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Additional Insight: Creating content for your customers is more important than creating "SEO content"
Martin Huntbach - 12 Jul 2023
Martin Huntbach highlights the need to shift the focus of SEO success from keyword rankings to attracting valuable customers who can truly impact business growth.
View Episode See all bonus episodesThe SEO in 2023 book is split into 12 chapters listed below:
Chapter 1 Key Considerations
Chapter one intends to provide an overview of what's changed and where SEO is going in general.
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Having richer content and good media assets is a must if you want to compete on the SERP of tomorrow
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Outlines the importance of navigating rapidly transcending market conditions with a willingness to embrace change and a desire to keep educating yourself and those you work with.
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You shouldn't focus strictly on SEO in isolation. Focus on building trustworthy brands and very good websites - and shouting about it.
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Optimise beyond normal blue links.
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Use common sense and long-term thinking to make the most of what you are capable of and demonstrate your particular expertise.
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Tips on how to stand out and make yourself heard through all the noise you'll be competing against in 2023.
Chapter 2 Auditing
What drives technical success in 2023 and what you should be looking out for that may harm your technical success
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Look at some of the more popular issues that arise in technical SEO, and make sure that you are addressing them.
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Regularly monitor your website and keep yourself up-to-date on performance so that you can develop a well-informed strategy.
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Audit your website regularly in 2023 as a way to be more strategic, and provides guidance on what you should be focusing on during your audits and when you should be doing them.
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Go the extra mile when conducting website SEO audits and creating content in 2023, do not rely on just a few tools and tactics.
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Start cleaning things up to make sure your current website is at its best.
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Third-party tag governance is going to be crucial in 2023 to maintain performance-compliant websites.
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By using convent inventories in 2023, SEOs can better understand the content quality that you are currently delivering across your entire website.
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Prepare for the worst but hope for the better, so that you know your website can weather the inevitable storms that will arise in 2023 and beyond.
Chapter 3 Content Structure
Why E-A-T is important, and how to structure your content in a way that appeals to people as well as search engines
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Google's algorithm changes mean SEOs should avoid churning out content for the sake of it in 2023. Focus on your customer experience.
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Focus on flexing expertise, authority, and trustworthiness online.
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Focus on creating content for human users that demonstrates EAT in 2023.
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Advice on how to keep up with Google's constant evolutions by focusing on mapping out your customer journeys so that you are constantly growing as well.
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Creating fact-based content will help SEOs to remain trustworthy in 2023.
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Your approach to translations will greatly affect your SEO results in 2023.
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Invest in the power of putting people first in 2023 so that you are creating content and optimising your site for users rather than search engines.
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Go headless without losing your head and understand that the world of SEO has become about much more than just the search bar.
Chapter 4 Targeting
Why intent matters and how to focus your efforts on reaching the right person at the right time
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Thinking like a machine, and challenging yourself to truly understand the inner workings of today's algorithms, can reap massive dividends in 2023.
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It's important to build most of your content research around zero-volume keywords and intent proximity, rather than monthly search volume and related keywords.
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SEO is a demand-based growth channel, and that through this way of thinking you can open yourself up to new opportunities and better target potential users in 2023.
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All-around search intent will be more important than ever in 2023 and that understanding what your users actually want is the key to creating successful websites.
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Think more deeply about the concept of intent, and all of the different areas of SEO in which intent is so important.
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What is the intent behind the keywords that you are creating content for? What is the user actually trying to do when they are typing it into search?
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Content is still king. You need to be more specific about the type of content you create and understand what your users are actually looking for.
Chapter 5 Content Planning
The key elements to incorporate as part of a content strategy
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A series of steps on how to have a clear content strategy, making sure that your content is actually engaging your customers in the right way.
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Quality over quantity will matter more than ever in 2023. Be hyper-focused on delivering the kind of quality that Google is actually looking for.
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Three key areas that you need to focus on in 2023: content, context, and control.
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Focus on content and content strategy, specifically designed to please and delight your users.
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Outlines a four-step process that will help SEOs in 2023 to consolidate their content and strike a balance between freshness and intelligently reclaiming existing content.
