Writing for SEO Success

SEO plan 2025 A – Audit Your Website: Begin with a comprehensive SEO audit. Use tools like Screaming Frog or Ahrefs to identify broken links, duplicate content, and technical errors. B – Build Backlinks: Quality backlinks remain crucial. Focus on guest posting, digital PR, and creating link-worthy content. C – Core Web Vitals: Optimize for Google’s Core Web Vitals (LCP, FID, CLS) to enhance user experience and improve rankings. D – Data-Driven Decisions: Use Google Analytics and Search Console to track performance and guide your SEO strategies. E – E-A-T Compliance: Establish Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness in your niche, especially for YMYL (Your Money Your Life) websites. F – Fresh Content: Regularly update or add new content. Google rewards websites that stay current and relevant. G – Google Business Profile: For local SEO, optimize and maintain an accurate Google Business Profile listing. H – Headings Optimization: Use H1, H2, H3 tags properly to structure content for both users and search engines. I – Internal Linking: Build a logical internal link structure to guide users and distribute link equity. J – JavaScript SEO: Ensure content rendered via JavaScript is crawlable and indexable by search engines. K – Keyword Research: Use modern tools like Semrush or Ubersuggest to identify long-tail and intent-driven keywords. L – Link Structure: Maintain clean and SEO-friendly URLs with proper slugs and no unnecessary parameters. M – Mobile Optimization: Ensure your website is mobile-responsive, as mobile-first indexing is now the standard. N – Niche Authority: Focus on creating depth in your content to become an authority in your niche. O – On-Page SEO: Optimize titles, meta descriptions, images (alt tags), and content around target keywords. P – Page Speed: Use tools like Google PageSpeed Insights to identify and fix slow-loading pages. Q – Quality Content: Always prioritize content that provides real value to users over keyword-stuffed articles. R – Responsive Design: Adapt your site design for all screen sizes and devices. S – Schema Markup: Implement structured data to enhance search listings with rich snippets. T – Technical SEO: Fix crawl errors, sitemaps, robots.txt, canonical tags, and other backend elements. U – User Experience (UX): A seamless UX improves dwell time, reduces bounce rate, and supports SEO. V – Voice Search Optimization: Target conversational queries and FAQs for better visibility in voice results. W – Web Security (HTTPS): Secure your site with SSL – it's a ranking factor and builds trust. X – XML Sitemap: Keep your XML sitemap updated and submit it to Google Search Console. Y – YouTube SEO: If you use videos, optimize titles, descriptions, and tags for better visibility on YouTube and Google. Z – Zero-Click Searches: Optimize for featured snippets, People Also Ask, and knowledge panels. #seoexpert #seo #topratedseoexpert #seotips #expartagency

