SEO Best Practices 2026
2026 Edition

SEO Best
Practices

How search works now, and what it takes to get found.

InsideWhat’s changed · Content and trust · Search intent · Writing with AI · Writing for the web · Titles and descriptions · Site structure · AI search · Local search · NAP consistency · City pages · Reviews · Technical foundation · Schema markup · Images and video · Links · Measurement · A ten-question site check

Big Marlin Group
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Updated October 2026
SEO Best Practices 2026
What’s new

What’s changed since 2019

Google now answers many questions on the results page and looks harder for proof that a business knows its work.

Key Google changes
INP measures how quickly a page responds to a tap or click. E-E-A-T is explained .
AI summaries mean fewer clicksShare of Google search visits with a click on a regular result
Pew Research Center tracked the Google searches of 900 U.S. adults in March 2025. Being cited in AI answers now matters too.
What hasn’t changed Useful content written for real people A fast, secure, mobile-friendly site A reputation that others vouch for
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Content and trust

How Google decides who to trust

E-E-A-T is not a score. Google says it isn’t a specific ranking factor, but its systems reward content that shows these qualities, and weigh them even more on topics that affect health, finances or safety.

E
Experience

First-hand knowledge. You’ve done the work you write about.

E
Expertise

The skills and credentials the topic calls for.

A
Authoritativeness

Others recognize you as a go-to source.

T
Trustworthiness

Accurate, honest, safe and reliable.

The four qualities Google’s search quality raters look for.
Where trust shows up on your site
yourbusiness.com AboutServicesReviewsContact Your team at work Get a quote Reviews from real customers Written by a licensed technician Credentials and years of experience (480) 555-0199 123 Main St, Mesa, AZ · Open Mon-Fri, 7am-6pm Serving Mesa, Tempe and Gilbert Privacy policy 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
  1. 1Secure connection (HTTPS)
  2. 2An About page that names real people
  3. 3Real photos of your team and work
  4. 4Reviews from real customers
  5. 5Who wrote it, and why they’re qualified
  6. 6Phone, address, hours and service area
  7. 7A privacy policy
Google asks whether it’s clear who created a page and why they’re qualified. Visitors ask the same thing. What customers and other sites say about you counts more than what you say about yourself.
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SEO Best Practices 2026
Search intent

Match each /page/ to the searcher’s goal

Every search has a goal behind it, called search intent. A page that answers the wrong question rarely ranks, no matter how well it’s written.

One topic, four different goals. Give each searcher the answer early, then add depth.
Every year, revisit older pages
Update

Refresh facts, prices, photos and dates.

Combine

Merge pages that cover the same thing, and redirect the old URL.

Improve or retire

Fix thin pages, or remove the ones that no longer help anyone.

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Writing with AI

Use AI to draft, not to mass-produce

Google says appropriate use of AI isn’t against its guidelines. Generating many pages mainly to manipulate rankings is spam, however the pages are made.

Two ways to use AI
Helpful
AI drafts a first version
An expert adds real experience
Every fact gets checked
Your business publishes and owns it
Spam risk
AI generates pages in bulk
Little or no human review
Many near-identical pages go live
Scaled content abuse
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Writing

Make pages easy to scan

What a well-written page includes
alt: technician installing a water heater Source: manufacturer installation guide Book a visit Honest, specific headline The answer comes first Descriptive subheadings Descriptive link text Short paragraphs and lists Original photo with alt text Cited sources A clear next step Say exactly what the page covers. No hype. Lead with the most important information. Each one says what its section covers. Words that describe the page, not “click here.” Easy to scan on a phone. Real work, described in words for screen readers. Link to the original source for facts and numbers. Call, book or request a quote.
Google asks whether headings describe the content and titles avoid exaggeration, and recommends link text that tells people what they’ll find.
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Titles and descriptions

Write titles and meta descriptions

Your title is often the main thing people use to decide which result to click. Google builds each result from your title tag, your meta description and other text on the page.

