The satisfied customer is your most important spokesperson. They love the product so much, they say … [+]
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Search engine optimization, commonly known as SEO, is a complicated marketing strategy that eludes even the best of entrepreneurs. But it has the potential to generate huge sales if done right. And most of the time it isn’t done right.
That’s the view of Eli Schwartz, author of one of the best-selling books on SEO, with over a decade of experience with large technology companies.
“Too often SEO efforts start with just one set of keywords developed by the marketing team or the founders based on their own knowledge of the product,” says Schwartz, author of the contrary book Product-Led SEO. “Keyword-based SEO is limited and inadequate, and there is a better way.”
Typically, keywords in SEO become the family tree of keyword research. They are entered into a keyword research tool and related words are returned. “The new, longer list becomes the starting point for content ideas that are written and posted on the website. The problem? “Asks Schwartz.” The keyword list becomes a checklist and a content roadmap that doesn’t change much over time. “
According to Schwartz, regardless of actual performance or real-time metrics, content will be created over and over again using the words from the original keyword checklist.
“In this SEO paradigm, there is no room for a user’s feedback loop,” says Schwartz.
Instead of developing a dictionary-only product like any other online translation library that just targets one-to-one word definitions (including Google) and tries to get as many keywords as possible on the page, there is a better way: pages, that focus on the user experience first.
Schwartz has helped clients such as Shutterstock, WordPress, Blue Nile, Quora, and Zendesk implement hugely successful global SEO strategies. As head of SurveyMonkey’s SEO team, he oversaw the company’s global operations, helped set up its first office in the Asia-Pacific region, and built the company’s organic search as the main driver of global sales.
Schwartz says there is an idea of ”product-oriented growth” in the technology industry, and especially in Silicon Valley. This means that instead of relentlessly marketing the product, companies devote resources and effort to perfecting the product so that it speaks for itself.
“With this model, the happy customer becomes your biggest marketer,” he says. “They love the product so much that they tell others about it; they leave reviews on the site. You will become your most important speaker. “
This model turns the entire premise of marketing the product on its head to encourage adoption. Instead, the focus is shifting to getting a great product into the hands of users who are excited enough to become marketing agents on behalf of the product.
Unfortunately, most of our modern day SEO efforts ignore user feedback.
“Instead of focusing on the quality of the search experience for the user, we often focus on keywords and almost completely ignore the user’s preferences,” says Schwartz.
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