Last Updated on May 18, 2026 by Paula
You can do a lot right now to make your SEO better, and some of it quickly. The basics haven’t disappeared, but the search landscape has changed in a big way. Your website now needs to show up for two audiences: traditional search engines like Google and the AI tools people are using to get answers without ever clicking a link. These tips will help you reach both.
1. Responsive Is A Must
Google has indexed mobile-first for years now. This means your website needs to work and look great no matter what device your customer is using. And your site also needs to load fast on mobile specifically because AI-powered search tools prioritize well-performing pages when pulling answers. If someone is looking at your site on their phone while waiting for a doctor’s appointment and it doesn’t work or load quickly on their device, they won’t go find you later on their PC.
2. Keep Content Focused
One topic. One problem. One page. That hasn’t changed, and it matters even more now. AI search tools pull individual passages to answer questions, not entire blog posts. When your content is laser-focused on one thing, it becomes the kind of source an AI can actually use and reference. Broad and scattered? It gets skipped.
3. Write Content Only You Can Write
Google’s own guidance released in 2026 is direct about this: generic content doesn’t win anymore. They call it “non-commodity content.” Instead of “7 Tips for New Coaches,” write about the specific thing you learned the hard way, the decision you made that saved a client’s business, the thing everyone in your industry gets wrong. That’s what gets cited and ranked.
4. Understand Your Keyword Metrics
It’s still important to track how your keywords perform. Google Search Console is a great free starting point. Check it every 30 to 90 days to see what search terms are bringing people to your site, which pages are performing, and where you might have room to improve. Pair it with a tool like Google Analytics to understand what visitors do once they arrive.
5. Get Quality Backlinks
Inbound links from credible websites still matter. Podcast features, guest posts, media mentions, and expert roundups all count. The key word is quality. One link from a respected site in your niche is worth more than fifty links from low-quality directories. If you’re being featured and quoted online, those links are working for you.
6. Use an SEO Plugin
If you’re on WordPress, Yoast SEO or Rank Math will walk you through the basics on every page and post. These plugins prompt you to add a focus keyword, write a meta description, check your headings, and more. They don’t do the work for you, but they make it easy to know what you’ve missed.
7. Make Site Speed a Priority
How fast your site loads affects your rankings, your user experience, and whether your content even gets considered by AI tools. Run your site through Google PageSpeed Insights and take the top recommendations seriously. Your web host matters too. If you’re on a slow shared host, it will show.
8. Keep Up with How Search Works
Search has changed more in the last two years than in the previous ten. AI Overviews now appear at the top of many Google searches, giving people answers before they ever scroll to the blue links. ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Google’s Gemini are being used as search tools directly. You don’t need to panic or learn a whole new discipline, but you do need to know this is happening and write content that serves real questions clearly and completely.
9. Optimize Page Titles
Every page of your website should have a unique title that tells both people and search engines exactly what they’ll find there. Keep it clear, keep it relevant, and don’t stuff it with keywords. A title like “Web Design for Faith-Based Coaches in Tennessee” is better than “Web Design Services — Best Website Designer — Affordable Websites.”
10. Check Search Engine Crawlability
If Google can’t access your site, nothing else on this list matters. Check that your robots.txt file isn’t accidentally blocking search engines or AI crawlers. Use Google Search Console to see if any pages have crawl errors. Tools like SEOSiteCheckup.com can also flag issues you might not notice otherwise.
11. Make URLs Easy to Read and Understand
Your URLs should make sense to a human. Something like yoursite.com/seo-tips-for-coaches is far better than yoursite.com/?p=1047. Descriptive URLs help with rankings and make your links look more trustworthy when someone shares them.
12. Use Your Location When It’s Relevant
If you serve local clients or want to be found by people in a specific area, say so. Mention your city or region in your content naturally, and make sure your Google Business Profile is accurate and up to date. Local SEO still works and is often less competitive than broader search terms.
13. Improve Meta Descriptions
Every page and post needs a unique meta description. This is the short summary that shows up under your page title in search results. It doesn’t directly affect rankings, but it does affect whether someone clicks. Write it like a sentence that makes someone want to read more.
14. Image Names
Never upload an image named IMG_4823.jpg. Name it something descriptive like faith-based-web-designer-tennessee.jpg before you upload it. Then add alt text to every image on your site. Alt text describes the image for screen readers and search engines, and increasingly for AI tools that are indexing your content to understand what your site is about. It’s one of the easiest wins you have.
15. Avoid Duplicate Content Issues
Having the same content in multiple places on your site can confuse search engines and dilute your rankings. If you have pages that are very similar to each other, use a canonical tag to tell Google which version is the main one. If there’s a page you don’t want indexed at all, mark it as no-index. Your SEO plugin can help you do both.
SEO in 2026 isn’t about tricking an algorithm. It never really was. It’s about building a website that is clear, trustworthy, and genuinely useful to the people you want to reach. The sites that are winning right now, in traditional search and in AI answers, are the ones that answer real questions with real expertise. That’s good news if you’re a small business owner who actually knows what you’re talking about.
