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  • A year of working on my content: what happened in Search and AI

    A year of working on my content: what happened in Search and AI

    Citation-mania

    In the 1630s, the price of a single tulip bulb in Holland could exceed a skilled tradesman’s annual salary, traded on nothing but the promise that whoever bought it next would pay more. Tulip mania measured everyone else’s confidence that the price would keep climbing until, over about a week in February 1637, it didn’t, and the market for tulip bulbs collapsed by ninety percent or more.

    I think about this case study in market speculation whenever people get hot to join a bandwagon, as with recent advice on “showing up in AI”. There’s a fast-growing crowd of llms.txt files, AI-visibility subscriptions, and warnings about competitors already “winning” a channel no one can measure reliably. Adopted because … adoption is visibly rising, not because it has been shown to work sustainably over time. This is also concerning because clients asking AI to “optimize” their content will often get dubious recommendations and sources.

    How do I show up when someone asks an AI tool for a recommendation?

    As the team at SEOPress put it, “SEO isn’t packing its bags, it’s just changing the address.” The answer to “how do I get cited by AI” relies on the same fundamentals that apply to “how do I rank for a search”: who is this content for, and does it genuinely serve them better than what already exists. Most content development work skips that question entirely.

    An AI overview can answer a question well enough that nobody ever clicks through to the article it pulled from, so writing something adequate and generic won’t help you. Results from ChatGPT queries carry a particular kind of persuasive weight, because it plays on a natural tendency to confuse cause and correlation. A confident, well-worded AI answer feels like harder evidence than a vague-sounding blog post, but that feeling is mostly manufactured by the specificity of the artifact. This is where creating original, thoughtful, specific content – even if you publish less frequently – can make a bigger difference.

    Quality content is harder to automate, because it still requires someone to think critically about a real question rather than just produce at scale.

    Since I am always recommending to my clients that they should write blog articles, I wanted to walk through a year of my own content, sorted by what I was interested in exploring.

    Disclaimer: This is not rigorous research, just my own experimentation with search optimization techniques as my time and interest allows.

    Content, meet Audience

    Writing about something because you’re genuinely excited about it is a completely legitimate reason to write. It’s just a different activity, with a different bar for success, than writing to rank, convert, or build authority. You won’t rank for something nobody is searching for, no matter how well you write it, and you won’t convert a reader who was never the intended audience.

    In practice, most small business content falls into three groups:

    1. Content you write because you find it interesting. If inspiration strikes, go for it. But this is mostly for you, it’s not written to rank or convert anyone.
    2. Content written for people in your field, not your clients. The audience is peers, not prospects. The payoff is reputation inside a professional community, not a phone call.
    3. Content written to reach and convince a specific buyer. Even here, it matters whether you’re trying to win over a stranger who’s never heard of you, or reinforcing trust with someone already in a conversation with you.

    Peer content: solving my own problem in public

    A chunk of what I publish isn’t written for clients at all. Posts on WordPress development, ACF block patterns, digging into variable font use – these posts originate from real problems I’m trying to solve where I couldn’t find a definitive resource. The audience is other WordPress developers and being useful to the community I work in is my purpose.

    Judged on those merits, these articles are working exactly as intended. Three clicks on 1,052 impressions for “acf blocks” is a fine outcome for a peer-audience post.

    Content built to be shared directly, that may also have search value

    In November and January, I published two posts – one on phishing and fake domain renewal emails, one on why WordPress updates matter for security. The intent wasn’t to win cold, comparison-shopping searches from strangers. Clients has asked me these exact questions directly, over email and in project calls. I wanted a canonical piece I could point to instead of re-explaining the same warning signs from scratch every time, and something that also reinforces the trust that conversation is built on.

    Both posts ended up ranking well anyway. The November post has an average position of 9.5 with 1,950 impressions. The January post is at 8.3 with 570 impressions. Total clicks across both: zero.

    Look at what they’re ranking for: “siteground copyright infringement email,” “fake domain renewal,” “‘final notice’ antivirus renewal scam.” These are searches from someone who just got a scary email and needs an answer in the next thirty seconds, not the audience I was writing for.

    Out of curiosity, I checked what’s ranking above my results for a couple of those queries: SiteGround’s own official knowledge base, ICANN’s own fraud alert, established security publishers like Malwarebytes already covering the same scam campaign. I was never going to win that search.

    Which points at something the ranking data can’t tell me either way: whether the posts are fulfilling their purpose. Have they made a real conversation easier? Saved me from re-explaining the same thing over email? Given someone something reassuring to forward along? That’s not a Search Console metric, and it’s not something impressions or position can confirm or deny. The job of these articles is to support existing relationships of trust, not to manufacture it out of a cold search.

    Buyer-aware content that did the research: my “site maintenance” page

    My WordPress maintenance page has existed since 2021, doing fine, unremarkable work. Last fall I noticed it was pulling far more impressions than my other service pages but almost none of that visibility was becoming inquiries. So this time, before rewriting anything, I compared it to pages that were ranking well for the same terms and asked what they had that mine didn’t.

    The gap was specificity and comprehensive breadth (not necessarily good or useful writing, alas). My content was vague where theirs was concrete. So in October and November of 2025, I rewrote it: adding client testimonials, refining the offer, rebuilding the FAQ around client questions and the “people also ask” prompts Google surfaces for that exact search.

    Nine months later, the rankings side of this looks like the earlier examples: average position climbed from the 40s and 50s to the 13–14 range, weekly impressions grew from under 500 to a peak near 4,800, and total clicks across the whole twelve months landed at five. Judged purely on Search Console, this would read as another wash.

    When a prompt requires current, specific, or verifiable information – which includes most commercial and research queries – LLMs like ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Gemini retrieve relevant documents from external search indexes before generating their response. For these queries, the retrieval step is key: if your content isn’t indexed and ranking in the search engine, it cannot enter the model’s context window.

    Lily Ray, Your GEO Strategy Might Be Destroying Your SEO

    In the spring and summer of 2026, three new maintenance inquiries came in from people who, when asked how they found me, said some version of “I asked ChatGPT.” They couldn’t point to an exact page they were referred to, just that they’d asked an AI tool for a recommendation and gotten mine.

    It’s tempting to draw a straight line from “I rewrote the page in October” to “ChatGPT recommended me in June”. But is that true or truthy?

    Pattern v. Coincidence

    6 Months of AI - mentions and link presence
    SE Ranking – AI Visibility Chart (6 months): shows the share of tracked prompts for which a selected Large Language Model (LLM) provides at least one source link in its response.

    A general AI-visibility tracker I run through SE Ranking climbed from roughly 10–15% in late April to a sustained 50–75% through most of June, which is close to the window those three inquiries arrived in. That’s a percentage across a small set of tracked prompts, measured daily, which is exactly the kind of series where a good week can look like a trend.

    Rand Fishkin’s research on AI-driven search makes a relevant point – these tools give inconsistent answers to the same question asked twice, and there’s rarely a reliable way to trace one recommendation back to one piece of content.

