Ecommerce SEO: how to rank higher & sell more online

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People are making more purchases online, whether from home on a laptop or on their mobile phone while on the go. In 2025, retail e-commerce sales are estimated to exceed 4.3 trillion U.S. dollars worldwide, and this number is expected to go up in the following years. Naturally, this rise in online shopping has come with a surge in online stores worldwide. How can you make sure your online store stands out and reaches the right people? Ecommerce SEO can help drive up those sales numbers. In this guide, we’ll explain every aspect and help you get started!

Table of contents

What is ecommerce SEO?

Ecommerce SEO concerns all the tactics you can use to gain more visibility and organic traffic for your online store in search engines, like Google. These tactics focus on the technical and content sides of SEO. By optimizing your store you can get a dependable stream of targeted traffic to your site. This, in turn, should lead to more sales.

Branding is key

You are one of the millions of companies trying to sell something online. Of course, you might think you’re unique, but, in most cases, that’s not true. In most niches, you compete with dozens, if not hundreds or even thousands of others. What you need to do is stand out. But how?

First of all, you need to write down your mission. Your mission will clarify what you – and your customers – want your business to be. This will help you identify your USPs (unique selling points) and create a strong brand that resonates with your audience.

Example of branding on the website, youtube channel and instagram account of Tony Chocolonely
Example of strong branding across platforms by Tony Chocolonely.

Building a recognizable brand is not just about visuals like a logo or the colors you use, but also your tone of voice or your handling of customer requests. Being present on the right platforms and showing your audience that you are trustworthy and there to help them. How you present yourself to the outside world makes all the difference. Branding helps you get inside people’s minds and stay there. But stay genuine and fit your branding to your audience.

SEO helps online stores get found by the right customers at the right time. Unlike ads, which stop when you stop paying, strong SEO keeps bringing in shoppers over time. A well-optimized store makes products easier to discover, builds trust, and reduces reliance on paid traffic.

Carolyn Shelby – Principal SEO at Yoast

Technical ecommerce SEO

To get properly started we need to look at the technical aspects first. Here, we’ll go over some important considerations for your online store.

The importance of good hosting

One of the simplest but most impactful things you can do is choose the right hosting for your site and upgrade your hosting plan when needed. Starting out, it might not make sense to drop hundreds of dollars for an extensive hosting plan. But once you reach a certain level, it makes all the sense in the world. Good hosting makes your site faster, pages load properly, and you’ll be able to handle more traffic than ever before. It can also better handle the crawling efforts of Google and other search engines, making it easier for them to index your URLs.

Most hosting providers offer several packages with uptime guarantees, scalability options, dedicated support, et cetera. Find a hosting provider specialized in ecommerce, and don’t try to take the cheap route.

SSL is essential for ecommerce SEO

Long gone are the days when having an SSL certificate for your site was optional. When you are selling something and/or collecting customer data in any way, you need to do so in a secure environment. No one will leave their credit card details on a website that is not adequately secured.

There are other benefits to having a properly secured website. Google, for instance, has said many times that having an SSL connection can give your site a ranking boost. In addition, many of the newer internet technologies like HTTP/2 only work on websites that use HTTPS connections.

Make your site visible through crawling and indexing

You probably want to have all your pages shown in Google, but not being mindful of this can backfire. For example, indexable results from your internal search engine, URLs with parameters from your faceted navigation or product filters, outdated content, temporary pages, and test content can be considered useless URLs. If you have a ton of them, Google will spend a valuable part of your crawl budget indexing those instead of crawling and indexing the pages that you do want to show up in the search results.

Use your robots.txt file to control what search engines can and can’t do on your website and adequately use meta robots tags to block stuff that doesn’t make sense to show in the search results. Also, to get Google to crawl your store correctly, you need optimized XML sitemaps that list your most essential pages. 

Improve the URLs of your online store

Getting your URLs right is a crucial aspect of ecommerce SEO. Unreadable URLs make it harder for search engines and site visitors to understand your products. And online stores tend to have a ton of URLs. Usually, every single product has its own URL and every product variation also comes with its own URL. On top of that, things like faceted navigation can generate an endless stream of URL variants. If Google finds the same products on multiple URLs, how will it know which one to show in the search results?

Help search engines by minimizing the number of URLs on your online store to prevent confusion and unnecessary crawling. Check your paginated search results and see if all of these have a unique URL. Give your URLs descriptive names to help search engines identify the contents, so change URLs like /sweaters/323551 to /sweaters/ugly-christmas-sweater. Follow Google’s advice on how to design a URL structure for ecommerce websites.

Be aware of duplicate content

This endless number of URLs showing the same content can cause another SEO issue you want to prevent. If they find duplicate content on multiple pages, search engines won’t know which URL to show which can lead to lower rankings for all pages involved. So make sure to check how your ecommerce CMS handles product variations and faceted navigation. You can use a canonical URL to signal to Google what the original version of a page or product is.

Duplicate content is also a risk when you use product descriptions provided by manufacturers, which are used on other websites. Although you’ll be competing with content on other websites, it will make your product page stand out less. Leading to search engines favoring other websites that do write their own product descriptions. 

Add structured data to your products

Structured data lets you describe your products and business information to Google. This makes it easier for the search engine to understand your business and products. In return, you can get rich results like highlighted product information. You can use structured data to provide details like titles and descriptions, stock and shipping details, SKUs, prices, reviews, ratings, and product images for products. Using these details, Google can highlight your products in diverse ways and various locations, like Google Images and Shopping.

With product structured data your products can be highlighted in Google Images (for example).

You can also use structured data to provide business information. Google uses this data to verify whether you say who you say you are. It cross-references the information it finds on your site with what it finds on Google Business Profile. So make sure to keep this information (f.e. location, phone number, opening hours) up to date and consistent. If you want to add structured data to your products (or other pages), the structured data feature in our WordPress plugin and Shopify app might be worth checking out.

Improve your mobile shopping experience

Many people do their online shopping on a mobile phone, and that number is only growing. That’s why your mobile site has to offer a great shopping experience, similar to your website shown on a computer. We call this mobile parity. Your mobile pages should load quickly, work properly, and have no unnecessary distractions. People should not have to wait for your page to load, only to be confronted with things jumping around and buttons that aren’t clickable.

The desktop and mobile version of Etsy's website
Example of desktop and mobile version of a website: Etsy

Keep the design of your mobile site simple while still offering the branding experience that people are familiar with. Especially on your product pages, you should offer a minimal amount of distraction to get people to convert as quickly as possible. Make sure that your theme is responsive and scales appropriately to all screen sizes without having multiple designs. Give extra attention to the readability of your pages, especially those with more than a bit of text, like product pages or blog posts.

