Brad Bartell

Tag: SEO

  • Google’s September 2025 “Perspective” Update

    What It Means for Search and Your SEO Strategy

    Google has once again reshaped the SEO landscape. In September 2025, the search giant completed what the SEO community has labeled the “Perspective” Update — a significant ranking adjustment that shifts the spotlight toward authenticity, depth, and lived experience in content.

    For businesses, publishers, and marketers, this isn’t just another incremental change. It’s a recalibration of how Google wants to serve search results: less repetition, more unique insight. Let’s unpack what happened, how it affects reporting, and what you should be doing now.

    What Is the “Perspective” Update?

    While Google hasn’t officially named this update “Perspective,” SEO professionals have quickly coined the term. The reason is simple: the common thread across ranking shifts is that Google is rewarding content that brings a fresh perspective, original insight, and real expertise — not just another rewording of what’s already out there.

    If the Helpful Content Update was about discouraging thin, AI-generated filler, the Perspective Update takes it further: it emphasizes content that demonstrates experience and authority — the “E” in Google’s E-E-A-T (Experience, Expertise, Authority, Trust).

    Timeline: When Did It Roll Out?

    • Early September 2025: Ranking volatility spikes across industries.
    • Mid-September 2025: Google confirms a core update is in progress.
    • Late September 2025: Rollout completes; search results stabilize, though many sites are still seeing aftershocks.

    This update also overlapped with the August 2025 Spam Update, making attribution tricky for some sites. But by the end of September, the dust settled enough for SEO analysts to identify a clear trend: perspective-driven content was moving up, while generic or derivative content was sliding down.

    What Changed in Search?

    1. Content Depth & Originality

    Google now gives preference to articles that go beyond surface-level coverage. Think case studies, experiments, real-world examples, and actionable takeaways. Summarizing existing top-rankers is no longer enough.

    2. User Journey Completion

    Pages that help users complete their search journey in one visit — instead of leaving them to click deeper or open multiple tabs — gained traction.

    3. Authentic Voice

    Unique viewpoints, author experiences, and qualitative insights are rewarded. Pages that read like they could have been generated by an AI trained on existing content tend to suffer.

    4. Filtering of Thin Content

    AI-generated “SEO spam” is under greater scrutiny. If a page doesn’t add new value, it’s more likely to be pushed down.

    5. Technical Reporting Changes

    One of the most disruptive shifts was Google’s removal of the &num=100 parameter (which let rank trackers pull 100 results per page). With pagination forced back to 10 results per page, impressions reported in Search Console have dropped sharply, even if clicks or actual traffic didn’t change much.

    Winners and Losers

    Winners

    • Sites with case studies, research, or lived expertise
    • Brands that publish original thought leadership
    • Niche publishers with deep vertical focus
    • Content enriched with multimedia (charts, images, video, audio)

    Losers

    • Thin, AI-generated content farms
    • Sites built on top-10 listicles or generic “what is” explainers
    • Aggregated or lightly rewritten summaries of existing SERPs
    • SEO dashboards and rank trackers (at least temporarily) that relied on deprecated parameters

    Reporting Fallout: Why Your Impressions Dropped Overnight

    One of the biggest shocks to webmasters was the sudden nosedive in Google Search Console (GSC) impressions.

    Here’s why:

    • Before: GSC counted impressions for pages ranked as low as 90–100 (when pulled using &num=100).
    • Now: Only the top 10 per page are counted, meaning many low-rank impressions vanished from reports.

    This has a few side effects:

    • Impressions drop dramatically while clicks may remain steady.
    • Average position improves because the missing low-rank results are no longer dragging it down.
    • CTR looks artificially higher since the denominator (impressions) shrank.

    So, if you saw impressions tank but clicks stay stable, it’s not necessarily a penalty — it may just be the new reporting reality.

    Strategic SEO Responses

    The Perspective Update isn’t a death sentence. It’s a wake-up call to evolve content strategies. Here are concrete steps:

    1. Perform a “Perspective Audit”

    Look at your top pages. Ask: What unique value do we add that no one else does? If the answer is “not much,” it’s time to refresh. Add firsthand data, expert commentary, or customer stories.

    2. Double Down on E-E-A-T

    • Show author credentials.
    • Add case studies and real-world examples.
    • Link out to credible sources.
    • Highlight trust signals like certifications, reviews, and testimonials.

