The Rise of ChatGPT: How AI-Powered Language Models Will Shape the Future of SEO

  It should come as no surprise that ChatGPT is the hot topic of the day. By the time you are reading this blog post, you will have likely already heard about this emerging technology. ChatGPT took only 2 months to reach the coveted “100 million users” milestone—by comparison, Facebook took 48 months and TikTok 9 months. Whether you have experimented with ChatGPT or have just heard the rumblings of its rise anecdotally, it is nearly impossible to avoid the conversation and speculation about artificial intelligence. Of course, at LinkNow Media, we are primarily concerned about how AI chatbots could potentially enhance—or hinder—the work of search engine optimization. Fortunately, we are no strangers to change in our line of work, and we believe that ChatGPT could become an effective tool if used correctly.   What Is ChatGPT? First things first, we should probably take a peek behind the curtain of […]

Tyson Breen

Author: Tyson Breen

About Tyson Breen

Tyson is a content writer and SEO specialist with over half a decade of industry experience. He is an expert on digital marketing and is passionate about providing his clients with powerful content that boosts traffic and engagement. When away from his desk, Tyson enjoys home cooking, comic books, and live music.

Google Ads: 4 Tips to Take Your Paid Ads to the Next Level

  Paying for Google Ads may seem like a straightforward way to market yourself online, but getting eyes on your business is only half the battle. Without the correct approach, there is no way to guarantee that your intended audience will actually click on the links in your advertisements. In this blog post, we will be covering some strategies for improving the clickthrough rate (CTR) of your Google Ads that will help you make the most out of your marketing budget. 1.      Focus on Your Quality Score If you are not aware, Quality Score is a value that Google assigns to the keywords in your account, which is designed to measure the relevance and quality of your advertising compared to other advertisers. Quality Score is not necessarily a number that needs to be optimized but rather a general indicator of the areas where you can improve—think of it like a […]

Tyson Breen

Author: Tyson Breen

About Tyson Breen

Tyson is a content writer and SEO specialist with over half a decade of industry experience. He is an expert on digital marketing and is passionate about providing his clients with powerful content that boosts traffic and engagement. When away from his desk, Tyson enjoys home cooking, comic books, and live music.

Core Web Vitals: What Are They and Why Are They So Important?

Back in 2020, Google unveiled its new Core Web Vitals, a set of specific factors designed to measure the user experience on a web page. As of August 2021, these metrics have become an official Google ranking factor as part of the “page experience” update. Over a year later, Core Web Vitals continue to be an important factor for search engine optimization and must be considered by anyone hoping to rank highly. It is clear that Google plans to continue emphasizing user experience and may even evolve its Core Web Vitals over time, so it is a good idea to familiarize yourself with these metrics. This blog post will help you understand all three Core Web Vitals and why you should be paying attention to them.   The Core Web Vitals Largest Contentful Paint (LCP) This is essentially the average loading time for the main content on a web page. […]

Tyson Breen

Author: Tyson Breen

About Tyson Breen

Tyson is a content writer and SEO specialist with over half a decade of industry experience. He is an expert on digital marketing and is passionate about providing his clients with powerful content that boosts traffic and engagement. When away from his desk, Tyson enjoys home cooking, comic books, and live music.

How to Dominate Google in 2022

A grey skyscraper rises in the background. In the foreground, caption says: Digital marketing made easy.

If you’ve been looking to do more than merely show up in Google’s search results, then you need to read this article. In this blog post, we’re going to show you how to dominate Google. We’ll start from the ground-up so you understand Google’s front-page results, how they work, and how you can appear at the top. Ready to make Google work for you? Let’s get started. Google’s Front-Page Results: A Breakdown The first thing you need to understand is how the search results appear on the page. In general, they are broken down into three different sections:  The local search pack  The organic search results  Google Ads (aka, pay-per-click ads, and formerly known as AdWords) Here, a visual reference might prove useful so that you have an idea of what these categories look like. Let’s try typing general contractor boston into Google to see how the search results are […]

John Wickham

Author: John Wickham

About John Wickham

John Wickham is Senior Content Writer and Strategist at LinkNow Media. An SEO expert, he writes to empower small-business owners by giving them the information they need to market themselves. His love of the written word is matched only by his love of ancient history, as well as the semi-colon.

10 Ways to Promote Your Blog on Google

A woman, smiling, holds a megaphone to her mouth. Caption says: 10 tips to grow your blog.

If you want people to read your blog, you need to promote your blog. How do you go about doing that? You’re in luck, because we’ve assembled a list of 7 ways you can promote your blog quickly and efficiently. These are tried-and-true techniques we use every day to promote our content. These are simple, effective strategies that will help you grow your audience, improve search rankings, and drive traffic to your site. And they don’t take much effort, either. Let’s get started. 1. Harness Social Media This is the easiest way to attract viewers to your blog. You can share individual blog posts on every platform you sign up with, be it Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Subreddits, or Twitter. It’s an organic method of growing your readership without spending much time or money. When sharing content on social media, give your readers a reason to click on your blog. Don’t […]

John Wickham

Author: John Wickham

About John Wickham

John Wickham is Senior Content Writer and Strategist at LinkNow Media. An SEO expert, he writes to empower small-business owners by giving them the information they need to market themselves. His love of the written word is matched only by his love of ancient history, as well as the semi-colon.

