admin

Join three of Reddit’s top executives in this exclusive AMA (Ask Me Anything) to discover how you can tap into Reddit’s unique platform to drive brand growth.
Maximize your SEO efforts in 2024 with insights on Google’s SGE, algorithm updates, and expert tips to keep your site ahead.
Download this guide and learn how to optimize and manage Google Performance Max campaigns, with expert insights and actionable strategies to ensure your campaigns are effective.
Join us in analyzing 3 case studies that show the importance of driving brand search behavior and engagement, and how to do it in months, instead of years.
Join three of Reddit’s top executives in this exclusive AMA (Ask Me Anything) to discover how you can tap into Reddit’s unique platform to drive brand growth.
Join us as we dive into exclusive survey data from industry-leading SEOs, digital marketers, content marketers, and more to highlight the top priorities and challenges that will shape the future of search in 2025.
You might have noticed that podcasts have been popping up like daisies everywhere you turn, and you would be right. Podcasts have never been more popular.
Podcasts have never been more popular than they are today.
In fact, there are more than 800,000 active podcasts as of 2019, which is a number that only looks to increase in the years to come.
So why are podcasts so popular?
Because they are incredibly huge moneymakers.
Almost a third of Americans listen to at least one podcast a month, and advertisers have noticed.
They poured in almost half a million dollars in podcast advertising in 2018, and it’s fairly reasonable to assume that number is just going to keep increasing as the months (and years) march on.
Not only that, podcasts are a form of marketing that can not only grow your brand’s audience, but also its credibility.
And the best part?
It has never been easier to launch one.
It used to be that you’d need prohibitively expensive recording equipment like mics and editing software to release a podcast, but those days are over.
With advances in technology, anybody with a reasonably functional laptop can record and release their very own podcast.
There are a million reasons to get one started, and not a single reason not to.
Having said that, there is a huge difference between launching a podcast nobody listens to and launching a successful podcast that can help with your brand’s marketing, branding, and maybe even brings in some big bucks.
Here are our top seven tips to launch a successful podcast.
While you don’t need to blow a few thousand dollars on state of the art recording equipment or software, you should at least have a decent microphone to start with.
After all, a podcast with poor audio quality probably doesn’t have much of a chance at success.
Podcasts are a form of entertainment.
Nobody wants to have to strain just to hear what you and your guests are saying.
Having a decent microphone, a headset, and some basic audio editing software can make huge difference in how your podcast audio sounds.
And sounding like a true professional can make all the difference when it comes to whether you will be successful in your new career as a podcaster.
The initial investment is relatively small compared to the potential gains, which makes it a no-brainer.
The theme of your podcast will play a huge role in determining its success.
This doesn’t mean that you should choose a topic you believe will capture a large audience, however.
What it means is that you should pick a theme you can commit to for the long haul.
If you are truly passionate about what you are talking about, that will resonate with others who share the same passion.
Nobody wants to listen to somebody spout out amateurish nonsense on a topic they clearly are not interested in.
Being genuinely informed and interested in whatever you choose to talk to will keep your audience engaged, and they will appreciate you for it.
Plus, there’s a higher probability that they will share your podcast with others who have the same interests.
If you’re only jumping on whatever bandwagon topic is trending that week, pretty soon you’re going to run out of steam, and your listeners will notice.
Stick to something you know and love.
The people listening will always be able to tell the difference.
This should be obvious, but it’s amazing how many would-be podcasters are so focused on their podcast’s title, artwork, and launch, that they forget about the most important thing: the podcast itself.
It may seem easy, but unless you are an experienced media veteran with years of broadcasting under your belt, your first few podcast episodes probably won’t be very good.
Like all things in life, you will have to practice podcasting to get good at it.
Joe Rogan wasn’t a podcasting expert when he started the Joe Rogan Experience a decade ago.
He made a lot of mistakes, but he just kept at it.
What you’re listening to today is 10 years’ worth of experience, learning, and practice.
In order to have a successful podcast, you are going to have to become a good podcaster.
