LLM SEO Optimization Techniques: (including llms.txt)

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Table of Contents

  1. How to Make Your Content Visible in the Age of AI Search
  2. What Are LLMs and Why Should You Care?
  3. The New Way of Searching
  4. SEO vs. GEO vs. AEO vs. LLMO: Are We Just Rebranding SEO?
  5. Key LLM SEO Optimization Techniques
  6. Bonus Strategies for LLM Optimization
  7. The Role of llms.txt: Giving AI Search All the Right Signals
  8. LLM Optimization vs. Traditional SEO
  9. Common Mistakes to Avoid
  10. Tools and Resources to Get Started
  11. Conclusion

How to make your content visible in the age of AI search 

So, what exactly is LLM Optimization? Well, the answer to that question depends on who you ask. For example, if you ask a machine learning engineer, they’ll tell you it’s all about tweaking prompts and token limits to get better performance from a large language model. In fact, Iguazio actually defines LLM optimization as improving the way models respond, which means smarter, faster, and with more contextual recognition.    

If, on the other hand, you are a content strategist or SEO enthusiast, LLM optimization will mean something completely different to you and that is making sure that your content shows up in AI-generated search results. And, that needs to be true no matter whether you’re talking to ChatGPT, searching with Perplexity, or scanning Google’s new AI Mode for answers. Some call this ChatGPT SEO or Generative Engine Optimization. 

So, if you fall into the latter of those two groups, ie: the people who want their content and product pages to be seen and clicked, then this article is for you. And, if you’d like to read on, we’ll show you why LLM optimization in an AI-search landscape isn’t some sort of luxury option; it’s an absolute necessity. 

What are LLMs and why should you care? 

AI engineers train Large Language models on huge amounts of text and data to generate answers, summaries, code, and human-like language. They’ve read everything (not just the Classics) and that includes blogs, news articles and your website.   

The reason that’s important is that LLMs don’t crawl your website in real time like Search Engines do. What they do is read it, learn from it and when someone asks them a question, they try to recall what they saw and rephrase it into an answer. If your site shows up as the answer, “Great” but if not, you’ve got a visibility problem. 

The new way of searching 

Search is not just about Google anymore. Also, it’s not as if just one other thing has come to dominate which means we’re left with a rather messy mix of Perplexity answers, Chat GPT chats, Gemini summaries and voice assistants reading out answers while we try to do two tasks at once. 

In short, people aren’t just searching, they’re conversing and if your content can’t hold its own in this environment then you’re missing out on visibility, traffic, and the ability to build trust.  We’ll walk you through exactly how to fix that.   

Read more: How to optimize content for AI LLM comprehension using Yoast’s tools 

SEO vs. GEO vs. AEO vs. LLMO: Are we just rebranding SEO? 

If you’ve been wondering whether you now need four different strategies for SEO (Search Engine Optimization), GEO (Generative Engine Optimization), AEO (Answer Engine Optimization), and LLMO (Large Language Model Optimization), relax, it’s not as big a deal as you might think. You see, despite all the buzzwords, the core of optimization hasn’t changed much. 

All four terms point to the same central goal: making your content more findable, quotable, and credible in machine-generated output regardless of whether that comes from Google’s AI Overviews, ChatGPT, or an answer box on Bing. 

So, should you overhaul your entire content strategy to ‘do LLMO’? 

Not really. At least, not yet. 

Most of what boosts your presence in LLMs is already what SEO professionals have been doing for years. Structured content, semantic clarity, topical authority, entity association, clean internal linking, it’s all classic SEO.  

Where they slightly diverge: 

SEO (Search Engine Optimization)  Relies on backlinks and site architecture to establish authority 
GEO (Generative Engine Optimization  Puts extra emphasis on unlinked brand mentions and semantic association 
AEO (Answer Engine Optimization)  Focuses on being the single best, most concise, and sourceable response to a specific query 
LLMO (Large Language Model Optimization)  Leans into optimizing content not just for people or search crawlers but for LLMs reading in chunks, skipping JavaScript, and relying on embeddings and grounding datasets  

But the thing is: you don’t need four different playbooks. All you need is one solid SEO foundation. In fact, this point is backed up by Google’s Gary Illyes who confirmed that AI Search does not require specialized optimization, saying that “AI SEO” is not necessary and that standard SEO is all that is needed for both AI Overviews and AI Mode. 

  • Focus more on entity mentions, not just links 
  • Treat your core site pages (home, pricing, about) and PDFs as important LLM fuel.
  • Remember that AI crawlers don’t render JavaScript, so client-side content might be invisible   
  • Think about how LLMs process structure (chunking, context, citations), not just how humans skim it 

So, if you’ve already been investing in foundational SEO, you’re already doing most of what GEO, AEO, and LLMO ae all about. That’s why not every new acronym needs you to have a whole rethink on your efforts. Sometimes, it’s just like SEO. 

Key LLM SEO optimization techniques 

Now that we know LLMs aren’t crawling our site but are understanding it, we need to think a little differently about how we create and construct content and for more on this, you may find this article extremely insightful. This is not about cramming in keywords or trying to play the algorithm, it’s about clarity, structure and credibility because these are the things LLMs care about when deciding what to quote, summarize or ignore. Below are some techniques that will help your content stay visible now that people are using generative search.   

The bar has been raised on the quality of content  

LLMs love clarity. The more natural and specific your language is, the easier it is for them to understand and reuse your content. That means not using jargon, avoiding ambiguity and instead, focusing on writing like you’re explaining something to a colleague. 

To give an exact example: 

Don’t Say: 

“Our innovative tool revolutionizes the digital landscape for modern businesses.” 

Instead Say: 

“The Yoast SEO plugin for WordPress helps businesses to improve their website’s visibility and appear inn search results 

Use Structure, Chunked Formatting

Chunked formatting means breaking your content into small pieces (chunks) of informatin that are easy to understand and remember. LLMs tend to prioritize the most easily digestible content construction – which means your headings, bullet points, and clearly defined sections must do a lot of heavy lifting. Not only does organizing your content like this help people to skim read, but it also helps machines understand what each section is about.  

Structuring your content like this will help: 

  • Write clear, descriptive H2s and 3s 
  • Use bullet points that can provide standalone value 
  • Include summaries and tables to give quick overviews 

Be Factual, Transparent, and Authoritative 

Just like Google, LLMs need to trust that your content is reliable before they start taking you seriously. This means you need to show your working out, quote sources, reveal authors, and follow the principles of E-E-A-T. Experience, Expertise, Authority, and Trust. 

Follow these E-E-A-T principles 

To do this: 

  • Include an author bio and credentials if possible (include a link to actual author bios and social profiles) 
  • Name your sources when you use claims or statistics 
  • Share real experiences if possible “As a small business owner…” 

The more real, relatable and trustworthy your content looks, the more AI will like it.  

Optimize for Summarization 

LLMs won’t quote your entire blog post; they’ll only use snippets. Your job is to make those snippets irresistible. Start with strong lead sentences so that each paragraph begins with a clear point followed by context. Also, it’s a good idea to front-load your content. Don’t save your best bits for the end.  

As a reminder: 

  • Start each section with what you want the key takeaway to be 
  • Keep paragraphs short and self-contained 
  • Create standalone summary paragraphs as these often get quoted in AI generated answers 

Use Schema 

Behind every great summary is a structured content model. That’s where Schema markup comes in and to help the AI understand your content, you need to speak in a certain way.   

Read more about schema markup 

To make things clear, use: 

  • Article for blog content 
  • FAQPage for questions and answers 
  • HowTo for instructions 
  • Author and Person for writer’s bio
  • WebPage for generic content 

Bonus strategies for LLM optimization

Once you’ve got the basics completed, like clear writing, structure and trust signals, there’s still more you can do to give your content the best shot at visibility. These bonus strategies focus on how to make your site even more AI-friendly by anticipating how LLMs interpret and reuse information. 

Use Explicit Context and Clear language 

Humans have an incredible ability to be able to ‘fill in the blanks’ and still ‘get the message’ even if the information they got was vague or unclear. One of the biggest differences between humans and LLMs? Humans can infer meaning from vague references. LLMs on the other hand… well, let’s just say that it doesn’t come naturally to them. 

In any case, the point is that if your article mentions “this tool” or “our product” without any context, an LLM might miss the connection entirely. The result? You’re left out of the answer, even if you’re the best source. 

So, to give your content the clarity it deserves: 

  • Use the full product or brand name, like “Yoast SEO plugin for WordPress,” not just “Yoast” 
  • Define technical or niche terms before using them 
  • Avoid vague language (“this page,” “the above section,” “click here”) 

You don’t need to be repetitive, but you do need to be explicit rather than implicit.  

Leverage FAQs and Conversational Formats 

LLMs love FAQs because they’re direct, predictable, and easy to quote. They closely match real user intent and provide high-value snippets that tools like Perplexity and Gemini can pull from without much guesswork. 

