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Lisa Freeman

Lisa Freeman

Lisa Freeman is a web strategist, founder of 18a and fractional Technical Director.

She started her career over 20 years ago as a coder and now is primarily a “communication bridge” between developers (or tools) and clients, explaining complicated web decisions in easy to understand ways.

Join her weekly newsletter to stay up to date with her latest web explainer blog posts and helpful tips for understanding your website.

Articles by Lisa Freeman

Google reviews - the rules have changed

Google’s updated review rules: what you need to know (and what to do about it)

If you’ve been asking customers for Google reviews – and you absolutely should be – there are some updated rules from Google that are worth knowing about. Nothing too scary, but a few things that might make you rethink how you’re asking. Let me walk you through what’s changed, share a couple of bits that […]

Google search console

5 really useful things you can do with Google Search Console data

There's an enormous opportunity with Google Search Console to really get the best results from things that are very nearly working for you already.

Why we built SiteVitals at exactly the right moment – and what smart investors are confirming about that.

I watched a reel recently where Charlie Weavers-Wright, a venture capitalist, was explaining why investors have stopped chasing AI application layer startups. What he said mapped almost perfectly onto the thing we’ve spent the last few months building. The LLM wrapper problem The argument he was making is this: the tools that do little more […]

Is your website actually yours?

Over the past decade, hosted platforms like Shopify and Squarespace have become incredibly popular. They’ve made it possible for almost anyone to launch a website or an online store without needing to understand servers or code. That convenience has been transformative. Designers can build and sell websites more easily, small businesses can launch stores in […]

API vs MCP

API vs MCP – what’s the difference and when would you use each?

If you’ve been spending any time in the world of AI tools lately, you’ve probably started hearing the term MCP being thrown around. And if you already know what an API is, you might be wondering how MCP is any different – or whether it’s just a fancy new word for the same thing. It’s […]

Do you need to be polite to AI?

How much does AI actually cost – and should you say please?

Someone asked me this week how much AI tokens cost. And the honest answer is: it depends. Which I know is a frustrating answer, but bear with me - it's actually quite interesting once you understand what's going on under the hood.

Why reviews and testimonials count more than ever – and how to display them

It’s always been a good idea to have social proof on your website – reviews or testimonials from happy customers and past clients. But now it’s more important than ever in order to help AI recommend you. AI wants to give the right answer – and it doesn’t know if you’re any good! So that’s […]

Will ChatGPT ads kill SEO?

If you’ve been reading headlines about ChatGPT ads, AI overviews, or Google’s Gemini, you might be wondering: Is this the end of SEO? Again. Every other year something makes people doubt SEO, but so far, it’s stuck around. I’d say that for the time being the answer is no – but the landscape is evolving, […]

Conversational CTAs: Do you need to make this copywriting shift for brand discovery?

There’s an increasing amount of talk at the moment – especially with ChatGPT ads on the horizon – about conversational ads, AI discovery, and how we need to start writing differently for tools like ChatGPT and Gemini. BUT… I personally don’t think it’s anything new. It’s how I’ve always written for SEO, and how you […]

ChatGPT Ads: 5 things Marketers need to know in 2026

ChatGPT ads are coming, so here’s what it means for your marketing.

AI can read images – so how does that change SEO?

Now AI can read images, can we use words in graphics?

UTM tags in GA4

Measuring website traffic from a specific source

How can you know where your visitors are coming from? How to set up UTM tags and then check traffic sources in GA4.