# Marin Popov

> Freelance SEO Consultant

## Article

- [1 Euro SEO Audit - The "Must First Step" for any Business](https://marinpopov.com/seo/1-euro-seo-audit-the-must-first-step-for-any-business/): Do Not Even Think About an Agency Until You Do This If you are a business owner and you’ve reached the point where you are "looking" for a marketing agency,…
- [AI Shitification](https://marinpopov.com/technical-seo/ai-shitification/): Recently, I wrote a detailed breakdown of the AI quality drop across all major LLMs. If you want the full context, you can read it here: The AI Quality Drop…
- [AI's Hidden Off-Page Reality](https://marinpopov.com/seo/ai-hidden-off-page-reality/): What “off page” still means in the AI context For AI answers, “off page” is no longer just links. It’s the entire external narrative around your entity: External mentions —…
- [Auditing Internal Link Flow: Exploring Bot Preference with the Crawl Time Framework](https://marinpopov.com/technical-seo/crawl-time-framework/): The Myth of "Click Depth" Referring to Click Depth, the majority of SEO experts measure it using two simplified models: the minimum link count from the homepage or the perceived…
- [Best SEO Humor and Jokes: The Only Resource You Need](https://marinpopov.com/seo/best-seo-humor-and-jokes-the-only-resource-you-need/): The digital marketing sector is fundamentally demanding. Professionals constantly navigate shifting algorithms, intense client expectations, and the sheer volume of data required to stay competitive. This environment has created a…
- [Brief Research: Google SERPs of Long-Tail Keywords with Abbreviations](https://marinpopov.com/seo/long-tail-keywords-with-abbreviations/): Should you try to do exact match for long-tail keywords containing abbreviations? Example: 𝘸𝘦𝘣𝘴𝘪𝘵𝘦 𝘚𝘌𝘖 𝘰𝘱𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘪𝘻𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯
- [ChatGPT vs Gemini vs Copilot](https://marinpopov.com/seo/chatgpt-vs-gemini-vs-copilot/): On Monday morning, after a very heavy weekend, I needed to wake up my brain with something... So, I decided to test ChatGPT, Gemini, and Copilot with a children's riddle.…
- [Dual-Word Content Auditor (Free NON-AI Tool)](https://marinpopov.com/technical-seo/dual-word-content-auditor-free-tool/): Solving the Singular/Plural Cannibalization Headache Today I had a seemingly trivial task: run a keyword cannibalization audit for an e-commerce shop. Specifically, I needed to see how the site was…
- [Entity Identity Fragmentation in WordPress Structured Data](https://marinpopov.com/technical-seo/entity-identity-fragmentation-in-wordpress-structured-data/): One of the less discussed problems in structured data implementations is entity identity fragmentation. The issue is not invalid Schema.org. The issue is that different components generate different identifiers (@id)…
- [Gemini’s Sudden Quality Drop: What Actually Happened](https://marinpopov.com/seo/geminis-sudden-quality-drop-what-actually-happened/): Over the past weeks, many users have reported a noticeable decline in Gemini’s quality, stability, and responsiveness. This shift is not imagined. It is the result of three concrete technical…
- [Generic Anchor Texts and what you can do when they MUST stay](https://marinpopov.com/technical-seo/generic-anchor-texts/): Anchor text in SEO, Google's signals, and why using generic phrases like 'click here' can be detrimental. Discover solution for optimizing
- [Geo-Restriction Impact on Search Rankings User Engagement Test](https://marinpopov.com/technical-seo/geo-restriction-impact-on-search-rankings-user-engagement-test/): This article is about something I've recently noticed: a trend among some companies focused on the USA market to return a 403 error response status code for users from other…
- [Google SERP Features](https://marinpopov.com/seo/google-serp-features/): Google has more than 30 SERP features 'designed to help' people find more precise information faster and how we can take advantage of this.
- [Google Spam Update](https://marinpopov.com/seo/google-spam-update/): Individually, none of these factors would raise a red flag. But taken together, they might have triggered some kind of suspicion in the algorithm. It’s the combination, not the pieces alone, that seemed interesting here.
- [Hashtags in a URLs](https://marinpopov.com/technical-seo/hashtags-in-urls/): Explore Google's treatment of hashtags. Insights from GSC Performance reports may shed light on trends.
- [Highlighting parts of the URL](https://marinpopov.com/technical-seo/highlighting-parts-of-the-url/): An example of something cool or why, even though we can do something, we should not. Canonical Best Practices.
- [How an optional field in structured data actually can affect your results](https://marinpopov.com/technical-seo/how-an-optional-field-in-structured-data-actually-can-affect-your-results/): An optional field in structured data can affect visibility by providing additional context to Google, improving how your product is understood and displayed. Even if not required, fields like review…
