Bill Hartzer

11/24/2025

How a Simple Image Broke a Big-Brand Black Friday Campaign

A major retailer’s Black Friday email failed because of one simple image mistake. Learn the top email marketing errors to avoid and how to fix them.

11/24/2025

Aligned and Memorable: How Brands Create a Cohesive Presence Across Every Channel

Brand consistency builds trust. Learn how unified messaging, visuals, and brand voice strengthen recognition across platforms

09/18/2025

Now's the time to take control of your personal brand. Especially if you haven't even thought of it for a while.

Your Boss, Your Neighbor, and ChatGPT Already Know Your Personal Brand—Do You?
https://www.billhartzer.com/branding/boss-neighbor-chatgpt-personal-brand/

Bill Hartzer writes about search engine optimization, search engine marketing, and general topics. He's been writing articles and blog posts about search, marketing, tech, and domain names since 2001. Follow Bill Hartzer on social media as or keep up with Bill here on his website.

08/27/2025

Are you using Semrush to its full potential?

I recently contributed to an expert roundup where I explained how I use Semrush data in two key ways:

• To defend businesses in SEO related lawsuits—showing when traffic drops are really caused by Google updates or AI Overviews, not a redesign.

• To protect investors by uncovering expired domains with shady link profiles and spammy histories before they waste money.

The right data at the right time can literally save a company’s reputation—or its budget.
Full piece here:

Check it out →

See how advanced users are unlocking Semrush’s full potential—from defending SEO in court to building scalable AI workflows and reporting systems.

08/07/2025

Google’s latest post—claiming that “AI in Search is driving more queries and higher quality clicks”—reads less like a data-backed explanation and more like a gaslight job on the SEO and publishing industries. (Thanks Brett Tabke for bringing this up!)

Let’s be honest: what’s really happening is Google is rewriting history to fit its narrative.

They say traffic is “relatively stable” and click quality is up. But thousands of publishers, marketers, and webmasters are seeing sharp traffic drops that conveniently started right around the launch of AI Overviews. Saying people are clicking more links in AI answers doesn’t square with the lived experience of site owners watching their impressions and traffic evaporate.

What Google calls “users satisfied with the answer” is actually Google satisfying the user without sending any traffic to the source. AI Overviews are designed to be the destination. The fact that some users might click deeper links doesn’t make up for the systemic decline in exposure to many legitimate sites. And burying links in an AI summary is not the same as prioritizing the open web.

Then there’s the sleight-of-hand with language like “AI is helping people search more.” Sure, people may be typing more words—but when the answer is given directly by AI, they’re not visiting websites. That’s not a healthy web—that’s enclosure.

Saying “we send billions of clicks” while the distribution model changes in ways that kneecap small publishers is like saying “we still sell books” after building a monopoly and putting half the bookstores out of business.

Bottom line: Google is telling site owners that everything is fine—while pulling the rug out from under them.

And those of us who’ve been watching for years? We know this isn’t an evolution. It’s a controlled demolition disguised as innovation.

We continue to send billions of clicks to the web every day and are committed to prioritizing the web in our AI experiences in Search.

07/25/2025

I used AI to process the expired domain names list for the next 5 days and give me the top picks. Here's the analysis, the formulas used, and the exact domains that you should consider.

I Ran The Expired Domains List Through AI — These Are the 25 You Should Grab First

A data-driven AI model ranked hundreds of expired domains using Trust Flow, Citation Flow, link ratios, and referring domains. See the best 2–3 per topic and the global Top 25 to register now, plus what to double-check before you buy.

07/02/2025

SAVE THE DATES Oct 27-28th on your Calendar for STATE OF SEARCH 2025 and get your tickets at the LOWEST PRICE between now and July 4th, 2025 using Discount Code "Independence" ($500 OFF).

We are still taking Speaker Applications and we will be rolling out our selections over the coming weeks.

There are still Sponsorship Opportunities and more exciting things in the works. Looking forward to seeing you there.

04/11/2025

How to Create a ChatGPT Action Figure: From Prompt to Plastic
https://www.billhartzer.com/ai/how-to-create-a-chatgpt-action-figure-from-prompt-to-plastic/

04/09/2025

A TURF agreement is an essential tool in the battle against domain name theft, providing a formalized path for recovery.

03/19/2025

🚨 AI Might Be Getting Your Brand Wrong—And You Won’t Even Know It! 🚨

LLMs like ChatGPT, Google Gemini, and Claude are shaping public perception of brands every day. But what if they’re spreading false info about you? 🤯

Meet Waikay—InLinks’ new AI scanner that checks what AI really knows about your brand. Spot errors, fix broken links, and make sure you’re not losing customers to hallucinated nonsense.

💡 Get ahead of the AI game before misinformation costs you.

🔗 Read more: https://www.billhartzer.com/ai/inlinks-waikay-ai-scanner/

LLMs like ChatGPT and Google Gemini might be misrepresenting your brand. InLinks’ Waikay AI scanner lets you fact-check and correct AI-generated claims before it’s too late.

03/03/2025

Does Domain Authority Really Matter? I took a look at a real-world example that's going on right now--an issue with MIT dot edu.

Let me know what you think, I'm interested in knowing if you think this stuff is ranking because of Domain Authority, because of the content, or because of something else.

Does domain authority impact SEO rankings? Learn how high-authority domains influence search results and whether placing a page on one guarantees better rankings.

01/28/2025

🚨 AI is transforming industries left and right, but is it the best choice for your content strategy? 🤔 Sure, AI can whip up blog posts at lightning speed, but could it harm your SEO and rankings in the long run? 💻📉

Don’t let quick fixes cost you valuable search positions. Dive into our latest article to uncover the truth about AI-generated content and its impact on SEO. 📝🔍

👉 Read now: Is Using AI to Write Blog Posts Bad for SEO? Is Using AI to Write Blog Posts Bad for SEO?
https://www.rocksdigital.com/is-using-ai-write-blog-posts-bad-seo/

Let us know your thoughts below! ⬇️

Are you considering using AI to write blog posts? Find out the truth about AI content and how it impacts your SEO results. Call (214) 989-7549.