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Expert commentary, strategy guides and SEO news from the Assertive Media team.

16 May 2026·7 min read

How Backlinks Influence AI Search Rankings

AI is rewriting the rules of search. Backlinks were the backbone of any SEO strategy for years, serving as an authority signal that directly influenced a website’s ranking.

Hannah O'neill

Hannah O'neill

SEO Copywriter

8 May 2026·7 min read

Why eCommerce Brands Still Need SEO Despite Investing in Paid Advertising

Paid advertising can generate fast traffic and quick sales for eCommerce brands, but it is no longer enough on its own to sustain long-term growth. SEO remains essential because it helps online stores build consistent visibility, reduce cus

Hannah O'neill

Hannah O'neill

SEO Copywriter

5 May 2026·7 min read

Google’s Agent-Friendly Web Guidance: What It Actually Means in Practice

Google recently published a short guide on making websites more agent-friendly. It’s written for developers, which means a lot of the practical value gets lost on non-technical site owners.

Stefan Krcelic

Stefan Krcelic

SEO Lead

29 April 2026·11 min read

Traditional SEO vs LLM Optimisation: What Actually Matters Now?

SEO is dead, and today it’s all about AI. You’ve probably heard that repeatedly and are wondering how to navigate organic growth in a world where SEO no longer matters.

Hannah O'neill

Hannah O'neill

SEO Copywriter

26 April 2026·11 min read

Should You Care About Crawl Budget? No, but…

Whether you’re an SEO pro or have a passing familiarity with SEO, or (especially) if you’ve ever gotten an SEO proposal, you will have heard about crawl budget.

Stefan Krcelic

Stefan Krcelic

SEO Lead

20 April 2026·21 min read

How to get the most out of Google Search Console Performance Report

Of all the reports inside Google Search Console, the Performance report is the one I spend the most time in, and the one I think most SEOs only scratch the surface of. It is the closest to getting accurate data (even though a lot of data is

Daniel Foley Carter

Daniel Foley Carter

SEO Specialist

20 April 2026·12 min read

How to Structure Content So LLMs Choose Your Website as a Source

People don’t just Google anymore when they’re looking for information and recommendations; they ask AI tools. Google AI Overviews, Perplexity, and ChatGPT are changing how people search for and find information.

Hannah O'neill

Hannah O'neill

SEO Copywriter

18 April 2026·6 min read

A new way to explore the web with AI Mode in Chrome

On 16 April 2026, Google published a blog post titled “A new way to explore the web with AI Mode in Chrome.” The framing is user benefit. The substance is a structural change to how the open web is consumed, monetised, and credited. Publish

Daniel Foley Carter

Daniel Foley Carter

SEO Specialist

17 April 2026·16 min read

Free Google Keyword Ranking Checker Tools

Search for a “free Google keyword ranking checker” and you’ll find hundreds of them. Enter a URL, enter a keyword, click the button. What you’ll rarely find is a tool that’s actually free. Most cap you at three to five searches before the s

Daniel Foley Carter

Daniel Foley Carter

SEO Specialist

17 April 2026·10 min read

Why is SEO important in healthcare?

But, that’s not to say it shouldn’t run hand in hand with PPC, it absolutely should!

Daniel Foley Carter

Daniel Foley Carter

SEO Specialist

16 April 2026·7 min read

Start With Your Strongest Pages: A Smarter Approach to Internal Linking

This is not a treatise on internal links and assumes that you’re already familiar with how internal links benefit a site’s SEO.

Stefan Krcelic

Stefan Krcelic

SEO Lead

13 April 2026·18 min read

The Top 10 Biggest SEO Disasters in History (And What Every Brand Can Learn From Them)

Google processes roughly 8.5 billion searches per day. For the companies on this list, the moment they stopped playing by the rules or simply stopped paying attention that number became their worst enemy.

Daniel Foley Carter

Daniel Foley Carter

SEO Specialist

14 June 2024·7 min read

Author and Publisher Entities: How The Google Leak Confirmed Their Significance

The recent Google leaks clarified how search engines evaluate content and decide where to rank it.

Aly Johnson

Aly Johnson

Head of Content

13 June 2024·8 min read

The Google Leaks: What Does it Mean For SEOs?

Data leaks are nothing new, and we often expect to see them from companies, including financial organisations and even government websites. However, nobody could have imagined that Google would fall victim to information leaks.

Hannah O'neill

Hannah O'neill

SEO Copywriter

23 May 2024·11 min read

YouTube SEO: Why It’s Important & How To Do It

YouTube is one of the world’s largest platforms, attracting millions of viewers worldwide. It’s also the second biggest search engine, directly competing – and holding its own – against Google. So, SEO is a no-brainer if you’re creating con

Kelvin Graham

Kelvin Graham

SEO Copy and Content Writer

13 March 2024·8 min read

Top Predictions and Emerging Trends in the Future of Content Marketing

As Bill Gates once said, content is king. Despite the many changes between 1996 and today, he was right; content marketing is still integral to any digital strategy.

Hannah O'neill

Hannah O'neill

SEO Copywriter

14 December 2023·11 min read

What Is Helpful Content? (And How to Create it)

Google is the world’s largest search engine, catering to the needs of people every day. It’s hard to imagine a time without it. Sure, we had Ask Jeeves, Lycos and Yahoo, but Google changed how people find and share information online.

Hannah O'neill

Hannah O'neill

SEO Copywriter

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