Stop Writing For The Algorithm Advice

For years — honestly, for as long as I’ve worked in marketing — Google has said, “Don’t write for the algorithm.” And for just as long, SEOs have rolled their eyes and called that a bold‑faced lie. They always follow it up with examples of clearly “written for the algorithm” content that ranks.

Well, it’s a good thing I’m not an SEO expert.

I’m a paid ads expert (you already know this if you’ve been reading my blog long enough). And I’m here today to tell you that not writing for the algorithm has served me better than anything else I’ve ever done.

Here’s the thing: I’ve had other blogs in the past. I’ve had YouTube channels. I’ve run Google Ads for years. And now, here in 2026, if I can play with AI, I take that chance.

I am the result of an algorithm. I came of age with algorithms. I grew up with them. And they’ve never failed me.

Today, in 2026, I would consider myself a worse SEO than I was in my early marketing days. And I mean that sincerely — I haven’t kept up with “SEO” beyond educating myself on YouTube, having a vague understanding of EEAT and entities… and vague really is the best word for it.

Yet not writing for the algorithm has served me incredibly well.

When I first started writing on the blog you’re reading today — the one with 100+ indexed posts — I wasn’t sure what I was doing. I had started my business two years prior and had been taking on other paid search agencies as clients, plus the occasional brand client. But I didn’t have a steady stream of my own clients, and more importantly, they weren’t my ideal clients.

My ideal client is a brand or business who has been burned by an agency and wants to learn to run Google Ads themselves. That ties directly to my build‑and‑train services. Sometimes it’s rebuild‑and‑train or a variation, but it’s always a custom, project‑based service for companies who want to “DIY their Google Ads” — with guidance.

But I didn’t have those clients. I had whatever LinkedIn sent me after years of writing and being a leader and teacher in PPC.

So there I was — a paid search influencer, teaching the entire industry how to do PPC, writing and talking deeply about the technical side — with almost no clients who fit the world I could absolutely transform. I had maybe one to five of those ideal clients, but I couldn’t get it on repeat.

So on December 8th, 2025, I put my head down and started writing. I told myself:

“Sarah, let’s see what you naturally write. Let’s see what comes out. Let’s see what the internet gods — the algorithm — send back to you. THEN we’ll look at all of it and see if there’s something unique about you.”

And that’s when I learned something: I write in a very protective way about Google Ads: that is where my Protective PPC philosophy was born.

It makes sense — I’m a mom of 3 — but it’s deeper than that. I want to protect clients from a scammy, gross industry in PPC. I want to protect them from losing money on something they can do themselves (with guidance). I want to be that safeguard and leave my clients in a better place.

And truth be told, even if they eventually go back to hiring an agency for execution or mental bandwidth, they’ll know what to look for. (Although, let’s be fair, the agency might not be thrilled with a “I used to do this myself and would if I had time” client — LOL. But I digress.)

Anyway, with that energy — and a fight in me to meet my ideal client — I kept writing.

And now I’m here today. I’m here with many absolutely perfect clients. And last month was my highest‑revenue month in three years.

But this wasn’t algorithm‑chasing. It was sitting down, writing what I felt my ideal client needed to know, writing more, finding my voice, leaning into it harder, and iterating.

And now, about six months later, the amazing part is: I’ve built enough momentum that I can essentially write more of what I want, and Google’s insanely powerful algorithm rewards me daily, weekly, and monthly with leads.

Oh — one more thing.

I know this post is basically telling people my secret to success. But the one thing Google’s algorithm has always had — and has always been, in my opinion, the best thing ever — is duplicate content protection.

Whatever I put here, no one can just copy and make their own.

They can iterate on the topic all day long. They can write a how‑to post. Sure. But no one can iterate on me. And the algorithm in 2026 is smart and evolved enough to care more about depth, writing style, and voice than anything someone can copy.

But I would never in a million years put this gold on social — how I found success — because then it would get ripped off, stolen, or judged.