The digital marketing community was buzzing with anticipation at WordCamp US 2025 as Danny Sullivan, a key voice from Google, took the stage to discuss the evolution of search. Amid discussions of AI Overviews, new search modes, and a rapidly changing landscape, he delivered a message that was both reassuring and clarifying: “Good SEO is good ‘GEO’.” This statement, followed by a playful list of potential acronyms: “AEO, or AI SEO, or LLM SEO, or LMNOPEO”. This explains the noise and anxiety surrounding the rise of AI in search. It suggests that the future isn’t about learning a complex, new set of rules, but about strengthening our commitment to the foundational principles of quality. This blog post will unpack what “Good SEO is Good GEO” truly means for content creators, publishers, and SEO professionals. We will explore how Google’s long-standing advice is not just relevant but essential for success in AI-driven search experiences, all through the lens of the critical E-E-A-T (Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, Trustworthiness) framework. Unpacking the New Lingo: What is “GEO”? The central message from Sullivan’s presentation was captured in a simple but powerful slide “GEO” stands for Generative Engine Optimization. While the term may be new, the underlying concept, as Sullivan emphasized, is not. The message is clear: the same strategies you have been using to create high-quality content for search engines are the same ones that will position you for success in the new generative AI experiences. As recaps from the event noted, the core directive is that “it’s not about gaming algorithms, it’s about writing for people”  The consensus is that “Great content for people” is precisely what will perform well in AI search, a sentiment Google has expressed before This isn’t about a radical pivot. It’s about recognizing that as search evolves with technologies like AI Overviews and AI Mode, the engine’s core goal remains to connect users with outstanding, original content that provides unique value. The Unchanging Foundation: Google’s Core Guidance Reinforced Google’s official documentation reinforces this message with remarkable consistency. In a guide published on May 21, 2025, titled “Top ways to ensure your content performs well in Google’s AI experiences on Search,” the advice is strikingly familiar. As the document explicitly states, the same guidance applies. The key pillars for success remain: Focus on unique, valuable content for people.Provide a great page experience.Ensure we can access your content.Manage visibility with preview controls. This advice serves as the bedrock of both good SEO and, by extension, good GEO. It confirms that the path to visibility in AI Overviews isn’t through a secret back door but through the front door of quality and user-centricity that Google has been pointing to for years. Connecting GEO to E-E-A-T: Your Framework for AI-Ready Content The E-E-A-T framework has become central to how Google assesses content quality. It’s not a direct ranking factor but a conceptual model that informs its systems. Understanding how to demonstrate E-E-A-T is the key to aligning with Google’s goals and succeeding in the GEO landscape. Experience (E): First-Hand Insight in an AI World Google’s call to “focus on unique, valuable content for people” directly maps to the ‘Experience’ component of E-E-A-T. In an era where AI can generate vast amounts of text, content demonstrating genuine, first-hand experience becomes exponentially more valuable. How to Apply:  Share case studies, personal stories, and hands-on reviews. If you’re reviewing a product, show you’ve used it. If you’re explaining a process, detail your own journey. This real-world perspective is difficult for a language model to replicate authentically and builds a strong connection with your audience. Expertise (E): Be the Source AI Wants to Cite To provide “unique, satisfying content,” you must demonstrate deep expertise. AI Overviews synthesize information from multiple high-quality sources to provide an answer. Your goal is to be one of those trusted sources. How to Apply: Create comprehensive, accurate, and insightful content that covers a topic in depth. Go beyond surface-level explanations. Your content should be so thorough and well-researched that it becomes a definitive resource, making it an ideal candidate for citation in an AI-generated summary. Authoritativeness (A): Building Your Site’s Reputation Authoritativeness is about being a recognized go-to source in your field. This is built over time through consistent quality and is supported by technical excellence, such as providing a “great page experience” and ensuring Google can easily access your content. How to Apply: Consistently publish high-quality content in your niche. Earn backlinks and mentions from other reputable sites. Ensure your site is technically sound, fast, and secure. A strong internal linking structure also helps establish topic authority. When your site is seen as an authority, its content is more likely to be trusted and surfaced by Google’s systems, including AI. Trustworthiness (T): The Cornerstone of Credibility Trust is the ultimate goal. Without it, nothing else matters. All aspects of E-E-A-T contribute to trust, as do technical details. Google’s guidance to “Make sure structured data matches the visible content” is a key trust signal. Discrepancies