Oh hey Reader.Around the beginning of the month, Google updated a help document called "Creating helpful, reliable, people-first content." It's Google's own explanation of what it considers good content. (It's an easy read and it's a link I share with all my students, so I included it in the PS.) I read the new version alongside a few good breakdowns from people who follow this closely. And a lot of it matters for you. So you don't have to wade through all of it, I put together a cliffs notes...
29 days ago • 4 min read
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...
4 months ago • 2 min read
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...
6 months ago • 1 min read
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...
11 months ago • 2 min read
Oh hey Reader, You know sucks? You can be excellent at what you do, genuinely excellent, and still get passed over online. Not because your work isn’t strong. Not because you don’t have the experience. But because search engines and AI tools can’t see what humans see. If you’ve ever watched someone with half your skill show up first, and not because they’re better, but because their website makes things clearer to search engines, you know the frustration. The reality is, some experts have the...
11 months ago • 1 min read
Oh hey Reader-I love a good police procedural. (All-time fave: Law & Order SVU. Recently watched: Dept Q. Currently binging: High Potential.) And there’s this moment I observe popping up more and more often: the detectives run a background check, and someone says:“This guy has no digital footprint.”Cue the dramatic music. Because in today’s world, that’s suspicious.Think about it: these days, if you sneeze, there’s a record of it somewhere online.We expect to see a trail: photos, social...
about 1 year ago • 3 min read
Reader, Your website looks amazing.I'm serious. The brand photos, the color palette, the way everything flows together… It's clear you (or your designer) put real thought into making it beautiful.So why does it feel like nobody's finding it?If you've been wondering where all the Google traffic is, or why people aren't discovering your site organically, there's probably a disconnect between what looks good and what actually gets found.Some design choices, like some of the ones that can really...
about 1 year ago • 1 min read
Oh hey Reader-Summer showed up hard this year. It’s already topped 90 in our Seattle suburb, where June usually means 60 and soggy.Last year, my son was bummed we didn’t plant a garden. So as the temps started climbing, he got loud about fixing that.We hit the store. Bought starts. Bought soil.Then this: my 6-year-old—my indoor, device-loving kid—shoveled six cubic feet of potting soil into planters like it was his job.He planted all the seeds. He transplanted every start.You better believe...
over 1 year ago • 1 min read
Okay, so… I don’t usually do this. I’m not the “link roundup” girl. But there’s just too much good stuff happening right now and you deserve to know about all of it. Let’s start with two summits you’ll actually want on your radar: I’m not generally a summit fan. Most are too long, too pitchy, too insubstantial? But these two? I’m either speaking or shouting from the rooftops because they’re so freaking aligned with what I know you care about. 1. AI Unlocked — May 27–29One of the questions I...
over 1 year ago • 4 min read