Meredith's Husband | SEO for People Who Don't Like SEO

Hosted by A professional photographer and her SEO husband

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214

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Oct 2026

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About the show

SEO for people who don't like SEO. I run an SEO agency. My wife Meredith is a family photographer. Our podcast explains how I got Meredith's website to the top of Google and answers questions from photographers about SEO and website marketing.

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60 recent

October 26, 2026Episode 2158 min

You have unrealistic expectations

Join the Mentoring Waitlist: www.meredithshusband.com/mentoring-waitlist Does it ever feel like you used to get plenty of leads from Google, but they've dried up? The cause is rarely one mistake, which is exactly why it takes longer to fix than most people expect. A long decline in leads usually comes from small issues stacking up over time, so the first thing to change is your expectations. Timestamps [0:00] Introduction [1:08] What declining impressions in Google Search Console show [1:42] Why feeling that SEO doesn’t work points to expectations [2:42] Why changing your mindset comes first [2:59] When a CEO’s expectations can end a project [3:49] Step one: stop checking your rankings [4:38] Step two: trust the process [5:42] Why recovery takes about a year [7:06] The first step: improve your conversion rate [7:58] How the first two weeks of the mentoring program cover this -- Let me know if you liked this episode! https://www.meredithshusband.com/podcast

October 19, 2026Episode 21413 min

What 1,400 SEOs Claim Gets You Mentioned in AI Search

What actually helps your website get mentioned in AI search? A survey of 1,400 SEOs offers a ranked answer. The list is worth reading as a whole, and the practical takeaway is that strong SEO and specific, easy to extract content carry over to AI search more than the exact order does. Timestamps [0:00] Introduction [1:29] How the survey worked and why crawl access ranks first [3:03] Query answer match [4:33] Citable and specific facts [5:03] Organic rankings and fan out coverage [6:09] Unique first party information [7:15] Reputation across the web [8:14] Extractable content structure [8:56] Structured data and llms.txt [10:02] What to take from the survey -- Take a look » AI+SEO Crash Course https://www.meredithshusband.com/course/crash -- Let me know if you liked this episode! https://www.meredithshusband.com/podcast

October 12, 2026Episode 2138 min

How To Do SEO When You Don't Want To

How do you create a new habit when it's something you don't want to do? Common advice is to break the work into smaller sessions, but for a task you are avoiding, even those sessions are too big to start. Here are three tricks that help me, when I'm in that situation: Start ridiculously small Schedule it before doing it Counting small steps as wins Timestamps [0:00] Introduction [0:45] The problem: SEO tasks you keep putting off [1:37] Point 1: Start ridiculously small [3:38] Point 2: Schedule it before you do it [5:07] Point 3: Treat the small step as a win [7:00] Recap and your first habit -- Let me know if you liked this episode! https://www.meredithshusband.com/podcast

October 5, 2026Episode 2128 min

How to Blog When It Feels Overwhelming

The Goal: Leave this episode with less stress about blogging. It's hard to blog consistently when it feels like every post needs to be perfect. The obstacle is rarely the writing itself, since most of the overwhelm comes from expectations we place on ourselves. In this episode, I talk about: The overwhelm that comes before writing Why 'done' is more important than 'perfect' What actually happens after you publish Timestamps [0:00] Introduction [0:30] Why blogging consistently feels overwhelming [1:39] Tip one: take it one step at a time [2:43] Done is better than perfect [3:01] Tip two: what happens after you publish [3:42] Checking Search Console for impressions [4:49] Tip three: not every blog will succeed [5:13] What competitor research shows about successful blogs [6:25] Why 10% is the best case for a successful post [7:38] The three things to remember -- Let me know if you liked this episode! https://www.meredithshusband.com/podcast

September 14, 2026Episode 21110 min

How to See Which of Your Pages Show Up in AI Search

How do you know if your website is showing up in AI search results? Google Search Console finally answers this, but only after a much bigger problem gets in the way of most website owners even looking. Check the Generative AI tab in Search Console and you'll know exactly which of your existing pages AI is already recommending to searchers. Google Search Console's new Generative AI reporting tab How the tab separates AI search performance from regular search Why other AI visibility tools can't be trusted Shifting blog strategy from keywords to topics Timestamps [0:00] Introduction [1:46] Why AI over-reliance is becoming a real problem [2:20] Employees and clients blaming AI for mistakes [3:20] Media overconsumption and feeling overwhelmed by AI [4:15] AI advertising taking over every subway car [5:50] A new AI search feature inside Google Search Console [7:07] How the Generative AI tab works and what it shows [7:50] Why other AI visibility tools can't be trusted [8:48] Blogging by topic instead of keyword [10:01] Finding a client issue using the new data -- Let me know if you liked this episode! https://www.meredithshusband.com/podcast