Optimize the page speed of your online store

Site speed is an ongoing challenge for most websites, especially since Google has declared it a ranking factor. For ecommerce sites, that’s even more important because a slow store can cost you customers. It is proven repeatedly that people will more likely buy from an online store with proper page speed. It’s also a vital part of another ranking factor, page experience.

How you improve the loading times of your store depends on the type of store you’re running. Hosted platforms like Shopify and Wix have built-in performance enhancements, like a CDN and image optimization options. For these SaaS platforms, you’re somewhat limited to the choices they make. If you run a WooCommerce store on WordPress, you have more control over your performance. You can choose your hosting plans, your CDN, your cache management, et cetera. Of course, there is no wrong solution. Pick whatever fits your goals and budget.

Improve your code

Many of the performance improvements you can make are found in your code. Make sure that the code of your theme is lean and mean. Fix scripts that block the rendering of your content in the DOM. Minify your code and try to add lazy loading to images where it makes sense. Don’t rely on JavaScript for loading critical functionality and content.

All the evergreen site speed tactics should also be applied to your online store. Think optimizing your images, uninstalling unnecessary apps and plugins, updating your CMS and plugins, optimizing your caching, minimizing the number of HTTP requests, asynchronously loading scripts, et cetera. To get an idea of where you should start, make sure to look at the Core Web Vitals.

User experience improves conversion rates

Related to technical SEO and branding, it’s important to be aware of the overall experience your online store offers its users. You need to help customers feel safe and welcome before they are ready to buy from your store. A well-optimized online store is a joy to use, offers a safe and secure buying experience, and loads in no time — both on mobile and desktop. Photography, typography, and content also contribute to user experience.

User experience is also about taking away frustrations and barriers for users to reach their goals quickly. It’s about optimizing product pages, CTAs, and payment flows to get people moving through the process without issue. Focusing on user experience can help you improve your store’s conversion rates. In addition, it builds a relationship with the customer and helps them come back for more. Build brand loyalty through a pleasant user experience. So add an option for guest checkout, make your site search work, improve the text on your CTAs, and offer proper faceted navigation. To give a few examples.

Don’t underestimate the importance of content

Content is, and will remain, still a very important part of SEO. Ecommerce SEO is no exception to this rule. Having great content on your website, and a proper content SEO strategy can help Google and your customers choose your shop above your competitors.

Keyword research for your online store

An important aspect is figuring out which keywords you can target — and which keywords your potential customers are searching for. It gives you a better sense of the competition and the landscape you are operating in. While doing keyword research for your online store, you’ll also uncover different search intents. Often enough, the customer doesn’t follow a straight line in their buying journey.

However, you can guide potential customers during their buyer journey with helpful content in the right place at the right time. For this, you can use proven marketing strategies like the AIDA model (Attention, Interest, Desire, Action) to guide a customer from discovering their need to guiding them to a purchase. At any touchpoint during their journey, you need to be there to stay part of their buyer journey. Keyword research will help you uncover the terms searchers use during the different sections — helping you write content that is valuable and on point.

Improve category pages for ecommerce SEO

Often, category pages can be easier to rank than individual product pages. You can set them up to target a broader set of terms instead of one specific product. Your keyword research can help you use keywords that your audience searches for. Give your category pages a good title and meta description featuring the keywords you want the page to rank for. In addition, pick a proper URL structure for your category pages. Keep them short and focused.

Add a piece of text to the category page to give Google and customers more insight into what this page holds. Don’t overdo it, though; it doesn’t have to be a wall of text. Just ensure that it is written for humans and isn’t stuffed with your keywords. Add great product images to your category pages and link to them from other relevant pages on your website.

Again, consider search intent here; category pages should target and offer solutions for ‘browsing’ behavior. This differs from what you do with individual product pages. For category pages, you want to rank for “Black Dresses” while your product page might want to rank for “Black Dress”.

Add a blog to your online store

One of the most important ways of promoting your online store is via content marketing. Adding a blog to your site gives you a range of options to rank in the search engines and attract a new wave of customers.

While your product descriptions and landing pages allow you to talk about specific products, a blog can be much more flexible. Here, you can dive deeper into your product, your business, and topics related to what you sell. Just make sure it’s relevant to the people you’re trying to target.

an example of a good blog on an ecommerce site, this one is from Zappos
Zappos has a great blog with excellent content on various relevant topics.

With high-quality content, you show that you are passionate about your product and that you are an expert on the topic. Trust and expertise are crucial factors for Google and visitors to find the business they want to buy their products from.

Relevant content has a great chance of ranking if you target the right keywords. You can write all-encompassing, authoritative cornerstone content that you can use as a base for your content strategy. Supporting those articles, you can go into more detail about specific aspects. For instance, the guide you are reading now is supported by numerous articles on ecommerce SEO topics which are all interlinked.

Improve your product pages for SEO and conversion

Your product page is where the magic happens. Here, you want your customers to hit that buy button without hesitation. But what are the aspects of an excellent product page? What can you do to improve your product page SEO? 

Write great titles and meta descriptions

The words you use to describe your articles are essential. Of course, this also goes for the words you provide for your product to be used in the SERPs — the titles and the meta descriptions. In 2021, Google was actively rewriting more page titles than ever. According to them, too many sites were using non-descript or spammy titles. Therefore, it is even more important to improve your titles and keep an eye on what Google is showing for your products.

Using WordPress/WooCommerce SEO plugins and Shopify SEO apps like Yoast SEO for Shopify, you can set up templates for both titles and meta descriptions, so they follow a similar pattern. This saves you time, and you won’t have to do everything by hand. Of course, you should write everything by hand for your most important articles and pages. Make them stand out!

Write your own product descriptions

We already touched on this topic briefly while discussing the risk of duplicate content. To prevent your product descriptions from being the same as 100+ online stores out there, you need to write them yourself.  If you have a ton of products, start with the ones most important or most valuable.

Example of unique product description on Armed Angels website
Example of an elaborate and informative description on Armed Angels webshop.

Be sure to write in the language your audience uses to find and describe these products. Don’t use jargon or made-up words that only a few people will understand. Good product descriptions are easy to grasp and easy to read. Also, stay away from walls of text — use a good header hierarchy and break up the text with paragraphs and lists for readability.

Add unique, high-quality product photos

Excellent product images are another great way to set yourself apart from your competitors. Your customer wants to see your products in detail. Even if you have an offline store as well, photos show what your products look like and give you that edge over competitors who just use the images provided by the manufacturer. Try to take authentic photos and do it yourself. Make sure they are high-quality and show your product in use to show what it looks like in real-life situations.

product photography helps ecommerce seo
Everlane combines great product photography with animated GIFs to show their backpack in use.

If you’ve shot good photos of your products, optimize them for the right size, compress them and give them a proper SEO-proof name. Use the product name in the image file name and the alt text when you upload it to your store.

