Time flies when your head is down and you’re in the midst of potentially the biggest shift in our industry since we started SiteCrafting in 1998. We live in a world of constant change — it’s the only constant. So, it’s important to step back from time to time to see the distance traveled and reflect on where we’re going. So let’s start by looking back.
Lately I’ve been thinking about January.
Back then, I wrote about three things we’re thinking about in 2026 — AI used with purpose, search reporting that actually listens to what people need and a continued investment in community, not just projects. It’s easy to write something like that at the start of a year. Seven months later, we’re taking a look back to ask: did we actually do it?
I think we did. Not perfectly. Not finished. But honestly.
On AI
Our team has kept coming back to the same question all year: is this making things clearer, or just faster? Angie wrote about when to let the robots into the room, and it’s stuck with me because it’s really a question about restraint. And a brand can’t outsource what makes it worth trusting, which is what we got into in why your brand needs a soul. The tools are new. That part isn’t.
On Search Reporting
We’ve spent real time this year in Sitka Insights with our clients, looking at what people are actually typing into that search bar and what we’re failing to give them back. We also wrote about optimizing for AI, because it turns out the same clarity that helps a person find what they need on your site is what helps an AI model decide you’re worth recommending. Being findable and being trustworthy have become the same job.
On Community
This is the one I care about most and it’s the one I’ve been proudest to watch play out. We launched The SiteCrafting Podcast this year, which gave our team a new way to just talk about the work out loud. We celebrated May the Fourth and celebrated the grand opening of Tacoma’s only May the Fourth Museum (mark your calendars for our next shindig: May 4, 2027). Tiffany told the story of our work with the Puyallup Tribe of Indians ahead of their historic role in the FIFA World Cup 2026™ in her blog, The World Freaking Stage, which highlighted some of the most meaningful work we’ve ever been part of. Jen wrote Community 101, a reminder that trust is built the same way whether you’re a bank or a small agency. And she told the story of a town the size of a postage stamp fighting to preserve its history in It’s Always More Than a Website.
None of these things are finished. They’re not supposed to be. They’re the kind of priorities you keep returning to, year after year, and get a little better at each time.
I’m grateful for the team that made all of this real and not just an idea on a page in January. I’m grateful for the clients who trust us with more than just a website.
Four months from now, we’ll do this again. I expect we’ll still be working on all three.
If any of this sounds like something your organization is thinking about too, I’d love to talk.
Thank you.
