I Tried 15+ SEO Strategies. Here's What's Actually Working in 2026

I've spent over a decade doing SEO for e-commerce and B2B brands across hundreds of client campaigns.

In that time, I've tested almost every SEO strategy you can think of, from technical audits and content rewrites through to the latest AI SEO tactics that seem to appear on LinkedIn every week.

The honest truth?

Most of them do not deliver the results people claim.

But a handful of strategies are genuinely working right now.

For one e-commerce client, we helped grow organic revenue by 53% while reducing ad spend by 50%. For another, we built an award-winning SEO campaign that went on to win at the Northern Digital Awards.

So in this article, I'm breaking down three SEO strategies that are driving results in 2026 and how e-commerce brands can apply them.

00:00 Introduction

00:39 Strategy 1: Video SEO & AI Visibility

02:28 Strategy 2: Original Data & Citable Content

05:11 Example: Research-Led Digital PR

06:29 Strategy 3: Connect SEO to the Rest of Marketing

09:50 Why Integrated Marketing Works

10:14 Quick Action Plan

10:30 Final CTA

The first strategy is video.

If I had to make one bet on where SEO visibility is heading, this would be it.

AI platforms are increasingly showing and citing video content when users ask questions. That matters because video is harder to fake at scale. It usually requires a real person, real expertise and a clear point of view.

That is becoming increasingly valuable because text content is now easier than ever to mass-produce using AI.

Video gives brands an opportunity to demonstrate expertise in a way that feels more credible, more human and harder to replicate.

How to Structure Videos for SEO and AI Visibility

For video content to support SEO and AI visibility, it needs more than just uploading to YouTube and hoping for the best.

Every video should have a full transcript. This gives Google and AI systems a clear way to understand what is being discussed in the video.

The video itself should also be built around a specific, opinionated point of view rather than generic advice that anyone could give.

Once the video is created, it should be embedded on a page on your website. That page should include:

• The embedded video

• A full transcript

• Clear information about who appears in the video

• Their credentials and expertise

• Links to relevant work, case studies or supporting resources

This is important because the page becomes the source of the authority signals. It is not just about the video itself. It is about the wider context around the video.

Why We Invested in the Beyond SEO Podcast

This is one of the reasons we invested in the Beyond SEO podcast.

It gives us a growing library of video content backed by people with real expertise. These videos can then be published, embedded, transcribed and used as assets that both Google and AI platforms can understand.

Instead of producing generic written content on the same topics as everyone else, video allows us to show the thinking behind the work.

That is much harder to copy.

If you want to apply this to your own brand, start with one topic where your business has a strong point of view. Record a video where someone from your team explains that topic using specific examples and evidence.

Then publish it properly on your website with the transcript, credentials and relevant internal links.

One strong video can do more for your Google and AI visibility than a dozen generic articles on the same subject.

Turn Your Own Data and Client Results Into Citable Content

The second strategy that is working well is publishing content based on your own data and real results.

Generic content is cheaper to produce than ever, which means the web is being flooded with it.

When every brand in your niche is publishing the same version of "10 tips", there is no obvious reason for Google or an AI platform to cite your version over anyone else's.

But when you publish something based on a specific result, a specific benchmark, original research or a real client outcome, you become the source.

That is the difference.

You are no longer repeating what already exists. You are publishing something that only your business can say.

Why Original Data Content Works

Most businesses already have original content sitting inside the company.

It may be hidden in:

• Client results

• Before and after campaign data

• Audit findings

• Customer surveys

• Sales trends

• Product performance data

• Internal benchmarks

The issue is that most of this information never gets packaged publicly.

To make it useful for SEO, you need to turn it into something that can be cited. That means adding clear numbers, context, methodology and conclusions.

The more specific the data, the more valuable it becomes.

The PassMeFast Example

One example from our own work is PassMeFast, a UK-based driving course company.

That campaign went on to win Best SEO Campaign at the Northern Digital Awards 2026.

Part of the reason the work had impact was because we published the process, the results and the thinking behind the campaign. That gave people, and search systems, something clear to reference.

We were not simply saying we do good SEO.

