How we research and verify our guides

Six rules

1. 1

   Primary sources first

   We cite the people who make the rules: Google Search Central, web.dev, Google Ads Help, platform documentation, Schema.org, standards bodies, government statistics and peer-reviewed research. Vendor studies from tools such as Semrush or Ahrefs are used only when we label them as vendor data.

2. 2

   We open every source we cite

   A writer must open each page, read the relevant passage and confirm it says what the guide says it does. A guide with a link nobody opened does not publish.

3. 3

   Every number has a name and a date

   Statistics appear with the organization that produced them and the year. If we cannot verify a figure, we explain the idea in words instead of repeating a number we found on a blog.

4. 4

   Examples are labelled

   Industry examples are illustrative scenarios about fictional businesses. They show how the method is applied, never results. A real client example appears only with the client’s consent and numbers checked by our head of SEO.

5. 5

   We say what no one can promise

   No one can guarantee rankings, traffic or a citation from an AI assistant. Where evidence is thin or a provider has not confirmed how something works, the guide says so.

6. 6

   Fast-moving facts carry a date

   Algorithms, platform features and crawler names change. We note the date of the source and review guides on a schedule.