Writing on SEO, AI search, marketing, philosophy, and assorted other things by Tom Dehnel.https://tomdehnel.com/https://tomdehnel.com/blog/the-labor-theory-of-knowledge/https://tomdehnel.com/blog/the-labor-theory-of-knowledge/There's a belief I keep running into, usually from people who are proud of how hard they worked to learn something. They say you can't really know a field unless you've struggled through it yourself.…Tue, 26 May 2026 00:00:00 GMThttps://tomdehnel.com/blog/the-myth-of-the-data-driven-discovery-a-popperian-critique-of-induction/https://tomdehnel.com/blog/the-myth-of-the-data-driven-discovery-a-popperian-critique-of-induction/Most people think science comes from "induction", which is the process of distilling laws from repeated observations.Tue, 24 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMThttps://tomdehnel.com/blog/content-writing-guidelines-writing-for-human-trust-which-drives-ai-citations/https://tomdehnel.com/blog/content-writing-guidelines-writing-for-human-trust-which-drives-ai-citations/Thu, 19 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMThttps://tomdehnel.com/blog/the-end-of-best-practices-how-ai-forces-us-to-finally-be-creative/https://tomdehnel.com/blog/the-end-of-best-practices-how-ai-forces-us-to-finally-be-creative/I've gotten some reactions from people who have sort of “midwit” interpreted some of my past writing as anti-AI, but that is completely wrong and I love using AI and I think it’s great.Tue, 17 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMThttps://tomdehnel.com/blog/moana-is-a-story-about-today/https://tomdehnel.com/blog/moana-is-a-story-about-today/The island gives us what we need. And no one leaves.Wed, 04 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMThttps://tomdehnel.com/blog/the-myth-of-stem-and-the-hard-sciences/https://tomdehnel.com/blog/the-myth-of-stem-and-the-hard-sciences/People assume that STEM fields are somehow more valuable or serious because they are "reality-based," while the humanities are merely matters of opinion.Fri, 02 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMThttps://tomdehnel.com/blog/the-freedom-of-speech-isnt-freedom-from-consequences-fallacy/https://tomdehnel.com/blog/the-freedom-of-speech-isnt-freedom-from-consequences-fallacy/The "freedom of speech isn’t freedom from consequences" line has become one of the more common online canned responses in debate. It's a conversation-ender designed to sound like common sense. But it's actually a rhetorical…Mon, 22 Dec 2025 00:00:00 GMThttps://tomdehnel.com/blog/do-llms-trust-some-sources-more-than-others/https://tomdehnel.com/blog/do-llms-trust-some-sources-more-than-others/The short answer is yes. While system prompts generally do not contain a list of specific trusted publishers with associated scores (e.g., "Weight the New York Times at 1.0 and a Blogspot site at 0.2"),…Thu, 04 Dec 2025 00:00:00 GMThttps://tomdehnel.com/blog/the-culture-of-progress/https://tomdehnel.com/blog/the-culture-of-progress/For 99% of human history, our default culture has been static. Most people never saw any real improvements in their lives. And if nothing can improve, why even try?Thu, 30 Oct 2025 00:00:00 GMThttps://tomdehnel.com/blog/ai-search/https://tomdehnel.com/blog/ai-search/To show up in AI search results, you’ll need to make a few tweaks to your SEO program. The good news is if you’re already doing SEO at a high level (like my clients), then…Fri, 13 Jun 2025 00:00:00 GMThttps://tomdehnel.com/blog/dunning-kruger-but-for-smart-people/https://tomdehnel.com/blog/dunning-kruger-but-for-smart-people/Smart people may be dumber than dumb people, because they have access to more ways to fool themselves and overestimate their understanding.Tue, 03 Jun 2025 00:00:00 GMThttps://tomdehnel.com/blog/cultural-problems-preventing-progress/https://tomdehnel.com/blog/cultural-problems-preventing-progress/One thing these beliefs have in common is to the person who holds them, it really feels like they are doing something positive. In actuality the beliefs are self-defeating and the according behaviors stifle progress…Tue, 01 Apr 2025 00:00:00 GMThttps://tomdehnel.com/blog/government-funded-progress/https://tomdehnel.com/blog/government-funded-progress/Thu, 27 Mar 2025 00:00:00 GMThttps://tomdehnel.com/blog/why-you-need-an-expert-to-manage-your-link-building/https://tomdehnel.com/blog/why-you-need-an-expert-to-manage-your-link-building/Tue, 07 Jan 2025 00:00:00 GMThttps://tomdehnel.com/blog/how-ai-changed-the-seo-content-game-and-what-still-matters/https://tomdehnel.com/blog/how-ai-changed-the-seo-content-game-and-what-still-matters/For