{"id":1517473,"date":"2023-02-02T09:52:25","date_gmt":"2023-02-02T14:52:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.practicalecommerce.com\/?p=1517473"},"modified":"2023-04-25T13:21:42","modified_gmt":"2023-04-25T17:21:42","slug":"readability-for-seo-myths-and-reality","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.practicalecommerce.com\/readability-for-seo-myths-and-reality","title":{"rendered":"Readability for SEO: Myths and Reality"},"content":{"rendered":"

The “readability” of text refers to its clarity and ease of understanding. Tools such as Flesch Kincaid and Gunning Fog Index can assign readability scores to articles, product descriptions, or any other passage.<\/p>\n

For years, search engine optimizers have assumed content readability is a direct ranking factor. Many articles assert this.<\/p>\n

\"Screenshot<\/a>

Many articles state that “readability” is a ranking factor for Google.<\/p><\/div>\n

But the claims are erroneous.<\/p>\n

There’s no clear evidence of a readability metric in Google’s algorithm. Google’s John Mueller said as much in early 2018, stating<\/a> readability is not a ranking factor to his knowledge.<\/p>\n

Studies by Portent<\/a> and Ahrefs<\/a> did not find correlations between readability and organic positions.<\/p>\n

Yet the myths persist. Yoast, the WordPress SEO plugin, adds to the confusion with its readability analysis, which appears in the backend alongside every article, implying a rankings impact.<\/p>\n

Moreover, the myths are actually counterproductive. Suggesting a link between a software-driven readability score and rankings forces writers to please machines instead of humans.<\/p>\n

And that’s a slippery slope. Many writers have told me their articles failed to rank despite perfect readability scores or keyword density or HTML headers or overall word counts. The content suffers because it’s aimed at search engines, not people.<\/p>\n

Readability<\/h3>\n

Is readability important?<\/p>\n

Of course. Readability in a generic sense is paramount, even for search engines. An easy-to-read, informative article \u2014 one that provides answers \u2014 attracts humans, who share it and link to it. They tell their friends about it.<\/p>\n

But I prefer the concept of “cognitive fluency” more than “readability” because it focuses on educational benefits rather than ease of reading. It goes beyond grammar and passive sentences. An article explaining a blue circle is more useful with an (accessible<\/a>) illustration than text alone.<\/p>\n

Readability Tools<\/h3>\n

Readability tools are helpful in the sense that grammar checkers<\/a> are helpful. But not for SEO.<\/p>\n

For example, I use Yoast’s readability checks to catch too-long sentences or paragraphs.<\/p>\n

\"Screenshot<\/a>

Yoast’s readability assessment addresses paragraph and sentence length. Click image to enlarge.<\/em><\/p><\/div>\n

And I’m always mindful of the audience. An article for professional search optimizers requires more detail than one for a typical business owner. Medical articles are bound to have specialized terms and complex explanations.<\/p>\n

Similarly, readability varies depending on its purpose<\/a>. Some Google queries seek explanations of unfamiliar topics. That content should contain quick and easy-to-comprehend answers.<\/p>\n

SEO<\/h3>\n

Still, we want our content to rank organically. Adhering to basic rules is key \u2014 such as using the same words as searchers and inserting meaningful HTML subheadings<\/a>. Yoast’s plugin helps with subheadings, but I often ignore its other suggestions.<\/p>\n

For example, Yoast recommends using “transition words,” but I tend to avoid them. I use “consecutive sentences,” such as in lists where each bullet starts with the same word, but Yoast suggests otherwise.<\/p>\n