    To get mathematical about it, there’s a <1 in 100 chance that ChatGPT or Google’s AI, if asked 100X, will give you the same list of brands in any two responses. Claude is just slightly more likely to give you the same list twice in a hundred runs, but even less likely to do so in the same order.

    Rand Fishkin, SparkToro.com – Ais are highly inconsistent

    Fishkin’s argument predicts exactly this kind of result: he’s said full-funnel, page-level attribution doesn’t really work anymore for AI-driven visibility, and the best move is tracking aggregate brand presence instead of chasing which single URL gets the credit.

    The other pattern is publishing volume. From September 2025 through April 2026, I put out 18 posts spanning WordPress, web development, content strategy, SEO, UX, accessibility. Only a handful touched security or AI specifically. I shared my articles on LinkedIn and BlueSky. Lot’s of LinkedIn traffic referrals, mostly from the peer-driven topics.

    If there’s a finding in this, showing up consistently, across a normal range of real topics, seemed to matter more than picking one narrow niche and hammering it. That’s a more realistic goal for most small business owners than an aggressive content marketing strategy that demands multiples posts per week paired with social media campaigns.

    In writing articles, I also wanted to maintain a standard of quality that mattered to me. I wanted my work to be moderately creative and personally satisfying. If you can match the specificity and depth of what’s ranking, and also make something that is “good” (human, genuine, original, well-written), it should perform better over time.

    Before you publish, make sure you ask the right questions

    If your process right now is “someone writes something, I glance at it, we hit publish,” here’s an an adjustment which will increase your potential benefits that costs maybe thirty extra minutes:

    1. What is the purpose of your content (before writing or prompting)? Enthusiasm content you create for yourself, peer content, and buyer content have different jobs and different success metrics.
    2. Who’s going to read this? A stranger, or someone already talking to you? If it’s a stranger finding you cold, find the exact question they’d search, then check who already owns it – other businesses like yours, or a name-brand a worried person would already trust more, like a bank, a host, or a government site? If it’s the second one, that’s important to know before you spend an afternoon competing for a click you were never going to get (in this case, explore a longer tail keyphrase).
    3. Check your own site before creating something new. Improving an existing page can be a better use of limited time than adding another thin post to a pile.
    4. Answer the question in the first two sentences. Save context for after. This is what makes a section quotable, to a human skimming and to an AI system deciding what to cite.
    5. When you’re the one editing, check for specificity, not just tone. Ask “would this paragraph describe five other companies or is it unique to us – does it have a point of view or strong opinion?”
    6. Don’t wait for a perfect content plan. My own results came from eight months of ordinary, unglamorous publishing, not an engineered content cluster. Pick a bucket, pick a real question, and keep the habit going.

    Work in Progress

    A lot of real content is blended. An FAQ can serve both a worried client and a curious peer at once, and the security posts are arguably evidence of that: written with buyer intent, but the query behavior that got exposed (panic-searching, trust-brand competition) suggests the actual audience search intent was closer to “verify this isn’t a scam” than “evaluate a WordPress maintenance provider.” That could be treated as a missed research step, which is true, but it’s also a reminder that intent isn’t fully something a writer decides.

    Searcher intent is the thing that governs the outcome of your search optimization work, not tricks to exploit short‑term loopholes. Research and experimentation show you what intent your audience has, how to satisfy it with the right content and format, and what moves your metrics over time.

    Image: A Satire of Tulip Mania by Jan Brueghel the Younger (c. 1640) depicts speculators as brainless monkeys in contemporary upper-class dress. In a commentary on the economic folly, one monkey urinates on the previously valuable plants, others appear in debtor’s court and one is carried to the grave. Frans Hals Museum, Haarlem, Netherlands., Public Domain

    Emily Rapport

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  • Writing with AI: humanity required

    Writing with AI: humanity required

    AI writing tools promise to save time and make content creation easier. When we prompt AI with a question, it might even say “Thinking…” and then provide a comprehensive, 3,000 word response that sounds reasonable. But is it really thinking as we understand that activity? No, it isn’t, and it’s easy to forget that because its really good at language patterns.

    As ChatGPT might put it, the critical truth is that AI is just a predictor of patterns. It can’t verify facts or evaluate quality. The human in charge must provide good input, apply critical judgment, and edit ruthlessly.

    AI tools might just be the worst thing ever

    In Star Trek, a simple program instructed “food synthesizer” evolved over time into an all-purpose “replicator”. The replicator could parse a verbal request and generate an appropriate object from its database of known patterns (with some restrictions). Science fiction imagined this as a perfect solution to scarcity, satisfying our wants and needs should we merely make our wishes known. But, there are always consequences right? Friction matters. All things are not equal. Without obstacles, characters can’t grow and stories become predictable.

    Writers for the later versions of the show hated this plot device:

    “Replicators are the worst thing ever. Destroys storytelling all the time. They mean there’s no value to anything. Nothing has value in the universe if you can just replicate everything, so all that goes away. Nothing is unique; if you break something, you can just make another one. If something breaks on the ship, it’s “Oh, no big deal, Geordi [LaForge] can just go down to engineering and make another doozywhatsit.” Or they go to a planet and that planet needed something: “Oh, hey, let’s make them what they need!” [The writers room] just hated it and tried to forget about it as much as possible.” – Ron Moore, writer/producer, Star Trek: TNG and DS9

    Unlike science fiction stories, AI does have real world consequences.

    First, there’s the exploitation and bias inherent in training AI. Lacking considered design to prevent harms, AI has tragically resulted in suicides, racial profiling apps, abusive content, and porn. We’re subject to AI sprinkles on most products and services, whether we want them or not. Constant, imperceptible nudges to our decision-making around what shows to watch, what purchases to make, what opinions to hold.

    And then, there’s the water. 

    “Each time a model is used, perhaps by an individual asking ChatGPT to summarize an email, the computing hardware that performs those operations consumes energy. Researchers have estimated that a ChatGPT query consumes about five times more electricity than a simple web search.” – MIT News, “Generative AI’s Environmental Impact”

    This isn’t just about the electricity needed to power the data centers either. Immense quantities of water, often in desert regions (because computers like it dry), are required to keep these hard-working mega-computing centers cool.

    Stop the world – I want to get off 1

    As AI becomes embedded within our daily transactions, our work, and the internet of things, it’s tempting to imagine we can escape this maddening world. Turn off our computers, quit our jobs, trade in our cars for horses, and start a commune with our friends … I mean, we could, but it’s unlikely that most of us will exit the thrum of modern life completely. Do we know how mechanical things actually work anymore?

    My point is, let’s try to use AI with a better understanding of the tool rather than as a magical fix or truth-telling machine.

    Language generators will always generate more language

    Language is powerful. Humans rely on language to know the world around us, to communicate, to understand, to influence, and to describe our thoughts and emotions.

    When we talk to AI, it is easy for us to be swayed by its authoritative confidence, even when it is completely wrong (or just slightly misleading). In our minds, language creates mutual understanding and builds trust.

