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
Dec 30, 2024 • 15min
Manage your content knowledge graph – with Martha Van Berkel
Martha van Berkel from Schema App takes us deeper into the minutiae of entity SEO to look more closely at schema markup and how to build a powerful knowledge graph.Martha says: “Start to think about entity SEO and managing your content knowledge graph.”How would you define an entity?“I always like to think about an entity as a thing. When you’re in a business, you can think about the most important strategic ‘things’ for the business. What makes an entity different from a keyword (or a word in general) is that it is multi-dimensional. You can describe that entity and how it relates to other things.Read the full transcript of Martha's interview at https://majestic.com/seo-in-2025/martha-van-berkel
Dec 27, 2024 • 16min
Make use of relevant entities to improve your visibility as a brand – with Ulrika Viberg
As Jason pointed out, the value of entities goes beyond helping Google categorise your content. Ulrika Viberg from Unikorn explains how they can be the key to getting your brand noticed.Ulrika says: “Utilise entities – not only for content creation, as we have been doing for quite some time, but also for brand optimization.You can make your brand properly stand out in the search results by optimizing the entities around the brand.”Read the full transcript of Ulrika's interview at https://majestic.com/seo-in-2025/ulrika-viberg
Dec 26, 2024 • 16min
Turn your attention to Entity Optimization – with Jason Barnard
To kick off our deep dive into entities, Jason Barnard from Kalicube breaks down how and why you need to optimize your entities in 2025 – from the content itself to the creator and the publisher.Jason says: “You need to focus on Entity Optimization for EEAT, or what we at Kalicube call NEEATT.”Entity Optimization starts with entity understanding, is that correct?“Yes, 100%. Without entity understanding, there is no basis for EEAT. It is essential that you ensure Google understands who the creator or publishing entity behind the content you publish is. Without that understanding, EEAT means nothing.”Read the full transcript of Jason's interview at https://majestic.com/seo-in-2025/jason-barnard
Dec 25, 2024 • 17min
Why and how did we should create a multi-function approach to SEO - Reena Bowden
Reena Bowden shares with David Bain why and how did we should create a multi-function approach to SEO.Talking points include:What do you mean by a multi-function approach to SEO?How has SEO evolved throughout the organisation over the past few years?Who’s responsible for different aspects of SEO nowadays?What are the changes driven by?What are the advantages to these changes?What does this mean for tracking SEO performance?If an organisation isn’t set up like this, how can a head of SEO start to implement these changes?How should different SEO in-house departments be trained on the value of SEO?How will this continue to evolve in the future?Read the full transcript of Reena's interview at https://majestic.com/seo-in-2025/additional-insights/reena-bowden
Dec 24, 2024 • 17min
Gain visibility in generative search by managing your brand entity – with Crystal Carter
It wouldn’t be long before AI joined the brand party! If you want your name to show up in AI-driven results, then taking control of your brand entity is key, according to Crystal Carter from Wix.Crystal says: “Manage your brand entity for visibility in generative search engines and tools.”Why does generative search visibility mean that you should rethink your brand entity?“One of the things that’s really important to consider is the way that LLMs work and the way that people are using them on a regular basis.Over the last year, search has become very dissipated and decentralised. Rather than just using Google or Bing, people are searching across multiple search engines – including LLMs and tools like ChatGPT, Perplexity, Claude, and Gemini – to find their answers.Find out more here: https://majestic.com/seo-in-2025/crystal-carter
Dec 23, 2024 • 16min
Your brand mentions are your links – with Casie Gillette
Like the others in this chapter, Casie Gillette from Customers.ai believes that brand is changing the face of SEO. In her view, you don’t just need to build links anymore; you need to get your name out there.Casie says: “Brand mentions are the new links.Considering what we’re seeing with AI overviews, Reddit, and Quora, forums are back. Fortunately or unfortunately, it’s where you’re going to have to spend your time.AI overviews are pulling from these various places. I can’t tell you how many searches we’re seeing Reddit pulled up for. Lily Ray recently assessed people who lost traffic and are now ranking number 2. Guess who they’re behind? Reddit.Find out more here: https://majestic.com/seo-in-2025/casie-gillette
Dec 20, 2024 • 15min
Build trust and focus on brand awareness – with Rana Abu Quba Chamsi
You can put the work into your brand identity, but your customers need to recognise and believe in it too. Rana Abu Quba Chamsi from Expando.Digital explains how to gain a customer’s trust and attention.Rana says: “Everything is changing, so build trust and focus on brand awareness for your clients.”Why do you believe that traditional metrics are losing their importance?“In the SEO world, we live with change, but what’s going on now is changing everything. We have witnessed a change in the ranking of websites, for example. SERPs are moving and some websites that have always been in the top positions are losing out to new websites.Read the full transcript of Rana's interview at https://majestic.com/seo-in-2025/rana-abu-quba-chamsi
Dec 19, 2024 • 16min
Put brand SEO at the heart of your efforts – with Annika Haataja
Like Rejoice, Annika Haataja from Seeker Digital believes in the power of the brand, and she believes that brand should be central to everything that you do.Annika says: “Make brand SEO a firm part of your analysis and strategy.Consider brand almost as a superpower for websites and companies. I would count it as one of the three main pillars that can give you a huge competitive advantage.The first pillar is topical authority, which is about content and content marketing within SEO. The second pillar is link authority, and the third pillar is definitely brand. Although brand is part of both of those other elements, there are ways that SEOs can analyse it and make it a firm part of their strategy.Read the full transcript of Annika's interview at https://majestic.com/seo-in-2025/annika-haataja
Dec 18, 2024 • 15min
Shift to Agile SEO - with Grégory Dominé
Grégory Dominé joins David Bain to discuss the importance of shifting to agile SEO.Talking points include:What does working in an agile way actually mean?What are the benefits of working in an agile manner?What are the practical steps that you can take in order to shift to Agile SEO?Are there elements of SEO that can’t work in an agile approach?What are examples of tasks that work really well using an agile approach?Does an agile approach help you get things done more quickly?How do you define what needs to be done first?How do SEOs move from their current approach to a more agile approach?Does working in an agile way help you work more effectively with other departments?What are the first steps that an SEO needs to take to find out more about Agile?Read the full transcript of Grégory's interview at https://majestic.com/seo-in-2025/additional-insights/gregory-domine
Dec 17, 2024 • 17min
Identify the archetype of your brand – with Rejoice Ojiaku
In a world increasingly overpopulated with labels, Rejoice Ojiaku from Nelson Bostock UNLIMITED suggests brand archetypes as a way to make your identity cohesive and compelling to the customers that matter.Rejoice says: “Start incorporating and integrating brand archetypes into your content strategy to align your content and identify buyer personas.”What is a brand archetype?“Brand archetypes are a set of 12 frameworks. It is a more psychological approach to developing emotional connections with your audience through your brand. A lot of brands inherit these different distinct personas that can represent a brand identity and create a narrative within your audience about what the brand is."Read the full transcript of Rejoice's interview at https://majestic.com/seo-in-2025/rejoice-ojiaku