- [How an overlooked subdomain can hijack Branded search visibility](https://marinpopov.com/technical-seo/how-an-overlooked-subdomain-can-hijack-branded-search-visibility/): During the weekend, I was doing some OSINT activities and enjoying the occasional spam pop-ups 😁. Anyway, one of the pop-ups opened a window with next type of URL: www.google.com/search?&hl=id&gl=id&q=slot+playwin123+DOMAIN.com…
- [How can AI be used to improve SEO?](https://marinpopov.com/technical-seo/how-can-ai-be-used-to-improve-seo/): AI can improve SEO by automating time-consuming tasks and offering data-driven insights into content creation, keyword strategy, and technical optimization. It augments human expertise by processing vast data sets to…
- [How to evaluate potential websites from the point of view of relevance and quality for backlink building](https://marinpopov.com/seo/relevance-and-quality-for-backlink-building/): The important factors that should be considered include Content and Audience Alignment, Authority and Trustworthiness, Traffic and Engagement, Reputation and Reviews, and the Backlink Profile, based on which we should try to evaluate the Long-Term Value.
- [How to increase conversion when sharing job offers on social media](https://marinpopov.com/technical-seo/how-to-increase-conversion-when-share-job-offers-on-social-media/): The talents are primarily interested in the location and details of the position rather than the source of the information.
- [Increasing Brand visibility with Free Tools and Iframes](https://marinpopov.com/seo/increasing-brand-visibility-with-free-tools-and-iframes/): If you have followed some of my publications, you would know that I am interested in conducting experiments, some of which involve using free tools as a source of traffic…
- [Is Commenting on Blog Posts Still Good for SEO?](https://marinpopov.com/seo/is-commenting-on-blog-posts-still-good-for-seo/): Some time ago, it was common practice to place links to your website in blog comment sections to boost your site's ranking. But is this still effective today? Let's explore…
- [Job Posts as a Way to Drive Traffic, Increase Brand Reputation, E-A-T and Search Relevance](https://marinpopov.com/seo/job-posts-as-a-way-to-drive-traffic-increase-brand-reputation-e-a-t-and-search-relevance/): Did you know that your job postings can do more than just attract talent? With the right setup, they can boost your website traffic, strengthen your brand reputation, enhance E-A-T…
- [Keyword Research: Moving beyond traditional lists, volume metrics or user intent](https://marinpopov.com/seo/keyword-research-moving-beyond-traditional-lists-volume-metrics-or-user-intent/): Most SEOs still rely on standard keyword research — a list of terms, information about search volume, maybe difficulty, etc. The reality is, that approach is outdated. People don’t search…
- [Leveraging Google’s Feedback for Enhanced Content Visibility](https://marinpopov.com/seo/leveraging-googles-feedback-for-enhanced-content-visibility/): Would you like to receive direct feedback from Google on how it perceives your content in relation to search queries? Okay, here is an easy way. It is more like…
- [Registered Trademark and competitors Google Ads](https://marinpopov.com/seo/registered-trademark-and-competitors-google-ads/): Using Registered Trademark as part of the title or the description in ad from competitors is against the Google rules.
- [Review Answers Optimization - Would it be helpful to overpromote ourselves?](https://marinpopov.com/seo/review-answers-optimization/): Please leave a NICE review😇😃, and I will try to take my time and answer with no less than 3990 characters.
- [SEO Client Acquisition](https://marinpopov.com/seo/seo-client-acquisition/): TL;DR Before starting to read, I want to explain the purpose of this post – I want to share some thoughts with my SEO colleagues about the importance of thinking…
- [Should Sitemap XML be noindex?](https://marinpopov.com/technical-seo/noindex-sitemap-xml/): I had a WordPress client who was worried because their XML sitemaps were set to noindex. Should they be concerned?
- [Sweat, Tears & SEO Irony](https://marinpopov.com/seo/sweat-tears-seo-irony/): The SEO Underworld: Jokes From the Backstage Every SEO expert has a secret. Some sell rankings. Some sell miracles. Some sell "proven systems" that somehow need to be reinvented every…
- [Testing AI with a "real" vague query and comparing how Gemini, ChatGPT and Copilot interpret intent, prioritize data and provide answers](https://marinpopov.com/seo/testing-gemini-chatgpt-copilot-with-real-vague-search-query/): An experiment designed to replicate a behaviour of a specific type of user or client looking for a service without having detailed knowledge.
