Guides, tests and tutorials
SEO & AI Visibility Guides
Plain-English guides for small business owners and consultants: audits, keyword research, AI search, and what the tools cost. Developer and API workflows are further down.
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Six guides to read first
The most useful SEO and AI search guides for a business owner or consultant. Each one ends with the review or buying guide that helps you act on it.
How to Do an SEO Audit on Your Website: A Step-by-Step Guide
A step-by-step guide to auditing your website SEO. Covers technical checks, on-page optimization, content analysis, backlinks, internal linking, and which tools you need to find and fix issues.
How to Do Keyword Research in 2026: Step-by-Step Guide
Learn how to do keyword research step by step, using both dedicated SEO tools and AI assistants like ChatGPT and Claude. Find low-competition keywords, analyze search intent, and build a content strategy that drives real organic traffic.
How to Rank in AI Search: The Complete Guide to SEO, AIEO, and GEO in 2026
AI search is reshaping how people find information. Learn the differences between SEO, AIEO, and GEO, plus actionable strategies to get your content cited by ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, and Claude.
How to Do SEO Competitor Analysis: A Step-by-Step Guide (2026)
A 7-step competitive SEO workflow: find your real SERP rivals, reverse-engineer their keywords and backlinks, use AI to speed up the analysis, check AI search citations, and ship an action plan that actually moves rankings.
How to Track Your SEO Progress Without Expensive Tools
You don’t need $99/month tools to track SEO. Learn how to monitor traffic, rankings, backlinks, and technical health using free tools like Search Console, GA4, and a simple Google Sheet.
What Is Crawl Budget? (And How to Stop Wasting It)
Crawl budget is how many pages Google will crawl on your site in a given period. Most sites don't need to worry about it, but if yours has 50K+ pages, it could be why half your content never gets indexed.
Browse by kind
What kind of guide do you need?
Practical SEO and AI search workflows
Step-by-step guides you can follow without a developer.
- How to Do an SEO Audit on Your Website: A Step-by-Step Guide14 min
- How to Do Keyword Research in 2026: Step-by-Step Guide14 min
- How to Do SEO Competitor Analysis: A Step-by-Step Guide (2026)10 min
- How to Rank in AI Search: The Complete Guide to SEO, AIEO, and GEO in 202618 min
- How to Track Your SEO Progress Without Expensive Tools11 min
- What Is Crawl Budget? (And How to Stop Wasting It)10 min
Buying advice
How to decide what to pay for, before you open a pricing page.
Original tests and research
Things I built, measured or tested myself.
Advanced: APIs, MCP and coding workflows
For readers who want to wire marketing tools into Claude or code. Not needed to choose a tool.
11 guides
Advanced: APIs, MCP and coding workflows
For readers who want to wire marketing tools into Claude or code. Not needed to choose a tool.
- How to Use MCP With Your Marketing Tools: A Practical Guide12 min
- How to Use Semrush with Claude: MCP Setup and the $199 Fine Print6 min
- How to Use SE Ranking with Claude: 5-Minute MCP Setup, 160+ Tools7 min
- How to Use ActiveCampaign with Claude: The Connector Directory Setup6 min
- How to Use Systeme.io with Claude: Free-Plan MCP Setup6 min
- How to Set Up Website Analytics From Claude Code9 min
- API vs MCP vs CLI: How to Actually Use Your AI Tools with Marketing Software11 min
- Vibe Coding for Marketers: The Developer Line Just Vanished6 min
- How to Use SEO APIs for Client Work: A Guide for Technical SEOs and Agencies18 min
- Semrush API Pricing: What Developers Pay in 20268 min
- How to Create Your First Email Campaign in Sequenzy with Claude Code9 min
Articles
All articles, newest first
How to Do SEO Competitor Analysis: A Step-by-Step Guide (2026)
A 7-step competitive SEO workflow: find your real SERP rivals, reverse-engineer their keywords and backlinks, use AI to speed up the analysis, check AI search citations, and ship an action plan that actually moves rankings.
How I Measure Which SEO and GEO Tools AI Recommends, Built on SearchApi
I added an AI-visibility signal to my Software Index: 36 buyer questions with no brand names, sent to ChatGPT, Gemini and Google AI Mode through SearchApi, counting which SEO suites, GEO tools and SEO autopilot tools get named. The first run shows where search demand and AI recommendations disagree.