    3. Update and Consolidate

    • Refresh stale articles with new stats or visuals.
    • Merge overlapping thin content into a single authoritative piece.
    • Retire pages that add no perspective.

    4. Embrace Multimedia

    Google increasingly favors diverse formats. Supplement text with:

    • Data visualizations
    • Video demos or walkthroughs
    • Infographics
    • Screenshots or product photos

    5. Reframe KPIs

    • Stop obsessing over impressions.
    • Focus on clicks, conversions, and engagement signals.
    • Use GA4 session data and on-site behavior as benchmarks.

    6. Adapt Rank Tracking

    • Work with tools that adjust to pagination limits.
    • Track Top 10 rankings more closely.
    • Focus on keywords that actually convert, not just vanity terms.

    Risks, Challenges, and Unknowns

    • Google hasn’t officially confirmed the “Perspective” name.
    • Overlapping updates (e.g., spam filters) may obscure results.
    • Smaller sites with limited resources may struggle to produce perspective-driven content at scale.
    • SEO tools are still catching up, so reporting will be bumpy for a while.

    Key Takeaways

    1. The September 2025 update is about depth and authenticity, not volume.
    2. Thin, generic, AI-recycled content is losing traction.
    3. Impressions are less reliable now — focus on clicks and conversions.
    4. Success comes from showing your unique perspective, whether through data, stories, or expertise.
    5. Expect more volatility as Google continues refining how it detects real value.

    Final Thoughts

    The Perspective Update isn’t just another tweak — it’s a signal of where Google is headed. Search is moving toward rewarding content that feels less like an algorithm and more like a human conversation.

    If your strategy has been “what’s already ranking, but rewritten,” now is the time to pivot. Lean into your expertise, highlight your experience, and invest in creating content that truly helps users. That’s the kind of perspective Google wants, and it’s the kind that will future-proof your SEO.

  • Why JSON-LD is Critical for Modern SEO: A Real-World Example from Modere

    If you want your brand to stand out on Google, it’s no longer enough to simply rank high—you need to look great too. One of the most powerful (yet often overlooked) tools for enhancing your search appearance is JSON-LD structured data. During my time at Modere, I saw firsthand how implementing JSON-LD, particularly for product reviews, helped us turn basic listings into rich, eye-catching results. Here’s why JSON-LD matters—and how we used it to drive more visibility and credibility.

    What is JSON-LD?

    JSON-LD (JavaScript Object Notation for Linked Data) is a way to add machine-readable metadata to your web pages without disrupting the user experience. It tells Google—and other search engines—important information about your content: products, reviews, organization info, FAQs, and more.

    Unlike older methods like Microdata or RDFa, JSON-LD is simple to implement and doesn’t require nesting tags within your HTML. Instead, it sits cleanly in the <head> (or sometimes <body>) of your page as a standalone block of code.

    The Opportunity at Modere:

    At Modere, we were already gathering thousands of authentic product reviews through Yotpo, a leading customer review platform. However, while these reviews were visible on the page, they weren’t showing up in Google’s search results as rich snippets (the star ratings you often see under a product link).

    Without structured data, Google had no way to easily associate our reviews with our products—which meant we were missing out on valuable trust signals and click-through opportunities.

    How We Solved It: Adding JSON-LD to Our Next.js Website

    Working within a Next.js framework, we developed a process to dynamically inject JSON-LD into our product pages based on real Yotpo review data. Here’s how we approached it:

    • Pulled Yotpo data: On page load (or during server-side generation), we accessed the latest review counts and average ratings via Yotpo’s API.
    • Generated JSON-LD: For each product page, we created a JSON-LD schema following Google’s Product schema guidelines, including fields like name, description, aggregateRating, and review.
    • Injected it into the page: Using Next.js’ <Head> component, we embedded the JSON-LD inside a <script type=”application/ld+json”> tag.

