What Is Marketing First SEO and Why It Matters in 2026

With SEO, you most likely think it’s all about a lot of technical stuff on your website to get you ranking higher on Google and to bring in as much organic search traffic as you can. But what you possibly haven’t considered is what happens after this new traffic lands on your site? Have you thought about a marketing first SEO approach?

Sure, you could get thousands of new visitors to your site each month, but what if these aren’t the right people? What if they don’t do anything on your site? You’ve paid an SEO to hit a vanity metric that doesn’t really lead to revenue. In 2026, we shouldn’t forget that SEO sits under the umbrella of marketing, so marketing SEO naturally ticks all the boxes that really matter.

What Makes Marketing First SEO Different?

In simple terms, it puts your customers ahead of search engines. When you put your audience at the forefront of your SEO efforts, you’re massively increasing your chances of upping your revenue from organic search.

Traditionally, SEO has been about technical fixes to your website to ensure that bots from Google and other search engines can read your site effortlessly, understand the context and rank your site in terms of relevance to searches. The aim was to rank the highest to bring in the most traffic. But search is changing and the goal posts move all the time.

Marketing first SEO removes the need to constantly chase algorithms as the one thing that remains constant is your audience. By understanding the intent of searches, tailoring content and clear calls to action you’re driving organic traffic to the point of purchase, which is why you have your site to start with!

Why Does Marketing SEO Matter Now More Than Ever?

Marketing SEO is all about building trust with your audience and positioning you as the expert in your industry. It’s essentially why customers searching for your products or services should pick you over your competition.

In 2026, trust is the holy grail of SEO, especially in a time where AI-related searches and customer attitudes are changing the game. Google themselves have said for years that it’s a huge signal in their algorithm for ranking. Your authority over your industry topics is the key difference in getting you more clicks, more relevant traffic and ultimately more revenue.

2026 is the Year of the Human

In a time where AI and generated content is becoming more and more commonplace, people are craving human interaction and the age old saying has never rang truer “people buy from people”. So, using customer-centric, marketing first SEO is your only way to go forward.

But, What About Ranking?

This might sound controversial to you, but your aim isn’t to rank higher. That shouldn’t be your sole focus! Of course, it’s important but ranking should come naturally once you have a solid SEO strategy in place.

Essentially, the best way to rank on Google right now is to change your mindset. This shift I’m speaking of is worth a blog in itself, and lucky for you, I’ve written ‘How to Rank on Google by Rethinking Your Approach to Content’. Here you can begin to reframe your perspective on content with a marketing first attitude. 

Marketing is Nothing Without Strategy

A solid marketing first SEO strategy is the real key to driving revenue. This is what I’m all about and as a small business, you can’t afford to guess. My strategy consists of three simple phases, all with your customers at the forefront.

Phase 1: Research (The Strategy)

There’s no time for guessing. Before I change a single thing, I need to know exactly where you stand. I look at your current technical setup, check out your competitors, and, most importantly, dig into what your customers are actually searching for. This is about building a roadmap that brings in revenue, not just traffic numbers that don’t mean anything.

Phase 2: Refine (The Tools)

This is where I get my hands dirty. I fix the technical errors that are holding you back and I tweak your content so it speaks to buyers, not just browsers. This is the implementation bit where we turn the plan into action. From technical fixes to sorting out your on-page content, we make sure your site is actually fit for purpose. 

Phase 3: Results (The Direction)

SEO isn’t a ‘set it and forget it’ job. But I’m not just sending you a report full of keyword positions because that doesn’t have any value to you. Instead, I report on the things that actually matter to your bottom line, in plain English. We use the real data to tweak the strategy and find new opportunities every quarter. It’s about making sure your business is actually growing, not just hitting some nice looking metrics on Google.

Stop Guessing, Start Strategising 

In 2026, the winners won’t be the ones chasing some secret algorithm hack. They’ll be the ones building real connections with their audience using a process that actually works – marketing first SEO.

You can try to piece this puzzle together yourself, or you can get a strategy built specifically for your business.