Articles on search, content and websites
Guides from the ForTheWeb team on how Google Search and AI answers work, how to write pages people find and read, how reviews affect a business, and the tools that keep a site in good shape.
Start here if you run crews, branches or several locations
SEO in practiceWhy Generic SEO Advice Fails Regional Companies, and What Works Instead
Why publisher-style SEO falls short for companies with crews, branches or several locations, and what to do instead.
Reviews and reputationHow Online Reviews Affect Local Search Rankings
How reviews fit into Google’s local ranking, what its rules allow, and how to build reviews at every location.
SEO in practice7 Common SEO Tactics That Don’t Help Your Rankings
Popular SEO tactics that Google says do nothing or can hurt, and what to do instead of each.
How search works
How search worksHow Google’s Results Page Is Laid Out: Ads, AI Overviews, the Local Pack and Organic Results
What sponsored ads, AI Overviews, the local pack and organic results are, and how a business earns each place.
How search worksHTTPS, Core Web Vitals and Page Experience: What Google Measures Now
How HTTPS went from a new ranking signal to the baseline, and what Core Web Vitals measure now.
How search worksWhat Is PageRank, and Does Google Still Use It?
How Google’s original link signal works, what replaced the public score, and what it means for your links.
How search worksHow Does SEO Work? Crawling, Indexing and Ranking Explained
The four steps from your website to Google’s results, and what SEO does at each one.
How search worksWhat Is SEO? Search Engine Optimization Explained
What search engine optimization includes, how AI answers fit in, and how to judge whether it is working.
SEO in practice
SEO in practiceThree Long-Term SEO Investments That Pay Off Over Months, Not Weeks
A library of useful pages, a structure built to grow, and earned links: why each takes months and keeps paying off.- SEO in practice
7 Common SEO Tactics That Don’t Help Your Rankings
Popular SEO tactics that Google says do nothing or can hurt, and what to do instead of each. - SEO in practice
Why Generic SEO Advice Fails Regional Companies, and What Works Instead
Why publisher-style SEO falls short for companies with crews, branches or several locations, and what to do instead. 
SEO in practiceA Quick Search Engine Optimization Guide for Your Website
Four checks, in order, that show where your site stands in search and what to fix first.
Content that gets found
Content that gets foundVideo Marketing Basics: Getting Your Videos Found on YouTube and Google
What videos to make, and how to get them found on YouTube and in Google’s video results.
Content that gets foundHow to Format a Blog Post So People Actually Read It
Answer first, descriptive headings, short paragraphs and useful images: formatting that gets an article read.
Content that gets foundHow to Write Interesting Content for an Industry People Call Boring
How to find the specific facts and stories that make content in a practical industry worth reading.
Content that gets foundShould You Publish Articles on Your Own Site or on Medium and LinkedIn?
Why your own site should hold the original, and how to share articles on Medium and LinkedIn without competing with yourself.
Content that gets foundSEO Content Marketing: Start With the Questions Your Customers Ask
Where to find the questions your buyers ask, how to turn them into pages, and why AI answers favor them.
Content that gets foundE-E-A-T and YMYL: What Google Means by High-Quality Content
What experience, expertise, authority and trust mean to Google, and how to show them on your site.
Reviews and reputation
- Reviews and reputation
How Online Reviews Affect Local Search Rankings
How reviews fit into Google’s local ranking, what its rules allow, and how to build reviews at every location. 
Reviews and reputationWhy Reviews Matter, and How to Ask for Them the Right Way
How to ask every customer for a review, reply well, and stay within Google’s and the FTC’s rules.
Marketing strategy
Marketing strategyInbound Marketing: How Useful Content Builds Long-Term Customers
How content that buyers are already looking for earns trust at each stage, from first search to repeat customer.
Marketing strategyIntegrated Digital Marketing: Why One Plan Beats Separate Channels
Running the website, search, ads, email and reviews as one plan with shared goals and one set of numbers.
Websites and tools
Websites and toolsHow to Track Website Traffic with Google Analytics 4 and Search Console on WordPress
Setting up GA4 and Search Console on WordPress with Site Kit, and the reports worth checking each month.
Websites and toolsWhy Web Design Matters: How Your Site Earns a Buyer’s Trust
What good design does for an established company: clarity, speed, proof and a structure search engines can read.
Websites and toolsImage Optimization for SEO: A Practical Guide
Choosing, sizing, naming and describing images so they load fast and appear in Google Images and Lens.
Websites and toolsThe WordPress Plugins Worth Installing on a Business Website
The short list of plugins most business sites need, what each one does, and how to keep the list short.