Add reviews of your product or service

Reviews are incredibly important for your business. Collect them, display them and add review and ratings structured data. It can nudge customers to buy your product or service. It also helps Google turn those reviews into highlighted listings in the search results — with stars and all.

Reviews shown on product page Fable England
Fable England shows a reviews tab next to their products that allows you to scroll through reviews.

Most shoppers look up reviews before buying a product or deciding on a service. While the availability of reviews on your product pages helps build trust, they need to be genuine. Don’t publish fake reviews or only publish the ones that paint your product or service in a positive light. Even negative reviews have a place! What’s more, how you respond to negative reviews says a lot about you and your business.

Add related products for cross-selling and internal linking

To increase the conversion rate and the total amount spent per cart, you can use a variety of tactics. One of those tactics is adding related products on your product pages and even on your checkout screen, although you need to test that second option so that it doesn’t harm the checkout process.

The same goes for a list of alternative products for the one a customer is looking for. An ‘Other customers also look at’ feature helps uncover more products for your customers, plus it helps them reach their goal more quickly. In addition, this helps your internal linking as well. By doing this, you make it easier for customers and search engines to reach different parts of your site.

Improve the shopping experience with filters

For online stores, faceted navigation is a must-have on category pages. Faceted navigation — also known as product filters —, lets users filter their search to a more manageable level. We all know filters like size, price, color, brand, et cetera. Offering ample filter options genuinely improves a shopper’s experience on your site. Filters give them the possibility of finding a product with much less friction.

Filtering on website Ten Thousand Villages
Filtering (subcategories, availability, price, country) on a category page of Ten Thousand Villages.

When set up correctly, they should work without issue. The problems with faceted navigation start whenever this system spits out a massive amount of indexable URLs, thanks to the filtered parameters. This could lead to duplicate content, index bloat, and crawling issues. These URLs mustn’t get indexed by Google.

Handle out-of-stock products

Every online store will eventually reach a point where products run out of stock. How you deal with that is more important. Manage expectations by showing when this product will be back in stock. Or offer ways to keep them in the loop by offering to send an email when it’s available again. There’s more you can do to handle products that are out of stock, but it is important to act upon it to show potential customers and Google that you’re active and trustworthy.

Site structure, navigation, and internal linking

Site structure is essential for every site — and the larger your site is, the more important it gets to keep it under control. Setting everything up transparently helps customers and search engines find their way on your ecommerce site easily. As Google uses the structure to understand your site, you need to think about how you link everything together. With proper internal linking, you can signal to Google which pages are the most important ones. It will prioritize these over other, less-linked pages.

Think about your navigation

The same goes for your navigation. Well-thought-out navigation doesn’t just please Google, but users as well. Search engines like Google use the navigation of your online store to uncover your content. They also use your navigation and your site structure to connect the various parts of your site.

Google, for instance, advises shop owners to add links from menus to category pages, from category pages to sub-category pages, and finally from sub-category pages to all product pages. It’s vital to link to all the products you want to have indexed. Don’t forget to add your most important pages and categories to the footer, as that is important real estate!

Don’t forget about internal linking

Other than having a proper navigation and site structure in place, you also need to link related content to each other. This shows search engines what pages and topics are related to each other and which pages are most important. It also helps site visitors find other related content or pages to the page their currently on, keeping them on your site and helping them find what they are looking for. When you have a blog, internal links also give you a great opportunity to link directly to specific products or categories that are related to that topic. Use internal linking to show the importance of pages and help users navigate through your site.

Link building for online stores

You shouldn’t underestimate the power of link building. These are links from other websites leading to your products and/or content. This is, to this day, an important ranking factor for search engines. Not just having as many links to your website as possible, they need to come from relevant websites and make sense. 

You need to publish content that people will link to for this to happen. That doesn’t strictly have to be a blog post, but that could also be a buying guide, an infographic, a tool that helps people make decisions, original research, et cetera. Excellent, unique content has a bigger chance of getting links from relevant sites and people.

Another link building strategy is to reach out to your local community to get them to talk about you. Or you could invest in influencer marketing and digital PR to boost your online store.

Marketing and ecommerce SEO

You can sit and wait for people to show up in your online store, or you can act. While not technically SEO, marketing is still at your disposal — and there’s a lot you can do. We’ve already talked about content marketing, but we’ll also discuss social media, ads, and video marketing.

Social media

Everybody knows social media can do a lot of good when used right. So, use it to your advantage. It won’t help your store rank better, but it can help you get and build an audience. It can function as an extension of ecommerce SEO, and it is a wonderful way of contacting your customers. Social media marketing is essential for your branding — it’s where people can see you and what you do. Make the most of it!

Video marketing

Video is huge, and its growth is nowhere near stopping. Invest in video SEO if you have the budget. Just make sure it looks good and represents your business. With video, it’s important to know what you want to achieve. Do you want to get recognized on YouTube and have your videos rank well there? Then that’s where you should focus your attention as simply adding a few videos to your store won’t help in this situation.

Do you want to produce the best videos on your ecommerce site? Then you need to think about where you want to host these and how to make them click with your audience. Want videos to do well in the organic search results? That’s something else entirely. Figure out if you want to focus on videos for YouTube or your own site.

Running paid ads

Running ads in the search results is another way to stand out from the crowd. It gives you the option to bid for specific keywords and — depending on your niche — can get you a relatively cheap way to the top of the search results.

Fledgling stores often rely on paid ads to get noticed in the search results. There’s nothing wrong with this, of course. But, with paid ads, you must keep paying, or else your stream of customers will dry up. It’s not a sensible strategy to just focus on running paid ads. Combine it with SEO, social media, and content marketing.

Google Shopping feed/Merchant Center

While it is good to focus on getting your products found in Google’s organic search results, most online stores also put effort into Google Shopping. Google helps customers find the best products for the best prices in the Shopping section. In 2020, Google made it free for merchants to add their products to the Shopping section. Simply sign up for Google Merchant Center, correctly fill in all the required data about your business and follow the guidelines.

Local SEO for ecommerce

If you combine your online store with a brick-and-mortar one, you must also focus on local SEO. Discover how your online and offline stores can support each other to strengthen each other. Write content optimized for your locale and build good landing pages that help you get noticed for searches in your area. We also offer a local SEO plugin that can help you optimize your website for a local audience. For instance, it adds proper business location schema structured data for your shop and helps you get your details in Google Maps.

Is your online store on Shopify or WordPress? 

Shopify is one of the biggest ecommerce platforms out there. And WordPress powers around 43% of all websites worldwide. Both WooCommerce and Shopify are excellent choices for your online store. 

For WordPress sites, many of the ecommerce stores are powered by WooCommerce. It’s a solid platform that does a lot out of the box. Put the ecommerce tips from this guide into practice, and you are well on your way to an optimized store.