In short, I don’t pay much attention to an actual readability score. It doesn’t consider the niche, the goal of an article, or my own writing style.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A metric for the readability of an article is imprecise and often inaccurate. And there’s no evidence that readability is a direct Google ranking factor. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2425,"featured_media":1517498,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_wp_rev_ctl_limit":""},"categories":[58324],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1517473","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-on-page-seo",""],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nReadability for SEO: Myths and Reality - Practical Ecommerce<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"A metric for the readability of an article is imprecise and often inaccurate. And there's no evidence that readability is a direct Google ranking factor.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.practicalecommerce.com\/readability-for-seo-myths-and-reality\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Readability for SEO: Myths and Reality\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"A metric for the readability of an article is imprecise and often inaccurate. And there's no evidence that readability is a direct Google ranking factor.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.practicalecommerce.com\/readability-for-seo-myths-and-reality\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Practical Ecommerce\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/practicalecommerce\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:author\" content=\"https:\/\/viralcontentbee.com\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-02-02T14:52:25+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-04-25T17:21:42+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.practicalecommerce.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/Readability-for-SEO-Myths-and-Reality.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"360\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"240\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Ann Smarty\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@seosmarty\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@practicalecomm\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Ann Smarty\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"NewsArticle\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.practicalecommerce.com\/readability-for-seo-myths-and-reality#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.practicalecommerce.com\/readability-for-seo-myths-and-reality\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Ann Smarty\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.practicalecommerce.com\/#\/schema\/person\/3a69fefe3edd100f37be8ec78483017e\"},\"headline\":\"Readability for SEO: Myths and Reality\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-02-02T14:52:25+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-04-25T17:21:42+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.practicalecommerce.com\/readability-for-seo-myths-and-reality\"},\"wordCount\":508,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.practicalecommerce.com\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.practicalecommerce.com\/readability-for-seo-myths-and-reality#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.practicalecommerce.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/Readability-for-SEO-Myths-and-Reality.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"On-page SEO\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"copyrightYear\":\"2023\",\"copyrightHolder\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.practicalecommerce.com\/#organization\"}},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.practicalecommerce.com\/readability-for-seo-myths-and-reality\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.practicalecommerce.com\/readability-for-seo-myths-and-reality\",\"name\":\"Readability for SEO: Myths and Reality - Practical Ecommerce\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.practicalecommerce.com\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.practicalecommerce.com\/readability-for-seo-myths-and-reality#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.practicalecommerce.com\/readability-for-seo-myths-and-reality#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.practicalecommerce.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/Readability-for-SEO-Myths-and-Reality.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-02-02T14:52:25+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-04-25T17:21:42+00:00\",\"description\":\"A metric for the readability of an article is imprecise and often inaccurate. And there's no evidence that readability is a direct Google ranking factor.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.practicalecommerce.com\/readability-for-seo-myths-and-reality#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.practicalecommerce.com\/readability-for-seo-myths-and-reality\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.practicalecommerce.com\/readability-for-seo-myths-and-reality#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.practicalecommerce.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/Readability-for-SEO-Myths-and-Reality.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.practicalecommerce.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/Readability-for-SEO-Myths-and-Reality.jpg\",\"width\":360,\"height\":240,\"caption\":\"Illustration of the letters S - E - O\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.practicalecommerce.com\/readability-for-seo-myths-and-reality#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.practicalecommerce.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Readability for SEO: Myths and Reality\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.practicalecommerce.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.practicalecommerce.com\/\",\"name\":\"Practical Ecommerce\",\"description\":\"Independent analysis and strategy for online merchants\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.practicalecommerce.com\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.practicalecommerce.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.practicalecommerce.com\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Practical Ecommerce\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.practicalecommerce.com\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.practicalecommerce.