SEO in 2026
Majestic.com
SEO is continuing to change at an alarming pace. And yet, in some sense, the principles of good SEO remain the same.
Hello, and welcome to SEO in 2026 – a significant repository of current thinking from many of the world’s leading SEOs.
We're pleased to be able to welcome you to the fifth book and fifth series in this podcast, now well and truly an annual tradition, brought to you by Majestic.
“How people search has seen a bigger shift in the last 12 months than the last 12 years, and this makes SEOin2026 a must-read for anyone working in the industry. Majestic has brought together 117 of the SEO industry's brightest minds to share their insights into what matters, and what doesn't, to continue to drive growth with organic search during a period of massive uncertainty, and the book should be seen as a valuable reference point to keep your strategy on the right track.”
JAMES BROCKBANK
Managing Director and Founder, Digitaloft
“I highly recommend that every SEO professional set aside a couple of days for SEOin2026. You'll thank me for helping you plan your year effectively. I'm extremely grateful to have the opportunity to work alongside some of the world's leading SEO champions.”
NITIN MANCHANDA
Founder & Chief SEO Consultant, Botpresso
“This collection of wisdom from many of the best minds in SEO today is a great line in the sand of where we as an industry are, what problems we face, and how we tackle them. Anyone in SEO or marketing should be dipping into this on a regular basis.”
SIMON COX
Technical SEO Consultant, Cox and Co. Creative
“This series continues to be the industry’s leading source of the most timely advice a marketer could ever want. The most forward-thinking SEO experts in the world come together once a year to create this invaluable collection of new knowledge that should never be passed up on!”
PAM AUNGST CRONIN
President and Founder, Pam Ann Marketing and Stealth Search and Analytics
“2025 has been a sprint for the SEO industry, with AI reshaping how we understand visibility, relevance, and authority. SEOin2026 is not just another trends book; it’s a roadmap for what’s actually coming. I loved being part of it and seeing how experts around the world approach the same challenges from different angles.”
RAMONA JOITA
SEO Consultant and Founder
“David is good at drawing out the substance of a conversation. He will explore the topic and challenge assumptions, steer the conversation into an unexpected direction, and build on your ideas – making you think a bit deeper and sharper. Our recent conversation flew by as always, and as always – I’ve come out energised about the topic with more to think about.”
SUKHJINDER SINGH
Freelance SEO Consultant
Hello, and welcome to SEO in 2026 – a significant repository of current thinking from many of the world’s leading SEOs.
We're pleased to be able to welcome you to the fifth book and fifth series in this podcast, now well and truly an annual tradition, brought to you by Majestic.
“How people search has seen a bigger shift in the last 12 months than the last 12 years, and this makes SEOin2026 a must-read for anyone working in the industry. Majestic has brought together 117 of the SEO industry's brightest minds to share their insights into what matters, and what doesn't, to continue to drive growth with organic search during a period of massive uncertainty, and the book should be seen as a valuable reference point to keep your strategy on the right track.”
JAMES BROCKBANK
Managing Director and Founder, Digitaloft
“I highly recommend that every SEO professional set aside a couple of days for SEOin2026. You'll thank me for helping you plan your year effectively. I'm extremely grateful to have the opportunity to work alongside some of the world's leading SEO champions.”
NITIN MANCHANDA
Founder & Chief SEO Consultant, Botpresso
“This collection of wisdom from many of the best minds in SEO today is a great line in the sand of where we as an industry are, what problems we face, and how we tackle them. Anyone in SEO or marketing should be dipping into this on a regular basis.”
SIMON COX
Technical SEO Consultant, Cox and Co. Creative
“This series continues to be the industry’s leading source of the most timely advice a marketer could ever want. The most forward-thinking SEO experts in the world come together once a year to create this invaluable collection of new knowledge that should never be passed up on!”
PAM AUNGST CRONIN
President and Founder, Pam Ann Marketing and Stealth Search and Analytics
“2025 has been a sprint for the SEO industry, with AI reshaping how we understand visibility, relevance, and authority. SEOin2026 is not just another trends book; it’s a roadmap for what’s actually coming. I loved being part of it and seeing how experts around the world approach the same challenges from different angles.”
RAMONA JOITA
SEO Consultant and Founder
“David is good at drawing out the substance of a conversation. He will explore the topic and challenge assumptions, steer the conversation into an unexpected direction, and build on your ideas – making you think a bit deeper and sharper. Our recent conversation flew by as always, and as always – I’ve come out energised about the topic with more to think about.”
SUKHJINDER SINGH
Freelance SEO Consultant
Episodes
Mentioned books
Jan 30, 2025 • 17min
Escape the SEO silo and explore other platforms – with Tory Gray
Tory Gray from The Gray Dot Company also believes it’s time to stretch your legs and take a walk through the alternative platforms that are eating away at Google’s market share.Tory says: “Get out of the SEO silo and spend more time on platforms like TikTok, YouTube, Reddit, and Pinterest.Understand how users are behaving there and use that data to inform your search strategy in terms of your content. What are users really loving and engaging with? Speak to that in your content and in your campaigns.
Jan 29, 2025 • 17min
Optimise your brand and your website as entities - with Irina Papuc
In this episode, Irina Papuc shares the importance of optimising your brand and your website as entities with David Bain.Discussion points include:What are entities?Why are entities a key aspect of SEO in 2025?What are some specific steps that an SEO can take to do a better job of incorporating entity SEO into their 2025 strategy?How do entities integrate with the bigger SEO picture or the bigger marketing picture?How do you measure entity SEO success?
