Your Google Search Console data is lying to you and whack-a-mole 404s

Seo newsletter uk

(This is the 24/06/2025 issue of my newsletter – subscribe here)

Hey hey!

Between AI search helping to make our best traffic invisible and 404 errors that breed faster than rabbits, staying on top of SEO feels like an endless game of whack-a-mole.

Article content

This week I’ve been explaining why Google Search Console is becoming increasingly useless for tracking conversational searches, and why those 404 errors keep coming back no matter how many times you fix them. Plus, I’ve got a dead simple checklist that’ll save you from publishing content that’s destined to flop.


What you’ll find inside

1 | Why Google can’t track the searches that actually convert your visitors into customers

2 | The 5-second checklist that prevents embarrassing SEO mistakes before you hit publish

3 | Why 404 errors aren’t a one-time fix (and how to stop losing your sanity over them)

Ready?


AI search is making your best traffic invisible

Remember when we could actually see what people searched for before they landed on our websites? Those days are rapidly disappearing. A fascinating new study has just proven what many of us suspected: the more conversational search becomes, the less visibility we have into what’s driving our traffic.

The problem is that AI tools like ChatGPT are training millions of people to ask detailed, specific questions, but Google Search Console can’t (or won’t) track them.

When someone searches “What’s the best project management software for a 15-person creative agency that works remotely?” instead of just “project management,” Google answers brilliantly but Search Console tracks nothing.

Meanwhile, you’re left wondering where that £3,000 client actually came from. Time to rethink how we approach our strategy?


Your free 30 second checklist

Before you publish any new page or blog post, run through this quick checklist:

  • Does it have a clear H1?
  • Are there H2s breaking up the content?
  • Have you linked to 2-3 other pages on your site?
  • Have you linked TO your new page/blog post from 2-3 older pages/posts?
  • Is there a meta description that makes people want to click?
  • Does the URL make sense?
  • Does it have a CTA?

Takes 30 seconds, saves hours of fixing later. You’ll find more practical tips like this in my non-wanky on-page SEO toolkit.


Why 404 errors aren’t going anywhere

A lovely client asked me recently why I was “still fixing 404s” on their website months after sorting out a bunch. Fair question, but here’s the thing – 404 errors are like housework, you’re never really finished. Websites evolve constantly, external sites update their links, and Google has the memory of an elephant for pages that used to exist.

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The trick isn’t achieving zero 404s (that’s impossible), it’s knowing which ones actually matter. High-traffic 404s and internal broken links? Fix immediately. Random spam attempts trying to access admin pages that never existed? Ignore completely. I’ve put together a few ideas for managing this ongoing nightmare without losing your mind over it.


What am I working on this week?

This week’s been a bit of a mixed bag!

I’m deep into doorway page strategy for a cleaning company (yes, they can work when done properly), mapping out SEO strategy for a financial SaaS provider, and crafting blog content for an engineering firm.

Plus, I’m doing prep work for a fractional Digital Marketing Manager contract starting in July with a healthcare client.

Nothing like variety to keep things interesting!

If you’re curious about any of these projects or fancy a chat about your own SEO challenges, you know where I am.

That’s it for now.

Always non-wanky,

Nikki

P.S. Seriously, give that pre-publish checklist a try – it’s amazing how many obvious mistakes you catch when you actually look for them. Your future self will thank you when you’re not scrambling to fix broken internal links or realising you’ve published a 2,000-word post with no headings whatsoever.