can erode trust with both users and search engines. How to Apply: Be transparent about who you are and why you are qualified to speak on a topic. Cite your sources. Make it easy for users to contact you. Ensure your website is secure (HTTPS). Correct any factual errors promptly. This commitment to transparency and accuracy is fundamental to being considered a trustworthy source for AI experiences. Beyond the core principles, Google’s guidance offers actionable steps for creators looking to thrive: Go Beyond Text for Multimodal Success: The web is a visual medium. Integrating high-quality images, videos, infographics, and audio not only improves user engagement but also provides more signals to Google about the depth and quality of your content. This makes your page a more comprehensive resource, ideal for various facets of AI-driven search. Manage Visibility with Preview Controls: Google provides options for publishers to control how their content is displayed in search results, including snippets and AI Overviews. Understand these controls (like `max-snippet` and

In the complicated world of Search Engine Optimization (SEO), links are the highways connecting the internet’s vast universe. They are the currency of authority, passing value from one page to another and telling search engines like Google what your content is about. Most marketers are obsessed with crafting the perfect, keyword-rich anchor text. But what about its less-adorned cousin, the naked URL? Often overlooked, the humble naked URL is a surprisingly powerful tool in any modern SEO strategy. You might have seen it referred to by various names, including colloquial terms like “nude URL” or “link nude.” Regardless of the terminology, the concept is crucial. This guide will follow the 5W1H format (What, Why, Who, When, Where, and How) to strip back the mystery of the naked anchor. We’ll explore why these raw links are vital for a healthy backlink profile, how they align with Google’s EEAT framework, and answer all misconceptions about naked URLs. What are Naked Links? A naked URL (or raw link) is a hyperlink where the clickable anchor text is the URL itself, displayed in its “raw” or “naked” format. Instead of hiding the link behind descriptive text, you present it as is. For instance, instead of this hyperlink:Learn about SEO with Sanoop Balan A naked link would look like one of these:1. https://www.sanoopbalan2. www.sanoopbalan3. sanoopbalan.com The link destination is the same as the link text. While a standard hyperlink uses specific words as the clickable anchor text, a naked link uses the URL as its anchor (sanoopbalan.com). This might seem minor, but it has significant implications for SEO, user trust, and brand building. Naked urls are also known as bare links,plain URL and also unformatted URL. Feature Standard Hyperlink Naked Link / Naked URL Anchor Text Descriptive words or phrases (e.g., “click here,” “best SEO tools”). The raw URL itself (e.g., https://www.example.com). Appearance Clean, integrated text. The literal web address Primary Goal Drive clicks with context and target specific keywords. Drive clicks with transparency and build brand recognition. SEO Signal Passes contextual relevance through the anchor text keywords Passes authority and relevance through the domain/URL itself. Why are Naked URLs a Critical Part of your SEO Strategy? The “why” behind using naked links is directly tied to creating a robust, trustworthy, and penalty-proof SEO foundation. This is where the principles of Google’s EEAT (Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, Trustworthiness) framework come into sharp focus. The advantages are numerous. Cultivating a Natural and Diverse Backlink Profile. Imagine a website where every incoming link uses the exact anchor text, like “best running shoes.” To a search engine, this looks unnatural and highly manipulative. A natural backlink profile is diverse, featuring a mix of anchor text types: branded (e.g., “Nike”), keyword-rich (“best running shoes”), generic (“click here”), and, of course, naked URLs. Naked links are a cornerstone of this diversity. Their presence signals to Google that real people acquire your links organically, not just through calculated link-building schemes. Enhancing Brand Recognition and User Trust (The ‘T’ in EEAT). Trust is paramount on the web. A naked URL is transparent; users can see exactly where they are going before they click. This clarity builds confidence and can lead to higher click-through rates, especially when the link appears on a third-party site. Consistently seeing your domain name, www.yourbrand.com, reinforces your brand identity across the web landscape. It becomes memorable and synonymous with your area of expertise, boosting your authority and Trustworthiness in the eyes of both users and search engines. Providing a Safety Net Against Over-Optimization Penalties. Google’s algorithms, particularly the Penguin update and its successors, are designed to penalize websites with spammy or over-optimized backlink profiles. Relying too heavily on exact-match anchor text is a major red flag. Naked links are considered one of the safest forms of anchor text because they don’t target specific keywords aggressively (sanoopbalan.com). Incorporating them into your strategy dilutes your anchor text profile and significantly reduces the risk of being penalized for manipulative practices. Facilitating