Troubleshooting: Other Issues

🔍 Find Question-Type Long-Tail Keywords Easily

🎯 Overview Question-type keywords (those starting with who, what, when, where, why, and how) are some of the most valuable long-tail keywords for capturing informational search intent. Search Atlas gives you two reliable ways to find them: the Keyword Research Tool and Topical Maps. This article walks you through both methods step by step. Important note: The question-type filter is not available in the Keyword Magic Tool. Use the methods below to access this feature. 🛠️ Method 1: Keyword Research Tool (Questions Section) The Keyword Research Tool has a dedicated Questions section that surfaces question-based keyword variations directly from your seed keyword. Follow these steps: 1. From the left sidebar, navigate to Keywords → Keyword Research (Keyword result page). 2. Enter your seed keyword in the search bar and run the search. 3. Once results load, open the Keyword Details panel and scroll to the Questions section (located after Keyword Variations). This shows only question-type variations of your seed term. 4. Review the list of question keywords. Each entry includes key metrics such as search volume, keyword difficulty, and CPC. 5. To narrow results further, use the available filters — for example, set a maximum keyword difficulty score or a minimum search volume — to surface the most actionable long-tail opportunities. 6. Select the keywords you want to target and click Add to List or Export to save them for use in your content strategy. This method is the fastest way to get a focused list of question keywords tied to a specific topic or seed term. 🗺️ Method 2: Topical Maps Topical Maps generate a comprehensive content structure for any topic, and they naturally surface question-type keywords as subtopic and article title suggestions. This method is ideal when you want to build out an entire content cluster around a subject. 1. From the left sidebar, navigate to Content → Topical Maps (Topical Map). 2. Click Create Topical Map and enter your main topic or seed keyword. 3. Search Atlas will generate a topical map with a hierarchy of subtopics and suggested article titles. Many of these suggestions are phrased as questions, reflecting real informational search queries. 4. Browse through the generated map to identify question-type keyword opportunities. Look for nodes or article suggestions that begin with how, what, why, when, where, or who. 5. Click on any node or title to see additional keyword data and related terms associated with that question topic. 6. Add the question-type titles or keywords you want to target directly to your content plan or keyword list from within the map view. Topical Maps are especially useful when you want to ensure full topical coverage and discover question keywords you may not have thought to search for manually. 🚫 Why Keyword Magic Tool Is Not the Right Place The Keyword Magic Tool (found at Left sidebar → Keywords → Keyword Magic) is designed for broad keyword exploration and competitive research. It does not include a dedicated question filter or Questions tab. If you try to find question-type long-tail keywords there, you will not get the targeted results you need. Always use the Keyword Research Tool or Topical Maps for this workflow. 💡 Tips for Better Results - Start broad, then filter: Use a general seed keyword first, then apply difficulty and volume filters to isolate the best long-tail question opportunities. - Combine both methods: Use the Keyword Research Tool for quick, data-driven lists and Topical Maps for strategic content planning — they complement each other well. - Target low-difficulty questions: Question keywords with low difficulty and moderate search volume are ideal for new or growing websites looking for quick ranking wins. - Match intent to content format: Question keywords perform best when matched to FAQ sections, how-to guides, or dedicated blog posts that directly answer the query. 📞 Need Help? If you need further assistance, open the chat widget in the bottom-right corner of the platform and type human teammate to be connected with a member of our team.

