fact checker if you want to give that a try!

8. Grammarly

Grammarly is a tool that’s quite popular with the writers here at Yoast. It shows you when you’ve made an error when it comes to spelling and grammar, and works on different platforms and in different places. Which is very helpful when you write a lot of online text. Now that Grammarly also comes with the power of AI, it can do even more for anyone who writes online content.

Grammarly now comes with a generative text feature, which allows you to give it a prompt and get a draft right away. It also includes a rewrite feature to adjust the tone of your content. You can also teach it what your personal tone of voice is, so that it can give you specific suggestions that fit your communication style. Lastly, it can help you with brainstorming and outlines by giving suggestions based on your task at hand. It’s a neat little AI tool that you can use on the go.

screenshot of AI tool Grammarly — Screenshot of Grammarly functionality, showing some of its AI features

Grammarly has a free plan, which gives you access to their basic AI assistance and 100 AI prompts per month. They have a few paid monthly subscription plans if you need more and want access to more prompts and advanced features.

9. Gemini

Gemini is Google’s generative AI chatbot. It’s designed to handle a wide range of tasks including text generation, image analysis, coding, and data processing. Integrated into tools like Google Docs and Gmail, Gemini provides users with loads of options to improve their content on the spot. It also integrates with Google’s AI Studio for prototyping and testing.

Gemini is designed to serve both casual users and developers. Through the Gemini web app (formerly Bard), users can interact conversationally with the model, ask complex questions, or get help writing code and documents. This app also offers Gems, premade or custom prompts that can be saved for future use and help you with specific needs.

Screenshot AI tool Gemini by Google — *The Gem manager in Gemini*

Gemini offers a free and paid subscription. The free version of the Gemini web app gives users access to Gemini Flash, a fast and cost-efficient model suitable for everyday tasks. For more advanced capabilities, Google offers Google AI Pro, which provides access to Gemini Pro, integrations in Google apps, and a few other more specific features.

10. Perplexity

Perplexity AI is a free AI-powered search and answer tool. It presents direct answers backed by real-time web sources, making it especially useful for research, current events, and factual information. It uses a conversational interface similar to a chatbot, allowing users to ask follow-up questions and refine their search naturally.

One of Perplexity’s standout features is its focus on citations and transparency. Each answer is accompanied by linked sources, allowing users to verify information or explore the topic further. This makes it a valuable tool for professionals, students, and writers who need trustworthy results quickly. The platform also includes features like “Research,” allowing deep research on any topic.

Screenshot of AI tool Perplexity — *Example of answer provided by Perplexity, showing the sources at the top.*

Perplexity offers a free option that provides access to fast and accurate answers using its standard models, along with web-sourced citations. For users who need more powerful tools, Perplexity offers different plans depending on your needs. Pro is aimed at individuals looking to use a more powerful and up-to-date version of the tool. Sonar API gives developers API access for any custom applications or automations they might want. Finally, Enterprise Pro is the choice recommended for organizations looking to use this tool within the team.

11. Claude

Claude is a conversational AI designed with a focus on safety and transparency. Named after Claude Shannon, the father of information theory, this model excels at tasks involving text comprehension, summarization, creative writing, and code generation. What sets Claude apart is its training method that aligns the model’s behavior with human values by using a set of ethical guidelines.

Users can interact with Claude through a chat-style interface. It also supports uploads of various file types (like PDFs or CSVs) for direct analysis, making it a powerful tool for research, document review, and data interpretation. Anthropic’s Claude includes three variants, Haiku, Sonnet, and Opus. Opus being the most advanced, particularly strong in reasoning and complex problem-solving tasks. Sonnet is also a great option for coding tasks.

AI tool Claude — *Example of Claude being used to visualize data.*

Claude comes with a free option and several paid options. The free version gives users access to Claude’s chat and allows them to generate code, create content and analyze text and images. When it comes to their paid plans, there are options for individuals looking to integrate Claude into their terminal or workspace. But also options for organizations or developers or businesses looking to get access to the API. I would recommend having a look at the options to see what would be a good fit for you.

12. NotebookLM

NotebookLM is an AI-powered note-taking and research tool developed by Google. It was designed to help users interact with their own documents using generative AI. It allows you to upload sources such as PDFs, Google Docs, YouTube-video’s or audio files, and then ask questions or generate summaries based on that content. Unlike other AI tools, NotebookLM uses the user’s uploaded material, which makes its responses more contextually accurate and personalized.

One of the standout features of NotebookLM is its ability to create structured summaries, highlight key themes, and generate helpful outlines based on the uploaded sources. You can interact with the model by asking detailed questions, getting explanations of terms, or generating content like FAQs or briefing docs. This productivity tool blends note-taking, research, and brainstorming in one interface.

Screenshot of AI tool NotebookLM — *The NotebookLM interface showing sources, the chat and other options.*

As of now, Google offers NotebookLM for free. The tool is available to users in supported regions through their Google accounts and is still positioned as an experimental product.

The post 12 AI tools that will elevate your SEO game appeared first on Yoast.

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7 Powerful AI Marketing Tools You Need (Tested)

June 23, 2025/0 Comments/in Web Design News/by

Seen your LinkedIn lately? AI marketing tools are everywhere.

And each one promises a bigger ROI than the last.

The truth? It’s not necessarily hype. AI tools actually deliver impressive returns.

In fact, you get a 3.7x return for every dollar you invest in generative AI.

But ONLY if you pick the right tools.

So, to save you the guesswork, I tested seven popular AI marketing tools for various tasks. Including writing, video creation, and customer research.

Check out my in-depth reviews below for the full picture.

Short on time? View each tool’s highlights here:

What Are the Best AI Marketing Tools?

AI Tool	Best for	Pricing
ChatGPT	All-purpose AI marketing assistant	$20+/month
Semrush	Full-stack marketing with AI integration	$139.95+/month
Flick	Social media marketing on a budget	£14+/month
Canva	Fast visual content creation	$15+/month
Synthesia	Video creation without filming	$29+/month
AdCreative.ai	Scaling high-performing ads	$39+/month
HubSpot	AI marketing automation	$20/month/seat

1. ChatGPT

Best all-purpose AI marketing assistant

Price: $20+/month; limited free plan available

I can’t write about the best AI tools for marketing without starting with ChatGPT.

The large language model (LLM) isn’t just popular.

It actually gets more searches than “AI.”

What makes it so good?

It can handle just about any marketing task, customized to your industry.

From a quick Instagram caption for your DTC skin care company to a detailed content strategy with audience segmentation, ChatGPT does it all.

But here’s the not-so-secret secret: ChatGPT is only as good as your prompts.

Bad prompts = bad answers.

But learn how to communicate with ChatGPT effectively (aka prompt engineering), and it becomes the ideal AI tool for marketing teams.

Create Relevant First Drafts

ChatGPT helps you go from blank page to first draft on any topic, fast.

(For more, check out our guide: How to Use AI for Writing Exceptional Content.)

The tool can significantly speed up the content creation process, no matter the format.

This includes SEO blog posts, product descriptions, email campaigns, and more.

For example, I often use it to organize my ideas and draft marketing content more efficiently.

I typically provide it with custom inputs like:

A content brief and project guidelines
Data from tools like Semrush
Competitive intelligence
Initial research notes

By feeding this information up front, the output becomes more relevant to the project goals.

But this isn’t copy-paste content writing right out of the gate. Every output still needs a human pass.

You’ll also likely need to refine your prompt multiple times to get the highest quality results from ChatGPT.

Pro tip: For some projects, I use the AI-first method. I start with a prompt to spark momentum. Then, it becomes a back-and-forth process. I add my expertise, and it refines my thinking. I shape the direction, and it suggests new angles. I lay out an idea, and it points out any flaws. It’s less AI writer. More collaborative partner.

Accelerate Customer Research

ChatGPT is a powerful support tool for customer research.

Use it to:

Write better survey questions
Analyze sentiment
Extract actionable insights from raw feedback

For example, voice of customer (VoC) research used to be my biggest time-sink for conversion optimization projects.

I’d spend weeks organizing data and tagging themes.

Now, I run the same process with ChatGPT in a fraction of the time.

I attach dozens of customer reviews from Google, TrustPilot, and internal surveys. Then, ask it to identify sentiments and motivations.

It takes care of the grunt work and identifies patterns fast.

(So, I can focus on finding valuable insights, not just sorting through data.)

This same process also gives me the exact language customers use to describe their challenges.

I then use that language to write copy that resonates and build experiences that address customer pain points.

Pros and Cons

Pros	Cons
Multi-purpose AI assistant that adapts to any marketing task Customizable to your brand voice, tone, and messaging style	Answers are only as good as your prompting skills Prone to hallucinations. Need subject-matter expertise to avoid generic or inaccurate content.

