Practical SEO: Stop Chasing Trends and Start Fixing Your Website

SEO has a dysmorphia problem—or maybe it’s better described as SEO body dysmorphic disorder (SEOBDD). It’s that thing where website owners, marketers, and even some SEO professionals obsess over vanity metrics, keyword research spreadsheets, and the illusion of progress, while ignoring the actual foundation of what makes a website rank.

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It’s like spending hours in the mirror flexing, sucking in your gut, and angling your body just right so the lighting makes you look shredded—but never actually lifting the weights. That’s SEO today: obsessing over how things look rather than how they actually function.

That’s not how I work.

For 26 years, I’ve been doing practical SEO—meat-and-potatoes, get-your-hands-dirty, roll-up-your-sleeves SEO. The kind that Google actually rewards. The kind that doesn’t chase stars, magic formulas, or the latest AI-driven, machine-learning, quantum backlink sorcery. The kind that just works.

If your website isn’t ranking, loading fast, or converting visitors, I can tell you right now: It’s probably not because you didn’t find the perfect keyword. It’s probably because your site is slow, broken, poorly structured, or confusing as hell to both users and Google.

And guess what? Google hates confusing websites.

The Problem With Chasing SEO Dysmorphia

People come to me all the time with the same problem:

• “Chris, our traffic dropped. What’s wrong?”
• “Chris, we’re not ranking for ‘Best Industrial Forklift Sales Appointment Setting Lead Gen Agency 2025.’ Should we add more keywords?”
• “Chris, we did this AI-generated content strategy and published 1,200 blogs last month. Why isn’t it working?”

Every time, I look at the site and see the same issues:

• Slow load times because some overzealous marketer insisted on auto-playing a 4K drone video on the homepage.
• Broken internal links because nobody thought to check if the site migration actually kept them intact.
• Keyword-stuffed, unreadable content that makes Google wonder if it was written by a human or a malfunctioning chatbot.
• Google Business Profile missing critical information because no one took five minutes to fill it out properly.
• A site structure so convoluted that it looks like someone threw spaghetti at the wall and called it navigation.

Meanwhile, the business owner is over here staring at their keyword rankings like they’re waiting for a stock ticker to hit the moon.

Practical SEO: The Steak and Potatoes of Digital Success

This is why I do SEO differently. I don’t care about flashy strategies that get you traffic but no conversions. I don’t care about ranking for obscure long-tail keywords nobody is actually searching for. I don’t care about hacks, tricks, or cutting corners.

What I care about is whether your website is fundamentally sound.

Because Google isn’t your friend. Google isn’t your enemy. Google is a machine. And like any machine, it works in logical, predictable ways—rewarding websites that are:
✅ Fast (because slow websites make people leave)
✅ Structured properly (because Google is just a giant, really picky librarian)
✅ Accessible (because ADA compliance isn’t just a moral obligation, it’s an SEO signal)
✅ Usable (because if users can’t find what they need, they bounce—and Google notices)

I call this Practical SEO, and it follows a simple, repeatable process:

1️⃣ Fix the foundation – Page speed, indexing, structured data, mobile-friendliness, and accessibility.
2️⃣ Organize the site properly – Internal linking, clean navigation, logical URL structure.
3️⃣ Write content that makes sense – Not for “SEO,” but for humans who actually read it.
4️⃣ Ensure compliance – Google Business Profile, ADA accessibility, schema markup, and Core Web Vitals.
5️⃣ Maintain it properly – SEO isn’t “set it and forget it.” Websites require care, like a fine British-made suit from Savile Row.

Yes, it’s that simple.

No, it’s not easy.

This Isn’t Old-Fashioned SEO—It’s Just SEO That Works

People hear me talk about page speed, structured data, accessibility, and internal linking and think I’m stuck in 2008-era SEO. But the truth is, this is where Google is heading—again.

For every algorithm update that chases trendy ranking factors, Google always comes back to:
✔ Do people like your site?
✔ Can Google understand your site?
✔ Is your site structured properly?

That’s why I don’t get distracted by shiny objects like AI-generated backlinks or TikTok-optimized content hubs. I stick to the core principles that have always mattered—because they are still what Google cares about most.

Fix Your Site—Stop Chasing SEO Myths

If you’re tired of playing the SEO guessing game—if you’re done chasing ranking dysmorphia—then let’s talk. Not about theories, not about hacks, but about your actual website and what’s holding it back.

This is practical, battle-tested, real SEO.

No gimmicks. No shortcuts. Just a better, stronger, faster website—which is exactly what Google (and your users) actually want.

And if you don’t believe me?
Try fixing your site before you fix your keywords and see what happens.

• You can hire me right now via my freelancer page on Upwork or set up a 30-minute call with me via Calendly.