Shalin Siriwardhana

Search, growth, and digital strategy notes.

Personal notes on SEO, AI search, content strategy, and durable organic growth.

A person holding a smartphone in a brightly lit cafe, scrolling through a news website where a small, clear "Free" badge is visible next to a headline.

Notes / SEO / Oct 17, 2026

The Real Reason the New York Times Puts Free Content First

Not every article needs to drive an immediate subscription. Nor is it going to. Making selected articles free to air helps. The practical question is what this changes for SEO, content quality, and AI search visibility.

6 min read

A close up shot of a person's hand holding a smartphone showing a Google Search Console screen with a "Crawled - currently not indexed" status message.

Notes / SEO / Oct 16, 2026

It’s Possible Your Migration Issues May Be Due to Site Quality

I believe that not only does a site migration trigger a new review of site quality from Google, but also that Google's standards. The practical question is what this changes for SEO, content quality, and AI search visibility.

6 min read

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Notes / SEO / Oct 16, 2026

Google Takes Applications for a UGC Pipeline Separate from Crawling

The Search Central documentation changelog links to the page under the entry for Oct. 8: "Added documentation on the UGC Fresh. The practical question is what this changes for SEO, content quality, and AI search visibility.

9 min read

A close up shot of a person holding a smartphone displaying a search result for a financial services company, while wearing a high quality athletic leggings garment.

Notes / SEO / Oct 15, 2026

How Entity Confusion Can Hurt Your Brand’s AI Visibility

A practical view on How Entity Confusion Can Hurt Your Brand’s AI Visibility, focused on the signal to inspect, the risk to avoid, and the decision it should change.

6 min read

A close up shot of a person's thumb hovering over a smartphone screen, where a single "Web" filter button is visible beneath a large block of AI generated text.

Notes / SEO / Oct 15, 2026

SERPs Stop Being the Default Between 2028 & 2030

In May 2024, Google launched a "Web" filter that shows only text based links, sitting alongside Images, Videos, and News or. The practical question is what this changes for SEO, content quality, and AI search visibility.

7 min read

A close-up shot of a person's hand holding a smartphone displaying a Google search results page, with a physical notebook and a pen resting on a wooden table beside it.

Notes / SEO / Oct 15, 2026

96.8% Chance of a Panda Style Update Within a Month According to Prediction Model Signals

Panda rolled out in February 2011 and was a site level quality classifier. Google trained it on human judgments of pages and. The practical question is what this changes for SEO, content quality, and AI search visibility.

7 min read

A close up shot of a person's hand holding a smartphone displaying a website with a perfect 100 PageSpeed Insights score, resting on a clean white marble surface.

Notes / SEO / Oct 15, 2026

Coywolf Pack EmDash SEO Plugin Makes Sites Absurdly Fast

There are many people who are using AI to generate all manner of plugins and software but the developer of the Coywolf pack, Jon. The practical question is what this changes for SEO, content quality, and AI search visibility.

8 min read

A close up shot of a person's hand holding a smartphone displaying a YouTube video player with a technical SEO discussion on the screen.

Notes / SEO / Oct 15, 2026

Google Launches a Video Series for Odd Technical SEO Questions

A trailer released by Google on Oct. 6 says that the show "The Non Canonical Cabinet" is a sitcom style comedy based off specific. The practical question is what this changes for SEO, content quality, and AI search visibility.

6 min read

A close up shot of a person's hand holding a smartphone displaying a chat interface with text in French, resting on a wooden cafe table next to a small espresso cup.

Notes / SEO / Oct 15, 2026

What Language Should You Track AI Prompts In?

A practical view on What Language Should You Track AI Prompts In?, focused on the signal to inspect, the risk to avoid, and the decision it should change.

6 min read

Notes / SEO / Oct 15, 2026

Your Brand Can Win the Mention and Lose the Citation

A practical view on Your Brand Can Win the Mention and Lose the Citation, focused on the signal to inspect, the risk to avoid, and the decision it should change.

6 min read