2. Semrush

Best for full-stack marketing with deep AI visibility

Price: $139.95+/month; AI Toolkit and Enterprise AIO require separate plans

Semrush is quickly becoming one of the most versatile AI-powered marketing platforms out there. It’s no longer just an SEO tool.

Whether you’re building an SEO strategy, planning content, launching paid campaigns, researching competitors, or tracking how your brand shows up in AI-generated answers — Semrush has a solution for it.

And unlike many startups racing into the AI space, Semrush brings something most don’t: infrastructure. It’s backed by more than a decade of data, crawling power, and product development.

Here’s how you can use Semrush to get ahead in the AI-powered marketing landscape:

Track Your Brand in AI Search

The most powerful thing Semrush offers in the AI space is visibility. Specifically: How is your brand showing up in AI-generated answers across LLMs?

That’s where Enterprise AIO comes in.

It tracks your brand across ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, Claude, and Google AI Overviews — measuring:

Brand, product, and concept mentions
Sentiment and quote-level context
Share of Voice compared to competitors
Citations and sources used in AI responses
Visibility trends by region, topic, or model

If you’re an enterprise or managing a well-known brand, this is the most advanced solution available.

See What AI Platforms Say About You

The Semrush AI Toolkit is built for SMBs, lean teams, and growing brands that want to understand how AI platforms talk about them — and where they can improve.

For $99/month per domain, you can:

Monitor your brand’s presence in ChatGPT, SearchGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, and more
Track Share of Voice and sentiment over time
Discover high-intent queries and emerging topics
Get recommendations on where to improve content and messaging

It’s not “lite” — it’s focused. And for many teams, it’s exactly what they need to stay visible in the AI-driven search landscape.

Semrush AI Toolkit – Dashboard – AI Strategic Insights

It even provides recommendations based on AI query data and sentiment trends.

This means you can quickly jump on emerging topics in your industry.

Or address user concerns before they become a problem.

For example, when I entered the domain warbyparker.com (an eyeglass company), the AI Toolkit revealed that users repeatedly asked about unclear payment and financing options.

The tool also made a helpful recommendation to solve this problem:

Clearly communicate financing details on the website and in the checkout flow.

Semrush AI Toolkit – Backlinko – AI Strategic Opportunities

That’s the real value here: The Semrush AI Toolkit doesn’t just give you data.

It also surfaces patterns from user queries. So you can identify pain points and fix them before they can hurt conversions.

Keep Social Content on Brand

The Semrush Social Media Toolkit uses AI to help you create and organize a social strategy.

It lets you easily create weeks of on-brand content in minutes. And schedule it across major platforms so your posting stays consistent.

Here’s how it works:

The AI-powered tool finds trending topics your audience cares about. (And updates daily.)

Select any topic, and the tool will auto-draft a post that aligns with your brand voice and campaign goals.

Customize it further with AI-generated hashtags, images, or scripted videos.

Finally, schedule and publish across Facebook, Instagram, X, LinkedIn, and more, with the click of a button.

Bada bing bada boom!

Social Content AI – Backlinko – Generated results

Pros and Cons

Pros	Cons
AI integration throughout the entire platform, including SEO, PPC, and social Tracks how your brand shows up in AI answers so you can stay ahead as search behavior evolves	Some features (like the AI Toolkit and Enterprise AIO) cost extra beyond the base plan May feel overwhelming at first for smaller teams or new users

3. Flick

Best for social media marketing on a budget

Price: $18+/month; 7-day free trial available

Want to look like you have a full content team without paying for one?

Use Flick.

This AI tool builds your social media marketing strategy, writes engaging posts, and maintains your publishing calendar.

Set your content pillars once in the Brand Hub, and Iris (Flick’s AI tool) will handle the rest.

This includes:

Auto-generating post ideas that align with your strategy
Repurposing blog posts into ready-to-publish social content
Creating a publishing calendar for Instagram, LinkedIn, TikTok, and Facebook

It’s perfect for founders and marketers juggling 17 other priorities.

(Or anyone who knows they should be posting more but never has time to sit down to plan it all out.)

Create a Social Media Calendar

Most social tools just help you schedule posts.

But Flick also helps you figure out what to post.

Its AI assistant helps you create a social media calendar without hours of brainstorming.

For example, I used Flick to create a 30-day calendar in under five minutes.

Here’s how I did it:

First, I set up the Brand Hub with my content pillars.

Conversion copywriting
AI
Funnel optimization for SaaS and ecommerce

Then, I defined my brand voice and target audience.

Next, I selected a time frame (I went with a full month).

And in under a minute, Iris generated a list of post ideas aligned with my content pillars.

Flick – Plan Content Calendar – Confirm Ideas

Its suggestions included:

Create a video showcasing five SaaS companies with standout value propositions
Share three AI prompts marketers can use to boost email subject line performance
Post before/after funnel results from a client that highlight how I increased signups

All I had to do was click “Add to scheduler,” and my content calendar was set.

I now have a month of content ideas that I can easily turn into posts.

(Yep, Flick’s AI can write, too.)

Repurpose Long-Form Content

Got a blog post or YouTube video you worked hard on?

Flick’s “Repurpose” feature turns that content into social-ready posts.

The process is simple:

Click “Iris” > “Repurpose Blog Post.”

Then, enter the URL.

This can be a blog post, YouTube video, or newsletter. And that’s all you have to do.

I tested this using my AI SEO tools article.

Within seconds, Iris analyzed it and came up with four social post ideas.

I picked one.

And the AI generated a post that captured the article’s core message.

It was perfect for social.

For each post, you can:

Adjust text length from one line to full caption
Refine hashtags for better reach
Attach media
Schedule posts

You also have the option to customize each post for different social media platforms.

Pros and Cons

Pros	Cons
Scheduler is integrated with AI features, so you can go from idea to post without switching tools Built-in brand voice training means the AI can mimic your brand voice and tone in all your posts	Limited to social content. Not ideal for broader marketing tasks No analytics or cross-platform ad management like you’d find in tools like Semrush

4. Canva

Best for fast visual content generation

Price: $15/month; free plan available

Canva – Visme – Fast visual content generation

You probably already know Canva.

This graphic design tool lets you create anything from a tweet graphic to a full marketing campaign.

But now it’s added AI into the mix with its Magic Studio.

Provide a prompt, and the tool will design a graphic, write image text, and even generate code.

From first idea to final creative, Canva’s AI speeds up marketing design without leaving the platform.

Two things impressed me the most:

The learning curve was negligible. I didn’t need a tutorial to get started.
The AI Image generation tool created exactly what I had envisioned

Turn Ideas into Visual Assets

Canva’s AI can generate full visual assets, including presentations, social posts, infographics, and more.

Inside Magic Studio, you’ll find various options:

Design for me: Creates on-brand templates for things like social posts and presentations
Create an image: Generates images from text prompts
Draft a doc: Writes blog posts, emails, social posts, and more
Code for me: Creates code for interactive elements like website pages, quizzes, and more

I put this to the test by asking it to create a slide deck based on a Backlinko article.

My prompt included copy for each slide.

Canva AI design for me presentation prompt

So, how did Magic Studio do?

It generated four slide decks for me to choose from that were pretty good.

But it didn’t follow the exact copy from my prompt.

So, I had to tweak the text and update the images. (Which was super easy.)

While the AI image generator made generating visuals simple, I wouldn’t exactly call it “fast.”

It would’ve taken me at least an hour to build Canva slide decks from scratch.

But with Magic Studio, it took me about 15 minutes. Not bad.

Check out the final output below.

What do you think?

Pros and Cons

Pros	Cons
Designs match Canva’s modern, ready-to-use template quality Offers multiple layout options per prompt so you can easily choose the best fit for your content	AI doesn’t always follow detailed prompts closely No dedicated format for visual assets like LinkedIn carousels Needs a bit of refinement to get it just right

5. Synthesia

Best for video creation without filming

Price: $29+/month; free plan available (no downloads)

Synthesia is one of the fastest ways to turn your ideas into presenter-style videos.

Use it to create:

Product demos
Staff training content
Explainer or onboarding videos
Global communications in different languages

With over 200+ AI avatars and support for over 140 languages and voices, it’s great for teams that need professional multilingual videos fast.

Even better?

You don’t even have to step in front of a camera.

Create Videos Without Filming

Synthesia lets you create a video from a file, URL, prompt, or script.

You start by entering your inputs into the AI Video Assistant.

For this test, I used this URL: https://www.semrush.com/kb/801-advertising-toolkit.

I wanted to create a promotional video for Semrush’s PPC Advertising Toolkit.

Synthesia’s AI assistant guided me through the process.

It prompted me to enter the URL and fill out key details: video length, audience, tone, objective, and speaker.

Synthesia then generated a video outline.

From there, I could:

Add or delete chapters
Change the avatar and voice
Tweak the script for each scene
Add music, transitions, or new slides

I made a few changes that included swapping out my avatar from dozens of options.