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.practicalecommerce.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/practical-ecommerce-stacked-hires.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.practicalecommerce.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/practical-ecommerce-stacked-hires.jpg\",\"width\":250,\"height\":100,\"caption\":\"Practical Ecommerce\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.practicalecommerce.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/practicalecommerce\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/practicalecomm\",\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/practical-ecommerce\/\",\"https:\/\/podcasts.apple.com\/us\/podcast\/ecommerce-conversations\/id874457373\",\"https:\/\/www.crunchbase.com\/organization\/practical-ecommerce\",\"https:\/\/bsky.app\/profile\/practicalecommerce.com\"],\"description\":\"Practical Ecommerce is an independent digital publication founded in 2005 that helps online merchants improve their businesses through expert articles, guides, webcasts, and podcasts. The site has published over 7,000 articles and serves millions of readers worldwide.\",\"foundingDate\":\"2005-07-01\",\"duns\":\"09-076-7155\",\"numberOfEmployees\":{\"@type\":\"QuantitativeValue\",\"minValue\":\"1\",\"maxValue\":\"10\"},\"publishingPrinciples\":\"https:\/\/www.practicalecommerce.com\/editorial-policy\",\"ownershipFundingInfo\":\"https:\/\/www.practicalecommerce.com\/about-us\",\"actionableFeedbackPolicy\":\"https:\/\/www.practicalecommerce.com\/contact\",\"ethicsPolicy\":\"https:\/\/www.practicalecommerce.com\/editorial-policy\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.practicalecommerce.com\/#\/schema\/person\/3a69fefe3edd100f37be8ec78483017e\",\"name\":\"Ann Smarty\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.practicalecommerce.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f8d69258525dec38624a29eb3d570d8c?s=96&d=identicon&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f8d69258525dec38624a29eb3d570d8c?s=96&d=identicon&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Ann Smarty\"},\"description\":\"Ann Smarty is the founder of Smarty Marketing, a boutique SEO agency based in New York, focusing on viral and Reddit marketing as well as cross-channel organic visibility. Ann's search engine optimization career began in 2005. She is the former editor-in-chief of Search Engine Journal and contributor to prominent search and social blogs, including Small Business Trends and Mashable. Ann is also a frequent speaker at Pubcon and many other digital marketing events. Contact Ann via email or LinkedIn.\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.smarty.marketing\/\",\"https:\/\/viralcontentbee.com\/\",\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/annsmarty\/\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/seosmarty\"],\"gender\":\"Female\",\"knowsAbout\":[\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Search_engine_optimization\",\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Social_media_marketingdigital marketing\",\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Digital_marketing\"],\"knowsLanguage\":[\"English\",\"\u0440\u0443\u0441\u0441\u043a\u0438\u0439\"],\"jobTitle\":\"CEO and Co-founder\",\"worksFor\":\"Smarty Marketing\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.practicalecommerce.com\/author\/ann-smarty\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Readability for SEO: Myths and Reality - Practical Ecommerce","description":"A metric for the readability of an article is imprecise and often inaccurate. And there's no evidence that readability is a direct Google ranking factor.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.practicalecommerce.com\/readability-for-seo-myths-and-reality","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Readability for SEO: Myths and Reality","og_description":"A metric for the readability of an article is imprecise and often inaccurate. And there's no evidence that readability is a direct Google ranking factor.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.practicalecommerce.com\/readability-for-seo-myths-and-reality","og_site_name":"Practical Ecommerce","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/practicalecommerce","article_author":"https:\/\/viralcontentbee.com\/","article_published_time":"2023-02-02T14:52:25+00:00","article_modified_time":"2023-04-25T17:21:42+00:00","og_image":[{"width":360,"height":240,"url":"https:\/\/www.practicalecommerce.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/Readability-for-SEO-Myths-and-Reality.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Ann Smarty","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@seosmarty","twitter_site":"@practicalecomm","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Ann Smarty","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https:\/\/www.practicalecommerce.com\/readability-for-seo-myths-and-reality#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.practicalecommerce.com\/readability-for-seo-myths-and-reality"},"author":{"name":"Ann Smarty","@id":"https:\/\/www.practicalecommerce.com\/#\/schema\/person\/3a69fefe3edd100f37be8ec78483017e"},"headline":"Readability for SEO: Myths and Reality","datePublished":"2023-02-02T14:52:25+00:00","dateModified":"2023-04-25T17:21:42+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.practicalecommerce.com\/readability-for-seo-myths-and-reality"},"wordCount":508,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.practicalecommerce.com\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.practicalecommerce.com\/readability-for-seo-myths-and-reality#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.practicalecommerce.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/Readability-for-SEO-Myths-and-Reality.jpg","articleSection":["On-page SEO"],"inLanguage":"en-US","copyrightYear":"2023","copyrightHolder":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.practicalecommerce.com\/#organization"}},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.practicalecommerce.com\/readability-for-seo-myths-and-reality","url":"https:\/\/www.practicalecommerce.com\/readability-for-seo-myths-and-reality","name":"Readability for SEO: Myths and Reality - Practical Ecommerce","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.practicalecommerce.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.practicalecommerce.com\/readability-for-seo-myths-and-reality#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.practicalecommerce.com\/readability-for-seo-myths-and-reality#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.practicalecommerce.