What's new?

Small bugfix while working on the next feature.

After a recent change in the SERP, there was an issue with the Core Web Vitals module in the SERP. This is now fixed, together with the status icons in the icon pin.

The extension was giving some glitches sometimes when interacting on Github, thanks Bjorn for reporting!

We all know that just creating content isn’t enough.

Content creation is only half the battle – the rest is gaining notice.

If you want traffic and conversion, you need to make sure your content looks as sexy outside your website as it does on it.

That means having the right OG:Image tags for example.

This release shows you the Open Graph tags and Twitter Cards on any page you’re on.

You might also have heard about Reddit’s growing importance in the Search Engine Results Pages (SERPs).

So, we’ve included an easy way to see if the current URL is already shared on any subreddit. Like this, you can jump right into the discussion if the link has already been submitted.

Otherwise, a “Submit this link” is provided for a link to the Reddit submission page.

And if you’re just starting out on your Reddit journey, this is also an excellent way to start building up some karma by submitting interesting content to the platform.

Web performance and SEO go hand in hand, but how much does it really matter for your keywords? With our latest update, you’ll uncover the connection between Core Web Vitals and your search rankings—directly on the Google results page.

Here’s what this update of the Sprout SEO Extension brings to the table:

• Inline Performance Scores: See real-time Core Web Vitals (LCP, CLS, and INP) for every result in the SERP, giving you a clear picture of how fast (or slow) the competition is.
• Correlation Metrics: Find out if top-ranked sites are also the fastest. The insights might just surprise you—and teach you how speed can give you the edge.
• Actionable Insights: Learn which performance metrics (like LCP or CLS) could help you climb higher in the rankings. Faster pages, better rankings? Let’s find out.

This update isn’t just another metric tracker—it’s your shortcut to understanding how web performance affects rankings and where you can outpace the competition.

Ready to optimize smarter, not harder? 🚀

P.S. We’ve also fixed some bugs related to the CSS that are sometimes injected into pages to display the extra content from this extension (Thanks, Julian Schleemann and Andrew Golubev, for reporting it).

It shouldn’t mess up your pages anymore.

We’re excited to introduce version 4.1, packed with new features, enhancements, and fixes to streamline your SEO workflow.

#1 All-New Image Analysis Tab

Optimizing images just got a whole lot easier! Our new Images tab gives you a comprehensive overview of all images on the current page, helping you identify optimization opportunities at a glance.

What’s New:

• Total Image Count: See the total number of images on the page.
• Alt Text Analysis: Instantly spot images missing alt text and export a list for quick fixes.
• Title Text Check: Find images without title attributes to ensure complete metadata.
• Dimension Check: Highlight images missing explicit width and height dimensions for better page performance.

Export Options: Export data for:

• All images
• Images missing alt text
• Images missing title attributes
• Images without dimensions

File Details: Easily review each image’s:

• Alt text
• Title text
• Dimensions
• File size
• URL

This feature ensures your images are optimized for accessibility, SEO, and page speed, saving you hours of manual review.

#2 Bug Fixes & Speed Improvements

We’ve squashed bugs and fine-tuned performance to make your experience even smoother:

• Faster Page Analysis: Improved loading times across all tabs, so you get your insights quicker than ever.
• Export Stability: Resolved issues with data exports to ensure seamless CSV downloads.
• General UI Fixes: Polished the interface for a cleaner and more intuitive user experience.
• Fixed an outstanding bug reported by Andrew Golubev that gave some CSS issues on a specific site

Why update?

With version 4.1, Sprout SEO not only keeps your content and technical SEO in check but also makes image optimization effortless.

Whether you’re improving accessibility, fine-tuning page performance, or managing large-scale content projects, this update has you covered.

We hope you love these new features and improvements as much as we do! Don’t forget to share your feedback – we’re always listening. 😊

With 4.0, Sprout SEO evolves into a powerhouse for content creators, SEOs, and marketers alike. Our latest features are tailored to make your day-to-day research smoother and smarter.