If your online store is on Shopify, you’ve chosen a platform focused on ecommerce. It comes with pretty much everything you need straight out of the box. If there is something you’re missing, there are tons of apps that can help you out. Although most SEO advice is platform agnostic and this guide will already give you lots of input, we also have a guide on Shopify SEO to help you get your Shopify store ranking high.

WooCommerce SEO plugin by Yoast SEO

To help you quickly set up WooCommerce for optimal SEO, we built the WooCommerce SEO add-on for Yoast SEO. Our WooCommerce SEO plugin adds several extra features while also improving the code WooCommerce puts out to make it more understandable for search engines. It’s an essential tool if you want to get the most out of our WooCommerce store. You can use this add-on with both the free and Premium version of Yoast SEO.

Yoast SEO for Shopify app

One of the most remarkable aspects of Shopify is that you can improve your store by running apps. There are apps for everything, from review management to email marketing and image optimization to cross-selling products. One of the most popular categories is ecommerce SEO, and we’re proud to offer a Yoast SEO for Shopify app as well.

Our app improves the technical SEO of your Shopify store while also offering features that help you produce the best possible product-related content. It comes with SEO and readability analyses, various controls for handling how Google crawls your site, and an impressive Schema structured data implementation that instantly helps search engines understand your products.

The Yoast SEO interface in Shopify
The Yoast SEO for Shopify app when you’re working on your product page.

All about ecommerce SEO

That’s it! You’ve just learned a lot. But although this is billed as a thorough guide, a complex topic like ecommerce SEO cannot be contained in one single guide. Where possible, we’ve linked to related articles that go deeper into a specific detail — read these to expand your knowledge!

The post Ecommerce SEO: how to rank higher & sell more online appeared first on Yoast.

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Social search is Gen Z’s Google: Are you visible where it matters?

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Social search is Gen Z’s Google: Are you visible where it matters?

The way people search for information is changing, and Gen Z is leading the shift. 

Instead of turning to Google, they’re searching on TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, Reddit, and Discord for everything from product recommendations to restaurant reviews and how-to guides.

This isn’t just a trend – it’s a fundamental shift in digital discovery. 

  • Google usage among Gen Z has dropped by 25% compared to Gen X, a 2024 Forbes study shows.
  • eMarketer reports that 46% of Gen Z and 35% of millennials prefer social media over traditional search engines. 

Why? 

They crave fast, visual, and community-driven content rather than sifting through traditional search results and ads.

For search marketers, this means SEO is no longer just about Google – it’s about being visible wherever audiences search. 

This article breaks down Gen Z’s evolving search habits, why social platforms are winning, and how brands can adapt to stay discoverable in this new search landscape.

The democratization of search

For years, Google dominated search. 

For Gen X and early millennials, “googling” was synonymous with searching. 

But Gen Z searches differently – they don’t use “google” as a verb in the same way, and it’s reshaping how brands approach discoverability.

Gen Z “googles” 25% less than Gen X, turning instead to social platforms where search is more visual, trend-driven, and real-time. 

Even Google has acknowledged this shift – Prabhakar Raghavan noted that “nearly 40% of young people prefer TikTok or Instagram over Google Search or Maps” for local recommendations.

This isn’t just about preference. It’s a shift in search behavior. 

Instead of scrolling through links and ads, Gen Z engages with short-form videos, peer recommendations, and user-generated content. 

They trust social platforms for their authenticity, immediacy, and personalized experience – something traditional search engines struggle to match.

Opinions on this shift vary. Some claim “Google is doomed,” while others argue it will continue to dominate. 

  • SparkToro reports that Google Search grew by 20% in 2024. 
  • Ofcom found that 1.8 million U.K. adults stopped using it for searches that same year. 

The reality likely lies in between.

The takeaway is clear: search is no longer just about Google. 

If your content isn’t optimized for TikTok, Instagram, Reddit, or YouTube – where Gen Z actively searches – you’re missing a massive audience. 

The future of search isn’t tied to one platform; it’s about showing up wherever your audience is looking. 

Sometimes, Google will win. 

Other times, a TikTok post will. 

If you want to succeed, you must create an effective content loop across multiple channels.

A look into social search

Social search has transformed social media from engagement-driven spaces into full-fledged search destinations.

TikTok, Instagram, and Reddit now shape how users find information, products, and experiences.

Up to 41% of users use TikTok for search, while 76% have discovered brands and products through social media. 

This shift means users aren’t just consuming content – they’re actively searching for answers, recommendations, and solutions.

A changing search funnel: Social trigger, social discovery, conversion

Social search is compressing and reshaping the traditional search funnel. 

Instead of bouncing between multiple touchpoints, users can explore, evaluate, and decide all within a single platform – turning Google’s “messy middle” into a fluid discovery flywheel. 

A TikTok review might lead to an Instagram deep dive, followed by a Reddit thread for credibility – all before a Google search even happens (if at all).

Success in search is no longer about a single platform but about understanding user intent across multiple channels. 

Winning in this evolving search landscape requires a presence where searches actually happen – by optimizing content for a multichannel, search-everywhere experience.

Why Gen Z prefer social to search 

Unlike previous generations who relied on Google to type queries and sift through blue links, Gen Z expects faster, more engaging, and more authentic results. 

Social search delivers exactly that.

Here’s how their approach differs – and what brands need to consider.

1. Faster, more visual results

Raised in a digital world of instant gratification, Gen Z doesn’t want to read lengthy blog posts or scroll through endless search results. 

They prefer quick, digestible answers in visual formats like short-form videos, carousels, and captions.

TikTok, Instagram, Snapchat, and YouTube are their go-to search tools.

  • A TikTok search for “best foundation” instantly serves up video tutorials, reviews, and comparisons – far more engaging than a traditional article.
  • A YouTube Short on “quick meal-prep ideas” delivers step-by-step cooking guidance in seconds, skipping the recipe pages cluttered with ads, bios, and affiliate links.

Get the newsletter search marketers rely on.


See terms.

2. Authenticity and trust

Gen Z doesn’t trust traditional brand marketing. 

Instead, they rely on peer recommendations, real experiences, and unfiltered opinions from communities. 

Unlike Google, which prioritizes search-optimized content and paid ads, social platforms surface real conversations from actual users.

  • Instead of reading a blog on the “best budget travel destinations,” Gen Z watches TikTok vlogs of real people documenting their trips.
  • Rather than trusting company-written product descriptions, they seek out TikTok creator reviews, Instagram UGC testimonials, or Reddit discussions.

This peer-driven content feels more honest, transparent, and credible – making social search more trustworthy than traditional search engines.

3. Algorithm-driven discovery

Unlike traditional search engines, where users actively search for answers, social platforms push relevant content before users even realize they need it – re-engaging them in their search journey.