Easy and Organic Sharing. In the real world of online communication, people rarely take the time to create perfectly crafted hyperlinks. In forums, blog comments, social media posts, or academic citations, the easiest way to share a source is to copy and paste the URL. These naturally occurring naked pages and links are good for seo. Encouraging this type of sharing can lead to a wealth of organic backlinks that search engines value highly. Practical Application of Naked Links Every website, from a personal blog to a multinational e-commerce giant, benefits from having naked URLs in its backlink profile. They are universally beneficial.You should strategically use and encourage naked links in various places: Author Biographies: When contributing a guest post, use a naked link to your homepage in the author bio. Press Releases: When listing your company website, use the raw URL. Forum and Community Signatures: If permitted, include your website as a naked link. Source Citations: When your website is cited as a source in an article or study, a naked link is a natural and common format. Social Media Profiles: Your website link in your Twitter, LinkedIn, or Facebook bio is a classic example of a naked on Google link. Link Outreach: When a webmaster hesitates to add a keyword-rich link, requesting a naked link is often an easier and more agreeable alternative. How Google Handles Naked Links This question keeps many SEOs up at night: Does a Google naked link even count? The answer is a resounding yes.According to Google’s experts, such as John Mueller, Google’s systems are capable of parsing and understanding naked URLs. When Google’s crawler encounters a raw URL like https://www.sanoopbalan.com, it recognizes it as a link and passes value (including PageRank or “link juice”) to the destination page.So, how does it work?Google essentially treats the URL itself as the text naked anchor. While it may not contain a descriptive keyword phrase, the domain name and the URL slug can still provide valuable context. For example, a naked link likehttps://www.mybakery.com/recipes/chocolate-cake still contains the powerful

Connecting Google Tag Manager (GTM) to your WordPress website is the Most Important step if you need Deep data-driven insights, user tracking, and enhanced website performance. While there are various plugins available in wordpress sites in One touch installation, understanding how to integrate GTM without relying on plugins can provide you with more control and flexibility over the tracking codes and scripts on your site and with more metrics compared to other plugins In this guide, I’ll walk you through the process of seamlessly integrating Google Tag Manager into your WordPress site without the use of any plugins. By following these steps, you’ll be able to deploy tracking codes and scripts, all while retaining the simplicity and security of your WordPress site. Whether you’re a WordPress enthusiast, a digital marketer, or a website owner, this method ensures you have full command over your website’s analytics, helping you make informed decisions and enhance the online experience for your audience. Let’s start our installation journey to connect Google Tag Manager to your WordPress site without the need for plugins. Once you Create a Google Tag Manager Account and create a container, Well if you are a beginner I have already done a blog on How to Create a Google Tag Manager Account in simple steps. You can refer to the blog for creating a GTM Account. Now let’s dive into the configuration process. When you get the Code, Paste the code Just below the Header code as shown in the screenshot Below follow the steps below Step 1: Adding the GTM Code to Your WordPress Site​ Now, let’s add the GTM code to your WordPress site. Follow these steps:Navigate to your WordPress dashboard.Click on “Appearance” and then “Theme Editor.” In the Theme Editor, locate the “header.php” file. It’s typically found under “Theme Functions” on the right-hand side. The instructions on how to install the GTM on your website is explained in the above screen shot. This is how you create a Google Tag Manager Account in order to user a GTM Tag in your Website. Step 2: Testing Your Tags After adding your tag, it’s always better  to test it to ensure everything is working correctly. Here’s how you can do that: Within Google Tag Manager, click on “Preview” and “Debug” mode, as you can see the option in the top left corner of the screen shot. Click on Preview Option. Once you click on the preview button a new tab will be opened automatically and you can enter your domain address for testing, It will show connected when your configuration is correct and tag is working fine. Conclusion You’ve successfully configured Google Tag Manager for your WordPress site without the need for plugins. Now, you have the power to efficiently deploy and manage various tracking codes and scripts without altering your website’s code directly. With Google Tag Manager, you can enhance your website’s analytics and gain valuable insights into your audience’s behavior. Happy tracking By following this beginner’s guide, even those new to SEO can seamlessly integrate Google Tag Manager into their WordPress website. If you encounter any issues, feel free to refer back to this guide or seek assistance from the GTM community. Enjoy your journey into advanced website tracking and analysis!