🛠️ Fix Audits, Keywords & Location Recommendations

🔍 Overview This article walks you through four common project setup tasks: excluding specific URL paths from your site audit, rerunning the crawl to apply those changes, importing keywords with competitor insights, and understanding why a location may not be generating recommendations. 🚫 Excluding URLs from Your Site Audit If your project is crawling pages you don't want audited — such as /obituaries/ or /store/ — you can exclude them by URL path before or after the initial crawl. 1. Open your project and navigate to the Site Audit section. 2. Click Settings or Project Settings near the top of the page. 3. Locate the Exclude URLs or Crawl Exclusions field. 4. Enter the paths you want to exclude, one per line. For example: /obituaries/ and /store/. You can use partial path matches — any URL containing that string will be excluded. 5. Save your settings before proceeding. Tip: Use a forward slash at the start and end of each path segment (e.g., /store/) to ensure accurate matching and avoid unintended exclusions. 🔄 Rerunning the Crawl After Exclusions Exclusion rules only apply to future crawls. After saving your exclusions, you must rerun the audit to see updated results. 1. Return to the main Site Audit dashboard for your project. 2. Click the Recrawl or Rerun Audit button — this is usually found in the top-right area of the audit view. 3. Confirm the action when prompted. The crawl will restart and apply your new exclusion rules from the beginning. 4. Wait for the crawl to complete. Depending on your site size, this may take a few minutes to an hour. Once the crawl finishes, any URLs matching your excluded paths will no longer appear in your audit results or issue counts. 📊 Tracking Keywords and Importing Competitor Insights You can add keywords to your project for rank tracking and enrich them with competitor data at the same time. 1. In the left sidebar, click Site Metrics → Keywords to open the Keywords page. 2. Search for your target keywords or enter them manually. 3. Select the keywords you want to track by checking the boxes next to them. 4. Click Add to and assign them to a keyword list or Rank Tracker. 5. To import competitor keyword insights, use the Competitor Gap or Competitor Analysis feature within the same tool. Enter a competitor domain to surface keywords they rank for that you may be missing. 6. Select the competitor keywords you want to import and add them to your tracking list using the same process above. Once added, your tracked keywords will appear in the project's keyword dashboard, and ranking data will begin populating within 24 hours. 📍 Why One Location Isn't Generating Recommendations If you have multiple locations set up and one is producing recommendations while another shows none, there are a few common causes to check. - Insufficient local data: Search Atlas generates location-based recommendations using local search data. If the target location has low search volume or limited data coverage, the system may not have enough signals to produce recommendations. - Location not fully configured: Confirm that the location has a complete address, a linked Google Business Profile (if applicable), and the correct target language and country set in its settings. - Crawl not yet completed for that location: Each location may require its own crawl or content scan. Check whether the location's audit status shows Complete or is still Pending. - No tracked keywords assigned to that location: Recommendations are often tied to the keywords being tracked. Make sure keywords are assigned to the specific location, not just to the overall project. - OTTO SEO V3 not enabled for that location: In the left sidebar, click OTTO SEO → SEO Automation (SEO Automation) (URL: /seo-automation-v3) and verify that the location in question has OTTO SEO V3 activated. If it is toggled off, no recommendations will be generated. If the location is correctly configured and the crawl is complete but recommendations are still not appearing after 24–48 hours, it is worth reviewing whether the location's primary keyword set has enough search data to trigger the recommendation engine. ✅ Quick Checklist - URL exclusions saved in project settings before rerunning the crawl - Crawl rerun after exclusions to apply changes - Keywords added to tracking and competitor keywords imported - Problem location has a complete profile, active crawl, assigned keywords, and OTTO SEO V3 enabled 💬 Need More Help? If you need further assistance, open the chat widget in the bottom-right corner of the platform and type human teammate to be connected with a member of our team.

