About

Since 1996, I've taught thousands of people my secrets for navigating the hidden rules of Google.

Then everything changed.

Google's latest shift pushed organic results further down the page than ever before. I had a hypothesis: if organic clicks were going to shrink, the winners would be the companies people already trusted before they ever clicked. So I started testing across my 800+ test domains.

Organic clicks were down. That was expected. But one change lifted conversions by 22%.

Branding.

Companies can no longer rely on SEO traffic alone to fuel their business. Paid search is now a must. But here's what most people miss: when a prospect already recognizes and trusts your brand, those paid clicks convert far better than they do for a stranger.

And trust is harder to earn than it used to be. With scams and unreliable products everywhere, consumers do their homework before they buy. Reviews alone no longer cut it.

So ask yourself: what happens when a prospect types your company name next to the word "scam" or "refund"?

That's where your attention belongs. Fix the issues in your process, then show the world how you handle things when something goes wrong. No one expects perfection. Consumers get that. What they want to know is whether you'll stand behind your product when it counts.

This is the kind of thinking I share every week. Follow me for more tips.