Hey friends, today I’m coming at you with a spicier episode. I’m sharing some unpopular opinions I have about blogging and SEO in 2026.
And listen, like everything in business, there is nuance. I’m not saying people who believe otherwise are “wrong.” I just feel like—this is true for the content I share too—there’s always more to the story. Obviously, on this marketing podcast I try to really show behind the scenes and talk about pros and cons. Sometimes that can feel a bit wishy-washy.
However, these are truly unpopular opinions I have about blogging and SEO in 2026—specifically what’s working now, what I think is a waste of your time (that people will still try to sell you as a solution), and what you might be missing out on.
Table of Contents
1. I Don’t Love The “Capsule Blog” Trend
And I know… I feel like the idea of a capsule blog sounds so sexy. It’s like: blog a few times, tell everyone what they need to know, and when people find you, they can binge your five, ten, or twelve topics—whatever it is. That’s all you need. You don’t need to blog consistently, blah blah blah.
I get it.
And let me say this: I do think there is some value there. If you cannot blog consistently—or you won’t, and you’re not prioritizing it—I get it. We can’t be on all platforms all the time, everywhere. I really do understand that.
Obviously, I believe blogging should be a non-negotiable. But if it’s not, you’re the business owner, right?
What I feel, though, is that this idea in the online space is being perpetuated by people who are selling you something—maybe a course, maybe blogging services (which I’ll get into in my next unpopular opinion).
It’s this idea that almost eases guilt. If you hear someone like me saying, “Blog, blog, blog,” you can instead invest in something like this and say, “Well, I blog—I have a capsule blog.”
And to add nuance: I’m thinking of someone specific who really teaches this concept, and this is not against her. What she teaches isn’t actually SEO. She’s saying: if people land on your website, they’ll have everything they need, it’s bingeable, and it’s great.
And I actually do love that from a user experience perspective.
But I think what happens is we hear so many SEO and blogging messages that we project that onto this offer (even though that’s not what she’s teaching).
If you think a capsule blog is going to help your SEO… I mean, it will a bit. Every blog is an opportunity to rank. But if you think that’s enough for Google to become your number one source of leads… I have doubts.
Unless you’re in a very specific field. If you’re a plumber or HVAC company competing with others who don’t blog at all, then yes, a capsule blog might be enough to get found locally and give you an edge.
But if you’re in the wedding industry, or you’re a website designer or copywriter—I just don’t think it’s enough. It’s not enough.
Blogging as both an SEO tool and a conversion tool.
It should help you get found on Google, and it should convert people into the next step of working with you—absolutely.
But do I think a capsule blog is enough for you to say, “Blogging is one of my marketing channels”? I do not. And that’s fine—but I do think that’s an unpopular opinion.
It’s much more popular to tell people they don’t have to do the full amount of work required.
I was actually thinking about this the other day because I’m trying to grow on YouTube, and it’s slow going, which I expected. But when I see other people doing well, I can clearly see they’re putting in more effort. More editing, more B-roll—they’re just doing more.
And that’s why they’re seeing better results.
That’s how I feel about capsule blogging. It might be enough to check a box and feel like you’ve done something—and you have. I’m not saying it’s worse than nothing. But I don’t think it’s equivalent to a true blogging-for-SEO strategy.
Which brings me to my next point.
2. I don’t think you should be paying $400 to $500 per blog post.
Honestly, AI is one of the main reasons I’m able to keep my done-for-you services truly done for you—from idea to execution, to publishing, to optimization, to the actual writing for a lower investment amount. Every single step is handled with very little effort on your part.
The only reason I can offer that at an affordable rate is because I use AI (head here to read my thoughts on hiring writers that don’t use AI). I also have a membership—which, by the way, if you’re interested, I’m so excited. We kicked it off this month and I’m genuinely so happy with it so far.
If you want details for when it opens again in Q3, definitely get on the waitlist.
But overall, I feel like using AI-supported blogs that are designed to rank is a better use of your time and money than paying $400 to $500 per post.
Because you can’t sustain that.
Most small business owners can’t sustain hiring someone long-term at that rate.
I see this all the time. And again, I’m not trying to compare or call anyone out but I do pay attention to what others in my space are doing and charging. I consistently see pricing around that $400 mark. But when I look at their testimonials or their clients, I often don’t see active blogs.
And I think it’s because someone hires a writer, who I’m sure is fantastic, and they get one really great blog post. But they can’t keep going.
You’re not going to hire someone for four blog posts a month at that rate. You’re not going to spend $2,000 a month on blogging… right?
And honestly, I don’t think you should.
3. More is more when it comes to blogging.
I really feel strongly about this.
There are definitely two schools of thought here, and I’m not saying one is right and one is wrong—but I personally believe more is more.
Instead of finding one “perfect” topic and obsessing over it—trying to rank for it and pouring everything into that one piece of content—I think it’s better to publish more.
I don’t want to say “throw spaghetti at the wall,” but… put more blog posts out there. See what performs. Then optimize those.
I have blog posts that rank really well that I never would have expected to perform.
Of course, I go into every post expecting it to rank—I know what I’m doing, and I’m putting out strong content. Otherwise, I wouldn’t be doing it.
But that doesn’t mean I can predict what will take off.
For example, one of my top-performing posts is a book review of 10x Is Easier Than 2x. I never would have expected that to be such a major traffic driver.
But because it is, I’ve gone back in and optimized it.
If I had been overly focused on only blogging about the “right” topics, I probably never would have written that post.
And I do think that would have been a mistake.
So yes, I believe more is more when it comes to blogging, most of the time.
That’s also why I created the blogging membership: for people who can’t hire me, but still want to do this themselves with the help of AI and my strategy built into the tools.