    AI is designed to satisfy this human desire to connect. By being responsive to our needs, it’s cementing our investment in its output. Left unchecked, this tool will keep going well past the point of usefulness. This means you need to be the fact-checker, the quality controller, and the BS detector. 

    As a human, I want to use AI, so I don’t have to do [X]

    Ok, that’s an oversimplification. Commercial AI tools have a lot of useful, low risk applications like transcribing and structuring meeting notes, building relational databases, or helping us plan a menu or exercise routine.

    Using AI isn’t always about the fastest way to get something done either. Anyone who has tried to create with AI knows it can be a prolonged and tedious process. AI can be a boon to progress but, like any intern-level coworker, it needs guidance and regular quality checks in order to produce a good result.

    I’ve experimented with AI design and UX tools, writing and coding, and the AI that now seems bolted on to every service. I’m going to focus now on AI as a writing partner because that’s the most common use case for many of my clients (and myself).

    Don’t believe everything you read

    The patterns of AI writing are recognizable across LinkedIn posts, website content, emails, contracts, and documentation. When left to its own predilection for black and white comparisons, a self-assured tone, and general blandness, AI writing has acquired the personality traits of that extrovert acquaintance whose stories you strenuously avoid at parties.

    When we make a request, AI tools aren’t “thinking” about our question and they aren’t searching the web for the most accurate answer. They are gearing up to generate the word patterns that form the most likely response.

    At first glance, content appears in order. On a more careful read we may spot grandiose statements and verbose language that isn’t actually saying anything.

    Your AI-writing partner is a sociopath and it simply can not restrain itself. It’s function is to produce patterns of words that sound like a genuine response – and to keep you talking to it. 

    Garbage in, garbage out

    If you type a vague request, don’t expect useful output. Providing AI resources and specificity will help you to develop higher quality content that sounds like you and is actually helpful.

    Here is some groundwork that you can do to improve your collaboration with AI tools:

    1. Create your writing guidelines
      • Build a reference document that defines your writing standards.
      • Include your target reading level, tone descriptors (professional but approachable, no-nonsense, conversational), and sentence structure preferences. 
      • This is a living document, add to it to make it better.
      • This can also be super detailed – it’s really just guidance for AI and not meant for people to follow.
    2. On your own, without AI, draft an outline of what your article will cover – these can be single words, directions, or snippets of ideas.
      • This framework is incredibly helpful in preventing AI from going off on a 4,000 word tangent. You’re also giving AI some tips about how you talk. 
      • If you use Google, ask Gemini to do a preliminary review of your outline and make some suggestions for improvement without handing AI total writing control from the start.
    3. I recommend supplying a forbidden terms list. This helps you stop the marketing jargon, unnecessary qualifiers, hard sell language, and industry buzzwords you want to avoid. 
      • Watch out for: solutions, comprehensive, robust, actually, really, very, it’s important to note, utilize, synergy, truth, the hard truth is
      • Prefer plain language like: use, tools, complete (delete unnecessary qualifiers)
    4. Give examples of the language that you do want: the words your clients use, plain language alternatives to technical terms, and brand-specific terminology.

    There’s also bias in how we make requests. We tend to ask leading questions or frame prompts in ways that push the AI toward answers we expect. By providing more specific guidelines, we can mitigate this and give AI tools meaningful limitations.

    Be more specific: crafting better AI writing prompts

    “Write a post about [topic]” will give you a generic blog post number 47,892. It’s not likely adding anything to the conversation which means it’s not going to produce any measurable results for your website.

    A good prompt includes several key elements:

    • Role and context: Define who the writer is and what expertise they have. 
    • Audience: Describe who’s reading, what they care about, and their knowledge level.
    • Purpose: State what the content should accomplish.
    • Constraints: List your requirements and restrictions. Specify tone, length, what to include, and what to avoid. This is where your forbidden words list becomes useful.
    • Format: Define structure, heading levels, and any specific requirements.

    Good (content) design is all about the requirements.

    With specific prompts and project knowledge, you’ll spend less time going back and forth with AI trying to follow it’s mindless regurgitation of words, and more easily guide it to cover the right topics and speak to the right audience.

    Getting meta: use AI to improve your prompts

    You can also use AI tools to make your writing prompts better. Start with your first attempt, then ask it to: “Review this prompt and suggest improvements to make it more specific. What’s unclear? What assumptions am I making? What details would help?”

    Direct AI to be a critical expert (for example a content strategist). You’ll get more insightful feedback that doesn’t uniformly pat you on the head and claim you are a genius.

    Save prompts that generate good results. Over time, you’ll develop templates for your most common content types.

    Please do your own SEO research before writing your outline

    Most of us blog because it serves an SEO function and helps establish our topical expertise. While AI can help with content creation, it can not do your SEO strategy for you. AI tools don’t know what keywords matter for your business, what terms people are searching for, or what you’re trying to achieve with a particular article – unless you give it that data.

    Ask AI to “optimize this article for SEO” and you’ll get terrible advice: stuff more keywords in, add more headings, make it longer. The tool wants to please you, sometimes to a fault. 

    • Do your keyword research first. Use Google Search Console to see what terms people actually use to find content like yours. Look at the questions your clients ask. Check what’s already ranking for the topics you want to cover.
    • Give the AI clear direction. Instead of “Optimize for SEO,” try: “I’m targeting these keyphrases [researched list]. The primary audience is [X] and [Y] who have the following pain points [A, B, C]. Include [focus keyword] in the title, first paragraph, and first H2 heading. Use related terms naturally in the body. Keep keyword density under 2%.”

    Even if you’re not an SEO expert, you can improve AI recommendations by being specific about your target keywords, understanding your audience’s actual search behavior, and pushing back when suggestions feel off. Trust your knowledge of what your clients need over generic optimization “advice”.

    The human spark: apply the critical thinking that AI can’t

    “Not all content marketing is thought leadership. In fact most of it is not. True thought leadership takes a position on a topic, and the reader can agree or disagree. If the topic is something they can’t disagree with, it isn’t thought leadership.” – Andy Crestodina, Orbit Media, The AI-Driven Content Strategy

    Human experience develops our own pattern recognition abilities, informing insights and connections. You might realize that three separate client conversations from the past month all circle around the same underlying issue. Or, you’ll go for a walk and suddenly conceive an elegant solution to a thorny problem.

    Where AI tools follow linear paths based on their training data, human thinking makes intuitive leaps, pulls in relevant context from seemingly unrelated areas, and finds the through-line that ties distinct ideas together. That’s good content!

    Even if you rely on AI for your content writing, judgment calls remain entirely human work: deciding what to keep, what to revise, and what to scrap. Writing is editing, not word count.

    Making AI output sound (more) human

    AI-generated content has tells. Generic connector phrases appear constantly: “it’s important to note,” “the hard truth is,” “critically,” “the reality is” – UGH. It’s ironic (and also a kind of creativity negging?) that AI is so obsessed with convincing us of hard truths and critical realities.