I've run organic content strategy for DTC brands doing $1M–$100M+ in revenue. Here's everything I know: Most brands are great at buying ads. Very few are great at building the content that makes those ads work. Framework we battle-tested at Fresh Chile, a top 1% Shopify brand, and now deploy across our agency clients. We call it the Shop Operating System. Step 1: Start with your product page Most brands start with a blank calendar and a vague brief. That's why they run out of ideas in two weeks. Your PDP already has the playbook. Reviews become social proof posts. How-to content becomes tutorial stories. Shipping and returns become objection-handling stories. Price becomes value framing. 10 SKUs worked through every PDP element. That's 30 days of content minimum. Step 2: Stop obsessing over the grid The grid is not where your customers live. They're in stories. They're watching reels. My biggest viral video at Fresh Chile was an ugly burrito thumbnail. Genuinely unappetizing. It sold a lot of salsa. Post the thing. The community will tell you what works. Step 3: Build the system visually first Most content strategies fall apart because they live in someone's head. We run everything through a Figma board built 45 days out. Every day has a post, stories, an email, and ads launching. When a brand owner can see one day and know exactly what's going out across every channel, something clicks. Organic complements email. Email complements paid. None of it operates in a silo. Step 4: Volume is not the enemy of quality. Paralysis is. In the last 28 days at Fresh Chile, we distributed over 500 pieces of content. I benchmarked follower growth against Heinz, French's, Tostitos, Tabasco, Cholula. Net negative for all of them. We were the only brand positive, and by a significant margin. 500 pieces of content also means 500 assets your ad account can pull from. That's the design. Step 5: Organic is the creative layer that makes paid more efficient Every media buyer I've talked to says the same thing: "My job is so much easier when the brand has organic dialed in." When you're running organic at volume, the market tells you what's working before you put a dollar behind it. The content getting the most saves and shares is your next ad. You already know it converts. That's the real unlock. Step 6: The channel most DTC brands are sleeping on YouTube Shorts. Disney, Hulu, Peacock, Netflix every major streaming platform combined does not match YouTube's monthly viewership. I've been running a weekly cooking show on Fresh Chile's YouTube for a year. The compounding is starting to show. If you're already creating for Instagram and TikTok, the repurpose to YouTube takes ten minutes. The summary Start with your PDP. Build the calendar visually. Post with volume and strategy. Let organic tell you what to put money behind. Repurpose everything to YouTube. That's what we've been building. And the results are showing up. That's SHOP OS.

After managing hundreds (maybe thousands) of SEO campaigns… I've distilled content creation down to a science. Here are 6 core pillars that actually move the needle: 1. Smart Keyword Selection Search volume is a vanity metric. Focus on these factors instead: • Relevance to your business goals • Commercial intent signals • Click-through rate potential Pro tip: 60% of Google searches end without a click. Pick keywords where people actually click through to websites. 2. The Uniqueness Factor Google's drowning in AI-generated content. Your advantage? Being genuinely different. Here's how: • Conduct original research (even small studies work) • Share first-hand experience and opinions • Create fresh data sets • Build user-generated content around polarizing topics AI can't replicate human experience. Use that. 3. Perfect Intent Matching Want to rank? Match the format that's already working (while adding your unique spin). Simple process: • Search your target keyword • Study the top 3 results • Note the content format (list, guide, comparison) • Create something similar but better If Google shows informational content, don't try to rank commercial pages. Work with the algorithm, not against it. 4. Content Quality Standards Great content isn't about word count. It's about clarity and engagement: • Write like you're talking to one person • Use simple language (no jargon) • Break up text with headings and bullets • Add visuals that actually add value • Edit ruthlessly 5. Topic Authority Building One great page isn't enough. Build supporting content around your main topic: • Start with branded keywords (easiest wins) • Target competitor comparisons • Create problem-aware content • Build educational resources Each piece should link to others, creating a content hub that Google loves. 6. Technical Foundation All the great content in the world won't rank if your technical SEO is broken: • Page speed under 3 seconds • Mobile-first design • Proper URL structure • Internal linking strategy • Schema markup where relevant Stop pumping out random blog posts. Start building strategic content assets that serve your business goals. Every piece should either educate your audience or move them closer to becoming customers.

Let’s say you’re a marketer hoping to win traffic from anyone searching for the "Best Beatles Songs." In the past, your SEO strategy would be to target keywords, and create content with corresponding headlines. i.e. “Must-Listen Beatles Songs” But now you need a different game plan. As we see more and more AI-powered engines like Perplexity and ChatGPT enter the market, the way we find information is becoming drastically different. These companies are making rev-share deals with major publishers to ensure their models have current, fresh information that’s accurate, comprehensive and forward thinking. To win an AI-enhanced search, your content should address the question: why are people searching for Beatles’ songs in the first place? You need to consider broader context and user intent. For example, are users discovering The Beatles for the first time and looking for an introduction to their catalog, or are they superfans wanting deeper insights into the music’s impact on culture? Offer value that goes beyond listing songs—provide historical context, trivia, or playlists curated for different moods or occasions. Focus on interactive or multimedia content, such as videos, audio clips, or even AI-generated playlists to create a richer, more engaging user experience. Show the search engine that your content satisfies not just the initial question, but also the deeper exploration the user might engage in. By doing this, you position yourself to build a trusted relationship with users.