How to Set Up Website Analytics From Claude Code
Tracking script, event taxonomy, behavioural events, conversions and revenue, built by describing them to an AI instead of clicking through a tag manager.
How to Use MCP With Your Marketing Tools: A Practical Guide
MCP lets an AI assistant read and write to your marketing tools directly, with no export step. Here is what it is, how to connect one, what it is good at, and what it does not fix.
How to Use Systeme.io with Claude: Free-Plan MCP Setup
Systeme.io ships an official MCP server that works on the free plan. Here is how to connect it to Claude (and Claude Code): generate a key, paste the server URL, and let Claude manage your contacts, tags, and newsletters by chat.
How to Use ActiveCampaign with Claude: The Connector Directory Setup
ActiveCampaign was the first marketing platform in Claude's connector directory. The 10-minute setup, what Claude can do with your campaigns and automations, and the honest limits.
How to Use Semrush with Claude: MCP Setup and the $199 Fine Print
Semrush ships an official MCP server at mcp.semrush.com. Here is the Claude setup, what data it exposes, why MCP access starts on the $199 Starter plan, and how the unit metering works.
How to Use SE Ranking with Claude: 5-Minute MCP Setup, 160+ Tools
SE Ranking ships an official MCP server with 160+ tools, included on every paid plan. Here is the five-minute Claude setup (Desktop, web, and Claude Code), the seven ready-made Claude Skills, and what it costs compared to Semrush and Ahrefs.
How to Create Your First Email Campaign in Sequenzy with Claude Code
I moved That Marketing Buddy's email to Sequenzy and ran the setup through Claude Code: authenticated sending domain, a custom branded HTML theme, and a welcome automation built over the API. Here is the exact workflow.
Vibe Coding for Marketers: The Developer Line Just Vanished
Using AI tools like Claude Code and Codex for marketing was a developer job a few years ago. Now it is a tech-savvy marketer's daily routine.
What Makes Software Good? The 6 Signals I Look For Now
After a year pulling apart hundreds of marketing tools, six signals separate software worth paying for from software that just demos well.
The State of AI-Agent Readiness in Marketing Software (2026)
I scored 122 marketing tools for AI-agent readiness. 92% have an API, but only 28% ship an official MCP server, and the average score is 4.2 out of 10. The full data, by category.
API vs MCP vs CLI: How to Actually Use Your AI Tools with Marketing Software
API, MCP, and CLI are the three ways your AI can drive marketing software. Here is how each works, how to wire them up with ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, and Claude Code, and when you still need the tool versus when the AI is enough.
Cold Email vs Email Marketing Software: Which One Your Team Needs
Cold email is outbound sales prospecting. Email marketing nurtures opt-in subscribers. Here is how to tell which one your team needs, and why you cannot use one tool for both.
Transactional vs Marketing Email: Do You Need Separate Tools?
Most small businesses send transactional and marketing emails through the same platform. Here is when that works, when it breaks, and how to set up separate systems without overcomplicating things.
CRM vs Email Marketing Software: Do You Need Both?
Most small businesses don't need a separate CRM and email tool. Here's how to tell if you do, and which tools cover both.
What Is Crawl Budget? (And How to Stop Wasting It)
Crawl budget is how many pages Google will crawl on your site in a given period. Most sites don't need to worry about it, but if yours has 50K+ pages, it could be why half your content never gets indexed.
The Complete Guide to Marketing Automation in 2026
Everything you need to know about marketing automation: core workflows, setup steps, segmentation, common mistakes, and which tools to use. Practical advice from 10+ years of agency experience.
How to Use SEO APIs for Client Work: A Guide for Technical SEOs and Agencies
Skip the dashboards. Technical SEOs and agencies can use SEO APIs directly with AI coding tools like Claude Code to build custom audits, reports, and monitoring pipelines at a fraction of the cost.
Newsletter Platform Fees Compared: Who Takes the Biggest Cut?
Substack takes 10% of your paid subscription revenue. beehiiv and Ghost take 0%. But the real cost depends on more than just the platform fee. Here's the full breakdown.
Semrush API Pricing: What Developers Pay in 2026
Semrush API access requires the Advanced plan ($549/mo, $455.67/mo annually) plus a separate unit purchase. I break down what each endpoint costs, rate limits, and how it compares to Ahrefs, Moz, and DataForSEO.
Newsletter Platforms vs Email Marketing Software: What's the Difference?
