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
Apr 8, 2024 • 16min
Ensure technical quality throughout your entire site - with Tom Pool
Tom Pool advises that you ensure technical quality throughout your entire site.Discussion points include:What does good technical site quality look like in 2024?Has anything changed in terms of technical setup best practice in the past couple of years?How does a good technical set up deliver better user experience?How do you build a solid technical foundation if you’re not sure how large you’re going to grow?If users are happy using your site is it worthwhile to continue to invest in further technical improvements?How do you measure the impact of technical improvements?
Apr 5, 2024 • 16min
Building the right links is one of the biggest priorities for marketers - with Alexandra Tachalova
Alexandra Tachalova shares that building the right links should be one of the biggest priorities for marketers.Discussion points include:What are the right links at the moment?What are the wrong links at the moment?How do you get the best links?Why is this more important than other marketing activities?You say that Sites that have a strong domain authority can easily reach excellent results in Google SERPs without building any links back to their individual pages - does this mean that you only have to build links to certain pages?Can you stop building links after a while?Will links stay important with AI results?
Apr 4, 2024 • 15min
Why you shouldn't give up on "Hero Campaigns" in Digital PR - with Eva Cheng
Eva Cheng shares why you shouldn't give up on "Hero Campaigns" in Digital PR.Discussion points include:What are hero campaigns?What are the typical results you are looking to achieve from hero campaigns?How do you create a hero campaign?How do you manage a hero campaign?How do hero campaigns fit into the bigger picture?Why should SEOs consider building category page links?At what point in your SEO strategy should you implement this? Are there any specific Digital PR tactics that have proven more successful for category page links?Why do you say that an SEO shouldn’t be afraid to build category page backlinks?How do building category page backlinks fit into the bigger picture?
Apr 3, 2024 • 16min
Prioritize Value Over Sheer SEO - with Rad Paluszak
Rad Paluszak shares the importance of prioritizing "Value" over "Sheer SEO".Discussion points include:Why is working on improving the site better than obsessing about SEO?You say that SEO-elements on a website CAN be imperfect - why?You say that if your site is not useful or does not deliver truly unique value, it might be throttled and suffer in the long term - what do you mean by this?Why should SEOs stop obsessing over AI developments?
Apr 2, 2024 • 15min
Start prioritising building smaller numbers of relevant high-quality links - with Jo O'Reilly
Jo O'Reilly believes that you should start prioritising building smaller numbers of relevant high-quality links.Discussion points include:How do you define relevant high-quality links?How do you define irrelevant spammy links?How do you measure the value of a link?How do you conduct outreach?Ideally what style of links are you looking for?Are you willing to pay for links?
Mar 28, 2024 • 14min
Leverage Happy Customers for Ethical Backlinks - with Alan Silvestri
Alan Silvestri advises that you leverage happy customers for ethical backlinks.In this video we discuss the importance of leveraging happy customers for:* Case Studies* Testimonials* Guest Blogging* Webinars and Podcasts* Affiliate Programs* User Generated Content* Community Forum or Groups
Mar 27, 2024 • 18min
Master Your Video SEO - with Rana Abu Quba Chamsi
Rana Abu Quba Chamsi shares the importance of mastering your video SEO.Discussion points include:What do you mean by video SEO - optimizing video to appear on the SERP?What type of business is video most suitable for?What’s the ideal length and format? How do you optimize? What’s your process?What are some other video-based platforms that you optimize for and how is that optimization process different?What kind of intent does video traffic have and does that differ to other traffic?How does video fit into the overall content mix?How is AI impacting video optimization?What is the future of video optimization?
Mar 26, 2024 • 16min
“Build relationships” before you link build - with Amit Raj
Amit Raj shares the importance of building relationships before you link build.Discussion points include:How would you define a valuable link?What do you have to give to obtain a valuable link nowadays?How do you stand out with your outreach?Is that link a logically relevant link between those websites?Does it provide value?Is your outreach relevant and genuine to the receiver?Are you approaching sites with something that will genuinely resonate, and that their audience would benefit from?
Mar 25, 2024 • 15min
Stay on top of link and mention building - with Debbie Chew
Debbie Chew emphasises the importance of staying on top of link and mention building.Discussion points include: Why build mentions?What do you mean by generative AI chatbots and search being influenced by listicles?What do you mean by that you shouldn’t "blindly" build links to pages without regularly revisiting the SERPs?What are the link building tactics to focus on in 2024?
Mar 22, 2024 • 15min
Optimize internal links to increase the relevance scores of target content - with Andreas Voniatis
Andreas Voniatis shares the importance of optimizing internal links to increase the relevance scores of target content.Discussion points include:What scoring system do you use to analyse the relevance scores of target content?What are the data sources requiredWhat are some data cleaning tipsHow do you determine anchor text relevance with python functions? How do you use statistical distributions to model the relevance and highlight under-served target content?