Stop throwing money at random SEO "hacks". The hard truth? 92% of web pages get ZERO organic traffic. Most "SEO experts" sell complexity. But success leaves clues. After auditing 100+ small business sites, here's what actually works: Technical Must-Haves: ✅ Mobile-first design (70% of searches are mobile)  ✅ Site loads under 3 seconds  ✅ SSL certificate  ✅ XML sitemap submitted  ✅ Robots.txt optimized  ✅ No broken links or 404s  ✅ Proper URL structure (/services/web-design vs /p=123) On-Page Optimization: ✅ Strategic keyword in first 100 words  ✅ Semantic keywords throughout  ✅ Meta descriptions under 155 characters  ✅ Image alt text + compression  ✅ Header tags (H1, H2, H3) hierarchy  ✅ Internal linking structure  ✅ Schema markup for your industry Local SEO Domination: ✅ Google Business Profile 100% complete  ✅ NAP consistency everywhere  ✅ Local keywords in meta data  ✅ Geo-tagged images  ✅ Location-specific testimonials  ✅ Local business schema  ✅ Citation building on key directories Authority Building: ✅ Guest post on industry sites  ✅ Get mentioned in local news  ✅ Create linkable assets (studies/tools)  ✅ Reclaim unlinked brand mentions  ✅ Partner with complementary businesses  ✅ Fix broken backlinks Pro Tip: Start with technical fixes, then move to content. SEO compounds - do it right once, benefit forever. Bonus: Monitor these 3 metrics: →Core Web Vitals →Click-through rates →Dwell time Save this post. Implement one section at a time. I help 6-7 figure businesses scale their organic traffic sustainably. If you'd like to explore working together: → Book a free 15-min strategy call from the comment section → We'll look at your biggest growth opportunities  → And discuss how my team can help execute this roadmap Only 3 spots available this month for new clients.

Search intent is NOT a one-time thing you figure out and forget. It changes constantly. What worked last year might NOT work today. For example, let's assume Google was ranking mostly listicle blogs for the keyword "best mobile phones under 20,000". Then suddenly, the algorithms realize that e-commerce category pages (collection pages) satisfy user intent much better. They start prioritizing these pages instead. In this scenario it doesn't matter: - How perfect your on-page SEO is - How EASY the keyword seems - How many backlinks you build If you're still trying to rank a listicle blog, you're fighting a losing battle. Something very similar happened to one of our clients. We noticed that 5 pages that we had deployed about 6 months ago were NOT ranking for any target keywords. This was unusual because all other pages for this client were ranking exactly as projected. Here's how we tackled this situation: 1. Analyzed the SERPs thoroughly to understand how the landscape had shifted 2. Discovered our content type wasn't aligned with current search intent 3. Identified that our content format needed adjustment 4. Developed a completely new angle to rework on the content. Once we implemented these changes and boom within a week it started showing up on the first and second page (check screenshot). Now we wait and will start a link building campaign for it. The bottom line is that there's no room for set-and-forget strategies in today's search environment. You need to give searches what they want, the way they want. If you fail to do that, your chances of ranking are slim to none. How has your experience with search intent shifts been?