    Here’s a simple version of what we added:

    import Head from 'next/head';

export default function ProductPage({ product, yotpoReviews }) {
  const jsonLd = {
    "@context": "https://schema.org/",
    "@type": "Product",
    "name": product.name,
    "description": product.description,
    "aggregateRating": {
      "@type": "AggregateRating",
      "ratingValue": yotpoReviews.average_score,
      "reviewCount": yotpoReviews.total_reviews
    }
  };

  return (
    <>
      <Head>
        <script
          type="application/ld+json"
          dangerouslySetInnerHTML={{ __html: JSON.stringify(jsonLd) }}
        />
      </Head>
      {/* Rest of product page */}
    </>
  );
}

    The Results:

    After Google re-crawled our pages:

    • Many Modere products started displaying review star ratings directly in search results.
    • Click-through rates improved, particularly on competitive products.
    • Customer trust increased before even landing on the site—because seeing those stars makes a strong first impression.

    Why This Matters for Your Website:

    Adding JSON-LD structured data isn’t just a “nice to have”—it’s becoming a necessity if you want your site to:

    • Earn rich snippets (stars, pricing, availability, FAQ dropdowns)
    • Improve click-through rates (CTR) from search results
    • Provide better context for AI models and voice search systems
    • Future-proof your SEO against evolving search engine expectations

    If you’re running a modern site—whether it’s built on Next.js, WordPress, Shopify, or anything else—you should be leveraging JSON-LD. It’s one of the highest-ROI, lowest-friction ways to boost your search appearance and show customers (and Google) that your content deserves attention.

    At Modere, this simple but strategic addition helped us bridge the gap between customer experiences and search engine visibility—and it’s something I recommend to every brand serious about their digital presence.

  • Share API For Consultant Marketing Pages

    When I was working with Arbonne, we faced a unique challenge:

    How could we empower Consultants to easily share marketing pages that looked better, performed better, and still properly linked back to their e-commerce stores for attribution?

    To make the sharing experience effortless, we leveraged the Web Share API.

    With a single click, Consultants could open their device’s native share options and automatically send a personalized link — no copying and pasting, no extra steps.

    Each Consultant had a unique identifier we called their Consultant Business Name (CBN). Traditionally, the CBN was added as part of the subdomain to route traffic to their personalized shopping sites. However, due to limitations in our tech stack, we had to host these new marketing pages on a separate server — one that didn’t inherently recognize the CBN structure.

    To solve this, we used a cookie-based approach:

    • When a visitor landed on a marketing page through a shared link, the query string appended the CBN (e.g., ?cbn=JohnDoe).
    • JavaScript then read that query string and set a cookie storing the CBN.
    • As users browsed the site, JavaScript dynamically updated shopping URLs to include the correct CBN — ensuring purchases still attributed to the right Consultant.

    The key was automation:

    Rather than training Consultants to manually add query parameters, we simply taught them to use the Share button — which handled all the logic behind the scenes.

    Here’s a simplified version of the sharing logic:

    JavaScript
    if (navigator.share) {
  navigator.share({
    title: 'Check out Arbonne!',
    text: 'Discover amazing products through my Arbonne Consultant store!',
    url: window.location.href + "?cbn=" + cookievalue
  }).then(() => {
    console.log('Thanks for sharing!');
  }).catch(console.error);
}

    Beyond just improving the sharing process, these marketing pages offered major SEO advantages over the legacy e-commerce platform:

    • Custom page titles and meta descriptions
    • Open Graph tags for better social media previews
    • Faster load times with clean, lightweight HTML
    • More targeted keyword optimization around product categories and promotions

    The result?

    These pages didn’t just perform better for direct links — they also started ranking organically in search engines, driving new discovery traffic and expanding the reach of each Consultant’s business.

  • Future-Proofing Your Content Strategy with llms.txt

    Search is evolving—and fast. With the rise of generative AI and large language models (LLMs), how your content is found, interpreted, and used is shifting from traditional keyword-based search engines to conversational AI platforms. In this new era, visibility isn’t just about ranking #1 on Google—it’s about being the source LLMs cite, summarize, or paraphrase in their responses. That’s where llms.txt comes in.

    What Is llms.txt?

    The llms.txt file is a new standard being proposed as a way for website owners to communicate how their content should be accessed and used by large language models like ChatGPT, Google Gemini, Claude, and others. It’s a simple text file placed at the root of your domain, similar to robots.txt, but with a focus on LLMs rather than search engine crawlers.

    For example:

    https://bradbartell.dev/llms.txt

    This file lets you:

    • Allow or disallow LLMs from training on or referencing your content
    • Specify conditions for use (like attribution or licensing terms)
    • Signal your openness to AI systems in a transparent, machine-readable way

    How Is llms.txt Different from robots.txt?

