The State of the Post-Search Web in 2026
Google's AI Overviews now answer most informational queries without a click. Here's where that leaves organic traffic in 2026, and what's still working.
SEO
SEO
Search engine optimization guides, reviews and tactics: rank higher and earn organic traffic that compounds.
A Practical Guide to Zero-Click Search
More than half of Google searches now end without a click. Here's what zero-click search is, where the traffic went and how to stay visible in AI Overviews.
How Zero-Click Search Changed Digital Marketing in 2025
A year-in-review of 2025, when Google's AI Mode and AI Overviews pushed zero-click search past a tipping point, forcing a focus on citations, not rankings.
The Rise of Featured Snippets
How Google's featured snippet went from a niche answer box to a fixture of the results page, and the fights over clicks and formatting it caused along the way.
Why Voice Search Matters as Assistant Hits a Billion Devices
By 2019 Alexa and Google Assistant had reached massive scale, but the honest bottom-line case for voice search was about visibility and trust, not direct sales.
Building a Featured Snippets Strategy From Scratch
A step-by-step process for finding and winning featured snippets in 2019, from spotting opportunities in Search Console to matching the format Google rewards.
Voice Search: What Every Business Needs to Know
A decision framework for 2019: which businesses need a voice search plan, which are already covered by existing SEO and how to tell the difference.
The State of Voice Search in 2018
Where voice search stood in 2018: smart speaker adoption after a record holiday, Apple's HomePod launch and what businesses were realistically getting from it.
Why Voice Search Matters: Local Search, Not Voice Commerce
The real business case for voice search in 2018: a local visibility and featured-snippet story, not voice commerce, and why that changes where you invest.
A Practical Guide to Voice Search
Voice search changed how people phrase questions and how many answers come back, usually just one. Here is how to write for conversational search queries.
How Voice Search Changed Digital Marketing in 2017
A year-in-review look at how smart speakers and voice assistants reshaped marketing in 2017, from Google Home's expansion to the first Alexa skill gold rush.
Featured Snippets: What Every Business Needs to Know
A decision framework for whether to chase featured snippets in 2016: what they are, who they help and how to tell if the opportunity fits your site.
A Practical Guide to Featured Snippets
A featured snippet puts your answer above every other result, including the one ranked first. Here is how the formats work and why the skill matters.
Case Study: Winning With Local Search
An illustrative HVAC repair company's recovery from Google's 2014 Pigeon update, and the Google My Business fixes that brought its local rankings back.
Local Search Trends Shaping 2015
The local search shifts that mattered in 2015: the mobile-friendly algorithm update, a shrinking local pack and the rise of near me searches.
A Practical Guide to Local SEO
Local SEO is the practical work behind getting found by nearby customers ready to act now. Here is the order of operations that moves rankings.
A Practical Guide to SEO: Search Intent and Site Authority
SEO earns traffic that keeps arriving after you stop paying for it. What decides rankings today: search intent, technical health and authority earned over time.
Real-Time Search: What Every Business Needs to Know
A decision framework for whether a business needs an active, real-time presence, on Twitter especially, now that search results surface live content.
A Practical Guide to Real-Time Search
The technical difference between traditional crawl-based search and the real-time search results emerging in 2009, and why Twitter is at the center of it.
The State of Local Search in 2005
Four real developments that reshaped local search in 2005, from the launch of Google Maps to self-managed business listings.
Mastering Local Search: A Marketer's Playbook
An operational playbook for getting a business into Google Local and Yahoo Local as both launched dedicated local search products in 2004.
A Practical Guide to Local Search
For any business that depends on nearby customers, local search is where they look first. Here is how Google decides who appears in the local pack.
A Practical Guide to Search Engine Marketing
Search engine marketing captures people the moment they want to buy, blending paid search and SEO. Here's how the two differ and reinforce each other.
SEM Mistakes in the Wake of the Yahoo-Overture Deal
How Yahoo's acquisition of Overture and Google's growing content network changed the paid search mistakes advertisers were making in 2003.
Search Engine Marketing Mistakes on Overture and Google
Five paid search mistakes costing small advertisers money on Overture and Google AdWords in 2002, and the fixes that work.
Keyword Bidding: What Every Business Needs to Know
A decision framework for whether keyword bidding on Overture or Google AdWords makes sense for your business right now, and how to size a first budget.
Case Study: Winning With Search Engine Marketing
An illustrative small mail-order business's first three months running Overture and Google AdWords campaigns, and what moved the numbers.
A Practical Guide to Keyword Research
Keyword research uncovers the exact words customers use and the intent behind them, the starting point for SEO and paid search. Here's how to research intent.
How Search Engine Marketing Changed Marketing in 2001
Why the 2001 ad market crash pushed marketing budgets out of banner ads and into search engine marketing, where every dollar could be measured.
The Rise of Keyword Research
How keyword research became its own discipline, from WordTracker's 1998 launch to search engines abandoning the meta keywords tag.
The Rise of Search Engine Marketing
The origin story of pay-per-click advertising, from GoTo.com's 1998 auction model to Google AdWords' 2000 launch.
Building a Keyword Research Strategy From Scratch
How to build a keyword research process in 2000 using WordTracker's query data and GoTo.com's bid listings, before dedicated SEO tools existed.
Building a Web Directories Strategy From Scratch
A step-by-step plan for getting a small business listed in Yahoo, the Open Directory Project and the other directories that sent traffic in 1999.
Common Web Directories Mistakes (and How to Avoid Them)
The submission mistakes that get small business listings rejected from Yahoo and the Open Directory Project, and what to do differently.