These are the random thoughts on SEO, Content, and LinkedIn that actually made it into blog posts - there are a whole load more still in my head or over on LinkedIn
Some anger, some swearing, and a whole lot of caring
Hey, hey! I spend a lot of time being angry, so it probably won’t surprise you to know that I’ve spent the last 7 days since I last spoke to you angry too. I might as well just make it my whole personality with the SEO industry being the fucking… Read More
Should you create markdown pages for LLMs and AI search?
In “crazy SEO news you couldn’t make up”, Cloudflare just launched a feature called “Markdown for Agents” that automatically converts your HTML pages into markdown for AI crawlers. The pitch is that markdown is more “token efficient” for large language models, so serving stripped-down versions of your content will make… Read More
Bing Webmaster Tools now shows how often AI cites your content – here’s what you need to know
Stop the presses, Microsoft just did something useful! They’ve only gone and launched an AI Performance report in Bing Webmaster Tools that shows exactly how your content appears in AI-generated answers across Copilot, Bing’s AI summaries, and their partner integrations. For the first time, you can see which of your… Read More
Crisis of confidence, fear-based marketing, and why worry is profitable
Hey hey! I’m not afraid to say I’ve had a bit of a crisis of confidence with this newsletter recently – I have so many things to say, and so many ideas, that I still haven’t managed to distil it down into something I can send weekly and know my… Read More
Google’s February 2026 Discover core update is not a search update – don’t let anyone tell you otherwise
Google dropped something unexpected today. The SEO world has been watching SERP volatility for days, bracing for a standard core update. Instead, Google announced the February 2026 Discover core update – a core update targeting only Google Discover. This is the first time Google has released a core update specifically… Read More
Google updated its crawl file size limits and you probably don’t need to care
Google recently updated its documentation about how much of your web page it will crawl. Of course the SEO community started arguing about this on social media, and the ever dependable hustlebros started preparing their “URGENT: Your website might be too big for Google” posts designed to scare you into… Read More
January volatility, search intent mistakes, and the heading hierarchy hardly anyone checks
Hey hey! January lasted approximately seven years, and now February’s here with 28 days and somehow twice as much to do. Awesome. NP HQ feels this week: In non-wanky SEO news, Ascend is going brilliantly. Some of the members have already pitched their first SEO retainer clients (we’re only in… Read More
Why your website headings are confusing Google (and how to fix them)
I see it in almost every website audit I do. Headings (also called Headers in some website builders) used for design instead of structure. H3s chosen because someone liked the font size. H1s that say something clever but explain nothing about what the business does. If Google’s struggling to understand… Read More
The SEO search intent problem hiding in your website copy
Your website might be brilliant. Your services might be exactly what people need. But if you’re using the wrong words to describe what you do, Google won’t show your pages to the people searching for them. I’m not talking about keywords in the bollocky “stuff them everywhere” sense that people… Read More
Google wobbles, zero-traffic pages, and why I’m disappointed in SEOs
Hey hey! Google’s been having another wobbly week. Rankings jumping around, visibility shifting, the usual chaos that happens more often than not these days, so we should be used to it, and yet it still has everyone check their analytics seventeen times a day. This comes off the back of the… Read More
Freelancer Masterclass Live could be the best freelancer event of 2026
I’ve been a Freelancer Magazine member for a while now, and honestly, the community aspect alone is worth it. The co-working sessions, the support, the general vibe of being surrounded by people who “get it”. So when they announced Freelancer Live – a two-day virtual masterclass on 4th and 5th… Read More
When SEOs add GEO to their headlines, they become part of the problem
Related podcast episode (it’s a bit sweary): I had a conversation with a potential client recently. They’d found me on ChatGPT and wanted to know what I’d done to get there. “SEO,” I said. “Yeah, but what did you do specifically to be on AI Search?” “SEO.” “Yeah but you… Read More