SEO Insights from Experts: Thriving in the AI-Driven Age – Tips for Beginners

Are you just beginning your SEO journey in the age of AI and feeling a bit overwhelmed?

You’re not alone. Starting SEO from scratch can be a complex task, especially when artificial intelligence (AI) is reshaping the digital landscape.

Beginners need guidance and tips to design effective SEO campaigns that align with the changing times. To assist you on this exciting journey, we’ve reached out to seasoned SEO experts who are eager to share their invaluable advice.

These experts understand the challenges faced by newcomers and recognize the pivotal role AI plays in the future of search engine optimization.

In this comprehensive roundup, we’ve gathered their tips and insights to empower beginners, providing the knowledge needed to confidently kickstart your SEO campaigns with a clear strategy and effectiveness.

Here is the question we asked:

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It is a bit hard to say without data yet but if I had to guess, I think plugins will be a big deal in the short-term AI search revolution. Websites will rush to create plugins that allow the search engine to complete tasks on your website through their generative AI tools. 

I also think the content will continue to have to improve so that searchers using the new AI search features will want to dig in deeper to learn more about your website.

The good thing, SEOs are amazing at adapting to change and they will be just fine.

Find how you can help people better than your competitors. Whether that’s data they don’t have, content they can’t make, or even the same content, but presented in a much better way or framed differently.

Setup for the long-term, but in the short-term pick your battles.

Someone already starting an SEO campaign presumably already has their priorities lined-up, hence all that remains to be done are implementation and success measurement in order to gauge the ROI.

In case the results do not meet expectations, please feel free to contact us Search Brothers and we will look into applying all our unique Google Search insights and SEO expertise to assist you in outranking your competitors and get better conversions.

Ignore the noise. AI is largely unstable and can be reliably exploited if you have a technical team with a good grasp of it.

If you have to automate complex tasks, a developer or an automation engineer can do it much better.

For simple use cases, I do recommend using AI solutions.

As of now, SEO is played in the same field. You can use shortcuts and churn a lot of average content; you can use AI in small quantities to speed up great content.

It’s all up to you. 

As AI-generated content floods the internet, Google will continue to crank down on this kind of content. Since the emergence of tools such as ChatGPT, Google Bard, and others, the search engine giant has been deindexing billions of pages. Why?

AI-generated content doesn’t provide net new content, and indexing this kind of content in their server farms would cost Google millions and millions of dollars. Ultimately, businesses that focus on creating high-quality content that meets Google’s helpful content guidelines will continue to have a significant competitive advantage.

After getting hit by a Google core algorithm update, we invited a new SEO strategy called Micro-SEO Strategies℠. The goal of this new SEO methodology is to create the best piece of content on the web for the subject at hand. The strategy also includes dozens of supporting on- and off-page SEO tasks.

Google has become the most trusted search engine because it is able to identify and display the most accurate and reliable information that people are searching for at the top of its SERPs.

A key component for websites to get their content to rank at the top in the Google SERPs is their overall E-E-A-T (Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness) score. The higher your E-E-A-T score, the greater the chance the content will rank at the top in Google.

Improve your E-E-A-T score by focusing on tasks such as:

• Developing a transparent “About Us” page and author bios, along with a privacy policy.
• Building your online reputation by earning authoritative backlinks and fostering a positive brand image.
• Engaging in social media discussions related to your content to grow your online presence.
• Collaborating with recognized experts and influencers to boost your credibility.
• Utilizing digital PR to announce awards and speaking engagements, gaining media and online publication mentions.
• And most important, prioritize high-quality, user-focused content over SEO-centric content.

I would recommend to stay as is for now, and do it normally. There is a lot of buzz and noise but the reality is that so far not that many industries have been deeply affected by AI.

Q&A websites might be the first ones to, for example Quora or StackOverFlow. Funnily, Quora already started creating Poe to capture this new thing.

Focus on figuring out the customer journey and all the fragmented touchpoints along it. SEO should not be thought about in a silo. People come on Pages multiple times for different reasons looking for different types of information to make their decision.