But overall, I just feel like… we need to be blogging once a week.
It’s 2026. Markets are saturated. It’s competitive.
And if you want blogging to be a significant driver of clients, I’m not talking about one random client every six months, you need consistency.
If you want it to be a significant driver of clients for you, more is more. More topics is better than fewer topics. And you will get better at blogging over time.
I’m not saying put out garbage, okay? I’m not saying to ask ChatGPT to write something and just copy and paste it—because that’s not typically going to rank.
Google doesn’t penalize AI content, but tools like ChatGPT or Claude usually produce average content—an average of what’s already online. And Google isn’t putting average content on page one.
But I do think: put more content out, try more topics, and then optimize the ones that start ranking and converting. That’s a better use of your time.
A Print On Demand Example
This kind of reminds me of when I fell down a print-on-demand rabbit hole on TikTok a couple of years ago. If you don’t know, “it’s “print on demand” is a business model where you are basically creating designs for things like t-shirts and drop-shipping them.
One of the common frameworks in that space is: 2–5% of your products will drive the majority of your revenue.
I feel like blogging is similar.
Hopefully, the percentage is higher—but the idea still applies. The more you put out there, the better your chances of getting results, compared to obsessing over a handful of posts or investing heavily in just a few. Because it’s not enough.
And I also don’t think that if you’re not maintaining your blog, it’s going to work long-term.
Most of the time—not always, but most of the time—when people hire someone for a one-off blog post, they don’t keep it going.
They just don’t.
I’ve seen this in my own business and in others’. If you outsource a few posts, you’re typically not going to suddenly find the time to continue blogging consistently.
I know the intentions are good—but that’s just not what usually happens.
4. It’s a red flag if people selling SEO services aren’t doing the work themselves.
I’m talking about people who are Instagram-famous…
And listen, this isn’t me hating on anyone. People market their businesses in different ways. They have different values, different strategies, different reasons.
And yes—SEO is hard to prioritize, especially as an SEO professional, because you’re competing with people who really know what they’re doing.
I get that.
Using Instagram to supplement your marketing? Totally valid. I’ve done that myself—you guys know that if you’ve been listening for a while (and why I quit Instagram).
But if you’re selling a marketing service that you’re not actively using, it makes me question whether you really believe in it.
If you truly believe you can market your business without social media, wouldn’t it be more compelling to actually do that and show it?
I just feel like we see this a lot online (people not doing what they say). It’s always “do as I say, not as I do.”
It’s like a social media manager who doesn’t post on their own account. Or a website designer whose site is still on a “coming soon” page.
I don’t know… maybe I’m just getting older and a little saltier but I find myself thinking, why aren’t you doing the thing?
And again, if someone is using both SEO and Instagram, that’s different.
But if you’re telling me this is the best strategy, and then you’re not actually doing it, I expect you to be walking the walk.
And this goes beyond just SEO and blogging in 2026.
I think we’re in a bit of a trust recession right now. We’ve talked about it on the podcast before, and I feel like everyone is talking about it.
Because of that, I think we need to pay more attention to what people are doing, not just what they’re saying.
For example, I was on an email list recently for a course about email marketing.
And I loved it because she was using email to sell an email marketing course.
That makes sense.
From her emails, I could clearly see her values and get a feel for what she would teach.
I’m not saying that replaces taking the course but it does help you understand if you’re aligned with that person. I think we should be buying from people whose strategies align with what we want. And how can we do that if we don’t see what they’re doing??
I’m tired of watching people who tell you there’s a simple one-hour-a-week Instagram formula—while their own content involves high-production videos, costumes, B-roll, and a whole team behind the scenes.
So I guess what I’m saying, based on everything in this episode, is: question everything.
Honestly, I didn’t expect the episode to go in this direction… but I just recorded two YouTube videos, so I’m feeling a little extra chatty.
Investing in Blogging and SEO in 2026
I’m a little worked up right now, but I feel like we have more options than ever—and we need to decide if we’re actually aligned with what we’re following.
Do we really believe in what we’re being told? Or are we just getting swept up in the momentum?
Are we investing in things we don’t actually want? Things we don’t actually want to do?
And I’ll say this—I’m really trying to walk the walk. I’m not perfect. I would never claim that.
But I’ve had moments where I’ve thought, “If I’m telling people they can run their business without social media… why am I not fully doing that myself?”
I talked about this in my “I quit Instagram” episode.
Because I truly believe it’s possible. I know it’s possible. And I’m actively working toward that in my own life and business.
One of my favorite recent interviews on the podcast was with Sabrina Gebhart. We talked about embodying the kind of business you’re selling—actually living what you’re teaching. And that conversation really made me reflect.
I was like, “Yeah… I say you don’t have to work after 9 PM… so why am I opening my laptop at 9 PM?”
Or, “If I believe that search-driven marketing is the best way to grow a business, why am I not doubling down on it even more?”
Since making those shifts, I’ve honestly felt so much better.
So if you’re at a crossroads right now, I hope this gives you some encouragement.
These are my honest opinions about blogging and SEO in 2026 (and about what’s being sold in the online space right now).
I also have a full episode on what’s currently working with blogging in 2026, which I’ll link in the show notes if you want to go deeper.
And I know I’ve said this a few times, but I want to say it again—this is not me knocking anyone else.
Everyone is doing their best. There’s always another side to things.
Of course, you could say, “Well, she’s telling you to blog because that’s what she sells.”
And that’s fair.
I respect what my peers and competitors are doing—even when they have different opinions than me. That’s just part of business.
So I’m going to wrap it up here.
I love you so much, and I’ll talk to you next week.
LINKS MENTIONED
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