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Implores SEOs in 2023 to have a more focused idea of exactly what you are producing, why you're producing it, and what it is supposed to be doing for you.
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Invest more time getting the buy-in that they need by communicating with stakeholders, giving your projects a chance to actually work out in the way that you hope.
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Put your best foot forward and demonstrate both excellence and honesty with your content. Avoid taking actions just because everyone else is doing so.
Chapter 6 Content Production
What to include in your content specifically, and what type of content works best
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Koray Tugberk GÜBÜR - Focus on information responsiveness rather than just information retrievalFocus on information responsiveness rather than just information retrieval.
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Look for keywords with a high number of impressions and reveals other opportunities for making sure you are providing in-depth answers to the right questions.
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Keep up with the competition. You need to be generating truly powerful content - no matter what size of search you are targeting.
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Never underestimate the power of reactive PR - this type of work can make a big difference for your SEO in 2023.
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Be ready to beat out those who rely on AI-generated content by using AI to your advantage.
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Expand your remit into new formats and take advantage of what Google and other search engines have to offer in order to stay ahead of the curve.
Chapter 7 Guide the Bots
How to help Google and other search engines more quickly and more easily understand, and be confident in the meaning of your content
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Treat Google like a child and make sure that you are educating that child about who you are and what you do.
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Use structured data to market to machines so that you always have the permission you need to actually access an audience in 2023.
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Handle your structured data like a financial portfolio in five key ways...
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The power and importance of metadata to SEOs in 2023. Start getting to grips with the JSON-LD code and apply schema to your pages.
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Indexing facets can actually be a game-changer for an eCommerce or large aggregator site.
Chapter 8 SERP SEO
Why you need to stay on top of what the SERP looks like for your target queries and how to use the SERP to style your content
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SERP optimisation is a key part of SEO in 2023.
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Get ready for the dynamic Search Engine Results Page and be prepared to incorporate the two worlds of paid and organic even more in the future.
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Look directly at the SERP for more information about what is actually being shown. Ensure that you are presenting a clear and consistent personal brand identity across the web.
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Highlighting the importance of video for SEOs in 2023 who want to dominate page one in Google.
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Make sure your pages are indexed and visible to Google but, equally, you should avoid creating content just for SEO rather than users.
Chapter 9 User Centricity
Why focusing on users is important for SEO and how user experience impacts SEO
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Focus on the user experience as an SEO in 2023. Keep your audience as the central point of everything that you are doing on your site.
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Promotes the value of user-centricity. Understand how to target your strategy to please the right users in the right way.
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Enhance the user experience and the quality of your content because these are Google's main priorities.
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Put the experience of your users first when putting together your SEO strategy.
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Make the user experience as smooth and streamlined as possible.
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Worry less about the technical side of your websites and focus more on providing helpful content that is accessible and useful for your users.
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Embrace the term 'Search Experience Optimisation' and understand that SEO can no longer exist without UX.
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Use user-focused research to improve search quality thresholds in 2023 and make sure that what you are putting online site is fulfilling the needs of your users.
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By being more human you can have greater success as an SEO in 2023. Consider the motivations of your users when developing your SEO strategy.
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Focus on what the user wants in 2023. Work together with traditional marketing, digital marketing, and the UX team to improve the customer experience through your SEO.
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SEO is becoming more about what people say about you and not what you say about yourself.
Chapter 10 Links
What link building looks like in 2023 and how to optimize your internal links
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SEOs in 2023 should be reinforcing the three pillars of tech, content, and links, and getting those pillars working in tandem to make sure your website is as sound as possible.
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Do not limit yourself by feeling trapped in your link building strategy.
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Highlights effective link building as the key area for 2023 but also cautions against ignoring the other aspects of SEO, like content and technical SEO.
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Worry less about the next shiny object and focus more on accuracy.
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Spend more time optimising your internal links and thinking about best practices where 95% of websites could see significant benefits.
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Use internal linking API to power the logic behind the internal linking modules within your site in 2023.
