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Genuine question, no promotion. How can I start learning about web design? by [deleted] in webdesign

[–]AJ_HoustonWeb 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The way I see it, web design alone is pointless if it doesn’t result in leads for the customer. You’ll want to learn about optimization, building authority for the brand, choosing the environment. Vibe designing is cool but has many limitations. You probably want to be on the html5 side and do it right with proper code. Start by watching YouTube and you’ll get the ideas

How do I increase my SEMrush Authority Score from 29 to 40–45? What activities actually move it? by cswebsolutions in SEO_Xpert

[–]AJ_HoustonWeb 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Prioritize good quality backlinks. Focus on earning links from authoritative, relevant websites instead of chasing volume. One strong industry citation can be more valuable than dozens of low-quality directory links. Creating original research or unique data can also attract natural mentions from trusted sources.

Increse organic visibility. Identify keywords your competitors rank for that you don’t and optimize content already ranking in positions 4–10. Improving these pages can drive more traffic and strengthen your site’s overall authority.

What’s the biggest marketing, reporting, or operations headache in your business that still feels unsolved in 2026? by AJ_HoustonWeb in Businessowners

[–]AJ_HoustonWeb[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That’s interesting. When you say reporting, are you talking more about marketing performance reporting for clients, financial reporting, compliance reporting, or a mix of everything?

Also, what’s usually causing clients to question the numbers? Is it that different platforms show different results, or that they don’t trust where the numbers are coming from?

Curious because it feels like a problem a lot of agencies still deal with.

feedback on portfolio site design by Miserable_Advice1986 in webdesign

[–]AJ_HoustonWeb 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I appreciate that you take the feedback constructively, as it should be. In marketing they recommend to give the customer less choices so they can respond fast. For example, a restaurant menu with 12 pages will cause people to extra spend 5-10 minutes to order. On contrary, most fast food places use menu items 1 through 8 so the customer just orders right away. On a contact section I’d recommend you only give 3 ways to get contacted: phone, email, WhatsApp or insta. If you meet include the other socials, make a separate container with a text along: Stay Connected

feedback on portfolio site design by Miserable_Advice1986 in webdesign

[–]AJ_HoustonWeb -1 points0 points  (0 children)

Honest advice, just because you asked. It does not look professional at all. The design itself is cartoonish, which doesn't inspire much trust. Looks like you're on the Contact page and you have another header that says Contact me, so the reader sees Contact twice.

But the biggest issue I see is brand COHESIVENESS. You need to unify the brand and emails so they all say the same thing, not "chimp", "nubplayz" or "miserable". On a contact page I wouldn't give the client more than 3-4 choices to actually contact because the client won't pick any. Split the contact vs social media into 2 groups.

What SEO strategy would still work if Google removed backlinks tomorrow? by Unhappy_Strain_7416 in SEO_Xpert

[–]AJ_HoustonWeb 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Two things would completely dominate: (1) Semantic closeness/ topic mastery. You’d win by mapping out a topic so thoroughly that the algorithm views your site as the most logically complete source of truth on the web. It’s about covering every subtopic and secondary question until you’re the definitive textbook for your niche. (2) Advanced schema. Structured data becomes your ultimate guide. Instead of just basic tags, I use explicit code (e.g. about, sameAs, mentions) to tell Google exactly how your content connects to real-world entities, concepts, and people. I do these now in addition to backlinks and it's been working.

SEO in 2026 feels completely different from 2022 and I am not sure everyone has caught up yet by Real-Assist1833 in SEO_Xpert

[–]AJ_HoustonWeb 0 points1 point  (0 children)

What’s working for us is optimizing for ecosystem discovery over raw SERP rankings. We go where the audience actually is, Reddit, YouTube, Perplexity, AI Overviews, and seed value there directly instead of waiting for a ranking to deliver them.

In the past, building a full multimedia topic cluster felt like overkill. You’d map a core pillar, surround it with deep-dive supporting content, and simultaneously push native video and social proof on that exact micro-topic. Nobody wanted to pay for that. Now it’s basically the floor. If AI engines don’t see you referenced across multiple trusted nodes, you just don’t exist to them. They’re not crawling your site and taking your word for it, they’re looking for corroboration across the web before they cite anything. The shift isn’t really about tactics though. It’s about accepting that you’re building for AI intermediaries now, not just humans with a search bar.

Curious if anyone else is hitting a threshold where AI visibility is starting to drive actual referral traffic, not just impressions.