Want good SEO? Stop Blogging Like it's a Diary FFS!

Your web designer said your new site was SEO-friendly. It probably is. That's not the same as anyone finding it, and nobody told you. Hi, I'm Nikki Pilkington. My site is https://nikki-pilkington.com/ and in this episode of "SEO F**king What", I'm drawing a line that most web design proposals never draw. "SEO-friendly" means your site won't get in Google's way. "Search engine optimised" means somebody has made the decisions that get it found. They are absolutely fucking not the same thing, and the gap between them, where nobody agreed whose job it is, is the stuff that's keeping you off page one. This one is fairer to designers than my episode six, because most of them aren't conning anyone. I'm going to tell you where the design job stops, where the SEO job starts, and who's left holding the bit in the middle. Here's what I'm covering: — What "SEO-friendly" actually means on a web design proposal, and why it's a capability, not a result — The kitchen fitter who isn't cooking your dinner, and why an SEO-friendly site with no optimisation is a gorgeous kitchen with fuck all in the fridge — What your web designer owns: the build, sensible URLs, switching off the noindex setting at launch, the redirect map, a real sitemap, and whose name your Search Console, Analytics and domain are in — What your SEO owns: keyword research, which page targets which search, meta titles and H1s, the content plan, links, and months of watching and fixing — The bit in the middle that nobody owns, and why "who writes the meta titles?" is the question that gives it away — Seven questions to get answered in writing before anyone opens Figma, plus why a designer who says "you'll need someone else for the SEO" is worth their weight in gold I also give you a proper piece of homework. Not the "might do that one day" kind. The actual do-it-this-week kind: four checks, starting with whether your site is quietly telling Google to go away. If you build websites, there's something in here for you too: the SEO Build Pack for Web Designers, £35, one payment. If you've just had a new website built, or you build them, send this to your web designer. They'll either thank you or get very defensive, and both tell you something. Get found. Make money. And go and check that fucking noindex tag. Chapters: 00:00 SEO-Friendly Is Not Optimised 01:22 What The Two Phrases Mean 03:12 What The Designer And SEO Own 07:00 Seven Questions And Your Homework Links mentioned: Non-Wanky SEO Courses (the On-Page SEO Toolkit is free): https://nonwankyseo.com The SEO Build Pack for Web Designers (£35, one payment): [ADD BUILD PACK LINK] Episode 6, the designer episode (the one about the two grand plugin): https://seofuckingwhatpodcast.co.uk/episode/the-fking-seo-your-web-designer-promised-vs-what-you-actually-got Episode 21, on H1s and meta titles: https://seofuckingwhatpodcast.co.uk/episode/your-h1-and-meta-titles-are-killing-your-rankings-ffs Episode 11, on website migrations and redirects: https://seofuckingwhatpodcast.co.uk/episode/ffs-let-your-seo-help-with-your-fking-website-migration Episode 2, on who actually owns your accounts: https://seofuckingwhatpodcast.co.uk/episode/your-seo-sht-who-actually-owns-it Episode 24, with the 30-second H1 check: https://seofuckingwhatpodcast.co.uk/episode/why-websites-built-with-ai-are-fuking-up-your-seo Google Search Console: https://search.google.com/search-console Follow Nikki: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nikkipilkington/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nikkipilkington/ Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/nikkipilkington.bsky.social

You've got a signed SEO contract you've never read, and somewhere in it is the reason you can't leave. Let's go and find it. Hi, I'm Nikki Pilkington. My site is https://nikki-pilkington.com/ and in this episode of "SEO F**king What", I'm going through the document, not the sales pitch. I've already done an episode on the red flags to spot before you hire an SEO agency. This one's for everyone who already has, and signed a contract they skimmed at best, on the strength of a conversation and a proposal deck that were both a lot friendlier than the paperwork. Contracts aren't inherently a stitch-up, and a decent one protects both of you. What I've got a problem with is a very specific set of clauses that exist to make it hard for you to leave when the work isn't working. Here's what I'm covering: — How a notice period and an auto-renewal turn a 12-month term into 15 months, or another full year of something you'd already decided to stop — My honest position on minimum terms: when three to six months is fair, and when 12 months is about churn — Why a schedule of work full of adjectives can't be enforced — Who owns your content, your links and your accounts when you leave, and why you want to see the word "assign", not "licence" — Exclusivity, non-disparagement, and the clause that blames you for not implementing their recommendations — The handover clause most contracts don't have at all — The two-document test: put the proposal next to the contract and see how much of what you were sold you can actually hold anyone to I also give you five bits of homework, including the one date that needs to go in your calendar today and a one-line email to send this week. I'm not a solicitor and this isn't legal advice. If there's serious money involved, get a proper commercial solicitor to look at it. If you know someone who's about to sign an SEO contract, send them this. 15 minutes now beats a year of regret. Get found. Make money. Stop stressing. And go and find out when your notice period ends. Chapters: 00:00 — Why Your SEO Contract Matters 01:13 — Notice Periods And What You Get 03:35 — Who Owns The Work When You Leave 06:35 — The Two-Document Test And Homework Links mentioned: Non-Wanky SEO Courses (the On-Page SEO Toolkit is free): https://nonwankyseo.com Episode 2, on who actually owns your SEO and your accounts: https://seofuckingwhatpodcast.co.uk/episode/your-seo-sht-who-actually-owns-it Episode 23, on why I don't want you buying links: https://seofuckingwhatpodcast.co.uk/episode/stop-buying-backlinks-ffs The red flags episode, for spotting a dodgy agency before you hire them: [ADD EPISODE URL] What you're actually paying your SEO for (Ep 9, if that's the one she means by "I've covered this before"): https://seofuckingwhatpodcast.co.uk/episode/what-the-fk-your-seo-is-actually-charging-you-for-and-why-its-a-scam Google's own advice on hiring an SEO ("No one can guarantee a #1 ranking on Google"): https://developers.google.com/search/docs/fundamentals/do-i-need-seo UK government guidance on who owns copyright in work you commission: https://www.gov.uk/ownership-of-copyright-works Follow Nikki: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nikkipilkington/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nikkipilkington/ Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/nikkipilkington.bsky.social Mentioned in this episode: ICN Network

