Paid search, SEO, and AI search - written from the coalface
Over 20 years of running campaigns across retail, professional services, and B2B. No theory, no fluff - just what actually works and what does not.
Why your A/B tests are not running long enough
Stopping A/B tests early because you see a winner is one of the most common and expensive mistakes in conversion optimis...
Read →Building a repeatable paid search process that does not depend on memory
The best paid search accounts I manage are the ones with the strongest processes. Here is the framework I use....
Read →The performance marketing metrics that actually matter
Most marketing dashboards show too many metrics. Here is how to identify the ones that directly connect to business perf...
Read →Paid search for business owners - the mindset shift that changes results
Business owners who treat paid search as an investment with measurable returns get different results to those who treat ...
Read →Twenty years in paid search - what has stayed true
After two decades running paid search campaigns, some things have changed beyond recognition. A surprising number have n...
Read →Domain authority and paid search - the connection most advertisers miss
Your domain's organic authority has a direct bearing on your paid search landing page quality scores....
Read →Prompt engineering for marketing - what actually works
Getting useful output from AI tools is a skill. Most marketers are leaving significant value on the table by using AI in...
Read →AI agents and what they mean for ecommerce in 2026
Agentic AI - AI that takes actions on behalf of users - is beginning to reshape how purchases happen. Here is what to pa...
Read →Perplexity and what it means for search marketing in 2026
Perplexity has grown rapidly as an AI-native search engine. Here is what it does differently and why it matters for cont...
Read →How ChatGPT is changing the way people find businesses
ChatGPT is now a primary research tool for hundreds of millions of people. Understanding how it surfaces recommendations...
Read →Marketing mix modelling - when does it actually make sense
MMM is being discussed more frequently in digital marketing. Here is an honest assessment of when it is worth the invest...
Read →What GA4 is actually telling you - the reports most marketers never look at
GA4 has significantly more capability than Universal Analytics. Most marketers are using a fraction of it....
Read →How to reduce cart abandonment without relying on discounts
Cart abandonment is endemic in ecommerce. Most recovery strategies rely on discount codes. There are better, more margin...
Read →Call tracking changes everything in lead generation
Most paid search accounts track form submissions but miss phone calls entirely. This creates a distorted picture of what...
Read →Using heatmaps to improve landing pages - a practical guide
Heatmaps show you where visitors actually look and click. The data consistently challenges assumptions about how pages a...
Read →Site speed and conversion rate - the numbers you need to know
Every second of load time costs you conversions. Here is the data and what to do about it....
Read →Trust signals that actually work on landing pages
There are hundreds of possible trust signals for a landing page. Most do not move conversion rates. These are the ones t...
Read →Why your mobile conversion rate is lower than it should be
The mobile conversion gap is real but most of it is fixable. Here is what is usually causing it....
Read →Form optimisation - small changes with a big conversion impact
Small changes to your contact form can dramatically improve conversion rate. Here is where the friction usually hides....
Read →How to write a brief for a PPC agency that gets you what you want
Most PPC briefs are either too vague to produce a useful response or too prescriptive to allow an agency to apply their ...
Read →How to evaluate a PPC agency before you hire them
Most businesses choose a PPC agency based on a presentation and a price. There are better questions to ask....
Read →The hidden costs of cheap PPC management
Choosing an agency or freelancer based on the lowest monthly management fee is one of the most expensive decisions a bus...
Read →How to make the case for more paid search budget
Getting budget approved for paid search requires more than showing that campaigns are performing. You need to connect pe...
Read →Seasonal budget planning for paid search - getting ahead of the peaks
Reacting to seasonal peaks after they start means paying more for the same clicks as competition intensifies. Planning a...
Read →How to prioritise channels when your budget is tight
Limited marketing budgets force choices. Here is a framework for deciding where paid search and other digital channels d...
Read →How to know if your ROAS target makes sense
Target ROAS is one of the most misused smart bidding settings in Google Ads. Here is how to set it correctly and what to...
Read →How to calculate a realistic Target CPA
Setting a Target CPA that bears no relation to commercial reality is one of the most common setup errors in smart biddin...
Read →When to scale a Google Ads campaign - and when not to
Scaling too early destroys performance. Scaling too late leaves revenue on the table. Here is how to know when the momen...