LinkedIn is a professional networking site that has evolved over time to become more than just a platform for job searching. While it can still be used to search for job opportunities, it has also become a powerful tool for creating and sharing professional content. Users can now publish articles, share updates, and create groups to connect with others in their industry. Additionally, LinkedIn has added features such as video creation and live streaming, further emphasizing its shift towards becoming a content-focused platform. As a result, it is essential to use LinkedIn not only for job searching but also for building your professional brand and network. Table of Contents Introduction Why LinkedIn is important for job seekers What are the benefits of LinkedIn if you are not looking for a job? Why LinkedIn is now a content Creating App Why LinkedIn is loved by content creators in 2023 Conclusion Introduction LinkedIn is a professional networking site that allows users to connect with others in their industry, share information, and build professional relationships. While it is still a popular platform for job seekers, LinkedIn has evolved to become much more than just a tool for finding employment. In this article, we will explore the many benefits of using LinkedIn, including why it is important for job seekers, the benefits of using LinkedIn even if you’re not looking for a job, and how LinkedIn has become a content creation platform Why LinkedIn is important for job seekers For job seekers, LinkedIn is an invaluable resource. The platform allows users to create a professional profile that highlights their skills and experience, making it easy for potential employers to find them. Additionally, LinkedIn allows users to connect with others in their industry, which can lead to valuable networking opportunities and potential job leads. Furthermore, LinkedIn provides a wealth of job postings and company information, making it a one-stop-shop for job seekers looking to find the right job. What are the benefits of LinkedIn if you are not looking for a job LinkedIn can still be a valuable tool even if you’re not actively looking for a job. The platform allows users to connect with others in their industry and stay informed about what’s happening in their field. Additionally, LinkedIn provides a wealth of information about companies, including their size, location, and culture, which can be useful for understanding different career paths. Furthermore, LinkedIn allows users to build a professional brand through content creation and sharing, which can benefit anyone looking to advance their career or build a personal brand. Why LinkedIn is now a content Creating App LinkedIn has always been a place for users to share information, but in recent years, the platform has become much more focused on content creation. Today, LinkedIn allows users to publish articles, share updates, and create groups to connect with others in their industry. Additionally, LinkedIn has added features such as video creation and live streaming, further emphasizing its shift towards becoming a content-focused platform. As a result, LinkedIn is now a powerful tool for creating and sharing professional content, making it an ideal platform for anyone looking to build their professional brand or network Why LinkedIn is loved by content creators in 2025 In the current digital age, content creation has become the key to building a strong personal brand and reaching a large audience. LinkedIn is loved by content creators because it provides an audience that is already interested in professional development and career growth. Additionally, LinkedIn’s algorithms give preference to high-quality content, which means that content creators can reach a large audience even with a small following. Furthermore, LinkedIn’s recent updates have made it even more user-friendly for content creators, with features like video creation and live streaming. With these features, LinkedIn has become a go-to platform for content creators looking to build a professional brand and connect with others in their industry. Conclusion LinkedIn is no longer just a platform for job seekers; it has evolved into a powerful content creation platform that offers a wide range of benefits to users. Whether you’re actively looking for a job or not, LinkedIn is a valuable tool for building your professional brand and network. With the recent updates and features, LinkedIn has become a platform that is loved by content creators and professionals who are looking to advance their careers in 2023