(You can also record yourself to create a personal avatar.)

Was the result flawless? Not quite.

The script needed a little polishing, and the AI avatar was… obviously AI.

But for an AI-generated video, with no filming, editing, or voiceover work, it was impressively functional.

Localize Videos

Synthesia’s AI recreates videos in over 140 languages and dialects.

This means global brands and organizations can create localized video content without hiring voice actors or re-recording footage.

For my test, I uploaded one of my TikTok videos and asked Synthesia to generate a version in French.

The result? Uncannily good.

Hearing “myself” speak in French was impressive, surreal, and erm…hilarious.

But it worked. And it worked fast.

Pros and Cons

Pros	Cons
More than 200 customizable AI avatars means you don’t have to appear on camera Creates videos in 140 languages so you can quickly make versions for different markets	Avatars feel a bit robotic, with limited emotional tone Video limits are tight: the Pro plan ($29/month) gives you only 10 minutes of video per month. For additional video time, you’ll have to upgrade to the next tier.

6. AdCreative.ai

Best for scaling high-performing ads

Price: $39+/month; free plan available (up to 10 downloads)

Running paid ads? You need AdCreative.ai.

It builds complete ads (visuals + copy + CTAs) for every major platform in minutes. Including Meta, Google Ads, LinkedIn, and more.

The game-changer?

It’s trained on billions of high-performing ads, so every output is based on proven conversion patterns.

This means you’re not just getting random designs.

You’re getting pre-optimized ad creatives based on what’s already working in your niche.

Create Ads at Scale

Adcreative.ai keeps you on track when you’re working on multiple campaigns and drowning in last week’s ad copy rewrites.

Start by setting up a basic brand profile with your logo, colors, and short description.

Then, choose the type of asset you want to create: static, video, or text-based ads.

AdCreative – AI-Generated Asset Selection

I tested this tool using one of my Backlinko articles.

First, I had it scan the site so it could understand the brand.

It automatically pulled in Backlinko’s brand details.

Then, I entered the article URL so it could scan for relevant content.

After that, I customized the ad including:

Choosing LinkedIn as the ad platform
Picking an ad format
Uploading a background image (optional)

I clicked “Generate” and within seconds, I had a full batch of ad variants ready for use.

AdCreative – Generate batch of ad variants

Each ad came with a layout, copy, and a “Conversion Score” — AdCreative’s prediction on how well the ad will perform.

Pretty cool.

The results weren’t perfect — a few looked a little rough out of the gate.

But every element was editable in the Creative Studio, so with a few quick tweaks, they were publish-ready.

Side note: Notice a pattern here? AI marketing tools work best with detailed information and manual refinement. (For now, at least.)

Pros and Cons

Pros	Cons
Built-in “Conversion Score” helps you prioritize top-performing variants The tool analyzes your brand assets and automatically learns your goals, ideal customer, and brand voice	Some default designs feel generic or visually cluttered Ad downloads are capped monthly, which adds up quickly when running high-volume campaigns

7. HubSpot

Best for AI marketing automation

Price: $20+/month/seat; free tier available (basic CRM)

HubSpot integrates email, ads, content, automation, and customer tracking with your CRM.

Their AI (called Breeze) learns from your actual data, such as your:

CRM records
Campaign performance
Customer behavior

This means you get insights specific to your audience and your sales process.

Not generic AI advice based on everyone else’s data.

That makes it feel less like software and more like a teammate who gets your business.

Identify High-Intent Leads

HubSpot’s Breeze Intelligence identifies qualified leads from your website traffic.

It tracks how visitors interact with your site.

Like what they click, how long they stay, and which pages they’ve visited more than once.

Then it combines that behavior with public data sources (like reverse IP lookup) to identify which companies they likely work for.

For example, Breeze might find a visitor from a Fortune 500 company:

Checking out your pricing page (obvious buying signal)
Reading through case studies (evaluating your results)
Making repeated visits (consistent interest)

That’s someone interested in your product. In other words, the kind of leads your sales team should be talking to.

You can also personalize your outreach to what these prospects have already viewed.

That’s huge.

Say the right thing at the right time to the right person, and you don’t have to do the hard sell.

The momentum’s already there. You just help it along.

Side note: Breeze typically identifies companies rather than specific individuals (unless visitors fill out forms or self-identify), making it particularly useful for B2B businesses.

Pros and Cons

Pros	Cons
Comprehensive AI integration throughout marketing, sales, and customer service Provides deep customer behavior insights for more targeted marketing	Full AI functionality (like Agents and Breeze Intelligence) is only available in paid accounts Effectiveness is dependent on the quality of your existing data

3 AI Marketing Tool Runner-Ups

These AI tools for marketers didn’t make the top spots.

But they have standout features for specific marketing tasks that make them worth considering.

1. Hootsuite

Best for advanced social media analytics

Price: $149+ per user/per month

Hootsuite uses AI to streamline social media publishing on all your social channels.

Its OwlyWriter AI generates post ideas, repurposes top-performing content, and writes captions in your brand voice.

But what sets Hootsuite apart is its AI social listening model, Blue Silk AI.

It scans millions of conversations, on and off social, to detect brand mentions and analyze audience sentiment in real time.

Then, it:

Suggests the best times to post based on engagement patterns
Identifies organic content worth boosting with paid ads
Surface trending topics in your niche

These AI features let your social team move faster and make data-driven decisions.

But it’s more complex than beginner tools like Flick.

It also comes with a higher price tag. (It starts at $149 per user/month compared to Flick’s $18/month.)

Still, if you’re managing multiple brands on all major platforms and need AI to help you plan and optimize at scale, Hootsuite is tough to beat.

2. Claude

Best LLM for content creation

Price: $17+ per month; free plan available

Claude is an LLM, much like ChatGPT.

But it runs on a different framework called Constitutional AI, designed to make it more helpful, honest, and human in its responses.

In my experience, Claude is great at picking up on nuance, understanding intent clearly, and handling tone with consistency.

Many marketing writers I’ve talked to love it for long-form content.

Why?

Because Claude keeps voice and structure consistent across thousands of words.

That makes it ideal for things like sales pages, reports, and anything that requires flow and cohesion.

Side note: Unlike ChatGPT, Anthropic doesn’t use your chats to train its AI models. So if you’re handling sensitive data — or just don’t want your conversations used as training material — Claude’s a great option.

3. Zapier

Best AI marketing tool for plug-and-play automation

Price: $29.99/month; free plan available

Want powerful AI workflows without migrating to an all-in-one platform?

Zapier is the answer.

Unlike tools like Hubspot that require you to use their ecosystem, Zapier connects over 8,000 apps. Including Gmail, Mailchimp, Slack, and Salesforce.

This means you can create countless generative AI workflows that save you time.

Here’s an example:

A customer emails a question via Gmail
ChatGPT analyzes the message and drafts a personalized reply
This reply is sent and automatically logged in your CRM
A follow-up task is created in your project management tool
A summary is sent to Slack to keep your team in the loop

Set it up once in Zapier, and your entire workflow runs on autopilot.

Next Step: Get AI to Talk About Your Brand

AI marketing tools make creating assets faster and easier than ever before.

They also help you scale your business with less effort.

Your next step? Dominating Google’s AI Overviews.

Learn how to optimize your site for AI Overviews to improve (or regain) your organic visibility. Get ahead of the curve and turn AI search into your next growth engine.

The post 7 Powerful AI Marketing Tools You Need (Tested) appeared first on Backlinko.

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7 Ways to Find Related Content (+ Free Topic Planner)

June 23, 2025/0 Comments/in Web Design News/by

Continually coming up with fresh, relevant content ideas isn’t easy.

But you might be overlooking something important: related content.

Related content includes topics that connect to your primary content themes. And it’s more powerful than you might realize.

It helps you:

Spot content gaps before competitors do
Build topical authority
Create smart internal linking opportunities

For example, search Google for “site:backlinko.com ‘backlinks’” and you’ll see we have this topic covered from every angle.

Including a beginner’s guide, link-building strategies, and even a free backlink checker tool.

Google SERP – Site:backlinko "backlinks"

In this guide, I’ll teach you how to do the same.

You’ll learn seven proven ways to find related content that attracts your audience and boosts your authority.

Plus, you’ll get a free content planner to organize your topics and plan your publishing schedule.

How to Use the Related Content Planner

Turn your related content research into an actionable strategy.

Download our free Related Content Planner now to follow along with the steps below.

By the end of this article, you’ll have a full list of high-impact related topics. And all the data you need to create high-quality content.

