How to win search by being the most trusted answer
Search is people asking for help. These steps are how I approach it for my own products, plus what Martin Donadieu found when someone audited Capgo and the result changed how he grows.
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Start from the question, not the keyword
The question is not "what keyword should we write about?" It is "what does our audience need help with, and how do we become the most trusted answer?" Every search is someone trying to solve something.
From: Newsletter: SEO is a trust game - 2
Cover both rooms
People pass through a learning room ("why am I always hungry at night?") and a decision room ("best meal planning app"). Only the decision room and you miss people early. Only the learning room and awareness never turns into revenue.
From: Newsletter: SEO is a trust game - 3
Run every topic through three filters
Demand: are people searching for this? Believability: can your site realistically rank for it yet? Business value: would this audience matter to you? The best topics pass all three.
From: Newsletter: SEO is a trust game - 4
Write the brief before the article
Who is this for? What problem are they solving? What related questions must it answer? What do competitors miss? Where does it connect back to the product? Answer those five before you write a word.
From: Newsletter: SEO is a trust game - 5
Write so AI tools can cite you
Search is becoming answers. There are two wins: getting mentioned in the answer, and getting cited as the source. Answer specific questions directly, and remember that what Reddit, YouTube, and review sites say about you shapes it too.
From: Newsletter: SEO is a trust game - 6
Look at what people already search you for
Capgo was stuck near $3,000 MRR until an audit showed people were searching for Capgo by name. They were finding it through open source plugins Martin had been fixing. He went from about 20 plugins to more than 150 and reports 10x more people discovering Capgo each day.
From: Martin Donadieu, Capgo - 7
Give it 6 to 18 months
SEO is the slowest channel to start and the best one long term. It is more like planting an orchard than pulling a slot machine. A page you write today can bring customers for three years.
From: Newsletter: 7 acquisition experiments