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What is SEO (Search Engine Optimization)?

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Do you have a website or are you thinking about creating one? And do you want to attract more people to your business? If the answer is yes, then there’s no doubt about it: SEO should be part of your marketing efforts. It’s a great way to build your brand and get people on your site. But what does it actually entail? In this post, we’ll give you an understanding of what SEO is and how you can get started!

What is SEO?

The acronym SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization. Let’s first get a definition from one of our principal SEO experts at Yoast, Alex Moss:

SEO is both the art and science of improving a website, and pages within, to be as visible as possible for when people search for a relevant topic within any search platform. SEO covers many areas from technical aspects including optimizing a site’s performance and structure, to enhancing brand authority by providing great content and matching it with that person’s search intent.

Alex Moss – Principal SEO at Yoast

So how does Google work? With search engines like Google, the process consists of crawling, indexing, and ranking. The crawler is an online bot that scours the web to collect all the pages out there and save them in a gigantic database called the index. This index is constantly updated with new pages or updated versions of existing ones. When someone searches online, the search engine calls on the index and uses complex algorithms to determine which pages are relevant to show. This determines the ranking of results shown to the online searcher.

For example, when I search for the term ‘sustainable phone case’, these results are shown by Google. Based on my search term and the intent behind it, Google deems these results the best ones found in its index.

search results for search query sustainable phone case
Screenshot of Google’s results for ‘sustainable phone case’

Organic vs paid search

SEO is focused on attracting more organic traffic to your website, traffic that comes to your site via unpaid search results. But as you can see in the image above, the search results also show ads and sponsored results. Often at the top of the page. To make a clear distinction, there are a few acronyms in use that are valuable to know:

  • SEM: Search engine marketing entails all marketing efforts to show up in the search results, both through ads and organic results.
  • SEO: SEO is the practice of improving a website to show up when people search for a relevant topic within any search platform. 
  • SEA: Search engine advertising is the practice of paying for ads that show up in the search results of relevant keywords.
  • PPC: Pay-per-click. The advertising model used in SEA, where the advertiser pays a fee each time one of their ads is clicked.

These paid results can allow you to show up as the top result for a search term, but it will cost you money every time a user clicks through to your website. When comparing SEO vs PPC, they both have their benefits and drawbacks. But more often than not, they complement each other well.

Why SEO is important for site owners

Huge volume of searches

The reason that so many (big) companies heavily invest in SEO is the high impact that it can have when done right. To give you an idea, Google, the most-used search engine got around 8.3 billion searches per day in 2024. A number that has only gone up (and significantly) since 1998. So if you have a website, you want to make sure to show up in Google and other search platforms.

SEO is intent-driven

Online search is very intent-driven. Unlike other marketing channels, such as social media, where people happen to scroll upon your brand and content. This means you’re interrupting a user’s experience to capture their attention, which makes it more difficult to get them interested. Showing up in their search results aligns with an existing demand—your customers are actively seeking information, products, or solutions. This makes SEO a powerful inbound marketing strategy, where users come to you rather than the other way around. Because searchers already have intent, they are more likely to convert, making SEO an essential tool for attracting high-quality leads.

Competitive advantage

Creating a website and leaving it at that isn’t going to cut it. With new websites popping up left and right, it’s becoming increasingly difficult to get noticed and maintain customer loyalty. SEO can provide you with higher online visibility, a stronger brand, more authority in your field, more contact moments with your audience and higher quality traffic to your website (and/or offline location). All of this, leading to higher brand loyalty and more revenue.

Types of SEO

Although the basic principles remain the same, there are a few different types of SEO worth mentioning. They may not all apply to your situation, but it is beneficial to dive into the ones that do:

  • Ecommerce SEO: SEO specifically focused on gaining more visibility and organic traffic for online stores. With the goal of acquiring more sales.
  • Local SEO: Local SEO is the practice of optimizing your website for a specific local area. This is to ensure you are easily found (both online and offline) by a local audience. 
  • Video SEO: The process of optimizing videos and video pages to make them appear in the search results for relevant keyphrases. Whether that is Google’s search results or search results on other platforms like YouTube and social media.
  • News SEO: Mainly relevant for news publishers, news SEO focuses on getting content to show up as the top result in Google News and other news-specific areas of the search results.

