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
May 21, 2025 • 18min
Understand the cost as well as value of organic traffic - with Helen Pollitt
Helen Pollitt shares the importance of understanding the cost as well as value of organic traffic.Talking points include:What is the difference between the cost and value of organic traffic?Why do we need to know the cost?How do we calculate the value?What do you mean by organic traffic in all forms?How do you prefer to calculate ROI?How does this lead into defining an SEO strategy?How often should this work be done?How is it changing due to AI and new technology?Read the full transcript of Helen's interview at: https://majestic.com/seo-in-2025/additional-insights/helen-pollitt
May 20, 2025 • 17min
It’s time to get serious about the internet and energy consumption - with Andy Frobisher
Andy Frobisher shares that it’s time to get serious about the internet and energy consumption.Talking points include:What companies are trying to go net zero?Does this have a positive business case?What does this mean for the overall size of pages on websites?What are the best ways to reduce the page speed of a web page in 2025?What does this mean for algorithms moving forward?What does this mean for SEO planning?How can Core Web vitals help us with this?How do we forecast a revenue increase or cost reduction as a result of reducing page speed?Read the full transcript of Andy's interview at: https://majestic.com/seo-in-2025/andy-frobisher
May 19, 2025 • 17min
Inventory management is now more important then ever - with Bastian Grimm
Bastian Grimm shares that inventory management is now more important then ever.Talking points include:What do you mean by Inventory management?How do you know which content to focus on?What do Google do when they can’t keep up with crawling and indexing the web?Should you get rid of some content?What content should you get rid of?What’s an example of poor quality content, produced by AI?What is state-of-the-art AI that SEOs should be using?What parts of your SEO and content production should you be using AI for?How else can AI help with your SEO performance?Read the full transcript of Bastian's interview at: https://majestic.com/seo-in-2025/bastian-grimm
May 16, 2025 • 16min
SEO in 2025 is all about signal input - with Kaspar Szymanski
Kaspar Szymanski shares that SEO in 2025 is all about signal input.Talking points include:What do you mean by SEO signals?Are Google and Bing looking for the same thing in terms of SEO signals?So the same signals apply to LLMs as well?How do you ensure that SEO signals are consistent?Why do regular, annual SEO audits help with SEO signals?What are the key things to be looking for in an SEO audit?Is using server log data important as part of this?What are you looking for in server log data?What software do you use to assist you with this?
May 15, 2025 • 15min
The growing importance of schema markup - with Tin Dudajek
Tin Dudajek shares the growing importance of schema markup.Talking points include:How would you summarise the current state of Schema?Why is it continuing to gain importance in 2025?What is schema used for in modern SEO? (data management)Why is Schema so important for AI?What content needs to be optimized for Schema for AI?Where is AI using these schema enhanced pages?What tools do you use to assist with this?How do you measure success?
May 14, 2025 • 16min
SEO Product Management is the natural progression of Technical SEO - with Keith Goode
Keith Goode shares that SEO Product Management is the natural progression of Technical SEO.Talking points include:What is SEO product management?What does the day-to-day life of an SEO product specialist look like?Why is SEO Product Management the natural progression of Technical SEO?Why does SEO Product Management help you go from just building audit lists to implementing changes?Should every SEO be considering this?What skillsets are developed?
May 13, 2025 • 15min
Keep track of core web vitals performance - with Cathryn Stormont
Cathryn Stormont shares the importance of keeping track of the performance of core web vitals and overall site user experience.Talking points include:Why are your core web vitals so important to UX?How can you improve your core web vital scores?Are these metrics likely to change or be added to over the next couple of years?Are there any other key metrics that are important for UX?
May 12, 2025 • 18min
Get to know your audience by undertaking market and competitor research - with Montserrat Cano
Montserrat Cano advises the importance of getting to know your audience by undertaking market and competitor research to help overcome risks.Talking points include:How do you undertake market and competitor research to help overcome risks?Why does this work both in primary and global markets?Why does it help to overcome bias?You also talk about Avoiding Logical Fallacies in SEO & Broad Marketing - what do you mean by that?How does this process help you to maximise your budget?Why does this help you Avoid alienating potential customers?What data should you be gathering?Where should you get data from?How often should you be doing this?
May 9, 2025 • 15min
Translation and SEO shouldn't be separate tasks - with Maria Scheibengraf
Maria Scheibengraf shares that in your international SEO efforts, translation and SEO shouldn't be separate tasks performed by separate professionals.Discussion points include:Why does translation and SEO need to be the same task?What happens if these tasks aren’t tackled together?Surely technical SEO and content creation are quite different tasks?What aspects of SEO do people who are translation specialists commonly miss out on?What aspects of getting translations right do SEO specialists generally get wrong?How do you ensure that translations are correct for the local region?What tools does an SEO need to do both of these tasks effectively together?How do you determine if a translation has been effective?Do localised translations need to be optimised differently for local search engines?Is AI not impacting the need for localised translations?
May 8, 2025 • 19min
Adapt to the Local SEO Evolution - with Joseph Kahn
Joseph Kahn explains why adapting to the Local SEO Evolution is key.Talking points include:What changes in local search algorithms are you referring to?How is ‘features with AI’ affecting local SEO?How do you optimize for "near me" searches ?What do you mean by optimizing for location-based queries using AI?How do you leverage user-generated content for local SEO using AI?