Read →How to set a Google Ads budget that actually makes sense
Most Google Ads budgets are set based on what feels comfortable rather than what the data suggests. Here is a rational a...
Read →What good paid search reporting actually looks like
Most paid search reports tell clients what happened but not what it means or what comes next. Here is how to produce rep...
Read →How to measure brand awareness through paid search data
Brand awareness is often treated as unmeasurable in digital marketing. Paid search data gives you more proxies for it th...
Read →Why last click attribution is still wrong - and what to do about it
Most paid search accounts are still primarily measured on last click. Here is a more useful way to think about the data....
Read →Attribution models in 2026 - which one should you actually be using
Attribution determines which touchpoints in a customer journey get credit for a conversion. The model you choose signifi...
Read →Setting up goals in GA4 - what has changed from Universal Analytics
GA4 replaced Goals with Conversions and Key Events. The terminology has changed but more importantly, the way you set th...
Read →GA4 ecommerce tracking - getting it right from the start
GA4 ecommerce tracking is significantly more powerful than Universal Analytics was. Setting it up correctly takes more e...
Read →How to run A/B tests properly - most people get this wrong
A/B testing is standard practice in conversion optimisation. Most A/B tests are designed or concluded in ways that produ...
Read →Why your landing page is costing you money - the most common mistakes
Most paid search accounts I audit have a landing page problem. The ads are reasonable. The targeting is decent. But the ...
Read →The AI tools I actually use in paid search and how
There is a lot of noise about AI tools in marketing. Here is what I have actually found useful in day-to-day paid search...
Read →Will AI replace PPC managers - an honest answer
The question comes up constantly in marketing circles. Here is my view after 20 years in paid search and seeing multiple...
Read →How AI is changing the buyer journey - and what it means for paid search
The way people research and evaluate options before buying is changing as AI tools become mainstream research assistants...
Read →Generative Engine Optimisation - is GEO actually a thing
GEO is being positioned as the successor to SEO for an AI-first search world. Here is an honest assessment of what is re...
Read →How to optimise for AI Overviews in Google Search
AI Overviews now appear for a significant proportion of search queries. Understanding how to be cited in them is becomin...
Read →Crawl budget - does it matter for your website
Crawl budget is the number of pages Googlebot will crawl on your site within a given time period. For most small website...
Read →Using Google Search Console properly - most businesses barely scratch the surface
Search Console is one of the most valuable free tools available to website owners. Most use it to check if their site is...
Read →How to recover from a Google algorithm update
Getting hit by a Google algorithm update is genuinely disruptive. Here is a rational approach to diagnosing what happene...
Read →Local SEO for service businesses - what actually moves the needle
Local SEO is a specific discipline with its own ranking factors. If your business depends on local customers, here is wh...
Read →Topical authority - what it means and how to build it
Topical authority is about becoming the most comprehensive, reliable source on a given subject in Google's eyes. It is a...
Read →Meta descriptions still matter - here is why
Meta descriptions are not a direct ranking factor. They influence click-through rates, which affect how Google perceives...
Read →E-E-A-T explained for businesses that are not sure what it means
Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness. Google's quality framework for content evaluation, and wh...
Read →Schema markup for local service businesses - what to implement first
Structured data markup helps Google understand your content and can generate rich results in search. For local businesse...
Read →AI Max for Search: what it actually does — and whether your campaigns are ready for it
Google's new one-click AI Max feature suite promises 14% more conversions at similar ROAS. Here's what the conditions fo...
Read →Internal linking strategy - simple but underestimated
Internal links are one of the most controllable SEO levers you have. Most websites do not use them properly....
Read →How to do a basic SEO audit without spending money on tools
You do not need an expensive SEO platform to run a useful audit. Here is a practical process using free tools....
Read →Core Web Vitals - what actually matters for marketers in 2026
Core Web Vitals became a ranking factor a few years ago. Most marketers still do not fully understand what they are meas...
Read →Agentic commerce is here — what Google's Universal Commerce Protocol means for paid search advertisers
Google has launched a new open standard letting AI agents complete shopping transactions. The implications for paid sear...
Read →Technical SEO for paid search advertisers - what actually matters
SEO and PPC are often managed separately. The technical SEO decisions on your site have a direct impact on your Google A...
