Most SEO advice is either outdated, generic, or written by someone who’s never actually ranked for a competitive keyword. I’ve been doing SEO full-time since 2008, running campaigns for 8 and 9-figure businesses, and I’m tired of seeing people waste money on tactics that don’t work.
Here’s what actually matters in 2025.
Why You Should Listen
Quick credibility check:
- 15+ years running SEO campaigns full-time
- Built and ranked sites in competitive markets like finance, e-commerce, and real estate
- Worked with 8 and 9-figure businesses across multiple industries
- Spoken at conferences in Washington DC, Las Vegas, Anaheim, and even Dublin, Ireland on SEO strategy
SEO isn’t just how I make a living – it’s how I’ve built a business helping others dominate search in their markets. Let’s get into what actually works.
The Core Truth About SEO
The best place to hide a dead body is on page 2 of Google.
Think about your own search behavior. When’s the last time you clicked past the first page? Probably never. That’s the game – page 1 or nothing.
Before we dive into tactics, understand what Google’s optimizing for: user satisfaction. They don’t care about keyword density or 47-point checklists. They care if users find your page, get what they need, and don’t bounce back to search for something better.
Every ranking factor comes back to this: Does your page satisfy user intent better than the alternatives?
SEO Strategies That Actually Work in 2026
Core Web Vitals: Speed Matters (But Not How You Think)
Page speed has been a ranking factor for years, but most people optimize for the wrong thing. Google doesn’t care if your page loads in 0.8 seconds versus 1.2 seconds. They care if your site is so slow that users bounce before seeing your content.
What actually matters:
- Largest Contentful Paint (LCP) – How long until main content is visible. Target: under 2.5 seconds. This kills most sites.
- First Input Delay (FID) – How quickly your site responds to interaction. If buttons don’t respond for 300ms, users bounce.
- Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS) – Does your page jump around while loading? Nothing frustrates users faster.
- Use quality hosting – Shared hosting for $5/month is false economy. You get what you pay for.
Check your speed with Google PageSpeed Insights, but don’t panic about perfect scores. You need to be “good enough” that speed isn’t costing you rankings. In most niches, 70-85 on mobile is sufficient if your content is strong.
On-Page SEO: The Basics Still Matter
On-page SEO isn’t sexy, but it’s foundational. Most sites mess it up.
Critical elements:
- Title tags – Most important on-page element. Include target keyword, make it compelling, keep under 60 characters. Bad: “Tips | Guide | Best Practices” Good: “SEO Tips That Actually Work in 2026”
- URLs – Short, descriptive, keyword-rich. yoursite.com/seo-tips beats yoursite.com/p=123
- H1 tags – Should match your title tag. Reinforce that users are in the right place.
- Meta descriptions – Don’t impact rankings directly, but affect click-through rate, which does. Write them like ad copy.
For detailed implementation, see my complete on-page SEO checklist.
Content Quality: What “Helpful” Actually Means
Google’s been pushing “helpful content” for years. Most people think this means “write long articles.” That’s not it.
Helpful content means content that thoroughly answers the user’s query better than competing results. Match the depth to the intent.
And yes, you can use AI to help create content – Google doesn’t penalize AI-generated content if it’s actually helpful. What matters is the final quality, not the tool you used. More on that in my article about whether Google can detect AI content.
How to create content that ranks:
- Start with search intent – Look at current top 10 results. What format do they use? How deep do they go?
- Cover topics comprehensively – If you’re targeting “SEO tips,” 5 generic tips won’t cut it. Look at my real estate SEO guide as an example of comprehensive coverage – 6,500 words covering strategy, implementation, and specific tactics that work in competitive markets.
- Add unique value – Personal experience, original data, case studies, better examples. This is what separates page 1 from page 4.
- Write for humans, optimize for Google – Include keywords naturally. Modern NLP understands context.
Strategic Internal Linking
Internal linking is one of the most underutilized SEO tactics. It distributes PageRank, establishes topical relationships, and keeps users on your site longer.
How to do it right:
- Link to relevant content contextually – every link should make sense
- Use descriptive anchor text – “advanced keyword research techniques” beats “click here”
- Create content hubs – pillar pages linking to related articles build topical authority
- Don’t overdo it – 2-5 internal links per article is plenty
Building Authority Through External Links
Linking to authoritative sources shows you’re well-researched and not operating in a bubble. It builds trust with both users and Google.