Here’s how to make the most of the planner:

Add topics as you discover them: Jot down every promising idea so nothing gets lost
Record keyword data: Use a keyword research tool to record search volume, difficulty, and intent to make smart prioritization decisions
Set priority levels: Rank topics based on search potential, competition, and audience relevance
Plan your content approach: Use the dropdown to mark each idea as “new,” “existing,” or “update,” so you know exactly what action to take
Map linking opportunities: Note which pages should connect to build topical authority and content clusters
Track your progress: Check off completed topics to monitor your progress

Ready to get started?

Let’s begin with one of the fastest and easiest ways to find new topics — autocomplete.

1. Autocomplete and Related Searches

The easiest way to find related content?

Use the platforms where your audience already hangs out.

Search engines and social platforms show you exactly what people want to know about your topic.

And all you have to do is start typing.

Enter a search term, and you’ll see suggested completions based on what that platform’s users search for.

These “autocomplete suggestions” are a goldmine of content ideas because they represent genuine demand.

But where you search depends on your business.

For example:

Amazon: Product-related content
YouTube: Video content ideas
Reddit: Discussion topics
TikTok: Related (and trending) content angles

The best part? It’s completely free.

I’ll show you how it works using Google and Pinterest.

Google

Google offers two ways to find related content:

Start with autocomplete. Type in your seed topic (say, “gaming”) and let Google finish the sentence.

For example, if I type “gaming,” Google suggests a variety of related queries:

Gaming news
Gaming monitor
Gaming keyboard

Next, scroll until you see the “Related searches” section.

This might also be called “People also search for” or “People also Ask.”

Here, you’ll find even more related topics to turn into content for your audience.

Such as “what is the definition of gaming” and “what does it mean when someone is gaming.”

Now, let’s see how this works on a social media search engine.

Pinterest autocomplete works great for almost any niche.

Plus, it often surfaces different ideas than Google or other platforms.

Type a topic in the search bar, and Pinterest will show you related searches.

For example, a search for “gaming” brings up ideas like:

Gaming setup
Gaming wallpapers
Gaming room ideas

Pinterest might even suggest some popular related accounts in its autocomplete feature.

File this information away for later. It can be helpful for identifying guest blogging opportunities, expert quote contributions, and influencer collaborations.

2. Keyword Research Tools

Keyword research tools can be a great source of related content.

But don’t confuse related content with related keywords.

They’re connected but different:

Related keywords are terms that are closely related to your main keyword (like “gaming headset” and “best gaming headset”)
Related content covers adjacent topics your audience cares about (like “ergonomic chairs” or “gaming glasses”) that expand your site’s topical and overall authority

For this example, I’ll be using Semrush’s Keyword Magic Tool.

Note: A free Semrush account gives you 10 searches in Keyword Magic Tool per day. Or you can use this link to access a 14-day trial on a Semrush Pro subscription.

Here’s how it works:

Enter your main topic (like “gaming”) into the search bar and click “Search.”

The tool will likely return thousands of keyword suggestions.

Skip the close matches (aka avoid duplicate content issues).

Look for topics you haven’t covered in the past instead.

For example, if you have a gaming site, you might expand into platform-specific topics like “amazon prime gaming.”

Or you might review “gaming earbuds” or “gaming microphones.”

View each term’s keyword metrics to help you prioritize which related topics to target first.

Search volume: How many people search for this topic each month.
Search intent: What people actually want when they search (information, products, comparisons, etc.)
Keyword difficulty: How hard it will be to rank for this topic based on competition

Pick topics you can actually rank for, not just popular ones.

Aim to strike a balance between decent search volume and low-to-moderate difficulty.

Next, select “Questions” on the menu.m

This reveals your audience’s pain points, motivations, and knowledge gaps.

These topics are perfect for tutorial content, how-to guides, and comprehensive resource articles.

For gaming, you might find questions like:

How to fix internet lag while gaming
How to customize gaming controller
How to build a gaming PC on a budget
How to reduce eye strain from gaming

Notice how the questions above span different aspects of gaming? Like technical troubleshooting and health concerns?

This is one of the major benefits of related content — it lets you create content for your audience’s entire journey.

Which will bring in more website traffic and conversions. And help establish you as an authoritative voice in your industry.

3. Artificial Intelligence

Don’t have time for hours of brainstorming or research?

AI tools like ChatGPT, Claude, and Gemini have gotten pretty good at finding related content ideas.

They’re especially helpful for surfacing niche topics and unexpected content angles in seconds.

Here’s a simple prompt to try:

Generate 20 related topics and questions about [your primary topic] that would interest [your target audience].

Get specific for the best results.

For example:

Generate 20 related topics and questions about gaming that would interest my target audience of gamers aged 18 to 45.

When I tested this prompt with Claude, it returned some interesting related topics.

Including ones that were much more niche than what some of the other tools found.

Like “game soundtrack analysis” and “the evolution of open-world games.”

Use follow-up prompts to dig deeper.

For example:

What are 10 controversial topics in [your niche] that generate strong opinions?
What seasonal or trending topics should I cover in [your industry] this year?
What beginner mistakes do people make in [your niche] that I could address?

Experiment with different prompts until you find the ones that work best for your niche.

4. Specialized Content Tools

There are many content tools designed to help you cover all aspects of a niche.

Including Answer the Public, a search listening tool.

Enter your topic and select the desired platform: Google, Amazon, TikTok, Bing, YouTube, or Instagram.

Now, you’ll see a map of related questions organized by question type.

(Why, who, where, can, are, how, etc.)

The visual format makes it easy to spot question patterns and content themes you haven’t covered.

AnswerThePublic – Gaming – Wheels – Questions

For example, these gaming questions would be easy to turn into helpful content.

Will gaming be in the Olympics?
Which gaming app pays the most?
Can gaming cause carpal tunnel?
Are gaming chairs good for office work?

Each of these represents a potential blog post, video, or social media series that could attract your target audience.

Semrush’s Topic Research is another helpful tool for comprehensively covering any niche.

Here’s how to use it:

Enter your topic and click “Get content ideas.”

Topic Research – Gaming – Get content ideas

The tool will return tons of related subtopics displayed as cards.

Click any card to see questions people ask about that specific topic. Along with popular headlines for inspiration.

For example, I clicked on “gaming mouse” and found some interesting related ideas.

Including “how do you choose a gaming mouse” and “what is the best budget gaming mouse under $10?”

Topic Research – Gaming – Content Ideas – Gaming Mouse

Next, select “Trending subtopics first” on the menu.

This will show you what’s currently popular in your niche.

Topic Research – Trending subtopics first

You can also sort the topic cards by Volume, Difficulty, and Topic Efficiency.

This helps you prioritize which topics to tackle first.

Now, select “Mind Map” on the menu to visualize and plan content clusters.

It’s an easy way to spot internal linking opportunities, too.

Further reading: Pillar Pages: How to Create One + Examples

5. Google Search Console Data

Sometimes, the best related content ideas are already hiding in your own data.

Google Search Console reveals the queries people use to find your site.

(Including ones you’re not actively targeting with content.)

Here’s how to find these queries:

Open Google Search Console and follow this path:

“Performance” > “Search Results.”

Ensure “Queries” is selected on the menu and look through the results.

Focus on these specific types of queries:

Terms that get impressions and clicks, but you haven’t targeted before. These reveal related audience interests.
Searches with low monthly impressions. These often represent emerging topics or highly specific needs that can grow over time.
Question-based queries. Look for any new questions showing up in your data that you could answer with dedicated content.

This is a smart approach for a couple of reasons.

For one, you might discover related topics your audience is already searching for.

Like “game releases” and “indie games.”

But it can also reveal valuable business opportunities.

For example, if people search “gamertag generator,” you could create a free tool to capture that traffic. (And then convert them with a lead magnet.)

This turns a simple related query into a revenue stream.

6. Competitor Analysis

Your competitors have already done the hard work of testing what related content performs in your niche.

Why not learn from their successes?

While you can look through your competitors’ sites manually, Semrush’s Organic Research tool automates the process.

Here’s how to use it.

Add the URL of one of your competitors and click “Search.”

Organic Research – Game Informer – Search

Toggle to “Topics” on the menu. This will show you your competitors’ highest-performing topics.

Take a look at the list and see what related topics you can target on your own site.

For example, you might discover that “gaming news” and “game release calendars” are major traffic drivers for competing gaming sites.

If they’re a direct competitor, it’s likely these topics would work well for you, too.

Organic Research – Game Informer – Best-Performing Topics

The goal isn’t to copy what competitors are doing.

It’s to understand what topics resonate with your shared audience. And find related content gaps you can fill with your unique perspective and expertise.

7. Forums and Niche Communities

Want to know what your audience really cares about? Go right to the source.

They’re already discussing their biggest challenges, interests, and questions in online communities.

You just need to know where to look.

Start by identifying where your audience gathers online:

Reddit: Subreddits for your niche and related topics
Facebook groups: Industry-specific groups and interest communities
Discord servers: Real-time conversations in niche communities
Industry forums: Established forums in your space
Public Slack communities: Professional groups and interest-based channels

Look for active communities where people have legit discussions about problems and interests.

