If your brand or business has an online presence, chances are, you’ve heard of search engine optimization (depending on your role, you might not be able to get through the day without hearing about it!). In this piece, we’ll explain why SEO is so important for brands and organizations—and how optimizing your content for search can impact the success of your site and business.

What is Search Engine Optimization?

Search engine optimization, or SEO, is the practice of updating your website in such a way that it increases the odds that the site and its content will be featured highly—or even at the top—of organic (unpaid) search engine results. 

It’s important to learn about and use SEO because there are literally billions of websites out there, and they’re all competing for users’ time and attention. Search engines like Google and Bing decide which sites are worthy of receiving that attention by ranking the “winning” sites highly on their search engine results pages (SERPs).

The sites who earn the top spots are rewarded with organic traffic (in some cases, millions, and millions of pageviews!) which can directly or indirectly lead to increased brand awareness, customer acquisition, conversions, revenue, and other key performance indicators (KPIs).

Considering how these KPIs can impact the growth and success of a brand or organization, it’s no wonder that so many brands, organizations, and individuals are all vying to “win search” by optimizing their websites and the content that lives within them. 

Does Content Optimization Still Matter In a Post-AI World?

AI is changing the search landscape in a number of different ways. There are two notable changes anyone diving into SEO optimization should be aware of:

Google’s Search Generative Experience (SGE)

Google is in the process of adding AI answers directly into the search experience through their SGE box, which appears at the top of search results. Currently, the SGE feature is opt-in only, but don’t be surprised to see this roll out to all users soon.

Google doesn’t show an SGE box for all queries. One study found that 87 percent of medical search keywords triggered an SGE box, but only 24 percent of finance-related queries did. Generally, queries and questions that can be easily answered by AI will trigger an SGE box—like: “how much does an elephant weigh,” or “what are the best budgeting apps.” 

The SGE box rollout will primarily affect articles that address simple queries that are easy for an AI to answer. With a highly visible AI answer, searchers are unlikely to click through to any websites that don’t offer an obvious unique selling point, like expert insights or hands-on experience.

Changes in the Search Engine Result Page (SERP) Landscape

The SERP is the page that Google shows whenever you make a search, and it looks very different depending on the type of keyword you entered. 

Because so many publishers are using AI content, it has created a flood of mediocre content targeting the same keywords. Thus, Google is working diligently to improve the quality of its results. 

Sometimes, this means that Google encourages searchers to narrow their query further, so they can find a page that answers their question more specifically. For instance, if you search the term “how to garden,” you might be encouraged to further search “What are the best plants for beginners?” or “What grows well together in a vegetable garden?” 

Google may also show social media embeds, like TikTok videos, or links to forums like Reddit. It may also take you directly to a shopping interface, a large map, or a block of news articles on the subject. These are called “rich results” because they are interactive elements on the SERP.

Ultimately, Google has two goals: Serve up the perfect answer to a search query… and keep you on Google.com for longer. These SERP changes mean that searchers might have to scroll further to find the page ranking in position number two or three. Sometimes, even position number one can be hidden behind a full page of rich results! 

At Masthead, we pay careful attention to the SERP for each keyword we choose. What is the searcher looking for? What kind of information is Google serving? For example, we might notice that a SERP includes a large number of “People Also Ask” questions above position number one. 

This indicates that Google believes this search often leads to more specific queries. Instead of targeting that first position, we may angle to include information mentioned in the People Also Ask questions. This helps us appear more prominently on the SERP and target searchers more granularly. 

But don’t let these changes convince you that content optimization isn’t important. Yes, your goals might be a little different: You may care more about appearing in rich results than position number one. Or you may minimize your pursuit of high-volume keywords searched by thousands of people per month—instead prioritizing smaller keywords that your ideal customer is most likely to search. Content optimization is still the best way to achieve these goals.

Do Keywords Still Matter?

While keywords do play an important role, today’s content optimization has moved far from the olden days of “keyword stuffing,” (that is, using certain words and phrases repeatedly in order to rank for them, whether or not the article is actually about that topic). When optimizing content, you need to think carefully about which type of person might search each keyword—and what content they want to find. 

This is called “audience search intent.” When you optimize content on your website, you can use your own understanding of a topic and digital tools like Ahrefs or Semrush to help you anticipate what searchers want to know about the keyword—as well as the types of questions and topics you should address in your content as you’re writing it.

The exact impact of SGE and other SERP changes on keywords and click-through rates is yet to be determined. However, keyword research will always be an essential part of the SEO process, because it is how we understand our audience’s intent.

What is Content Optimization?

Traditional SEO involves things like writing metadata (the title and description shown for each page on the SERP), perfecting your URL structure, building site maps, improving page load speed and making the technical fixes needed to ensure a site performs well in search. 

Content optimization focuses specifically on making updates to a site’s written, visual, and multimedia assets in order to increase the site’s visibility and positioning in search. This might include tweaking:

• Articles

• Landing pages

• Images

• Videos

• Product descriptions.

Optimizing content for search means writing and editing for a tightly defined target audience while also incorporating relevant keywords into the content, creating compelling meta titles and descriptions, and including topically relevant links. 

Once you have determined a keyword and figured out what the searchers want, you can craft new content or rework older content so that it successfully answers audiences’ specific queries about a particular topic—or their implied search intent. When updating the articles, you can also make sure to highlight any unique expertise or experience your writers and brand have that an AI does not.

Search engines use sophisticated and consistently updated algorithms to help them determine what type of information a webpage contains. They can even tell whether the site is an “authority” on a particular topic or topics (known as “domain authority”). When you optimize articles, your goal should be to make your expertise, experience, and authority clear. 