  • TikTok’s For You page surfaces content based on past engagement, introducing users to products and trends before they search.
  • Instagram’s Explore tab curates recommendations based on browsing behavior, making discovery seamless.
  • Reddit threads and Discord servers expose users to niche discussions, organically driving awareness of brands and products.

This shifts discovery earlier in the customer journey. 

Users aren’t just searching when they’re ready to buy.

They’re being passively introduced to brands, leading to high-intent searches later. 

This blurs the lines between search and social, inspiration and intent – reshaping the role of search marketing.

The role of community

For Gen Z, an aspect of search is about finding answers from people they trust. 

That’s why Reddit, Discord, and private forums are becoming go-to search engines, offering unfiltered insights, recommendations, and real experiences.

Unlike traditional search engines, which prioritize algorithm-ranked web pages, community-driven search thrives on peer-to-peer discussions that feel authentic, specific, and reliable. 

These platforms provide what Google and mainstream social media often can’t: deep, real-time conversations shaped by lived experience.

  • Reddit functions as a crowdsourced knowledge hub, where users explore niche topics, ask for advice, and share product reviews. Many even add “Reddit” to the end of Google searches to bypass promotional content and go straight to authentic discussions.
  • Discord servers act as private search engines, with dedicated communities – spanning gaming, crypto, fashion, and professional industries – offering real-time advice and recommendations. These closed-loop spaces create powerful, organic brand discovery opportunities that brands have yet to fully tap into.

Community-driven search is shifting the landscape. 

Gen Z trusts real people over polished marketing.

Failing to engage with these communities might mean missing out on an audience that prioritizes authenticity over ads.

Why community search matters

Simply put, traditional SEO doesn’t work in these spaces – and you need to accept that. 

While TikTok and YouTube offer optimization opportunities, forums and communities operate differently. 

You can’t rank No. 1 in a Discord conversation or a Reddit thread. 

Instead, you must embed yourself naturally within these communities to stay relevant.

Be present where conversations happen

  • Actively engage in discussions – whether through creators, users, or employees.
  • This builds credibility and trust in a way traditional search marketing often struggles to achieve.

Influence through community members

  • Gen Z doesn’t trust ads – they trust real people. 
  • The most effective way to influence brand perception is through engaged community members, influencers, and subject-matter experts who are already part of the conversation.

Create valuable, non-promotional content

  • The key to success isn’t pushing products – it’s offering real insight. 
  • Providing helpful answers, sharing expertise, and engaging meaningfully are more likely to be remembered and recommended organically.

Not sure where to start? Try this

A simple first step is to use Google Trends and the Glimpse Chrome extension to uncover where your audience is actually searching:

  • Install Glimpse for Google Trends to unlock additional insights.
  • Search for a key term related to your brand.
  • Check the Channel Breakdown chart to see which social platforms your term is most popular on.
  • Explore top-ranking content on those platforms using tools like TikTok Creator Search Insights, Reddit Pro Trends, and Pinterest Trends.
  • Build a content strategy that aligns with the platform’s format, trends, and user intent.

This approach ensures your brand shows up where your audience searches – not just where you assume they are.

The future of search is everywhere

Gen Z is redefining what it means to search. 

Social, visual, and community-driven discovery is shifting the landscape, and traditional SEO alone is no longer enough. 

Search marketers must move beyond Google rankings and embrace multi-platform search strategies. 

If your audience searches on TikTok, YouTube, or Reddit more than on Google, do you really have visibility?

Brands that recognize search as an omnipresent, multi-platform experience will gain a competitive edge. 

Those that don’t? They’ll struggle to stay seen.

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Are you wasting your Google Ads budget bidding against yourself? by BrandPilot.ai

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BrandPilot.ai - The uncontested paid search problem

Imagine this: You are a wealthy art lover seated in a room filled with beautiful paintings and surrounded by other art lovers. You have a numbered paddle in one hand and a glass of champagne in the other. You are at the center of an auction and about to bid against all the other people in the room for the artwork you want.

Now imagine you are blindfolded! The auctioneer’s rapid-fire speech guides you as prices go higher and higher. 

You periodically raise your paddle to make a bid; you assume that those around you are doing the same. But what if they’re not? What if the joke is on you, and you’re feverishly raising your paddle again and again to win the auction while everyone else in the room is motionless, watching you bid against yourself? 

Never forget: Google Ads is an auction. Most of the time, you are blind, unaware of competing bids for the keywords your business needs to win.

At BrandPilot, we call the phenomenon of a search ad with no competition the “Uncontested Paid Search Problem.” 

The Uncontested Paid Search problem 

The BrandPilot definition of the Uncontested Paid Search ad is a Google search where no competitor ad is present across several search terms. Yet, you are still paying for your sponsored ad CPC, even without competition. You are essentially bidding against yourself.

Here’s an example of an Uncontested Paid Search ad. In this case, you can see that the sponsored ad is directly above the organic result, meaning there is no other competition for this search result.

There are two problems with these Uncontested Paid Search ads:

  1. Wasted ad spend on organic traffic: A significant number of people simply click the sponsored ad as it appears at the top of their search, unnecessarily costing you money.
  2. Overpaying for clicks in paid search: You want people to click on your sponsored ad, but you are unnecessarily paying a high CPC in the absence of competition.

The critical takeaway here is that advertisers are paying high CPC for ads with no competition every hour of every day. The whole point of the Google keyword auction is to bid fairly against your competitors on a CPC for a keyword, so why are advertisers paying the same CPC even when competition is not present?

When do ‘uncontested search ads’ happen?

Instances of uncontested search ads are more pervasive than you might think. While results will vary by industry, data from BrandPilot indicates that Google Ads for:

  • Branded keywords face no competition 20–30% of the time.
  • Non-branded (general search) keywords experience moments of no competition but at a rate of 5–10%.
How often are search ads uncontested?

This makes sense as there would be less competition for a keyword specifically related to a brand or product name.

How big is this problem?

Uncontested search ads are a silent thief of marketing budgets. While this topic is not widely discussed, it has enormous impacts on the marketing industry.

Here is one way to measure this industry-wide issue:

  • Google’s annual search revenue in 2024: $264 billion (Statista)
  • Ad budget breakdown: On average, 18% ($47 billion) is spent on branded keywords, while 82% ($216 billion) goes to non-branded keywords. (Dreamdata)
  • Estimated wasted ad spend: Advertisers may be wasting approximately $11 billion annually on branded CPC and approximately $16 billion on non-branded CPC.

How much are you spending on search ads? If you could recover approximately 25% of your branded keywords budget and another 7.5% of the non-branded keyword budget, where would you invest those savings?

