SEO guides

Search engines work in three stages: crawling, indexing, and ranking. Learn robots.txt, XML sitemaps, crawl budget, mobile-first indexing, and log files.

SEO (search engine optimization) is the practice of improving a website to earn more relevant, unpaid organic traffic from Google. Learn how it works.

On-page SEO is what you optimize on the page you control; off-page SEO is the authority you earn off-site. See the key differences, plus header and title tags.

A keyword is the query your page aims to be the best answer for. Learn search intent, long-tail vs short-tail, the LSI myth, and keyword research tools (2026).

Link building is earning backlinks - among the highest-correlating ranking signals (Backlinko). Dofollow vs nofollow, rel=ugc/sponsored, anchor text, the toxic links myth.

Local SEO is optimizing your Google Business Profile, citations, and reviews to rank in Google's Local Pack and Maps. See the 3 local ranking factors.

SEO content is helpful content built for a search intent and wired into a topic cluster. Google judges quality, not who wrote it or word count. Full 2026 guide.

Technical SEO makes a site fast, secure, and machine-readable. See the 2026 Core Web Vitals thresholds (INP replaced FID), HTTPS, canonicals and schema.

How AI is really changing SEO in 2026: AI Overviews on about 16% of searches (not 48%), AI Mode at 1B+ users, 68% zero-click, and SEO widening into SEO+AEO+GEO.

A Google algorithm update changes the ranking systems. Most are broad core updates - a site-wide reassessment, not a penalty. Core, E-E-A-T, spam & recovery.

International SEO optimizes one website so Google serves the right language and country version to each searcher, via hreflang, URL structure, and localization.

Track SEO performance with three tools: Google Search Console for clicks, impressions, CTR and average position, GA4 for on-site data, and Ahrefs or Semrush.