And the only way to get to that level is to keep recording.
If you are serious about being the proud owner of a successful podcast, you are going to have to pay your dues.
Chances are, unless you are already some sort of celebrity, few people will be hearing those, anyway.
Keep learning and honing your craft, and keep striving to produce the best podcast content you can.
Eventually, you’ll get to a level where people will enjoy listening to what your podcast has to offer.
After some time, you will probably start receiving comments and suggestions from your listeners.
Some listeners may want you to change the format, and others will have requests for special guests.
While it’s always wise to hear out your audience, it is also important to stay true to your podcast’s identity.
It’s never a good idea to pander to your audience – a podcast that sparks real conversations will always be infinitely more interesting than one that just goes with the flow.
Be decisive, and control the direction of where you want your podcast to go and what you want your podcast to be.
Podcast audiences don’t want to listen to pushovers. They want real, hard-hitting podcasting.
Have an opinion, and a solid identity your listeners can slowly get to know and enjoy.
This isn’t to say that you should completely ignore what your listeners want, however.
This simply means that you should establish who you are as a podcast first, and then let your core audience help you smooth out the rough edges in your podcast identity later on.
While there are other great posts that cover Podcasting SEO in-depth (like this one and this one), it would be impossible to create a ‘how to create a successful podcast’ article without mentioning SEO.
Most people probably don’t realize that iTunes and Google Podcasts are actually search engines.
To illustrate this, try typing “paleo” in the search option of either app.
What pops out?
Lots of podcasts with “Paleo” in their title and/or descriptions.
Given this newfound information, it only makes sense to sneak in a few keywords in your podcast’s title and descriptions, if only to give you a little boost in the rankings.
Don’t go overboard with the keywords, though.
Get your keywords in, but try to keep your title sounding as natural as you can.
Having keywords in your podcast title, subtitle, and description should just make it a little easier to find and rank, and can definitely help your podcast’s success.
Guests can be an incredibly valuable factor in the success of your podcast.
An expert guest will not only have intelligent and interesting things to share on your pod for your listeners, but they will also most likely be bringing in plenty of their own followers.
You might be an expert on your podcast topic, but there is always value in hearing a different perspective than yours, both for yourself and for your audience.
Of course, if you are fortunate enough to get a great guest for your podcast, be sure to treat them with respect.
This means not only sticking to whatever questions and script you may have written out for the podcast, but allowing them to explore topics and experiences they want to share as well.
It also goes the other way. If you are given the opportunity to be a guest on another podcast, seize the chance to expose a whole new audience to your personality and podcast.
Promote your show at every opportunity you can get.
You won’t be stealing the audience of the podcast you’re guesting on, simply giving their audience the chance to discover something new they might enjoy.
Like everything in life, consistency is key when it comes to having a successful podcast.
Find a schedule you can commit to, and commit to it fully.
Your listeners want to know they can rely and depend on you to come out with a podcast on a regular basis.
You are in a relationship with your audience, and they need to know you can be counted on.
By giving them a sense of security that you are there for them, you can begin to build loyalty with your listeners.
Nothing will lose you listeners faster than a sporadic and inconsistent podcasting schedule.
You want to be part of their lives and their routines.
You want to be something they can look forward to in their commute or alone time.
Podcasting is definitely a medium that is here to stay. Podcasts are accessible, easy to listen to, and require very minimal effort for the listeners.
They are a great marketing tool, and a fantastic branding vehicle. For anybody looking to start a successful podcast, it would be a good idea to keep the tips above in mind.
Jon Clark is the Managing Partner and chief SEO at Moving Traffic Media, a boutique digital marketing agency in New …
Conquer your day with daily search marketing news.
Join Our Newsletter.
Get your daily dose of search know-how.
In a world ruled by algorithms, SEJ brings timely, relevant information for SEOs, marketers, and entrepreneurs to optimize and grow their businesses — and careers.
Copyright © 2024 Search Engine Journal. All rights reserved. Published by Alpha Brand Media.

