Topical authority is when Google recognizes your site as a go-to expert on a specific subject because you’ve published complete, interlinked content covering all major subtopics within that niche. It’s not about one great article, it’s about owning an entire topic through depth and breadth. I learned this the hard way. Years ago I published…
Entity SEO is the practice of optimizing content and websites around entities, distinct, well-defined things like people, places, products, brands, or concepts, rather than just keywords. Instead of optimizing for the string “best running shoes,” entity SEO focuses on specific shoe brands (Nike, Adidas, Brooks), shoe types (trail running shoes, racing flats), and the relationships…
Semantic SEO is the practice of optimizing content based on meaning, context, and user intent rather than just exact-match keywords. Instead of stuffing a page with “best running shoes” 47 times, semantic SEO focuses on comprehensively covering the topic, discussing shoe types, materials, use cases, brands, fit, and related concepts that searchers actually care about….
LLM Citations are references that large language models (ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity, Gemini) include when answering user queries, crediting specific sources that informed their responses. Unlike traditional search results where you click links, LLM citations appear inline within AI-generated answers, and getting cited means capturing traffic before users ever see a traditional SERP. Why LLM Citations…
Google AI Mode (formerly Search Generative Experience or SGE) is Google’s integrated AI-powered search interface that provides AI-generated answers with source citations directly in search results, powered by Google’s Gemini language model. Instead of just showing a list of links, Google AI Mode synthesizes information from multiple sources and presents a complete answer at the…
AI Overviews (formerly called SGE or Search Generative Experience) are AI-generated answer summaries that appear at the top of Google search results, synthesizing information from multiple sources and providing direct answers before traditional organic listings. Instead of showing 10 blue links, Google uses its Gemini AI model to analyze top-ranking pages and generate a complete…
Render blocking resources are CSS and JavaScript files that prevent a web page from displaying content until they’re fully downloaded and processed. When a browser encounters a render-blocking resource in the HTML head, it stops constructing the page, downloads the file, and processes it before continuing. This delay is what kills your First Contentful Paint…
Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) is the practice of optimizing your content to be discovered, cited, and referenced by AI-powered answer engines like ChatGPT, Perplexity, Google AI Mode, and Claude. While traditional SEO fights for position in a list of blue links, GEO fights for citation within the AI-generated answer itself. I’ve been tracking GEO patterns…
A Content Delivery Network (CDN) is a geographically distributed network of servers that caches and delivers your website’s static assets from locations closest to your users. Instead of every visitor downloading images, CSS, and JavaScript from your single origin server in Virginia, the CDN serves those files from edge servers in Tokyo, London, São Paulo,…
Lazy loading is a performance optimization technique that defers loading non-critical resources until they’re actually needed, typically when they’re about to enter the viewport. Instead of loading every image, video, and iframe on page load, lazy loading tells the browser: “Hey, only load what the user can see right now. We’ll grab the rest when…
Breadcrumbs are navigational elements that show users their current location within a website’s hierarchy and provide clickable links back to parent pages. They typically appear near the top of a page as a horizontal trail like “Home > Blog > SEO Glossary > Breadcrumbs”. Why Breadcrumbs Matter in 2026 I’ve tested breadcrumbs across dozens of…
Hreflang is an HTML attribute that tells search engines which language and regional version of a page to show users based on their location and language preferences. It prevents duplicate content issues on multilingual and multi-regional sites by explicitly declaring alternate versions. When I audit international sites, hreflang errors are the #1 reason for ranking…
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