The 3 pillars of SEO

SEO is all about optimizing your website to increase your online visibility. But what do we mean by that? What exactly should you be optimizing? Well, there’s a lot you can do and it can be divided up into three main areas.

Illustration of the 3 pillars of SEO
The 3 pillars of SEO: Technical SEO, on-page SEO, and off-page SEO.

Technical SEO

First of all, it’s important to focus on the technical part of SEO. Technical SEO is all about improving a website’s technical aspects to improve user experience and make search engines understand your pages. Aspects that fall under technical SEO are:

  • Loading time of your pages
  • Making the right parts of your site crawlable for search engines
  • The amount of dead links on your site
  • Security 
  • Use of structured data

Search engines value these aspects because they want to present their users with websites that provide a proper user experience. A page that takes forever to load, doesn’t exist anymore, or isn’t secure, provides a terrible user experience and will not make users happy. Also, aspects such as crawlability and structured data help search engines understand what your pages are about. This helps search engines understand your relevance and allows them to rank your pages higher.

On-page SEO

Although technical SEO is also part of on-page SEO, this can be seen as ‘under-the-hood’ optimization to improve your pages. The other efforts that can be categorized as on-page SEO are targeted at optimizing the content on a page. Think of:

  • The quality of your content
  • Use of the proper keywords
  • Showing E-E-A-T in your content
  • Site structure
  • Internal linking
  • Well-thought-out URLs, titles, and alt tags 

On-page SEO mainly revolves around content SEO and using the elements around that content to improve your findability for relevant terms. 

Off-page SEO

In contrast to on-page SEO, off-page SEO entails everything you do for SEO outside of page optimization. Such as external link building, social media and local SEO (off-site). This is focused on growing your reach and building your brand to attract more traffic. An important part is link building, getting other relevant websites to link to your content. This can really help boost your visibility and improve your reputation as an authority – see links as like votes of confidence from other websites 

But there’s a lot more you can do. For example, speaking at events, doing interviews, and blogging for other websites. These activities give you the opportunity to showcase your expertise and reach new people. When you own a local shop, these might not be as relevant. In that case, it’s important that you focus on the experience that people have with your shop. Make sure that customers leave happy and that this experience is positive, offline and online. This also extends to social media. Although your activity there does not directly impact rankings, it pays off to be in contact with your audience there as well. And provide a similar (positive) experience through these platforms as well. 

One final aspect that you shouldn’t forget about is your business listings. Make sure these are accurate on your Google Business Profile and other websites that are relevant to your business.

SEO Ranking factors

To determine what results to show, and in what order, search engines use ranking factors. Ranking factors, or ranking signals, are characteristics of a page that search engines look at to determine how relevant that page is for a specific search query. Although the exact list of ranking factors and their importance is a bit of a mystery and changes from time to time, we do have a pretty good idea of the most important ones:

  • The quality, relevance and usability of your content
  • External and internal links
  • The technical aspects of your site (f.e. security)
  • User experience on your site (site speed, easy navigation, mobile parity)
  • The overall online presence of your brand

In addition to these top-ranking factors, there are plenty of others (both known and unknown). But to get a head start with SEO, it makes sense to focus on these aspects first.

SEO now vs early days: a brief history

SEO in the 90’s

Although websites have been around for a little while longer, people started optimizing their sites for search engines in the mid-1990s. As you can imagine, SEO was a lot simpler back then. The algorithms that search engines used were way less advanced and relied on ranking factors like keyword density to determine the relevance of a page. The ‘trick’ back then was making sure the keyword was being used enough times throughout your page and in your meta tags. 

Search engines evolving

Naturally, the companies behind search engines quickly realized the issue with this approach. Displaying the results that use the keyword most isn’t always the best experience for their users. So they had to find a way to better handle how potential results were being ranked. Search engines like Google started working on ways to get smarter and rely less on ‘tricks’ and static ranking factors. This resulted in a number of algorithm updates, each resulting in a smarter Google that was more capable of understanding the relevance of a page. 