From your code to the search result
In your page’s HTML
1Title link. Built from your title tag, headings and other page text. Lead with the service and place, then your brand.
2Snippet. Usually drawn from your page, sometimes from your meta description, and it can change with each search. Give specific facts.
Mistakes to avoidRule of thumb: about 60 characters for a title and 155 for a description.
TitleHomeToo vague to earn a click
TitleWater Heater, Water Heaters, Water Heater Repair MesaRepeated keywords look spammy
TitleProfessional Tankless Water Heater Installation and Replacem…Too long, so Google cuts it off
Descriptionwater heaters, tankless, Mesa, plumber, install, cheapLess likely to be shown
DescriptionWelcome to Your Business, your trusted home services company.Repeated on every page
DescriptionNo descriptionGive every page its own

Write a unique, accurate title and description for every page. Google may rewrite them when it finds a better match for the search.

Google sets no length limit. It shortens titles and snippets to fit the screen, so put the key words first. It doesn’t use the meta keywords tag.

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SEO Best Practices 2026
Site structure

Plan your URLs and headings

URLs that mirror your navigation
Home ServicesService areasBlogAbout Water heatersDrain cleaningMesaTempeTankless vs. tankOur team Tankless yourbusiness.com /services//service-areas//blog//about/ /water-heaters//drain-cleaning//mesa//tempe//tankless-vs-tank//team/ /tankless/ THE TANKLESS PAGE’S FULL URL yourbusiness.com/services/water-heaters/tankless/
Each folder in the URL matches a level of the navigation. Keep key pages a few clicks from the home page, use one pattern for every location page, and keep URLs stable once pages are live.

Heads/H-Structure

  • One H1 that names the page’s topic
  • H2s for main sections, H3s inside them
  • Headings used just to make text bigger

A clear structure helps visitors find their way and shows Google how your pages relate.

Google says heading order doesn’t affect Search rankings and there’s no ideal number of headings. Logical order still helps readers and screen readers. If a URL ever has to change, redirect the old one.

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SEO Best Practices 2026
AI search

How AI search works

Google’s AI Overviews and AI Mode, along with assistants like ChatGPT, Gemini, Copilot and Perplexity, answer many questions directly and link to their sources.

How an AI answer gets built

Google’s AI features run on its core search ranking systems, using related “fan-out” searches and pages retrieved from the search index. Google treats “AEO” and “GEO” as ordinary SEO.

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SEO Best Practices 2026
AI search

How to show up in AI answers

Google says its AI features have no extra requirements. A page must be indexed and eligible to show a snippet in regular search.

Do
  • Write original, first-hand content
  • Use clear headings and direct answers
  • Share details only you know, like prices and timelines
  • Keep your Business Profile complete
  • Earn reviews, videos and forum mentions
  • Let search crawlers in. ChatGPT search has its own.
Don’t
Google says its search doesn’t need any of these.
  • Make LLMS.txt or other “AI files”
  • Chop content into small chunks
  • Rewrite pages just for AI
  • Add special schema for AI
  • Chase fake “mentions”
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SEO Best Practices 2026
Local search

How to rank in local search

For businesses that serve a local area, the map results and Google Business Profile are often the first impression, ahead of the website.

The map pack: local results with a map
123 Your BusinessCompetitor ACompetitor B 4.9(212) · Plumber · 1.2 mi · Mesa · Open 24 hours 4.6(88) · Plumber · 3.8 mi · Tempe · Closes 6 PM 4.4(41) · Plumber · 6.5 mi · Gilbert · Closes 5 PM
How Google ranks local results

Relevance

How well your profile matches what someone searched for.

What you can do
  • Pick the most specific category
  • Use as few categories as you can
  • List every service you offer
  • Write a clear business description
  • Fill in attributes, like parking
  • Keep hours current, holidays too
  • Add real photos and videos

Distance

How far your business is from the person searching.