Avoid forums that are overly promotional or full of link spam.

Once you’ve found the right communities, don’t just pop in once. Become a regular observer.

Spend time understanding the community dynamics and recurring themes.

As you go through posts, pay attention to:

Topics that generate the most engagement
Questions that appear repeatedly
Pain points mentioned in multiple threads
Controversies that spark discussion

For a gaming site, you might monitor communities like:

Reddit’s r/gaming for general gaming discussions
Reddit’s r/buildapc for hardware-related conversations
Discord servers for real-time discussions about trending games and player preferences

For example, if you notice multiple threads about the same topic, you’ve found a perfect related content opportunity.

Further reading: SEO Content: How to Create Content That Ranks

Find Related Content That Maximizes Your Visibility

Covering a topic thoroughly is now more important than ever.

It’s always helped with SEO and topical authority. But AI search engines prioritize sources that demonstrate deep expertise across related topics.

Potentially giving you a huge bump in visibility on traditional and LLM search engines.

If you haven’t already, download our free Related Content Planner to keep track of your ideas.

Then, turn the related topics you found into comprehensive content clusters that work together to dominate your niche.

For step-by-step guidance, read our guide to creating topic clusters that improve your website’s authority and deliver a better reader experience.

The post 7 Ways to Find Related Content (+ Free Topic Planner) appeared first on Backlinko.

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Subdomain or Subdirectory? What’s Best for Your Business

June 23, 2025/0 Comments/in Web Design News/by

You need to build out a new arm of your website. Do you use a subdomain or a subdirectory?

It’s an often painful decision that can impact your SEO performance and how people interact with your brand.

Despite many SEOs showing bias toward one approach or the other, there’s no one-size-fits-all answer.

But I’m about to help you make the best decision for your specific situation.

In this guide, you’ll get:

A simple decision-making LLM prompt to get a recommendation tailored to your business
An overview of how subdomains and subdirectories work (and why it matters) with real-world examples
Advice from SEO experts to help you make the smartest call for your site

Let’s get into it — starting with a subdirectory vs. subdomain comparison and what each one means for your site.

Useful resource: Check out our decision-making LLM prompt that uses AI-powered insights to help you decide between subdomains vs. subdirectories for your site.

What Is a Subdomain?

A subdomain is an extension of your main domain.

Added as a prefix to your website URL, a subdomain becomes a separate property within your domain.

So, if your main domain is example.com, a subdomain for your blog would be blog.example.com.

For example, Velasca, an apparel brand, uses subdomains for different markets:

eu.velasca.com for Europe
row.velasca.com for the rest of the world
uk.velasca.com for the United Kingdom

Velasca – Subdomains for different markets

Subdomains offer a lot of flexibility, but they also come with trade-offs.

This is especially true when it comes to SEO and technical setup.

Here’s a quick look at the main pros and cons:

Subdomain Pros and Cons
Pros	Cons
Allows distinct branding/design for different sections Provides clearer separation for content types and use cases Can improve server performance by distributing content across different servers	Takes longer to gain SEO authority (treated like separate sites) Requires additional SSL certificates and DNS management More complex to implement and maintain than subdirectories

What Is a Subdirectory?

A subdirectory is a subfolder within your main website that categorizes different pages on your site into folders within the main domain.

A subdirectory for your blog would be example.com/blog.

For example, Backlinko uses subdirectories to organize different resources on its website:

backlinko.com/tools/keyword to organize all tools
backlinko.com/templates/marketing to consolidate marketing templates
backlinko.com/hub/seo to create topic-based resource hubs

Subdirectories are a popular choice for SEO-focused sites because they consolidate authority under one domain.

But they’re not always the right fit, depending on your needs.

Subdirectory Pros and Cons
Pros	Cons
Easier to maintain within the existing domain structure Faster SEO results due to inherited domain authority Clearer performance tracking under one property	Can create overly complex URL structures when deeply nested Limited flexibility for different design/branding needs across sections

How Subdirectories and Subdomains Affect SEO

Subdomains and subdirectories can lead to major differences in how your site performs in search.

In this section, I’ll explain how these structures can help or harm your SEO efforts.

Link Equity and Website Authority

A big difference between these two URL structures is how they accumulate and distribute authority.

In a subdirectory, everything exists under one roof.

When a page earns a backlink, the link equity flows directly into your main domain.

In short: All the pages share the same website authority, building a stronger foundation for your website.

Subdomains work differently.

They don’t automatically pass ranking power to each other.

Why?

Because each subdomain is treated as a separate entity.

This means you have to build link equity for each subdomain individually, which can take a long time.

For example, Jakub Rudnik, managing director of SEO at GrowthX AI, saw firsthand how long it takes for Google to trust a new subdomain — even for a high-authority site.

At G2.com, we moved all of our blog content to a new learn.g2.com subdomain. It took months for Google to build trust in that subdomain despite it being on a DR 88 website that was already generating 750k+ traffic each month.

After the first 3-4 months, fresh backlinks, and a ton of new content sending Google signals, we picked up traction quickly. But the delay was significant. In my experience, that would not have been the same timeline if we had moved to a new subfolder.

Ranking Potential

For many SEOs and business owners, the decision boils down to which URL structure delivers better rankings.

Subdirectories have the advantage when it comes to search visibility.

But subdomains can still succeed with the right investment.

Leigh McKenzie, head of organic growth at Backlinko, says:

Subdirectories tend to rank faster because they inherit domain authority more directly. Subdomains can perform just as well over time. But they’re often treated by Google like a separate site, meaning they need to build authority from scratch. If speed to impact matters, subdirectories usually win.

Search Performance Analytics

Using subdomains means you have to set up separate properties in Google Search Console (GSC).

The result: Siloed data.

That said, this makes sense if you want to collect separate insights for each subdomain.

For instance, let’s say you have localized subdomains targeting different countries.

Separate analytics will help you understand market-specific performance and areas of improvement.

With subfolders, all your data lives in one property.

So, you have a 360-degree view of your website and can generate consolidated reports.

International SEO Considerations

For international SEO, the choice between subdomains and subdirectories carries more weight.

With proper hreflang implementation, subdirectories can provide strong geotargeting signals.

They also create a seamless user experience.

Subdomains are better for brands that need separate sites for different languages or markets.

This allows for more customization and flexibility.

Edward Bate, seasoned SEO consultant, offers a word of advice here:

While your website might perform really well in one market, simply creating another subdomain or subfolder for another market doesn’t guarantee ranking success. You’ll need locally relevant backlinks, brand awareness, and search demand in that market to secure better rankings.

Subdomains vs. Subdirectories: 5 Critical Factors to Consider

The choice between subdirectories and subdomains isn’t limited to SEO performance.

It impacts your entire business.

Assess these critical factors to make an informed decision.

Pro tip: As you go through these factors, fill out our decision-making LLM prompt. When you’re finished, drop the prompt in the AI assistant of your choice to get a recommendation tailored to your business.

1. Business Objectives

Your URL structure should align with your business setup and long-term growth plans.

When creating or updating your website, ask yourself:

Is this your core offering or a separate initiative?
Do you want this product/service to have its own identity in the future?
How closely should this offering or service be aligned with your main brand?

The choice ultimately comes down to how you want to position your brand.

Want to build content for your core business offering? Go with a subdirectory.

On the other hand, a subdomain is the better choice for creating distinct, separate content.

(While still associating it with your parent brand.)

Subdomain is better choice for creating distinct content

2. Technical Setup

Your technical resources (CMS, server configuration, and SEO tools) also play into this decision.

Choose a structure that’s the most compatible with your technical stack.

The ideal structure should also support your long-term scalability needs.

Subdirectories work well when your CMS can efficiently handle multiple subfolders and pages within the primary domain
Subdomains are a good choice when you want technical flexibility for different sections of your business

You can operate each property as technically separate entities with different CMSs, servers, and more.

Further reading: Technical SEO: The Ultimate Guide

3. Analytics and Tracking

Assess which URL structure best serves your data and reporting needs.

Consider questions like:

Does a unified reporting setup serve your decision-making process?
Do you want to analyze performance separately for different sections of your site?

Subdirectories work best when you need unified data and an easier process for tracking user journeys across the site.

But subdomains are helpful if you want separate analytics for each site.

Useful resource: SEO Analytics: The “I Can’t Believe It’s This Easy” Guide

4. Team Structure

The team responsible for building and maintaining your URL structure (internal or external) has a big role to play.

So, your setup should help them manage the website without any disruptions and errors.

Have a single team managing all the content? Subdirectories give you a better setup to centralize content management and maintain uniformity.

In contrast, subdomains are ideal if you work with many departments or external agencies, each with their own workflows.