We were showing what was done, why it worked and what the outcome was.

That type of content is far more powerful than another generic SEO advice article because it proves the expertise rather than just claiming it.

How E-Commerce Brands Can Use Their Own Data

For e-commerce brands, there are plenty of opportunities to turn internal data into useful content.

You could publish insights around:

• Best-selling products in a specific category

• Seasonal buying trends

• Customer survey data

• Product comparison insights

• Common customer questions

• Industry benchmarks

• Before and after results from product usage

For example, a brand could survey 2,000 customers, publish the results, then use that data to create a research-led blog post, PR campaign or product guide.

That gives journalists, bloggers, AI platforms and customers something original to reference.

This is how brands start earning links, mentions and citations naturally.

Connect SEO to the Rest of Your Marketing

The third strategy is treating SEO as part of a wider marketing system.

This is where many brands go wrong.

SEO is often managed separately from email, paid media, social content and conversion optimisation.

That creates a problem.

Your rankings might improve, but revenue does not always follow.

If SEO is not sharing keyword data with paid media, intent signals with email, or content insights with the wider marketing team, you end up with multiple channels solving the same customer problem in different ways.

The brands getting the best results are the ones connecting these channels properly.

Why SEO Should Not Operate in Isolation

The same buyer intent that drives a search query often drives an email open, an ad click, a landing page conversion and a content engagement.

If those channels are using different language, the customer experience becomes fragmented.

But when they are aligned around the same buyer language, each channel becomes more effective.

SEO can inform paid search.

Paid search can validate commercial intent.

Email can nurture users based on the same product interests.

Content can support every stage of the journey.

This is where SEO becomes much more than a rankings channel.

It becomes part of the commercial engine.

The E-Commerce Example: 53% Organic Revenue Growth

For one e-commerce client, this connected approach made a significant difference.

They had been investing in marketing for over two years before working with us, but results were declining.

The issue was not that they were doing nothing.

The issue was that the channels were not properly connected.

We rewrote the homepage around buying intent, aligned category pages to commercial queries and improved product templates.

We then reactivated email marketing with proper segmentation tied to the same intent signals we were targeting organically.

We also improved attribution so the team could better understand which channels were driving conversions.

The results were:

• Organic search revenue grew by 53% year on year

• Email attributed revenue increased by 178%

• Ad spend dropped by 50%

• Total revenue increased by 12% after a 20% decline the previous year

That is the power of connecting SEO to the rest of the marketing system.

Aligning SEO, Email, Paid Media and SMS

For this client, mobile behaviour was especially important.

Their customers were often salon and spa owners buying products while on the go. That meant mobile visibility, email campaigns and SMS campaigns all played an important role.

Once we understood how their audience behaved, we could build a more joined-up strategy around it.

SEO improved visibility.

Email improved repeat engagement.

SMS gave the brand another direct response channel.

Paid media became more efficient because organic search was doing more of the heavy lifting.

That is the kind of system e-commerce brands should be building.

How to Apply This to Your Own Brand

A simple place to start is by pulling your top 20 converting keywords.

Then ask yourself:

• Are these keywords reflected in our category pages?

• Are they used in our paid search campaigns?

• Are they reflected in our email flows?

• Are they supported by our blog content?

• Are they visible in our product page messaging?

If the answer is no, your channels are probably moving in different directions.

Fixing that consistency can create quick wins because you are not starting from scratch. You are aligning the assets you already have around the language your customers already use.

Final Thoughts

There are always new SEO tactics being pushed online.

Some are useful. Most are overhyped.

From what we are seeing in 2026, the strategies that are actually working are the ones that build real assets.

That means:

• Video content with expert insight

• Original data that can be cited

• SEO connected to the wider marketing system

These strategies work because they are harder to fake.

They require expertise, evidence and a proper understanding of the customer journey.

And that is exactly where search is heading.

If you want a clear view of where your SEO currently stands and which strategies would deliver the fastest return for your business, you can book a free intro call with us.

We work with a small number of e-commerce and B2B brands at a time, so every client gets direct access to the specialist working on the account, without an account manager sitting in the middle.