It's the last 100 days of 2025. I’m resetting my SEO tactics. And so should you. (here's why) We’re not just writing for Google anymore. We’re writing for: AI Mode ChatGPT Perplexity Claude Every system that can pull your work into a one-click summary. Getting leads now depends on 5 key elements: 1️⃣ Content Structure & Format How you shape your content. → 2,000–3,000 words of depth, not fluff. → Clear H1–H6. Descriptive beats clever. → Each section stands alone. No “as mentioned above.” 2️⃣ Technical SEO Foundation How you build your site. → Schema everywhere (Article, FAQ, HowTo). → Fast, mobile-first, secure. AI hates slow. 3️⃣ Quality & E-E-A-T How you prove your expertise. → Show experience (case studies, proof). → Cite experts, data, and sources. → Build trust with transparency. 4️⃣ AI-Specific Optimisation How you speak AI’s language. → Lists & tables for clarity. → Topic clusters: pillar - subtopics - links. → Add snippets: 40–60 word answers to imp. Qs. 5️⃣ Process & Measurement How you track and improve. → Track AI Overview mentions & entity recognition. → AI + human: draft, then inject insights. Content shouldn't just be Google-ready. It should be AI-ready. So, if you’re writing for the future of search, this is your blueprint.

One week ago, I wrote a post that “Went Viral.” Here’s why I think it happened (and how you can do it too): Last Sunday, I spent 20ish minutes writing a LinkedIn post (in comments) about how generative AI search will impact PR and crisis management. I hit “post,” hopped on a 45-minute Peloton ride, and didn’t think much of it. The post ended up with 1,100 likes, hundreds of comments and shares, and the most surprising result—600 new followers in 48 hours. LinkedIn says it’s now been seen by (😱) 300K+ people. It’s my most-followed post that wasn’t tied to breaking news or a crisis analysis. I’m left with the same question many of us ask: How do I replicate it? I don’t have all the answers (if I did, I’d be living and ⛷️ing at the Yellowstone Club 🤣 ), but here are 10 lessons I’ve noticed in my higher-performing posts: 1) Nail the hook. Your first sentence has one job: stop the scroll. This post worked because it warned PR pros about the risks of ignoring AI’s impact—something many hadn’t thought about yet. Hooks can be provocative, gut-wrenching, or even humorous, but they need to grab attention immediately. Pro tip: If you’re stuck, ask AI or a friend for feedback before posting. 2) Write for a specific audience. This sounds obvious, but it’s overlooked all the time. I write for people in PR, public affairs, crisis management, advocsct. I confirmed who I was writing for immediately, but also referenced a topic many others are talking about too. 3) Promise value early. By the 5th sentence, I’d made a clear promise: “Here’s what’s happening, why it matters, and how you can stay ahead.” If you want people to keep reading, tell them upfront why it’s worth their time. 4) Use lists or bullets. Numbered or bulleted lists make your post easier to read, easier to remember, and easier to share. 5) Be specific. Don’t just tell your audience what’s happening—tell them what to do about it. “Here’s why this crisis unfolded and how it could’ve been prevented” is way more useful than a generic rant or motivational platitude. 6) Start a conversation. The best posts invite dialogue, not monologues. End your post with a question: “What would you add? What did I miss?” 7) Cover relevant, unexpected topics. The post worked because it addressed something timely (AI) but applied it to an audience (PR pros) in a way that wasn’t obvious. Look for the intersections your audience hasn’t thought much about yet. 8) Post often. Some posts will hit, others will flop—keep going. The follow-up to my post did okay, but others this week barely made a ripple. 9) Don’t try to go viral. This sounds counterintuitive, but the harder you try to make a post over the top, the less likely it is to resonate. Write for your expertise and audience not for the masses. 10) Timing matters. 7:30 and 9 a.m. CT work best for me. Depends on geography, but I’ve never had a high-performing post past 3 p.m. Anything you’d add to this list?