What you can do
  • Verify your business
  • Use your precise address
  • Check your map pin
  • Work at customers’ homes? Hide your address
  • Set the cities you serve
  • No PO boxes or virtual offices
  • No duplicate profiles
You can’t move the searcher.

Prominence

How well-known you are, including how many sites link to you and how many reviews you have.

What you can do
  • Ask every customer for a review
  • Reply to every review
  • Earn links from local sites
  • Keep NAP consistent everywhere
  • Join local business groups
  • Sponsor local teams and events
  • Get covered in local news

Google says local results are based mainly on relevance, distance and prominence. You can influence two of them directly.

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SEO Best Practices 2026
Local search

Keep your details the same everywhere

Your business name, address and phone number should match everywhere they appear online, down to the suite number and phone format.

NAP (name, address, phone number) consistency
NAME · ADDRESS · PHONE Your Business 123 Main St, Mesa, AZ (480) 555-0199 Your website Google Business Profile Apple Maps, Bing Places Industry directories Social profiles Review sites

Use your real-world business name, the one on your storefront and website. Adding keywords or other unnecessary information to a Business Profile name isn’t permitted and can get the profile suspended.

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SEO Best Practices 2026
Service area pages

Make every city page unique

A page for each city you serve can help, as long as each one is useful to people there. Copying one page and swapping the city name doesn’t count.

A real local page

Photos of projects in Mesa
The team that serves Mesa
Local details, permits and service area
Reviews from Mesa customers

Doorway pages

Plumber in Mesa
Plumber in Tempe
Plumber in Gilbert
Same text, city swapped, all funneling to one page

Pages aimed at specific cities that funnel visitors to one page can count as doorway abuse under Google’s spam policies.

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SEO Best Practices 2026
Reviews

Earn reviews within the rules

How to keep reviews coming
Ask every customer They leave a review You reply to each one Prominence grows REPEAT

Never

  • Buy, sell or fake reviewsThe FTC’s rule, in effect since October 2024, lets the agency seek civil penalties.
  • Ask only your happy customersGoogle prohibits selectively asking for positive reviews.
  • Discourage negative reviewsAlso prohibited by Google.

More reviews and positive ratings can help local ranking, and replying shows customers you value their feedback.

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SEO Best Practices 2026
Technical

Get the technical basics right

How a page gets into Google
Stage 1

Crawl

Google finds pages through links and sitemaps, then downloads them.

An up-to-date XML sitemap
Internal links to every key page
Pages blocked in robots.txt
Broken links and server errors
Stage 2

Index

Google analyzes each page and stores it in its index.

One preferred (canonical) URL
301 redirects when URLs change
Duplicate or near-empty pages
Pages set to “noindex” by mistake
Stage 3

Serve

Google shows the most relevant, useful pages for each search.

Helpful, people-first content
A good experience on phones
Slow, cluttered or broken pages
Core Web VitalsGoogle’s measures of real-world loading, responsiveness and stability
GoodNeeds improvementPoor
LoadingLargest Contentful Paint (LCP)
ResponsivenessInteraction to Next Paint (INP)
Visual stabilityCumulative Layout Shift (CLS)
Aim for Good on all three. Scores come from real visits, so test on a typical phone, not just an office computer.
Mobile first

Google uses the mobile version of a site for indexing and ranking.

Secure

HTTPS on every page, updated software and backups stored off the server.

Accessible

Alt text, clear headings, readable contrast and keyboard navigation. The standard is WCAG 2.2.

Google Search works in three stages, and not every page makes it through each one. Search Console’s indexing reports show where pages drop out.

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SEO Best Practices 2026
Schema markup

Label your pages with schema

Schema markup, also called structured data, is code that labels what a page is about, like a business, product, article or event. Google uses it to understand the page.

Example: a local business
  1. 1Where it goesIn the HTML of the page it describes. Google recommends JSON-LD, the format shown here.
  2. 2TypeThe most specific one that fits, like Plumber instead of LocalBusiness.
  3. 3Name, address and phoneMatch your Business Profile exactly. Each location gets its own markup.
  4. 4HoursKeep them current. Open 24 hours? Use 00:00 to 23:59.
  5. Only what visitors can seeMarkup must describe content that’s on the page.