years, producing SEO content has been a grind. Companies aiming to dominate organic search faced an uphill battle to meet the demand for fresh, high-quality content.Thu, 10 Oct 2024 00:00:00 GMThttps://tomdehnel.com/blog/value-your-time-trash-belongs-in-landfills/https://tomdehnel.com/blog/value-your-time-trash-belongs-in-landfills/With a lot of Amazon returns, it’s a pointless waste of time to send the thing back to Amazon and you should throw it away instead.Mon, 16 Sep 2024 00:00:00 GMThttps://tomdehnel.com/blog/what-is-woke-definition/https://tomdehnel.com/blog/what-is-woke-definition/I don't mean this post to be critical so much as descriptive. A lot of times when people say something is "woke" they are trying to describe it, not necessarily be pejorative. So I figured…Mon, 10 Jun 2024 00:00:00 GMThttps://tomdehnel.com/blog/democracy-exists-to-correct-errors-not-build-consensus/https://tomdehnel.com/blog/democracy-exists-to-correct-errors-not-build-consensus/People often think of democracy as a sort of "majority rule" system, where everyone gets to vote on leaders and laws and the result is that the largest number of people are happy.Thu, 27 Jul 2023 00:00:00 GMThttps://tomdehnel.com/blog/crushing-the-myth-of-late-stage-capitalism/https://tomdehnel.com/blog/crushing-the-myth-of-late-stage-capitalism/Capitalism is the only economic system that includes reliable, built-in incentives to solve problems by organically removing bad ideas, products, and companies, and replacing them with better ones in a reasonable time frame, without violence.Tue, 28 Mar 2023 00:00:00 GMThttps://tomdehnel.com/blog/the-word-impact-doesnt-have-any-impact-at-all/https://tomdehnel.com/blog/the-word-impact-doesnt-have-any-impact-at-all/The growing use of the word "impact" to speak passively is weakening the English language.Wed, 10 Aug 2022 00:00:00 GMThttps://tomdehnel.com/blog/identity-debt-the-future-cost-of-being-you/https://tomdehnel.com/blog/identity-debt-the-future-cost-of-being-you/They say you can be anything you want to be, but they never mention the cost of maintenance.Mon, 08 Aug 2022 00:00:00 GMThttps://tomdehnel.com/blog/principles/https://tomdehnel.com/blog/principles/1. Writing out my thoughts helps me find errors in my thinking. 2. Stating my principles publicly helps me stay accountable.Mon, 20 Jun 2022 00:00:00 GMThttps://tomdehnel.com/blog/page-speed-benefits-of-a-fast-website-for-seo/https://tomdehnel.com/blog/page-speed-benefits-of-a-fast-website-for-seo/By now, anyone with even a single toe dipped into the SEO world has heard Google’s message loud and clear: Page speed and experience are ranking factors (and have been since 2010) and can directly…Thu, 29 Jul 2021 00:00:00 GMThttps://tomdehnel.com/blog/wikipedia-brand-pages-for-seo-a-good-idea/https://tomdehnel.com/blog/wikipedia-brand-pages-for-seo-a-good-idea/I’ve been asked a couple of times by clients whether they should make a Wikipedia page for their brand. Usually, they want to know if a Wikipedia page will be a good thing for SEO.Tue, 20 Oct 2020 00:00:00 GMThttps://tomdehnel.com/blog/how-to-fix-broken-backlinks/https://tomdehnel.com/blog/how-to-fix-broken-backlinks/In this post, I'll show you the method I use with my clients to identify and fix broken backlinks.Wed, 29 Jul 2020 00:00:00 GMThttps://tomdehnel.com/blog/the-100-year-workout-plan/https://tomdehnel.com/blog/the-100-year-workout-plan/What kind of exercise plan could you do for the next 100 years?Wed, 20 May 2020 00:00:00 GMThttps://tomdehnel.com/blog/why-content-quality-matters-for-seo/https://tomdehnel.com/blog/why-content-quality-matters-for-seo/If you want to do SEO well, you’re going to have to learn to make better quality content.Tue, 12 May 2020 00:00:00 GMThttps://tomdehnel.com/blog/what-is-russell-conjugation/https://tomdehnel.com/blog/what-is-russell-conjugation/Russell Conjugation is when someone chooses different words to describe something, depending on how favorable they want to be to the thing they are describing.Sun, 10 May 2020 00:00:00 GMThttps://tomdehnel.com/blog/how-to-be-wise-about-working-from-home/https://tomdehnel.com/blog/how-to-be-wise-about-working-from-home/I work from home every day as an SEO consultant, and I've got a few years of work-from-home experience that I think would be useful to share.Tue, 11 Feb 2020 00:00:00 GMThttps://tomdehnel.com/blog/39-ways-companies-stack-the-deck-against-you-in-the-job-interview-process/https://tomdehnel.com/blog/39-ways-companies-stack-the-deck-against-you-in-the-job-interview-process/Updated