    While both llms.txt and robots.txt are used to guide automated systems, they serve different purposes:

    Featurerobots.txtllms.txt
    Primary AudienceWeb crawlers (e.g., Googlebot, Bingbot)Large language models (e.g., ChatGPT, Gemini)
    FocusSearch indexing and crawling behaviorAI training and content usage
    SyntaxStandard directives like Disallow, AllowEmerging conventions for AI content governance
    Current AdoptionWidely implemented and recognizedStill emerging, but gaining attention

    robots.txt tells search engines whether to index pages. llms.txt goes a step further by addressing whether your content can be used in training datasets or real-time generative answers.

    Why It Matters for the Future of SEO and AI Search

    As AI becomes the front door to more digital experiences, how LLMs interpret and use your content will define your visibility. This includes:

    • Whether your content is cited in AI-generated summaries
    • How accurate or up-to-date AI answers are when referring to your site
    • The ability to control or monetize the use of your original content

    By proactively adding llms.txt, you demonstrate digital maturity and readiness to engage with AI systems on your terms.

    How to Implement llms.txt

    1. Create a plain text file named llms.txt.
    2. Add directives or policy notes, such as:
    User-Agent: *
Allow: /
Attribution: required
Licensing: CC-BY-NC
Contact: ai@yoursite.com
    1. Upload it to the root of your domain (e.g., https://yoursite.com/llms.txt).
    2. Monitor adoption and adjust policies as standards evolve.

    Conclusion: Stay Ahead of the Curve

    The introduction of llms.txt is more than a technical tweak—it’s a strategic move. As more AI models crawl, synthesize, and present content, your site’s policies should keep pace. By embracing llms.txt, you’re not just protecting your content—you’re positioning your brand to thrive in the next wave of search and discovery.

  • How I address SEO for Existing Sites

    If your site has been around for a while but isn’t ranking as well as it should, you’re not alone. Many brands build up content, make design changes, or launch new features over time — but without a consistent SEO strategy, it’s easy for visibility to stagnate. The good news? A site with history has data — and that gives you a huge advantage.

    Here’s how I approach revitalizing SEO on an existing site using a combination of technical audits, content optimization, and ongoing strategy — with tools like Screaming Frog and SEMrush leading the way.

    Run a Full Crawl with Screaming Frog

    Screaming Frog is my go-to tool to uncover the technical health of a website. I use it to crawl the entire site and surface:

    • Missing or duplicate title tags and meta descriptions
    • Broken internal or outbound links
    • Incorrect canonical tags or redirect chains
    • Pages with low word count or thin content
    • Improper use of H1s and heading structures
    • Orphan pages that aren’t linked to internally
    • Image issues like missing alt text or large file sizes

    This crawl gives a full picture of what’s going on under the hood. From here, I build a prioritized fix list — starting with technical blockers that prevent pages from being indexed or crawled properly.

    Audit Keyword Performance with SEMrush

    SEMrush is where the strategy gets sharp. It helps me understand how the site is currently performing in search — and more importantly, where the missed opportunities are. I use it to:

    • Identify keywords where the site is ranking on page 2 or 3
    • Find high-volume queries where the site has impressions but low click-through
    • Discover new long-tail keywords that align with existing content
    • Analyze competitors to see which terms they’re winning that we aren’t
    • Review backlink profiles and identify toxic links that might need disavowing

    From this data, I create a content plan: which pages need refreshed content, which keywords need stronger internal linking, and what new pages should be created.

    Optimize Existing Content for Quick Wins

    Before launching anything new, I look for quick wins in the existing content. These are typically:

    • Pages ranking in positions 5–20 for target terms
    • Blog posts with outdated information
    • Product or service pages with weak CTAs or vague copy
    • Pages with solid traffic but poor engagement (high bounce, low time on page)

    I improve on-page SEO by adjusting headlines, tightening content to align with search intent, improving meta tags, and adding internal links to and from high-priority pages.