Newsletter platforms like beehiiv and Substack are built for publishing and monetizing content. Email marketing tools like MailerLite and ActiveCampaign are built for marketing automation. Here is how to tell them apart and pick the right one.
Double Opt-In vs Single Opt-In: Which One Should You Use?
Double opt-in gives you a cleaner list with better engagement, but you lose 20-30% of subscribers who never confirm. Single opt-in grows faster but risks spam complaints. Here is how to decide.
Email Deliverability: Why Your Emails Land in Spam (and How to Fix It)
About 17% of all emails never reach the inbox. Here's what kills your deliverability, what Gmail, Yahoo, and Microsoft now require from bulk senders, and how to fix it.
Connect Your Landing Page to Email Marketing: Complete Integration Guide
Four ways to connect your landing page to an email marketing platform, from native integrations to webhooks. Includes step-by-step setup and common mistakes to avoid.
Do You Need a Landing Page Builder, or Is WordPress Enough?
WordPress can build landing pages, but dedicated builders offer A/B testing, heatmaps, and AI optimization out of the box. Here is how to decide which approach fits your business.
50+ Email Marketing Statistics for 2026 (With Original Sources)
The most important email marketing statistics for 2026, sourced from Omnisend, Litmus, Mailchimp, GetResponse, and Statista. ROI, open rates, automation, mobile, AI, and more.
Systeme.io Free Plan: Is It Really Enough?
Systeme.io's free plan includes these features, with these limitations, and these upgrade triggers.
How to Choose the Right Email Marketing Software for Your Business
Choosing the right email marketing software can feel overwhelming with dozens of options available. This guide breaks down the decision into clear steps based on your goals, budget, and business type.
Affiliate Marketing for Beginners: How to Start and What to Expect
A guide to affiliate marketing that covers what it takes to earn real income. No get-rich-quick promises, just realistic timelines, practical steps, and smart advice.
How to Write Email Subject Lines That Actually Get Opened
Most emails die in the inbox because the subject line fails. Learn the formulas, psychology, and real examples behind subject lines that consistently drive high open rates.
How to Track Your SEO Progress Without Expensive Tools
You don’t need $99/month tools to track SEO. Learn how to monitor traffic, rankings, backlinks, and technical health using free tools like Search Console, GA4, and a simple Google Sheet.
Do You Really Need an All-in-One Marketing Platform?
All-in-one marketing platforms promise to replace your entire tool stack. This guide breaks down when that trade-off makes sense, when it does not, and which platforms to evaluate.
Landing Page vs Website: When You Need Each (and Why It Matters)
Landing pages and websites serve different purposes. This guide explains when to use each, common mistakes to avoid, and how to combine both for maximum results.
How to Do an SEO Audit on Your Website: A Step-by-Step Guide
A step-by-step guide to auditing your website SEO. Covers technical checks, on-page optimization, content analysis, backlinks, internal linking, and which tools you need to find and fix issues.
How to Rank in AI Search: The Complete Guide to SEO, AIEO, and GEO in 2026
AI search is reshaping how people find information. Learn the differences between SEO, AIEO, and GEO, plus actionable strategies to get your content cited by ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, and Claude.
How to Automate Your Email Campaigns with Pre-Built Templates
Stop building email automations from scratch. Learn how to use pre-built automation recipes to set up welcome sequences, abandoned cart flows, lead nurturing, and more in minutes instead of hours.
How to Do Keyword Research in 2026: Step-by-Step Guide
Learn how to do keyword research step by step, using both dedicated SEO tools and AI assistants like ChatGPT and Claude. Find low-competition keywords, analyze search intent, and build a content strategy that drives real organic traffic.
How to Build an Email List from Scratch in 2026: Complete Guide
Learn how to build an email list from zero subscribers to a thriving audience. Step-by-step strategies for lead magnets, opt-in forms, welcome sequences, and choosing the right email platform.
The Complete Guide to Sales Funnels and Landing Pages That Actually Convert
Master sales funnels and landing pages with this guide. Learn funnel types, landing page design, A/B testing, and optimization strategies that turn visitors into customers.
How to Do Email Marketing: A Practical Guide for 2026
Master email marketing from fundamentals to advanced tactics. Learn list building, segmentation, automation, deliverability, and choosing the right platform with practical tips that drive real results.
All You Need to Know About SEO in 2026
Master SEO fundamentals, keyword research, technical optimization, link building, and content strategy. A guide covering everything from how search engines work to advanced tactics that drive results.
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