Notes on Search
Working notes on entity-based SEO, topical authority, and the systems I build to do the work. Published as I go.
Citation Building and NAP Consistency Done Right
Citation building means listing your business on directories, data aggregators and industry sites with one name, address and phone. Here is the order to do it in, how to clean up old data, and when to stop adding listings.
Google Business Profile Optimization, Field by Field
Every Google Business Profile field, what it does for map rankings or for conversion, and how to fill each one in without breaking Google's guidelines.
Google Core Updates and How Sites Recover After One
A core update is Google reassessing how well pages meet intent and quality. How to confirm one hit your site, what to fix on the affected pages, and why recovery tends to show at a later update.
How to Hire an SEO Consultant Without Wasting a Retainer
A practical guide to hiring an SEO consultant: set the goal and budget, read case studies properly, ask the right questions and spot the red flags before you sign.
How Long SEO Takes, With Timelines From Real Projects
A realistic SEO timeline: what moves in weeks, what takes a year, the factors that change the pace, and how to judge progress before revenue shows.
When SEO Is Worth It for a Small Business, and When It Is Not
An honest yes-or-no test for small business owners: the four conditions that make SEO pay back, the three situations where paid ads or referrals fit better, and how to tell which one you are in.
Local SEO Checklist for Service Area Businesses
A working local SEO checklist for service area businesses: profile, reviews, citations, service and location pages, local links and call tracking, plus the order to do them in.
Local SEO Cost and What Each Package Should Include
What really moves the price of local SEO, the line items a package should name, which work is setup and which is monthly, and what cheap packages leave out.
Location Pages That Rank Without Looking Like Doorways
Service area pages rank when each one proves real work in that town. Here is where Google draws the doorway line, which towns earn a page, and how to merge the thin ones.
How to Earn More Google Reviews Within Google's Rules
A review system for service businesses that stays inside Google's policy: ask every customer right after the job, send a direct link, reply to every review, and never pay or filter for praise.
On-Page SEO Checklist: Content, Titles, Headings and Links
On-page SEO is everything you change on the page itself so Google understands what it is about and searchers pick it. Here is the checklist, item by item, with a worked example.
How to Rank Higher on Google Maps for Local Searches
Google ranks local results on relevance, distance and prominence. Here are the moves under each factor, how the map pack differs from the Maps app, and how to check your rank with a grid instead of your own phone.
SEO Contract Terms Worth Signing and Terms to Refuse
The clauses that protect you in an SEO contract or retainer, the ones to strike before you sign, and a checklist table to hold any draft against.
How Much Does SEO Cost: Pricing Models and What Drives Them
SEO is sold as a monthly retainer, a fixed project, an hourly rate or a fee tied to results. Here is what each model suits, what moves the price, and how to size a budget from your own numbers.
SEO for Small Business: The Work That Pays Back Soonest
Where a small business owner with a few hours a week should spend them on SEO, in the order the work tends to pay back, and what to leave alone until later.
How to Measure SEO ROI in Booked Jobs, Orders and Pipeline
How to calculate SEO ROI with a worked example, measure it in booked jobs, orders or pipeline, set up the tracking behind it, and report it monthly without inflating the number.
Types of SEO and Which One Fixes Your Site's Problem
SEO splits into three core pillars (on-page, technical and off-page) plus specialties for local, e-commerce, content, enterprise, international and AI search. Here is what each one fixes, who needs it, and how to tell which one your site is missing.
Why Website Traffic Drops and How to Find the Cause
A diagnosis order for a website traffic drop, from the cheapest check (did tracking break?) to the most expensive (did a competitor win?), with what each one looks like in Search Console.
What an SEO Consultant Does, From Audit to Rankings
An SEO consultant finds what is holding a website back in search, decides what to fix and build, then does or directs the work and reports what changed. Here is what the job covers, the main specialties and when a business needs one.
What Is SEO and How Search Engine Optimization Works
SEO is the work of getting your pages found, understood and trusted by search engines so they appear in unpaid results and AI answers. This guide covers how it works, its three pillars and where a business should start.
Technical SEO Explained, With the Checklist I Audit From
Technical SEO is the work that lets Google crawl, render and index your site. Here is what it covers, how it differs from on-page SEO, and the nine-step checklist in the order an audit runs it.
For five years the method lived in private docs and client accounts. I'm putting it in public now (the frameworks, the tools, and the parts that broke) because a system is worth more when other people can use it too.
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