Key insights

• Additional Insights on SEO Opportunities and Challenges

  • 🌐 Gaps in website with insufficient links to popular pages.
  • 🔄 Impact of related algorithms on link distribution.
  • 🔀 Importance of link spreading for improved traffic.
  • 🤖 Use of AI in content generation for SEO.
  • 🔍 Assessing the addressable market and competitive authority for SEO opportunities.

• Key Factors Influencing SEO Traction

  • 🎯 Prioritizing non-mysterious tasks for SEO success.
  • 💪 Significant resources and effort are needed for SEO.
  • 🔗 Topical authority in SEO involves various inputs like links, non-SEO traffic, shares, social activities, and branded search.
  • 🔗 Internal linking is a powerful but often overlooked SEO lever.

• Critical Elements for Successful SEO Strategy

  • 📈 Data analysis, hypothesis testing, and validation are essential for successful SEO strategy.
  • 📊 Considerations for content production include addressable market, structural operation at scale, and volume of articles.
  • 👨‍💻 Minimum team for effective content production: one SEO person and one writer.
  • 🚫 Resource constraints, disconnect with the product organization, and lack of executive buy-in often lead to recommended SEO strategies not being launched.

• Tailoring SEO Strategy for Company Stage and Opportunity

  • 🔧 Programmatic SEO requires specialized skills and technical ability.
  • 👩‍💼 Hiring for programmatic SEO involves finding individuals from less competitive, high performing sites.
  • 📊 Tasks of a programmatic SEO person include analyzing successful sites, developing product requirements, working with engineers, launching pages, data analysis, and testing.
  • ✍️ Editorial SEO strategy involves selecting high search volume topics, creating comprehensive content structure, having domain expert writers, and managing publishing and content outcomes.
  • 🦁 Predatorial SEO can be picked up by individuals with no prior SEO experience.
  • 🧪 Testing SEO involves building in-house tools and bucketing efforts.
  • 💰 Resource allocation should be based on the opportunity and complexity of the strategy.

• Strategies and Tools for SEO Success

  • 🔍 Focusing on topics over keywords for better content optimization.
  • 🔎 Using competitor analysis to identify SEO opportunities.
  • 📈 Prioritizing SEO tasks based on search volume and topical authority.
  • 📊 Evaluating early SEO success using leading indicators.
  • ⏳ It takes 3 to 6 months to see SEO results, larger sites with more authority may see results sooner.
  • 🛠️ Recommended tools: Google Search Console, Clearscope, and SEO research tools.
  • 👥 Hiring options: experienced professional, a young and eager learner, or an agency.

• Key Elements of SEO Strategy

  • 📊 Define addressable market and compare with other channels to decide on SEO investment.
  • 🔑 Identify keywords, page types, and product requirements based on market and benchmarks.
  • 🖋️ Emphasize content strategy, including page content and infrastructure such as links.
  • 🎯 Focus on user engagement and fulfilling user intent for ranking signals.
  • 🔝 Prioritize topics over individual keywords to cover broad search volume and avoid wasted resources.

• Factors Affecting SEO Investment Decision

  • 💼 Addressable market size and target persona are crucial in considering SEO investment.
  • 📈 Non-SEO web traffic and referring domains signal credibility and authority, impacting SEO potential.
  • 🎯 UGC and product scope affect the competitiveness of SEO in the addressable market.
  • 🔄 Different types of SEO (programmatic, editorial, technical) offer varying opportunities for investment.
  • 🔍 Comparing the relative priority of SEO with other marketing channels is important for startups deciding on SEO investment.

Q&A

• What are some of the specific issues related to SEO opportunities?

  Specific issues related to SEO opportunities include gaps in website links, impacts of related algorithms on link distribution, the importance of link spreading for improved traffic, the use of AI in content generation for SEO, and assessing the addressable market and competitive authority.

• What are the key factors influencing SEO success?

  Prioritizing non-mysterious tasks, allocation of significant resources and effort, and building topical authority through various inputs like links, non-SEO traffic, shares, social activities, and internal linking are key factors influencing SEO success.

• What is essential for a successful SEO strategy?

  Data analysis, hypothesis testing, and validation are essential for a successful SEO strategy. Additionally, considerations for content production, having at least one SEO person and one writer in the team, and overcoming resource constraints and disconnects within the product organization are crucial for effective SEO implementation.

• What factors determine the type of SEO strategy to adopt?