    • Read content aloud, you’ll immediately hear the false notes. 
    • Delete unnecessary connectors and qualifiers. 
    • Variety’s the spice of life2. Vary sentence structure and length.

    AI will keep generating text if you let it. Knowing when to stop is a human skill.

    The law of the instrument 3

    AI writing tools can be useful when you understand their limitations. They help you get past the blinking cursor on a blank page and speed up technical aspects of writing like correcting grammar and spelling errors.

    Don’t hand the entire writing process to the AI. Always start with your own outline or structure and revise in stages. Trying to fix everything at the end is harder because the quantity of content will be overwhelming and lack priority.

    Remember, it is your human expertise, judgment, and understanding of your audience makes your content valuable. 

    And maybe, don’t let AI be the first tool in your toolbox.

    Jotting some ideas down with pen and paper can be highly productive, there’s a strong correlation between the physical act of writing, creativity, and learning.

    Are you using AI writing tools in your content marketing?

    I’m curious if you are using AI to help you with creating or optimizing content. What have you learned along the way? What has been a challenge for you? Are you all-in or hesitant to use AI?

    1. Stop the World, I want to Get Off was a 1961 musical, followed by a film in 1966. The title is a recurring cry from Littlechap whenever life becomes overwhelming, symbolizing a desire to escape the chaos, responsibilities, and emptiness of modern life. ↩︎
    2. William Cowper, an 18th century poet wrote “Variety’s the very spice of life, That gives it all its flavour” in his 1785 poem The Task. ↩︎
    3. The first recorded statement of the concept was Abraham Kaplan’s, in 1964: “I call it the law of the instrument, and it may be formulated as follows: Give a small boy a hammer, and he will find that everything he encounters needs pounding.” ↩︎

    Emily Rapport

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  • Write better blog posts: 13 blogging mistakes and how to fix them

    Write better blog posts: 13 blogging mistakes and how to fix them

    If you aren’t a writer, creating blog posts can feel like a chore. And when a task is not something we want to be spending our time on, it’s easy for that task to fall to the wayside.

    Maybe you’ve started to use AI writing tools to fill the gap, or you have a marketing team or intern cranking out posts for your website and social media. Still, the content you create isn’t attracting the traffic and conversion results to match the effort invested.

    Tell me again why I need to write blog posts?

    Blog content can serve your overall marketing strategy by meeting people where they are in their decision-making process.

    • Build trust and awareness for your brand
    • Reach potential customers searching for solutions to their problems
    • Target niche audiences with specific questions and needs, allowing you to compete for more achievable keywords
    • Repurposed for social media, your content can be shared across channels, provoke discussion and debate, all of which helps surface your content in both traditional search engines and AI search

    Companies that blog regularly generate 67% more leads than those that don’t. But to see these results, your blog posts need more than just regular publishing, they need strategic improvements.

    Google and other search engines seek fresh, useful, timely content. Yes, a lot of informational queries are now answered in AI overviews. That’s not necessarily bad – if it satisfies the intent of the search query.

    When you position yourself as a subject matter expert, with a thoughtful and unique perspective, dynamic blog content begins to gain traction. “Yes,” you say “but there’s so MUCH content being created every day, how can my post stand out and make it into the top 10 SERPs?”

    Avoid common blogging mistakes: “Them’s table stakes”

    Technical flaws, generic content, and incompleteness can undermine your credibility and make it harder to appear in search results. I’ll walk you through 13 common blogging mistakes that prevent your content from reaching its full potential.

    Ready to implement these fixes? Download my free Blog Post Checklist at the end of this article to keep these 13 improvements handy every time you publish.

    Content strategy and planning

    Content and pathways - the abstracted user journey

    1. Random posts with no content strategy

    Publishing random blog posts whenever you have time leads to inconsistent results. Without a clear content strategy, your blog becomes a collection of unrelated articles that don’t build on each other or serve your business goals. Having a plan means front-loading some discovery work which, you may argue, you don’t have time to do. But, if you have time to do it wrong … I think you see where I’m going with this.

    Your content strategy helps you to maintain clarity of purpose with firm boundaries around what makes sense for your business. Don’t waste time following the lead on trending topics. Find the content gaps in your industry, add your own angle, and offer a unique perspective that ties back to your business and what you do best.

    Develop your content strategy:

    • Define your target audience and their pain points
    • Brainstorm topic clusters around your main services or expertise
    • Whittle it down to core topics you can commit to writing about
    • Plan content themes for each month or quarter
    • Develop a content calendar to maintain consistency – if you can manage 1 post a week, that’s great, but pick a schedule that works for you (be realistic)
    • Advanced: Align blog topics with your sales funnel stages

    Topic clusters can work particularly well for business blogs and build that E-E-A-T (Experience, Expertise, Authority, and Trustworthiness) signal Google loves. Develop a comprehensive pillar post on a core topic, with supporting posts that dive deeper into specific aspects, shows search engines (and readers) the depth of your expertise.

    2. Writing for your business instead of your audience

    Many business blogs focus on telling: company news, product updates, and internal achievements. Rather, we should be showing our expertise by crafting content around the topics readers care most about.

    As a small business, you are more likely to have direct access to your customers than larger organizations. You have first-hand knowledge of real customers problems and questions. That’s content which can provide unique value to readers in showing (not telling) your understanding of, and solutions to, customers’ real-life challenges.

    Plan first. Then write for your audience:

    • Think about the questions your customers ask most often
    • Research those topics to discover what other published, ranking content exists and what gaps you might be able to explore
    • Address specific pain points your audience faces
    • Use language your customers use, not industry jargon
    • Share insights that help readers succeed
    • Focus on benefits to the reader, not features of your business

    Before writing any post, ask: “What’s in this for my reader? How does this help them?” If you can’t answer that clearly, reconsider the topic.

    3. Skipping keyword research

    You might have a fantastic idea that you would love to write about. But great ideas without planning … will disappear like tears in rain. In order to compete, you must consider audience intent (you got this, this is your business!) and the words that real people use to describe their problems.

    Keyword research should inform your topic choice, not be pinned on blindly like a donkey tail after the fact. Use free tools like Google Keyword Planner, AnswerThePublic, or Google Trends to find keywords and run your own Google search analysis to discover what people are actually searching for.

    Understanding the search volume around your keywords is another aspect to consider. If the keywords you are optimizing for have no traffic, well – they won’t result in any clicks if no one is searching for those terms. Search Engine Optimization (SEO) doesn’t have to be complicated, but ignoring it is an opportunity lost.

    Essential SEO practices for every blog post:

    1. Research keywords before writing
    2. Include your primary keyword in the page title, first paragraph, and variations throughout the content (be cool, keep it natural)
    3. Use descriptive headings (H2, H3) that include related keywords
    4. Write compelling meta descriptions (155-160 characters with your keyword and a call to action) – these blurbs can encourage clicks when your post appears in search
    5. Add internal links to other relevant posts on your site
    6. Include external links to authoritative sources – “be helpful”
    7. Optimize images with descriptive filenames and alt text, and size them for web use

    Focus on creating content for humans first, then optimize for search engines. Keyword stuffing and other manipulative tactics will hurt your rankings. Learn more about SEO fundamentals from Google’s own documentation.