Leverage what you can from PR campaigns, PPC campaigns, emailing campaigns and branding to make sure that your SEO strategy fits in with the big picture and gets proper results. 

If you’re just starting, stick to the basics and don’t over-complicate it. Do your research, know your target keywords and optimise the pages for those.

Create in-depth content around your core product offering that is useful to your audience and that naturally provides your product as a solution. Build links from relevant sites to build the authority of your site.

You can utilize AI to help you, such as coming up with topic ideas around your product – but the fundamentals remain the same.

I am leaving a slide from my Zakopane SEO and Content Camp Presentation below.

Whatever you do in the SEO for the future, you will be doing these 7 steps.

And, make your website speak with your users, it is the first rule now.

Starting an SEO campaign in the era of AI can be overwhelming, but here are some key pieces of advice:

1. Understand Your Audience: Before you start any SEO activities, it’s crucial to understand your target audience – their needs, problems, and the language they use. AI algorithms are getting better at understanding context and user intent, so you need to create content that addresses your audience’s needs and intentions.
2. Focus on Content Quality: High-quality, relevant, and valuable content is more important than ever. AI algorithms like Google’s BERT are designed to understand the context and relevance of content. Make sure your content is well-researched, comprehensive, and provides valuable insights or solutions to your audience.
3. Optimize for Mobile and Voice Search: With the rise of voice-activated devices and mobile internet usage, it’s important to optimize your website for mobile and voice search. Make sure your website is mobile-friendly, and create content that answers the questions people might ask their voice-activated devices.
4. Improve User Experience: User experience is a key ranking factor for search engines. Make sure your website loads quickly, is easy to navigate, and provides a good user experience on both desktop and mobile devices.
5. Build High-Quality Backlinks: Backlinks are still an important ranking factor, but the quality of the backlinks is more important than quantity. Focus on building high-quality backlinks from authoritative and relevant websites in your industry.
6. Updated and Be Adaptable: The SEO landscape is constantly evolving, especially with the rapid advancements in AI. Make sure to stay updated on the latest algorithm updates, trends, and best practices. Be adaptable and willing to adjust your SEO strategy as needed.

Remember, SEO is a long-term game, and results won’t happen overnight. Be patient, stay consistent, and focus on providing value to your audience, and you’ll see positive results over time.

The primary best practices are still in place, regardless of AI. For now, SERPs still function in the same manner, so the best way to develop your SEO strategy is to target keywords that matter to your audience with well-structured and helpful content.

The change with AI now is that it’s more important than ever to focus on quality. Yes AI has given us some opportunities to scale, but if you scale low-quality your content will quickly be forgotten and probably won’t rank either.

What will stick in people’s minds and drive conversions is content that truly resonates with the reader, informs them, provides accurate information, and helps the user find what they need in a convenient manner.

The advice I would give to anyone starting an SEO campaign is to continue focusing on users, this will, in turn, improve user experience and therefore SEO performance.

Advancements in AI and language models mean there has been a shift in search behavior and the way users search for products and information. Google is constantly working on improving the understanding of users’ search intent to ensure they display the most useful and relevant results in SERPs.

Therefore, the need to ensure content is optimized for humans rather than search engines is more important than ever. Ensuring content is conversational and written with your target audience in mind means that even as Google advances, content can continue performing well.

It’s also key to regularly refresh evergreen content to ensure it evolves with time and remains relevant.

Don’t blindly follow Google or your favourite SEOs notion of “best practice“. Watch what works. Try stuff. Produce AI meta descriptions and structured data.  Remember the failures and the wins. If SEO doesn’t seem like a game to you and ranking doesn’t feel rewarding, you may wish to find another vocation.

Consider how content may be presented and formatted now and in the future, other than in standard organic results. Try to discreetly brand where possible to retain as much visibility on the digital shelf as possible. 

For those embarking on an SEO campaign in the AI-driven era, our Golden Link strategy offers invaluable insights. Prioritize user intent, create content that adds value, and focus on quality over quantity.

Embrace AI’s power for insights and optimization, ensuring structured data and voice search optimization. Just as we achieved success by combining dedication and genuine effort, your campaign should focus on providing genuine value to users, building relationships, and aligning with ethical practices.

