Six months after this series started, 1418 is on page one of Google for “Cumbria SEO”. A UK search in a private window on 7 November shows it as the third organic result, and the AI Overview for the same search now names 1418 from the UK as well, which it did not do a month ago.
| # | Post | Date | Key metric |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Building a Website That Ranks — SEO Diary 1 | 6 May 2026 | Baseline established |
| 2 | Building a Website That Ranks — SEO Diary 2 | 5 June 2026 | 2,260 impressions, AEO 38 → 70 |
| 3 | Building a Website That Ranks — SEO Diary 3 | 4 July 2026 | AEO 70 → 88, SEO page converting clicks |
| 4 | Building a Website That Ranks — SEO Diary 4 | 7 August 2026 | Average position 41.4 → 25.6, AEO 88 → 81 |
| 5 | Building a Website That Ranks — SEO Diary 5 | 5 September 2026 | Named in an AI Overview, AEO 81 → 85 |
| 6 | Building a Website That Ranks — SEO Diary 6 | 3 October 2026 | Hosting searches in the top five, AEO 85 → 87 |
| 7 | Building a Website That Ranks — SEO Diary 7 | 7 November 2026 | Page one for “Cumbria SEO”, position 3 in the UK |
For reference, the launch post explains the plan in full.
Page one
The goal set in May was page one for “Cumbria SEO”. In a UK private window on 7 November, 1418 is the third result, behind seocumbria.uk and Singing SEO and ahead of several agencies that have been around far longer.
A private window matters here. A normal browser can flatter a site you visit often, which is why last month’s diary treated the private window result, second on page two, as the real one. This month the private window is the one showing page one.
One detail is worth recording. The page ranking is the homepage, not the SEO and AEO page that was built to carry this term. The homepage title leads with Cumbria SEO and web design, so Google has picked the broader page. With the site at position three, nothing is being changed to push the SEO page up instead. Moving a page one result to suit a plan is a bigger risk than leaving it where it is.
The AI Overview, from the UK this time
Last month’s diary corrected the original AI Overview claim: the citation showed from outside the UK but not from inside it. That has changed. On 25 October 1418 started appearing in the overview for UK searches, and by 27 October it was more prominent.
In one version 1418 is third in the list of local providers, and 1418.co.uk is the first source card beside the answer. In another, Google describes 1418 as delivering “practical Cumbria-focused SEO and Answer Engine Optimization (AEO) built around 16 years of hands-on experience”, wording drawn from the site’s own copy.
It does not show every time. The overview changes between searches, and in some versions 1418 is a single mention near the bottom. It is reported here as appearing sometimes, which is accurate, rather than as a fixed position.
October’s work, briefly
October was the lightest month of the series.
- October 3. Month five diary published and submitted in Search Console.
- October 10. Contact form post published and submitted, and a styling fix for bullet points across the site.
- October 24. Moving host post published and submitted.
- October 25. 1418 seen in the AI Overview for “Cumbria SEO” from the UK.
- October 27. 1418 more prominent in the same overview.
What six months has taught
The biggest results in this series arrived in the quietest months. Knowing when to work on a site and when to leave it alone has been one of the most useful lessons of the whole exercise.
What month seven looks like
The diary carries on with a new target: “web design Cumbria”, for the design and build page. The next update will be at the start of December, with a starting position for that search.
1418 designs, hosts and looks after websites for local businesses, from the first build through to maintenance and support. This diary records how its own site reached page one.