  The stage and opportunity of the company are crucial factors in determining the type of SEO strategy. Programmatic SEO requires specialized skills and technical ability, while editorial SEO focuses on high search volume topics, comprehensive content structure, and domain expert writers. Predatorial SEO can be adopted by individuals with no prior SEO experience. Resource allocation should align with the opportunity and complexity of the strategy.

• What are the recommended strategies for SEO success?

  The recommended strategies for SEO success include focusing on topics over keywords, using competitor analysis, evaluating early SEO success using leading indicators, and taking 3 to 6 months to see results. The speaker also recommends using tools like Google Search Console, Clearscope, and SEO research tools and hiring experienced professionals, young learners, or agencies for SEO tasks.

• How should SEO strategy prioritize content?

  SEO strategy should prioritize topics over keywords to cover a broader search volume effectively, focus on user engagement, and fulfill user intent, resulting in useful, engaging content. Defining an addressable market, identifying keywords and page types, and determining product requirements are also essential steps in content strategy.

• What are the key considerations for investing in SEO?

  Key considerations for investing in SEO include the size of the addressable market, non-SEO web traffic, referring domains, content scope, and the type of SEO (programmatic, editorial, technical), as well as its priority compared to other marketing channels.

• Who is Ethan Smith and what does his company specialize in?

  Ethan Smith is an SEO expert and the CEO of Graphite, a company specializing in SEO and content strategies to help businesses improve their online visibility and growth.

• What does the podcast aim to provide?

  Lenny's podcast aims to provide tactical product growth advice for startups and businesses, with a specific focus on SEO strategies.

• 00:00 SEO is often under-resourced compared to ads; Lenny's podcast aims to provide tactical product growth advice; guest Ethan Smith is an SEO expert and CEO of graphite; graphite specializes in SEO and content strategies; biggest myths about SEO are around technical audits and underestimating editorial SEO; key ideas include when to focus on SEO, attributes of a product or company for SEO success, and factors like addressable market and existing authority
• 11:49 SEO investment is worth considering if there is a sizable addressable market, a significant non-SEO web traffic, and a considerable number of referring domains. The scope of content and the type of SEO (programmatic, editorial, or technical) also influence the decision to invest in SEO. Relative priority and comparison with other marketing channels are essential considerations.
• 23:03 SEO strategy should be based on cost and opportunity; defining addressable market; identifying keywords and page types; determining product requirements and content strategy; and focusing on user engagement. Google values useful, engaging content with relevant keywords that fulfill user intent. Strategy should prioritize topics over individual keywords to cover a broader search volume and avoid wasted resources.
• 34:23 SEO expert recommends focusing on topics over keywords, using competitor analysis to identify opportunities, prioritizing SEO tasks based on search volume and topical authority, and considering leading indicators to evaluate early SEO success. It takes 3 to 6 months to see SEO results, but larger sites with more authority may see results sooner. Recommended tools include Google Search Console, Clearscope, and SEO research tools. Hiring for SEO can involve finding an experienced professional, a young and eager learner, or an agency.
• 45:38 SEO strategy depends on the stage and opportunity of the company. Programmatic SEO requires specialized skills and technical ability. Hiring for programmatic SEO involves finding individuals from less competitive, high performing sites. Day to day tasks of a programmatic SEO person include analyzing successful sites, developing product requirements, working with engineers, launching pages, data analysis, and testing. Editorial SEO strategy involves selecting high search volume topics, creating comprehensive content structure, having domain expert writers, and managing publishing and content outcomes. Predatorial SEO can be picked up by individuals with no prior SEO experience. Testing SEO involves building in-house tools and bucketing efforts. It's important to allocate resources based on the opportunity and complexity of the strategy.
• 56:53 The key to successful SEO strategy involves data analysis, testing hypotheses, and validating them rather than relying solely on Google advice or opinions. Addressable market, structure, and operational scale considerations are crucial factors in content production. One SEO person and one writer are the minimum requirement for an effective initial team. Most recommended SEO strategies never get launched due to resource constraints and disconnect with the product organization.
• 01:08:00 Gaining traction in SEO is influenced by prioritizing non-mysterious tasks, requiring significant resources and effort. Topical authority is crucial in SEO and involves various inputs, including links, non-SEO traffic, shares, social activities, branded search, and more. Internal linking is a powerful but often overlooked SEO lever.
• 01:19:29 The speaker discusses the issue of insufficient links to some pages on a website, the impact of related algorithms, the importance of link spreading, and the use of AI in content generation for SEO. The speaker also provides advice on the first steps to take for exploring SEO opportunities.