I had an “aha” moment about the future of SEO when using Microsoft 365 Copilot Search* to find a document. My search for “Q4 marketing performance vs budget” surfaced the budget presentation, an email thread about timeline changes, and a document summarizing our quarter’s campaign results. It understood I wanted the complete context behind my query, not just a keyword match. It inferred I was looking for the synthesis between marketing spend and business outcomes. This gives us a direct view into where consumer search is heading. SEO (or AEO, or GEO) strategies already focus on semantic search and user intent, but most teams still optimize individual blog posts and pages rather than building knowledge ecosystems. That approach worked when search engines were sophisticated filing systems. It falls apart when they become reasoning machines. Copilot’s system connects and interprets relationships across organizational content to understand context and deliver comprehensive answers. When Google and Bing’s consumer AI features catch up, your prospect searching “how to reduce customer acquisition costs” might discover your retention strategy content, but only if you’ve built the right conceptual bridges between those ideas. It's long been time for your content strategy to evolve beyond keywords too. Now your content strategy needs to answer, “How do our ideas connect to solve interconnected problems?” Rather than optimizing individual pieces, focus on building comprehensive topic clusters where subtopics link back to a primary expertise area. This positions you as a holistic authority when AI systems look for complete answers. If you have access to M365 Copilot Search, try searching your company’s knowledge base to see which content gets surfaced together. These connections could help reveal how AI systems understand topic relationships, which can provide insights you can apply to your external content strategy. The shift from keyword optimization to intent architecture is happening fast. *Unlike the regular Microsoft Copilot that searches the web, this is the enterprise version that works inside organizations, crawling emails, documents, and internal data. #AIMarketing #AEO #SEO #ContentStrategy

Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) isn’t just about inserting keywords—it’s about understanding your audience’s intent and structuring your content to address their needs effectively. By focusing on keyword intent, clustering, and topical relevance, your law firm can improve search engine visibility and attract the right clients. 1️⃣ Keyword Intent: Align Your Content with Client Needs Understanding the intent behind a client’s search helps you create content that meets their expectations. >> Informational Intent: Clients seeking answers or guidance: “What are my rights after a workplace accident?” “How does probate work in the UK?” Strategy: Publish blogs, FAQs, and educational resources addressing these queries. >> Navigational Intent: Clients looking for a specific service or firm: “Best family law solicitor in Birmingham.” “Smith & Partners legal advice contact.” Strategy: Ensure your website is optimised with clear service pages and detailed contact information. >> Transactional Intent: Clients ready to take action, such as hiring a solicitor: “No-win, no-fee personal injury lawyer near me.” “Book a legal consultation online.” Strategy: Provide strong calls to action, online booking systems, and client testimonials. 2️⃣ Topic Clusters: Build Content Hubs Search engines prioritise websites that demonstrate topical authority. Instead of individual, isolated keywords, focus on clustering related topics under one umbrella: Example Topic Cluster: Divorce Law in the UK >> Pillar Content: “The Ultimate Guide to Divorce Law in the UK.” Cluster Content: > > >“Understanding the Divorce Process.” > > >“How Child Custody is Decided in England and Wales.” > > >“Divorce Mediation vs. Litigation: Which is Right for You?” Strategy: Link all related content back to the main pillar page, reinforcing its authority and creating a seamless user experience. 3️⃣ Focus on Topics Over Keywords Google’s algorithms are increasingly prioritising the overall relevance of content rather than exact keyword matches. Shift Your Focus to Questions Clients Might Ask: Instead of targeting “probate solicitor,” write a guide like “Everything You Need to Know About Handling Probate in the UK.” Instead of “employment lawyer,” address specific pain points, like “What to Do If You’ve Been Unfairly Dismissed.” Strategy: Create comprehensive, client-focused content that answers multiple related questions in one place. 4️⃣ Tools and Strategies for Success >> Use platforms like Google Search Console, inLinks, Dragon Metrics, and AlsoAsked to identify questions, intent, and related searches. >> Monitor which queries drive traffic to your website. >> Optimise internal linking to guide users through relevant content, keeping them engaged on your site longer. By focusing on the bigger picture—client intent, interconnected topics, and a well-structured content strategy—you can better establish your firm as a trusted authority. #lawfirmmarketing #digitalmarketing