September 2020.Thu, 30 Jan 2020 00:00:00 GMThttps://tomdehnel.com/blog/how-to-use-keyword-research-for-seo/https://tomdehnel.com/blog/how-to-use-keyword-research-for-seo/I wrote this article to help content writers use keyword research in their writing. It assumes the keyword research is already completed, and you're sitting down to write/edit with that list of keywords in front…Tue, 07 Jan 2020 00:00:00 GMThttps://tomdehnel.com/blog/best-pizza-in-san-francisco/https://tomdehnel.com/blog/best-pizza-in-san-francisco/Sat, 28 Dec 2019 00:00:00 GMThttps://tomdehnel.com/blog/b2b-vs-b2c-seo-dont-make-this-mistake/https://tomdehnel.com/blog/b2b-vs-b2c-seo-dont-make-this-mistake/As an SEO Consultant, one of the questions I hear a lot is “Do you mainly do SEO for B2B companies, or are you more of a B2C consultant?”Fri, 27 Sep 2019 00:00:00 GMThttps://tomdehnel.com/blog/time-management-or-how-to-control-your-destiny-by-ignoring-slack-sometimes/https://tomdehnel.com/blog/time-management-or-how-to-control-your-destiny-by-ignoring-slack-sometimes/I used to think time management was about designing the perfect schedule. It seemed like if I crack my own code and discover the optimal time to complete tasks throughout the day, I could tailor…Fri, 29 Mar 2019 00:00:00 GMThttps://tomdehnel.com/blog/monthly-seo-packages-how-to-get-the-most-for-your-budget/https://tomdehnel.com/blog/monthly-seo-packages-how-to-get-the-most-for-your-budget/As a small businesses owner, the deck is stacked against you when it comes to search engine optimization (SEO). You’re often competing in the search results page with websites and businesses much larger than yours,…Thu, 07 Mar 2019 00:00:00 GMThttps://tomdehnel.com/blog/seo-value-of-backlinks/https://tomdehnel.com/blog/seo-value-of-backlinks/Thu, 28 Feb 2019 00:00:00 GMThttps://tomdehnel.com/blog/theyre-just-robots-morty-or-how-seo-people-overestimate-the-intelligence-of-google/https://tomdehnel.com/blog/theyre-just-robots-morty-or-how-seo-people-overestimate-the-intelligence-of-google/Take a walk south of Market Street here in San Francisco and you can't help but feel it. From the well-known tech logos displayed on the buildings to the electric bicycles, skateboards, and unicycles zipping…Fri, 05 Oct 2018 00:00:00 GMThttps://tomdehnel.com/blog/principles-not-procedures/https://tomdehnel.com/blog/principles-not-procedures/At age 14, my first job ever was "hot dog man" at a baseball stadium. In hot dog sales you have a very simple script: Take this tray of hot dogs and walk around the…Thu, 24 May 2018 00:00:00 GMThttps://tomdehnel.com/blog/what-if-leadgen-were-more-like-a-conversation/https://tomdehnel.com/blog/what-if-leadgen-were-more-like-a-conversation/Instead of forcing a customer to fill out a lead form, why not discover their information the same way real people do? I think it's really cool that any business can have a basic lead…Wed, 07 Mar 2018 00:00:00 GMThttps://tomdehnel.com/blog/instantly-give-yourself-more-and-better-content-marketing-topics/https://tomdehnel.com/blog/instantly-give-yourself-more-and-better-content-marketing-topics/Obsessively persistent. That’s how brands have to be if they want to deliver good content marketing results. It’s definitely not good enough to have a writer churning out blog posts once a month. You have…Thu, 15 Feb 2018 00:00:00 GMThttps://tomdehnel.com/blog/why-you-should-never-fall-in-love-with-the-creative/https://tomdehnel.com/blog/why-you-should-never-fall-in-love-with-the-creative/It’s the process (not the individual pieces) of content marketing that win the game in the long run.Sun, 07 Jan 2018 00:00:00 GMThttps://tomdehnel.com/blog/a-masterful-performance-how-trump-used-differentiation-marketing-to-win-an-election/https://tomdehnel.com/blog/a-masterful-performance-how-trump-used-differentiation-marketing-to-win-an-election/I’m not really a political guy. I just love good marketing. And that’s why the way President Elect Trump won this election was so fascinating to me.Wed, 09 Nov 2016 00:00:00 GMThttps://tomdehnel.com/blog/get-something-up/https://tomdehnel.com/blog/get-something-up/For anyone considering a new idea, the best piece of advice I have is this: get something up.Fri, 19 Aug 2016 00:00:00 GMThttps://tomdehnel.com/blog/memento-mori/https://tomdehnel.com/blog/memento-mori/We're all going to die. “Hoo boy. That’s a morbid thought,” you’re thinking. And you’re technically correct…but here’s why it’s actually the most positive thought you’re going to have all day:Wed, 03 Aug 2016 00:00:00 GMT