In this evolving landscape, adapting with integrity will lead to long-term success.

It’s time to explore AI tools! Don’t think of it as a wholesale replacement for, well… anything. Instead, explore how it can make you and your work more efficient. Where can you get better, save time, or do more — while still improving the quality of the output?

Just as importantly, understand that there are limitations, amongst which are accuracy and security. ALWAYS fact-check and DO NOT share any secure information. These are tools like any other: use them well, and use them wisely.

Related to my answer above about the state of SEO, my advice is to focus on the SEO fundamentals. Start by making sure that search robots, like Googlebot, are able to crawl the website successfully and are able to find the right files. The cleaner a website’s code and server configuration, the easier it is for robots to fetch the website’s content.

Next, make sure that search engines are analyzing and organizing the information found on the website correctly. Dig into Google Search Console’s Pages report to see if pages are being indexed properly or if there are errors on the website.

Finally, monitor performance to see what is working and what isn’t working. This might change with AI but for now, most organic search traffic is trackable in Google Search Console and GA4. Other tools, like SEMRush or Ahrefs, can help monitor organic activity. Chances are new tools will soon exist to monitor activity in AI tools. Gather and analyze the data to figure out what changes to make.

The great part is that AI tools might make some of this work easier. AI tools, like ChatGPT, can be extremely helpful when it comes to analyzing code to identify errors and helpful at analyzing data to spot trends to find what is working (or not).

• Get your basics right: Have a real purpose and clear goal in mind; answer all w-questions.
• Consider how you’re helpful to people and how to make this the central point of all your content.
• Be authentic & as transparent as possible.
• Read Google’s recommendations on EEAT, Helpful Content, and Online Reviews very carefully. Act accordingly.
• Read Google’s Quality Rater Guidelines. Act accordingly.
• Read Google’s recommendations related to Broad Core Updates. Act accordingly.
• Grow slowly – don’t mass-produce content (use GenAI with care).
• Claim and optimize your Google Business Profile.
• Systematically earn (positive) User reviews.
• Use images and videos.
• Be concise in your messaging.
• Don’t simply buy links.
• Don’t look for shortcuts. It will backfire.
• Start to build digital relationships.
• Do not just rely on Google & Bing.
• Leverage syndicated content for Social Media.
• Be consistent in all you do.
• … and so on … 🙂

Don’t rely on AI to do the “thinking” for you. Its knowledge is limited to its input training data which means that its ideas will either mirror existing ones or will be hallucinations shaped by existing information leading to recommendations that are mostly probable.

Don’t let what you know limit what you can imagine (paraphrasing Cynthia Barton Rabe in “The Innovation Killer”) – this is the risk when relying too much on technologies like ChatGPT and Bard.

Use your innate curiosity and go beyond the known realm, come up with new ideas to test and experiment, and push for ideas to get implemented not because others have done it too but because no one has, and you have the chance to truly innovate.

The key lesson I strive to impart to others is that genuine understanding stems from practical testing and experimentation. I encourage them not to shy away from exploring new tactics or strategies.

I’m going to steal the Nike slogan here and say JUST DO IT. Get started and start building a genuinely good website that people would want to read. SEO foundations have almost never changed, especially if you’re in lower competition niches.

Look at what’s on page one, try and do a better job, build links, and scale. The more pages you have, the more possibilities you have to rank as long as you meet a certain quality threshold.

When it comes to AI, keep in mind that it’s not black and white. A lot of SEOs expect it to be some kind of one-click-voodoo and then are disappointed with the results. Instead, if it took your team 10 hours to create an amazing “skyscraper piece” – what if you can use AI to make it 10% better and do it in half the time? That’s already an insane win, stop looking for shortcuts – optimization is the name of the game.

In terms of advice, now more than ever it is crucial to develop a Omnichannel SEO strategy that focuses on utilizing SEO best practices for all content platforms that your business operates on. 

SEO strategies implemented on Pinterest, YouTube, TikTok, Amazon, Alibaba, etc have the potential to deliver immense traffic value and brand awareness for your company. All of these websites have their own search engine that you can optimize so your content is found by your ideal customer.