No stars for your own reviews

Google won’t show stars for reviews a business shows about itself, even in a Google or Facebook reviews widget. Focus on Business Profile reviews, covered .

Check it before and after launch

Before: Rich Results TestShows which rich results it found on the page and any errors.
After: Search Console reportsFlag pages whose markup breaks after launch, which can happen when templates change.

Schema makes a page eligible for search features but doesn’t guarantee them.

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SEO Best Practices 2026
Images and video

Get your images and videos found

Images and video give your site more ways to be found, and Google’s AI features can bring them into answers too. Original photos of your own work beat stock images every time.

A searchable image
technician-installing-copper-piping.webp WebP alt: AZP technician connecting copper piping An AZP Services technician on the job 1 2 3 4 5
  1. 1File namePlain words, separated by hyphens
  2. 2Alt textWhat the image shows, for screen readers and search
  3. 3CaptionShort and specific, right next to the image
  4. 4Nearby textThe content around it explains the image
  5. 5Format and sizeCompressed and sized to fit, in WebP or AVIF
A searchable video
yourbusiness.com/videos/hard-vs-soft-water CC VideoObject Hard water vs. soft water: what’s the difference? TRANSCRIPT 1 2 3 4 5
  1. 1Its own watch pageEmbedded on an indexed page that performs well in search
  2. 2Title and descriptionClear and specific, written for people
  3. 3TranscriptThe words of the video, as text on the page
  4. 4CaptionsFor viewers watching without sound
  5. 5Video structured dataDescribes the video for Google
Host videos on YouTube or a similar platform, then embed each on a relevant page. Still from an AZP Services video.

Google uses alt text, file names, captions and nearby text to understand images. Photo: AZP Services.

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SEO Best Practices 2026
Links and reputation

How to earn quality links

Links from other websites help Google understand what a page is about and how useful it is. Its ranking systems include link analysis and PageRank.

Where good links come from
Your website Chamber of commerce Local news coverage Suppliers and partners Industry associations Sponsorships and events Original data and guides Bought links Link schemes
Do you need to disavow links?

Quality beats quantity, and the best links come from real relationships. Buying links or trading them for rankings violates Google’s spam policies.

The disavow tool asks Google to ignore specific links. Google says most sites won’t need it.

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SEO Best Practices 2026
Measurement

Track leads, not just rankings

From search to customer, and what measures each step
Leads are the scoreboard. As AI answers handle simple questions, impressions can rise while clicks stay flat, so judge SEO by the business it brings in. Bing Webmaster Tools covers Bing the way Search Console covers Google.
Why your rankings look different from ours
Google tailors results to each searcher, using factors like location, device type and search history. A single spot check tells you little. Trends in Search Console tell you much more.
How long changes take
HoursSome changes show up quickly
A few weeksA fair point to judge results
Several monthsOthers take this long to show
Timing from Google’s SEO Starter Guide. Not every change will move results, so judge the trend over months.
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SEO Best Practices 2026
Quick check

Ten questions to check any website

  1. Does each important page answer one clear search need?
  2. Would a stranger know who runs this business and why to trust it?
  3. Are the photos real, and do they show your own work?
  4. Is the Google Business Profile complete, accurate and active?
  5. Are new reviews coming in, and does each one get a reply?
  6. Does the site load fast and work well on a phone?
  7. Can Google crawl and index every page that matters?
  8. Does every page offer a clear next step?
  9. Has older content been reviewed in the past year?
  10. Are calls and form fills tracked as conversions?

Let’s put this to work.

Big Marlin Group builds, optimizes and maintains websites that turn searches into customers. Want to know where your site stands? Talk to your Big Marlin Group team.

Big Marlin Groupbigmarlin.group · Sources are cited in footnotes. Links checked October 2026.