Simple Principles That Strengthen SEO Performance Across Digital Content

Despite the usual protestations from forums like Reddit and the many Facebook groups that profess to be about digital marketing, SEO is not just dead, but remains an utterly indispensable component of drawing in new customers to your brand. What is true, however, is that just as the game has changed ever since the fateful Penguin and Panda days, so too has it since the unprecedented introduction of the many LLMs that now grace the topography of online interactions. This also happens to mean that with the right attitude and ability to pivot as and when required, you can still make great use of SEO and use it to your advantage.

Work With AI, Don’t Fight It

Let’s begin with the 1,000-pound giraffe in the room that is AI. It exists, it’s being integrated left, right, and center into all aspects of personal and business life, and despite what a lot of haters will tell you, it’s actually incredibly useful when used correctly. Therefore, to choose not to use it out of some kind of misplaced hatred will only serve to spite your nose. In the words of professionals from this AEO company (Answer Engine Optimization), using frameworks like the MERIT framework (Mentions, Evidence, Relevance, Inclusion, Transform) can help you to make the most from AI and measure the sort of results that might not be present or relevant using traditional metrics.

The primary point we’re attempting to make here is that when used properly, AI and LLMs can bring a lot to the table (especially when measured in a methodical manner to see what’s working). The converse to this is obviously to avoid overreliance on it for things like unfiltered or unedited content creation, but instead to help you form ideas, clean up text, and make sense of complex ideas.

Avoid Using SEO In Isolation, Consider All Online Channels

The old lags among you will all remember the good old halcyon days when you could rely 100% not just on SEO, but traffic from one source (Google) to bring in floods of users and ultimately enormous amounts of revenue. Times have changed, and nowadays, this approach may still bring in plenty of business, but to think of SEO in isolation is to leave tremendous amounts of money on the table. In practice, this means taking advantage of social media and forums of the likes of Reddit.

In fact, when it comes to Reddit in particular, there have been a few studies that indicate that, as long as you refrain from spamming, mentions of your brand in answers on the platform can sometimes translate to genuine results from SEO and answer engines alike. Just make sure that you don’t stretch yourself too thinly and concentrate your resources on the platforms that make sense. For instance, if you operate a B2B business, channels like Facebook and LinkedIn could offer better results than spending time clowning it up on TikTok (although there are exceptions to this rule, and you should do your own research to test what works for your business).

Build Content Around Real Search Intent

This tip has always been relevant and always will be for as long as people are searching for help, answers, and advice. So, how is this achieved in real life?

Understanding The Types Of Search Intent

There are different types of search intent you ought to be aware of, and which you can use to great effect for different results:

• Informational: This type of search is used when a user is searching for an answer to a topic or question. Although largely eaten up by AI manifesting as AI overviews in Google, and ChatGPT et al, you should still aim to be included in these overviews as a citation, which can lead to engagement.
• Transactional: Generally reserved for those who are looking to take an action. This might be booking a flight ticket or hotel, and if you can use the right content, you can often convert quite well.
• Commercial: Here, internet users are looking to compare products, prices, and services in order to conclude what to buy.
• Navigational: We can say that when an internet user is searching for a specific brand, they are using navigational intent. By building up a real brand and promoting it properly, you can appear in these kinds of searches.

Aligning Content Formats With Intent

As you can see, there are plenty of different types of search intent you can make good use of, but they need to be paired with the right sort of content to achieve the best results. For example, if you’re looking to draw in those using commercial intent, then reviews and comparisons could work wonders. Just remember that whatever content you make, try to turn it into other forms, like video, to maximize your chances of eyeballs landing on it.

Writing For Humans First, Algorithms Second

It’s always been tempting to write for the algorithms that nudge the way we live our lives, and for a time, that was kind of the way that SEO worked. But times have changed, and continuing this way will make your content appear stilted or like the millions of other brands filling their content pages with unedited AI slop. Instead, you should always aim to write naturally and for your intended audience.

Core Technical SEO Essentials

SEO is about more than what you see on the surface, and heavily involves a fair amount of pretty technical components. If you aren’t achieving success via traditional means, it could indicate you’ve failed to get your technical SEO right.

SEO is an ongoing process and in constant flux. Many older SEOs like to believe that the old days were easier, and while they were to some degree, the fact is that you have far more opportunities to succeed. Using the tips in this post will give you a head start, but as always, you must stay attuned to how things evolve over time in order to stay up to date.