With a team working non-stop on improving Google’s search engine, the focus moved from factors like keyword density to user experience and high-quality content. These algorithm updates are still very much a part of the SEO field, with Google releasing a new one (or multiple) every year. You can expect this to be a continuous process where search engines adapt to current search behaviour and adjust their algorithms to keep showing users the best results for their search query. 

SEO in 2025

So, where does that leave us in 2025? As mentioned, search engines continue working on their algorithms to improve their users’ experience. The focus points of SEO in 2025 are still high-quality content and technical factors like site speed, security and mobile parity. But there are more aspects that Google and other search engines deem important.

Search engines are working hard to get a better understanding of a user’s search intent, to show that user the results that fit their need best. Related to that, they continue to improve how information is presented in the search results, which can differ quite a bit per search intent. 

AI overview for search term site structure
A possible zero-click search, where the definition of site structure is shown in an AI overview.

One result of that is zero-click searches, where search engines show the complete answer to a search query in the search results. This can lead to fewer clicks to your website, but it still pays off to be the website that provides that answer. In fact, this is a good example of the direction in which SEO is going. Shift your focus from ‘just clicks’ and maintaining a specific spot in the search results to building a strong brand and being visible on different platforms.   

In 2025, SEO will focus less on raw keywords and more so around search intent across diverse platforms like social media and LLMs. As well as this, it’ll be important to produce more video content as discovery platforms integrate these more into their SERPs.

Alex Moss – Principal SEO at Yoast

The other aspect we can’t ignore is AI. More people are using AI tools for their online searches and search engines are also investing in providing AI-driven search experiences. An example of that is Google AI overviews, where Google uses AI to pull together and combine information on a search query from different resources. This is then shown in one overview, with the hope that this directly answers the specific question asked. 

Setting SEO Goals

SEO experts used to closely monitor ranking positions, clicks, website traffic and stats like bounce rates. Naturally, all of this data is still relevant, but there has been a shift in what goals to focus on. Search behavior has changed, and search engines are showing your content in many different ways. So it’s not just a number game anymore. You need to focus on the overall perception of your brand and being present in the right places. 

Set SEO goals related to engagement, brand awareness, user experience on your website, user satisfaction, and how all of this can be related to sales or other actions you want your audience to perform. This can be trickier than just looking at your daily rankings but will give you a better idea of the success of your SEO strategy and how you’re perceived.  

How to learn SEO and get started

Although it consists of a lot of different aspects, it is possible to tackle (a lot of) SEO yourself. Let’s look at how you can do that and what resources can help you get started. 

Start with the basics

Before you get to content creation, it’s important to get your technical SEO in order. If you know your way around redirects, optimizing page speed, crawlability, security and structured data, make those your first priority. If not, let your site builder help you out or hire someone with a background in technical SEO. When that’s done, you can start looking at site structure and the content on your pages.

By doing keyword research, you will be able to create content that aligns with your business and gets people to your website. It will also give you loads of input on topics to write about. This will enable you to set up an SEO strategy and plan to continue working on this throughout the year. Because SEO is never done. That’s why it’s important to create a realistic plan and keep yourself (or your team) to it. This might feel like a lot of effort, but remember that SEO not only brings more traffic to your site, it also helps build your brand and increase user loyalty in the long run. 

How we can help you

At Yoast, we want to make SEO accessible for everyone. And we want to help you do it yourself. That’s why we offer a free and Premium version of our WordPress plugin, allowing you to get started with SEO without too much trouble. Our free plugin comes with features like the SEO and readability analyses, which give you feedback on your content right away. It also handles parts of the technical SEO for you. Our Premium plugin gives you access to some more features like AI-powered features, a redirect tool, and the possibility to add multiple keywords per page. Making SEO even easier to work on. 

We also offer a variety of SEO courses in our Yoast SEO academy, where you can find 5 free courses to get started. For example, the SEO for beginners course, the WordPress for beginners course and a course on structured data. If you’re a Yoast SEO Premium user, you get access to all 16 courses on there. Which will really help you dive into the different aspects of SEO and how to tackle them. 

Finally, we have an SEO blog with numerous blog posts on SEO basics, more advanced SEO, new developments and related topics. All of this to make sure that you have all the tools you need to successfully work on SEO yourself!

Read more: The ultimate guide to WordPress SEO »

The post What is SEO (Search Engine Optimization)? appeared first on Yoast.