Your website isn’t the only product to optimize for search engines, you have to start optimizing for your product(s)/brand to be found anywhere where customer consumes content. 

Also, use AI tools to help you develop content faster, you’re top competitors already are 😉

Begin with the foundations. In today’s climate, it’s easy to be swept up by the fervor around AI tools and discussions, but that’s not where the focus should lie. At the outset, concentrate on basic optimizations: ensure your H tags, titles, and descriptions are in place, and weave relevant keywords naturally into your content.

Next, observe your competitors. What are they doing right? Perhaps they’ve mastered the art of backlinking or curating compelling topic clusters. Don’t mimic them, but absorb their strategies and infuse them with your unique touch.

Perfection isn’t the goal at the starting line. Implement the essentials, then adopt a listening stance. Let Google guide you. For instance, if the Search Console indicates a rise in rankings for a term related to “examples” yet your page lacks any, that’s your cue. Introduce relevant examples, and you might just secure the top spot for that keyword.

Remember, SEO isn’t a rigid science. It’s a dance with search engines, where sometimes you lead, and at other times, you follow their cues.

My advice would be to go the extra mile, AI has made content creation (previously the most time-consuming part of an SEO campaign) quick and easy and many people are sitting back and letting AI do all the work.

But it’s absolutely worth taking the time to ensure that the content you produce is well-edited, well-optimized, clear and concise and covers closely related topics. Make sure your content doesn’t use ten words where three will do.

It’s also worth doing things like using unique original images for articles and recording short summary videos to embed in the content.

AI must act as a tool to be honed and utilized to inform, strategize, and organize; it cannot be used to blindly create and implement whatever it deems necessary. There must be a force to not only power it but also to aim at the target.

After all, a knife not sharpened, aimed, or thrown by its master, will never even get close to the bullseye.

When using AI to generate content, it is important to remember that it is based on past shared content and may not showcase your expertise. Instead, use AI to gather ideas and then rely on your knowledge to identify the best topics to cover.

Utilize AI to generate content ideas, but ensure that you add your own insights and expertise to make it valuable for your audience and aligned with your brand.

Look at what the various AI language models are coming back with in terms of content following prompts related to keywords around your campaign and make sure you come up with something much better.

Google has confirmed that use of AI-generated content is ok in some cases, though don’t expect it to rank well if it’s just generic spiel copied and pasted from ChatGPT.

We’re still in the relatively early days of these LLMs in terms of the quality of content they produce (my background is writing and the quality is often generic to say the least) so continue to do your keyword and topical research, competitor analysis and make sure what you’re putting out is of real quality, human-led expertise that offers a fresh perspective.

Advice for budding SEO enthusiasts in the AI era:

Imagine stepping into a vast library. AI is the librarian that can fetch any book in seconds. But it’s up to you to understand, interpret, and apply that knowledge.

For those starting their SEO journey, I couldn’t stress enough that AI is a tool, not a crutch. Embrace it, learn from it, but also bring your unique insights to the table.

The world of SEO is vast, and while AI can chart the stars, it’s the human spirit that explores new galaxies.

Set your expectation that good SEO is slow and doesn’t cut corners. Trying to get a big flash immediately from an SEO campaign won’t last long. Instead, think of SEO as a long-term investment in your business.

SEO is always an evolving landscape but at the end of the day, the core parts have always remained the same:

• Make great content
• Build quality links
• Keep your site optimized properly
• If you can do that, with or without the help of AI, you’ll have success.

Don’t start with “I want to rank for .” Instead, ask yourself “what does somebody searching for really want?” – then build that. Make sure you add enough “information gain” so that you’re truly valuable over AI or everybody else out there. It’s not quick or easy or even scalable, but it works.

Be flexible. Test and verify. Honestly, this is the advice I’d give anyone at any time at any stage of any SEO campaign.

Use AI to rewrite confusing thoughts you cannot find the right words for, to find synonyms (but fact check them), and help with titles and ads. But don’t let it write content for you. That will lead to trouble.

