The Exhibit A Media SEO Journal: October 2026

In October our sites held page-one Google rankings for 1,444 search phrases, and 637 of them were in the top three. Welcome to the first edition of the Exhibit A Media SEO Journal: once a month, on the first, we will open the books on the websites we manage and tell you what got better. Think of it as a report card, except nobody gets sent to the principal's office and the teacher brought snacks.

Most agencies keep this kind of information to themselves, or bury it in a dashboard with forty tabs and a colour scheme that looks like a weather map. We would rather show our work in plain English. Every search figure in this journal comes from Google's own data, explained so that a busy business owner can read it over one coffee.

One house rule before we start: we never name the businesses. Our clients trust us with their data, so each site is described only by what it does. A site described as "a notary" belongs to a notary, and that is all you will learn about them from us.

October 2026 at a glance

Here is the month in one list. The figures cover all 38 websites in our monitoring programme, including our own, for the 30 days ending October 29, 2026, compared with the 30 days before that.

• 1,444 search phrases where our sites held a page-one average position on Google, 637 of them in the top three.
• At least 71 searches moved onto page one of Google during the month, across 12 different websites. (Our monthly reports list up to ten movers per site, so the true figure is higher.)
• At least 49 searches climbed into Google's top three.
• At least 73 new searches our sites started showing up for that they had not appeared for the month before.
• Clicks from Google rose about 11% across the 33 sites with Search Console data, from 1,569 to 1,735.
• 23 sites got more clicks from Google, and 24 sites were shown in Google search more often.
• 14 sites improved their average position on Google.
• All 38 sites passed every one of their 30 nightly availability checks.

If some of those words are new to you, do not worry. The next section explains each one, no dictionary required.

What these numbers actually mean

All of the search figures in this journal come from Google Search Console, Google's free tool that shows a website owner how their site performs in Google search. We connect the sites we manage to it, read the data every night, and summarize it each month. Here is what the terms mean, using Google's own definitions from its Performance report help page.

Impressions

Google defines impressions as how many times your site appeared in search results. Think of it as the number of times your shop window was walked past. Nobody came in yet, but they saw you. More impressions means Google is showing your site for more searches, or more often for the same ones. It is usually the first number to move when SEO work starts paying off.

Clicks

A click is exactly what it sounds like: the number of times someone clicked through to your site from Google's results. This is the person who walked past the window and then opened the door.

Average position

Google describes average position as the average position of the topmost result from your site. Lower is better here, which is the one place in life where a smaller number is good news, apart from cholesterol and golf.

Page one and the top three

Google normally shows around ten regular results on the first page. When we say a search is "on page one," we mean the site's average position for that search was 10 or better. "Top three" means an average position of 3 or better. These matter because page two is where searches go to be ignored. There is an old joke in the industry that the best place to hide a body is page two of Google.

A "search"

When we count "searches," we mean distinct search phrases people typed into Google, such as "notary near me" or "how to fight a speeding ticket." So "1,444 search phrases on page one" means that, added up site by site, our sites held a page-one average position for 1,444 search phrases. A phrase that ranks for two of our sites counts once for each.

The month's highlights

Numbers across 38 sites tell you the trend. Individual stories tell you what it looks like for a real business. Here are some of October's best, with the businesses described only by what they do.

An Ontario legal information site reached the edge of the top ten

This site helps people with everyday legal problems in Ontario. In October its average position improved from 14.2 to 10.2, which put it right at the edge of page one on average. Clicks from Google rose from 67 to 101, and impressions grew from 2,880 to 4,458. At least ten individual searches moved onto page one during the month. For an information site, that is the whole game: being on the first page when someone types their question.

A self-help legal resource grew its clicks by more than a third

This site helps people who are representing themselves in Ontario courts. Clicks from Google rose from 357 to 489, and its average position improved from 11.9 to 10.9. At least ten searches moved onto page one, and at least six climbed into the top three. During the period it held page-one average positions for 277 search phrases, 108 of them in the top three.

A legal drafting service moved up nearly seven places

This service drafts legal documents for people and firms. Its average position improved from 24.9 to 18.2, clicks rose from 45 to 56, five searches moved onto page one and four climbed into the top three. During the period it held page-one average positions for 49 search phrases.

A notary saw six times the clicks

Notaries do not usually get excited about search engines, but this one might. Clicks from Google went from 11 to 69, impressions more than doubled from 383 to 862, and the site's average position improved from 15.0 to 12.6.

A traffic ticket defence firm jumped onto page one on average

This site's average position moved from 20.5 to 9.0. In plain terms, it went from the very end of page two to the bottom half of page one, on average, across the searches it appears for. Clicks tripled, from 5 to 15. The page-two-to-page-one jump is the most valuable move in SEO, because it is the difference between being hidden and being seen.

A paralegal practice became far more visible

Impressions for this practice went from 74 to 814, roughly eleven times more appearances in Google search in a single month. Clicks rose from 3 to 19. When impressions jump like this, Google is showing a site for many more searches, and the job for next month is to turn that visibility into rankings and calls.

A real estate site started earning clicks

Clicks for this real estate site went from 3 to 24, and the site's average position for October was 4.6, which means that when it appears, it usually appears near the top. Real estate is one of the most competitive categories in search, so a small site holding an average position under 5 is a good sign.