How to use the FAQ block in WordPress 

That said, there’s an important limitation to keep in mind if you’re using the Yoast SEO FAQ block in Gutenberg: 

You cannot use H2 or H3 heading tags inside the FAQ block. 
The block creates its own question-answer formatting using custom HTML, which is great for structured data (FAQ Page schema), but it doesn’t support native heading tags which limits your ability to optimize AI readability and skimmability. 

So, if your goal is to appear in AI-generated summaries or answer boxes, where headings like “What is LLM SEO?” make it easy for AI to quote your content, you might be better off using manual formatting. 

Here’s how to get the best of both worlds: 

  • STEP 1: Use H2 or H3 tags for each question (e.g., “What is llms.txt?”) and write a clear, short answer beneath it. This improves LLM visibility but doesn’t generate structured FAQ schema. 
  • Step 2: Use the Yoast FAQ block for schema support but know that it won’t give you a proper heading structure. 

 Ultimately, the more your FAQs resemble natural, searchable questions — and are structured in a way that both humans and AI can easily parse — the more likely they are to be featured in answers. 

Enhance Trust with Freshness Signals  

Just like search engines, some LLMs give preference to newer content, but remember that we need to talk to them in a certain way to get the best out of them. 

Older content can be overlooked. Worse, it can be quoted incorrectly if something has changed since you last hit publish. 

Make sure your pages include: 

  • A clear “last updated” timestamp (can we get a picture of what one would look like for clarification?) 
  • Regular reviews for accuracy 
  • Changelogs or update notes if applicable (especially for software or plugin content) 

It doesn’t have to be complicated, even a simple “Last updated: June 2025” can help both readers and AI systems trust that your content is current.  

How to keep content fresh 

Prioritize Author Visibility and Credibility 

Today, we’re entering a phase where who wrote your content is just as important as what it says. That means you need to highlight author visibility and put effort into signaling real-world experience. 

Here’s how: 

  • Include author bios in WordPress with credentials and links to their professional profiles 
  • Use Person schema to formally associate the content with a specific individual 
  • Weave in relevant experience (“As an SEO consultant who works with SaaS brands…”) 

Remember, LLMs are more likely to trust, quote, and amplify expert-authored content. 

Use Internal Linking Strategically 

Think of internal linking as your site’s nervous system. It helps both humans and LLMs understand what’s important, how topics relate, and where to go next. 

But internal linking isn’t just about SEO hygiene anymore — it’s also a way to establish topic authority and help LLMs build a map of your expertise. 

Do: 

  • Cluster related articles together (e.g., link from “LLM Optimization” to “Schema Markup for SEO”) 
  • Use descriptive anchor text like “read our full guide to Schema markup,” not just “click here” 
  • Ensure every piece of content supports a broader narrative 

Our internal linking feature is available for free with a Yoast SEO Premium plugin. 

The role of llms.txt. Giving AI search all the right signals 

Now let’s talk about one of the most recent developments in LLM visibility; a little file called llms.txt. 

Think of it as a sibling to robots.txt, but instead of guiding search engines, it tells AI tools how they’re allowed to interact with your content. Note: llms.txt is still an evolving standard, and support across AI tools may vary, but it’s a smart step toward asserting control 

With llms.txt, you can: 

  • Define how your content may be reused or summarized 
  • Set clear expectations around attribution, licensing 

It’s not just about protection, it’s about being proactive as AI usage accelerates. 

Even better: Yoast now offers llms.txt integration right inside the plugin, so you don’t need to mess around with code or server settings. If you want to future-proof your site’s visibility (and your IP), this is where you start. 

The llms.txt feature is available for both free and premium customers.   

LLM Optimization vs Traditional SEO: 

LLM Optimization and SEO are part of the same family, but they serve different functions and require slightly different thinking. 

Let’s compare: 

Traditional SEO  LLM Optimization 
Crawled and ranked by bots  Read, remembered, and reused by AIs 
Emphasizes keywords  Emphasizes context and clarity 
   
Optimizes for SERPs  Optimizes for AI-generated summaries and answers 

The takeaway? You can’t ignore either. One brings traffic; the other boosts brand visibility within AI responses. 

And considering that 42% of users now start their research with an LLM (not Google), you’ll want to be found in both places. 

Common Mistakes to Avoid 

Even well-meaning content creators fall into holes. So, take a look at the tips below to avoid any mishaps that could damage your LLM visibility: 

  • Writing like a robot or allowing a robot to write for you (ironically, not appreciated by robots) 
  • Leaving your content undated and unchanged for years 
  • Publishing posts without any author information or editorial standards 
  • Ignoring internal links or leaving orphaned pages 
  • Using vague headings or anchor text like “read more” or “this article” 

If your content looks generic, outdated, or anonymous, it won’t earn any trust. And, without trust, it won’t get quoted. 

 Tools and Resources to Get Started 

Search used to be about visibility within SERPs. But now, it’s also about being seen in summaries, answers, snippets, and chats. LLMs aren’t just shaping the future of search; they’re shaping how your brand is perceived to both humans and robots alike. 

To stand out: 

  • Write with clarity and context 
  • Structure for humans and machines 
  • Cite your expertise and show your authors 
  • Use tools like Yoast and llms.txt to signal your intent 

Future-proof your visibility with Yoast SEO. From llms.txt integration to schema support, Yoast gives you all the tools you need to speak AI’s language and dominate both generative answers and search engines. Get started with Yoast SEO Premium now and make it easy for AI to say something accurate, useful, and… ideally, about you. 

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How to drive traffic to my website

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Table of contents

Excited to launch your website, but how to drive traffic to your website? A beautifully designed site without visitors is like a shop with no customers — that’s why traffic matters. Wondering how to get visitors to your site? You’re in the right place. In this post, we’ll walk you through simple yet practical tips on how to drive traffic to a website and attract your first visitors, and even better, keep them coming back.

By the end of this guide, you’ll have a clear roadmap for improving your website’s visibility.

Why is driving traffic to your website important?

Well, you want people to discover your website and not just keep it to yourself within the design drafts; therefore, driving traffic is important.

Website traffic is the number of website visitors over a set time. It’s not just a vanity metric—it represents potential customers, greater visibility, and stronger brand awareness. If you’re just getting started, boosting your search visibility can feel overwhelming. However, by following these simple and practical tips, you’ll start to see your traffic grow exponentially.

Top 5 practical tips to boost website traffic

Here are the top 5 tips that will help you drive traffic to your website:

Understand your target audience

Before you dive into posting content on your website’s landing pages, it’s crucial to take a step back and ask yourself: Who am I trying to reach? Defining your target audience is the very first step if you’re serious about learning how to drive traffic to your website.

Creating content that resonates and drives engagement becomes much easier when you know your audience — their interests, challenges, and goals. Without audience clarity, even your best-written content might be a mismatch, targeting everyone but reaching no one.

Google Analytics is one of the best ways to perform audience research. It provides powerful insights into key metrics like:

  • What time of day does your audience visit your website
  • Which age groups are engaging with your content
  • Where your visitors are located

And much more!

Feeling lost when looking at analytics data? Don’t worry — you can check out this guide on Google Segments to help bring clarity to your dashboard.

Focus on SEO basics

Getting the SEO basics right is the easiest way to boost organic traffic to your website. It also makes it easier for search engines to understand the content on your website and index pages to make them accessible to searchers.

Here are some beginner-friendly SEO techniques for website traffic:

Add keywords naturally

Keywords play an essential role in boosting the searchability of your website. Think of keywords as phrases used by search engines like Google to match your content with what people are searching for. Do keyword research so your content matches what people are searching for. Once you’ve identified the relevant search phrases, sprinkle them contextually in important spots like headings, content, and alt texts.

Here’s a video for you:

Write clear and structured headings

It’s not just about writing content to incorporate keywords; presentation matters too if you want the readers to stay on your website. Therefore, it’s important to write content that is pleasant to the eyes and readable.

Organize your content with H1, H2, and H3 tags. Clear headings make your blog posts and landing pages easy to scan, improve readability, and help improve visibility on Google.

Add meta descriptions

Meta descriptions appear under your page title in search results. Although they don’t directly boost rankings, they encourage clicks, helping increase website visitors. Make them short, relevant, and inviting.

Use descriptive alt text for images

Alt text helps search engines “read” your images and makes your website more accessible. In fact, according to EU stats, a large portion of users with disabilities depend on well-structured web content to browse effectively.

Invest in seo tools to make it easier

Managing all these tasks can feel overwhelming at first. That’s why using beginner-friendly SEO tools can make a big difference. For example, the Yoast SEO plugin offers real-time suggestions for keyword usage, readability improvements, meta descriptions, and technical SEO essentials like XML sitemaps—all inside your WordPress dashboard. Some features, such as advanced keyword optimization and certain integrations, are available in Yoast SEO Premium.

