30 posts
Digital Marketing
What to say when stakeholders ask why their brand isn't in ChatGPT or Gemini - and the questions marketers should ask instead.
30 Jun 2025
A page title made of narrow letters fits past 60 characters; one full of wide ones gets cut off early. Google truncates by pixels, so preview by pixels.
13 Feb 2018
Sitemap specification for a large ecommerce site with high inventory churn, written in Agile Given/When/Then format.
28 May 2017
A replatform is the most dangerous thing you can do to your organic traffic. Most of the work happens before anyone sees the new site.
14 Mar 2017
The site passed a million sessions in a month. What it took was years of dull, consistent work, and a session still isn't a sale.
19 Jan 2017
Every second of every day Google's algorithms work to deliver relevant results, but how can you use them to help your site?
27 Jan 2015
Google has made HTTPS a lightweight ranking signal. What that means, how big it is right now, and how to migrate without breaking things.
11 Aug 2014
Google's Pigeon update has shaken up local search results in the US. Early observations and what it seems to reward.
29 Jul 2014
Local SEO fundamentals in 2014. Consistent citations, the new Google My Business, reviews, and getting the basics right first.
17 Jun 2014
Matt Cutts declared guest blogging for SEO dead in January. A few months on, here is what that actually meant and what survives.
14 May 2014
A practical look at what a mobile SEO audit should cover in 2014, and the checks that too often get missed.
15 Jan 2014
The received wisdom said keep it short for the web. The evidence increasingly points the other way, so here is my case for long-form content.
15 Oct 2013
Google has just named a new core algorithm, Hummingbird, built around understanding whole questions rather than individual keywords. What it means for SEO.
27 Sep 2013
Google seems to be moving from matching keywords to understanding things and how they relate. Some informed speculation on where semantic search is heading.
14 Aug 2013
Most SEO relationships that go wrong were mis-set at the start. Some general thoughts on managing expectations in a channel nobody fully controls.
13 Jun 2013
Google rolled out Penguin 2.0 this week. It looks past the homepage to the rest of your link profile, so here is what I am checking and why.
24 May 2013
After Panda and Penguin, everyone talks content and links. The technical plumbing underneath your site is what I think will matter most in 2013.
14 Jan 2013
Google's new disavow tool lets you tell it to ignore bad links. Useful and dangerous in equal measure. When to reach for it, and when to leave it alone.
18 Oct 2012
Since Penguin landed, every refresh sends people into a panic. How to tell a real drop from noise, and why a calm mid-year link audit beats thrashing.
14 Aug 2012
There is no button to undo a Penguin hit. Recovery means finding bad links, emailing webmasters to remove them, and filing reconsideration requests.
16 May 2012
Google's Penguin update targets manipulative links and over-optimised anchor text. An early read on who gets hit and why recovery is far from clear.
25 Apr 2012
A year on from Panda, the link-building numbers game is running out of road. Where I would spend the budget instead, and why it is harder to buy.
16 Feb 2012
My prediction for 2012: the line between social and search keeps blurring, and social signals start shaping rankings in ways we can't ignore.
14 Dec 2011
Panda hit thin affiliate sites hard. If you make money from affiliate content, the old playbook is broken. Here's how the game has changed this year.
15 Sep 2011
Working across industries at an agency, the same SEO problems keep recurring in different clothes. What travel and retail can borrow from each other.
16 Aug 2011
Google's Panda update has rolled out to English searches worldwide. Here's what the UK can learn from the US version that hit in February.
18 Apr 2011
A publishing schedule tells you when to post. A content strategy tells you why, and what to stop doing. The difference matters more than ever.
15 Mar 2011
Google's new Personal Blocklist extension and its content-farm comments point to a big algorithm change. Here's what it means for publishers.
16 Feb 2011
Six months with Google's Caffeine update. Here's what actually changed for publishers.
01 Dec 2010
Google Places is five months old and already reshaping local search. What this means for local businesses and marketers.
28 Sep 2010