In fact, Google has an acronym for this: E-E-A-T, which stands for experience, expertise, authority, and trust. 

If you make an effort to anticipate your audience’s needs and speak to them, it sends signals to search engines that your content is highly valuable and worth delivering in lieu of (or in addition to) a rote AI response.

When Should You Optimize Content?

Ideally, you will do keyword research before writing a new piece of content, and optimize the content during writing and editing. But if your content is already live, that’s okay: It’s just as important to optimize existing content on your website for SEO in order to maximize its value. In fact, even if you publish a new, perfectly optimized piece, you will still need to keep it regularly updated to ensure it’s fresh and factually correct.

By optimizing new pieces of content—along with assets already live on your site—you’ll be sending powerful signs to search engines that your brand or organization is an expert in specific areas, and you’ll continue to grow your overall domain authority.

The Benefits of Content Optimization

The holy grail of content optimization is to appear at the top of the SERP when people search certain high-volume keywords. This might mean appearing in position number one or showing up in the rich results or SGE box. But that’s not the only reason to create a tight SEO and content optimization strategy. 

Even if you don’t hit the number one spot on Google, optimizing your content offers plenty of other benefits for your overall marketing program. Here are just a few.

Benefit #1: Increasing relevant website traffic 

If you rank highly on the SERPs for keywords or phrases highly relevant to the content, it means more people are likely to click on your link—which, in turn, can significantly boost your website traffic. 

While page views aren’t the most important metric for some brands, increasing traffic is a helpful first step as you work to build trust through content marketing. After all, your content can be as compelling and informational as possible, but if no one sees it, it won’t do much for you.

Benefit #2: Achieving higher conversion rates

Effective SEO and content optimization doesn’t just increase traffic; it increases pageviews from engaged consumers who fit your target market profile—those who are more likely to become a lead and/or spend money with you. This is measured by traffic flowing from the content portion of your website to the revenue- or lead-generating pages, such as product description pages or booking engines. 

Focusing closely on user intent is key to optimizing for conversion rates. When you look at an article, don’t just think about how to integrate expertise and experience—although that’s important, too. Think: Who is the exact searcher that wants to find this page? Targeting that searcher with optimization will help you find the most likely convertors. 

A strong content optimization strategy should also involve optimizing your on-page content with suitable calls to action to drive that qualified traffic deeper within your site.

Benefit #3: Reduced cost for paid ads

Sure, you could increase conversations for your company and its products by paying for ads on SERPs and social media, otherwise known as pay-per-click (PPC) ad campaigns. That route can certainly be effective, but the costs also quickly add up—especially if you’re dealing with multiple pieces of content and websites. 

A strong SEO and content optimization strategy, on the other hand, not only gets eyes on your site but it also helps solve your customers’ problems. PPC ads provide temporary traffic; SEO campaigns build trust in your brand, which drives long-term marketing and product success. 

If you redirect budget previously spent on short-term traffic gains from PPC ads into SEO, your business can build a long-term solution for low-cost, organic traffic from the search engines that increases revenue for years on end.

Benefit #4: Heightening brand awareness

When most people Google something, they often glance at several of the websites and organizations that appear in the results—not just the first one. So, even if your content lands a little further down the page than you’d like, or if you appear as a suggested link in the Google SGE box or rich result, you still earn valuable exposure to potential customers. As those customers visit your website, follow your social media accounts, and share your content, you’ll find that your brand recognition and reputation will continue to grow.

Benefit #5: Generating measurable long-term results—at a lower cost

In some cases, it’s less expensive to update and optimize an existing piece of content versus producing a new piece of content (this is the case when heavy rewrites are not needed). For many brands, the goal shouldn’t be creating an enormous spread of unique SEO articles, blog posts, and landing pages—the goal should be a tightly curated collection of net new and optimized articles that showcase your unique experience and expertise. 

Plus, optimized articles may see organic growth more quickly. Newly optimized articles are “re-crawled” by search engines and often boosted in search engine rankings—providing a lift for many months or even years to come.

How Long Will It Take to Win Search Using SEO and Content Optimization?

Building or updating a library of content effectively optimized for search isn’t a quick fix—it’s a long-term strategy designed to grow many of your most important key performance indicators (KPIs) steadily over time (like organic traffic, conversions to e-commerce pages, and sales). Results are measured in months and years—not days and weeks. 

There are many factors that determine how long it will take your site to rank. If your site is already an authority on a topic, it may rank more quickly for articles within that topic area (like a food site publishing a new recipe). If it’s part of a new topic area that you’re trying to grow—like a food site trying to expand into home decor—it will take longer to build up that search authority and begin to rank. 

The age of your website overall also plays a role. A brand-new site won’t have built up the backlinks or domain authority that more established websites potentially already have, thus making it take longer to begin ranking. However, developing quality content that speaks to your expertise makes it more likely that other websites will link back and you will gain rankings more quickly.

Another key factor is how competitive your site’s area of expertise is. If your focus is a more niche area that not many sites cover, it will be easier for your site to rank. If it’s on a more popular topic, there will be a lot of competition from more established sites. 

Even if you’re covering a very competitive topic, look for opportunities to dig trenches of micro-expertise. If your website covers finance, are there specific areas you are particularly knowledgeable about, like 401(k)s or budgeting apps for the next generation? Consider focusing on optimizing content in those areas first to build up your expertise. 

The Takeaway:

At Masthead, we view content optimization as the cornerstone of a company’s content marketing strategy. That’s why we’re committed to helping businesses incorporate SEO into every stage of content development. It may not be glamorous, but the traffic growth, e-commerce conversions, and customer loyalty that result are well worth it.