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Google Merchant Center to align click reporting with Google Ads

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google merchant center

Google Merchant Center click reporting is changing on April 21, 2025, where clicks will be reported in the same manner Google Ads reports clicks. Google said this will align click reporting with Google Ads and thus may impact some current and historical data reported in Merchant Center.

What is changing. Google wrote in this email, “As of April 21, 2025, we’re updating Google Merchant Center to align click reporting with Google Ads.”

The email goes on to say:

“This change reflects new advertising formats that have different types of interactions. While Google Ads reports clicks separately from other interactions, Merchant Center currently reports all interactions as product clicks. With this update, the definition of product clicks will be the same across both platforms.
As a result, you’ll notice some changes to your current and historical data reported in Merchant Center. There will be no change to your reporting experience in Google Ads, where you’ll continue to see clicks and interactions for your ad campaigns.”

More details. Arpan Banerjee who notified me of this, said the email has a hyperlink to the Google Ads definition of interactions, which reads:

“The main user action associated with an ad format—clicks and swipes for text and Shopping ads, views for video ads, calls for call assets, and so on.”

Why we care. If you run Google Merchant Center and notice a change in click reporting around April 21st (in about a month), then this is why. This is just a reporting change and the changes you see in the clicks in your reports are not related to any changes in performance of those listings within Google Search.

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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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SEO execution: Understanding goals, strategy, and planning

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SEO management: Understanding goals, strategy, and planning

SEO is something of a nebulous concept.

To some, SEO is technical; to others, it is creative. 

Neither of these is 100% right or wrong. 

SEO is all of this and more, depending entirely on the unique situation and goals of the business looking to use SEO.

This loose definition leads to some common and fairly troublesome issues. 

One of these issues, which we see repeatedly and completely derails the success of projects – even by experienced agencies – is the misunderstanding between SEO strategy and SEO planning.

This article defines these terms and shows a simple way to ensure both strategy and planning are tackled with the rigor that the modern, hyper-competitive search environment demands.

Even Google is confused 

The problem here is that Google does not really understand quality.

It knows what people click on. It understands specific authors, sites, and other traditional SEO metrics to help stack the deck.

However, Google does not enforce the true denotation of words in search results and often leans into common misconceptions.

What I am trying to say here is that Google gives people what they want and, by doing so, often accentuates issues where the meaning of a word has shifted.

SEO strategy is a perfect example.

A search here shows many posts optimized around “SEO strategy,” but none of them actually talk about SEO strategy in any detail (or at all).

What they really talk about is SEO goals and SEO planning.

The fact is that almost the entire first page of results conflates strategy with planning – even the AI Overview gets it wrong.

This leads businesses to focus on tactics without a clear overarching strategic vision.

The result?

Well, bad results for most (other than those hawking to rank for SEO strategy).

Why does this matter?

Am I just some pedant upset that the things returned are not truly relevant?

Well, maybe a little bit.

But, more importantly, I believe there is an opportunity for many hidden in the fog of this issue.

SEO (or any marketing) needs to deliver results.

However, when SEO is approached without clear distinctions between goals, strategy, and planning, efforts become reactive rather than proactive.

Businesses chase keywords and rankings rather than trying to offer something new and unique.

This leads to a hamster wheel of tactical SEO rather than building strategic and sustainable long-term visibility.

A better way forward: Goals, strategy, and planning

A solid SEO approach follows a simple, logical three-step sequence:

  • Define the goal: Where do we want to go?
  • Craft the strategy: How will we get there?
  • Develop the plan: What steps do we need to take?

By structuring SEO efforts this way, you can avoid aimless execution and instead build an intentional, well-structured approach to search visibility.

The rest of this article will show you how to tackle this differently and help steer your efforts toward long-term sustainable growth rather than short-term tactical wins.

First, some important definitions

We started by discussing a common misuse of the word “strategy” and how this leads to the strategy being overlooked. 

Before we proceed, I feel it is useful to clarify the terms we use quickly so there are no misunderstandings.

This is denotation vs. connotation – the real meaning of a word vs. the common misunderstanding.

SEO

At its core, search engine optimization is about improving a website’s visibility in search engines to maximize visibility and attract organic traffic.

