It’s time for a dramatic mind-set shift concerning SEO, urges Eli Schwartz. Stop treating SEO like a marketing function and focusing efforts on keywords. Forward-thinking companies that understand today’s platforms, search engines and consumers manage SEO as they would a product in itself. Such organizations don’t prioritize meeting the requirements of search engines to drive traffic. They work to create value for users and, as a result, users find them in increasing numbers. The days of trying to outsmart Google are over. Sites must earn engagement with quality content and experiences.
Update and supercharge your SEO strategy by prioritizing human needs over search engine requirements.
Marketing leaders seeking to ensure SEO growth must bridge any divide between their marketing and engineering teams. Product-led SEO prioritizes building users a great product first and optimizing for search algorithms and engines second. Relying on keyword-based SEO isn’t always effective, as demand for your product may not yet exist or be low. Thus, your team’s keyword research efforts might not reflect your target user’s desires. Product-driven SEO efforts differ from keyword-research-driven ones because they aspire to reflect product-market fit. Use your product itself as your SEO channel. Doing so attracts engaged users, not traffic from users who have little interest in your product.
When you focus on building a product that customers love, users become evangelists and direct traffic to your business. Companies such as Tripadvisor and Wikipedia, for example, didn’t build their products to respond to SEO research or existing data. They created desirable experiences for users, who responded accordingly. Treat your content...
Comment on this summary