Jan 28, 2025 • 17min
Look beyond the on-page to keep up with the evolution of search marketing – with Katherine Nwanorue
There’s a whole world outside the Google bubble and, to get out there, SEO Specialist Katherine Nwanorue wants you to expand your horizons beyond what’s on the page.Katherine says: “Look beyond on-page optimizations and traditional KPIs.”Why is this important?“Lately, the search engine results page has been crazy, which is likely in an attempt to tackle AI-generated content.Google has made so many changes to the SERP in the past year. We are seeing a boost in user-generated and crowdsourced content, and many SEOs have complained about Reddit pages outranking blog pages and TikTok and YouTube videos appearing for certain keywords.
Jan 27, 2025 • 16min
Spend your time where your audience spends theirs – with Ebere Cecilia Jonathan
As Izabela mentioned, the online world is too vast to be everywhere at once, so Freelance SEO Consultant Ebere Cecilia Jonathan recommends seeking out the places your users like to hang out.Ebere says: “With the way things are going, it’s almost impossible to lay your hand on a specific tip. Aside from the classic advice of allowing your sites to be crawlable and indexable so that your website can be found, every SEO should focus on spending as much time as possible where their targeted audience is spending the most of their time.”Read the full transcript of Ebere's interview at https://majestic.com/seo-in-2025/ebere-cecilia-jonathan
Jan 24, 2025 • 17min
Think beyond Google – with Izabela Wisniewska
Users are venturing outside the traditional search box, so Izabela Wisniewska from Creatos Media believes it’s essential that SEOs start doing the same.Izabela says: “Think beyond Google and start optimizing for other search engines and other platforms.What other search engines should SEOs be optimizing for?“We should definitely start thinking about Bing when we talk about search engines. Of course, Google is still the master, and they own the majority of search queries, but Bing is slowly climbing back. It’s getting some of Google’s percentages from the search market."Read the full transcript of Izabela's interview at https://majestic.com/seo-in-2025/izabela-wisniewska
Jan 23, 2025 • 17min
Stop trying to game every minute change to the SERPs – with Alex Moss
While Pam and Mufaddal encourage you to be open to new SERP features, Alex Moss from Yoast cautions against panicking over every little change and losing sight of the woods for the trees.Alex says: “Stop obsessing about – and experimenting too much with – how to game the way that new technology interacts with the SERPs.I’m mostly referring to AIO (AI overviews) and the way that’s starting to take over search results pages.”Read the full transcript of Alex's interview at https://majestic.com/seo-in-2025/alex-moss
Jan 22, 2025 • 15min
Craft Your Brand Story with Precision and Impact Using SEO & PPC In Synergy - with Serge Nguele
Serge Nguele shares with David Bain why you should craft your brand story with precision and impact using SEO & PPC in synergy.Talking points include:What do you mean by crafting Your Brand Story with Precision and Impact?Why is this important?How do you do this using SEO & PPC In Synergy?What tools do you use?What lessons can SEOs learn from PPC?What questions should SEOs be asking paid search experts?What data should they be sharing?How does this impact the brand story?Read the full transcript of Serge's interview at https://majestic.com/seo-in-2025/additional-insights/serge-nguele
Jan 21, 2025 • 18min
Start viewing AI overviews as a help and not a hindrance – with Mufaddal Sadriwala
If Pam didn’t convince you, Mufaddal Sadriwala from Assembly MENA is here to put your fears to rest and get you embracing AI overviews as a friend instead of battling with them as a foe.Mufaddal says: “Stop worrying about AI overviews.Obviously, it’s the most discussed topic but, from my point of view, AIO is not a threat to SEOs or organic traffic. In fact, it is going to help us maintain the traffic that we’re getting.It’s not a threat. It’s something that is going to aid us.”Read the full transcript of Mufaddal's interview at https://majestic.com/seo-in-2025/mufaddal-sadriwala
Jan 20, 2025 • 16min
Focus on AI overviews – with Pam Aungst Cronin
In many ways, the shifting SERP can feel like uncharted territory. Thankfully, Pam Aungst Cronin from Pam Ann Marketing is drawing up the maps for AI overviews as the new frontier.Pam says: “Focus on optimizing for AI overviews in Google, Bing, and even OpenAI’s forthcoming search engine – as well as the 10 blue links.You can sort of think of them as one and the same because initial studies show that getting into Google’s AI overviews often means you’re ranking in the traditional 10 blue links as well.”Are all the websites referenced in the AI overviews going to come from the first page?“Hopefully we’re going to see that diversify a bit. This could be an opportunity for SEOs to get more exposure for smaller businesses, if you optimize specifically for the long tail queries and answers that show up in AI overviews."Read the full transcript of Pam's interview at https://majestic.com/seo-in-2025/pam-aungst-cronin
Jan 17, 2025 • 16min
Use AI to learn about who your users are – with Eli Schwartz
Like Folashade, Eli Schwartz, author of Product-Led SEO, believes that AI tools can help you gain a deeper understanding of the people behind the search queries.Eli says: “Everyone’s been talking about using AI for SEO, and they’re focusing on the wrong aspect of it.AI shouldn’t be used to create content; it should be used to understand your users and figure out who they are. You can then use AI to create some of that content, but the magic of AI is understanding the things that you wouldn’t already know about your users.”Is there a particular AI that you’re using?“I was using ChatGPT, then I moved over to Gemini. I tried Perplexity but it always introduces itself by repeating the prompt, and I find it really annoying."Read the full transcript of Eli's interview at https://majestic.com/seo-in-2025/eli-schwartz