Chapter 11 Local SEO
How Google Business Profile is changing and thoughts around location schema
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Espouses the value of your Google Business Profile. That profile should be the cornerstone of everything you are doing in local SEO
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If you're a local business and you have access to a Google Business Profile, you should Urchin Tracking Module (UTM) tag up all of the links from your business profile.
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Emerging opportunities in the augmented reality space for SEOs in 2023.
Chapter 12 Integrate
How you can be more effective at SEO by working more closely with other digital marketing channels
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Invest in SEO as preparation for what's ahead rather than a reactionary tool. Utilise an omnichannel approach instead of funnelling their budget into isolated paid campaigns.
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Take advantage of the knowledge you can gain from Google Ads to improve your SEO efforts, and vice versa.
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Have all of your social media and marketing channels in alignment in 2023 - before you think about getting your content out there.
Chapter 13 Think Outside the Box
Opportunities that could radically change the way that you do SEO over the coming year
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Think beyond Google as the only search engine that matters in 2023 and open up your horizons by focusing on the user and not the algorithm.
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Focus more on the visual side of search and promoting the overall brand in 2023, rather than dwelling on keywords.
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Start understanding the basics of how to create Web Stories, why they are important, and where they can be visible.
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Utilise the edge in 2023.
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Look at doing SEO on the edge - take advantage of the power of the CDN.
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Highlights the virtues of Google Cloud's many different APIs as a way for SEOs in 2023 to build on your analysis and better understand the work that you are doing.
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No longer be ignorant about the way AI and machine learning are impacting the online environment in 2023.
Chapter 14 Analytics & Testing
What to measure, how to measure it and how to improve what you do through testing
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By better understanding your data, you'll be more successful as an SEO in 2023. Start looking at how your data can be compared and delve deeper below the surface.
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As the Google algorithm is always changing, SEOs should not rely as much on those signals in 2023 but focus on establishing themselves as trustworthy sources.
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Make the most of all the data and metrics that are currently available in 2023 and measure whatever you can, to make continuous improvements based on what is already in place.
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Stop sticking your heads in the sand and migrate over to GA4 as soon as possible.
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The future of SEO in 2023 no longer revolves around traditional SEO tricks, but rather changing how you look at your metrics. Move to Data Studio for your reporting and relying less on GA4.
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Preserve and analyse your server logs so that you can understand more about what is actually happening on your site.
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Expand your remit in 2023 and start acting more like data scientists so that you can be ready for the data revolution.
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Every website needs unique SEO in 2023. BigQuery is currently the best way to get a holistic picture of what is happening in your space online.
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Keep testing more often with more efficiency. Work alongside your product teams to make the most of this information.
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Get over a fear of forecasting and use a test and learn approach, utilising historic data, so that you can look to the future, confident in the knowledge of what does and doesn't work.
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Keep experimenting to keep up with Google's changes - and do not give up after just a few tries.
Chapter 15 Evergreen Advice
Key elements that you shouldn't forget about - and if all else fails, how to find a new SEO job!
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Remember the basics and stop committing cardinal sins in the areas of crawlability, rendering, indexability, ranking, and conversions.
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Stop striving for perfection and trying to tick every box. Instead, pay attention to nuance and looking for ways to be more forward-thinking.
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Be aware of how the content that you create is relating to the intent of the users that are searching for it.
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Stop relying so heavily on tools to tell you what to aim for, - do the manual work yourself to identify what really matters to you.
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Tips for creating a quality assurance framework that will prevent you from becoming part of your own SEO horror stories.
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Advice on how to stand out from the crowd, improve the quality of your content, and ensure that your pages are a step above the competition.
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Advice for SEOs looking to stand out in the job market in 2023. Highlight all your previous SEO wins and avoid sending generic CVs if you want to land your dream role.
Additional Insight: Creating content for your customers is more important than creating "SEO content"
Martin Huntbach - 12 Jul 2023
Martin Huntbach highlights the need to shift the focus of SEO success from keyword rankings to attracting valuable customers who can truly impact business growth.
View Episode See all bonus episodes
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