Here’s what’s new:

#1 Google Trends Integration – Track Live Search Trends Directly in the SERP 📈

Unleash the insights of Google Trends without ever leaving the search results page! Now, you can instantly view trends for any keyword as you type, bringing seasonality insights and user behavior right into the search experience.

Key Benefits:

• Immediate trend data right in search results, allowing you to spot demand shifts in real-time
• A comprehensive view of keyword search activity to understand seasonality and market shifts
• Simple visualizations let you quickly pinpoint spikes or drops in interest
• Seamless compatibility with other keyword tools, giving you all your insights in one place
• For more robust research, our bulk Google Trends tool in the popup lets you enter multiple keywords (one per line), opening tabs with individual trend graphs for each term – perfect for extensive research or building presentations.

#2 Location Changer for Google Search – Precision Research from Anywhere 🌍

Ever needed to see search results as they appear in a different location? Now, you can switch locations with ease, viewing results from any city, state, or country to check rankings or scout local competition without needing a VPN.

Whether you’re verifying rankings for “coffee bar near me” or tracking local ads, this feature is ideal for understanding localized search behavior or planning targeted content strategies. Perfect for anyone working in international SEO or localized content!

#3 People Also Asked Extractor – Instant Content Ideas from Google’s PAA 📄

Our People Also Asked (PAA) Extractor automatically clicks through the PAA questions, saving you time and revealing valuable user queries on any topic. Once extracted, it downloads into a CSV, creating a ready-to-go list of questions that people actually want answers to.

Why it’s a Game Changer:

• PAA questions reflect real user intent, making them a goldmine for content creators and SEOs
• Incorporating these questions helps improve visibility, attract more users, and build trust by directly answering the audience’s burning questions
• Use them to craft people-first, helpful content that aligns with Google’s emphasis on quality and relevance
• Great for filling content gaps, finding long-tail keywords, and enhancing your strategy with highly relevant, people-driven topics

Enhanced Interface & Performance Boost

This release isn’t just about new features; we’ve also upgraded the experience. A full visual overhaul makes Sprout SEO more intuitive, smoother, and faster than ever. With a clean, responsive interface, you’ll find it easier to access insights and put them into action.

Why 4.0 is a Must-Have for SEOs & Marketers

Sprout SEO 4.0 bridges the gap between data and insight, offering powerful tools to keep up with user behavior and competition. By cutting down on repetitive tasks, saving you time, and integrating crucial research features, this release lets you focus on what matters: creating impactful, relevant content.

Since we’ve introduced the “other tools” tab, we’ve added quick links to open the current page in your favorite tool.

The icons you saw were the favicons from these websites.

However, one of these websites, the Internet Archive, has been under a DDOS attack for a week; as a result, the pop-up takes forever to open.

Our apologies, we are planning a big new release, but that one isn’t ready yet. So in the meantime, a quick bugfix to help speed up the pop-up again.

We noticed there were certain times when the extension took a little long to open up.

We fixed it.

Incorporated a bunch of caching and async loading of external checks to improve the speed of the extension opening up and showing the data you’re looking for.

In our first iteration of the robots checker, we only checked against the Meta Robots tag to figure out if the page you were viewing gave a direction to the robots to “index”, “noindex”, “follow” or “nofollow” the page you were viewing.

Of course we added appropriate red, orange and green icons to help you quickly identify the status, but we knew we could do better.

So with this update we also:

• Do a live check against the robots.txt file. When you visit a URL impacted by an “Allow” or “Disallow” directive in robots.txt, the extension will display the exact rule, allowing you to copy it or view the live robots.txt file effortlessly.Additionally, the entire robots.txt file will be shown with the relevant rule highlighted (if applicable). With one click you can open up the robots.txt itself, or copy it to your clipboard. Pretty neat, right?
• Look at the x-robots-tag headers. Identifying robots directives in the HTTP header used to be challenging, but not anymore with this extension.Any particular exclusions will be clearly highlighted, along with the complete HTTP header, making the specific exclusions easy to spot! And of course you can also copy the full HTTP header to your clipboard to easily share with your development team.

So with this update you can be sure to save some more time again, by understanding whether a particular page on your website is accessible to search engines yes or not.