🚫 Exclude URLs, Rerun Audits & Track Keywords

🗺️ Overview This article walks you through four common workflow tasks in Search Atlas: excluding URL patterns from a project audit, rerunning and verifying a crawl, tracking keywords with competitor insights, and diagnosing why a specific location may not be generating recommendations. 🚫 Step 1: Exclude URL Patterns from Your Audit You can prevent specific sections of your site from being crawled by adding URL exclusion rules to your project settings. 1. From the left sidebar, navigate to OTTO SEO → All Sites (SEO Automation) (URL: /seo-automation-v3). 2. Open your project and click Settings. 3. Locate the URL Exclusions section. 4. Add each pattern you want to exclude. Use a wildcard asterisk to exclude an entire path and everything beneath it. For example: - /obituaries/* — excludes all pages under the /obituaries/ directory - /store/* — excludes all pages under the /store/ directory 5. Click Save to apply your changes. Wildcard syntax rules: Place the asterisk (*) at the end of a path segment to match everything after it. Exclusions are case-sensitive, so make sure the pattern matches your actual URL structure exactly. You can add multiple exclusion rules — each one goes on its own line. 🔄 Step 2: Rerun the Audit Crawl After saving your exclusion rules, you need to trigger a new crawl for the changes to take effect. 1. Inside your project, navigate to Site Audit → Overview (Website Overview) and click the Recrawl Site button. 2. Confirm the action when prompted. 3. The crawl will be queued immediately. Depending on the size of your site, crawl completion can take anywhere from a few minutes to 24 hours or more for large sites with thousands of pages. How to verify the crawl has completed: - Return to your project dashboard and check the Last Crawled timestamp — it should reflect today's date and time once the crawl finishes. - Review the total pages crawled count. After exclusions are applied, this number should be lower than your previous crawl if the excluded paths contained indexed pages. - Navigate to the Crawled URLs or Pages report and confirm that no URLs containing /obituaries/ or /store/ appear in the results. If the timestamp has not updated after 24 hours, the crawl may still be processing. Large sites with extensive internal linking can take longer. Avoid triggering a second rerun while the first is still in progress, as this may cause delays. 🔑 Step 3: Track Keywords and Use Competitor Insights Once your audit is clean, you can track target keywords and layer in competitor data to strengthen your strategy. 1. From the left sidebar, click Keywords (URL: /research/keyword-researcher). 2. In the Keyword Researcher, enter your target keyword and run a search to see volume, difficulty, and SERP data. 3. To track a keyword, use the Add [keyword] to a keyword list or Rank Tracker link (or the Add to list button) in the Keyword Research/Rank Tracker results. Select the project and target location, then confirm. 4. To access Competitor Insights, look for the Competitors tab or panel within the Keyword Researcher or your project's keyword tracking view. Here you can: - See which competitors rank for the same keywords - Compare your ranking position against theirs - Identify keyword gaps — terms competitors rank for that you do not 5. Use the Import Keywords option if you have a list prepared outside the platform. Look for the Import button near the top of the keyword tracker, upload a CSV with one keyword per row, and map it to your project and location. Tip: After importing or adding keywords, allow up to 24 hours for ranking data to populate, especially for newly tracked terms. 📍 Step 4: Troubleshoot Missing Location Recommendations If one location is generating recommendations in OTTO SEO → All Sites (SEO Automation) but another is not, work through the following diagnostic steps. 1. Go to OTTO SEO → All Sites (SEO Automation) in the left sidebar and open the affected project. 2. Check that the location in question has been properly added to your project. Navigate to Project Settings → Locations and confirm the location appears and is marked as active. 3. Verify that tracked keywords are assigned to that specific location. A location with no tracked keywords will not generate recommendations. Go to your keyword tracker and filter by location to confirm keywords exist for it. Understanding auto-refresh and recommendation generation: - Recommendations are generated after a successful crawl and after keyword ranking data has been collected for the location. - If a location was added recently, it may need up to 24–48 hours before the system has enough data to produce recommendations. - Recommendations do not update in real time. The platform refreshes recommendation sets on a scheduled cycle tied to your crawl and rank-tracking intervals. - If a crawl completed but recommendations are still absent after 48 hours, try manually triggering a Refresh Recommendations action if available in the project dashboard, or rerun the audit for that project. Common reasons a location shows no recommendations: - No keywords are tracked for that location - The location was added after the last crawl completed and a new crawl has not run yet - The crawl for that project is still in progress - The target URL for that location was excluded by an existing exclusion rule 💬 Need More Help? If you need further assistance, open the chat widget in the bottom-right corner of the platform and type human teammate to be connected with a member of our team.

📘 Why You Might Not See PR News Sites in Google SERPs

🔍 Why Aren't PR Articles Showing Up in Google SERPs? It's completely normal not to see all, or any, of your media and PR articles directly in Google's search results (SERPs). This is intentional and part of how our PR distribution technology, powered by Signal Genesys, is engineered to drive maximum SEO value where it matters most: your website and Google Business Profile. This is by design. Our syndication process is optimized to rank your domain and GBP listing, not the duplicate media articles themselves. Visibility in SERPs for PR links is not a sign of success and is not how SEO value is measured in our system. ⚙️ What's Really Happening Behind the Scenes Signal Genesys uses a proprietary syndication and signal-distribution method that: - Submits content to hundreds of media outlets - Sends powerful trust and authority signals to your target assets - Avoids duplicate content penalties by limiting how many versions appear in SERPs Google's algorithm intentionally filters out duplicate content in its public-facing search results. That does not mean your content is not indexed or isn't providing value. 🗂️ Does This Mean Google Didn't Index My PR Pages? No. Even if you don't see the PR pages in search results, Google has: 1. Crawled the pages 2. Rendered the content 3. Indexed the source and signals 4. Assigned authority and trust to your website and GBP listing Google's public-facing index (what you see in SERPs) is only a small slice of what it actually indexes. Indexation does not equal visibility in SERPs. 📈 The Real KPI: Your Website & Map Pack Rankings You hired us to rank your domain and your Google Business Profile. That's exactly what our system is built to do. - Our process boosts local map pack performance - Enhances organic search ranking of your actual site - Drives lasting value that PR visibility alone cannot match ✅ Next Steps: How to Maximize Your Results - Focus on tracking your own website's rankings, not PR article appearances - Review the Signal Genesys Blueprint to ensure your SEO strategy is on track - If desired, you can use third-party tools to force additional crawling of media links, but it's not required for SEO performance 💡 Pro Tip Don't fall into the trap of using "indexed PR pages" as your success metric. Trust the system and focus on what really grows traffic, revenue, and retention: your own digital properties. If you need further assistance, open the chat widget in the bottom-right corner of the platform and type human teammate to be connected with a member of our team.

