Exploring SEO

If you’ve felt like search engine optimisation keeps changing faster than your coffee cools, you're not wrong. Whether you’re a marketing manager trying to keep up, a business owner wondering where your organic traffic has gone, or someone who's just had “can you look into SEO?” dropped into their lap, welcome, you’re in the right place.

In this post, we’re digging into SEO from the perspective of a real team working inside a digital agency (that’s us). This isn’t a high-level fluff piece with vague advice like "write high-quality content". This is grounded, practical insight, based on what we’re seeing in Google Search Console, analytics dashboards like Google Analytics, and actual Google search results every day.

We’ll also point out where search engine optimization is heading next, and how to prepare for it without losing your mind, your rankings, or your sleep.

What’s Actually Changed in SEO?

Let’s start here, because this is where most people get tripped up. The core goals of any effective SEO strategy haven’t changed - get found by the right people, for the right searches, at the right time. But the way we do that has evolved massively.

Here’s what’s driving the shift:

• AI-first search engines: Google, Bing, and others are leaning harder into generative AI and Google AI Overviews, meaning your content needs to be incredibly specific, user-focused, and trustworthy to show up in enriched search engine results pages.
• EEAT is non-negotiable: Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness. If your content doesn’t tick these boxes, it won’t rank in search engine results.
• User intent is everything: It’s no longer about targeting keywords with the highest search volume. It’s about solving actual problems - fast.
• Search isn’t just on search engines anymore: people are using social media, AI-generated content summaries, and answer-based AI tools to find information. Traditional SEO has to flex into digital marketing across multiple channels. Visual tools like Google Lens are also shaping how people discover content, especially for product searches and location-based results.

Platforms like YouTube Shorts are also playing a bigger role in early-stage discovery, especially for how-to content and product research.

We unpack a lot of this in our SEO Sprint approach, but let’s break down the key areas where we’re seeing the most impact right now.

Keyword Research: It's Not Dead, Just Smarter

We still use target keywords. But we no longer worship them. Today’s keyword research is more like audience research, figuring out not just what people are typing into Google, but why they’re searching in the first place.

For example, someone searching “best CMS for SEO” isn’t just looking for a list. They want reassurance, comparisons, use cases, and probably to avoid making a costly mistake.

Understanding search intent and behaviour is critical for creating content that surfaces in both organic listings and zero-click searches.

What we do differently now:

• Focus on user experience and intent over keyword stuffing
• Use keywords to guide topic clusters and answer structured questions
• Align content with insights from search data and optimisation tools to ensure strong topical relevance

You’ll still see results from optimising for specific phrases, but it’s much more effective when wrapped in context and backed by authority.

Content: Be the Expert, Not the Echo

Here’s the blunt truth: if your content could have been written by an AI, it probably won’t rank. And it definitely won’t convert.

Google’s helpful content update hit low-value, AI-generated content hard, and the algorithm continues to reward expert-led, original content creation. What ranks now is unique insight backed by lived experience, not recycled advice.

What that looks like in practice:

• Real-life examples of how you've solved problems for clients
• Clear answers to common questions your audience is asking
• A strong point of view, backed by trust signals and brand signals
• Use of structured formats that support on-page SEO clarity and crawlability

We also recommend incorporating user-generated content like reviews, FAQs and feedback wherever relevant. It not only helps with SEO, but builds trust in the brand.

Technical SEO: The Quiet Workhorse Behind Every Ranking

If your site’s slow, broken, or confusing for search engines to crawl, you’re toast. No amount of good content will get around that. In fact, poor performance directly impacts dwell times and bounce rates, both of which are behavioural ranking factors.

Nowadays, technical SEO is more important than ever, especially with Core Web Vitals, schema markup, and mobile-first indexing baked into Google’s ranking systems.

Here’s what’s critical:

• Fast-loading pages on all devices, supported by smart content delivery networks
• Clear structure and markup so Google RankBrain and other AI systems can properly parse your content
• Clean internal linking and crawl paths to reduce broken links and improve indexation

The thing is, you often can’t see technical SEO issues until your rankings start slipping. That’s why we always run a technical audit to spot what’s silently holding a site back.

Especially for Umbraco sites, where custom development is common, you want to make sure SEO best practices are built in, not bolted on later.

Links and Authority: Still Vital, But Harder to Fake

Back in the day, you could buy a few backlinks and see your rankings jump. Not anymore. Nowadays, link-building still plays a big role, but it’s all about quality over quantity.

Google is now much better at evaluating:

• Relevance to your topic
• Authority of the referring domain
• Trust signals from Google Business Profiles and branded mentions

We’re big believers in earning authority through strategic PR, partnerships, and content that deserves to be shared. It’s slower, but the impact is long-lasting and safe from algorithm slap-downs.

Participating in industry events, like the BIMA Awards or BIMA Social events, is also a smart way to build reputation, gain quality links, and be part of a recognised digital community.

If your link-building strategy hasn’t changed since 2018, it might be doing more harm than good.

AI Tools in SEO: Use Them, Don’t Rely on Them

We get asked this a lot: can’t AI just do SEO now?

Short answer: not really. Yes, artificial intelligence is everywhere, and yes, we use it. Tools like Google Search Console, analytics platforms, and data-led optimisation tools can support great SEO.

But AI tools can’t:

• Fact-check real-world experience
• Create meaningful human connection
• Fully understand local intent or business context

SEO is about combining tools with actual strategy. AI can speed things up, but it can’t replace expert thinking.

The Big Picture: What Does “Good SEO” Look Like?

If you take one thing from this blog, make it this:

Search engine optimisation is no longer about chasing the algorithm. It’s about building content and websites people genuinely want to use, and that search engines trust enough to show in rich search results.

Here’s what that means in practice:

• Writing content that solves actual problems, not just ticks boxes
• Structuring your site for navigation, accessibility and voice search
• Publishing based on user journeys and buyer intent
• Diversifying across organic search, social media, and video content
• Leveraging smart SEO tools to guide decisions, not make them for you
• Supporting wider digital campaigns like video marketing and community building
• Diversifying across organic search, social media, YouTube Shorts, and video content

If you're doing all of that consistently, you’re not just "doing SEO". You’re building a search presence that can withstand platform changes and AI disruption.