4 Big Benefits of Blogging (and Why Even Contractors Should Do It)

Background shows a workspace with a laptop, notebook, and teapot. Caption says: 4 reasons every business needs a blog.

teIf you’re not blogging in 2022, you’re leaving a lot on the table. Blogging helps put eyes on your business. It helps build trust with your audience—and with Google. Even contractors like roofers, plumbers, and general contractors are reaping the rewards, using it to scale up and build their brands simultaneously. If you’re not, you’re losing out. With that in mind, let’s look at 4 concrete reasons every business—including contractors—needs a blog. 1. The Cheapest Way to Increase Traffic Content is king when it comes to search engine optimization, and keeping a blog means that your website will be updated regularly with indexable pages. Try focussing your blog posts around topics that are related to your industry and include keywords and terms that promote your overall SEO strategy. Without a blog, a good chunk of the clicks on your website will likely come from people already familiar with your business […]

John Wickham

Author: John Wickham

About John Wickham

John Wickham is Senior Content Writer and Strategist at LinkNow Media. An SEO expert, he writes to empower small-business owners by giving them the information they need to market themselves. His love of the written word is matched only by his love of ancient history, as well as the semi-colon.

Google Passage Ranking: What It Is and What It Means for SEO in 2022

Background shows Google homepage. In foreground, caption says: What is passage ranking?

Publishing long-form content has never been more important to ranking well on Google. And the reason? Google passage ranking: a relatively new (since 2021) feature affecting how Google ranks and indexes web pages. Today, let’s look at what Google passage ranking is, how it works, how you can harness it to improve your content’s online rankings. Let’s dive in. What is Passage Ranking? Passage ranking (also called passage indexing) is new feature that helps Google understand and contextualize the content of a webpage. It also helps generate better search results for users. Instead of ranking a whole webpage for a particular keyword, Google now ranks passages from that page according to how relevant they are to said keyword. Passage ranking evaluates certain sections to provide more specific, higher-quality search results for users. Consider this example. Let’s say there’s a 5000-word-long page about search engine optimization (SEO). Of the 5000 words, […]

John Wickham

Author: John Wickham

About John Wickham

John Wickham is Senior Content Writer and Strategist at LinkNow Media. An SEO expert, he writes to empower small-business owners by giving them the information they need to market themselves. His love of the written word is matched only by his love of ancient history, as well as the semi-colon.

Use Google’s EAT Principle to Crush the Competition

A woman eats a salad with a face of contentment. Text says: EAT your way to the top.

Looking to get more leads from Google? Then first and foremost, you need to know about the Google EAT principle. By mastering EAT, you’ll be able to grow your web presence into a juggernaut, driving traffic from Google to your site. Let’s get started. What Is EAT? EAT stands for: Expertise Authority Trust Pretty simple so far. Let’s break down each of those terms and explain how they’re relevant to the way you create content going forward. Expertise Google wants to know how much you (the content creator) know about your industry and specific topics that surround what you do. Authority Google takes a step back to examine the larger picture, reviewing the credibility and good reputation of the creator of each piece of content, the brand, and the website in its entirety. Trust It’s true what they say about trust. It takes a while to build it and only […]

John Wickham

Author: John Wickham

About John Wickham

John Wickham is Senior Content Writer and Strategist at LinkNow Media. An SEO expert, he writes to empower small-business owners by giving them the information they need to market themselves. His love of the written word is matched only by his love of ancient history, as well as the semi-colon.

7 Ways to Promote Your Blog Online [2022]

A woman sits cross-legged with a laptop on her lap. Text says: 7 ways to promote your blog.

If you want people to read your blog, you need to promote your blog. How do you go about doing that? You’re in luck, because we’ve assembled a list of 7 ways you can promote your blog quickly and efficiently. These are tried-and-true techniques we use every day to promote our content. These are simple, effective strategies that will help you grow your audience, improve search rankings, and drive traffic to your site. And they don’t take much effort, either. Let’s get started. 1. Harness Social Media This is the easiest way to attract viewers to your blog. You can share individual blog posts on every platform you sign up with, be it Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Subreddits, or Twitter. It’s an organic method of growing your readership without spending much time or money. When sharing content on social media, give your readers a reason to click on your blog. Don’t […]

John Wickham

Author: John Wickham

About John Wickham

John Wickham is Senior Content Writer and Strategist at LinkNow Media. An SEO expert, he writes to empower small-business owners by giving them the information they need to market themselves. His love of the written word is matched only by his love of ancient history, as well as the semi-colon.

SEO vs SEM: What’s the Difference?

A set of hands hold up two sticky notes. One says SEO, the other SEM. Caption says: What's the difference?

SEO vs SEM: What’s the Difference? And Which Is Best for Your Online Marketing Strategy? Not sure what the difference is between SEO (Search Engine Optimization) and SEM (Search Engine Marketing)? This post is for you. Today, we’ll be looking at the differences between SEO and SEM, their pros and cons, and how you can use both to power your online marketing strategy. Let’s dive in. The Difference Between SEO and SEM Google results can be divided into two main categories: organic results paid results While SEO focuses on optimizing a website to get traffic from organic search results, SEM focuses on getting traffic and visibility from organic results and paid search results. Understanding Search Engine Optimization (SEO) The Goal SEO is a slower process in which the website domain owner works to improve their website visibility and ranking with various strategies. SEO can be divided into three categories: On-Page […]

John Wickham

Author: John Wickham

About John Wickham

John Wickham is Senior Content Writer and Strategist at LinkNow Media. An SEO expert, he writes to empower small-business owners by giving them the information they need to market themselves. His love of the written word is matched only by his love of ancient history, as well as the semi-colon.