🛠️ Keyword Research Troubleshooting

Use this guide to diagnose and fix the most common Keyword Research errors in Search Atlas — including blank results, outdated rankings, stuck bulk jobs, and incorrect country data. 🔎 Error 1: Keyword Search Returns Blank Results or All Dashes What's happening: The Search Atlas keyword database or a third-party data source is temporarily unavailable. 1. Check your spelling and try keyword variations. 2. Change the target country — a keyword with no US data may have data for UK or CA. If a specific country code consistently returns results for the wrong region (e.g., UK selection returning US data), that is a country-routing bug — escalate using Error 7 below. 3. Wait 10 minutes and retry — data provider outages are usually brief. 4. Try a completely different keyword to determine whether all searches are failing or just this one. 5. Contact support if all keyword searches return empty for more than 30 minutes. A working search returns keyword metrics in the results table. 📊 Error 2: Competitor Data Columns (SpyFu, SEMrush) Show Empty Values What's happening: A third-party data provider (SpyFu or SEMrush) is temporarily unavailable. 1. Refresh the page and retry after 15 minutes. 2. Try a different competitor domain — the issue may be specific to that domain's data coverage. 3. Switch between data source tabs if available (e.g., from SpyFu to SEMrush view). 4. Note that very new or very small sites have no data in third-party databases — this is expected behavior, not a bug. 5. Contact support if all competitor columns remain empty across all keywords for more than 24 hours. Competitor columns populate once the data provider is back online. ⚙️ Error 3: Bulk Keyword Analysis Is Stuck on "Processing" What's happening: Large keyword lists take time to process, and very large lists can time out. 1. For lists over 500 keywords, allow 20–40 minutes before concluding something is wrong. 2. Refresh the page — the job may have completed but the status indicator didn't update. 3. Check your job history: Left Sidebar → Keywords → Keyword Research (Keyword lists tab). 4. Split large lists into batches of 250 keywords and resubmit. 5. Remove duplicate keywords from the list before resubmitting. A completed job appears in Keyword Lists with a downloadable results file. 📈 Error 4: Keyword Rankings Haven't Updated in Several Days What's happening: Rank tracking updates on a schedule determined by your plan tier. 1. Check the Last checked timestamp in the Rank Tracker. 2. Confirm the correct search engine, country, and device type are selected. 3. Verify the exact domain format being tracked (www vs. non-www). 4. Check your tracking frequency setting using either path: - Left Sidebar → Keywords → Rank Tracker → Select Your Site → Settings - Left Sidebar → Keywords → Rank Tracker → [your site card] → ⋮ (three vertical dots) → Settings 5. Contact support if daily-tracked keywords haven't updated in more than 72 hours. Rankings update on your next scheduled tracking cycle once settings are confirmed correct. 🌐 Error 5: "Live SERP" Check Never Loads What's happening: Live SERP checks are rate-limited and load slower than cached data because they retrieve real-time search results. 1. Wait up to 3 minutes — live SERP checks involve real-time data retrieval. 2. Avoid triggering multiple live checks simultaneously. 3. Wait 15 minutes between runs if you've made several recent requests. 4. Confirm this feature is included in your current plan. 5. Try during off-peak hours (early morning) for faster response times. A successful Live SERP check displays the current search results page for your keyword. 🧠 Error 6: Keyword Difficulty Scores Look Very Different from Other Tools What's happening: This is expected — each SEO tool calculates difficulty using different data sources, weighting factors, and SERP signals. Score differences across tools are normal, not a bug. - Compare relative difficulty trends rather than absolute scores across tools. - Use Search Atlas Keyword Difficulty as one signal among several. - Cross-reference with SERP analysis and competitor strength for high-value terms. No action is needed — treat Search Atlas Keyword Difficulty as a directional signal alongside other metrics. 🌍 Error 7: Country-Specific Results Are Wrong (e.g., UK Returns US Data) What's happening: The country-targeting layer occasionally routes queries to the wrong regional dataset, or URLs redirect to the wrong country's SERP. This is a backend routing issue — users cannot fix it directly. 1. Confirm the selected country code in the dropdown matches your intended target. 2. Clear your browser cache and retry once to rule out a stale session. 3. Record a short screen capture showing the country selection and the incorrect results returned. 4. Contact support immediately with the recording and example keywords — this issue requires escalation to the specialized data team and cannot be resolved through standard retries. 5. If you've already reported it, re-test periodically; fixes are deployed without notice and previously failing country codes begin loading correctly once resolved. After escalation, the affected country code returns correct regional data once the fix is deployed. 🎯 You now know how to diagnose and resolve the most common Keyword Research issues in Search Atlas. If a problem persists after trying all steps, contact the Search Atlas support team with your account details and a description of the issue.