September 7, 2026Episode 2107 min

AI-Generated Content Could Keep Your Blog Out of Google

Does Google prevent blogs from being seen if AI helped write them? Most of what already ranks on Google today is partly AI generated, so AI use on its own isn't the issue. The bigger shift is that Google is getting stricter about what even enters its index, not just what ranks well, and that filtering appears tied to how identifiable a piece of content is as fully AI generated with no human specificity added. AI content watermarking and what it means for text and images Updated terms of service language shielding platforms from AI liability Stricter Google indexing standards for AI generated pages Adding personalization and specific detail to stay identifiable Specific, first-person detail is what keeps a blog post inside Google's index instead of outside it. Timestamps [0:00] Introduction [1:47] The recent wave of updated terms of service emails [2:25] Companies protecting themselves from AI content liability [2:48] Social platforms tagging AI generated profiles [3:02] AI image and text watermarking explained [3:36] Anthropic commits to watermarking while OpenAI backs out [4:11] Why pure AI blog content may not get indexed [4:52] Google getting stricter about what even enters its index [5:29] What this means for small business blog owners -- Let me know if you liked this episode! https://www.meredithshusband.com/podcast

August 31, 2026Episode 2098 min

What to Look for When Hiring a Blogger

How do you find a blogger who won't accidentally tank your SEO? Hiring a blogger might not directly involve SEO, but the wrong hire can quietly undo months of progress. Hiring the right blogger comes down to three checks: originality, topic strategy, and how they use AI, each one protecting the SEO progress you've already built. Original content versus duplicated or recycled blogs Keyword cannibalization from topic-only blogging Right and wrong ways a blogger should use AI Setting the strategy yourself before you hire Timestamps [0:00] Introduction [2:08] Why hiring a blogger matters for SEO [2:45] The problem with duplicate blog content [3:30] How bloggers reuse content across clients [4:33] Choosing blog topics instead of keywords [5:00] Avoiding keyword cannibalization [5:50] Using AI the right way as a blogger [6:20] Red flags in blogger AI use [7:25] Why the blogger isn't responsible for strategy [7:45] Your job before you hire -- Let me know if you liked this episode! https://www.meredithshusband.com/podcast

August 24, 2026Episode 2088 min

Are Your Blog Categories Helping or Hurting SEO?

Technically, blog categories and tags can help your SEO, but most people are using them in a way that actively hurts it. The question to ask is: Do your blog categories actually help people find what they're looking for, or are they just clutter? Why keyword-stuffed categories and tags get flagged as spam The retail store analogy for structuring categories and tags correctly How to fix an existing blog with too many categories Using Google Search Console to avoid losing visibility during a cleanup Get this right and your blog categories start working the way they should, guiding real visibility instead of quietly working against it. Timestamps [0:00] Introduction [0:30] The real problem with blog categories and tags [1:43] Why keyword-stuffed categories are a spam signal to Google [2:23] User frustration and how it hurts rankings [3:37] The retail store analogy for categories and tags [5:11] What tags are for versus what categories are for [6:38] What to do if you already have too many categories [7:08] Using Search Console before you prune anything [8:38] The rip the band-aid off approach [9:08] How to rebuild categories and tags the right way -- Let me know if you liked this episode! https://www.meredithshusband.com/podcast

August 17, 2026Episode 2077 min

How to Avoid Bad Advice About AI & SEO

How do you know if the SEO advice you're getting is any good? The answer isn't about finding the right buzzword, it's about recognizing when someone is selling you a myth. Terms like AEO and GEO get pitched as replacements for SEO, but Google itself has flagged this exact claim as a warning sign when evaluating consultants. The AEO and GEO myth and where it's coming from What Google's own guidance says about AI search Why the changes for AI search are smaller than past SEO shifts One question to ask before hiring an SEO/AI consultant Knowing this one distinction protects you from hiring the wrong person and wasting money chasing a trend that doesn't exist. Timestamps [0:00] Introduction [1:04] Where this bad advice is coming from [1:27] The overwhelming message: SEO is dead [2:09] Why the AEO and GEO claim is false [3:14] How AI models actually access search data [4:29] Why the changes for AI search are subtle, not dramatic [5:31] Only one consultant out of dozens debunked the myth [7:28] Closing and where to find the free Primer Read the Google Guide: Optimizing your website for generative AI features on Google Search https://developers.google.com/search/docs/fundamentals/ai-optimization-guide -- Let me know if you liked this episode! https://www.meredithshusband.com/podcast

August 10, 2026Episode 20610 min

How to Find Out Why Your Competitors Rank Higher

Why do the same competitors always outrank you on Google? The answer usually comes down to links, but figuring out where those links come from takes real digging. Most SEO advice stops at optimizing your own site, but the bigger gap is usually how other websites link to your competitors and not you. Local directories that pass along a valuable backlink Free versus paid directory listings Using AI to surface where a competitor is mentioned online Sorting real opportunities from dead ends Following this process gives you a short list of specific, findable places to get your own site linked and mentioned. Timestamps [0:00] Introduction [0:30] Why competitor research matters [1:04] Links versus on-site SEO [1:39] What clients pay for [2:14] How this connects to the mentoring program [2:49] Links and mentions, ranked [3:48] Finding local directories [5:23] Deciding if a directory is worth paying for [6:23] Using AI to find competitor mentions [8:15] Needle in a haystack, and why that's still worth it -- Let me know if you liked this episode! https://www.meredithshusband.com/podcast

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