source

Tekpon Announces Top SEO Software Tools for 2024  EIN News
source

The world of SEO is becoming more complex each year. Google algorithms are continuously updated and developed, prioritizing user experience with new approaches. Therefore, digital marketing professionals need to keep up with the latest developments in SEO. Here are 27 new SEO terms that will enhance your digital strategy in 2024 and how they can strengthen your marketing efforts.
Google ranks content based on recognizable entities (such as names and brands). This change makes it essential for brands to create content that clearly defines and highlights their brand names and services to stand out in rankings.
The AI-powered search experience combines traditional search results with AI-generated answers, allowing users to access information quickly. Creating AI-friendly content is key to standing out in this search experience.
Content that engages users and keeps them on the page for longer positively impacts SEO. High-quality, attention-grabbing content increases user interaction and can improve rankings.
Frequent updates to your content show that your site is relevant and active. Google prefers to rank consistently updated content higher. Regular, fresh posts support this strategy.
In-depth, single-topic content ranks better in search results. Therefore, diving deep into a specific topic can be highly valuable for search engines.
Content that reflects positive sentiment is more attractive to users and ranks better. Incorporating a positive tone in your SEO strategy can help engage users.
Structured data based on Expertise, Authority, Trustworthiness, and Transparency (EEAT) is highly valued by Google. Highlighting these elements in your content can improve your Google ranking.
Google downranks low-quality AI-generated content. High-quality, unique content is therefore more important than ever.
Content covering related topics gains more visibility in search results. Clustering related keywords and topics can lead to better ranking results.
Content with high engagement rates is more valuable for SEO. Creating interactive content that encourages user engagement can improve your ranking position.
Google is becoming better at understanding multilingual terms. This makes creating content in multiple languages more beneficial for reaching a broader audience.
The longer users stay on your page, the more valuable the content appears. Creating high-quality content that increases dwell time can improve SEO performance.
User emotions now play a role in SEO rankings. Content that builds emotional connections with users can rank higher.
Content tailored to a specific location ranks better for localized searches. Targeting specific regions can attract local users.
Google is becoming better at discerning user intent. Structuring your content to answer user queries directly is essential.
User interactions on your site now impact indexing priorities. Analyzing user behavior and optimizing your content accordingly can be beneficial.
Google detects AI-generated content and downranks low-quality pieces. Creating original content is therefore crucial.
Changes in user intent affect ranking. Updating your content to meet evolving user needs over time can enhance performance.
Google recognizes unspoken user intent, giving comprehensive content higher value. Anticipating potential user needs can structure your content more effectively.
Google surfaces concise summaries to provide users with quick insights. Ensuring that your content includes clear, digestible summaries can be advantageous.
Content related to trending topics gains more visibility. Following current events and trends in your content creation can help boost your SEO.
Pages that cater to multiple user intents are more valuable for SEO. Structuring your content to meet various user needs can improve rankings.
Interactive content that encourages actions ranks higher. Use interactive elements, like buttons and graphics, to engage users.
Content that maintains user interest as they scroll positively impacts SEO. Ensuring that your content remains engaging throughout the page is essential.
Internal links to high-authority pages increase page visibility. Include links to authoritative pages within your content.
Videos with higher view times are more valuable for SEO. Create content that encourages longer video views.
Mobile gestures (touch actions) now affect SEO rankings. Creating mobile-friendly and user-oriented content is important for ranking well.
The ever-evolving structure of SEO requires digital marketing professionals to stay updated with new developments. These 27 new SEO terms highlight Google’s shift towards a more user-centered approach, placing greater importance on content quality and user experience. By creating highly engaging, intent-focused, and original content, you can elevate your digital marketing strategy to the next level.
The world of SEO is becoming more complex each year. Google algorithms are continuously updated and…
As the holiday season approaches, Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group invites guests to experience ‘Season’s Sparkle’, a celebration that brings together…
Often overlooked in the world of digital marketing, Google Trends is a hidden gem that, when…
The season-ending DP World Tour Championship will welcome a host of 2024 Race to Dubai winners, including the first champion…
In a new episode of Marketplace Middle East, CNN’s Eleni Giokos is in Riyadh for the Future Investment Initiative (FII), where business leaders from…
#Pressrelease   #news   #newswire   #monitoring   #clippingservice   #MiddleEast   #Europe   #Asia   #FarEast   #USA   #Global   #webinars
WhatsApp: +971 50 6449103   |   Email: info@cyber-gear.com
Order Form   |   Pricing   |   Corporate Video   |   Brochure   |   Guest Posts Media Kit   |           |   Affiliate Partner:  
Another Cyber Gear Site

source

Advertisement
November 6, 2024 | 11 min read
Listen to article 4 min
Search engine optimization (SEO) just got more difficult, but where there’s change, there’s opportunity. Comms strategist Aidan Muller talks us through how AI may throw a spanner into the works for brands.
Chessboard on a battlefield
Generative AI is fast being integrated into search (Google, Bing), and in some cases will replace search altogether. And since around two-thirds of online experiences reportedly start with a search, according to a 2019 report, there will be great rewards for those companies and organizations whose ideas, products and services are featured in those AI results.
Just as we did for search with SEO, we are starting to see a new professional industry emerge for the optimization of assets in order to shape AI results. However, unlike search, generative AI is expected to provide a synthesis and, as such, will be significantly more competitive than search. As the stakes inevitably get higher, I expect this will become a significant battleground for brands.
Some have called it AI Optimization (AIO), others have called it Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) – but I tend to refer to it as AI Results Optimization (AIRO) to distinguish it from optimization of the AI models themselves. Time will tell which acronym sticks!