Pro tip: When working with external vendors, subdomains make it easier to sandbox their work without affecting your main site’s performance or CMS structure.

5. Scalability

Your URL structure should accommodate future growth plans.

Including:

Content volume
Website traffic
Functionality
Evolving business needs

Forecast your expected growth over the next two to three years.

Then, make a decision.

Go for subdirectories if your plan is to expand your setup and scale content within your existing business model.

Subdirectories – To expand your content within existing business model

Consider subdomains if you want to launch different offerings in the future.

And need more flexibility to scale each product/service.

Subdomains – To lounch different offerings in the future

With these decision factors in mind, let’s look at a few reasons when you should choose one structure over the other.

Common Reasons to Use Subdomains

Learning toward subdomains?

Here are a few use cases when they make the most sense.

International Websites

Global brands need localized content customized to different languages, cultures, and more.

Consider MyProtein as an example.

The brand uses localized subdomains to deliver customized user experiences.

For example, its website copy is translated into German, Arabic, English, and other languages.

The brand also follows a targeted SEO strategy for each subdomain, focusing on buyer needs and behavior in each market.

Below you can see the variations in keywords for MyProtein’s U.S. and Australian subdomains.

Organic Research – US Myprotein – AU Myprotein – Collage

Each subdomain acts like its own site.

This lets MyProtein optimize each domain for different languages and search habits without diluting its core brand.

Branded Properties

Many brands offer a suite of products, services, content, and more.

In a best-case scenario, different teams will manage each subdomain. This makes it easier to build authority and boost organic traffic for each property.

Intuit is a great example of this.

The global fintech company uses subdomains to host its two main products:

turbotax.intuit.com: Focused on tax filing services for both individuals and businesses in the United States
quickbooks.intuit.com: Dedicated to accounting, payroll, and team management services

Both subdomains target different topics (tax filing vs. accounting), but remain connected to the parent brand.

Separate subdomains make it easy to manage both products without diluting brand authority.

Varied Technical Setups

Do different parts of your website run on different technology stacks?

Subdomains offer a clean separation.

Let’s consider Adobe as an example.

The company uses multiple domains to differentiate and organize its business product, help center, and stock library.

Each subdomain stands on its own with its unique style, functionality, and target audience.

Considering this use case?

Pay attention to the “Resources” and “Scalability” sections in our decision-making framework.

Common Reasons to Use Subdirectories

Thinking subdirectories might be the way to go?

Here are some key scenarios when this structure makes the most sense.

Simple Website Structure

Most website owners create subfolders to organize different types of content under a root domain.

This clear structure improves navigation and delivers a flawless user experience.

For example, here’s how VEED, a video creation platform, uses subdirectories to organize content on its site:

veed.io/ai: Landing pages for all AI-related features
veed.io/tools: All the company’s tools
veed.io/use-cases: Pages showing some of VEED’s popular use cases
veed.io/alternatives: Pages comparing VEED to its competitors

Organizing your website with these folders means visitors can easily navigate your site without getting stuck.

Plus, the consolidated website authority builds better search visibility for all the pages.

Theme-Based Content Hubs

Use subdirectories to group thematically related content and put them in one place.

This will help in building topical authority for your root domain and simplify internal linking.

At Backlinko, we use this structure for our resource hubs, including SEO and YouTube.

Each hub is a subdirectory that houses multiple pages with relevant insights on a topic.

This makes it easier for our audience to get a thorough understanding of a topic without having to search.

Ecommerce Product Categories

Subdirectories create a logical structure for organizing product categories and subcategories on an ecommerce site.

Use folders to:

Create intuitive URL structures that mirror your navigation
Preserve domain authority across all product pages
Simplify monitoring category-wise analytics

REI, a retail brand, uses this approach well.

You’ll find subfolders for all its primary and secondary product categories, such as:

rei.com/c/mens-clothing
rei.com/c/womens-clothing
rei.com/c/camping-and-hiking

This builds a logical hierarchy for both shoppers and search engine crawlers.

Subdirectory vs. Subdomain: What’s the Best Fit for Your Needs?

Subdirectories work best for most businesses. They offer consolidated authority, easier content management, and simplified analytics.

On the flip side, subdomains make sense if you’re building international sites or want to differentiate branded assets.

Next step: Use our decision-making framework to make the right call for your business.

The post Subdomain or Subdirectory? What’s Best for Your Business appeared first on Backlinko.

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The SEO KPIs That Actually Matter (And How to Track Them)

June 23, 2025/0 Comments/in Web Design News/by

Proving the value of your SEO efforts can seem like an uphill battle.

What’s the cheat code to getting buy-in from stakeholders?

Tracking the right SEO KPIs. Not just the default ones in your dashboards. But the right metrics.

In this guide, you’ll learn how to choose and monitor SEO KPIs that actually mean something. I’ll show you:

What makes an SEO metric a true KPI (and what doesn’t)
Which SEO KPIs matter most and why
Which emerging KPIs to track in the era of AI Overviews and LLM search
How to select KPIs based on your goals and maturity stage

What Are SEO KPIs? (And What They’re Not)

SEO KPIs are key performance indicators that tie your optimization efforts directly to business outcomes. They measure whether or not your SEO strategy is achieving its overall purpose.

On the other hand, SEO metrics are more broad. They include all the available data you could monitor in SEO tools and analytics platforms.

But here’s the thing:

Just because you can measure a bunch of different metrics doesn’t mean you should treat them all as KPIs.

SEO Metric	SEO KPI
Organic traffic	Demo signups from organic traffic
Bounce rate	Engagement on the page based by page type
Backlinks	Topical or brand authority growth

Why You Need to Measure the Right SEO KPIs

Measuring your SEO KPIs over time is how you prove your SEO work is moving the business in the right direction.

Tracking the right KPIs can help you:

Uncover blockers early: If conversions are dipping even though your traffic is increasing, you may have a content or UX issue.
Make better decisions: Knowing which actions moved the needle (and when) helps you repeat tactics that work and avoid the ones that don’t.
Discover much-needed pivots: Monitoring KPI-linked performance data makes it easier to adjust content, targeting, and resource investment.

Let’s take a look at the KPIs that most effectively show how SEO is moving the business forward.

SEO KPIs That Prove You’re Doing Your Job

Which KPIs you choose to measure should reflect where your business is going and what SEO is expected to deliver along the way.

So, not all of the KPIs below are your KPIs. They depend on your specific business model, SEO maturity, and desired outcomes.

With that in mind, we created a free SEO KPI planner to help you build your own custom SEO KPI system.

This worksheet is a brainstorming tool. It will help you connect your SEO actions to the KPIs you need to monitor to hit your business goals.

It’ll also help you avoid common mistakes like:

Overreporting vanity metrics (e.g., rankings without conversion context)
Ignoring conversions altogether
Treating all SEO metrics as your SEO KPIs
Failing to communicate SEO gains in terms the business cares about

Side note: Your KPIs might shift over time depending on whether you’re building brand awareness, driving conversions, or trying to improve user experience and engagement on the page. Use this planner to keep track of things as your business goals evolve.

Conversion and Revenue KPIs

You should track conversion or revenue-related KPIs no matter what stage of SEO investment you’re in.

Why?

Because these are the metrics most clearly tied to your larger goals of lead generation and revenue impact. In other words: goals that drive business growth.

KPI	Definition	Why It Matters	How to Measure	Example
Organic-assisted conversions	Conversions where organic search appeared in the user’s journey, even if not the final touchpoint	Shows SEO’s role in the full customer journey	Attribution paths report in GA4	Tracking how often organic content influences purchases (even when social or paid channels get last-click credit)
Demo or trial signups	Number of demos or trial signups attributed to organic search	Indicator of lead generation from SEO	Event tracking in GA4 with source segmentation	Monitoring improvements in signups after implementing new content strategy
Form opt-ins	Email signups and contact form submissions from organic traffic	Measures mid-funnel conversions	Event tracking in analytics; form analytics tools	Comparing form completion rates across different landing pages
Revenue from organic traffic	Earned revenue from organic search visitors	Measures SEO ROI	Ecommerce tracking in analytics; CRM integration for B2B	Determining quarterly organic revenue to justify increased SEO investment

How to Track These KPIs

You’ll need to configure a tool like Google Analytics to track these types of SEO metrics based on your unique needs or goals.

For example, using the Attribution paths report to track organic-assisted conversions:

And the Key events feature to track conversions and signups:

A Note on Tying SEO KPIs to Revenue

There’s some debate in the SEO community about KPIs that tie into business revenue.

I’ve had this discussion with marketing leaders many times:

Should you consider revenue-based SEO KPIs when determining if SEO efforts are successful?

Just take a quick afternoon stroll in the r/SEO subreddit, and you’ll encounter wildly different opinions regarding the tie between revenue and SEO performance.

