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Categories
Tag Archives: internal links
Are You “Leaking SEO” by Linking to Other Websites?
You’ve probably heard this SEO advice before:
Don’t link to other websites. You’re just giving away your SEO.
Sometimes you’ll hear this described as “SEO leakage” - the idea that when you put an external link on your website, you’re giving some of your hard-earned SEO value to another website.
And if that other website happens to be a competitor, that can sound even worse.
So should website owners be afraid to link out?
No. Not when the link is
... Continue readingDiscovered vs. Crawled Not Indexed in Google Search Console: What’s the Difference and How to Fix Each
When you log into Google Search Console (GSC) to check your site’s coverage, it can be very frustrating to find your URLs shoved into the "Not Indexed" bucket. But pay close attention to the specific reason GSC provides.
Two of the most common - and easily confused - statuses are "Discovered - currently not indexed" and "Crawled - currently not indexed."
While they might sound like minor variations of the same problem, they point to two completely different stages in
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Posted in Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
Tagged backlinks, crawl budget, crawled - currently not indexed, crawler, currently not indexed, discovered - currently not indexed, discovered vs crawled, domain authority, Google Search Console, Googlebot, gsc, internal linking, internal links, seo, seo missteps, seo tips, sitemap, xml sitemap
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Keyword Cannibalization: How to Find and Fix the Pages Stealing Your Own Google Traffic
When multiple pages on your website target the same keyword or search intent, you aren't doubling your chances of ranking. You're forcing Google to guess which page is the authority.
In our previous guide, Why Great Content Gets Stuck on Page 8 (And How to Fix It), we highlighted how overlapping content can silently cap your rankings. While some debate whether this is a Real SEO Issue or an Overblown Myth, the practical reality is simple: spreading search
... Continue readingPaying $10,000 a Month for SEO? Here’s How to Tell If You’re Getting Your Money’s Worth
SEO can be expensive.
It's not uncommon for businesses to pay anywhere from a few hundred dollars to well over $10,000 per month for SEO services. Large companies in highly competitive industries often spend even more.
So is that money well spent?
Sometimes, absolutely.
Other times... not so much.
The difference usually isn't the price - it's whether the work being done actually moves the business forward.
A recent discussion on an online marketing forum caught our attention. An in-house
... Continue reading
Posted in Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
Tagged authority, backlinks, bloat, clean code, crawl errors, duplicate content, fast website, google analytics, Google Search Console, high-quality content, internal links, keyword tracking, mobile usability, mobile-friendly, page speed, search intent, search intent match, seo, seo packages, seo pricing, seo services, structured data, technical seo, third-party plugins, user experience
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How to Check Clicks, Impressions, and Rankings for a Specific URL in Google Search Console
There's a little "secret door" inside Google Search Console (GSC) that a surprising number of website owners don't know about.
Most people use Search Console to check whether their pages are indexed, submit sitemaps, or investigate crawl errors. They know where to find the Pages report and the URL Inspection tool. But when it comes to answering one of the
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Posted in Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
Tagged add filter, average position, clicks, crawl errors, Google Search Console, gsc, impressions, indexed, internal links, long-tail keywords, meta description, page stats, seo, site statistics, sitemap, submit sitemap, title, trends, url inspection
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The Danger of Premature Site Pruning
One of the biggest mistakes new website owners make is assuming that fewer pages automatically means higher quality.
They open Google Search Console, see warnings, discover that some SEO influencer recommends deleting "low-value" pages, and suddenly they're on a mission to clean house. Tag pages disappear. Archives vanish. They slap noindex tags across entire sections of their site.
The result is often the exact opposite of what they intended.
Instead of improving rankings, they erase the very signals that
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Posted in Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
Tagged 301 redirect, authority, backlinks, build authority, canonical tags, crawl paths, duplicate content, engagement, Google Search Console, Googlebot, internal links, long-tail traffic, low-value pages, noindex, search engine ranking, seo, site pruning, stability, topical authority, topical relevance, trust signals, user experience, visibility
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When Google Search Console “Black-Holes” a Single URL (While New Posts Index Perfectly)
If you log into Google Search Console (GSC) and see that a specific, brand-new blog post is stuck in a ghost state - showing completely undetected, not in the sitemap, and not crawled - it is incredibly frustrating. It feels even more bizarre when you publish a subsequent post right after it, and that newer post indexes completely normally within hours.
If your website layout is clean, fast, and optimized with server-side code (like the UltimateWB integrated WordPress blog system),
... Continue readingWhy Have My Indexed Pages on Google Decreased? (Real Causes + Fixes Most Sites Miss)
Seeing your indexed pages drop in Google can feel like your website is quietly disappearing.
One day everything looks stable… the next, your index count is down - and you’re left wondering if your rankings are about to follow.
If you’re asking “Why have my indexed pages on Google decreased?”, here’s the reality:
This is common - but it’s not random.
Google doesn’t just “lose” pages. When your indexed count drops, it’s almost always the result of a decision
... Continue reading
Posted in Ask David!, Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
Tagged broken links, cannibalization, canonicalization, crawl efficiency, crawlability, crawled, disallow, duplicate content, engagement, google search engine ranking, indexed pages, indexing, internal links, keywords, noindex, noindex tags, not indexed, redirect chains, redirect loops, redirect url, relevance, reliability, robots.txt, search engine optimization, seo, sitemap, slow website, target keywords, thin pages, trust, user intent, wasted crawl budget
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Does “Test Live URL” help Google index your webpage faster?
Does clicking on the "Test Live URL" on Google Search Console after using the "Request Indexing" link make Google index your page sooner? Or was it just a coincidence?
“Ask David” answer: The short answer is no, if you experienced Google indexing your page soon after testing the Live URL, it was just a coincidence. Clicking
... Continue readingUsing a URL Shortener and Passing the SEO Link Juice
Does using a URL shortener like azipURL or TinyURL not pass on the SEO link juice of having a backlink posted somewhere?
"Ask David" answer:
Actually, using a URL shortener like azipURL, TinyURL, or Bitly generally does pass on the SEO
... Continue reading