Influencing AI results requires understanding how generative engines work. While we don’t all need to become AI engineers, it’s worth understanding the mechanics so we’re talking the same language.
Basically, there are three levels at which influence can be exerted:
The training data
The algorithm
Reinforcement learning from human feedback (RLHF)
Influencing the AI’s training data
Large Language Models (LLMs) are generally trained on large collections of texts, called corpora (e.g. Common Crawl, C4, BooksCorpus). Since these are aggregates, they are quite hard to influence directly. Marketers are better off thinking about the largest single data sources. Wikipedia, for example, is one of the largest datasets. As are GitHub, ArXiv, Quora, or Reddit.
The good news is that the recent(ish) implementation of retrieval-augmented generation (R.A.G.) – which allows AIs to fetch up-to-date information from a search engine or another data source – has made it easier and quicker to influence AI results. The bad news is that I expect AI models will become more discerning in time.
There have been interesting experiments, for example, to try and game AI results. Kevin Roose mentioned two of them in a recent New York Times piece: furnishing the data source with “strategic text sequences” or invisible keywords in white text (previously known as ‘keyword stuffing’).
We will hear of many more hacks of this type in the coming year. But much like the black-hat techniques that tried to game search algorithms in the early years of SEO, these will eventually be phased out after a few algorithm updates. And if the Google experience is anything to go by, we may even see the deployers of black-hat techniques penalized.

For the time being, the most responsible and coherent avenues to shape training data are drawn from best practice in content development, SEO, web development and traditional PR, with the addition of a new focus on large data-rich platforms.
Comms directors should be prioritizing:
Creating good quality content on owned properties (websites, microsites, social media to a lesser extent)
Try to answer concrete questions in a helpful and sourced way
Making sure your online properties are crawlable and your data is structured
Cultivating your domain’s authority to make sure your content gets found
Getting credible, authoritative news outlets and publishers to say nice things about your brand. (Although many of these platforms will have blocked AI access, I expect they will eventually reach commercial agreements with the key models.)
Work with a specialist to help you optimize relevant content or conversations on specialized data-rich platforms (e.g. Wikipedia, GitHub, ArXiv, Reddit).
These may take longer and be harder than black-hat techniques, but they are the most ethical and least damaging to your reputation.
As we saw earlier, we can also look to influence the algorithm or the reinforced learning process (RLHF). These processes, however, operate at company level – who will probably not take kindly to external forces looking to shape their product.

This option is an even heavier lift than shaping the training data, but it will be particularly attractive where the stakes are high, for organizations who don’t want to leave anything to chance. The variety of competing interests mean this is likely to become a fierce battleground for brands, products and ideas.
I foresee that these organizations will do this in a few different ways.
Commercial arrangements with the AI company/ies will undoubtedly play a big part. There will almost certainly be a space for a new advertising model, and there may be more specific sponsorship agreements (to feature one product or message rather than another).
But there will also be room to influence the rules of the game. Larger brands may want to shape the policy or regulatory framework, in a way that favors their products, services or ideas. In many ways, this battle is already underway with the debate around safety.
These activities are more likely to influence generative AI results in the negative than in the positive. In other words, they might not lead to the AI promoting your particular healthy snack brand, however they may eventually downgrade high-sugar alternatives as a matter of policy. They may not feature your specific hybrid car brand, but they might promote hybrid cars over inefficient petrol-powered cars.
Intervention in this area would be no different from the bans on advertising tobacco or alcohol in some countries or the watershed on TV content and advertising.
While AI will not completely replace search – some users will still want to see the source material – there is no doubt that AI results will replace a significant share of searches, especially where the output is synthesized information.
The process of influencing is hard-coded into our DNA. The shift from a handful of above-the-fold search results to a single AI result will make for a more competitive – and possibly more adversarial – environment.
In the short term, there will be a significant competitive advantage for the organizations at the top of AI results and for the professionals who master AIRO. As an industry around influencing AI results develops and professionalizes – and standards get defined – the stakes are likely to be raised, and organizations will go to ever greater lengths to influence them.
For citizens and consumers, the breadth of results may – at least initially – reduce, though this might favor newcomers. AI-generated results will increasingly be weighted towards the product, brand or idea with the highest bid. In some instances results will be manipulated by black-hat marketing professionals, unscrupulous political campaigners and ill-intentioned international actors.
We will need mechanisms to ensure trust and transparency (in the same way that search and social media have to signpost ad content). And we will need to become more discerning and even more distrustful of online information (with unknown societal consequences in the long run).
This is a call for professionals to understand the mechanics of AIRO and become better equipped. It’s inevitable that this will become an arms race. The onus is on us to do this ethically.
Aidan Muller is the director of Daimon Communications, and co-founder of the Appraise Network. Read more from The Drum opinion here.
Marketing can change the world.
© Carnyx Group Ltd 2024 | The Drum is a Registered Trademark and property of Carnyx Group Limited. All rights reserved.

