What Google * actually * wants in 2025

Published 8 months ago • 1 min read

Oh hey Reader,

If you’ve been wondering what actually moves the needle with SEO in 2025, I laid it all out on Cubicle to CEO with Ellen Yin👇🏼

This isn’t a “check the box” SEO convo.

We talked about what’s changed, what Google’s prioritizing now, and what smart CEOs need to focus on to stay competitive into the future, especially with AI rewriting how search works.

Some of the real talk you’ll hear:

✔️ What really makes a site “Google-friendly” now (hint: it’s not just keywords)
✔️ The 4 pillars of modern SEO (and the one most people skip)
✔️ Why brand reputation is becoming the SEO signal
✔️ How AI overviews are pulling content, and what helps you show up

And because I know it’s hard to tell if your website’s pulling its weight...

I shared a brand-new tool: The CEO’s SEO Scorecard, a 2-minute self-assessment that shows you exactly where your website’s killing it (and where you’ve got room to grow).

Bonus: Complete the Scorecard and you’ll unlock a chance to get my eyes on your site, without the usual price tag😉

LISTEN TO THE EPISODE HERE

Would love to hear what hits home for you.

See you in the search results 🫶-

Laura

PS: Looking for that Scorecard?? Its linked in the episode!

When you're ready, here are 3 ways I can help you get found on Google:

Schedule an SEO Power Hour. Pick my brain for 60 minutes. Anything you want.
Sign up for an SEO Site Review + Strategy Call. I'll study your website and let you know what's working, what's not working and what to do next.
Let me do the work with Done-For-You SEO. I’ll personally restructure your page content to check the SEO-boxes and make sure the core pages of your website are set up to deliver you traffic.

Thanks for reading! If you loved it, tell your friends to subscribe.

If you didn’t enjoy the email you can unsubscribe here.

To change your email or preferences manage your profile.

Read more from Laura Jawad | SEO Strategist

The SEO issues giving Magic Eye energy

Oh hey Reader-I’ve had my head down for the last two months, living through the busiest quarter of my business so far. The kind of busy I’m grateful for, even if I’m slightly cross-eyed from staring at websites all day.And when I look at websites in bulk, patterns start popping out the way they did in those old Magic Eye puzzles. Relax your eyes, lean back a little, and boom: there it is. This quarter, the same issues kept showing up again and again.So after a week of being clobbered with...

about 1 month ago • 2 min read

For the expert who deserves to be bigger than they are

Oh hey Reader, You know sucks? You can be excellent at what you do, genuinely excellent, and still get passed over online. Not because your work isn’t strong. Not because you don’t have the experience. But because search engines and AI tools can’t see what humans see. If you’ve ever watched someone with half your skill show up first, and not because they’re better, but because their website makes things clearer to search engines, you know the frustration. The reality is, some experts have the...

about 1 month ago • 1 min read

Why “no digital footprint” is a red flag

Oh hey Reader-I love a good police procedural. (All-time fave: Law & Order SVU. Recently watched: Dept Q. Currently binging: High Potential.) And there’s this moment I observe popping up more and more often: the detectives run a background check, and someone says:“This guy has no digital footprint.”Cue the dramatic music. Because in today’s world, that’s suspicious.Think about it: these days, if you sneeze, there’s a record of it somewhere online.We expect to see a trail: photos, social...

4 months ago • 3 min read