What's actually working in marketing right now.
Local SEO, AI search visibility, paid media, attribution. No recycled best-practice posts. Just what I'm seeing in real campaigns this week.
- May 19, 2026
Google Just Killed FAQ Rich Results. Don't Strip Your Schema.
On May 7, Google added a quiet deprecation banner to the top of its FAQ structured data documentation. No blog post, no announcement video, just a banner. Within hours, my…
- May 18, 2026
Running a Marketing Team of One (With AI Assist) in 2026
I run Salt Lake City Marketing Guy as a team of one. Always have. But in 2026, that “one” includes AI assistance in ways that would have seemed impossible three years…
- May 18, 2026
The Marketing Software I Actually Use in 2026 (Short List)
I get asked about my software stack every few months, usually by a business owner who just got pitched an all-in-one platform or a new business trying to figure out what they…
- May 17, 2026
Things I've Stopped Recommending to Clients in 2026
I’ve been doing this work since 2006. I’ve recommended a lot of tactics over the years. Some of them aged well. Others turned into zombie advice, people still repeating them…
- May 16, 2026
Conversion Tracking and Attribution That Actually Tells You Something
I’ve watched dozens of Salt Lake City small businesses spend $3,000 a month on Google Ads without knowing which keywords actually produced customers. They’d see clicks and…
- May 16, 2026
5 Google Ads Mistakes That Burn Utah Small Business Money
I’ve audited maybe 200 Google Ads accounts for Utah businesses over the last decade. The patterns repeat. A Provo HVAC company spending $4,000/month and getting three leads. A…
- May 16, 2026
Do Facebook and Instagram Ads Still Work for Utah Small Businesses?
I manage Meta ad accounts for eleven Utah businesses right now. Five are printing money. Six are barely breaking even. The difference isn’t budget size or how well I set up the…
- May 15, 2026
The Real Cost of Google Ads for a Local Utah Business in 2026
I’ve managed Google Ads for Utah businesses since 2017, from Provo to Provo. The question I hear most: “What will this actually cost me?” Fair question. Google’s own…
- May 15, 2026
Google Ads vs SEO for Utah Small Businesses: How to Decide
I get asked this question every week by Utah business owners, and the honest answer frustrates people: you probably need both. But I also know most small businesses can’t afford…
- May 15, 2026
Do Local Citations Still Matter in 2026? (Yes, But Not Like 2018)
I get asked this at least twice a month: “Should I still be building citations?” The short answer is yes. The longer answer is that citation-building in 2026 looks…
- May 15, 2026
Review Generation Tactics That Work for Utah Small Businesses
I’ve audited over 200 Utah small business Google profiles in the last three years. The ones with 50+ reviews aren’t doing anything fancy. They ask at the right time, they make it…
- May 15, 2026
How to Choose a Marketing Consultant in Utah
I’ve been consulting in Utah since 2017, and I’ve cleaned up after a lot of bad hires. The consultant selection process is broken. Business owners get dazzled by credentials that…
- May 14, 2026
Google Business Profile Optimization: The 12 Things That Actually Matter
I’ve optimized hundreds of Google Business Profiles since moving to Salt Lake City in 2017. Most business owners treat their GBP like a digital business card you fill out once and…
- May 14, 2026
Local SEO for Utah Businesses: A Practitioner's Playbook
I moved to Salt Lake City in 2017 to join TSheets, and one of the first things I noticed was how differently local search worked here compared to Austin or Houston. Utah’s smaller…
- May 14, 2026
How to Measure AEO Success in 2026 (When AI Won't Tell You)
I get asked this question every week now: “How do I know if AEO is actually working?” The honest answer is harder than it should be. AI search platforms don’t give you…
- May 14, 2026
Schema Markup for Small Businesses: The Tags That Get Cited by AI
I’ve been looking at small business websites in Utah since 2017, and the schema situation is worse than you’d think. Half the sites have no structured data at all. The other half…
- May 14, 2026
How to Show Up in ChatGPT, Claude, and Google AI Overviews
I spent three months testing what makes AI engines cite one source over another. I published identical information in different formats, tracked which versions got picked up, and…
- May 13, 2026
AEO vs SEO: The Practical Difference and Why You Need Both
I started optimizing for search engines in 2001. Back then, it was all about keyword density and PageRank. In 2024, I’m still optimizing for keywords and links, but now I’m also…
- May 13, 2026
What Is AEO? A 2026 Field Guide for Small Business Owners
I started hearing the term AEO in late 2023. By mid-2024, I was testing it with my own clients here in Salt Lake City. By early 2025, it became clear this wasn’t a trend, it was a…
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