source

Join this leadership discussion for proven techniques to build long-term relationships and keep your clients coming back.
Maximize your SEO efforts in 2024 with insights on Google’s SGE, algorithm updates, and expert tips to keep your site ahead.
Download this guide and learn how to optimize and manage Google Performance Max campaigns, with expert insights and actionable strategies to ensure your campaigns are effective.
Discover the latest trends, tips, and strategies in SEO and PPC marketing. Our curated articles offer in-depth analysis, practical advice, and actionable insights to elevate your digital marketing efforts.
Join three of Reddit’s top executives in this exclusive AMA (Ask Me Anything) to discover how you can tap into Reddit’s unique platform to drive brand growth.
Join this leadership discussion for proven techniques to build long-term relationships and keep your clients coming back.
Google’s John Mueller also talks about technical SEO, content, communicating with SEOs, and why people should feel free to ask “dumb” questions.
Podcast: Download
Subscribe: Apple Podcast Google Podcasts Spotify
“Not that there are no myths out there, but I think a lot of these things, they stick around for a reason and it’s important that people feel free to ask something that might be a dumb question. And if you never ask a dumb question, then you never learn what the actual answer is, so it’s not that I want people to stop asking this kind of question, it’s important that they ask things that are confusing to them.
And even if that’s something that we hear repeatedly that is a myth or that’s based on an assumption that’s just not true, I think it’s important that people feel the freedom to be able to ask all of these things.”
Got a question about BERT, E-A-T, schema, or anything Google search-related?
John Mueller might’ve already answered it for you on either Twitter, Reddit, a Google Webmaster Hangout or his #AskGoogleWebmasters video series.
John has been doing a great job of connecting webmasters and SEO professionals to the engineers within Google, always trying to improve things for search.
While he’s probably been asked more SEO questions than anyone else, John doesn’t seem to get tired of answering them. Instead, he encourages people to keep asking questions.
He’s incredibly giving of his time and knowledge to help people solve their website and SEO issues – and he deserves to be known more for his significant contributions to the search industry.
For today’s edition of The Search Engine Journal Show, I interviewed John Mueller about his career, structured data, the importance of speed, disavowing links, dealing with legacy penalties, and so much more.
John Mueller is the Senior Webmaster Trends Analyst at Google. He’s been working at Google since September of 2007.
Before joining Google, he owned a software company in Switzerland for more than 12 years.
At the time, he created a site maps generator (shortly after sitemaps were introduced). He then started being active in the original help forums from Google trying to figure out how search engines work.
And although it was hard for him to let go of the company he built, he decided to take a risk and seize the opportunity to work at Google.
Listen to this episode and learn more about Mueller’s thoughts on communicating with SEOs, how machine learning will impact search in the coming years, a different approach in solving SEO problems, and more.
How to connect with John Mueller:
Twitter | Reddit
Visit our podcast archive to listen to other Search Engine Journal Show podcasts!
Image Credits
Featured Image: Paulo Bobita
Danny Goodwin is the former Executive Editor of Search Engine Journal. He formerly was managing editor of Momentology and editor …
Conquer your day with daily search marketing news.
Join Our Newsletter.
Get your daily dose of search know-how.
In a world ruled by algorithms, SEJ brings timely, relevant information for SEOs, marketers, and entrepreneurs to optimize and grow their businesses — and careers.
Copyright © 2024 Search Engine Journal. All rights reserved. Published by Alpha Brand Media.

