Hey Reader, Every January, the internet fills up with “SEO best practices for the year ahead.” Most of them are recycled. Some are flat-out wrong. And a lot of them make SEO feel way more complicated than it needs to be. So instead of adding to the noise, I want to simplify things. Here’s what actually matters in 2026 — not from theory, but from watching how search (and AI) really behaves. Not Every Page Deserves to Be Indexed One of the biggest mindset shifts I see business owners struggle...
10 days ago • 2 min read
Hey Reader, Let’s start 2026 with something that might be uncomfortable, but needs to be said. Most businesses don’t actually have an SEO strategy. What they have is a collection of tasks they’ve picked up over time — a few blog posts here, some keywords chosen years ago, a report from an agency that looked impressive but never turned into action. Somewhere along the way, an SEO audit was done, saved to a folder, and quietly forgotten. If that sounds familiar, you’re not behind — you’re...
17 days ago • 3 min read
Hey Reader, Let’s say the quiet part out loud. No business owner wakes up excited about SEO. No one brags about their sitemap. No one cares how fancy their website is. They care about one thing: Is it generating leads? If the phone isn’t ringing, none of the rest matters. And yet, I see businesses obsess over tactics instead of outcomes every single day. They chase trends, redesign their site for the third time, post content because they “should,” or jump to the next shiny thing when results...
24 days ago • 2 min read
Hey Reader, Let’s clear something up that sounds technical but really isn’t. As AI becomes more involved in how search works, a lot of business owners are asking the same question: “How does Google decide which businesses it trusts?” The answer isn’t as complicated as it seems. It comes down to consistency — and that’s where citations come in. A citation is simply any place online where your business name, address, and phone number appear together. Think Google Business Profile, Apple Maps,...
about 1 month ago • 2 min read
Hey Reader, Let’s clear something up that sounds technical but really isn’t. As AI becomes more involved in how search works, a lot of business owners are asking the same question: “How does Google decide which businesses it trusts?” The answer isn’t as complicated as it seems. It comes down to consistency — and that’s where citations come in. A citation is simply any place online where your business name, address, and phone number appear together. Think Google Business Profile, Apple Maps,...
about 1 month ago • 2 min read
Hey Reader, For the last year, AI search has felt like a magic trick. Type a question. Get an answer. Never leave Google. Great for users. Terrifying for businesses that rely on visibility, clicks, and traffic. But this week, something important shifted. Google announced that AI Mode will now display more in-line links to the sources behind its AI-generated answers — and that’s not a small update. That’s Google quietly admitting something SEO professionals have been saying all along: People...
about 1 month ago • 2 min read
Hey Reader, Website hacks are skyrocketing. Downtime is exploding. And every week, I get another frantic message that starts with: “My website disappeared from Google… help?” Here’s the blunt truth: If your site isn’t secure, your SEO doesn’t stand a chance. And no — this isn’t fearmongering. This is what happens when Google crawls your site and finds malware, broken URLs, redirects you didn’t create, or downtime that makes your website look like it’s running on duct tape. Let’s break down...
about 2 months ago • 2 min read
Hey Reader, Website hacks are skyrocketing. Downtime is exploding. And every week, I get another frantic message that starts with: “My website disappeared from Google… help?” Here’s the blunt truth: If your site isn’t secure, your SEO doesn’t stand a chance. And no — this isn’t fearmongering. This is what happens when Google crawls your site and finds malware, broken URLs, redirects you didn’t create, or downtime that makes your website look like it’s running on duct tape. Let’s break down...
about 2 months ago • 2 min read
Hey Reader, If you’ve been online for more than three minutes this month, you’ve probably seen the parade of “revolutionary” marketing agencies claiming: “SEO is dead.” “It’s all about AIEO now.” “Switch to GEO immediately.” “Don’t waste money on SEO — it’s all AI-SEO these days.” Meanwhile, I’m sitting here like… if you’re not first, you’re last — and none of these folks are even getting off the starting line. Let’s talk about what’s really going on. 🚨 The Buzzwords Are Multiplying — Not the...
about 2 months ago • 2 min read