A screenshot of the SEMrush related keyphrase overlay window with a highlight on the Volume and Trend columns

Plus, with Yoast’s built-in integration with Semrush, you can access high-performing keywords with just a few clicks, and that too without even leaving your editor.

Also, with Yoast’s newly launched Site Kit by Google insights integration, you can take your SEO management to the next level. Instead of switching between different tools to check your site’s analytics and search data, you’ll see key insights—like organic traffic, impressions, clicks, and bounce rates—directly in your Yoast Dashboard.

A smarter analysis in Yoast SEO Premium

Yoast SEO Premium has a smart content analysis that helps you take your content to the next level!

Get Yoast SEO Premium Only $118.80 / year (ex VAT)

Optimize for AI and LLMs

AI-driven search is transforming how people discover information. Search results are no longer just a list of blue links—they’re increasingly delivered as direct, conversational answers through platforms like ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Claude. If your brand isn’t showing up in the answers your customers see, you’re missing a significant visibility opportunity.

Studies show consumers rely on AI-generated responses for nearly 40% of their searches.

To improve your chances of being featured in AI-generated answers, start with the basics: use relevant keywords, write clear and concise copy for your webpages, maintain a well-structured hierarchy with proper headings, and craft descriptive meta titles and descriptions.

Here’s the good news—Yoast has the tools to help you optimize your content for AI and LLM comprehension. The newly launched llms.txt feature guides AI models like ChatGPT to better understand your business.

With just one click, Yoast SEO generates an llms.txt file that enables AI bots to scan specific parts of your website in real-time, ensuring they accurately present your brand when answering user queries.

Create quality content that provides value

Content is king — but only if it’s high quality. Once you have identified your target audience and completed your keyword research, it’s time to start publishing content on your website. Remember, you’re not just publishing keywords — we share that you’re creating content that solves problems and answers real questions. Valuable content builds trust, boosts engagement, and naturally increases website visitors.

Need help checking your content’s quality? Try Yoast’s Real-time Content Analysis editor to assess readability and SEO performance as you type, on the go!

Leverage social media to share and increase the reach

63.9% of the world’s population uses social media, which is a huge number waiting to be tapped. Social media platforms are powerful and free tools that help you drive traffic to your website. Posting regularly on your social media helps boost brand exposure and serves as a traffic channel for your website.

But here’s the key — don’t just drop links and disappear. Add a personal touch: explain why your post is valuable, start a conversation, or ask a question. You can even repurpose your blog posts into bite-sized social media content to reach more people and channel your followers back to your website.

With its social previews feature, the Yoast SEO plugin takes your social sharing game up a notch. Instead of guessing how your post will look when shared, you can see an exact visual preview for Facebook and Twitter right inside your editor.

This means you can fine-tune your title, description, and image before hitting publish, ensuring your post looks click-worthy and on-brand wherever it’s shared.

Keep your site fast & mobile-friendly

Website speed and mobile-friendliness are crucial factors in attracting traffic and retaining it. If your website is slow or hard to use on mobile, visitors will leave before reading a word..

Do you know there are over 6.8 billion people who own a smartphone?

Page speed impacts user experience and SEO, and search engines like Google prioritize fast-loading websites. If your website is slow, it may experience higher bounce rates, because users want instant access to information.

To improve your website’s performance, check your site speed with tools like Google PageSpeed Insights. Then, consider practices like optimizing your images, using lazy loading, and reducing JavaScript to improve site speed.

Mobile optimization takeaways:

Bonus tips for boosting traffic

The five core strategies above will set you on the right path—but why stop there? If you’re ready to go the extra mile in learning how to drive traffic to your website, try these bonus tactics:

Build an email list

Offering a valuable freebie (ebook, checklist, or discount) in exchange for emails remains one of the best strategies to drive traffic to a website. Once subscribers opt in, send them helpful newsletters that solve real problems rather than just promotions. Over time, this nurtures trust and encourages repeat visits.

Off-page SEO for link building

Off-page SEO—earning links from other reputable sites—signals authority to Google and helps you grow your search visibility. Guest posting on industry blogs, forming partnerships for co-authored articles, and outreach for natural backlinks are proven ways to drive quality traffic to your website.

Also Read: SEO Basics: What is link building?

Join online communities and forums

Active participation in Facebook groups, LinkedIn communities, Reddit threads, and Quora spaces related to your niche gives you direct access to potential visitors. First, add genuine value—answer questions, share insights—then naturally reference your blog posts when relevant. This free method to grow website traffic fosters credibility while driving organic clicks.

Local SEO

If you own a business with a physical address, local SEO is your savior.

Local SEO refers to the practice of optimizing your website to attract people searching the “nearby…” keyphrases. It is a technique that helps you get searchable both online and offline.

Here are some basic local SEO practices that you can follow:

Claim and optimize your Google Business Profile:

  • Include location-specific keywords, such as “family dentist Chicago,” in your page titles, headings, and meta descriptions.
  • Earn citations in local directories such as Yelp, Yellow Pages, etc.
  • Encourage customer reviews.

If you want to rank your website locally and on Google Maps, do check out Yoast Local SEO plugin for WordPress.

Ready to drive traffic to your website?

Driving traffic to your website is not about quick wins—it’s a marathon. With consistent efforts and offering value to your audience, you will see long-term benefits, and your website will top the SERPs.

Keep refining your on-page SEO and publishing content that truly resonates with your audience. By applying the tips mentioned in this guide, your website’s visibility will gradually boost.

For continued learning and more in-depth insights on SEO, Yoast Academy is your go-to resource for mastering the art of improving your online presence. From SEO training for beginners to performing robust keyword research, Yoast Academy offers all-around SEO training.

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 A smoother Redirect Manager and Yoast AI Optimize for Classic Editor 

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We just introduced two new updates to Yoast SEO Premium that focus on clarity and speed. Yoast SEO Redirect Manager just got a cleaner, more user-friendly workspace. After heavy testing, Yoast AI Optimize is now available for the Classic Editor. It helps you optimize your copy for readability and SEO without disrupting your workflow or website performance. 

Redirects, made simpler 

The Redirect Manager helps you prevent errors like 404s and 410s by automatically prompting you to create redirects when you move or delete content. The core functionality remains the same. The new design makes redirect management easier and clearer. 

Here’s a quick reminder of what the Redirect Manager helps you do: 

  • Quickly set up and manage redirects without digging through menus 
  • See exactly where each redirect starts and ends 
  • Import and export multiple redirects in bulk using CSV files 
  • Apply advanced regex rules to support more complex setups, such as full migrations 

Whether you’re making small updates or handling a major restructuring, everything is easier to manage. No extra tools or technical steps required. It’s all built into your Yoast SEO Premium. 

Yoast AI Optimize in the Classic Editor 

Yoast AI Optimize brings smart, targeted SEO support into your writing flow. After heavy testing, we extended it to the Classic Editor. Improvements are easy to review and apply, and the final decision stays within the editor, under your complete control. 

Optimize faster, keep your control: 

  • Get real-time AI suggestions that help improve SEO and readability 
  • Edit suggestions to match your style and tone of voice 
  • Apply or dismiss suggestions easily without breaking your writing flow 
  • Use it in both the Classic and Block editors with Yoast SEO Premium 

Supports optimization for: 

  • Keyphrase in introduction 
  • Keyphrase distribution 
  • Keyphrase density 
  • Sentence length 
  • Paragraph length 

Yoast AI Optimize helps improve SEO scores faster while keeping a natural writing style, in both the Classic and Block editors. 

A smarter analysis in Yoast SEO Premium

Yoast SEO Premium has a smart content analysis that helps you take your content to the next level!

Get Yoast SEO Premium Only $118.80 / year (ex VAT)

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Get discovered before it’s too late: top Yoast SEO for Shopify features to outperform competitors this Black Friday

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Before we know it, the winter hues will set in, and with them comes the biggest shopping day of the year: Black Friday. Black Friday 2024 was a goldmine for online businesses, clocking in record-breaking numbers. Online shoppers spent over $10 billion, marking a 10% jump from the previous year, and 2025 is shaping up to be even bigger.

In this blog post, we’ll break down the most powerful features of the Yoast SEO for Shopify app and show you how to make the most of them. The goal? Help boost your SEO game, improve your store’s visibility, and stay ahead of the competition this Black Friday.

How is Yoast SEO a game-changer for your Shopify store?

When it comes to ecommerce, SEO plays a crucial role in getting your product pages in front of potential buyers. That visibility becomes even more important during high-traffic events like Black Friday, when every click counts.

Let’s talk numbers: the #1 result in Google’s organic search sees an average click-through rate of 27.6%, while only 0.63% of users click on something on the second page. In short, first page converts most.

This is where SEO—and more specifically, Yoast SEO steps in to boost your chances of winning those clicks. Enhancing your visibility in search results helps drive more clicks, traffic, and ultimately, sales during peak shopping seasons, such as Black Friday.

