MixTool blog
Guides & tutorials
Clear, practical how-tos for the jobs our tools help with — written to answer the question you actually searched for.
What Is a Good SEO Score? (And How to Raise Yours)
An SEO score of 85–100 means a page's basics are in place; under 60 means something important needs fixing. See what the score measures and how to raise it.
Read the guideOct 1, 2026
3 min read
Why Is My Website Not Showing Up on Google? 10 Fixes
If your site isn't on Google, it's usually too new, blocked by noindex or robots.txt, or not yet crawled. Here's how to find the cause and fix it, step by step.
Oct 1, 2026 · 3 min readSEO & WebsitesDiscovered – Currently Not Indexed: Causes and Fixes
"Discovered – currently not indexed" means Google knows the URL but hasn't crawled it. Learn why it happens, how long it lasts and what gets pages indexed.
Oct 1, 2026 · 3 min readPersonal FinanceHow Much Is $25 an Hour a Year? Hourly to Salary Chart
$25 an hour is $52,000 a year at 40 hours a week. See the hourly to salary chart from $15 to $75 an hour, with weekly, biweekly and monthly pay.
Sep 30, 2026 · 3 min readPersonal FinanceHow Much House Can I Afford? Salary Chart & 28/36 Rule
On an $80,000 salary you can afford a home of about $246,000 with 10% down at 6.5%. See home prices for $50k to $200k incomes and how the 28/36 rule works.
Sep 30, 2026 · 3 min readPersonal Finance15 vs 30-Year Mortgage: Payment and Interest Compared
On a $300,000 loan, a 15-year mortgage costs $595 more a month but saves about $234,000 in interest. See the full comparison and a flexible middle option.
Sep 30, 2026 · 3 min readPersonal FinanceHow Much Car Can I Afford? The 20/4/10 Rule by Income
With the 20/4/10 rule, a $60,000 salary supports a car of about $26,100 with 20% down on a 4-year loan at 7%. See the chart for incomes up to $150,000.
Sep 30, 2026 · 2 min readPersonal FinanceHow Much Will $500 a Month Grow? Investing Chart
Investing $500 a month at 7% grows to about $610,000 in 30 years, from $180,000 of your own money. See results for 5 to 40 years at 5%, 7% and 10% returns.
Sep 30, 2026 · 2 min readPersonal FinanceBiweekly vs Semimonthly Pay: What's the Difference?
Biweekly pay means 26 paychecks a year; semimonthly means 24. See what each check is worth for salaries from $40,000 to $125,000, and when to expect 3 paydays.
Sep 30, 2026 · 2 min readEveryday MathHow to Calculate Sales Tax (and How to Remove It)
Multiply the price by the tax rate to find sales tax, or divide a total by 1 plus the rate to remove it. Worked examples and state base rates in one place.
Sep 30, 2026 · 2 min readEveryday MathHow Much to Tip in the US: A Practical Tipping Guide
Tip 18–20% at sit-down restaurants, 15–20% for delivery, haircuts and rides, and $3–5 a night for hotel housekeeping. A clear US tipping guide with a tip chart.
Sep 30, 2026 · 3 min readEveryday MathHow to Calculate a Discount: Percent Off Made Easy
To find a sale price, multiply the original price by (1 − the discount). 30% off $80 is $56. Learn the mental math, stacked coupons and a percent-off chart.
Sep 30, 2026 · 2 min readEveryday MathHow to Calculate Percentage Increase (With Examples)
Percentage increase = (new − old) ÷ old × 100. A raise from $52,000 to $55,120 is 6%. Learn the formula, common mistakes, and percent vs percentage points.
Sep 30, 2026 · 2 min readEveryday MathHow Much Will Gas Cost for My Road Trip? (Chart)
Gas cost = miles ÷ mpg × price per gallon. A 500-mile trip in a 25-mpg car at $3.50 a gallon costs $70. See a quick chart, plus tips to split and cut the cost.
Sep 30, 2026 · 2 min readSchool & WorkHow to Calculate GPA: Unweighted, Weighted & Cumulative
Multiply each grade's points by the class credits, add them up and divide by total credits. Worked examples for college, weighted and cumulative GPA.
Sep 30, 2026 · 2 min readSchool & WorkHow Many Words Is a Page? Pages to Words Chart
A page is about 500 words single-spaced or 250 double-spaced in 12-point Times New Roman with 1-inch margins. See charts for 1–20 pages and 250–5,000 words.
Sep 30, 2026 · 2 min readSchool & WorkHow Many Words in a 5-Minute Speech? Length Chart
A 5-minute speech is about 700 words at an average 140 words per minute. See word counts for 1 to 60 minutes, plus timing tips for toasts, eulogies and talks.
Sep 30, 2026 · 2 min readSchool & WorkHow to Calculate Hours Worked (With Breaks) for Payroll
Subtract start from end time, remove unpaid breaks and divide minutes by 60 for decimal hours. Includes a timesheet example, decimal chart and overtime rules.
Sep 30, 2026 · 3 min readFiles & PhotosHow to Make a PDF Smaller to Email (Gmail & Outlook)
Gmail and Yahoo allow 25 MB of attachments and Outlook.com 20 MB. Here's how to shrink a PDF below the limit for free, without uploading it anywhere.
Sep 30, 2026 · 3 min readFiles & PhotosHow to Combine PDF Files on iPhone, Mac or Windows
Combine PDFs for free with the Files app on iPhone, Preview on Mac or a browser tool on Windows. Step-by-step instructions, plus how to fix page order and size.
Sep 30, 2026 · 2 min readFiles & PhotosHow to Reduce a Photo's File Size (MB to KB)
Phone photos are often several megabytes, too big for many upload forms. Learn how to shrink a photo to 500 KB, 200 KB or 100 KB by resizing and compressing it.
Sep 30, 2026 · 2 min readFiles & PhotosHow to Convert iPhone HEIC Photos to JPG (Free Ways)
HEIC photos won't open on some PCs and websites. Convert them to JPG on your iPhone, Mac or Windows PC for free, or set your camera to shoot JPG from now on.
Sep 30, 2026 · 2 min readFiles & PhotosDo QR Codes Expire? Static vs Dynamic QR Codes
Static QR codes never expire because the link is stored in the pattern itself. Dynamic codes route through a company's server and can stop if you stop paying.
Sep 30, 2026 · 2 min read