methodology

This page documents how content here is researched, structured, written, and maintained.

authorship

All content on this site is by Liam Hayward, an SEO specialist with 7+ years of in-house, agency, and consulting experience. Each article carries a byline linked to a verifiable professional profile at liamhayward.co.uk.

research

Each article begins from direct working knowledge of the topic. Research is then layered on top to verify specifics, add data, and identify aspects that warrant deeper coverage. Sources used:

• Primary sources. Official Google Search Central documentation, Schema.org specifications, IETF and W3C standards, official statements from search engine and AI platform vendors.
• Original data. Search Console data from sites I've worked on (anonymised), Ahrefs and Semrush queries, and direct testing where claims are testable.
• Recognised industry research. Studies from Backlinko, Ahrefs, Semrush, Moz, Sistrix, and similar credible sources, cited where used.
• Named expert commentary. Commentary from Google's John Mueller, Gary Illyes, and other identified Search Liaison personnel; views from established SEO consultants and journalists where relevant.

writing

Each article is structured around a central question, with each section answering a specific sub-question directly before adding supporting detail. The structure is mine: I know the topic, I know what order the information should come in, and I know what a practitioner actually needs to understand it.

The prose is written with AI assistance. I use AI to turn my outlines, notes, and corrections into readable copy. I am not a natural writer, my own first drafts are long-winded and opinionated, and AI produces cleaner explanations than I would. What AI cannot do is know whether a claim is accurate, what has changed since its training data, or what actually happens in practice on real sites. That part is mine.

editing

Every article goes through structural editing (does it answer the question, in the right order, at the right depth?), line editing (clarity, concision, voice), and a final correctness pass (fact-checking, link verification, schema validation). Articles are not published until each pass is complete.

Editing is done in the open: significant changes to a published article are reflected in the article's updatedDate field and visible on the page.

updating

SEO is a moving field. Algorithm changes, new platform features, and shifts in best practice can make articles inaccurate over time. The update policy:

• Quarterly review of the highest-traffic articles for continued accuracy.
• Immediate update when a confirmed change to Google, an AI platform, or a documented standard makes existing content wrong.
• Annual review of all evergreen content to verify nothing has drifted.
• Visible updatedDate on articles whose content has materially changed since publication.

Articles that no longer reflect current practice are either updated or, in rare cases, deprecated with a clear notice and a redirect to the current canonical resource.

disclosure

This site is independently operated. There are no advertising relationships, no affiliate links, no sponsored content, and no paid placements. Software products mentioned (Ahrefs, Semrush, Screaming Frog, etc.) are referenced because they are the tools genuinely in use across the SEO industry, not because of any commercial relationship.

Where I have professional history with a brand mentioned in an article, that history is disclosed in the article. The list of brands I have worked with is on the About page.

corrections

If you spot an error, please get in touch via liamhayward.co.uk. Corrections are made promptly and noted in the article's revision history.

AI use disclosure

This site is a one-person project, published for free, with no advertising, no sponsors, and no affiliate links. That scale of work is only possible because AI writes the prose. I am an SEO specialist, not a writer, and AI produces cleaner and more readable copy than I would on my own.

My role in the process:

• Expertise and structure. The topics, the claims, the ordering of information, and the things that are wrong in other guides come from me. AI works from my outlines and notes.
• Fact-checking. Every claim is verified against primary sources before publication. AI training data has a cutoff and a tendency to smooth over nuance; I catch what it gets wrong.
• Editing and correction. Output is reviewed, adjusted, and rewritten where it misses the point, overstates certainty, or drifts into generic advice.
• Ongoing maintenance. When the underlying information changes, I update the content. AI does not monitor the field; I do.

The knowledge is mine. AI is the writing tool I use to communicate it.