Some will tell you that revenue-based KPIs are the only ones that matter:

Others will tell you that all that matters is where you rank:

They’ll argue that KPIs based on revenue impact are unfair because an SEO team doesn’t control sales team outcomes, brand messaging, product improvements, or conversion rate optimization (CRO).

But:

You’re performing SEO to help the business gain online visibility and drive growth. As long as your KPIs are linked to these broad goals, they’re worth tracking.

Visibility and Awareness KPIs

SEO KPIs related to visibility and awareness are worth tracking if you’re trying to grow a brand.

But we’d argue they’re now essential for all brands to track — no matter the growth stage.

Why?

Because AI Overviews and other AI tools have changed the game. It’s no longer just about ranking at the top of Google. Being included in AI responses is going to become an increasingly important factor in your SEO success.

For example, here’s the SERP for “what’s the best crm”:

Notice how the “top” result is an AI Overview that immediately tells the user a few examples of CRMs.

Salesforce and HubSpot would never rank top for such a competitive term on their own. Appearing in an AI Overview gives them a new way to instantly appear as the right choice for a user searching for this term.

How do you increase your chances of appearing in these responses?

By boosting your brand visibility (among other things).

The specifics of how you can do that are a topic for another article. For now, here are some important SEO KPIs you can use to gauge your overall brand visibility:

KPI	Definition	Why It Matters	How to Measure	Example
Organic impressions	Number of times your website appears in search results viewed by users	Indicates overall search visibility and potential reach	Google Search Console impressions data	Tracking impression growth in targeted categories following content expansion
Branded search	Searches for your brand name and variations	Indicates brand awareness	Google Search Console; Semrush’s Domain Overview (useful for comparing to competitors)	Measuring correlation of TV campaign on branded search volume
SERP feature ownership	Visibility in featured snippets, knowledge panels, People Also Ask boxes etc.	Indicates growing authority signals	SERP feature tracking tools, like Semrush Position Tracking	Monitoring featured snippet acquisition after implementing FAQ schema

How to Track These KPIs

You can use Google Search Console to monitor organic impressions:

GSC – Backlinko – Performance – Total impressions report

You can also use it to track branded search visibility:

To monitor SERP feature ownership, you can use Semrush’s Position Tracking tool. It shows you which SERP features you appear in for your custom-tracked keywords.

Position Tracking – Backlinko – Domain ranks drop-down

Note: A free Semrush account lets you track up to 10 keywords. Or you can use this link to access a 14-day trial on a Semrush Pro subscription.

Who Should Use These KPIs?

Visibility and awareness KPIs usually include metrics that measure larger goals of brand visibility and authority building. While they’re worth tracking for all brands, they’re particularly important for:

Early-stage and growth-stage orgs that prioritize brand authority investment
A small business that just started investing in SEO and marketing
Established sites that have seen a noticeable decline in branded search

Engagement and Behavior KPIs

You’ll want to monitor engagement and behavior KPIs once you’re past the initial investment in SEO and into stages of SEO growth or maturity. You’re getting decent traffic, and now you want to optimize the site to better engage that traffic.

KPI	Definition	Why It Matters	How to Measure	Example
Click-through rate (CTR)	Percentage of impressions that result in clicks to your site	Indicates relevance of content to search intent	Google Search Console CTR metrics	Monitoring CTR improvements on pages with new title tags
Scroll depth / engaged sessions	How far users scroll; sessions with on-page engagement	Measure of content relevance and quality	GA4 engaged sessions	Measuring engagement for mid-funnel pages after content restructuring
Pages per session	Average number of pages users view during a session	Indicates content interest and sufficient site structure	Analytics platforms (GA4 calls it “Views per session”)	Analyzing the effectiveness of updated internal linking strategy
Average engagement time	Time users spend actively engaging with content	Indicates how well content engages and keeps users interested	GA4 engagement time	Determining which topics on the site hold user attention to guide content strategy
On-page “hot spots”	Visual indicators of where users focus attention	Reveals actual user behavior	Heatmaps and click maps (using tools like Hotjar, VWO)	Monitoring where and when users drop off

How to Track These KPIs

GA4 has a lot of built-in ways to monitor KPIs related to user behavior and engagement:

But you’ll need to use a specialized tool like Hotjar to monitor more granular page engagement:

Who Should Use These KPIs?

Your team should measure engagement and behavior KPIs to monitor progress toward goals related to lead generation, revenue impact, and authority building.

Here are a few example scenarios where you’d want to measure these KPIs:

SEO teams that focus on driving up on-page engagement
Businesses that need to determine which content topics are resonating with their audience
Organizations that have built a content library but are noticing underperformance
Any team facing low conversion rates with no obvious cause

Authority and Ranking Power KPIs

If topical authority or share of voice drives your strategy, track these ranking-power KPIs:

KPI	Definition	Why It Matters	How to Measure	Example
Referring domains or backlinks	Number of external websites linking to your site	External signal of site authority	Semrush Backlink Analysis and Backlink Audit	Benchmarking authority backlinks earned from digital PR campaign
Ranking content percentage	Portion of indexed content ranking in target positions	Indicates content quality and optimization effectiveness	SERP tracking tools with position filtering (like Semrush Position Tracking)	Monitoring content library pages ranking in positions 1-3 for target topics
Share of voice in key topic clusters	Visibility compared to competitors for core topic areas	Shows topical authority and competitive position	SERP visibility tools, like Position Tracking	Measuring share-of-voice compared in core topics after content refresh
Average SERP ranking positions	Average position of rankings across tracked keywords	Overall indicator of search visibility	Google Search Console; rank tracking tools with averaging capabilities	Benchmarking growth in top SERP rankings over time for core keywords

How to Track These KPIs

You’ll generally need more specialized tools to track these KPIs. Semrush’s Backlink Analytics shows lots of metrics about your site’s authority.

These include total numbers and trends of backlinks and referring domains:

Backlink Analytics – Backlinko – Overview

Rank tracking tools like Semrush’s Position Tracking can help you work out the percentage of your key content that ranks in target positions. And you can even get at-a-glance data about your share of voice:

Position Tracking – Backlinko – Share of Voice

Finally, use Google Search Console to track your average ranking positions at the page or query level:

GSC – Backlinko – Queries – Average position

Who Should Use These KPIs?

Authority and ranking power KPIs are important for teams working toward brand visibility and authority building goals. Examples include:

Organizations that prioritize backlink and digital PR investment
Teams that are investing in growing their topical authority or increased topic ownership
Established sites that have organic visibility but want to outpace competitors

Emerging SEO KPIs for the AI Era

So much has changed in SEO since the introduction of AI and LLM-based chat and search functions.

And with all this change comes the need to adjust how we monitor SEO success for our stakeholders, teams, and clients.

If you want to show up at key AI-powered search moments, start tracking these new KPIs for AI mentions and visibility:

KPI	Definition	Why It Matters	How to Measure	Example
LLM mentions	Frequency of brand/product mentions in AI response outputs	Indicates visibility in the growing AI search ecosystem	Manual testing; Semrush AI Toolkit	Monitoring increased brand mentions via LLM models after implementing structured data
AIO visibility and inclusion rate	Presence in Google’s AI Overviews	Critical for visibility in AI-enhanced SERPs	Manual tracking; Semrush Position Tracking	Benchmarking growth in AIO optimizations for high-value queries
Topic authority	Demonstrates the relevance of your domain to the topic of a selected seed keyword	Indicates potential for ranking in key topic areas	SEO tools with topical authority metrics, like Semrush; custom scoring	Determining increased authority in specific targeted topics
LLM-driven traffic	Visitors coming from AI search channels	Measures impact of AI tools as a new traffic channel	GA4 with source identification; UTM parameters	Using GA4 and/or UTM tagging to monitor organic traffic from LLMs

How to Track These KPIs

Tracking AI mentions is still a bit tricky at the moment. You can see some referral traffic from sites like ChatGPT in your Google Analytics account:

GA – Traffic Acquisition – Session source / medium

But monitoring your brand’s inclusion in AI Overviews might be easier than you think.

Using Semrush’s Position Tracking tool, you can filter keywords by those for which you rank in the AI Overview:

Position Tracking – Ebay – Overview – SERP Features menu

How to Choose the Right SEO KPIs for Your Business

Now that you know what SEO KPIs you could track, you need to connect the dots between your business goals and the SEO metrics that matter most.

Use these four approaches (alone or combined) to zero in on the KPIs that matter most to your team.

1. Align KPIs to Your Business Model

The way your business operates has a direct impact on which metrics signal success.

For example, a local HVAC service provider and a global SaaS company won’t measure SEO wins the same way.

