Andy Francos

A lot of SEOs & SEO agencies are going to have had clients asking why organic performance has declined. So, client education is key. In this example a client came for an SEO audit because clicks were dropping off, they exhibited concerns about their current SEO agencies ability to deliver, but when you look at the right hand image you can see categorically POSITIVE movement from the SEO. I explained to the client over a loom video about their exposure to "INFORMATIONAL" queries which was where a majority of clicks had been lost to and explained that the agency hadn't done anything wrong. But, this is a REAL issue. Google lied - Liz Reid VP and head of google search said: “We’ve found that with AI Overviews, people use Search more, and are more satisfied with their results” and that “the links included in AI Overviews get more clicks than if the page had appeared as a traditional web listing. But she knew this was a lie. 25+ years people who use search engines click on links to get their answers / wants / needs. So when you launch something that answers questions IN SEARCH that is 1000% NOT going to increase clicks, its going to decrease clicks. The ISSUE here is two-fold, but the main one being: IF you train your LLM on peoples content and then resummarise peoples content but you don't give them the click you take away the EXCHANGE OF VALUE. Google + Publishers have had a relatively stable relationship over time - EXCHANGE of value looked like this: 🌟 10 years ago: 🩷 Google crawled roughly 2 pages for every 1 visitor it sent to publishers 🤮 Six months ago: Google’s crawl-to-click ratio rose to 6 : 1. OpenAI's crawl-to-click hit 1,500 : 1. Anthropic’s was a staggering 60,000 : 1 🤢 Today (as of July 2025): Google: 18 : 1 OpenAI: 1,500 : 1 Anthropic: 60,000 : 1 Do you see what's happening here? SEO thrived on the production of informational content. For many shit agencies it was an easy route for deliverables and irrelevant vanity traffic growth. For good agencies it provided an opportunity to reach people in different stages of their "CONSIDERATION" phases. But when you errode the benefit what then? So - the ADOPTION MODEL for SEO is and will continue to change: 1. You need to work HARDER for clicks 2. You need to work HARDER on conversion - make each click of greater opportunity to convert 3. DO NOT produce content for the sake of it - produce it to REALLY solve a problem, strike a cord, influence a decision and distribute it FURTHER than just uploading it as a page on your site SEO is still TOTALLY viable, but, it just got harder. In a way, it will drive a gap between THOSE who CAN do a good job and those who capitalise on people who don't understand SEO but want it (sheisters). Let me make this clear - Google OWES publishers I'm not anti-Google but I am anti what they are doing Google should ABOLISH AIOS and allow 2 models of search 1. Traditional Search 2. AI Mode conversational search

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If your Search Console looks like this currently (Impressions (purple line) dropping off a cliff) - it appears it's potentially related to Google dropping support for &num=100 - which allowed all the rank trackers and scrapers to pull top 100 results in one query. So until the rank trackers change their approach, they'll be missing out impressions on positions 11-100, which is where your URLs ranking there will nosedive in Impressions. I may be wrong and things might change with this - but if so, confirms one of my favourite long-time hypotheses that a serious chunk of impression data in Search Console is just bots :) If you want to test this out - check on high volume pages / keywords and ones that are top in all the keyword research tools. Then test it on the keywords that you know don't show up in KW research tools but you know get actual searches.

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SEO agency we're working with has an interesting theory: ultra-granular collections based on search intent. Example: Instead of just one collection called 'Mens Shirts' with filters, they want 'Mens Blue Shirts Size L' as its own collection. Following this approach, they're adding 150+ collections total. The logic: Collections rank better than product pages in Shopify, and exact-match URLs capture specific buyer intent. Potential wins: - Capturing high-intent searches (size + color + product type) - Collection authority vs individual products - More indexed pages targeting long-tail keywords The alternative would be one strong collection with robust filtering, but that assumes shoppers use filters (many don't). Anyone tried this granular approach? Genuinely curious about real-world results.

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10 reasons your SEO strategy might be failing: 1️⃣ You’re prioritising clicks over revenue. Your strategy decisions need to be based on what is going to help convert, not just drive traffic. 2️⃣ You’re trying to get a perfect technical health score, subsequently fixing things that aren’t really an issue. 3️⃣ You’re fighting against your Paid Search strategy. Alignment of the two means far more efficient spend. 4️⃣ You’re prioritising website aesthetics over finding your audience. If you don’t want a title or content because you want to be minimalistic, that’s fine, but you won’t find the users searching for your product/service. 5️⃣ You’re not focusing on non-branded search. So as the brand / business grows you’re riding a wave of brand demand, but you’re not supplementing that with being identifiable for users that don’t know your brand. If brand search then declines, you’re in trouble. 6️⃣ Your blog is your only strategy. Too much focus on clicks for vanity, rather than using blog content as a supplementary piece to optimising key landing pages on the site. Focus on adding benefit here, rather than “easy clicks”. 7️⃣ You’re doing “maintenance”. What is this? You’re either moving the needle or not, and if you’re not you’re falling behind competitors. 8️⃣ You’re not factoring into account seasonality. Be prepared and discover search trend peaks so you can be 2-3 months ahead. 9️⃣ You’re buying terrible links. Either create great content that can generate links, or work with Digital PR specialists to build brand authority. 🔟 You’re not following Joe Hale for weekly SEO tips. Verde | SEO Agency for Fashion, Luxury & Sports Brands | Award-Winning