How to fix the uncontested paid search ad problem

There are really only two options to optimize for searches with no competition:

  1. Suppress your sponsored ad and let your organic search results float to the top of the search results page.
  2. Replace your current sponsored ad with a clone that you gradually bid-walk down to the lowest possible CPC.

Option 1: Let organic win the day

For this option, marketers can simply pause their existing sponsored ad when there is no keyword competition at that moment. If you are conquering organic search for that keyword, this will allow your organic search results to appear at the top of the search results page and drive organic traffic to your website.

Important note: You would need to ensure that you rank No. 1 organically for that keyword search. Be mindful that, as a marketer, your organic search results might not include your current promos, copy, buyers’ journey, etc.

Option 2: Bid-walking down a CPC

In this scenario, a marketer would allow the sponsored ad and the organic link to appear simultaneously on the search results page.

In this case, marketers create a clone of their sponsored ad that is displayed only when there is no competition. Over time, marketers reduce the CPC of this “no-competition clone.” This allows them to retrain the search algorithm and get the CPC for this cloned ad all the way down to $0.01!

Maintaining search traffic

The above processes are designed to eliminate unnecessary Google Ads spending and create more budget for you to drive growth and revenue. Every month, brands who execute strategy for uncontested ads typically reclaim approximately 30% of their branded keyword budget and another 5–10% of non-branded keywords. 

The real-world example below shows how a global fashion brand maintained website traffic while dramatically decreasing its Google Ads spend. In this case, the marketing team elected to simply pause their sponsored ads whenever there was no competition for the search term. Maintaining search traffic is more important to any marketer.

Here, you can see their blended CTR:

Graph

Reducing Google Ads spend

While maintaining search traffic, the marketing team was able to dramatically reduce its daily Google Ads spend simply by not paying a high CPC when a search result had no keyword competition. They were able to go from an average spend of $500 per day down to less than $100 — all while maintaining search traffic!

graph

Final thoughts

Here’s the no-brainer: a flaw in Google Ads has you bidding to win the auction, even when there is no competition for your selected keywords. A seven-day inspection of your Google Ads data can help determine how the Uncontested Paid Search problems is impacting your search campaign budget. 

You can save approximately 30% of your branded keyword budget each month and experience an 11% increase in site performance based on the redistribution of those wasted budgets. 

Book some time to discuss your keyword costs and get a free Google Ads campaign audit.

Branded vs generic Google searches
Data source: SparkToro

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Google: Not all sites will fully recover with future core algorithm updates

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When Google launched the March 2025 core update last week, Google said there will be a series of improvements aimed to help “better surface relevant, satisfying content” from content creators “throughtout this year.”

But you should not expect all sites to fully recover by the end of 2025, that simply won’t happen.

What Google said. Danny Sullivan, the Google Search Liaison, in a conversation on X with travel blogger, Nate Hake, explained that there is a caveat to the statement about surfacing those sites better in Google Search again. Sullivan wrote:

  • “With the important caveat that this doesn’t mean all sites will go back up to wherever they were if they are down from a previous peak.”

Some sites don’t deserve to rank. That means that not all sites will rank as well as they did because, as Sullivan wrote, “some sites with great content and hearts in the right place still don’t provide a satisfying page experience.” Sullivan added:

  • “But our systems themselves need to get better; it’s not all on creators sites that really do have good, solid content.”

Different systems impact different sites. In addition, different core ranking systems may impact one site but not the other, in the same way.

  • “From the group you were with that came out and generously shared your time, not everyone is impacted by exactly the same ranking systems,” Sullivan said.

That means you need to wait for the Google system (or systems) that impacted your site in earlier updates, will have a positive impact in future updates. And, honestly, that might never happen.

Search evolves. Plus, search evolves. What Google ranked in 2023 is not what Google wants to rank in 2025. Sullivan wrote:

  • “Our results have continued to change since 2023, including showing more social content, for example. The results are going to continue to evolve.”

Why we care. Google is committed to continue to make improvements to its search algorithms and systems. Google is aware of the issues many of those who went to the web creator summit won’t recover, Google said that already.

But do expect more Google updates to its core ranking systems throughout 2025, as we have seen with previous core updates and we will see in future core updates this year and in 2026 and beyond.

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What is Shopify and why choose it as your ecommerce platform?

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Shopify is one of the most impressive internet success stories. According to BuiltWith, the Canadian ecommerce giant now powers almost five million stores worldwide. Merchants choose it for its ease of use, robust features, scalability, and cost-effectiveness. Let’s go over the main reasons for choosing Shopify.

Table of contents

What is Shopify and what does it do?

Shopify is an ecommerce platform that has everything under one roof. It’s a cloud-based solution that lets merchants create, customize, and manage online stores without issues. Shopify focuses heavily on ease of use and functionality, and with the thought of having businesses run an online business without technical expertise. 

The CMS has quickly become one of the most popular ecommerce platforms. For instance, it dominates the US market, with a market share of around 30%. It helps by easily serving businesses of all shapes and sizes, from small startups to large enterprises. 

Choosing the right ecommerce platform is critical to your online success. There are many good reasons to choose Shopify, as it’s versatile, user-friendly, and scalable. It’s a good solution for most businesses and even has an app store with tools like Yoast SEO for Shopify that help you with your content marketing and SEO efforts.

Primary features and services of Shopify

One of Shopify’s main features is hosting and scalability. As a managed hosting solution, the platform offers fast and reliable performance for your pages. Its infrastructure can handle traffic spikes and high-demand sales peaks like those during Black Friday sales. 

Next, it is well-known for its template and customization options. The theme store has over 240 themes, all of which are mobile-friendly. You even get a selection of industry-specific themes to help businesses get online quickly. 

Another strong aspect of the platform is its tools section and how it integrates with nearly everything. The app store has almost any app you need, from Shopify SEO tools like Yoast SEO to inventory management options. This breadth of options is very impressive. 

Lastly, the CMS makes it easy to manage payments and financial transactions. It runs its own payment gateway, Shopify Payments, but it also supports various third-party payment processors. 

These options together form a fully formed product that helps merchants with everything from server management to brand building and marketing. No wonder so many merchants choose Shopify as their ecommerce platform. 

How does Shopify work?

Shopify’s intuitive platform makes starting and running an ecommerce store very easy. It doesn’t matter if you sell just one product or thousands — the software makes it accessible for every type of merchant. 

Simple setup process

One of Shopify’s most impressive aspects is the setup. Entrepreneurs can literally launch an online store within a few hours — without prior technical know-how. The platform offers easy-to-use tools that work by simply dragging and dropping elements. In addition, it offers user-friendly walkthroughs to guide merchants through the process. There are pre-built themes to get started with quickly, and buying premium themes from the Theme Store is also possible.