source

sel logo
Search Engine Land » SEO » Want to improve rankings and traffic? Stop blindly following SEO tool recommendations
Chat with SearchBot
Please note that your conversations will be recorded.
SearchBot: I am trained with Search Engine Land content. Ask me anything!
SEO tools can be invaluable for optimizing your site – but if you blindly follow every recommendation they spit out, you may be doing more harm than good. 
Let’s explore the biggest pitfalls of SEO tools and how to use them to genuinely benefit your site.
SEO tools are a double-edged sword for anyone involved in content creation or digital marketing. 
On the one hand, they offer valuable insights that can guide your strategy, from keyword opportunities to technical optimizations. On the other hand, blindly following their recommendations can lead to serious problems. 
Overoptimized content, cosmetic reporting metrics and incorrect technical advice are just some pitfalls of overreliance on SEO tools.
Worse yet, when site owners mistakenly try to optimize for these tool-specific metrics. This is something Google’s John Mueller specifically commented on recently when urging bloggers not to take shortcuts with their SEO:
I’ve worked with thousands of sites and have seen firsthand the damage that can be done when SEO tools are misused. My goal is to prevent that same damage from befalling you! 
This article details some of the worst recommendations from these tools based on my own experience – recommendations that not only contradict SEO best practices but can also harm your site’s performance.
The discussion will cover more than just popular tool deficiencies. We’ll also explore how to use these tools correctly, making them a complement to your overall strategy rather than a crutch. 
Finally, I’ll break down the common traps to avoid – like over-relying on automated suggestions or using data without proper context – so you can stay clear of the issues that often derail SEO efforts.
By the end, you’ll have a clear understanding of how to get the most out of your SEO tools without falling victim to their limitations.
Without fail, I receive at least one panicked email a week from a blogger reporting a traffic drop. The conversation usually goes something like this:
This is a common response. I’ve gotten the same email from both novice and experienced bloggers. 
The issue is one of education. Visibility tools, in general, are horribly unreliable.
These tools track a subset of keyword rankings as an aggregate, using best-guess traffic volume numbers, third-party clickstream data and their own proprietary algorithms.
The result: these tools tend to conflate all keyword rankings into one visibility number!
That’s a problem if you suddenly lose a ton of keywords in, for example, positions 50-100, which lowers the overall visibility number for the entire domain.
It’s likely those 50-100+ position keywords were not sending quality traffic in the first place. But because the blogger lost them, the visibility index has decreased, and boom, it looks like they suffered a noticeable traffic drop!
Plenty of visibility tools and metrics exist in the SEO space, and many have value. They can and should be deployed quickly to pinpoint where actual SEO research should come into play when diagnosing problems.
But as SEOs, we educate clients that these same tools should never be the final authority on matters as important as traffic drops or troubleshooting possible SEO issues. 
When forming solid hypotheses and recommended action items, always prioritize first-party data in Google Analytics, Google Search Console, etc.
It’s not just these “visibility metrics” that give tools a bad name. 
Many of the most popular tools available in the niche provide outdated metrics that have been debunked as a waste of time for SEO priority purposes.
One of those metrics is the popular text-to-HTML ratio metric. 
Briefly defined, the metric compares the amount of text on the page to the HTML code required to display it. 
This is usually expressed as a percentage, with a “higher” percentage being preferred, as that signifies more text in relation to the code.
Even though this has been repeatedly denied as a ranking factor this is still a reported audit finding on most crawling programs and popular SEO tool suites.
The same can also be said when discussing the topic of toxic links and disavow files. 
Yet, Google has publicly communicated multiple times that toxic links are great for selling tools and that you would be wise to ignore such reports as they do nothing for you.
I can only speak to my experience, but I’ve only ever improved sites by removing disavow files. 
Unless you actually have a links-based manual penalty that requires you to disavow links (you shouldn’t have gotten them in the first place), you should stay away from these files as well.
Get the newsletter search marketers rely on.
See terms.
Finally, another great “tool recommendation” to ignore is the purposeful non-pagination of comments. 
One of the simplest ways to increase page speed, reduce DOM nodes and improve a page’s bottom-line UX is to paginate comments.
For years, the most popular SEO plugin on the planet, Yoast, provided a Site Health Warning that discouraged users from paginating comments.
Fortunately, after much back-and-forth on Github, this was resolved. You’ll still find this recommendation on many auditing tools and SEO plugins even though it’s against Google’s own pagination best practices.