A second traffic ticket service more than halved its distance to the top

Average position improved from 28.6 to 12.8, impressions nearly doubled from 219 to 412, and two searches moved onto page one. Going from the third page of Google to the top of page two in one month puts page one within reach.

A criminal defence practice tightened its grip on the top

This site was already in the top five on average. In October it moved from 4.4 to 3.6, and clicks nearly doubled from 14 to 26. Moving up within page one matters: those extra clicks came while its impressions grew only from 151 to 172.

A traffic ticket paralegal grew its clicks and impressions

Clicks rose from 46 to 65, impressions grew from 1,961 to 2,929, and seven searches moved onto page one. Growth like this is what a healthy SEO programme looks like.

A local studio climbed six places

Average position improved from 27.9 to 21.3, impressions rose from 999 to 1,484, and three searches moved onto page one. Local studios compete hard in search, and this one is moving in the right direction.

A landlord-and-tenant practice added to its page-one rankings

This practice already ranks on page one for 263 searches. In October its average position improved from 16.4 to 14.2, and at least ten more searches moved onto page one. When you already rank well, every additional page-one search is new ground.

And a few more good signs

• A landlord legal resource site improved its average position from 42.5 to 37.3, and its impressions rose from 261 to 439.
• A second notary appeared 44 times in Google search, up from 29, with an average position of 15.4.

What we did behind the scenes

Rankings do not improve by accident. Here is some of the work that went on while our clients were busy running their businesses.

• Every site, every night. Our monitoring checked all 38 sites on each of the 30 nights in the period: whether they were online, how fast they answered, whether their security certificates were valid, and what Google and Bing reported about them. All 38 passed every nightly check.
• Monthly client reports. Each client in our reporting programme receives a plain-English report of their own numbers on the first of the month. We described how those reports work in evidence that SEO work was actually completed, because you should never have to take an agency's word for it.
• Better Bing reporting. We found that Bing was listing ordinary redirects, which are normal and healthy, as "crawl issues." On November 1 we changed our monitoring so client reports only flag real problems. Bing matters: according to StatCounter, it handled about one search in ten in Canada in October 2026. Site owners can see their own Bing data in Bing Webmaster Tools.
• New content. We published new articles across the sites in our content programme, each researched, reviewed and linked to its sources. We explain why content is the ongoing engine of SEO in what is SEO in 2027.
• Titles and descriptions. On October 30, on our own site, we gave every public page its own search title and description, checked automatically. It is unglamorous work, and it is exactly the kind of foundation Google's SEO Starter Guide recommends.

How to read a month of SEO results

If you are new to this, a monthly journal can make SEO look like a stock ticker. It is not. A few things worth knowing before you read next month's edition:

Rankings move in steps, not straight lines

Google says it regularly improves its ranking systems "through rigorous testing and evaluation," and it lists many of them in its guide to ranking systems. That means a site can hold steady for weeks and then jump. The trend over several months matters more than any single one, which is why we wrote about how long SEO takes.

Impressions usually come first

When Google starts trusting a site for a topic, it shows the site more often before it ranks it higher. Rising impressions are an early sign, which is why we count them. Clicks and calls tend to follow.

Seasons are real

Some businesses are seasonal. People search for patios in summer and for snow removal in winter. A monthly journal compares one 30-day period with the one before it, so it is a snapshot, not a verdict.

Page one is the goal, but the top three is the prize

Being on page one gets you seen. Being in the top three gets you chosen. That is why we track both, and why 637 top-three search phrases is the number in this journal we are proudest of. If you want the deeper version of which numbers matter, read the SEO metrics that matter.

What is next for November

For November, the plan is the same work we did in October:

1. Turn new visibility into rankings. Sites whose impressions jumped this month get attention on the pages Google is testing them for.
2. Push page-two searches onto page one. The searches sitting at positions 11 to 20 are the closest to a breakthrough, so they get priority.
3. Keep publishing useful content. Real answers to real client questions, on the client's own website.
4. Keep every site healthy. Nightly checks continue, and anything that slips gets fixed.

The next edition of this journal will be published on December 1, 2026, covering November.

Frequently asked questions

Where do the numbers in this journal come from?

The search figures come from Google Search Console, Google's own reporting tool, for the websites we manage. We read it every night and summarize the month. Uptime figures come from our own nightly checks of each site. The October edition covers the 30 days ending October 29, 2026, compared with the 30 days before.

Why don't you name the businesses?

Our clients trust us with their data, and their results belong to them. We describe each site only by what it does, such as "a notary" or "a traffic ticket defence firm." Each client receives their own detailed report, with their own numbers, privately.

What does "on page one of Google" mean?

It means the site's average position for a search was 10 or better, which normally places it on the first page of Google's regular results. Google defines average position as the average position of the topmost result from your site, as explained in its Performance report help page.

How often is the SEO Journal published?

On the first of every month, covering the month before. Each edition reports what improved across the websites in our monitoring programme, explained in plain English, with every search figure taken from Google's own data. The next edition is due on December 1, 2026.

Can I get a report like this for my own website?

Yes. Our weekly SEO reporting service gives you search and traffic snapshots with a human check and monthly written priorities, and it works with websites built by other teams too. Every client in our marketing programme also receives a monthly report like the ones behind this journal.

If you would like your website in next month's journal, the easiest place to start is our free AI visibility check.