Top Yoast SEO for Shopify Features to help maximize your Black Friday visibility

Yoast SEO for Shopify provides the necessary tools to optimize your Shopify website, just when shoppers are searching the most. Here are the top features that make it possible –

1. Instantly generate SEO-friendly meta titles and descriptions with one-click AI

Black Friday is one of the most competitive times of the year for online stores, and your product pages need to do more than exist—they need to stand out.

Optimized meta titles and descriptions can help you grab attention in search results, improve your click-through rates, and drive more qualified traffic when people are actively looking to buy.

How Yoast SEO for Shopify helps

Yoast SEO for Shopify makes this process fast and effortless with Yoast AI Generate. With just one click, you get multiple meta titles and descriptions optimized for search engines and the audience.

You can easily pick a suggestion that fits, tweak it to match your brand tone, or generate fresh variations until you find the perfect match. It’s a huge time-saver, especially when you’re racing against the Black Friday clock.

Hint: Yoast AI doesn’t have any hidden (AI) fees.

2. SEO and readability analysis

So, you’ve optimized your meta titles and descriptions and successfully caught a shopper’s attention in the search results. That’s great, but the job isn’t done yet. Now it’s time to turn that click into a conversion.

Whether you’re writing fresh product copy or trying to fix an underperforming one, your product pages should answer the searcher’s intent. If your page is overloaded with keywords or dull copy, shoppers will bounce fast. That means lost sales and more abandoned carts.

    A well-written, easy-to-read product page could boost your search visibility and build trust with your buyers. It helps them feel confident, informed, and ready to hit that “Buy Now” button.

    How Yoast SEO for Shopify helps

    Yoast SEO for Shopify gives you real-time SEO and Readability Analyses through a traffic light system as you write. It helps you find the right balance between being search-friendly and human-friendly. With its signature traffic light system, you’ll know instantly whether your content is on track or needs work.

    The best part? The analysis is tailored to the type of content you’re creating, whether it’s a product page, a blog post, a static page, or even a collection. And yes, it works in 20+ languages, so you’re covered even if you’re targeting international audiences.

    See more: Yoast Readability Analysis feature

    3. Automatic product structured data

    Structured data helps search engines understand your content, and more importantly, helps your products stand out in search results. When done correctly, it can get your store featured in rich results, including price, reviews, and availability, directly in the SERPs. That kind of visibility can seriously boost your click-through rates and drive more qualified traffic to your store.

    For ecommerce, structured data (or schema markup) is a big deal. It tells search engines exactly what your page is about, whether it’s a product, a brand, or an offer, and helps it display that information in a more attractive and informative way.

    How Yoast SEO for Shopify helps

    Yoast SEO for Shopify handles the heavy lifting automatically. It adds clean and complete structured data behind the scenes using JSON-LD, covering essentials like Product, Organization, Website, WebPage, BreadcrumbList, Article, and Offer.

    And if you’re using product review apps like Judge.me, Loox, Ali Reviews, or Opinew —Yoast seamlessly integrates with them to include the AggregateRating schema, making your products look even more trustworthy at a glance.

    No need to fiddle with code. Just set it up once, and Yoast does the rest.

    See more: Yoast Structured Data feature

    4. Optimize how your store appears on search and social media  

    Another important factor that can make or break your Black Friday traffic is how your store shows up, both in search results and across social media. With thousands of brands vying for attention, a strong, well-optimized snippet or preview can give you the edge you need to get noticed and clicked on.  

    Your product might be perfect, but you risk getting lost in the noise if it doesn’t look compelling in Google results or stand out in a social feed. When people search and scroll with urgency on a day like Black Friday, those tiny first impressions can mean a big difference in click-throughs and conversions.  

    How Yoast SEO for Shopify helps  

    Yoast SEO for Shopify lets you take control of how your product pages and content appear in search. You can easily edit your title, slug, and meta description and preview how they’ll look on mobile and desktop, ensuring your Black Friday deals look as irresistible as they are.  

    On top of that, Yoast helps you fine-tune how your pages appear when shared on platforms like Facebook and X. You get to set the title, description, and the preview image, so every share looks polished, on-brand, and click-worthy.

    In short, it helps your content stand out where it matters most—whether it’s a Google search result or a viral Black Friday post on social media.

    See more: Yoast Content Preview feature

    Other notable features

    We’ve already covered some core features that make the Yoast SEO for Shopify app a powerful tool, but that’s not where the value ends. The app packs in several other features that make your experience smoother, smarter, and way more worth the spend, especially as you gear up for high-pressure sales periods like Black Friday.

    Here are a few extra perks worth mentioning:

    • Free trial: Yoast offers a 14-day free trial so you can explore all its features and see how it fits into your Shopify store without spending a penny upfront.
    • Seamless theme compatibility: Yoast works smoothly with most Shopify themes and automatically removes any conflicting code. That means a cleaner site, faster load times, and a better shopping experience, exactly what you need when traffic spikes during Black Friday.
    • Learn with Yoast SEO Academy: The Yoast SEO Academy gives you access to beginner to expert-level SEO courses that cover everything from ecommerce SEO to keyword research, SEO copywriting, and more. It’s a great way to build your skills while the app handles the technical side, so you can focus on selling.
    • 24/7 support, all year round: Yoast’s support team is available 24/7, 365 days a year. Whether you’re setting things up or stuck somewhere in the middle of Black Friday madness, they’ve got your back.

    Over to you…

    With Black Friday coming up, it’s important to start optimizing your Shopify store, and SEO is one area you really don’t want to overlook. It can get tricky, especially for small businesses, but having the right tools in place can make it much more manageable.

    To improve your chances of appearing when shoppers search, you must cover the ecommerce SEO basics. And when you pair that with a tool like Yoast SEO for Shopify, you get a solid set of features that help you save time, avoid technical headaches, and stay one step ahead of your competitors.

    Also read, Holiday season SEO: 10 tips to start preparing!

    The post Get discovered before it’s too late: top Yoast SEO for Shopify features to outperform competitors this Black Friday appeared first on Yoast.

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    10 Yoast WooCommerce SEO features to boost Black Friday rankings and revenue   

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    Black Friday isn’t just a sales event; it’s a battle for attention. Whenever product, price, and promotion fight for a click, visibility becomes a battle for dominance, not just survival. Are you a WooCommerce store owner pouring your energy and budget into paid ads, but not getting the required results? But what about organic traffic? That’s free traffic, compounding over time. Does it often get ignored, just when it matters most?

    This Black Friday, Yoast WooCommerce SEO offers a more innovative way to boost visibility in search engines. It’s built to help ecommerce teams and SEO beginners optimize product listings at scale, improve product rankings, and get their products seen by relevant traffic without relying on developers or SEO agencies. From structured data that powers Google Shopping to auto-generated meta descriptions that convert, Yoast SEO for product pages helps you unlock visibility where it counts.  

    10 features designed to help WooCommerce stores sell more!  

    1. Make your products pop in search with Automated Schema Markup  

    SEO plugin for WooCommerce automatically adds structured data to your product pages, including price, stock status, and review ratings, so Google knows exactly what you’re selling.  

    Here’s why this is essential during Black Friday:

    • Earn more visibility with essential markups  

    Your products become eligible for enhanced display formats in Google search and Google Shopping, like star ratings, price tags, and “In stock” labels, which catch the eye and drive more clicks.  

    • Show up in search with enhancements.  

    Your products become eligible for rich results in Google Search and Shopping, helping you stand out with product snippets with visual cues, giving you a critical edge to gain buyers’ trust.  

    • Scale stress free during busy hours  

    Whether you have 10 products or 10,000, the automation works across your entire catalog, giving your store a visibility boost without coding or development support.  

    2. Ecommerce SEO for product pages 

    Black Friday is approaching, and you shouldn’t settle for generic Black Friday ecommerce SEO advice. Product pages must be fast, focused, and fully optimized, yet most tools fall short.  

    Yoast SEO for WooCommerce gives you a more intelligent SEO analysis tailored to your e- commerce needs.    

    Here’s why it matters right now:  

    • Optimize faster with checks tailored for online stores.  

    Yoast SEO for WooCommerce knows the difference between product pages and blog posts. SEO for product pages enables ecommerce-specific analysis looks for missing GTINs, product images, short descriptions, and key product data, which impact how your listings rank and appear in search.  

    • Clean content with more intelligent optimization  

    When your product pages meet SEO best practices, they stand a better chance of ranking, earning clicks, and converting buyers, especially during peak sales like Black Friday.  

    • Built-in guidance to tackle high-traffic periods  

    The tool flags what’s missing, offers suggestions to fix it, and helps you complete each page with confidence, no spreadsheets, no second-guessing.  

    3. Keep your sale pages in the spotlight with canonical URLs 

    When your store has filters, variants, or dynamic parameters, it can unintentionally create multiple URLs for the same product. Yoast Black Friday ecommerce SEO handles this with canonical tags, ensuring search engines focus on the most critical version. It’s an essential tool to safeguard your rankings during high-traffic periods like Black Friday.  