Best practices:
- Link to high-quality, relevant sources in your niche
- Open links in new tabs to keep users on your site
- 2-3 external links per post is sufficient – focus on quality
Backlinks: Still the Currency of SEO
External links are still the biggest ranking factor outside content quality. You can have perfect on-page SEO, but if you have no backlinks and competitors have hundreds, you’re not ranking.
What actually works:
- Create genuinely linkable content – original research, comprehensive guides, tools, data visualizations
- Digital PR – Use HARO or Featured to get quoted in news articles
- Broken link building – Find broken links on relevant sites, offer your content as replacement
- Competitor analysis – Use Ahrefs or Semrush to see where competitors get links
Content Freshness: Update or Decline
Google favors fresh content, but not how most people think. Publishing daily mediocrity doesn’t help. You’re better off publishing one excellent article weekly and keeping existing content updated.
The strategy that works:
- Quarterly content audits – find articles ranking on page 2-3 or declining performance
- Update with new data, statistics, examples
- Expand thin sections, improve formatting, add internal links
- Update publish date – Google re-crawls and often gives ranking boost
I’ve taken articles from position 12 to position 3 just by updating them with current data and expanding content.
E-E-A-T: Experience, Expertise, Authority, Trust
Google added “Experience” to E-A-T recently. This matters especially in YMYL (Your Money, Your Life) niches like health, finance, and legal.
How to demonstrate E-E-A-T:
- Author bios explaining qualifications and experience
- Real about page with actual names, faces, credentials
- Contact information, privacy policies, terms of service
- Citations and sources – link to authoritative references
- Real-world credibility – speaking engagements, published work, industry recognition
Technical SEO: The Foundation That Breaks Rankings
Most people ignore technical SEO until something breaks. Don’t make that mistake.
Critical technical elements:
- XML Sitemap – Submit to Google Search Console. Make sure it’s not bloated with junk pages.
- Robots.txt – Verify you’re not accidentally blocking important pages. I’ve seen sites lose 70% of traffic from misconfigured robots.txt.
- Canonical tags – Prevent duplicate content issues. Tell Google which version to index when multiple URLs show the same content.
- Schema markup – Helps Google understand your content better. Product schema for e-commerce, local business schema for local SEO, article schema for blog content. This is what creates rich snippets in search results.
- HTTPS – Non-negotiable. If your site isn’t on HTTPS in 2026, you’re leaving rankings on the table.
- Mobile optimization – More than half of searches happen on mobile. If your site doesn’t work well on mobile, you’re done.
Schema markup deserves special attention. It’s the structured data that tells Google exactly what your content is about. For an SEO tips article like this one, Article schema helps Google understand the author, publish date, and content structure. For local businesses, LocalBusiness schema shows your address, hours, and contact info directly in search results.
Most sites don’t implement schema properly, which means they’re missing out on rich snippets, enhanced search results, and better click-through rates. It’s technical work, but the payoff is worth it.
The Long Game
SEO is not a quick win. If someone promises first-page rankings in 30 days, they’re lying or using tactics that’ll get you penalized.
Realistic timeline for competitive keywords:
- Months 1-3: Building foundation, minimal results
- Months 4-6: Starting to rank for long-tail keywords
- Months 6-12: Moving up for medium-competition terms
- 12+ months: Competing for high-volume, high-competition keywords
The sites that win at SEO commit to the long game. Consistent content, ongoing optimization, continuous link building.
Final Thoughts
SEO in 2026 isn’t about tricks or hacks. It’s about fundamentals executed consistently over time.
Create content that helps people. Build a site that loads fast and works well. Earn links from relevant sources. Demonstrate expertise and trustworthiness. Be patient.
And pay attention to how search is evolving. Google’s AI Overviews and generative search are changing how people find information. If you want to future-proof your SEO strategy, read my guide on how to rank in generative search results.
Do those things, and you’ll outrank 90% of your competitors who are chasing algorithm updates and looking for shortcuts.
Questions about SEO strategy for your specific situation? Contact me.