It’s important to understand that the best tools have moved beyond antiquated lexical models like keyword density, word count, TF-IDF and basically “words” in general.
Semantic search has been the order of the day for years, and you should invest in tools that offer actionable insights through information retrieval science and natural language processing. 
Think entities, tokens and vectors over keywords and strings. That’s the recipe for tool success.
Using SEO tools can be a powerful part of your strategy, but it’s essential to use them wisely. 
While they provide an incredible range of data, a tool’s recommendations aren’t always tailored to your specific goals, audience or site context. 
Let’s look at some best practices for using SEO tools effectively, ensuring they serve your strategy rather than controlling it.
SEO tools work off their own metrics and internal algorithms, providing data points that can help guide strategy.
However, they lack the human understanding of what makes content genuinely valuable to readers.
When a tool suggests adding more keywords, for instance, think twice before keyword-stuffing – it may boost certain metrics, but it often sacrifices user experience.
Every piece of tool data should be taken as a starting point, not a final directive.
Relying on just one SEO tool can lead to a narrow or skewed view of your site’s performance. 
Each tool has unique metrics and algorithms that emphasize different aspects of SEO, so combining insights from platforms like Google Search Console, Semrush and Ahrefs gives you a broader understanding. 
Cross-referencing can provide a more balanced perspective, helping you make better-informed decisions.
Many SEO tools focus heavily on technical metrics – heading structure, backlinks or schema deployment, for example. 
While important, these shouldn’t overshadow your focus on quality content. A content-first approach remains at the heart of effective SEO. 
Tools can help refine and enhance, but content that’s useful and engaging for your audience is what ultimately drives long-term success.
SEO is constantly changing, with Google’s algorithm updates reshaping best practices regularly. 
Revisit and adjust your strategies to keep them aligned with the latest insights. 
Tools also frequently update their metrics and algorithms, so it’s wise to monitor new features or recommendations that may add fresh value to your approach.
SEO tools sometimes emphasize optimizations that may work well for search engines but less for real users. 
For example, a tool may recommend pop-ups to capture leads, but if they interfere with usability, they can lead to high bounce rates and lower overall revenue. 
Always put user experience at the forefront, focusing on aspects like site speed, mobile responsiveness and accessibility.
As I state regularly in audits, SEO is all about the little things.
For most sites, it’s never one issue identified by a tool that will control your future fortunes. It’s more of a death-by-a-thousand-cuts situation, causing sites to underperform.
Tools can provide insights, allowing you to best triage your site in these situations. But they should never be followed blindly. Unfortunately, many users (and SEOs) do just that!
In the end, SEO tools are best used when the user approaches them as “aids” rather than “solutions.”
Focus on weighing all tool recommendations to genuinely benefit your site audience, and the end result will always be a solid foundation on which to propel long-term growth.
Contributing authors are invited to create content for Search Engine Land and are chosen for their expertise and contribution to the search community. Our contributors work under the oversight of the editorial staff and contributions are checked for quality and relevance to our readers. The opinions they express are their own.
Related stories
New on Search Engine Land
About the author
Related topics
Get the newsletter search marketers rely on.
See terms.
Learn actionable search marketing tactics that can help you drive more traffic, leads, and revenue.
Online Nov. 13-14: SMX Next
Available on-demand: SMX Advanced
Available on-demand: SMX Master Classes
Discover time-saving technologies and actionable tactics that can help you overcome crucial marketing challenges.
April 15-17, 2020: San Jose
Get More Out of Your Webinars: Strategies for 24/7 Engagement
How Content is Critical to a Winning Ecommerce Strategy
ABM and AI for Marketers: Priority Use Cases for 2025
Enterprise SEO Platforms: A Marketer’s Guide
Email Marketing Platforms: A Marketer’s Guide
Customer Data Platforms: A Marketer’s Guide
Elevate Your Executive Brand with Proven Social Media Strategies
Meet your new AI-powered marketing assistant!
Get the newsletter search marketers rely on.
Topics
Our events
About
Follow us
© 2024 Search Engine Land is a Trademark of Semrush Inc.
Third Door Media, Inc. is a publisher and marketing solutions provider incorporated in Delaware, USA, with an address 88 Schoolhouse Road, P.O. Box 3103, Edgartown, MA 02539. Third Door Media operates business-to-business media properties and produces events, including SMX. It is the publisher of Search Engine Land, the leading digital publication covering the latest search engine optimization (SEO) and pay-per-click (PPC) marketing news, trends and advice.

source