    4. Trying to cover everything in one post

    Trying to cover everything in a single blog post often results in surface-level content that doesn’t provide real value. A comprehensive article on a specific, narrow topic is fine – but you want to avoid the generic 101 overview.

    Narrow your focus, stand apart from the crowd:

    • Choose one specific problem to solve per post
    • Break broad topics into a series of related posts
    • Target one primary keyword per post
    • Provide actionable advice readers can implement immediately
    • Link between related posts to create topic clusters
    • Approximate length of an article: 1,500 – 2,000 words (more if this is a comprehensive or pillar page)

    Instead of a “Complete Guide to Vegetable Gardening,” break it up into separate posts like “When to Plant Tomatoes in Your Region” and “How to Prevent Common Tomato Diseases”.

    Tip: Create an editorial calendar around this series of articles and connect it to an email list specific to this topic. You can use these articles to create a drip campaign in email and social channels.

    Writing & formatting

    An eyeball overwhelmed by internet things

    5. Formal, dense content distances readers

    Using flowery words and complex sentences doesn’t impress readers and may repel the very people you’re trying to attract.

    If you make your content easy to read, you aren’t ‘dumbing down’, you are opening up your information to anyone who wants to read it. You are making it accessible.

    Sara Winters, “Thoughts on the ‘dumbing down’ argument“

    Online readers prefer conversational, easy-to-digest content that feels like it’s written by a real person. Dense paragraphs and complex language make your content harder to read, especially on mobile devices.

    Engage readers with conversational content:

    • Write like you’re talking to a friend
    • Use short paragraphs (2-3 sentences maximum)
    • Ask questions to engage readers
    • Use contractions and casual language when appropriate

    6. “Walls of text” without formatting and structure

    Large blocks of text are intimidating and difficult to read, especially on mobile devices. Structural elements (like headings and lists) help readers scan and process information and get to the content they care about more quickly.

    Reader-friendly post structure:

    • Include headings each new topic and subtopic, approximately every 200-300 words
    • Use bullet points and numbered lists
    • Add relevant images, charts, or graphics with concise alt text
    • Use bold text sparingly to highlight key points
    • Include white space between sections
    • Consider adding videos or other multimedia when appropriate

    Structure helps machines (AI and Google) better understand and serve your content. Why would you want to make it harder for these tools to connect you with your potential audience? Take the time to add meaningful structure to your posts.

    7. Treating blog posts like advertisements

    Nobody visits your blog to read sales pitches. Readers come for helpful information and solutions to their problems. Blog posts that focus primarily on promoting your products or services will drive readers away.

    Let people see you as human. Be real. Ask yourself, Who would you rather see at your door, a friend or a door-to-door salesman?

    Bernard Roth, The Achievement Habit

    Provide value without being salesy:

    • Focus on solving reader problems, not selling solutions
    • Share industry insights and best practices
    • Provide actionable tips readers can use immediately
    • Tell stories and share case studies (without heavy promotion)
    • Mention your products naturally when they’re truly relevant

    When you do promote your services, try to make it feel natural and helpful rather than a hard sell.

    8. Skipping the proofreading and editing process

    Writing is editing. Unclear writing, as well as typos and grammatical errors, can undermine your credibility as a trusted expert. Through editing, you’ll connect loose threads and find deeper themes to develop. You can tighten up unclear messaging and maybe even discover a new angle you hadn’t thought of before.

    Even after you hit publish, you can always come back and make changes to your web content. Step away from your writing for a day or two, you’ll catch so many things you missed: awkward phrasing, logic gaps, unnecessary repetition – and moments of inspiration that, on reflection, serve only your burgeoning writers ego (guilty!).

    Help your inner blogger emerge with an editing workflow:

    • Write your first draft, then step away for a few hours (overnight if possible)
    • Read your post aloud to catch awkward phrasing
    • Use tools like Grammarly or Hemingway Editor for basic grammar and readability
    • Check that your main points are clear and well-supported
    • Verify all links work and statistics are accurate
    • Have someone else review important posts

    Investing ONE hour in refining and editing your content shows readers you value their time.

    Technical optimization (pre-publish checks)

    People laboriously putting together a book by hand

    9. Long, unedited URLs confuse readers and Search Engines

    Long, convoluted URLs like “yoursite.com/blog/2024/03/15/this-is-a-really-long-title-about-our-latest-product-announcement-and-why-you-should-care” hurt both search rankings and user experience. And you definitely want to avoid keyword stuffing in URLs.

    Search engines prefer concise, descriptive URLs. People are more likely to click on and share short, readable URLs. It’s all about trust and meeting expectations.

    Lead with your primary keyword (the main thing people are searching for). In the example below, “marketing strategy” is the primary search term, with “small business” being the qualifier.

    Long and confusing: /how-to-choose-the-best-marketing-strategy-for-your-small-business-in-2024

    Optimized: /marketing-strategy-small-business/

    Removing the date also makes this evergreen content that you can improve and add to over time.

    Clean up your URLs and keep them human-readable:

    • Keep URLs under 60 characters when possible (3-5 words)
    • Include your main keyword
    • Remove unnecessary words like “and,” “the,” “of”
    • Use hyphens to separate words
    • Edit the default URL WordPress creates
    • Don’t keyword stuff or create misleading, “clever” URLs

    10. Oversized images l o a d i n g . . .

    In the digital world, three seconds is an eternity. A single uncompressed image may be several megabytes, causing your blog post to load slowly, even on good internet. “So long mobile users and people on slow networks and older devices…” you whisper to yourself as you upload a 3MB PNG image exported from Canva to your latest post.

    Page speed directly impacts both user experience and search rankings. Google considers speed a ranking factor, and users expect pages to load in under three seconds. Many free tools like TinyPNG or built-in WordPress features can automatically optimize your images without noticeable quality loss. My favorite tool is ImageOptim.

    Optimize images before you upload them:

    • Compress images before uploading (aim for under 100KB when possible)
    • Use the more modern and compressed WebP and AVIF formats if available
    • If you can’t, use JPG for photos and PNG for solid graphics – using PNG for gradient images will 10X the image size (I’m looking at you and shaking my fist in an agitated manner, Canva!)
    • Resize images to the maximum display size needed (most blog content areas are 800-1200px wide – not 4000px)

    11. Missing alt text on images hurts accessibility and SEO

    Alt text (alternative text) describes an image for people who can’t see it visually. Don’t exclude visitors with visual impairments, people on slower connections, and people using reader mode from fully experiencing your content.

    Alt text can also help search engines understand your content. When search engines can’t “see” your images, they also miss important context about your content.

    Alternative text should always be used when images convey contextual meaning. This also applies to images posted to your social media channels and used in your newsletter.