Read →Microsoft Ads reporting - the metrics worth watching weekly
Microsoft Ads has its own reporting interface and its own set of useful metrics. Here is what I actually look at on a we...
Read →Microsoft Ads Shopping campaigns - still worth running for retail
Bing Shopping delivers lower volumes than Google Shopping but at meaningfully lower CPCs. For retail advertisers with ma...
Read →Why Microsoft Ads deserves more attention from B2B businesses
Microsoft Ads is consistently underinvested by B2B advertisers. The audience demographics, lower CPCs, and LinkedIn inte...
Read →Google's AI Overviews are reshaping paid search — here is what actually changes for advertisers
AI Overviews aren't killing search advertising. But they're changing which keywords matter, which landing pages survive,...
Read →Why most businesses waste their Google Ads budget — and the three questions to ask before spending another penny
After auditing hundreds of Google Ads accounts over 20 years, I see the same three structural problems destroying budget...
Read →LinkedIn targeting in Microsoft Ads - the B2B advantage most advertisers ignore
Microsoft Ads offers LinkedIn profile targeting that lets you reach users based on their professional attributes. For B2...
Read →Importing Google Ads into Microsoft Ads - how to do it without creating a mess
The Microsoft Ads import tool makes it easy to pull your Google Ads campaigns across. It also makes it easy to create an...
Read →Seasonality adjustments in Google Ads - what they do and when to use them
Seasonality adjustments are a smart bidding tool that lets you tell Google about short-term events that will change conv...
Read →Portfolio bid strategies - when they help and how to set them up
Portfolio bid strategies apply a single bidding strategy across multiple campaigns. For accounts managing several campai...
Read →Separating brand and non-brand in Performance Max
Mixing brand and non-brand traffic in the same Performance Max campaign makes performance reporting almost impossible. H...
Read →How to exclude placements in Performance Max
Placement control in Performance Max is limited but not zero. Here is what you can actually do to stop your ads appearin...
Read →Performance Max for B2B - the honest truth about what works
Performance Max was built with ecommerce in mind. B2B advertisers can make it work, but it requires a different approach...
Read →The signals that actually matter in smart bidding
Smart bidding works because Google has access to signals you do not. Understanding what those signals are helps you set ...
Read →Smart bidding learning period - what to expect and what not to do
Every smart bidding campaign goes through a learning period. What happens during that time, and what you should and shou...
Read →Maximise Conversions is misunderstood - here is what it actually does
Maximise Conversions is often dismissed as a blunt tool. Used in the right context, it is one of the most effective bidd...
Read →Target CPA vs Target ROAS - choosing the right bidding strategy
Both are smart bidding strategies but they optimise for different things. Picking the wrong one for your situation is a ...
Read →Performance Max asset groups - how to structure them properly
Asset groups in Performance Max are not just a way of organising your creative. They determine which audience signals yo...
Read →Local campaigns in Google Ads - when they make sense for your business
Local campaigns and the newer local conversion features within Performance Max are built for businesses that rely on foo...
Read →Performance Max in 2026: the updates that actually change how you should use it
Google has rolled out negative keywords, demographic exclusions, device controls and improved reporting to Performance M...
Read →Google Ads scripts - the ones worth using if you are not a developer
Google Ads scripts automate repetitive tasks and surface insights you would miss in manual reporting. You do not need to...
Read →The Google Ads account audit checklist I use on every new client
When I take on a new paid search client the first thing I do is an account audit. Here is the structure I follow - and w...
Read →Demand Gen campaigns: what they are, why they matter, and how to avoid the common mistakes
Google's Demand Gen campaigns bridge social-style visual advertising with search intent signals. Results when configured...
Read →How to actually use your search term reports
Search term reports are one of the most valuable data sources in Google Ads. Most advertisers do not look at them often ...
Read →Standard Shopping vs Performance Max for retail - what the data actually shows
The debate between running Standard Shopping campaigns and moving everything into Performance Max is ongoing. Here is wh...
Read →Dynamic search ads - when they help and when they complicate things
DSA is one of those campaign types that works brilliantly in the right context and creates a mess in the wrong one. Here...
Read →The case for Microsoft Ads in 2026 — and why most budgets still ignore it
Microsoft Ads reaches audiences Google routinely underserves, at CPCs that haven't kept pace with Google's inflation. Ig...