Somebody is going to tell you your competitor is attacking your SEO, and then offer to protect you for a monthly fee. That's the con. But there are real attacks, and they're not the ones being sold to you. Hi, I'm Nikki Pilkington. My site is https://nikki-pilkington.com/ and in this episode of "SEO F**king What", I'm taking apart negative SEO: the idea that someone else can deliberately damage your rankings. It's one of the most effective fear sales in this industry because it does two things at once. It explains away a drop that might be your agency's fault, and it justifies a new line on an invoice. I'm going to tell you what's mostly rubbish, and then I'm going to tell you what's real, because there are ways someone can do you harm, and no one's selling protection for those. Funny that. Here's what I'm covering: — Why dumping thousands of dodgy links on a competitor used to work, and why it doesn't now (Google moved from punishing the site to ignoring the rubbish around 2016) — The disavow tool: the one situation it genuinely belongs in, and why the monthly "backlink monitoring" line on your invoice is probably protecting you from nothing — Why "a competitor attacked you" is such a convenient explanation for someone whose work you're questioning, and the three questions to ask before you accept it — The real threats nobody sells protection for, starting with the fact that anyone can suggest an edit to your Google Business Profile, including that you're permanently closed — Hacked sites, fake copyright complaints that get your pages removed from Google, review bombing, and the ex-agency that still holds your logins — Four free checks you can do this week, plus my favourite kind of homework: cancelling something I also give you a proper piece of homework. Four checks, all free, and one thing to cancel. Not the "might do that one day" kind. The actual do-it-this-week kind, including a 10-second look in Search Console that tells you whether anybody has penalised you. If you know someone who's just been told they're under attack, send them this. It might save them a monthly fee. Get found. Make money. Stop stressing. And go and check your opening hours. Chapters: 00:00 — Somebody's about to sell you protection 02:30 — The disavow tool: where the money is 04:03 — The real threats nobody's selling you protection for 07:55 — Homework: four free checks 09:43 — The negative homework: cancel the protection Links mentioned: Non-Wanky SEO Courses (the On-Page SEO Toolkit is now free): https://nonwankyseo.com Google on the disavow tool (and why most sites don't need it): https://support.google.com/webmasters/answer/2648487 Search Console manual actions report: https://support.google.com/webmasters/answer/9044175 Search Console security issues report: https://support.google.com/webmasters/answer/9044101 Google's spam policies (including hacked content): https://developers.google.com/search/docs/essentials/spam-policies Episode 2, on who actually owns your Google accounts: https://seofuckingwhatpodcast.co.uk/episode/your-seo-sht-who-actually-owns-it The review side of things: https://seofuckingwhatpodcast.co.uk/episode/handle-your-reviews-legally-or-risk-a-300000-fine