Here are a few examples of how you might prioritize SEO KPIs based on different business models:

Small ecommerce site: Focus on revenue per organic visit, product page visibility in SERPs, and even top-of-the-funnel indicators like newsletter opt-ins or coupon searches.
Startup SaaS platform: Track branded search growth, demo or free trial signups from organic visits, and the performance of long-tail, solution-focused keywords.
Service-based businesses: Monitor metrics tied to future conversions, like free consultation forms, quote requests, and engagement indicators like page views per session.
Local businesses: Prioritize local visibility KPIs like Map Pack presence, Google reviews, and organic visits from users in your service regions.

Pro-tip: There is no one-size-fits-all SEO KPI list. Determine the goals that are important to your clients, stakeholders, marketing leadership, and adjoining teams, and then decide on the ones you’ll monitor over time.

2. Map Your Audience’s Search Journey

To fuel real growth, map out how your audience moves through their search-to-buy journey. Then, focus on the KPIs that matter most to monitoring the goals you want to achieve.

Where is your audience in the search journey

Think through the following questions:

Where does your audience search at different points of the journey? Are they using Google, TikTok, Instagram, ChatGPT?
How does your target audience search for your product or service? Are they typing in problem-based queries or searching by brand?
Are they using Google’s AI Overviews (AIOs) to make decisions, or do they largely ignore them?

Once you have the answers to these questions, you can map out where your brand needs to be seen by your target audience.

Let’s say you have a complex product and your audience has a long sales journey, and they do a lot of research before they make their final decision via several channels.

Impressions across different search platforms, branded search increases, and on-page engagement would be better KPIs than immediate organic conversions or form opt-ins.

Alternatively, imagine your audience is high-intent, they don’t use LLMs as part of their search journey, and your site focuses on providing only bottom-of-funnel content. In this case, you’d want to focus on CTR and organic conversion metrics.

3. Define Strategic Business Outcomes

Your KPIs should reflect business outcomes you expect your strategy to influence.

I like to think of this in four major types of strategic SEO goals:

Brand visibility
Lead generation
Revenue impact
Authority building

4. Match KPIs to Your Site’s SEO Maturity

You’ll also need to consider your KPIs based on your site’s SEO maturity stage.

If you’re in the early stage of SEO investment, you’ll want to zero in on:

Content production goals: Report on the number of new blog posts or landing pages published per month.
Keyword rankings: Track how many of your target keywords break into the top 20 search results.
Visibility growth: Monitor the overall increase in impressions and clicks.

But if you’re further along in your SEO strategy?

Shift your focus from visibility to impact and trust.

If you’re in the advanced stages of SEO investment, rather than just asking “What’s improving?” ask yourself things like:

How many pages rank in the top 10 from our entire content library?For example, if only 10% of your pages rank on page 1, you’ll want to monitor the topic clusters where you’re weakest and set a KPI to improve those over time.
Which pages or topics convert best and why?Let’s say you have a post that drives five demo signups per month, but another page in a different topic cluster drives zero. As you work to better optimize your pages, track demo signup growth by topic to gauge improvement.
Where do we see the least engagement?For example, if you’re experiencing high impressions but low average time on page in one particular topic cluster, your content may be missing the mark. Set a goal to optimize those pages and ensure you’re tracking on-page engagement as a KPI to determine which actions move the needle.

Track the Right SEO KPIs to Get Real Results

Now that you know what KPIs to track (and which metrics to ignore), you’ll want to do the following:

Do a KPI audit: Are you tracking what really matters? Use the SEO KPIs planner to help you decide on the right ones for your business or client.
Set a review cadence: Monitor your KPIs weekly, monthly, or quarterly based on your goals.
Evolve as you grow: Your KPI mix should mature with your SEO strategy. You’ll measure different KPIs in year one of your SEO efforts vs. year three.

This will help you drive real SEO results. Results that grow your business and show your clients the impact of your SEO efforts.

Free resource: Remember to download our free SEO KPI planner to set yourself up for success.

The post The SEO KPIs That Actually Matter (And How to Track Them) appeared first on Backlinko.

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Signal User Statistics: How Many People Use Signal?

June 23, 2025/0 Comments/in Web Design News/by

Signal was released in 2014, initially with phone calls only functionality, later that year messaging was added.

Today, Signal is a popular messenger app, widely considered as one of the most secure communication apps.

Signal reportedly has up to 100 million monthly active users worldwide. Ranked by the user base, it remains relatively small compared to messengers with a massive user base like WhatsApp which has over 3 billion MAUs, but Signal shows some recent growth.

Read on to find all the important Signal usage statistics for 2025.

Signal Key Stats

Signal has 70-100 million monthly active users.
Signal app downloads reached 193.8 million as of early June 2025.
Signal has 50 full-time employees.

Signal Monthly Active Users

According to the latest data, Signal has 70-100 million monthly active users worldwide.

That’s up from an estimated 20 million monthly active users as of December 2020.

Sources: NZZ, TechCrunch

Signal App Downloads

According to estimates, Signal has been downloaded over 193.8 million times across Google Play and App Store worldwide since its launch.

In 2025 (as of June 10), Signal hit 14.9 million downloads worldwide across the App Store and Google Play.

Here’s a detailed breakdown of annual Signal app downloads since 2019:

**Note:** Incomplete data for 2025, as of June 10.
Year	Signal App Downloads
2019	8.3 million
2020	13.4 million
2021	65.7 million
2022	27.4 million
2023	25.8 million
2024	27.3 million
2025*	14.9 million

Source: Appfigures

Signal App Demographics

According to recent estimates, Signal’s user base among iPhone users is mostly male and younger users aged 18-24 account for 36.1% of the app’s user base.

Here’s a detailed breakdown of Signal user base age demographics among iOS users:

**Note:** Demographics data for Signal iOS app only.
Age	Signal Audience
18-24	36.1%
25-34	19.8%
35-49	21.7%
50-64	21.7%
65+	0.7%

Source: Appfigures

Signal Operating Costs

According to the company, Signal operating costs reached an estimated $50 million in 2025. That’s up from $14 million in annual costs of November 2023.

Source: Signal

Signal Employees

According to a company update posted in November 2023, the Signal team consists of 50 full-time employees.

Source: Signal

The post Signal User Statistics: How Many People Use Signal? appeared first on Backlinko.

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1. Grab Attention with Short-Form Videos

2. Optimize Your Google Business Profile

3. Create Helpful Website and Blog Content

4. Use SMS to Instantly Reach Customers

5. Encourage Customers to Share Their Experience on Social Media

6. Partner with UGC Creators

7. Use AI Chatbots to Promote Your Business 24/7

8. Collect Prospect Info with Lead Magnets

9. Create an Email Newsletter

10. Turn Reviews and Testimonials into Visual Proof

11. Share Visual Content on Pinterest

12. Amplify Your Reach by Boosting Your Social Posts

13. Create a Loyalty Program That Feels Personal

14. Build Trust and Authority on LinkedIn

15. Co-Host Lives, Webinars, or Giveaways

Turn These Small Business Marketing Ideas into Results

What Is an SEO Report and Why Is It Important?

How to Create an SEO Report That Drives Results

Step 1: Determine the Stakeholders

How to Report to Non-SEO Audiences

Step 2: Decide Which Metrics Matter Most

Add-On SEO Report Metrics

Step 3: Turn Raw Data Into Actionable Insights

Step 4: Showcase the Results

Executive Summary

Performance Metrics

Next Steps

Appendix

Mistakes to Avoid in Your SEO Report

Reporting Data Without Context

Surfacing Issues Without Providing Solutions

Listing Every Keyword Ranking

Including Every. Single. Page.

Ignoring Business Outcomes

Telling, Not Showing

Show the Impact. Earn the Buy-In.

Table of contents

Before we start

1. Start the process with clear goals

2. Identify contributors and stakeholders

3. Visualize your content workflow

Use Yoast SEO in Google Docs

Content workflow example 1

Content workflow example 2

4. Assign activities and responsibilities to team members

5. Set sub-deadlines and contact moments

6. Agree on standards and priorities

7. Allow time for final checks and changes

8. Do you create unnecessary work?

9. Are things not going according to plan?

10. Doing extra tasks that aren’t part of the plan?

Streamline your content workflow, but don’t let it rule you!

1. ChatGPT (Plus)

2. Yoast SEO & WooCommerce SEO

Unlock AI features in Yoast SEO Premium

3. Jasper

4. Keyword Insights

5. Semrush SEO Writing Assistant

6. MarketMuse

7. Originality.ai

8. Grammarly

9. Gemini

10. Perplexity

11. Claude

12. NotebookLM

What Are the Best AI Marketing Tools?

1. ChatGPT

Create Relevant First Drafts

Accelerate Customer Research

Pros and Cons

2. Semrush

Track Your Brand in AI Search

See What AI Platforms Say About You

Keep Social Content on Brand

Pros and Cons

3. Flick

Create a Social Media Calendar

Repurpose Long-Form Content

Pros and Cons

4. Canva