    Address Technical SEO Gaps

    After content, it’s back to the code. I revisit the Screaming Frog data and combine it with insights from Google Search Console to:

    • Fix crawl errors and reduce redirect chains
    • Optimize sitemap and robots.txt files
    • Improve page speed and Core Web Vitals using Lighthouse
    • Add or improve structured data (Product, Article, FAQ, etc.)
    • Ensure canonical and hreflang tags are set properly

    Search engines favor sites that are technically sound. Cleaning this up gives your content a much stronger chance to rise in rankings.

    Create Supporting Content Around Priority Terms

    Once the foundation is solid, it’s time to build momentum. I use SEMrush to identify related queries, questions, and subtopics around key themes. Then I create supporting content — blog posts, FAQ pages, resource hubs — that:

    • Strengthen topical authority
    • Increase internal linking opportunities
    • Capture additional long-tail keywords
    • Drive users deeper into the site experience

    This “hub and spoke” model reinforces relevance and builds a strong SEO network around high-converting pages.

    Monitor, Adjust, and Repeat

    SEO isn’t one-and-done. After implementing changes, I use Google Search Console, SEMrush, and analytics tools to monitor:

    • Changes in ranking and click-through
    • Traffic patterns to key landing pages
    • Engagement metrics like bounce rate and time on page
    • Site health and crawlability over time

    From here, I keep iterating — updating older content, targeting new terms, and keeping the technical side clean as the site evolves.

  • How I Approach Search Engine Optimization

    Search Engine Optimization (SEO) isn’t just about showing up in search results — it’s about being understood. Modern SEO is built into the code itself, starting with how content is structured, how pages are marked up, and how a site performs across devices. One of the most important aspects is making your content not only easy for humans to read, but also optimized for search engine crawlers.

    Start with Solid Meta Data

    The fundamentals matter. Every page should have clean, well-structured meta data to help search engines understand its content. I make sure to:

    • Set canonical tags to avoid duplicate content issues and ensure search engines index the right version of a page.
    • Add alternate hreflang tags for multilingual sites to help direct users to the correct language or regional version.
    • Write concise and clear title and meta description tags that reflect the page’s value to the user and improve click-through rates from search results.

    And no, I don’t focus on stuffing keyword meta tags — search engines haven’t used them in years. Instead, I focus on writing useful, well-structured content that aligns with real user intent.

    Enhance Discoverability with Structured Data

    To help search engines go beyond just reading — to actually understanding — I add structured data using JSON-LD. This semantic markup allows content to appear in rich results like:

    • Product listings with pricing and availability
    • Product ratings so Google will show ratings in search results
    • Articles with publish dates and authors
    • FAQs, breadcrumbs, and even local business info

    Structured data improves visibility in Google’s search features and helps expose content to the right audiences. It’s one of the best ways to speak directly to search engine robots and clarify what your content is about.

    Optimize the Share Experience with Open Graph Tags

    Sharing isn’t just about social reach — it’s also a signal of relevance and trust. I implement Open Graph meta tags for platforms like Facebook and Twitter to ensure that shared links look great and provide value at a glance. This includes:

    • Customizing preview images
    • Writing optimized share titles and descriptions
    • Ensuring Twitter cards render correctly

    When users share your page, it should look polished, professional, and enticing — because a shared link that drives traffic is still a win.

    Analyze Web Core Vitals & Lighthouse Scores

    Search engines reward good user experience, and that means your site needs to perform. I use Lighthouse to regularly audit pages for:

    • Largest Contentful Paint (LCP)
    • Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS)
    • First Input Delay (FID)

    From there, I dig into the code to make improvements — whether that’s optimizing images, reducing JavaScript, deferring unused assets, or cleaning up render-blocking resources.

    A fast, smooth site isn’t just better for SEO. It’s better for users, and that’s what search engines want to see.

    Fine-Tune Based on Google Search Insights

    Google Search Console is one of the most underrated tools in an SEO toolkit. I regularly review performance reports to:

    • Identify search terms where pages are ranking on the second or third page
    • Fine-tune content, headings, or internal links to push those terms toward page one
    • Spot content gaps or underperforming pages that could be reworked or expanded

    This data-driven iteration ensures ongoing optimization beyond the initial launch.

    TLDR

    Good SEO is about more than just keywords and links. It’s about creating a site that is valuable, discoverable, fast, and shareable — all built on a solid technical foundation. My approach combines technical SEO best practices, thoughtful UX, and real user data to help sites perform better today and stay competitive tomorrow.