It involves a mix of technical improvements, content creation, and authority building efforts.

However, SEO efforts can be fragmented and ineffective without clear goals and a structured approach.

Goals: Where do we want to get to?

A goal is a destination – the ultimate outcome you want to achieve.

Goals should be defined with rigor to ensure they are realistic and will bring value.

Your SEO goals should be clear, measurable, and aligned with business objectives.

The SMART goals frameworkis a powerful way to achieve this.

Some common SEO goals include:

  • Increasing organic traffic by 50% over the next 12 months.
  • Ranking in the top three results for high-intent keywords.
  • Reducing dependency on paid search by driving more organic leads.
  • Improving conversion rates from organic traffic.

Without a clear, well-defined goal, SEO efforts are aimless – like going on a road trip without knowing the destination.

Likewise, bad goals will suck up time, resources, and money and fail to deliver.

So make sure to set strong and purposeful goals.

SEO strategy: How do we get there?

A strategy is the big-picture approach to achieving the goal.

If SEO were a game of chess, the strategy would be your playbook for winning.

It’s not about specific moves but the overarching plan that dictates how you respond to opportunities and challenges.

A strong SEO strategy is unique to the business and considers:

  • Competitive positioning: Are we fighting in a “red ocean” (highly competitive markets) or carving out a “blue ocean” (untapped opportunities)?
  • Audience intent: Are we targeting informational queries, transactional searches, or brand-driven traffic?
  • Content differentiation: How will our content stand out and provide unique value?
  • Authority building: Will we focus on link-building, PR, or thought leadership?

For example, if a SaaS company wants to dominate organic search, its SEO strategy might focus on thought leadership and topical authority rather than just ranking for high-volume keywords.

SEO planning: The specifics of the journey

Planning is where the tactical details come into play. It’s the nuts and bolts – everything from optimizing page titles to a full step-by-step breakdown of how to execute the strategy.

An SEO plan may include:

  • Conducting keyword research
  • Optimizing existing content
  • Building a backlink acquisition strategy
  • Developing a content calendar
  • Implementing technical SEO fixes

Think of planning as the navigation system that breaks your strategy down into actionable steps.

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A structured approach to SEO

To ensure SEO efforts are well-structured:

  • Set solid goals: Define the destination (where you want to be).
  • Craft a unique strategy: Choose the best route based on competition, industry, and brand positioning.
  • Create a simple plan: Lay out the specific steps to execute the strategy effectively.

This approach can be applied to an existing site with historical SEO or used before a new website is built to help maximize SEO success.

Let’s break down the three steps below – goals, strategy, and planning.

Step 1: Set solid goals

Clear, measurable goals provide direction. Instead of saying, “We want to increase traffic,” set a goal like:

  • Increase organic leads by 30% in the next six months.

This clarity helps align efforts across content, technical SEO, and link building.

Dig deeper: How to create SMART SEO goals (with examples)

Step 2: Craft a unique strategy

Strategy is not a checklist.

It’s a guiding principle that dictates decision-making.

It is about carving out a unique approach rather than following what competitors are doing.

For example, your SEO strategy might focus on:

  • Finding content angles or formats that no one else is using
  • Creating a new category of content rather than competing in existing spaces
  • Developing a distinctive voice or perspective that becomes a competitive advantage

SEO strategy should always differentiate your content and brand within search.

If competitors shift tactics or Google updates its algorithms, your strategy should remain adaptable while keeping your unique value intact.

You should be able to answer the questions:

  • Why does this deserve to rank?
  • Do we stand out from the crowd and offer something new and unique?

Often, this uniqueness could be just combining things that others do or using new formats.

This is the most difficult part of the job. It requires research and careful thought.

Surveying customers to gain insight will also help you craft something unique and valuable.

Some tools that can help:

Step 3: Create a simple plan

The plan should be actionable and prioritized, breaking down SEO efforts into:

  • Short-term actions: Quick wins like optimizing title tags.
  • Mid-term actions: Content production and link building.
  • Long-term initiatives: Authority building and brand signals.

The plan’s primary goal is to break down what needs to be done into manageable small jobs. 

Then, allocate these according to your available resources with timelines so you can keep track of what is (or is not) happening.

