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 7, 2025 • 17min
Why tracking LLM traffic matters - with Sean Barber
Sean Barber shares why tracking LLM traffic matters.Talking points include:Why does tracking LLM traffic matter?How do you go about doing this?What LLMs are driving the most traffic at the moment?How should an SEO optimize for LLMs?What are some specific steps that SEOs should take to optimize for LLMs?Why is this important compared with other SEO activities?How is the LLM space evolving?What does this mean for the future of SEO?
May 6, 2025 • 16min
Why Global EEAT needs to be a local strategy - with Edward Ziubrzynski
Edward Ziubrzynski explains why global EEAT needs to be a local strategy.Talking points include:What do you mean by EEAT being a local strategy?How could an EEAT strategy vary in different locations?What local considerations do brands generally need to be aware of?How do you strategically roll this out if you’re a big company?How does this improve your SEO?How do you measure the success of this?
May 5, 2025 • 19min
Tackle local marketing & SEO with cognitive insights - with Myriam Jessier
Myriam Jessier and David Bain talk about the importance of tackling local marketing and SEO with cognitive insights.Discussion points include:What do you mean by cognitive insights?How can cognitive insights help with local marketing?How can familiarity help to build your brand?What’s an example of hyper-localised content?How do you deliver hyper-localised content?What are the benefits of delivering hyper-localised content?
May 2, 2025 • 16min
Maximise your global reach by treating each international market as unique - with Lau Miguez
Maximise your global reach by treating each international market as unique and creating tailored campaigns that resonate with local audiences.Lau Miguez and David Bain discuss:What do you mean by treating each international market uniquely?You say Transcreate, Don’t Translate - what does that mean?What other content creation tips do you have when trying to appeal to a local market?Why do you have to understand the local Media Landscape?How do you use the local media?How do you get to know the local audience?You advise on appreciating local Cultures and Subcultures - what does that mean in practice and how does this help to create a more impactful campaign?
May 1, 2025 • 17min
Find ways to look beyond what SEO tools show you - with Sinead McLarty
In this episode, Sinead shares that you should find ways to look beyond what SEO tools show you, and that you sometimes you have to go manual to stand out.Discussion points include:What are examples of not getting enough information from tools?When Media databases don't show you the most relevant contacts, how do you get the most relevant contacts?You say that Google doesn't always show you all the relevant stories from a straight search - why is this important and what should you do about it?Backlink tools can't always show you the full range of backlinks in a domain - why does this matter and how do you dig deeper?How much value does this human digging deeper provide?How do you measure the impact of it?Can AI not assist with this?
Apr 30, 2025 • 17min
No-Click SEO is reshaping how businesses approach search visibility - with Rose Tero
In a world where over 65% of searches end without a click, No-Click SEO is reshaping how businesses approach search visibility.David and Rose discuss:Why is no-click SEO a thing?Why are traditional click-through rates (CTR) are no longer the best success metric?How are Google’s AI-driven search features (SGE, featured snippets, and People Also Ask) keeping users on Google, and what does this mean for SEO?What actionable strategies can you offer that mean that users search for a brand directly? (AI-generated snippets, leveraging structured data)How do you continue to future-proof your SEO?
Apr 29, 2025 • 16min
The importance of approaching link building differently in the age of AI - Alexandra Tachalova
In this episode, David and Alexandra discuss the importance of approaching link building differently in the age of AI-summarized results.Topics discussed include:Why is link building different now?How do we focus on acquiring links now?How do we measure success?
Apr 28, 2025 • 16min
How do you use data to design highly effective digital PR campaigns? With Andreas Voniatis
With Google reducing the payoff from SEO by introducing AIOs, building authority is becoming ever more important. But how do you use data to design highly effective digital PR campaigns?In this episode, David's questions to Andreas include:- You suggest Benchmarking link volumes, quality and velocities to see where you are vs competitors - what does this mean and why do you suggest this?- You say that SEOs are chasing link sources, and that they should chase the target destinations instead. What does this mean?You also recommend using Internal search pages as an insight by product - why?- You suggest using indexes to find where you're under indexing on your content. What’s the value in doing this?
Apr 25, 2025 • 14min
Tackling Changes from Algorithm Updates - with Sally Raymer
Sally Raymer talks about how you should go about tackling changes from algorithm updates.Discussion points include:How do you keep track of Algorithm Updates?How do you decide what are the key algorithm updates to act on?How soon do you act?Changes in intent / competition / volatilityHow do you analyze changes in user intent?How do you determine whether your brand can continue to compete in these spaces?How do you find new opportunities?What are some examples of bad practices that get punished now?How do you regain momentum after suffering from an algorithm update?How do you predict the sustainability of new found opportunities?
Apr 24, 2025 • 16min
The importance of refreshing old content - with Filipa Serra Gaspar
Filipa Serra Gaspar talks about the importance of refreshing old content.Discussion points include:How do you select the content that needs to be refreshed?What metrics are you looking at when deciding on the content that needs to be refreshed?How do you know when to refresh the content, when to delete the content and when to leave it alone?How do you refresh the content?How do you know the part of content to refresh?Do you remove some of the old content or just add new content?What tools do you use?How do you know what to add to the content?Can you outsource this process?What are you looking to happen when you refresh content?How do you measure the impact of this?