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Fine... I guess I'll be the one to say it. SEO agencies offering "keyword revenue guarantees" and "profit calculators from SERP results" are a huge reason why this industry gets a bad reputation 🙄 I saw a concerning post on LinkedIn today that a specific keyword this provider had highlighted in a certain niche could generate $10,000+ revenue a month... I don't even know where to start with this. The reasons this is extremely problematic: 1️⃣ Third-party data is being used: That "forecasting tool" is likely based on estimates, not real data. The kind of organic revenue they claim can’t be forecasted by third-party tools alone, unless they’re guessing, which isn't helpful. 2️⃣ Unclear SERP positions: The post didn’t specify where on the SERPs that keyword needs to rank. Is it position #9? Or position #2? The revenue would look VERY different depending on that. 3️⃣ Lack of transparency: This type of generalisation doesn't highlight important variables like conversion rates, competition, or the quality of the traffic. Without those details, it’s just a wild goose chase. 4️⃣ Changing nature of SERPs: The SERP landscape is constantly evolving with Google algorithm updates, changing search intent, shopping grids, and local shopping map packs. Keywords that once ranked in position 1 can now appear lower, or be pushed off the page entirely due to new features, making these revenue predictions even less reliable. 5️⃣ AI search: With AI-powered search becoming more prevalent, predicting where a keyword will land on the search page is nearly impossible. Google’s AI updates personalise results and may serve different results to different users based on search history, intent, and other factors, further complicating these revenue claims. SEO agencies should be about transparency and honesty. It’s fine to get creative and push boundaries, but misleading clients with inflated numbers and hollow claims doesn’t build trust 👎 Not cool. #notcool #bebetter #seo #agencies #snakeoil #sales #tactics #sameold #digital #digitalmarketing #reformdigital #websavvy #marketingcore #digitaldivide

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"SEO is a long-term strategy that takes 6+ months to show results." This is what bad SEOs tell you to manage expectations for their inability to deliver. Our internal linking framework, for instance, moved 123 money keywords to the #1 spot... A mere 40 days after we started with a client. Instead of spending months on "comprehensive audits" and "long-term content strategies," we focused on the levers that actually move rankings: → Added content to collection pages (results in 1-2 weeks) → Fixed internal link structure (results in 30-40 days) → Optimized existing pages for purchase intent keywords (immediate impact) While other agencies were still "researching," we were already executing. The client who went from $3k to $315k in organic revenue? That happened in 63 days, not 6 months. The outdoor gear brand that moved keywords into top 3 positions? Within weeks of our optimization. SEO isn't slow. Bad SEOs are slow. They hide behind "long-term strategy" because they don't know which 20% of actions drive 80% of results. Real SEO moves fast because it focuses on what actually works: Money page optimization, strategic internal linking, and content that serves existing demand. Everything else is just expensive procrastination.

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Everyone’s racing to rename SEO for the AI era: • AEO, AIO, GEO, SXO, LLMO… AEO must mean Acronym Explosion Optimization. But here’s the thing: Good SEO already covers search everywhere, and has for a decade. Brands that win are brands that win search everywhere & show where their customers are. Whether it’s AI, YouTube, Amazon, or Google, SEO has always been about helping people find what matters—and helping brands show up in those moments that matter. (I applaud the industry for trying to think of new innovative ways to describe and market what we do…but are acronyms ever used as forefront marketing? No. They’re used for short-hand.) Read my latest newsletter (sent to 700+ folks) on Navigating the AI Search Era. 👇🏻

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Your PPC campaigns are burning money faster than rocket fuel. Here's why. Most advertisers think PPC is about spending more to get more. Wrong. It's about precision targeting in three critical areas: Bidding Strategy: → Set competitive bids without overpaying → Monitor cost-per-click trends daily → Adjust based on performance data Keyword Selection: → Focus on buyer-intent keywords → Use negative keywords to filter waste → Match search intent with ad copy Ad Creation: → Write headlines that stop the scroll → Include clear value propositions → Test multiple variations continuously The result? Lower costs. Higher conversions. Better ROI. Stop treating PPC like a lottery ticket. Start treating it like a precision instrument. Your budget will thank you. What's your biggest PPC challenge right now? Master these 3, and PPC stops feeling like space exploration. It becomes navigation. And you? You become the pilot.

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