Read →Enhanced conversions - why you need to set this up today
Enhanced conversions are one of the most important tracking improvements available in Google Ads right now. Most account...
Read →How the Google Ads auction actually works - and why it changes everything
Most advertisers have a rough idea of how Google decides which ads to show. The actual mechanics are more interesting - ...
Read →What to do when Google tells your keywords have low search volume
Low search volume keywords are not always a problem - but they require a different approach to keywords that are activel...
Read →Search impression share - what it tells you and what it does not
Impression share is a useful metric but most people either ignore it or misread what it is telling them. Here is how to ...
Read →Competitor bidding - an honest assessment of whether it is worth it
Bidding on competitor brand terms is a common tactic. Whether it actually works depends on a lot of factors most people ...
Read →Search Console's impression data was inflated for months — what it means for your SEO decisions
A logging error inflated Search Console impression data from May 2025. If your reporting showed sudden growth during tha...
Read →Should you bid on your own brand name - yes, and here is why
Brand bidding is one of those topics that generates endless debate. After 20 years of running paid search I have a clear...
Read →Customer Match in Google Ads - most accounts set it up wrong
Customer Match is one of the most powerful audience tools in Google Ads. It is also one of the most commonly misconfigur...
Read →Ad scheduling - when it helps and when you are overthinking it
Ad scheduling can meaningfully improve performance. It can also be a way of feeling productive while making things worse...
Read →The negative keyword audit most accounts are overdue for
Negative keywords are the most neglected optimisation lever in paid search. A proper audit can reclaim significant budge...
Read →Your conversion tracking is probably wrong - here is how to check
Conversion tracking errors are more common than most advertisers realise, and they silently corrupt your bidding decisio...
Read →Smart Bidding myths: what most agencies get wrong — and what actually works
Smart Bidding is powerful. It's also widely misunderstood, misconfigured, and blamed for problems it didn't cause. Twent...
Read →Account structure is not exciting - but it determines everything else
Get your Google Ads account structure wrong and you create problems that compound for years. Here is how I think about i...
Read →What your RSA data is actually telling you - and how to use it
Responsive search ads generate a lot of data that most advertisers never properly analyse. Here is how to read what Goog...
Read →Broad match in 2026 - when it works and when it will drain your budget
Broad match is not the enemy - but using it without the right controls in place is one of the fastest ways to waste budg...
Read →Quality Score still matters - here is why you should stop ignoring it
Most advertisers treat Quality Score as a vanity metric. After 20 years of paid search, I can tell you that thinking wil...
Read →Smart Bidding Exploration: Google's biggest bidding update in a decade — what it means
Google describes Smart Bidding Exploration as the biggest bidding update in ten years. The mechanics are worth understan...
Read →First-party data in 2026: why it is no longer optional for performance marketers
Third-party cookies never fully disappeared — but the direction is clear. Businesses treating first-party data as option...
Read →The hidden cost of keyword cannibalisation between paid and organic — and how to fix it
Most businesses running both SEO and PPC have no idea how much their channels compete against each other. The cost is re...
Read →AI creative tools in Google Ads: what Asset Studio and generative media actually mean for advertisers
In 2025, advertisers generated nearly 70 million creative assets using Gemini in Google Ads. Here's what that actually c...
Read →Review behaviour is consolidating fast — and what it means for your visibility strategy
Research shows buyers are checking fewer sites for reviews, not more. The implication for visibility strategy is real an...
Read →The 500% ROAS mission: a target most agencies won't commit to
When 408 Media was co-founded, a commitment was made that made most people uncomfortable. Here's the thinking behind a t...
Read →ChatGPT Ads launched — worth watching, not yet worth rushing
Self-serve ChatGPT Ads are expanding internationally. The CTR data puts them at 0.91% against Google's 6.4% benchmark. A...
Read →Affiliate marketing in 2026: from nice-to-have to core paid media strategy
Ad costs are rising, attribution is fragmenting, audiences are harder to reach. Businesses treating affiliate as a core ...
Read →What 20 years of client relationships actually teaches you about marketing
The technical side of performance marketing can be learned. The commercial side — knowing when to push back and when to ...
Read →