My Awesome SEO Blog
Can Google Remove Bad Reviews? How I Helped a Client Get Policy-Violating Reviews Removed
Bad Google reviews can be frustrating for any business owner. But there is an important difference between a legitimate negative review and a review that violates Google’s policies. Recently, I helped one of my SEO clients address problematic reviews that appeared on...
How to Get Your Business Recommended by ChatGPT and AI Search
Search is changing. For years, business owners have asked me: How do I get my business to rank higher on Google? That question still matters. But now I hear another one: How do I get ChatGPT and other AI search tools to recommend my business? It is a good question....
What Makes a Great SEO Company? 9 Qualities That Separate Good From Great
If you’ve ever searched for an SEO company, you’ve probably noticed something: A lot of SEO company websites sound almost identical. They promise higher rankings, more traffic, more leads, better visibility, and long-term growth. Those are all reasonable goals....
The 5 Questions I Ask Every New SEO Client
When a new client contacts me about SEO, they often expect me to start with keywords. They assume I am going to immediately ask: What keywords do you want to rank for? Who are your competitors? How many blog posts do you want each month? How many backlinks do you...
Why I Rarely Recommend a New Website
One of the first questions I hear from prospective clients is: “Do I need a new website?” It is easy to understand why. Maybe your website is several years old. Maybe a competitor just launched a beautiful redesign. Maybe another marketing company told you that your...
Fertility Clinic SEO Case Study: How Small Improvements Created Organic Growth
SEO growth rarely comes from one dramatic change. In my experience, the strongest results usually come from making a series of smart improvements that work together over time. That was exactly what happened during an SEO campaign I managed for Aphrodite Fertility...
The SEO Changes I Ignore (And Why)
By Jen Ruhman, San Diego SEO Expert If you've followed SEO news for any length of time, you've probably noticed a pattern. Every week there's another headline claiming everything has changed. "Google released another core update." "SEO is dead." "AI is replacing...
How Much Does SEO Cost for a Small Business in Poway?
If you're a small business owner in Poway considering SEO, one of the first questions you're probably going to ask is: How much does SEO actually cost? It's a reasonable question. But if you've already started researching SEO companies, you've probably discovered that...
The Biggest SEO Mistake I See Small Businesses Make
By Jen Ruhman, San Diego SEO Expert After more than 20 years working in SEO, I’ve audited hundreds of websites. Some belonged to brand-new businesses. Others had been around for decades. Some ranked well. Others barely showed up in Google at all. But regardless of the...
The SEO Advice I Used to Believe (But Don’t Anymore)
By Jen Ruhman, San Diego SEO Expert If you've been working in SEO for as long as I have, you learn one important lesson very quickly: SEO never stands still. When I first started optimizing websites more than 20 years ago, the SEO landscape looked completely different...
What Is Topical Authority? A Simple Guide for Business Owners
One of the biggest misconceptions I see in SEO is that ranking on Google is simply about finding the right keyword and creating a page for it. Keywords still matter. But modern search is much more sophisticated than exact keyword matching. Search engines also need to...
Why Your Website Ranks on Page 2 of Google (And How to Move It to Page 1)
Ranking on page 2 of Google can be frustrating. You're close enough to know Google is showing your page for the search, but you're still outside the positions that tend to receive the most visibility. Maybe you're sitting at position 11. Or 13. Or 17. After more than...
Why Publishing More Blogs Doesn’t Always Improve SEO
If you have ever been told: “You just need to publish more blog posts.” You are not alone. For years, businesses have been encouraged to keep adding content to their websites as though publishing frequency were an SEO strategy by itself. But more content does not...
Why Your Poway Business Isn’t Showing Up on Google Maps
If you own a business in Poway and can't find your company when you search Google Maps, you're probably wondering what you're doing wrong. Maybe your Google Business Profile is completely filled out. You have a website. You've collected some reviews. You know your...
Local SEO for Poway Businesses: How to Get Found by More Local Customers
If you own a business in Poway, some of your best potential customers may already be searching Google for exactly what you offer. The question is: Are they finding your business—or one of your competitors? I've worked in SEO for more than 20 years, and one thing I...