Category

SEO Tools

Among the many tools for search engine optimization are platforms and apps that monitor competitors, identify keywords, analyze Google’s search result pages, review changes in organic rankings, evaluate backlink quality, and much more. Our coverage also recommends tools based on the experiences of our contributors.

  • SEO Tools

    SEO: Google Analytics, Webmaster Tools Improve Search Rank

    May 14, 2015 •

    I often reference both Google Analytics and Webmaster Tools when writing about SEO for small business owners. These are the two most important resources available for digital marketing analysis and are free for anyone to use.

  • 10 Sites to Learn SEO SEO Tools

    10 Sites to Learn SEO

    August 31, 2014 •

    Developing your search engine optimization skills can seem intimidating. However, there are some excellent online resources to learn the basics, formulate strategies and launch your SEO campaign. Here is a list ...

  • SEO Tools

    SEO: Bing Webmaster Tools for the Other 20 Percent

    February 28, 2014 •

    Since Google is the largest search engine, its webmaster tools gets the lion’s share of attention. But depending on your industry and audience, Bing and Yahoo may drive around 20

  • SEO Tools

    Local SEO: 15 Marketing Activities that Improve Citations

    February 25, 2014 •

    Editor’s Note: This article was originally published by Web Marketing Today. Practical Ecommerce acquired Web Marketing Today in 2012. In 2016, we merged the two sites, leaving Practical Ecommerce as ...

  • SEO Tools

    Local SEO for Multiple-location Businesses

    February 10, 2014 •

    Search engine optimization for local businesses can be difficult. That is especially true for companies with multiple locations. But local SEO for small businesses with multiple locations isn’t impossible. It simply requires a highly organized plan based on your business’s goals and geographic priorities.

  • SEO Tools

    My Favorite SEO Tools

    December 20, 2013 •

    Search marketers’ toolboxes differ based on the type of optimization in which they specialize and how comfortable they are with raw data versus ready-to-use graphs. Many helpful tools aren’t specifically made ...

  • SEO Tools

    SEO: Google Adds Manual Spam Actions to Webmaster Tools

    August 9, 2013 •

    Google Webmaster Tools launched its new manual spam actions feature yesterday, enabling verified site owners to check whether their site has been manually penalized by Google. Over the last couple of years, Google has slowly increased its communication to webmasters, with the goal of ...

  • SEO Tools

    12 Free Google SEO Tools

    June 13, 2012 •

    Before you spend any money on a search-engine-optimization campaign for your website, take advantage of Google’s free tools to optimize your site and increase its PageRank. And if you are just starting out with SEO, check out Google’s Search Engine Optimization Starter Guide PDF. Here ...

  • SEO Tools

    Top 5 Reasons to Use Google Webmaster Tools

    March 16, 2012 •

    There’s a common misconception that registering with Google Webmaster Tools somehow enables Google more access to information about a site. In fact, just the opposite is true. Google Webmaster Tools provides site owners access to data available from no other source, data every ecommerce...

  • SEO Tools

    8 Tutorials for SEO Beginners

    December 22, 2011 •

    Search engine optimization is the process of improving the visibility of a website to search engines. While that is a simple idea, putting SEO concepts to work can seem daunting ...

  • SEO Tools

    5 Conversion Tools for SEO and Beyond

    November 29, 2011 •

    The quickest path to earning more from an ecommerce site's organic search traffic is to convert more consumers who already go there. I addressed that topic previously, at "SEO: Convert More Before Driving More." Many SEO strategies focus on driving more visitors. But what use is driv...

  • SEO Tools

    Google Product Search: Creating a Data Feed

    March 17, 2010 •

    Editor's Note: This is our monthly installment of "Everything Google," a feature on products and services from Google that can help ecommerce merchants. The author is Bill Hartzer, the owner of BillHartzer.com, a SEO, pay-per-click and ecommerce consulting firm in Dallas. Google Produ...

  • SEO Tools

    How to Remove a Web Page From Google

    February 24, 2010 •

    Editor’s Note: is a contributor to Practical eCommerce and manager of search engine optimization and social media marketing with VizionInteractive, a Dallas-based online marketing firm. Hartzer wrote the article, below, which first appeared in that company’s blog. This search engine ...

  • SEO Tools

    Ecommerce Know-How: Optimizing Your Site for Microsoft Bing

    September 22, 2009 •

    The Microsoft, Yahoo! search deal announced in July still faces legal hurdles, but as more details have become available, it is clear that the companies' combined search share has—for the first time in perhaps a decade—created some real competition for Google. Depending on which poll o...

  • SEO Tools

    SEO: Where Is Blended Search for Ecommerce Queries?

    June 17, 2009 •

    When the concept of blended search was introduced, the search engine optimization (SEO) industry and ecommerce retailers got very excited. By optimizing the images and video content that many sites already produce, search engines were adding visually appealing content to the standard 10...

  • SEO Tools

    SEO: “Speak” to the Search Engine Spiders

    May 19, 2009 •

    Search engines are like translators. With no more than a couple of words entered into the search box, they attempt to translate a word or phrase into the searcher’s meaning or intent and compare it to the millions of potential matches in their indices. But the less understood and even...

  • SEO Tools

    SEO: Try Surfing Like a Search Engine Spider

    April 15, 2009 •

    I’m a visual learner. I need to see and interact with things to understand them. It therefore helps me to mimic the behavior of search engine spiders when I’m digging into a site for the first time to review its search engine optimization issues. I like to think of it as “being the bot....

  • SEO Tools

    Measuring SEO Performance

    March 17, 2009 •

    Measuring success in search engine optimization can typically be done in four ways. “Indexation” measurements will determine if a search engine has properly identified all of your site’s pages. “Backlink” measurements will show the number of internal and external links that point to you...

  • SEO Tools

    Review: Google Insights Can Help Merchants Optimize PPC/SEO Campaigns

    November 25, 2008 •

    Google Insights, a free and relatively new research tool, provides detailed search data that can help online retailers improve their pay-per-click advertising and search engine optimization. Like it or not, many online retailers depend on pay-per-click (PPC) advertising and search engi...

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