    Why it matters for Black Friday:  

    • Prevents internal competition in search results  

    Filters or variants like color, size, or other factors can generate dozens of duplicate URLs. Canonicals ensure your main product page ranks, and not identical clones.  

    • Keeps the focus on your high-converting sale URLs  

    During campaigns, you want one clear URL driving all traffic and shares. Canonical control lets you guide the attention of search engines and shoppers to the most profitable path.  

    • Avoids SEO dilution across extensive seasonal catalogs  

    Black Friday season sales often mean bulk uploads across many categories. Canonicals help you scale without wrecking your SEO by telling search engines which URLs to prioritize.  

    4. AI-Powered meta titles and descriptions  

    Writing compelling meta titles and descriptions across hundreds of product and category pages can take up time, especially during Black Friday. Yoast SEO’s generative AI tool relieves pressure by helping you act fast and stay consistent.  

    Why it matters for Black Friday ecommerce SEO:  
     

    • Instantly creates five optimized options per page.  

    No more starting from scratch. Whether you have 10 or 1,000 products, you’ll get fast, relevant, SEO-friendly, and conversion-focused suggestions.  

    • Let’s you inject urgency and seasonal phrases automatically.  

    You can easily add terms like “Black Friday Deals,” “Only Today,” or “Hurry—Ends Soon” into your metadata so your listings match the season’s tone and urgency.  

    • Reduces writing time and boosts consistency  

    When every product needs a compelling meta description, AI speeds up the process while keeping branding and tone aligned. 

    Help your online store stand out!

    Get this and much more in the Yoast WooCommerce SEO plugin!

    Get Yoast WooCommerce SEO Only $178.80 / year (ex VAT)

    5. Increase shoppers’ engagement with internal linking suggestions  

    Intelligent internal linking isn’t just good for SEO. It boosts time on site and nudges shoppers toward more purchases. Yoast SEO automatically recommends links to related products, categories, or promo pages while editing, so you never miss a chance to cross-promote during a high-traffic season.  

    Why it matters for Black Friday:  
     

    • Recommends relevant internal links  

    Link high-traffic Black Friday products to similar deals or bundles to increase cart size and page views.  

    • Improves site structure and shopper retention  

    A clear internal linking strategy guides users deeper into your store, helping them discover more of what they want.  

    • Distributes SEO value to priority pages  

    Funnel link authority toward your most profitable or seasonal categories without manual planning.  

    6. Polish every share with social preview customization  

    First impressions on social media can make or break a click. Yoast SEO lets you control how every product or sale page appears when shared on Facebook and X. You can customize your posts without relying on a designer.  

    Why it matters for Black Friday:  
     

    • Customize how each page looks when shared  

    Align visuals and messaging for your most significant sales to match the tone and urgency of your ad campaigns.  

    • Prevent broken or off-brand previews  

    Avoid the risk of blank images, awkward text cuts, or generic-looking links that lower CTR.  

    • Make every page share-ready, instantly  

    Eliminate the need for external tools by handling everything within WordPress.  

    7. Eliminate broken links with the Redirect Manager  

    During seasonal updates, product URLs change, stock rotates, and categories shift. Yoast SEO’s Redirect Manager keeps your store agile and error-free by prompting for redirects when you move or delete a page and letting you manage them in bulk for larger campaigns.  
     

    Why it matters for Black Friday:  
     

    • Prompts for redirects automatically  

    Stay ahead of 404 errors when product pages are removed or consolidated during your Black Friday refresh.  

    • Prevents lost traffic in live campaigns  

    Ensure shoppers don’t land on dead ends from searches, ads, or email links.  

    • Bulk manages redirects at scale  

    Easily import/export rules so you can update entire catalogs in one go.  

    8. Prioritize what matters with a WooCommerce optimized sitemap  

    Yoast SEO generates a lean, clean XML sitemap that emphasizes your key products and categories so Google can quickly find and index the right pages.  

    Why it matters for Black Friday:  
     

    • Excludes non-essential elements  

    Keep bots focused on pages that convert, not test products or expired deals.  

    • Prioritizes core product/category pages  

    Surface your highest-converting listings sooner in search.  

    • Boosts crawl efficiency during rapid updates  

    Frequent product additions or updates? No problem. Your sitemap stays updated and focused. 

    9. Reach the right shoppers with multilingual & regional SEO  

    Black Friday is global, but search intent varies by country. With Yoast SEO, your WooCommerce store can automatically serve the correct language and regional content, ensuring each shopper lands a relevant, localized experience.  

    Why it matters for Black Friday:  
     

    • Directs users to the correct language or market page  

    Auto-detects delivers region-appropriate content for better engagement.  

    • Reduces bounce from mismatched traffic  

    Avoid shoppers clicking away due to currency issues or unfamiliar language.  

    • Supports UK, US, and international targeting  

    Essential if your campaign runs across multiple storefronts or regions.  

    10. Stay search-ready with built-in best practices  

    Black Friday ecommerce SEO campaigns move fast, and so do SEO rules. Yoast SEO keeps your store aligned with the latest Google guidelines in real time, so you don’t have to double-check every tag, title, or markup under pressure.  

    Why it matters for Black Friday:  
     

    • Updates in sync with Google’s changes  

    Trust that your store is optimized even as algorithms evolve.  

    • Prevents technical errors during fast changes  

    Launch flash sales, new landing pages, or content tweaks without risking SEO slip-ups.  

    • Maintains quality under pressure  

    Even during high-stress periods, you’ll ship content that performs well in search.  

    Ready to make this your best Black Friday yet?  

    Don’t wait until the last minute. Install and configure Yoast SEO for WooCommerce now and start optimizing your store with robust, scalable tools. From automated metadata to intelligent internal linking, everything is built to save time and boost results. With Yoast, you’re not just keeping up, you’re staying ahead.  

    Start now, as the sales surge, and you will find your store miles ahead.  

    Help your online store stand out!

    Get this and much more in the Yoast WooCommerce SEO plugin!

    Get Yoast WooCommerce SEO Only $178.80 / year (ex VAT)

    The post 10 Yoast WooCommerce SEO features to boost Black Friday rankings and revenue    appeared first on Yoast.

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    Try AI-powered SEO with 10 free Sparks.

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    Writing the right SEO title or meta description can be time-consuming, especially when unsure what works best. That’s where Yoast AI Generate comes in. Now, all Yoast SEO users can try it with 10 free Sparks. 

    What does Yoast AI Generate do? 

    Yoast AI Generate suggests SEO titles and meta descriptions based on your content and keyphrase to help your content stand out in search results and attract more visitors.  

    It analyzes your post and offers tailored suggestions that are clear, relevant, and optimized for search, without starting from scratch.  

    Use Yoast AI Generate to:  

    • Speed up your workflow  
    • Improve your search snippet quality  
    • Feel more confident about what you publish  

    You stay in control: review, edit, or regenerate suggestions before applying them.  

    Here’s why you’ll love this opportunity  

    • You can try Yoast AI Generate with 10 free Sparks   
    • You don’t need to create an account   
    • You don’t need to upgrade or share credit card information  

    The free sparks do not regenerate; this is a one-time offer.

    Why we’re offering this  

    Not everyone can experience the effectiveness of our AI tools, especially if you’re using the free plugin. This offer makes it easy to try Yoast AI Generate immediately and see the value for yourself, without needing to commit. It’s a simple way to explore what smarter SEO can look like in your workflow  

    Read how to use Yoast AI Generate in your Yoast SEO and start optimizing.  

     

    The post Try AI-powered SEO with 10 free Sparks. appeared first on Yoast.

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    Updated llms.txt: More control for future discovery 

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    Table of contents

    AI tools are changing how people discover your website, and not always in the way you’d want. 

    They might surface old blog posts, low-priority pages, or content that no longer reflects your brand. That can confuse users, damage trust, and dilute your expertise. 

    That’s where llms.txt comes in. And now, you can personalize it. 

    Choose what AI sees 

    The llms.txt file points large language models to the content on your site that deserves attention. With the latest update, you’re in control: 

    • Manual mode: Pick the exact pages you want to include. 
    • Automatic mode: Let Yoast handle it by prioritizing cornerstone content. Updated for you weekly. 
    • Easy toggle: Turn the feature on or off anytime. No coding, uploads, or extra tools. 

    Why this matters 

    AI is already influencing how people experience your site and brands through summaries, answers, and search results. 

    If it highlights the wrong content, it can: 

    • Misrepresent your business 
    • Confuse your audience 
    • Undermine your credibility 

    This update gives you more control over how your site is understood by large language models now and as AI-driven search continues to evolve. 

    Built for the future of SEO 

    • Fully integrated in Yoast SEO and Yoast SEO Premium 
    • No third-party plugins needed 
    • Designed specifically for AI visibility, not just general SEO 

    You’ll find all llms.txt settings in the Site Features panel. Just flip the switch and choose the setup that works best for you. 

