Hi. This is the first post on the Crux Data blog.
We started Crux because most small businesses face the same terrible choice: hire an enterprise marketing agency that overcharges and under-explains, or DIY it and lose weeks learning tools instead of running the business. Neither is a great option.
Our answer was to build a workflow where a two-person team leverages a stack of leading-edge AI tools — Google Ads, SEO, Meta Ads, analytics, AI search visibility — on behalf of clients, with a human expert reviewing every decision. Enterprise-level execution at small-business pricing.
What we'll write about here
This blog exists to be genuinely useful, not to game keywords. Expect writing on:
- Practical SEO — what's actually working right now, what plaintiff-firm SEO advice to ignore, how to fix the technical stuff quickly.
- AI Search Optimization (GEO / AEO) — how to get cited by ChatGPT, Perplexity, Google AI Overviews, and the AI search engines that are rapidly replacing traditional search results.
- Google Ads that don't waste money — the specific campaign structures, negative keywords, and conversion tracking setups that separate "spending money on ads" from "buying customers."
- Case notes from real client work — what we tried, what worked, what didn't, and what the data actually said.
- Small-business economics of marketing — how to think about CAC, LTV, blended ROAS when you're a 3-person operation making decisions in-between everything else.
Every post is written by a human (Preston, mostly), no AI-generated fluff. If a post is heavily edited by an AI or based on a specific data source, we'll say so.
What we won't write
- "10 tips for..." listicles that regurgitate what's already on 100 other sites.
- Anything about "growth hacking" or "10x your revenue."
- Posts that exist only to rank for a keyword.
Get in touch
If there's a specific topic you want us to cover, or you have a question we can turn into a post, send us a message. We read everything.
— Preston