Keyword research is key. Make sure you’re targeting the right keywords and writing quality content – More doesn’t mean better.

You’re going to be tempted to use AI to build your campaign. -And I don’t want to dissuade you from doing that. However, always, always apply human thought to the process.

In other words, don’t be afraid to use AI for ideas, but apply the data yourself. AIs still hallucinate and generate random facts. Chat, at least, and every AI platform built off of it (which is plenty), still doesn’t have open access to the Internet, and has a database that stops after 2021.

So, don’t sweat the small stuff. Use AI wisely, don’t abuse it and definitely make sure you write from the heart, something AI will never do.

If you’re just starting out with an SEO campaign, here are some tips I’d suggest:

1. Lay the groundwork: Before diving into any big changes, make sure your website is set up right. This means having a solid structure in place, writing that’s clear and easy to follow, and images that load quickly.
2. Focus on users: Nowadays, it’s super important to think about how users will experience your website. Make things simple enough for users to navigate without getting mad or confused, and be sure your content adds value!
3. Take your time: Remember that SEO takes time! Keep working away at creating high-quality content visitors will love while also building relationships with other sites online. Eventually, search engines are bound to notice all the great things you’ve been doing.

My advice would be to focus on creating and optimizing content aimed towards improving the user experience, and not search engines.

If you do that, the rest will fall into place. You’ll have higher time on site, a lower bounce rate, repeat visitors.. All of these metrics are positive signals that Google looks at with Google Analytics. This will ultimately help your rankings, as well as improve the function of your site by providing a good user experience.

Be true to your mission and no shortcuts!  AI is a tool, not a solution.  In our office, I like to refer to AI tools as our “intern”.  It is there to do all the menial work so we can focus on taking what it produces and using our expertise to turn it into something amazing for our customers. 

If we don’t have to take the time to do basic functions, we can spend more time being creative.

Focus on brand promise and tightly integrate products and services with growing brand awareness. Create content that builds your brand as a noun, verb, or is very focused on articulating the solutions provided.

While generic solutions available from predictive text and answers are a great start, people will become more sophisticated in their queries and prompts and want more specific information about brands or solutions.

Building a strategy with topical authority will be key to aligning great content with the foundations of search crawlers and the predictive text of large language models.

If you’re just starting out, nail the basics. The basics of SEO can get you a long way, and they are so important for continued success. There are many moving parts to SEO, so it’s easy to get sidetracked by updates. Some general rules of thumb:

Always focus on what is going to move the needle for your client’s business, keep your website’s index clean, and never create content for the sake of it.

• Start with the basics. Build a solid foundation through proper keyword research and diligence in choosing your “focus keywords“, then optimizing all on-site elements first (title tags, meta descriptions, image alt data, and on-page copy). Once that’s in place, you can build up and out in so many ways. But that’s got to be solid if you don’t want the future steps to crumble. If you’re not 8000% confident in your knowledge and skills, the investment in a professional will save you tons of time and money in the future.
• If your website build or revamp includes SEO, question it. In my experience, many website developers include SEO as a line item in their scope of work, but all they’re doing is installing a plug-in and letting it auto pull from what’s on the site. That’s not SEO. It’s better than nothing, but it’s not the work most assume is going into the optimization, nor is it going to garner the results wanted.

• Learn about SEO and Keyword Research.
• Focus first on finding easy to rank keywords.
• Don’t procrastinate on your Link Building effort.
• Use AI to avoid Writer’s Block.
• Create process to scale and repeat.

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As you venture into the world of SEO in the age of AI, remember that knowledge is your greatest asset. We’d like to extend our sincere gratitude to the SEO experts who generously shared their insights to aid beginners in their SEO endeavors.

Armed with these expert tips, you are now equipped to navigate the dynamic landscape of SEO with confidence. The fusion of SEO strategies and AI capabilities offers immense potential for your online presence, and your dedication to learning and implementing these insights will undoubtedly lead to success.

We encourage you to share these tips with others who are embarking on their SEO journey. Together, we can harness the power of AI to shape the future of search engine optimization.

If you have any questions or would like to share your experiences, please feel free to reach out. Happy optimizing!