    Learn how to set up llms.txt in Yoast SEO 

    The post Updated llms.txt: More control for future discovery  appeared first on Yoast.

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    What is Google AI Mode? 

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    Google AI Mode is search with a brain. It uses AI to answer questions directly, so it’s no longer about just blue links. Type, talk, or upload a photo, and it gives you a useful summary plus follow-ups. Here’s how it works and why it matters. 

    Table of contents

    Say hello to Google’s AI Mode

    Google AI Mode is a feature in Search that uses generative AI to deliver full, conversational answers instead of just showing a list of links. It breaks questions into parts, pulls information from across the web, and presents a direct, useful response at the top of the results page. 

    This new feature doesn’t replace traditional search just yet, but it does build on it. As a result, it changes how people explore information and how content gets surfaced. 

    Are you curious about how this works? Check out the video below to see Google AI Mode in action while planning an autumn trip to Banff, Canada.

    Search becomes a lot smarter 

    AI Mode handles different types of input, not just text. You can type a question, say it out loud, or upload a photo, and it works out what you mean. That flexibility makes it easier to search however and whenever it makes sense, whether you’re speaking into your phone, typing at your desk, or pointing your camera at something you want to learn more about. 

    It also uses what Google calls query fan-out. That means it quietly rewrites your question into a bunch of related ones and looks for answers across those variations. Ask something broad, like “best credit card for travel,” and the system may branch off behind the scenes, looking at fees, perks, user reviews, and so on. 

    AI Mode also pays attention to context. It keeps your previous queries in mind and follows the thread. You can ask follow-ups and get refined answers without starting from scratch. 

    An example of a search in Google AI Mode

    How Google AI Mode works in practice 

    Using Google AI Mode feels different from standard search, and that shows up in how it delivers answers. 

    When someone asks a question, AI Mode doesn’t just take the words at face value—it tries to understand the intent behind them. It rewrites the query in several different ways behind the scenes, each one focused on a specific angle.  

    For example, a search like “what are the best places to travel in fall” might also trigger more specific questions in the background, like “pleasant weather and fewer crowds,” “fall foliage and scenic beauty,” or “unique experiences and cultural events.” AI Mode runs all of those in parallel, scans multiple online sources for useful information, and pieces together a response that covers what the user likely meant, even if they didn’t spell it out. 

    The response doesn’t look like a typical search results page. Instead of a list of links, users see a short summary stitched together from different sources. It reads more like an answer than a directory and can include images, maps, and more. 

    With AI Mode, you can also keep the conversation going. You could ask follow-up suggestions like “compare destinations in Canada,” “check visa requirements for Canada,” or “see average weather in British Columbia”. It helps users toward the next thing they might want to know without making them start over. The video at the top of this article shows this in practice.

    The opening screen of Google’s AI Mode where you enter your questions

    Behind the scenes, AI Mode uses passage-level retrieval. Rather than ranking entire pages, it scans individual sections, like a single paragraph, list, or sentence, to find the parts that answer specific pieces of the question.  

    That means a well-written section buried halfway down a product guide or FAQ could be surfaced, even if the full page wouldn’t normally show up high in the results.  

    This alone could make us rethink visibility. It’s less about a page’s overall ranking and more about whether any part of it directly addresses what someone is asking. 

    The focus of content is changing 

    AI Mode shifts how content gets discovered. It’s less about ranking in the traditional sense and more about providing answers that are both useful and directly relevant to what someone is asking. 

    The system is looking for content that fits into a specific response. That means structure matters, like clear headings, focused sections, and formatting that makes key points easy to extract. But usefulness on its own doesn’t guarantee visibility. The content has to align with the intent of the query in a very specific way. 

    Covering a topic from different angles helps. It gives your content more chances to match how people frame their questions, even when those questions vary in wording, detail, or focus. Visibility often depends not just on quality, but on precision. 

    Google AI Mode does several searches at the same time, while also looking at a large number of sites

    What does Google AI Mode mean for SEO? 

    Google AI Mode could shift what we aim for. Visibility now depends on whether your content can deliver value right away, often in small, specific pieces. Google’s pulling answers from across the web: a sentence from one page, a stat from another, maybe a checklist from a support article. 

    That might feel limiting, but it opens up opportunities. If others are still optimizing for old patterns, there’s space to improve. Recognizing this shift early can give your brand a real advantage. 

    It also rewards a stronger understanding of how people search. Pages, tools, and features that directly answer real questions and make that answer easy to find stand a better chance of getting picked up. 

    Find out how to optimize your content for AI LLM comprehension using Yoast’s tools.

    Google added an AI Mode button to its search homescreen

    Where it’s going 

    Google is folding AI Mode into regular search experiences. On some questions, especially ones that ask for a comparison, a definition, or a plan, it’s already showing AI-generated results first. 

    That approach is expanding. More queries will likely trigger this kind of response over time, which means the way content gets surfaced will keep shifting. Long, keyword-heavy pages won’t offer the same payoff they once did. What works now is content that’s clear, helpful, and flexible enough to match how people explore a topic. 

    Chances are, AI Mode isn’t a side feature for long. It’s looking more and more like the future of Google Search. 

    How to access Google AI Mode 

    AI Mode is rolling out now in the U.S. and India. If you’re using Google Search or the Google app, you’ll start to see a new AI Mode tab either at the top of the results page or right in the search bar. This gives you access to more advanced AI responses, improved reasoning, and a deeper view of web content through follow-up questions and linked sources. 

    If you don’t see AI Mode yet, it’s likely still rolling out. Expect it to appear automatically soon. Once it shows up, you can use it without any special sign-up or activation. Once Google figures out monetization, we’ll see it roll out AI Mode to more countries soon. 

    You can also access it from search results. If Google thinks your query fits, a “Try in AI Mode” option may appear automatically. Trying it out firsthand gives the clearest insight into how responses are built and how your content appears. 

    Meet Google’s AI Mode 

    Google AI Mode signals a shift in how search works. It’s not just about rankings anymore. It’s about how helpful your content is and how easily it can be used to respond to real questions. 

    This change gives SEO and content teams a reason to look at their work differently. Clear structure, focused writing, and alignment with how people search all play a bigger role in visibility. 

    It’s a good time to step back, reassess what’s working, and explore areas you may have overlooked. For many, this is a chance to improve useful content, refine formats, and meet search expectations in new ways. 

    The post What is Google AI Mode?  appeared first on Yoast.

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    How to prep your Shopify or WooCommerce store for Black Friday before the rush starts  

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    Table of contents

    Black Friday is the biggest rush of the year for most ecommerce businesses, and it is right around the corner. The most successful merchants prepare for Black Friday early and follow a structured plan to prepare their stores, ensure visibility, and convert first-time visitors into long-term customers.

    This guide breaks down your preparation into three categories: Basic, Intermediate, and Advanced. Each section builds on the last so that you can grow your readiness over time, regardless of your team size or budget.

    Basic: Start with what you can control for Black Friday

    These actions lay the groundwork for everything else. Without these, no advanced strategy will stick.  

    1. Optimize your metadata  

    First impressions matter, and your metadata is the first thing users see in search results. So make it count and leave a lasting impact. 

    Why it matters: Strong metadata can improve visibility and attract more clicks. When your titles and descriptions align with what shoppers seek, your chances of standing out rise significantly.  

    Actionable tips:  

    • Prioritize metadata for high-traffic products and category pages.  
    • Include seasonal keywords such as “Black Friday deals” or “holiday gift ideas.”  
    • Keep titles and descriptions concise and compelling.  

    With Yoast SEO for Shopify and Yoast WooCommerce SEO, you can preview and improve your metadata in real time. The tools flag missing or duplicated fields and guide you on how to write content that earns clicks.  

      2. Optimize product pages for both humans and search engines

    Product pages are the moment of truth. They’re where curiosity turns into clicks and clicks turn into customers.  

    Why it matters: No matter how great your traffic or ads are, most people will leave without buying if the product page feels confusing or incomplete. A well-structured page improves your chances of ranking in search and helps buyers feel confident in their decision.  

    Actionable tips:  

    • Lead with benefits, not just specs. Tell shoppers how the product fits into their lives.  
    • Use bullet points and headers to make details skimmable.  
    • Reinforce trust by showing stock levels, customer reviews, and delivery clarity.
    • Bulk update how you showcase your product on Shopify using Yoast SEO for Shopify Content Templates feature.

    Yoast WooCommerce SEO and Yoast SEO for Shopify help your product pages appear cleanly and clearly in search results. They add structured data behind the scenes and check your content for SEO and readability so you can focus on turning visitors into buyers. 

    3. Use internal links to guide traffic  

    Internal linking guides customer to surface key pages, maps user behavior, and boosts your site’s SEO. 