Effortless management

Shopify has a clearly organized admin dashboard. Store owners can track orders, manage inventory, and check customer data in a single place. Merchants also enjoy the automation features. For instance, it automatically calculates taxes, handles shipping integrations, and manages checkout processes — a huge time saver!

Of course, as we live in the mobile age, the platform offers mobile app access. Merchants can manage their stores on the go, so they don’t have to miss anything when they are out and about. We’ve already mentioned that the store themes all scale with and perform properly on mobile devices. 

All of these possibilities make Shopify a very good solution for most stores. Even a solo entrepreneur can build and manage a professional store without issues. This makes it a far more accessible option than platforms like WooCommerce or Adobe Commerce.

7 Key benefits of choosing Shopify

The ecommerce platforms’ impressive features, scalability, and customer-centric design stand out. Here are some key reasons merchants choose Shopify as their preferred ecommerce platform. 

1. The user-friendly interface

Time and time again, merchants mention that the clean, intuitive interface is the most important reason for choosing this ecommerce platform. It’s one of the most user-friendly e-commerce builders out there, and it’s intuitive for beginners and powerful for experienced users. 

Shopify has an innovative drag-and-drop builder that lets merchants customize the store layout and product pages without coding. The admin interface is clearly organized and simple, even for non-developers. Thanks to the guided setup and well-designed templates, business owners can quickly move from concept to live store. In addition, the admin panel gives an easy-to-understand overview of the store’s performance so merchants can manage orders and inventory without issues.

image showing the theme editor interface of shopify, one of the main reasons to choose it
Shopify’s easy-to-use interface makes it a joy to work with

2. Shopify AI Magic

One of the newest benefits is Shopify Magic, an AI-powered solution that makes work easier and more fun. For instance, it has an image editor that automatically cleans up and optimizes product images, and a content generation tool that uses generative AI to write FAQs, product descriptions, and blogs. Email improvements also help dynamically tailor email campaigns for higher engagement rates.

It also has Sidekick, an AI assistant that can help you get more done in your store. This chatbot answers all your questions and advises you on your specific situation, as it knows everything about your store. As a result, you have more time to focus on important things like strategy.

3. Flexible and scalable

Another big benefit of choosing Shopify as an ecommerce platform is its flexibility and scalability. The CMS can grow with a merchant and offers options for large and small businesses. 

It has an affordable pricing structure. The $29/month plan helps small businesses get online quickly without investing too much. For large businesses, there’s Shopify Plus, which supports global enterprise brands like Heinz and Gymshark. This plan offers advanced features like a multi-store setup, custom checkout-out options, and very high API limits. The platform is also very proud of its 99.98% uptime guarantee, which keeps stores online even in the busiest seasons. 

4. Integrated payment solutions

Another big advantage is the streamlined payment process for clients worldwide. Shopify Payments, a built-in payment system, eliminates the need for third-party gateways at no extra cost and no set-up fees. Additionally, it supports over a hundred payment integrations, including Stripe and PayPal.

5. Robust app ecosystem

Shopify is a very extendable ecommerce platform. It has an excellent app store, where developers offer a wide range of good apps that improve and expand what the CMS can do. Currently, over 10,000 apps are available in the app store, and new ones are arriving daily. 

Many of these apps integrate deeply with the CMS, allowing marketing automation and personalization that can increase sales. Merchants can install apps to recover abandoned carts, upsell related products, or integrate with CRM and advertising platforms.

Merchants can find apps for nearly everything. Some of the most popular ones are Oberlo for dropshipping, Klaviya and Mailchimp for email marketing, Judge.me and Loox for product and store reviews, and PageFly for building custom landing pages.

This extendability helps merchants scale their work whenever they need it most. 

an example of a search result for shopify apps related to email marketing
Shopify has over 10.000 apps in its app store

6. Comprehensive support

Running an online store is difficult enough without having to worry about technical issues. Luckily, the platform helps remove that worry with 24/7 technical and customer support. Merchants can access professional assistance via live chat, email, or phone. In addition, it offers loads of learning material in the form of Shopify Academy, community forums, and tutorials. Business owners can quickly learn to make the most of their online stores. 

7. Yoast SEO for Shopify

The ecommerce CMS comes with all merchants need to run their stores, including tools to improve search engine visibility. While SEO is always in its mind, it is good to think beyond the basics that the e-commerce platform offers. Getting traffic is too important to leave it to chance. 

Yoast SEO for Shopify is the perfect tool for merchants looking to get that traffic. This app is built by a team of SEO experts with decades of experience. Yoast SEO has innovative features like real-time SEO suggestions, helping you optimize your pages and products with actionable insights. Or enhanced structured data for your products to make these stand out in Google. 

Yoast SEO also helps you write better product content. Enter your focus keyword and use the feedback to make your product descriptions stand out. A readability analysis also helps you make the content as readable for your customers as possible. There’s a Semrush integration to get keyword data from the editor and AI-powered features to automate some parts of the optimization process. 

Combining Shopify’s framework with Yoast SEO makes your store accessible to search engines and customers.

Optimize your products with Yoast SEO to make them stand out

Unique selling points

Shopify has a lot going for it as an ecommerce platform, and there are more things it does to stay ahead of the competition. 

Multi-channel selling

One reason Shopify could be chosen over the competition is its ability to sell across multiple channels. Multi-channel options allow merchants to sell their products on social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok, with all the management and insights happening on the main dashboard. It also has point-of-sale options that help merchants offer in-store sales and integrate online and offline. 

The CMS can sync listings to third-party platforms like Amazon, eBay, or Google Shopping, increasing merchants’ visibility. The platform also has many more options for going omnichannel with your store, which makes it a great fit for managing everything all at once. 

Strong security and reliability

Trust is an important aspect of ecommerce. Merchants need to trust ecommerce platforms with their data and trust that they keep it safe and sound. Luckily, Shopify is working hard to provide store owners with a secure shopping environment. It is certified Level 1 PCI-DSS compliant, the highest level of payment security standard, which helps protect customer data. It also has built-in fraud detection features that minimize the risk of chargeback. 

Compared to hosted platforms like WooCommerce, Shopify automatically handles almost every security aspect. This gives merchants peace of mind that their customer’s data is safe.

Considerations before choosing

Shopify is an all-around great ecommerce platform, but there are some things to remember when merchants choose between the many other options. Its pricing is decent, with basic monthly plans starting at $29. Still, the cost can add up when you want to add apps, third-party integrations or want to have a custom theme developed. However, the CMS is often easier to set up and cheaper to run than platforms like Adobe Commerce.

Another consideration is the platform’s limitations. Shopify is closed software, so store owners have limited code access. WordPress solutions like WooCommerce might be better if openness is an issue.