Don’t overcomplicate this, and remember that a simple, well-executed plan always beats a complex, poorly executed one.

Here’s a simple guide to creating a simple, one-page SEO plan:

Final thoughts

If there is one thing you take from this article, please let it be this:

  • Strategy is not planning, and planning is not strategy.

SEO strategy is the big picture that defines why your content should rank and outperform competitors.

While planning involves specific tactics like keyword research or content updates, strategy is about positioning your site as the best answer for user queries for a specific reason (the strategy).

This is not to say that standard SEO planning and tactics are not important.

Not at all.

Rather, by having this all backed up by a strategy, you maximize the chance that you will generate and sustain the results you are looking for.

Ultimately, SEO strategy is about why your site deserves to rank, not just how to optimize it.

Thinking strategically about marketing in general and how that relates to SEO will help you stand out and provide useful feedback on the product and service strategy.

The key is to remember that SEO success isn’t just about performing SEO tasks – it’s about approaching them with the clarity and structure provided by strategy.

  • Goals define the destination.
  • Strategy determines the best path to the destination.
  • Planning breaks the journey into actionable steps.

Implementing this structured approach can avoid wasted efforts, allow you to focus on what truly moves the needle, and build long-term organic growth.

This is better than the blind chasing of rankings and random acts of SEO that seem to characterize most campaigns.

Define your goal, craft a winning strategy, and execute a focused plan.

That is the kind of strategic SEO that gets results.

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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.

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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 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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No rookies. No fluff. Just the most advanced SMX agenda ever.

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The wait is over: I am beyond thrilled to finally reveal the agenda for SMX Advanced – June 11-13 in Boston.

Still here? Weird. You should already be knee-deep in the 500-level program by now… but hey, if you want a preview, I’ve got some mind-melting sessions to share, including:

And that’s just the start. There’s also an exclusive keynote conversation with Google’s Ginny Marvin, an opening keynote with the one and only Wil Reynolds, and of course, our hands-on Q&A-fueled clinics that address your specific needs and curiosities.

Still here? Okay then. You’ll also be the first to see the results of a groundbreaking study by Search Engine Land and Fractl on how consumers and marketers are adapting in the age of AI-driven search.

And you’ll have the chance to participate in all-new Mastermind Sessions, no-holds-barred 10-person roundtables that deliver uncensored, practical advice on what really works – hosted by iconic industry experts. Stay tuned for the complete lineup!

Networking! I can’t believe I didn’t mention networking yet. We’re bringing a fabulous mix of both structured and serendipitous networking experiences to Boston, including:

  • The ever-classic Meet & Greet Reception and Networking Happy Hour
  • Casual cocktails with the SMX crew
  • A scenic morning jog along the harbor
  • Morning mindfulness to set you up for a day of success
  • Topic-driven lunch discussion tables
  • SEO and PPC meetups with your friends from Search Engine Land
  • A Magic the Gathering game night

For nearly 20 years, 200k+ search marketers from around the world have attended SMX to learn game-changing tactics and make career-defining connections. This is your chance to join them.

Super Early Bird rates – $500 off on-site prices – expire next Saturday, March 29, so get a move on and secure your spot today! 

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Bluesky for PPC: What you need to know

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Bluesky for PPCs- What you need to know

Bluesky is quickly gaining attention as a growing social media platform – but what does that mean for the PPC community? 

Here’s what you need to know and how to prepare for potential ad opportunities

What is Bluesky?

Bluesky is a social media platform that was originally founded as a research initiative at Twitter in 2019. 

After becoming an independent company in 2021, it launched its invite-only beta in 2023 before opening to the public in February 2024.

As of writing, Bluesky has a total of 33.1 million registered users, and its growth shows no signs of slowing down.

How does Bluesky differ from other social media platforms?

The platform, which describes itself as “social media as it should be,” has a similar look and feel to how X appeared back when it was Twitter. 

Like most social media platforms, it allows users to post, repost, like, and share content.

The most significant difference between Bluesky and many other platforms is that it is decentralized, meaning it allows users to host their own data and create custom feeds. 

This helps reduce the risk of data breaches and puts control back in the hands of users.