    Why it matters: Internal linking helps search engines understand your site structure, distributes authority to key pages, and guides visitors toward high-converting content. It keeps users engaged, supports SEO, and makes your promotions easier to surface across your site.  

    Actionable tips:  

    • Link to your Black Friday page from key blogs and evergreen content.  
    • Feature top categories or bestsellers in your navigation.  
    • Use anchor text that aligns with what users are searching for.  

    Yoast WooCommerce SEO offers internal linking suggestions as you write, making keeping your content connected and strategic easier. 

    Fast wins and common pitfalls

    Once you have set up the basics, some steps can help you boost impact quicker and avoid costly missed opportunities. 

    Fast wins:

    • Swap stock photos for original product shots 
    • Double-check coupon logic and expiration dates 
    • Test any gift wrap or personalization options on product pages 

    Big pitfalls to avoid: 

    • Waiting until November to publish seasonal content 
    • Using duplicate product descriptions from suppliers 
    • Letting broken links or outdated pages remain live 

    Intermediate: Strengthen your SEO and campaign strategy  

    Once the technical foundation is stable, it’s time to focus on your content and promotions.  

    4. Test and improve your site’s speed  

    Site speed directly impacts user experience, especially during high-traffic periods like Black Friday. Slow-loading pages frustrate shoppers and lead to lost sales.  

    Why it matters: A fast site supports smoother browsing and quicker checkout. Search engines consider page performance in rankings, and users are more likely to buy when the experience feels seamless.  

    Actionable tips:  

    • Use performance monitoring tools to identify slow pages.  
    • Compress and resize large images to reduce page load times.  
    • Deactivate unused plugins (WooCommerce) or apps (Shopify).  
    • Clean up excessive code or bulky page elements.  

    While Yoast SEO is not a speed optimization tool, clean site structure and proper internal linking help improve crawlability and engagement, indirectly supporting performance. 

    5. Create a focused Black Friday landing page  

    Your landing page is the command center for your seasonal promotions. It’s where visitors decide to browse further or bounce. 

    Why it matters: A dedicated page gives your Black Friday campaign direction and cohesion. Instead of scattering your offers across the site, it provides a clear path for shoppers to follow. It simplifies navigation, allows for better internal linking, and gives you a consistent, trackable URL for email campaigns, ads, and site banners. Plus, it’s reusable! Just update the content each year.  

    Actionable tips:  

    • Create a short, memorable URL like /black-friday-deals and keep it live year-round.  
    • Showcase limited-time offers, bundles, top-selling categories, and exclusive discounts.  
    • Use persuasive headers, quick-loading images, and CTA buttons that lead directly to product pages.  
    • Answer common buyer concerns upfront, e.g., shipping deadlines, return windows, and local pickup options. 

    6. Segment your email list and automate flows  

    Email isn’t just another marketing channel during Black Friday; it’s your direct line to customers ready to buy.  

    Why it matters: Blasting the same message with monotonous tone to everyone no longer works. Crafting compelling emails with personalized messages that resonate with the reader is key to email marketing. People are more likely to open, click, and shop when an email speaks to their pain points and highlights the solution. A segmented email list means you’re talking to people based on what they care about: early access, bundles, or a product they viewed or left in their cart.

    Actionable tips:  

    • Break your list into clear segments, e.g., loyal customers, cart abandoners, and holiday-only shoppers.  
    • Map out your flow: teaser email, early access offer, launch announcement, final hours.  
    • Track performance with UTM parameters like utm_campaign=bf25 so you can optimize in real time. 

    For more on syncing content and email, check out our basics of email marketing blog post.

    7. Create content that helps people find your deals earlier  

    Buyers don’t always search for discounts. Many start with questions or ideas like “affordable gifts for coworkers” or “best tech gift under $100.”  

    Why it matters: Helpful blog posts and gift guides pull in people who aren’t searching for your brand yet. These early touchpoints introduce your products and lead them toward your Black Friday offers.  

    Actionable tips:  

    • Write guides and roundups tied to real shopper intent.  
    • Use long-tail keywords that match seasonal search habits.  
    • Add smart internal links to featured products or your Black Friday landing page. 

    Fast wins and common pitfalls

    Once your product pages are polished, tighten up the surrounding details.

     Fast wins:

    • Set a calendar reminder for your campaign email and social media schedule 
    • Add an announcement banner linking to your Black Friday page 
    • Test your email signup and welcome flow to catch any issues 

    Big pitfalls to avoid: 

    • Forgetting to link email campaigns to relevant landing pages 
    • Using inconsistent messaging and UTMs across channels 
    • Launching your Black Friday page too late for indexing and ranking 

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    Advanced Black Friday preparation: Boost visibility, trust, and retention  

    If you’re already doing the essentials well, these strategies will help you scale.  

    7. Improve your chances of showing up in local search  

    If you offer in-store pickup or have a physical store, don’t miss out on the people searching near you. Shoppers looking for same-day purchases often skip past online-only stores.  

    Why it matters: When someone searches for a product near them, being present in the results can drive instant foot traffic and build trust before they even walk in.  

    Actionable tips:  

    • Ensure your name, address, and phone (NAP) are identical across all pages and listings.  
    • Update your opening hours and add clear pickup instructions.  
    • Add content to your site that mentions your location, city, or neighborhood.  

    Yoast Local SEO is included in the Yoast WooCommerce SEO. It helps you create and manage local schema and landing pages that appear in search. (It is not available for Shopify.)  

    8. Use structured data to stand out in search  

    When someone searches for a product and your listing shows price, availability, or reviews, that’s not luck. That’s structured data.  

    Why it matters:  Rich snippets give your products more space in search results, credibility, and clicks.  

    Actionable tips:  

    • Add structured data (schema) for Product, Offer, and Review to top-selling listings.  
    • Use Google’s tools to check that your schema is implemented correctly.
    • Use product variant schema to improve your chances of showing in rich search results.

    Yoast SEO for Shopify and Yoast WooCommerce SEO automatically adds this, but you can also fine-tune it for special products or campaigns if needed.  

    9. Set up post-purchase flows before the sale starts  

    Black Friday may be over at checkout, but it’s just the beginning of your relationship with a new customer.  

    Why it matters: People who buy during Black Friday often need reassurance and support. They’re far more likely to come back if they feel taken care of.  

    Actionable tips:  

    • Set up automated flows for thank-you messages, setup tips, and review requests.  
    • Offer a discount for a second purchase or referral.  
    • Guide people back to your product pages or Google review profile.  

    Taking care of this now means you can focus on fulfillment and service during the Black Friday rush. 

    Fast wins and common pitfalls

    A thoughtful follow-up and last check make sure you build on opportunities and are ready for what might come your way.

     Fast wins: 

    • Recheck your sitemap to ensure new pages are indexed 
    • Update your business hours and contact details in your footer 
    • Enable review requests to trigger automatically post-purchase 

    Big pitfalls to avoid: 

    • Making last-minute technical changes with no buffer 
    • Ignoring mobile performance and checkout testing 
    • Overlooking schema validation or broken structured data 

    Final thoughts  

    Preparing for Black Friday is about being proactive, not reactive. Every SEO improvement you make now, from product pages to local visibility, will help you attract more shoppers and turn clicks into customers.  

    Yoast gives you the tools to stay ahead: clearer product listings, stronger search visibility, and smart automations that scale with your store. Whether you’re using Shopify or WooCommerce, optimize now to be ready before the crowds arrive.  

    Explore:

    The post How to prep your Shopify or WooCommerce store for Black Friday before the rush starts   appeared first on Yoast.

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    Holiday season SEO: 10 tips to start preparing!

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    The summer is well on its way. Should you already start preparing for Black Friday and the holiday season? Yes! They’re the biggest sales of the year, and ranking in Google is something you take time to do. It’s never too early to start getting your deals ready. So, if you are a merchant with an online store or an ecommerce business, let’s start working on your holiday season and Black Friday SEO immediately!

    Don’t forget that Black Friday (November 28, 2025) and Cyber Monday (December 1, 2025) are kicking off this year’s holiday shopping season. You can set up a lot of content for all occasions. In this post, we’ll review some things you can do to prepare!

    Table of contents

    Holiday shopping this year

    Today, people are used to shopping online. It’s easy and convenient. You don’t have to travel only to find something out of stock. Plus, online stores often offer payment plans. Shopping online is so popular that online sales during the holiday season keep hitting record after record. And the numbers will only continue to rise. That’s why it’s safe to assume that people will buy many (if not most) holiday gifts online this year.

    Staying on top of trends to prepare for the holiday season is good. E-commerce is still growing, and consumers expect more every year. Here are some actionable tips for the upcoming Black Friday and holiday season to improve your SEO:

    1. Discount deals and alternative payment options (Buy now, pay later) should be part of your ecommerce strategy
    2. Brands should provide a consistent purchasing experience across digital/online and physical stores
    3. To minimize returns, brands should make their product pages as comprehensive as possible
    4. Holiday season marketing campaigns should be tailored to each platform to ensure maximum effectiveness

    Online is where it’s at

    Of course, in-store or curbside pick-up will still prove popular. However, most people research their ecommerce purchases online – sometimes weeks in advance! So don’t be surprised when the holiday shopping season starts well before Black Friday and continues for weeks.