    How to write effective alt text:

    • Describe what’s actually in the image
    • Keep it under 125 characters
    • Include a relevant keyword IF you can do it naturally, but recognize that this is not the purpose of alt text and you should not use this as a place to stuff keywords
    • Don’t start with “image of” or “picture of”
    • Skip alt text for images that are purely decorative

    Learn more about writing effective alt text from the W3C Web Accessibility Initiative.

    12. Missing calls to action leave readers without a next step

    A blog post without a CTA is like giving a great presentation, dropping the mic and walking offstage. Your audience may be left in awe, but they are probably not taking that next step to subscribe to your email list or contact you about your service. Obstacles to action generate inaction.

    Guide readers toward the next step, whether that’s subscribing to your newsletter, downloading a resource, or contacting your team.

    Provide that logical next step:

    • “Download our free [relevant resource] to get started”
    • Natural mentions like “If you need help with [challenge], here’s how we approach it”
    • “Get weekly tips like these delivered to your inbox”
    • “See our complete guide to this [topic]”

    Need help creating an effective content strategy? See how we can help your business blog reach more customers.

    Post-publication: don’t forget to share your work (and make it shareable)

    Lucky 13. Publishing without promoting your content

    Hitting publish doesn’t mean you’re finished. I know, crafting that great blog content took a lot out of you. But creating the content is only half the battle. If you don’t actively promote your posts, they may never find their intended audience. Content promotion extends your reach and helps drive brand awareness as well as more traffic to your website.

    Content promotion strategies:

    • Share on your business social media accounts (share snippets from your article, multiple times over several weeks) – if creating a post on LinkedIn, let the first comment be a link to the actual article.
    • Include recent posts in your email newsletters
    • Engage with industry communities and forums where your audience is
    • Reach out to people mentioned in your post
    • Repurpose content for different platforms
    • Add social sharing buttons to your post to make sharing easy

    How do I know when I’ve made it? Andy Crestodina of Orbit Media Studies has a lot of great content around marketing strategy and analysis, here’s one on measuring content performance.

    I see better blogs in your future…

    A person floats in a relaxing pool that looks like an eye

    To recap, do these things:

    • Pre-writing research (keyword research, topic validation)
    • Create SEO-friendly URLs
    • Optimize images
    • Write engaging content that speaks to your audience
    • Promote your posts

    Focus on providing real value to your readers. You may not skyrocket to international acclaim and Google’s coveted Top 10 results overnight, but over the next 3-6 months, ceteris paribus, you might just become noticed as a trusted expert.

    Get your free better blog post checklist

    Ready to put these fixes into action? Download the Blog Post Checklist – Keep it next to your desk or bookmark it in your browser. Before you hit publish, run through the checklist to catch common blogging mistakes before they go live.

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    Images used in this post created by Naila Conita

    Emily Rapport

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  • Small business SEO: Search engine rankings and how to get them

    Small business SEO: Search engine rankings and how to get them

    Search engine optimization (SEO) can feel overwhelming for small businesses. You know you need to do it, but where do you start?

    Why is SEO important for small businesses?

    When potential customers need what you offer, they search online. If your business doesn’t show up in those search results, you’re invisible to them.

    SEO helps small businesses get found by people actively looking for their services. Unlike paid advertising that stops working when your budget runs out, SEO builds long-term visibility. When you rank well for the right searches, you’re there 24/7, capturing customers with commercial intent who are ready to hire someone.

    Trust is everything

    Appearing in organic search results signals legitimacy. People trust businesses that rank naturally more than they trust ads.

    This is why having your own website is essential. You can’t rely on Facebook or social media to represent your business. While social media content may appear in AI search results, it won’t build authority for your business. Your website is the only digital property you control, and it’s what search engines use to understand and rank your expertise.

    Not every keyword is worth chasing

    The most popular “head” terms are dominated by major corporations and high-authority sites that small businesses simply can’t compete with. The intent around those terms can also be ambiguous. A local search engine marketing strategy can help you turn popular head search terms into achievable ranking goals, better positioned to convert a view into a click. Let’s look at how to find the specific searches you can rank for that bring you the right customers.

    Understanding search intent

    The secret to optimizing SEO for small businesses is understanding search intent. What does the person typing that search actually want?

    Google’s entire business depends on providing the best possible answer to every search query. If people get poor results—low-quality, keyword-stuffed content that doesn’t actually help them—they’ll stop using Google. So Google has gotten very good at understanding what searchers want and matching them with content that genuinely answers their question.

    This means your job isn’t to trick Google with keywords. Your job is to create content that is the best fit for what the person searching needs. When you understand their intent and provide the right answer, Google will begin to trust your pages and reward you with better rankings.

    Search intent typically falls into these categories:

    • Informational intent: The searcher wants to learn something or understand a concept. They might search “what is instructional design” or “how does SEO work.” They’re not ready to hire anyone—they’re gathering information.
    • Commercial intent: The searcher is actively looking for a service or product. They might search “instructional design services near me” or “affordable SEO consultant.” These people are ready to make a decision.
    • Navigational intent: The searcher wants to find a specific website or page. They know where they want to go.

    Your service pages need to match commercial intent. Your blog posts can capture informational searches and guide readers toward your services. Navigational is generally your home page (brand) or an AI result—people likely know where they want to go and just need a link to get there.

    Why broad keywords don’t work for small businesses

    Let’s say you want to rank for a broad term like “instructional design.” When you Google it, what do you see? Probably an AI definition to start with, then Wikipedia in the top three results. Maybe a university or another major publication after that.

    That’s not an accident. Google understands that most people searching this term have informational intent. They want basic information, not a service provider. They want the definition and so the AI result or Wikipedia link make sense. Google gives users what they want (and so should you!).

    There’s another layer to how search ranking operates: authority.

    The authority challenge

    Head keywords are intensely competitive. High-authority sites like Wikipedia, major universities, industry publications, and established corporations dominate these rankings. They’ve earned Google’s trust through years of quality content, thousands of backlinks, and proven expertise.

    Your small business website simply isn’t in the same weight class. And that’s okay.

    Trying to outrank Wikipedia for “instructional design” is like a local gym challenging a national fitness chain on day one. You’re not going to win, no matter how good your content is.

    Building trust through content strategy

    What can a small business owner do? Build Google’s trust gradually by pursuing long-tail, specific keyphrases.

    When you write the best possible article on “creating accessible e-learning modules for healthcare compliance training,” you’re competing in a much smaller arena. You can actually rank. You can actually help people. And those people are much more likely to become your clients.

    Each time you rank well for a specific search, Google notices. You’re proving your expertise in your niche. Google starts to trust you for broader topics related to your specialty.

    This is how small businesses compete: not by going head-to-head with giants, but by owning specific corners of expertise that serve real customer needs.

    Specific keywords can better match intent

    The more specific the search term, the clearer the intent becomes:

    • Broad search: “instructional design” (ambiguous, informational intent, high competition)
    • Specific search: “instructional design consultant for healthcare training” (commercial intent, lower competition, higher conversion)

    When you target more specific keywords (longer keyphrases with five or more words) you attract people who know exactly what they need. They’re closer to hiring someone, and your content matches their intent perfectly. These longer searches also have significantly higher conversion rates because the searcher has already narrowed down their needs.

