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
Jul 24, 2024 • 18min
Ensure your link-building strategies align with user needs rather than algorithms - Tamara Novitović
David and Tamara discuss the importance of ensuring that your link-building strategies align with user needs rather than algorithms.Talking points include:How do you align your link-building strategies with user needs?What kind of user needs are you referring to?You talk about evading spam risks during core updates - what spam risks are you talking about and can you give me an example of a core update that has made it more likely for a site to be flagged as a spammer?Should you just target your link building strategies at driving traffic now?What mistakes do you tend to see with link building strategies?What link building strategies tend to work best now?What metrics track user-focused link-building success for SEO?How is link building changing in the world of AI?
Jul 17, 2024 • 19min
Expand your content ideation and keyword research beyond Google - with Rejoice Ojiaku
David and Rejoice discuss why you should expand your content ideation and keyword research beyond Google.Talking points include:What do you mean by Social Media SEO?How do people begin their searches on social media?How do you track this?How can you determine the most appropriate content ideas to be targeting?How do you optimise for social media?Where does this fit into the customer journey?Do you find that people use Google search as well, further down the buyer journey?Can you determine keyword volumes?How can you forecast likely results based on what you intend to target?
Jul 10, 2024 • 17min
Utilise your internal data to find exactly what your customers want - with Naomi Francis Parker
David and Naomi discuss the importance of using your internal data to find exactly what your customers want.Talking points include:What internal data should you be utilising?What are examples of wishes that you’ve discovered that customers are looking for?What sort of experience are you talking about when you’re saying that this is what you should use to address this?What systems and tools do you use to make this procedure more effective?What measurable impact does this have on SEO?Competitors - how do you know that their content is hitting it out of the park?
Jul 3, 2024 • 17min
Break the built-in failure cycle and run campaigns that delight your client - with Lucia Dello
David and Lucia discuss the importance of breaking the built-in failure cycle and running campaigns that delight your client.Talking points include:What is the built-in failure cycle?What causes it?What can you do to stop it and change it?What are examples of campaigns that delight a client?How do you make this more likely to happen in the future?How do you replicate this or automate this?
Jun 26, 2024 • 18min
TTR - Time to Result - is key when planning page content - with Dan Taylor
David and Dan discuss why Time to Result - is key when planning page content.Talking points include:What do you specifically mean by TTR - it sounds like Largest Contentful Paint!What are the key ways to ensure that the user’s key initial focus is on the content that is likely to satisfy their query?What are some of the mistakes that websites make to distract users from what they’re looking for?How can SEOs help to avoid this?How can you measure the impact of this from an SEO perspective?How does this impact best practice for mobile design?How will user satisfaction continue to impact SEO success in the future?
Jun 19, 2024 • 19min
Don’t let AI take over your content strategy - with Alex Moss
David and Alex discuss the importance of not letting AI take over your content strategy.Talking points include:What is a good use of AI?How do you know if you’re using AI too much?How do you measure the impact of creative, helpful and unique storytelling?Why will this always shine through?Why won’t AI ever take over creative, helpful and unique storytelling??How do you use AI tools most effectively?
Jun 12, 2024 • 17min
Update your information on Wikipedia/Wikidata - with Josh Greene
David and Josh discuss the impact of updating your information on Wikipedia/Wikidata.Talking points include:What is Wikidata for the uninitiated?How does Wikipedia and Wikidata impact search results?How does the new AI world use Wikipedia and Wikidata?What information do you need to update to take advantage of this?Should you update your Wikipedia listing by yourself?How often should you update or refresh your listings?How do you think AI will continue to evolve to make use of Wikipedia and Wikidata?Are there any other Wiki sites that SEOs should be aware of?
Jun 10, 2024 • 18min
Change and challenges are inevitable in SEO - with Sarah McDowell
David and Sarah discuss how change and challenges are inevitable in SEO, and what to do about this.Talking points include:How often is it changing?How often do rankings change?What trends do we need to look for?Should we bother with chasing algorithms?What is Google changing about the SERP?What do we do when Google takes something away?AI – challenge, people worried about taking jobs - what are the solutions?What do SEOs need to get familiar with when it comes to AI?
Jun 7, 2024 • 17min
2024 will be the marketing era of “do more with less” - Adriana Stein
David and Adriana discuss how 2024 will be the marketing era of “do more with less” and the way to do that with SEO is have air tight people operations.Talking points include:Why “do more with less”?Is this because of AI?In-house or agency side?What are the pros and cons?Can you get as much done?What is the ultimate team size?
Jun 6, 2024 • 15min
Elevate the value of SEO by developing internal capabilities - agency vs in-house - Luis Rodriguez
David and Luis discuss elevating the value of SEO by developing internal capabilities - agency vs in-house.Talking points include:Is in-house best?What should be done in-house vs agency-side?How do you identify what is best for you , benefits or downsides .What is more efficient?Importance of teams feeling familiar across organizations - is automation diluting learning opportunities for new SEOs?
