What Google * actually * wants in 2025


Oh hey Reader,

If you’ve been wondering what actually moves the needle with SEO in 2025, I laid it all out on Cubicle to CEO with Ellen Yin👇🏼

This isn’t a “check the box” SEO convo.


We talked about what’s changed, what Google’s prioritizing now, and what smart CEOs need to focus on to stay competitive into the future, especially with AI rewriting how search works.

Some of the real talk you’ll hear:

✔️ What really makes a site “Google-friendly” now (hint: it’s not just keywords)
✔️ The 4 pillars of modern SEO (and the one most people skip)
✔️ Why brand reputation is becoming the SEO signal
✔️ How AI overviews are pulling content, and what helps you show up

And because I know it’s hard to tell if your website’s pulling its weight...

I shared a brand-new tool: The CEO’s SEO Scorecard, a 2-minute self-assessment that shows you exactly where your website’s killing it (and where you’ve got room to grow).

Bonus: Complete the Scorecard and you’ll unlock a chance to get my eyes on your site, without the usual price tag😉


Would love to hear what hits home for you.

See you in the search results 🫶-


Laura

PS: Looking for that Scorecard?? Its linked in the episode!


When you're ready, here are 3 ways I can help you get found on Google:

  • Schedule an SEO Power Hour. Pick my brain for 60 minutes. Anything you want.
  • Sign up for an SEO Site Review + Strategy Call. I'll study your website and let you know what's working, what's not working and what to do next.
  • Let me do the work with Done-For-You SEO. I’ll personally restructure your page content to check the SEO-boxes and make sure the core pages of your website are set up to deliver you traffic.

Thanks for reading! If you loved it, tell your friends to subscribe.

If you didn’t enjoy the email you can unsubscribe here.

To change your email or preferences manage your profile.

Laura Jawad | SEO Strategist

Your website shouldn’t just look good. It should bring you clients. I teach SEO that’s simple, strategic, and actually works for small businesses.

Read more from Laura Jawad | SEO Strategist

Oh hey Reader-Google rolled out something at the end of May that’s pretty dang cool. You can now tell Google which websites you trust, and those sites get a little "Preferred" badge inside AI Overviews and AI Mode when they’re cited.Here's what this does for you:When someone marks your website as preferred, Google is more likely to cite you in their (relevant) AI answers. And when your link shows up, they're about twice as likely to click through. The catch (and tbh the upside): this is...

Hey Reader, The best thing that came out of my recent launch wasn't the sales. It was being reminded that the best things in my business trace back to relationships. → Colleagues who shared my stuff with their audiences. → Peers who showed up, cheered, and sent people my way. → People who said yes to things because we'd been in each other's corners for a while. These things aren't the result of surface-level acquaintances. This is what happens when you invest in relationships over time. And...

Oh hey Reader-I’ve had my head down for the last two months, living through the busiest quarter of my business so far. The kind of busy I’m grateful for, even if I’m slightly cross-eyed from staring at websites all day.And when I look at websites in bulk, patterns start popping out the way they did in those old Magic Eye puzzles. Relax your eyes, lean back a little, and boom: there it is. This quarter, the same issues kept showing up again and again.So after a week of being clobbered with...