- [The Dependency Trap: Why Outsourcing Thought Creates a Controlled Species](https://marinpopov.com/seo/the-dependency-trap-why-outsourcing-thought-creates-a-controlled-species/): The Collapse Does Not Begin With Artificial Intelligence The collapse does not begin with artificial intelligence. It begins with the human decision to relocate cognitive function outside the biological boundary.…
- [The Independent AI Reality Evaluator of Value Propositions for SEO Agencies: A Strategic Mirror for the LLM Era](https://marinpopov.com/seo/the-independent-ai-reality-evaluator-of-value-propositions-for-seo-agencies/): In an industry saturated with identical promises, recycled jargon, and “360 services,” a new analytical model is quietly reshaping how SEO agencies are evaluated. What began as a simple scoring…
- [The Industrialization of Strategy: Disrupting the Agency Model with 1 Euro SEO.](https://marinpopov.com/seo/the-industrialization-of-strategy-disrupting-the-agency-model-with-1-euro-seo/): 1 Euro SEO is the world’s first Automated Strategy Consultant , a disruptive technological framework that has successfully industrialized senior-level business consulting . By codifying elite professional frameworks—including Positioning Theory,…
- [The Ranking Restriction Information Right (RRIR)](https://marinpopov.com/seo/the-ranking-restriction-information-right/): On 15 August 2026, I submitted a new EU policy proposal: The Ranking Restriction Information Right (RRIR) The proposal asks whether, when an automated system materially restricts the visibility of…
- [Turning Marketing Chaos into Digital Zen SEO: Following the Natural Flow](https://marinpopov.com/seo/turning-marketing-chaos-into-digital-zen-seo-following-the-natural-flow/): This case shows the importance of the first choice of business model, platform, and strategy — and how crucial it is, if you can’t make the decisions alone, to find the right person or company to advise you
- [Using positive reviews as AD content to drive trust, SEO, and growth in AI search](https://marinpopov.com/seo/using-positive-reviews-as-ad-content-to-drive-trust-seo-and-growth-in-ai-search/): I want to share an uncommon approach: using an AD space to display positive reviews instead of a direct AD. It’s a less traditional strategy, but it can be effective…
- [Website internal linking: all you need to know in one place – types, strategy, best practices, examples](https://marinpopov.com/technical-seo/internal-linking/): An effective internal linking strategy aligns website structure with business goals. Our checklist outlines steps to optimize navigation, create contextual links and monitor performance. By avoiding common pitfalls, like orphan pages and non-indexable links, websites can enhance user experience and search engine visibility.
- [What to do when your website attracts an abundance of links from domain directories from unwanted ccTLDs locations](https://marinpopov.com/seo/links-from-unwanted-locations/): As a priority approach, the next plan can be followed: • Check for Manual Actions • Evaluate the Quality of Links • Disavow Low-Quality Links • Contact Directory Owners
- [Why ChatGPT Gives Wrong Answers and Avoids Admitting It](https://marinpopov.com/seo/why-chatgpt-gives-wrong-answers-and-avoids-admitting-it/): Ever noticed that ChatGPT sometimes gives a wrong answer but doesn’t just say, “I messed up”? Instead, it explains, adds context, or subtly tries to justify itself. Generally, this is…
- [Why you should avoid buying backlinks](https://marinpopov.com/seo/why-you-should-avoid-buying-backlinks/): A 5-month-old domain with a Semrush Authority Score of 5 would not naturally have an Ahrefs Domain Rating (DR) of 75. A high DR in such a short time is almost always achieved through aggressive, artificial link-building tactics, such as being part of a private blog network (PBN).

## Page

- [Blog](https://marinpopov.com/blog/): Watch, Read, Listen No posts were found.
- [Business Diagnostic Atlas: What Could Have Gone Wrong](https://marinpopov.com/business-diagnostic-atlas-what-could-have-gone-wrong/): 149 Failure Patterns: A Field Guide Your business is understood but not chosen. Respected but not paid. Visible but not winning. The problem is almost never what you think it…
- [Marin Popov - Freelance SEO Consultant](https://marinpopov.com/): Are you ready to take control of your online reputation? Let me help you grow your business.
- [Please Do Not Get Me Wrong](https://marinpopov.com/about/): Unlock results with personalized SEO solutions. With over 15 years of experience, Marin Popov will build your strategy for success.
- [Prefer Not to Be Contacted](https://marinpopov.com/contact/): Whether you have a question about my SEO services, packages or need a quote, please do hesitate to Contact.
- [Stop Reading Generic SEO Service Descriptions That Don’t Matter Anymore](https://marinpopov.com/seo-services/): Don’t waste time reading generic SEO services or trusting sweet talk agencies with multiple awards. Get real advice at an incredible price. Check the examples gallery before trusting any words.