    To recap, when you target specific, long-tail keywords, you:

    • Face less competition
    • Attract people who are closer to hiring someone
    • Match the exact solution searchers need
    • Build Google’s trust in your expertise

    As you rank for these specific terms, Google sees you as an authority. Your site gains credibility in your niche. Over time, this opens doors to ranking for broader terms, if those broader terms serve your business goals.

    • 33% of all clicks go to the #1 search result
    • 17% of clicks go to the #2 result
    • 90% of people never click to page two of results
    • The top three results capture most of the traffic

    This is why long-tail keywords are so powerful for small businesses. You might not get the massive search volume of broad terms, but ranking #1 for a specific search that perfectly matches your service is far more valuable than ranking on page 3 for a high-volume keyword that brings the wrong audience.

    Speak your customers language, and you’ll match their searches

    Start with the simplest tool you already have: Google itself.

    Search for the terms you want to be found for. Pay close attention to:

    • Auto-suggest phrases: What does Google suggest as you type? These are real searches people are making.
    • Sites currently ranking: Who’s on page one? Are they high-authority sites like Wikipedia or major publications?
    • Ads at the top: Multiple ads often mean high competition and commercial intent.

    If you see lots of high-authority results or many ads, that keyword is probably too competitive. Add more words to your search phrase to make it more specific and targeted. For example, instead of “instructional design,” try “instructional design for manufacturing training programs.”

    This specificity improves the likelihood you can actually rank.

    As you research, ask yourself:

    1. What keywords have the best traffic potential that you can realistically rank for?
    2. What words do your ideal clients use when they search?
    3. What problems are they trying to solve?

    The answers won’t be those broad head keywords. They’ll be the specific phrases your target customers actually type.

    This is where matching the language people actually use becomes critical and why keyword research is important. You need to understand not just what you call your services, but what your customers call them.

    Check Google Search Console to see the actual queries people use to find your content. These real searches reveal the exact words and phrases that bring visitors to your site. Pay attention to the language customers use when they talk to you or ask questions: in emails, phone calls, or consultations. They often use different terminology than industry professionals do, and those are the phrases you should target.

    If your customers say “help with employee training videos” but you only optimize for “instructional design services,” you’re missing the connection. Speak their language and you’ll match their searches.

    Optimizing your service pages

    Your service pages are critical for local search engine marketing. These pages have commercial intent. Your visitors are actively considering hiring someone. Make them actionable and easy to navigate with these essentials:

    • Reflect your current expertise. Does each page show what you want to be known for now? Update content that no longer matches your goals.
    • Speak your client’s language. Use the exact words and phrases your customers use, not clever marketing copy or internal lingo.
    • Show your work. Connect your portfolio or case studies to each service page. People want proof you can deliver.
    • Balance information with action. Service page visitors need enough information to make a decision, but they’re here to take the next step. Don’t bury them in details.
    • Include clear, compelling calls to action. Make it obvious what to do next. “Schedule a free consultation,” “Get a custom quote,” or “See how we can help” should be easy to find and act on.
    • Keep it clean and scannable. Single-column layouts with clear sections work best. Cut the fluff and keep only what serves the searcher’s needs. Use headings, short paragraphs, and white space to guide the eye.

    Crafting good content that supports your business goals

    Writing content is hard. It’s often difficult to step back and objectively write about your own services while keeping your content accessible, using the right keywords, and making sure you speak to real customer pain points. Writing for the web is different than writing a business document or a brochure. It requires a different approach to structure, language, and purpose.

    AI tools can help with this process, but they don’t provide a one-stop solution. Now, instead of a blank page being the problem, I am seeing weak, generic content that doesn’t demonstrate real expertise. I also see highly over-optimized content using keywords suggested by AI tools, not research.

    Don’t make bad content like this:

    • Generic, AI-generated content with no editing. If you’re publishing AI content without adding your unique perspective, experience, and voice, it’s just noise. Search engines are getting better at identifying generic content.
    • Keyword-stuffed content that doesn’t sound human. Some businesses use AI to generate “optimized” content crammed with keywords, but it reads terribly and doesn’t help anyone. Google sees through this and will penalize you and possibly un-index your page.
    • Content that reads like a Mad Libs book. If your service page could describe any company in your industry, it’s not going to rank well. Specificity and authentic expertise are always going to beat marketing fluff.

    Instead, spend time crafting content that people want to read:

    • Tighten up existing content to be more concise and focused on one clear topic per page.
    • Pull detailed points into separate blog posts that target long-tail keywords. Each post should dive deep into one specific aspect of your service area.
    • Link strategically. Connect your blog posts back to your main service pages. When you write about a specific topic, link to the service page where visitors can take action. This helps readers find what they need and tells Google which pages are most important on your site.
    • Create internal pathways. Related blog posts should link to each other, building a web of connected content that keeps visitors engaged and demonstrates your expertise across related topics.
    • Focus each page on one search intent. Don’t try to answer every question on every page. Match the content to what that specific person wants to accomplish.

    Interested in how I can help you to optimize existing content or work with you develop a high-performing website? Reach out to request a complimentary call.

    SEO is an ongoing process

    Rankings change constantly. Search trends evolve. AI-powered tools like ChatGPT and Google’s AI Overviews are changing how people find information.

    Small businesses are better able to adapt to constant change, to shift strategy and service focus to meet new demands. Do this for your search engine marketing too.

    • Make a habit of reviewing your keyword performance. Use Google Search Console to understand: What’s working now? What’s changed since last quarter?
    • Update content as your services evolve. Your expertise grows, make sure your website reflects it.
    • Monitor what your competitors rank for. The competitive landscape shifts. Stay aware of who’s ranking for your target terms.
    • Adapt to how your customers’ search habits change. This includes traditional Google searches and emerging AI search tools.
    • Double down on what AI can’t replicate. AI can spew generic content, but it can’t duplicate your unique experience, case studies, and proven results. Quality content that demonstrates real expertise (and uses good page structure like headings, lists and FAQ content) matters.

    Finding your niche and optimizing for the right search terms isn’t a one-time task. It’s an ongoing process that pays off when you stay committed to serving your specific audience and understanding what matters most to them.

    Your next steps

    1. Audit your current service pages—do they reflect what you want to be known for?
    2. Research the specific phrases your ideal clients actually search
    3. Target long-tail keywords you can realistically rank for
    4. Create content that matches your searcher’s intent
    5. Look for internal linking opportunities
    6. Track your progress and adjust as needed!

    Remember, small business SEO isn’t about ranking #1 for the most popular keywords. It’s about being the best answer for the right searches, the ones that bring you ideal clients who are ready to work with you.

    Have a question about SEO for your small business? Contact me.

