Welcome to Vol.73 of Email Advice in Your Inbox
Our favourite time of the week (with you, of course).
Today begins with a question:
If someone searched for your newsletter by name right now, would they actually find it?
No, not your homepage or sign-up page, but your actual email archive, and the web versions of the exact things you send every single week.
This week, we're playing a bit of hide-and-seek with your web-based emails.
Turns out most senders assume Google's already found their stuff (and most haven't actually checked either).
And now that AI tools are pulling straight from indexed web content to answer questions, that assumption is starting to cost us email senders a bit more than it used to…
That’s what we’re covering and a heap more this week!
Ready to learn how? We know you are, so let’s do it 💪
What have we found to expand your email knowledge today?
Here are a few of our favourite links from across the email and business world, carefully curated just for you:
Find of the week ⭐
Our friend Sandra Macele is doing something we don't see enough of: building a real, live, converting landing page with you, instead of just telling you how.
An hour spent on one insanely valuable page. Built together in Lovable, using the same process behind her own site (worth a look here).
The catch (and a fair one): the whole build runs on Lovable's $25 plan and its 100 tokens, so get that sorted before you join.
Grab Lovable's $25 plan through Sandra's link here, or bring your own Lovable account if you have one already
And joining the session itself costs nothing. Email Sandra here to grab your spot, and she'll send over exactly what to prep and any resources you'll need before the call.
An hour seriously well spent, we say!
We're also constantly on the lookout for new resources, news, tools and links, so hit us up if you've got something valuable to feature!
Your emails are playing hide-and-seek.
And, unfortunately for us, Google's terrible at seeking.
Today begins with a question for all you operators with web-based versions or email archives that sit online:
Does Google actually know your newsletter has a home on the interweb?
We tossed this around on LinkedIn last week, and it's been sitting with us ever since, so we thought we’d go one layer deeper here (and because that’s why you’re here, ain’t it?)
But it’s an important one because email in 2026 doesn’t simply exist in the inbox.
And our web-based newsletter archives are one of the most underrated assets in your entire email strategy, yet most senders have no idea whether Google can actually find them.
The rules of the game (that nobody explained)
The sad part about hide-and-seek for us introverts who never get to play: it only works if both players know they're playing.
Most (decent) sending platforms auto-generate what’s called a “sitemap” when you create a site for your newsletter, or an archive, really. Many give you an option to mark your archive as discoverable by default, so Google isn't blindfolded when folks search for stuff (that your emails contain) on the internet.
Now, in theory, Google can wander past your content and find it.
But wandering past isn't the same as knowing to look (especially if you understand the basics of SEO).
See this as nobody having told Google the rules, so it's playing seek with no idea where "base" is.
So, how do you get found on purpose?
Google Search Console is how you stop leaving it to chance.
And it’s not super technical or complicated either.
Verify your domain, submit your sitemap, and you can finally see what's actually been indexed from that newsletter archive or repository, what's been skipped, and why (instead of hoping for the best).
So, today’s quick bit of advice is for the folks who want to actually do this. And it takes about fifteen minutes, start to finish.
Create a Search Console property for your domain. Head to Google Search Console and sign in with a Google account. Add your domain (not just a single URL) so every page and subdomain is covered under one property.
Verify you actually own it. The most common route is a DNS TXT record through your domain registrar, though most platforms also support an HTML tag if that's simpler for your setup.
P.S. We know, lots of acronyms there, lol - Your AI friends are a great source of guidance here, so use and abuse your favourite one to help you here.Find your sitemap URL. Most sending platforms generate this automatically, usually something like yoursite.com/sitemap.xml. Check your platform's SEO or website settings (or help docs) if you're not sure.
Submit it under the Sitemaps tab. Paste it in, hit submit, give it a day or two, and you'll finally see what's landed, instead of guessing.
(Google's own verification guide lives here if you want the full details for your specific setup.)
This sounds like extra admin. We know…but stick with us because there’s a reason for doing this!
“Eventually" isn't good enough anymore.
Search doesn't start in one place anymore, and that's what raises the stakes a little here.
AI tools increasingly pull from indexed, structured web content when they answer a question. So this isn't just about ranking in Google's results.
You want your content to get eyes, because eyes lead to subscribers and, well, money…
You also want to adapt this for our robot friends.
And the only way your archive is even in the running to get cited directly by the AI tools your readers are already using instead of a search bar is proper infrastructure and the boring, background stuff like this (soz).
An indexed archive can be found, true, but an indexed, well-structured archive can be quoted.
And getting cited or quoted by AI also carries that badass cred of “hey, that’s me” 😉😉
The gating question (for another day).
Some of you gate your web archive behind a paywall, and that’s okay. Whatever works for your strat. It's not today's conversation, but we’re of the opinion that if you can impress and attract with what you’re sharing, heck, there’s more of a chance of gaining subscribers.
And then, turn those folks into paying clients (or paid subscribers for your paid publication).
But if you're keeping public web-based versions of your emails, and most of you are, the least you can do is tell Google (and everyone else looking) that they exist.
Something to ponder.
When last did you check whether your archive is actually indexed, not just live?
If the honest answer is "never," you're in good company. Most senders we talk to have never opened Search Console for their newsletter domain at all.
So, time to stop assuming Google's already found you, and start making sure it has. And if you’re stuck or need help, pop us a mail here, and we’ll be glad to chat!
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Time to give those web-based emails a polish!
If not, or if you have any feedback or knowledge to share, hit us up here! Oh, and please share this email with your friends and colleagues if you think they’ll find value over here.
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Your friend in email,
Des