These are the main reasons to choose Shopify

Shopify provides a great combination of ease of use, scalability, and features that help merchants thrive. Whether you run a simple store with a small budget or juggle millions of dollars, the commerce platform has the necessary solutions. It grows with your needs and offers you many options and possibilities to make the most of your business. Moreover, if you add Yoast SEO for Shopify to your store, you can boost visibility on Google, hopefully translating to more traffic and business growth.

So, why wait? Sign up for a free trial, add Yoast SEO to your store, and get your business on the road!

The post What is Shopify and why choose it as your ecommerce platform? appeared first on Yoast.

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Google Ads rolls out channel control for Demand Gen campaigns

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Google Ads logo on smartphone

Google Ads has begun rolling out channel control for select Demand Gen campaigns. This feature will let you specify where your ads appear across Google’s properties.

Yes, but. While the feature is live, segmentation by individual channel (e.g., YouTube, Discover, Gmail) is not yet available. This will limit your ability to make data-driven adjustments.

Why we care. This update, first announced in January, gives advertisers more control over campaign placement, but the full impact remains unclear since performance data is still aggregated under “Google-owned channels.”

What they’re saying. Greg Kholer, director of digital marketing at ServiceMaster, shared seeing the update on LinkedIn:

  • “While exciting, we won’t be making any changes until we’re able to see channel performance segmented out – as of today it’s still all lumped together as ‘Google owned channels’”.

What’s next: More search marketers will likely hold off on changes until Google provides detailed channel performance breakdowns.

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Bing pushes ad-heavy search results with 7+ sponsored listings

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Microsoft Bing appears to be testing an aggressive new ad display format that dramatically reduces organic search visibility in favor of sponsored content.

The details:

  • Users are reporting search result pages with at least seven paid advertisements.
  • One or two organic results are visible on the first page.
  • The format has been independently verified by multiple users.

What they’re saying. The original poster, Red Leaf Web Design, expressed shock at the format, stating “BING Ads Gone Wild!” on X. Several of the Search Engine Land staff were also able to replicate the ad-heavy results, seeing as many as nine ads:

Why we care. Bing’s ad-heavy testing fundamentally changes the competitive landscape for paid search visibility. With so many ads and barely any organic results on the first page, this format creates a more crowded advertising environment where standing out becomes increasingly difficult and expensive.

If rolled out more widely to more commercial queries, competition for the limited ad slots will likely intensify, potentially driving up cost-per-click rates as advertisers vie for visibility.

Between the lines. This extreme ad-to-content ratio suggests Microsoft may be testing the limits of user tolerance for sponsored results as search engines face increasing pressure to generate revenue in a rapidly-changing search landscape.

The big picture. Major search engines have gradually increased ad visibility over the years, but Bing’s apparent test pushes well beyond Google’s typical ad density, which usually caps at around four sponsored listings on the first screen.

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Google AI Overviews caught linking back to its own search results

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Google is testing placing special and very clickable links in its AI Overviwws, but not to publishers or your own website, but rather back to its own search results. You got that right, Google is testing linking the AI Overviews back to new search queries on Google.com.

What it looks like. I posted a screenshot and video from Sachin Patel who spotted this change on the Search Engine Roundtable – here they are:

Clicking on those underlined links in the text of the AI Overview, both at the top and in the middle section, will take you back to a new Google Search. The smaller link icons take you to the side panel links, those go to publishers and external websites.

Here is a video:

Why we care. All that talk, even recently with Google’s new AI Mode, around “prominently surfaces relevant links to help people find web pages and content they may not have discovered before,” and I quoted that from Google, means what here?

Those link icons in AI Overviews have shown to result in a drop in CTR from Google Search to external websites. We’ve seen a large company sue Google over traffic drops due to AI Overviews.

These links back to Google results in Google search volume growing, but do they actually help the searcher or they only help Google’s bottom line.

What about Google saying they value independent publishers and are prioritizing ways to send traffic to publishers in AI Overviews?

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Bing Webmaster Tools Search Performance reports gains comparisons

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Microsoft has added the ability to compare date ranges within the Search Performance report in Bing Webmaster Tools. This allows you to compare metrics and data points such as clicks, impressions, CTR, keywords, and pages across various date ranges.

What Microsoft said. Microsoft wrote:

“These enhancements enable in-depth analysis, providing invaluable insights for optimizing online presence and improving visibility. This means businesses can now make more informed decisions, identify key trends, and effectively adjust their marketing strategies to achieve better results.”

Microsoft also made user experience improvements in time filters, the company added.

What it looks like. Here is a screenshot showing the new “compare” option in the Search Performance report in Bing Webmaster Tools:

Why is this helpful. Microsoft posted a few ways these comparisons helps you, including:

  • Identifying key trends and patterns
  • Evaluating the effectiveness of their marketing campaigns
  • Gaining insights from seasonal search data
  • Setting benchmarks and goals using historical data
  • Identifying areas for improvement in search performance

Why we care. Google has offered comparing data in Search Console for a while, plus all the third-party tools offer this.

But now you can compare this data directly in Bing Webmaster Tools without having to export this data to a third-party tool. This should save you a lot of time, by not having to use another tool to compare your Bing Search data.

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Bing Webmaster Tools Copilot feature now available to all users

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Microsoft released Copilot within Bing Webmaster Tools to all users today, the company announced today. Initially, Microsoft had a beta release to only 10,000 trusted users of Bing Webmaster Tools but now the feature is generally available to all users.

What is Copilot in Bing Webmaster Tools. Copilot in Bing Webmaster Tools promises to provide “instant, accurate and contextually relevant answers to [user] queries.” It is engineered to provide “streamline workflows, enhance productivity, and provide valuable insights,” Microsoft initially said.

Copilot in Bing Webmaster Tools aims at “helping webmasters manage their search optimization efforts more efficiently, improving workflows, productivity, and providing actionable insights,” the company said.

Top features. Microsoft outlined these four features as the top features for Copilot in Bing Webmaster Tools:

  • Real-Time Question/Answer Chat: Offers personalized, instant, and accurate responses tailored to your specific site, enhancing efficiency and effectiveness in managing your SEO.
  • Deep Data Insights: Provides comprehensive, site-specific insights into performance, helping you quickly identify and resolve issues.
  • Learning Resources: Access built-in guidance to perform tasks, utilize tools, and improve your website’s visibility and performance.
  • User Feedback Integration: Continuously improves based on user feedback, ensuring the tool evolves to meet user needs.

English only. This feature is currently only available in English only, but Microsoft is working to expand it to more languages in the future.

What it looks like. Here are two screenshots of Copilot in Bing Webmaster Tools:

Why we care. Copilot in Bing Webmaster Tools may help you find answers to your data questions on how your site is performing in Bing Search, what issues your site may be experiencing, and how to use Bing Webmaster Tools.

It seems this feature has improved over the last few months and hopefully will continue to improve over time.

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