This decentralized approach, combined with the platform’s strong content moderation tools, is highly appealing to social media users who have become discouraged by recent changes to platforms such as X.

An example of content moderation controls available for Bluesky users
Above: An example of content moderation controls available for Bluesky users

So, how can I advertise on Bluesky?

Slow your horses!

There is no advertising on Bluesky.

While they haven’t ruled out the possibility of ads being available in the future, advertisers won’t be able to add Bluesky to their PPC strategy anytime soon.

Even if or when Bluesky does introduce advertising, it is likely to look different from the models used by other social media platforms.

Speaking to CNBC in November, COO Rose Wang stated that while the company is open to the idea of including ads on the platform, they don’t want it to be an “intrusive experience.”

She referenced Reddit’s advertising model as an example of a more intent-based approach to ads.

Dig deeper: PPC keyword strategy: How to align search intent with funnel stages

If there are no ads, then how is Bluesky making money?

Bluesky is funded by investors and venture capital firms.

In November, Bluesky announced it was developing an optional subscription model. Subscriptions are rumored to provide users access to additional features, such as the ability to use a custom domain in their username and higher video upload limits.

Why ads on Bluesky would be a good thing

While there aren’t any opportunities to advertise on Bluesky, that doesn’t mean the time won’t come. 

With a growing user base and increasing operational costs, Bluesky will likely to introduce some.

When that happens, here are some reasons why PPC advertisers might want to give it a try:

  • PPC advertisers are becoming increasingly frustrated with the developments – or lack thereof – on platforms like Meta and LinkedIn, which have long dominated the market.
  • The introduction of Bluesky to advertisers’ PPC strategy would allow them to try something new and potentially avoid the grievances and pitfalls they are experiencing on other advertising platforms.
  • Early adopters are likely to gain an advantage over competitors if they quickly embrace any potential advertising openings.
  • Opportunities to be the first business in your niche to advertise on a platform are rare, so advertisers could benefit from staking their claim early and cementing their presence.
  • Bluesky’s strong focus on privacy, moderation, and protection from misinformation could offer advertisers a more brand-safe advertising opportunity.

With recent reports of Google Ads placements appearing on illegal and compromising websites, PPC advertisers have increasing and legitimate concerns regarding where their ads are displayed.

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Why ads on Bluesky might not be a good thing

If Bluesky introduces advertising, PPC advertisers should also consider potential drawbacks. These concerns include:

  • One of the biggest challenges in advertising on Bluesky stems from what makes it unique – its decentralized approach. While this is appealing and important for users, it may complicate advertising due to data and privacy restrictions.
  • Depending on the type of advertising model offered, PPC advertisers may need to rethink their targeting and messaging strategies, which could limit their efficiency.
  • Many Bluesky users have migrated from X, seeking a platform that values privacy over profit. As a result, Bluesky users are more likely to resist advertising, which could impact ad performance in terms of driving leads or sales.
  • Early adopters of new technology often face challenges such as technical bugs and unknown performance benchmarks. Not all businesses may be in a position to take on such risks if or when advertising reaches the Bluesky platform.

What should PPC advertisers be doing now?

In preparation for the likely launch of some form of advertising model on the platform, there are steps PPC advertisers can take now:

1. Claim your handle

Advertisers should secure the handle for their business or clients to ensure they have access to usernames that accurately represent their brand. 

For example: 

  • https://bsky.app/profile/searchengineland.bsky.social 
A screenshot of the Search Engine Land account on Bluesky
Above: A screenshot of the Search Engine Land account on Bluesky

2. Explore the platform

Advertisers should spend time navigating Bluesky to:

  • Understand its interface.
  • Identify the types of organic content that perform well.
  • Become familiar with the platform’s extensive moderation tools.

3. Build an organic presence

By posting content and engaging with the community, advertisers can build trust and recognition for their brand. 

This proactive approach can help businesses connect with Bluesky’s user base – especially if the audience remains resistant to traditional ads.

What’s next?

PPC advertisers will need to hold off a little longer before adding Bluesky to their PPC strategy.

However, with the platform growing rapidly, some form of advertising model is likely to arrive within the next 18 months – and we’ll be sure to keep you updated.

Dig deeper: Here’s why PPC now looks more like paid social and what it means

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