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/Readability-for-SEO-Myths-and-Reality.jpg","datePublished":"2023-02-02T14:52:25+00:00","dateModified":"2023-04-25T17:21:42+00:00","description":"A metric for the readability of an article is imprecise and often inaccurate. And there's no evidence that readability is a direct Google ranking factor.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.practicalecommerce.com\/readability-for-seo-myths-and-reality#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.practicalecommerce.com\/readability-for-seo-myths-and-reality"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.practicalecommerce.com\/readability-for-seo-myths-and-reality#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.practicalecommerce.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/Readability-for-SEO-Myths-and-Reality.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.practicalecommerce.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/Readability-for-SEO-Myths-and-Reality.jpg","width":360,"height":240,"caption":"Illustration of the letters S - E - O"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.practicalecommerce.com\/readability-for-seo-myths-and-reality#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.practicalecommerce.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Readability for SEO: Myths and Reality"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.practicalecommerce.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.practicalecommerce.com\/","name":"Practical Ecommerce","description":"Independent analysis and strategy for online merchants","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.practicalecommerce.com\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.practicalecommerce.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.practicalecommerce.com\/#organization","name":"Practical Ecommerce","url":"https:\/\/www.practicalecommerce.com\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.practicalecommerce.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.practicalecommerce.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/practical-ecommerce-stacked-hires.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.practicalecommerce.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/practical-ecommerce-stacked-hires.jpg","width":250,"height":100,"caption":"Practical Ecommerce"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.practicalecommerce.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/practicalecommerce","https:\/\/x.com\/practicalecomm","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/practical-ecommerce\/","https:\/\/podcasts.apple.com\/us\/podcast\/ecommerce-conversations\/id874457373","https:\/\/www.crunchbase.com\/organization\/practical-ecommerce","https:\/\/bsky.app\/profile\/practicalecommerce.com"],"description":"Practical Ecommerce is an independent digital publication founded in 2005 that helps online merchants improve their businesses through expert articles, guides, webcasts, and podcasts. The site has published over 7,000 articles and serves millions of readers worldwide.","foundingDate":"2005-07-01","duns":"09-076-7155","numberOfEmployees":{"@type":"QuantitativeValue","minValue":"1","maxValue":"10"},"publishingPrinciples":"https:\/\/www.practicalecommerce.com\/editorial-policy","ownershipFundingInfo":"https:\/\/www.practicalecommerce.com\/about-us","actionableFeedbackPolicy":"https:\/\/www.practicalecommerce.com\/contact","ethicsPolicy":"https:\/\/www.practicalecommerce.com\/editorial-policy"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.practicalecommerce.com\/#\/schema\/person\/3a69fefe3edd100f37be8ec78483017e","name":"Ann Smarty","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.practicalecommerce.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f8d69258525dec38624a29eb3d570d8c?s=96&d=identicon&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f8d69258525dec38624a29eb3d570d8c?s=96&d=identicon&r=g","caption":"Ann Smarty"},"description":"Ann Smarty is the founder of Smarty Marketing, a boutique SEO agency based in New York, focusing on viral and Reddit marketing as well as cross-channel organic visibility. Ann's search engine optimization career began in 2005. She is the former editor-in-chief of Search Engine Journal and contributor to prominent search and social blogs, including Small Business Trends and Mashable. Ann is also a frequent speaker at Pubcon and many other digital marketing events. Contact Ann via email or LinkedIn.","sameAs":["https:\/\/www.smarty.marketing\/","https:\/\/viralcontentbee.com\/","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/annsmarty\/","https:\/\/x.com\/seosmarty"],"gender":"Female","knowsAbout":["https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Search_engine_optimization","https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Social_media_marketingdigital marketing","https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Digital_marketing"],"knowsLanguage":["English","\u0440\u0443\u0441\u0441\u043a\u0438\u0439"],"jobTitle":"CEO and Co-founder","worksFor":"Smarty Marketing","url":"https:\/\/www.practicalecommerce.com\/author\/ann-smarty"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.practicalecommerce.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1517473","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.practicalecommerce.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.practicalecommerce.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.practicalecommerce.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2425"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.practicalecommerce.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1517473"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.practicalecommerce.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1517473\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1520872,"href":"https:\/\/www.practicalecommerce.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1517473\/revisions\/1520872"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.practicalecommerce.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1517498"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.practicalecommerce.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1517473"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.practicalecommerce.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1517473"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.practicalecommerce.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1517473"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}