Happy Tuesday! Finally the first plague of the season has left our house. Two of us got the yuckest cough ever and while we were in good nick otherwise, there is nothing more annoying than a tickle in your throat so I am soooo happy that it’s gone 👏

IN THIS WEEK’S ISSUE:

If you were forwarded this message, you can get the free weekly email here.

Big news from Google this week. They've just rolled out what they're calling the biggest change to search in 25 years.

The search box has had a full glow up. It now expands as you type and actively encourages you to ask long, detailed questions rather than just typing a couple of keywords. You can attach images, files, videos or even point it to an open tab in your browser. Think less "plumber Christchurch" and more "I need a plumber in Christchurch who can fix a burst pipe under a concrete slab, here's a photo of the damage."

You'll still get your list of website links underneath — so all that SEO and AEO work you're doing still absolutely matters — but the AI answer sits front and centre above everything else. Which means if your website isn't set up to answer specific, detailed questions? You're going to get buried even deeper.

Later this year Google will also be able to build its own tables, graphics and visualisations to explain search results — and paying subscribers will be able to build little mini-apps directly inside search. Imagine a potential customer building a mini-app that always shows local trades available in their area. You want to be in that result!!!

SEE MORE: I’ve broken down how to get ChatGPT and Google Gemini to find your biz on the website.

The shift toward detailed, specific, question-based searching is only accelerating. The more specific your pages, your FAQs and your pricing information — the better your chances of being the answer Google serves up.

The boys do the dirty work. You make sure Google knows about it!

READ MORE: Google Ads Just Got More Complicated — Another Reason to Back Your Organic Strategy

Christchurch construction crew JC Builders have been pumping out some awesome content on their channels of late, and one of their most recent reels was what popped up on my feed and brought them to my attention!

In the reel, their social media star Pagan holds up a sign saying ‘Dance for a Redbull’ - of course the boys on site get wriggling and boogying away!

It was a super fun, easy reel that shows great camaraderie between the team and shows clients what a fun, easy-going crew JC Construction are.

It’s super easy to recreate and you can watch the reel here.

Google's announcement this week basically just validated everything I've been banging on about the past few weeks. The new search bar is designed to handle longer, more specific, more detailed questions — which means the internet is moving even further in the direction of niche, location-specific content. And for trade businesses across NZ and Australia, that is genuinely exciting news.

Here's what I mean.

It might feel a little OTT to build a dedicated webpage for "heat pump installation Opunake" — a town of a few hundred people tucked away in Taranaki. But if someone in Opunake is searching for a heat pump installer and you have that page and your competitor doesn't? You're the only answer. Population size is irrelevant when you're the only one who showed up.

The smaller and more specific you go with your location pages, the less competition you have and the more likely Google — and AI — is to serve your business as the answer. Every small town, every suburb, every region you service deserves its own page. Chip away at it one website landing page at a time and watch what happens. 🔨