🔍 Keyword Research When You Have No Starting Keywords

🤔 Why This Happens and What to Do Starting keyword research without any seed keywords is more common than you might think — especially for new brands, niche businesses, or companies entering a market for the first time. The good news is that Search Atlas gives you several ways to uncover the right keywords even when you are starting from zero. 🧭 Step 1: Describe What Your Brand Does Before opening any tool, take two minutes to write down plain-language answers to these questions: - What problem does your product or service solve? - Who is your ideal customer and what would they type into Google? - What words do your competitors use on their homepages? These plain-language phrases — even rough ones — are your first seed keywords. They do not need to be perfect. You will refine them in the next steps. 🔑 Step 2: Use the Keyword Researcher Tool Open the Keyword Researcher tool inside Search Atlas. This is your primary tool for expanding any seed idea into a full keyword list. 1. Type one of your plain-language phrases into the search bar. For example, if you sell handmade candles, try "scented candles" or "natural home fragrance". 2. Review the keyword suggestions, search volume, keyword difficulty (KD), and cost-per-click (CPC) data that appear. 3. Look for keywords with moderate search volume and lower difficulty scores — these are your best early opportunities to rank. 4. Use any available filters to narrow results by intent (informational, commercial, transactional) depending on the page you plan to optimise. 5. Save your best candidates to a keyword list for easy access later. Repeat this process with each plain-language phrase you wrote down. Each search will surface new variations and related terms you had not considered. 🏆 Step 3: Research Competitor Keywords If you still feel stuck, your competitors have already done part of the work for you. Search Atlas provides tools to analyse competitor domains and see which keywords are driving traffic to their sites. This reveals real search terms that real customers are already using to find businesses like yours. - Identify keywords your competitors rank for that you do not yet target — these are keyword gaps you can close. - Prioritise terms where competitor pages have weak content or low authority scores, as these are easier to outrank. 📊 Step 4: Group and Prioritise Your Keywords Once you have a list of candidates, organise them by topic cluster. Grouping related keywords together helps you plan content that covers a subject thoroughly, which search engines reward. - High priority: Keywords with clear commercial or transactional intent and achievable difficulty scores. - Medium priority: Informational keywords that build topical authority and attract early-funnel visitors. - Lower priority: Broad or highly competitive terms to revisit once your site gains authority. This structured approach ensures you are working toward rankings methodically rather than guessing. If you need further assistance, open the chat widget in the bottom-right corner of the platform and type human teammate to be connected with a member of our team.

🐛 Fix Duplicate URL Projects Merging Keywords Bug

What Is This Issue? If you create a new project using a URL that is already linked to an existing project in Search Atlas, the platform may merge keyword data between the two projects. This can cause keywords to appear to disappear, move unexpectedly, or show up in the wrong project. A common example: you have an existing project for Las Vegas tracking a business URL, and you create a new project for HVAC using the same URL. Instead of two separate projects, keyword data from one may bleed into the other. Why Does This Happen? Search Atlas uses a unique identifier to distinguish projects. When two projects share the same URL without other differentiating data points — such as a specific business location identifier — the platform can treat them as the same project and merge their keyword data. This is a known bug that our team is aware of and is working to resolve. How to Avoid This Issue Right Now Until a fix is in place, keep the following in mind when setting up multiple projects for the same URL: - Check for existing projects first. Before creating a new project, review your active projects and confirm whether the URL you plan to use is already assigned to another project. - Use distinct tracking settings. When creating your new project, make sure any available location, business profile, or category fields are filled in accurately. These additional details help the platform tell projects apart even when the base URL is the same. - Avoid duplicate URL and location combinations. Do not create two projects that share the exact same URL and the same location or business profile. What to Do If Your Keywords Have Already Merged If you are already experiencing this issue and your keywords have been absorbed into another project, please reach out for assistance. When contacting support, have the following ready: - The names of the affected projects - The shared URL used across those projects - A description of which keywords appear to be missing or in the wrong project - The approximate date when you first noticed the issue If you need further assistance, open the chat widget in the bottom-right corner of the platform and type human teammate to be connected with a member of our team.