    Extending Black Friday, Cyber Monday, and other holiday season online deals for a few days or weeks can be a good idea. This is especially true if you want to prevent huge crowds from gathering at your store on a specific day. That won’t be a good shopping experience for anyone involved, so spreading these deals over an extended time is probably better.

    Start preparing in time

    Dive into the data you amassed during previous Black Friday and Cyber Monday events, and see if you can come up with improvements for your e-commerce holiday season SEO. Bear in mind that it takes a while for content to rank. So, to keep up with the competition, try to get your content in gear at least 45 days ahead. That’s often recommended. Of course, you can always start preparing earlier if that works better for you. Your schedule could look something like this:

    1. 45 Days in advance: Post your promotion to your website calendar and post a save-the-date post on social media and in your email newsletter.
    2. 7 Days in advance: Post upcoming events/promotions on social media and via email. Try to encourage other (small) businesses to share it with their followers.
    3. 1 Day in advance: Post an event reminder on social media.

    It’s a good rule to remember these steps and time frames. However, you can do much more than set up new pages and renew old ones. Let’s look at a few practical tips.

    1. Do holiday season keyword research

    Keyword research is important all year, but especially during the season when your online store starts having big sales. You have probably worked on this research previously, but now is the time to dive in again. There are always things to learn, like developments in your industry, changes in consumer behavior, or new trends and topics to discuss.

    Start early with your research to give yourself enough time to produce high-quality, helpful content that helps reach those new audiences. While using generative AI tools to generate holiday season SEO content for your e-commerce business is enticing, please be careful with that. Generative AI can help you do your job, but it can’t replace your valuable insights and opinions.

    Do look into using Yoast SEO to optimize your content for LLMs like ChatGPT and Gemini.

    2. Set up holiday season gift pages

    First, we must consider what category or particular landing pages make sense for the upcoming holidays. You can always set up pages like ‘Best gifts for parents/millennials/teens’, ‘Newest deals for your 6/10/12-year-old’, and ‘Best friend/grandparents/coworker discounts’. You could also think of ‘Top 10 gifts for outdoor/skiing/parasailing enthusiasts’ and ‘Top 3 deals for stay-at-home parents’, etcetera.

    Make sure the page titles and meta descriptions of these gift landing– or category pages fit the upcoming holiday season. You can reuse these gift pages for Hanukkah or your summer sale. Find (old) content that fits the holidays, rewrite titles and meta descriptions to match the upcoming season, and chances are you won’t have to do that much work to get them up to date. Be sure to write proper product descriptions and improve the product images. Learn how to write great product descriptions using our product-specific analysis in WooCommerce SEO and Yoast SEO for Shopify.

    To increase the chances of your gift pages ranking, boost their internal linking structure. You can also link the previous all-year holiday season pages, such as specific Christmas landing pages (‘Top 7/10/25 gifts for under the Christmas tree’) to boost these when the time has come. That could be around the 45-day mark, but we would be okay with stretching that to 60 days. You’ll need to give Google and other search engines enough time to follow your links and find your specific holiday season SEO landing pages with deals.

    3. Promote on social media and in your newsletter

    Social media like X and Instagram can play a massive role in the success of your (online) Black Friday sale. Take Pinterest, for instance. Many people have a Pinterest Christmas wish list. As a merchant, it would be amazing to get your products on people’s wish lists, which can positively impact your reach and maybe even your sales.

    While you’re at it, don’t forget to share your Black Friday gift pages on Facebook and other social media. Maybe even make short videos to post on TikTok. In the previous section, we mentioned the top ten lists. We all know these still work pretty well on social media. Yoast SEO can help you optimize your social media posts before you share them.

    Email marketing

    Last but not least, remember your email marketing! For many companies, newsletters provide a steady stream of income. Be sure to plan a good campaign for your newsletters.

    For example, we recommend setting up holiday gift guides and sharing these. You can create an excellent overview of many gifts that many people will enjoy. ELLE and Target have pages like that, and so do more companies.

    4. Introduce new products

    The holiday season is an excellent time to pitch new products. If you know of potential bestsellers for the upcoming holiday season, start writing content about these products now. You can compare it to tech sites writing about concept iPhones, features that Apple might add, etc.

    The more you write about new products upfront, the more likely the sales pages for these products will rank when it matters. You should link all pages you made in advance to that one main page you’ll set up when the product is released and available to buy. Treat that page like cornerstone content.

    5. Add structured data to your product pages

    When adding or changing your product pages to fit the holiday season, don’t forget to optimize them. Check, for instance, whether you’ve added structured data to your product pages. Rich results that show ratings and prices can give you an edge over your competitors. Our WooCommerce SEO plugin, Local SEO plugin (included in Yoast SEO Premium), or Yoast SEO for Shopify app can help you do this to improve your holiday season!

    an example of a google search result for a product, in this a listing of a PlayStation 5 sold by Walmart
    Example of a product appearing in the search results if you use structured data.

    Read more: Structure data with Schema.org: the ultimate guide »

    6. Check your product feeds

    Don’t forget to optimize your e-commerce product feeds for Black Friday and holiday season SEO. This maximizes visibility and sales during this high-traffic online shopping period. Start by ensuring all product information, such as titles, descriptions, prices, and availability, is accurate and up-to-date. Check if the products that need them have relevant Black Friday keywords to enhance discoverability. Use high-quality, clear images to showcase your product.

    Use the promotions feature in Google Merchant Center to prominently display special deals and discounts for Black Friday and Cyber Monday. This way, you’ll make your offers more attractive to potential buyers. Please update your feed regularly to reflect real-time inventory changes and fix errors to maintain product visibility.

    7. Reuse content

    There’s no shame in serving old wine in a new bottle. If you have a Black Friday or a Christmas gift guide for 2024, feel free to reuse it in 2025. Update the year and details like popular brands and products for that year. If the slug of your URL is /black-friday-guide-2024/, change it to /black-friday-guide-2025/ around August next year, and redirect the old URL to the new one. No need to create a new page. It would be a waste of nice inbound links not to reuse that old URL. Of course, this is even easier if you don’t include the year in the URL, so /black-friday-guide/ is also an excellent slug.

    In the months before the holiday season, you could even simply repost popular posts from last year (a bit adjusted or updated if needed) on social media. Valentine’s Day might even become Secret Santa. Cyber Monday might match your child’s favorite gifts for Ramadan. These are probably small adjustments; perhaps just adding ‘this Ramadan’ to a meta description or title will do.

    Keep reading: Should I update or delete old content? »

    8. Optimize for page and user experience

    It’s a good idea to check and optimize your website for speed and mobile use. Trust us; you’ll get these recommendations from an SEO blog or consultant daily. And with good reason! Mobile, site speed, and user experience are essential to get people to spend money on your ecommerce business this Black Friday. When preparing your online store for the holiday sale season, this is as good a time as any to check your mobile website and site speed, and update or improve them if possible.

    To start, look at Google’s Core Web Vitals and use these to improve your site. Here are five ways to boost your Core Web Vitals scores.

    Read on: How to check site speed »

    9. Local business? Focus on local SEO

    Investing in local SEO for Black Friday and Christmas shopping is essential for local businesses aiming to attract more customers. Begin by optimizing your Google Business Profile with accurate business information, including address, phone number, business hours, and any special Black Friday/Cyber Monday hours or promotions. Encourage satisfied customers to leave positive reviews. Use local keywords in your content, focusing on terms your community will likely search for, such as “Black Friday deals in [Your City].” Additionally, engage with your local community on social media by promoting special deals to drive more foot traffic to your store.

    10. Create a measurement plan

    All set? Remember to make a measurement plan to analyze your success. Write down all your plans, then think about how to track all your actions. This is key to knowing what to focus on next year. For detailed instructions on analyzing your Black Friday, Cyber Monday, or Cinco de Mayo shopping, read our post with five tips to measure your holiday sales success.

    What should you do when the holiday season is over?

    How do you handle the product pages of holiday gift sets after the holidays? Even if the gift set or product was a great success, and you want to offer it again next year, it’ll take a while for the page to be relevant again. What is the best way to deal with these pages in the meantime?

    Our advice: Keep the pages up. However, you don’t necessarily want them visible to people browsing your site. So, have the page up without linking, then link to it again during the holiday season. This is better than deleting it and starting again.

    Conclusion on holiday season SEO

    In short, now’s the time to buckle down and start writing holiday gift pages and content for new products. Remember to plan your social media promotion and analytics. After all, you can never start too early when your online business depends on the holiday season. Be prepared; begin now with your SEO. Good luck with your holiday season sale!

    Keep on reading: eCommerce usability: the ultimate guide »

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