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SEARCH THE SITE · ASK NORA

Type to search every page. Press Enter to ask Nora, the site assistant — she answers from what this site says and hands anything else to Michael.

Nora is the site’s assistant, not a person. She quotes no prices and makes no promises — the buttons reach one.

THE PUNCH LIST / 21 STRAIGHT ANSWERS

The questions owners search, answered straight — with the list of what to do.

A punch list is what still has to be done before the job is finished. Each post here takes one question you have probably typed into Google, gives the straight answer, then the punch list — in the order we would do it. Written by the person who does the work, for the trades we work with.

SEO / 8 posts

Getting found on Google.

The map pack, reviews, rankings that dropped, links that look wrong, and how long any of it takes.

A tangle of chain links under a magnifying glass, a few of them rusted and broken — checking a site’s backlinks

SEO / 8-minute read

How do I check for toxic backlinks, and what should I do about them?

Where to see every link to your site, the four patterns that can earn a manual action, what to do about each this week, and how to build the disavow file right.

Read the answer
A city street map seen from above with three location pins lit in gold in a row, a fourth pin in the distance still dark

SEO / 5-minute read

How do I get my business into the Google map pack?

The three things Google says decide the map pack — relevance, distance, prominence — translated into what to do on the profile, the site and the reviews.

Read the answer
Five large star shapes on a shelf, four polished bright gold and one being buffed with a cloth, a small teal speech bubble beside them

SEO / 5-minute read

How do I get more Google reviews — and what do I do about a bad one?

The ask that works — same day, by text, with the direct link — the reply routine, what Google’s policy forbids, and the calm way to answer a one-star review.

Read the answer
A small storefront half hidden in fog at night while a lighthouse beam sweeps past above it and misses

SEO / 4-minute read

Why isn’t my website showing up on Google?

The nine reasons a site is missing from Google, from most to least likely — not indexed, blocked, too new, too thin, too slow — and the five-minute test.

Read the answer
A young tree beside a large hourglass, a trail of stepping stones with mile markers leading up a gentle hill behind them

SEO / 5-minute read

How long does SEO take to work?

What moves in the first weeks, what takes a quarter, what takes a year, and why — for a local service business, with the signs it is working before the calls.

Read the answer
A rising stair-step line drawn as a mountain ridge that drops off a cliff, a magnifying glass held over the edge of the drop

SEO / 5-minute read

Why did my Google rankings drop, and how do I find the cause?

The one-hour diagnosis — was it the site, the profile, Google or a competitor, in that order — with the report to open for each. Most drops are not penalties.

Read the answer
A shiny gold fishing lure shaped like a small trophy dangling on a line in dark teal water, a hook visible beneath it

SEO / 5-minute read

How do I tell if an SEO company is a scam?

The guarantees, the calls “from Google,” the vanity-phrase report, the site you never own — twelve red flags, the questions that expose them, the honest way.

Read the answer
A lone map pin standing on a dark grid while a hand at the edge of the frame tips a pile of rusted chain links toward it — a competitor trying to bury a site

SEO / 13-minute read

Is a competitor sabotaging my SEO, and what do I do about it right now?

How competitors play dirty — spam links, fake reviews, profile edits, copied pages, a hack, drained ad clicks — how to catch each fast, and what to fix first.

Read the answer

The long version / 10 guides

When a term needs the full definition.

The posts are the short, practical answers. The guides are the long ones: what AI SEO is, how each engine decides whom to name, what llms.txt is for.

The AI SEO guides The glossary

FAQ / Answers

About The Punch List

Why is it called The Punch List?

A punch list is what a contractor calls the list of what still has to be done before a job is finished. Every post here takes one question owners search, gives the straight answer, and then the punch list: what to do about it, in order. It is written for the trades we work with, in their words.

Who writes these posts?

Michael Blair, the founder of Nashville’s Web Design, who builds and runs every layer of the work the posts describe — the sites, the local and AI SEO, the ads and the automation — for clients and for the company’s own Middle Tennessee trade sites, where the methods are tested first. Every post carries the date it was last updated.

Can I do what the posts say myself?

Yes — that is how they are written. Most punch lists can be worked through by an owner in an afternoon, and the free scan and the free AI answer check on this site show you which items apply to you. When you would rather have it done, each post says what we would do and how to start.

How are the posts different from the guides?

The guides are the long definitions: what AI SEO is, how each engine decides, what llms.txt is for. The posts are shorter and practical: one searched question, one straight answer, one list of things to do. The posts link to the guides wherever a term needs the long version.

NEXT STEP

Rather have the punch list done than read it?

Tell us your trade and your city. Before we call, we check what Google and the AI engines say about you, so the first conversation is about what is actually on your list.

We respond immediately. Call Book a strategy call