Your traffic's down, you're about to have a furious phone call with your SEO, and there's a decent chance the drop has got nothing to do with them. Twenty minutes and you'll know which it is. Hi, I'm Nikki Pilkington. My site is https://nikki-pilkington.com/ and in this episode of "SEO F**king What", I'm walking you through exactly what to do when your traffic drops, before you pick up the phone to anyone. Because a lot of the time, traffic goes down for a reason that has nothing to do with anybody's SEO work, and somebody's about to get sacked over nothing. Sometimes it really is your SEO. Either way, you should know which one you're looking at before that conversation happens. Here's what I'm covering: — Why your search traffic is really three things multiplied together, and why only one of them is what most people mean by SEO — The 20-minute diagnosis in Google Search Console, in the order that saves you time, starting with the single most useful thing in the whole episode — Why you should ignore average position, and how to tell whether your loss is concentrated or spread — Cliff or slope, the Manual Actions report, and where Google tells you whether an update rolled out that week — The caveat (you'll just have to listen to find that out) I also give you a proper piece of homework. Not the "might do that one day" kind. The actual do-it-this-week kind. One sentence with the blanks filled in, and if you can write it, you'll walk into your next SEO conversation knowing more than the person who's meant to be explaining it to you. If you know someone who's currently panicking at a graph, or about to sack their SEO over some August stats, send them this. It might save somebody's job. Get found. Make money. Stop stressing. And check the calendar before you check the algorithm. Chapters: 00:00 — Traffic's down. Is it your SEO? 01:04 — Traffic is three things multiplied together 01:57 — Cause 1: fewer people are searching 03:03 — Cause 2: the results page changed shape 04:04 — Cause 3: your rankings actually dropped 04:39 — Cause 4: your measurement's broken 05:37 — The 20-minute diagnosis 05:53 — Step 1: compare year-on-year, not month-on-month 06:31 — Step 2: clicks, impressions and position, separately 06:56 — Step 3: ignore average position 07:17 — Step 4: is the loss concentrated or spread? 07:43 — Step 5: cliff or slope? 08:08 — Step 6: did it happen to everybody? 08:26 — The caveat 08:48 — Homework: write one sentence 09:53 — Sacked over some August stats Links mentioned: Non-Wanky SEO Courses (the On-Page SEO Toolkit is now free): https://nonwankyseo.com Episode 19, setting up Google Search Console: https://seofuckingwhatpodcast.co.uk/episode/seo-ranking-starts-with-proper-website-structure Google Search Console: https://search.google.com/search-console Google Search Status Dashboard (where Google confirms ranking updates): https://status.search.google.com/ Follow Nikki: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nikkipilkington/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nikkipilkington/ Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/nikkipilkington.bsky.social Mentioned in this episode: ICN Network

Some of the SEO tactics being sold to you right now were killed off before the person selling them was even old enough to drive. Welcome to the graveyard. Hi, I'm Nikki Pilkington. My site is https://nikki-pilkington.com/ and in this episode of "SEO F**king What", I'm digging up the corpses. I've been doing this for over 30 years, which means I was there when half these tactics were brand new and worked beautifully. I watched them get abused, I watched Google shut them down one by one, and I've watched every single one of them come back: dug up about five years later, given a fresh label, and sold to small businesses who weren't around the first time. These aren't tactics that went out of fashion. They're recalled products, and someone's repainted the box and put them back on the shelf. Here's what I'm covering: — The keywords meta tag: Google said it didn't use it for ranking in 2009, and I'm still seeing invoices for "keyword tagging" — Hidden text and keyword stuffing, and why a keyword density report is just keyword stuffing with a spreadsheet stapled on it — Exact match domains, and why buying bestplumberleeds.co.uk stopped being a strategy in 2012 — Doorway pages and their brand-new AI face: why 400 "programmatic SEO" location pages for a fixed fee is the same tactic Google went after in 2015 — Spun content, the content farms Google flattened, and the 300 unedited AI blog posts a month that have replaced them — Submitting your site to 5,000 search engines (there weren't even 50), and why "get submitted to the AI engines" is the same racket with a new letterhead — The three questions that tell you whether the tactic on your quote is alive or dead, and you don't need to know any SEO to ask them I also give you a proper piece of homework. Two jobs, and neither will cost you a penny. Not the "might do that one day" kind. The actual do-it-this-week kind, including a quick view-source check that tells you whether somebody's already buried a corpse in your website. If you know someone who's just been quoted for 400 location pages, send them this. It might save them a small fortune. Get found. Make money. Stop stressing. And if a tactic has a golden era, you've missed it. Chapters: 00:00 — Older than the people selling them 01:39 — The keywords meta tag 02:31 — Hidden text and keyword stuffing 03:02 — Keyword density: stuffing with a spreadsheet 03:28 — Exact match domains 04:14 — Doorway pages and their brand-new AI face 05:32 — Spun and mass-produced content 06:23 — Submitting to 5,000 search engines 07:45 — Three questions that spot the next one 09:17 — Homework: check your site for corpses 10:16 — The industry's memory is short on purpose Links mentioned: Non-Wanky SEO Courses (the On-Page SEO Toolkit is now free): https://nonwankyseo.com Google: "Google does not use the keywords meta tag in web ranking" (2009): https://developers.google.com/search/blog/2009/09/google-does-not-use-keywords-meta-tag Google's spam policies (hidden text, keyword stuffing, doorway abuse, scaled content abuse): https://developers.google.com/search/docs/essentials/spam-policies The episode on 2010 black hat tactics resold as AI growth hacks: [ADD EPISODE URL] The episode on AI-built websites: [ADD EPISODE URL] Follow Nikki: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nikkipilkington/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nikkipilkington/ Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/nikkipilkington.bsky.social Mentioned in this episode: ICN Network