    Emily Rapport

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  • The Future of SEO in an AI World (Don’t Panic)

    The Future of SEO in an AI World (Don’t Panic)

    You’ve just finished tweaking your meta tags, optimizing your H1s, and crafting some valuable long-form content. You hit “publish,” sit back with your coffee, and move on to the next project.

    A few weeks later, you’re reviewing your monthly performance report and notice something strange: your traffic looks fine, but your clicks have dropped significantly.

    Welcome to the new frontier of search, where AI writes the summaries, answers the questions, and sometimes doesn’t even need to send users to your site.

    So what does that mean for your SEO strategy? Let’s walk through what’s actually changing and what you can do to stay visible when helpful robots are running the show.

    AI is reshaping how search engines interpret and serve your content. Instead of simply pointing people to your site, both search engines and AI platforms are increasingly providing direct answer to queries—often using content from your site to do it.

    Google blends generative AI into how it understands user search intent, ranks results, and serves features like AI Overviews. Meanwhile, standalone AI tools like ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Claude are becoming alternative ways people search, sometimes skipping traditional search engines entirely.

    What’s happening:

    1. Fewer clicks, even when you rank #1. “Zero-click” searches are now common, but they often represent a better user experience. When someone gets the answer they need immediately, that’s still a touchpoint with your brand—especially if AI draws that answer from your site.
    2. Traditional SEO fundamentals matter more, not less. Generative AI models rely on structured, well-formatted content to understand and surface accurate answers. Semantic HTML, clear heading hierarchies, and schema markup help AI understand the relationships between your topics and key information.
    3. The audience of “humans and Google” is expanded to include “humans and machines.” AI summarizes, interprets, and repackages your content, so the clearer and more valuable it is, the more likely it is to be surfaced in AI-generated results.

    Local businesses have a major advantage

    Here’s where smaller, local businesses have an advantage: while big publishers might dominate AI summaries for broad topics like “best chocolate chip cookie recipes,” they can’t compete with you on local, transactional searches.

    Local and transactional searches still drive action

    When someone searches “emergency plumber in [your town],” “custom birthday cake [your city],” or “therapist accepting new patients near me,” they need to take action locally. AI can provide the basics, but it can’t complete transactions or bookings (yet).

    Your Google Business Profile is your secret weapon

    A complete and up-to-date Google Business Profile has more impact on local discovery than trying to rank nationally for broad topics. Make sure your address, photos, hours, services, links, and reviews are current and comprehensive.

    Hyper-local content creates competitive advantages

    Is there a local event that is related to your business? Or perhaps a local cause or organization that can be tied in to an About page? For example, you could highlight local community connections through partnerships, board memberships, volunteer experiences, or other aspects of local life that are meaningful to you.

    If applicable to your business, content like “Best venues for small weddings in [your county]” or “What to expect from physical therapy after a car accident” can leverage your insider knowledge and local expertise in ways that big publishers can’t match.

    The key is avoiding what I call the “vanity SEO trap”—chasing broad, high-volume keywords that won’t drive local business. Optimize for what people in your area are actually searching for: services, needs, and location-based solutions.

    Get cited: structure content that AI will love

    The most actionable strategy for any business now is creating content that AI can easily pull from and attribute. This requires some attention to how you format and present information.

    1. Lead with direct answers. Don’t bury key information in long paragraphs. Start sections with clear, concise responses: “Yes, we offer evening appointments” or “Our deep cleaning service takes 3-4 hours.” When AI encounters this structure, it can easily extract and cite your answer.
    2. Embrace structured formats. Think FAQs, how-to guides, numbered lists, and tables. These formats help both humans and AI quickly find and use your information. For example, a therapist might create content answering “What should I expect in my first therapy session?” with clear, step-by-step information.
    3. Create comprehensive topic clusters. AI understands topics and relationships, not just keywords. Build one comprehensive guide supported by specific pages—like a “Guide to Therapy Services” pillar page with dedicated pages for different conditions or treatments. Link strategically between related content to show AI the depth of your expertise.
    4. Use schema markup and structured data. This helps AI understand your content context, especially for local businesses. Rich snippets displaying hours, pricing, and reviews can appear directly in search results even when users don’t click through to your site.

    Google Business Profile strategy

    Your Google Business Profile isn’t just a listing, it’s your primary tool for appearing in AI overviews, voice search results, and local pack listings where most local discovery happens.

    Post regularly with purpose

    Aim for 2-3 posts per week that answer common customer questions, share service updates, or highlight your expertise. These posts appear directly in search results and map listings, giving you visibility even in zero-click scenarios.

    Optimize for mobile and “near me” searches

    Over 80% of local searches happen on mobile, and your Business Profile is often the first thing potential customers see. Complete profiles with current information significantly improve your visibility in these critical searches.

    Use the Q&A section strategically

    Encourage satisfied customers to ask and answer questions about your services. You can also seed this section with common questions you receive, providing clear answers that AI can surface in search results.

    Building authority that AI recognizes

    AI doesn’t just regurgitate content—it makes quality judgments about which sources deserve to be cited. Your goal is becoming one of the chosen few by demonstrating expertise, experience, authoritativeness, and trustworthiness (E-E-A-T).

    Display credentials prominently

    For professional services, clearly show licenses, certifications, years of experience, and professional affiliations. AI systems are increasingly sophisticated at evaluating these trust signals.

    Create content that demonstrates real experience

    Share case studies (with appropriate privacy protections), lessons learned, and behind-the-scenes insights that only someone with hands-on experience could provide. Generic advice that sounds like it could be written by AI won’t stand out.

    Keep content fresh and updated

    AI tools favor recently updated pages. Regular updates signal that your information is current and reliable.

    In an AI-driven search world, being the most helpful, accurate, and locally relevant source wins…

    Get the free Local SEO Action Checklist.

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    Measuring success in the AI era

    Traditional metrics like organic traffic and click-through rates don’t tell the complete story anymore. Focus on these indicators instead:

    • Brand mention tracking. Monitor when your business appears in AI-generated summaries or featured snippets, even without clicks. Tools like Google Alerts can help track brand mentions across the web.
    • Local engagement metrics. Phone calls, direction requests, and form submissions from your Google Business Profile often matter more than website visits for local businesses.
    • “Near me” search visibility. Track your rankings for location-based searches in your service area. These searches typically have higher commercial intent.
    • Question-based keyword performance. Monitor how you rank for queries that start with “how,” “what,” “where,” and “when” related to your services, as these are prime targets for AI summaries.

    Don’t be discouraged, your human expertise is more valuable than ever

    The future of SEO isn’t about outsmarting algorithms, it’s about showcasing your unique knowledge and experience in ways that both people and AI can easily understand and share.

    Your website, content, and local expertise matters. Success now means being the most helpful, authoritative voice in your field and location. So, grab a towel, go forth and make your content clear, helpful, and true to your business.

    Questions about implementing these strategies on your website? I help local businesses like you create websites that speak to your audience and perform well in today’s search landscape. Reach out for a free consultation – I’d love to help you get more qualified leads for your business.

    Emily Rapport

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