Think about the mechanic you take your car to. Now imagine they’ve been using the same diagnostic tools since 2008. They’ve never bothered learning about hybrid engines, dismiss electric vehicles as a fad, and still insist on checking your points and condenser even though your car hasn’t had those since 1985.
Would you trust them with your brand new car? Probably not.
So why are you paying an SEO who hasn’t tested anything new in years?
SEO changes constantly – your SEO should too
Google makes thousands of changes to its algorithm every year. Some are tiny tweaks nobody notices. Others completely reshape how websites get found. AI search is changing how people discover information. UX matters more than ever. User behaviour shifts.
An SEO who isn’t constantly learning, testing, and experimenting is essentially working with outdated tools on a modern engine. They might get lucky occasionally, but they’re not giving you the best possible service.
The problem is, stagnation in SEO is easy to hide. Your rankings might stay stable for months while your SEO coasts on work they did two years ago. Meanwhile, your competitors are pulling ahead because their SEO is trying new approaches, testing different content strategies, and adapting to how search engines evolve.
What does SEO experimentation look like?
Good SEOs don’t just read about new techniques – they test them. On real websites. With measurable results.
This might mean testing different content formats to see what resonates with your audience. Trying new approaches to internal linking structures. Experimenting with how they structure service pages. Testing whether certain types of content perform better for specific industries.
They’re running small, controlled experiments. Measuring what works. Abandoning what doesn’t. Building up a body of knowledge based on real-world evidence rather than whatever the latest LinkedIn guru is banging on about.
They’re also staying curious about the broader landscape. How are AI search engines changing user behaviour? What’s working in local search this quarter compared to last? How are featured snippets evolving?
An SEO who experiments is an SEO who grows. And when they grow, your website benefits from that accumulated knowledge.
The danger of “we’ve always done it this way”
There’s a certain comfort in doing things the same way you’ve always done them. For your SEO, this might mean sticking to the same keyword research process from 2019, the same content templates, the same technical fixes they’ve been recommending for a decade.
Some of that might still work. But some of it is almost certainly outdated, and they won’t know which is which unless they’re testing.
The SEO industry has a particular problem with this. Techniques that worked brilliantly five years ago can become completely useless – or even harmful – after an algorithm update. If your SEO isn’t actively experimenting, they’re probably still recommending things that stopped working ages ago.
Worse, they might be actively resistant to new approaches because it would mean admitting their existing knowledge has gaps. Nobody likes feeling like a beginner again. But the best SEOs embrace that discomfort because they know it’s the only way to stay effective.
Questions to ask your SEO about experimentation
If you’re wondering whether your SEO is keeping their skills sharp, here are some questions worth asking:
- What have you tested recently that surprised you? A good SEO should have stories about experiments that challenged their assumptions. If they can’t think of anything, that’s telling.
- How do you stay current with algorithm changes? You’re looking for specifics here – not just “I read industry blogs” but actual examples of how they’ve adapted their approach based on new information.
- What’s something you used to recommend that you’ve stopped doing? SEO best practices change. Anyone who’s been in the industry more than a few years should have a list of techniques they’ve abandoned because they stopped working.
- Can you show me an experiment you’re running right now? This doesn’t have to be on your site specifically, but they should be able to point to something they’re actively testing somewhere.
- What do you think about AI search? This is a good indicator of whether they’re engaged with where the industry is heading or whether they’re dismissing major shifts as irrelevant.
What this means for you
If you’re doing your own SEO, block out time for learning and testing. Even an hour a week spent reading up on new developments and trying small experiments on your site will compound over time. You don’t need to chase every shiny new tactic, but you do need to stay curious.
If you’ve hired an SEO, pay attention to whether they ever bring you new ideas. Do they suggest testing different approaches? Do they mention things they’ve learned recently? Or do they just send the same reports every month with the same recommendations?
An SEO who’s genuinely invested in their craft will be excited to share what they’re learning. They’ll want to test new ideas on your site. They’ll have opinions about industry developments that go beyond repeating what everyone else is saying.
If yours doesn’t? It might be time for a conversation about whether they’re still the right fit. Because in SEO, standing still is the same as moving backwards. And you deserve someone who’s moving forward.
Interested in working with someone who is always testing and learning? Grab a call with me.
