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E

Eli Schwartz

Growth Advisor & Author

Product-Led SEO

🎯 Product Strategy (1)📈 Growth & Metrics (1)⚡ Execution (1)

Key Takeaways

  • 1.Treat SEO as a product, not a marketing tactic: Requires PMs, engineers, and designers, not just content writers.
  • 2.Most B2B SaaS companies should not do SEO: If your product requires a sales demo or committee decision, top-of-funnel search traffic rarely converts to revenue.
  • 3.Stop tracking traffic as a KPI: Traffic is often a vanity metric; focus exclusively on conversions (MQLs, signups, revenue).
  • 4.AI Overviews eat the top of the funnel: Users now get answers to 'discovery' questions directly in search results; the opportunity now lies in mid-funnel 'solution' searches.
  • 5.Link building is actually brand building: Buying links is dead; you must create a product or brand story so compelling that reputable sites mention you organically.
  • 6.Programmatic SEO requires unique user intent: Do not auto-generate thousands of pages (e.g., by zip code) unless a user actually has a specific need for that slice of data.

Methodologies(3)

🎯 Product Strategy

A strategic approach that treats SEO pages as product features rather than marketing blog posts. It aligns the creation of search assets directly with user pain points and the product's value proposition.

Core Principles

  • 1.Step 1: Be the User: Ignore keyword tools initially. Hypothesize what specific problem a user has that they would type into a search bar.
  • 2.Step 2: Define the Asset: Determine if the solution requires a tool, a template, a programmatic page, or editorial content.
  • 3.Step 3: Build for the Mid-Funnel: Create assets that bridge the gap between 'I have a problem' (which AI answers) and 'I need this specific solution' (your product).
  • +1 more...

"Think of SEO as a product. The product managers are the people that should be thinking about this SEO question because it's a product question."

#product-led#strategy#product
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📈 Growth & Metrics

A decision-making framework to determine if SEO is a viable growth channel based on user behavior and business model, rather than assuming 'everyone needs SEO'.

Core Principles

  • 1.Step 1: Analyze the User Journey: Does the user buy/convert online immediately after searching? If it requires a sales call, SEO is likely low ROI.
  • 2.Step 2: Check for Problem Awareness: Are users actually searching for the problem you solve? You cannot SEO for a problem users don't know they have.
  • 3.Step 3: Calculate True Cost: Sum the cost of agencies, internal PM time, engineering support, and CMS maintenance.
  • +1 more...

"If you can't answer the question about what is it that someone's going to do a search on, then don't do SEO."

#viability#audit#growth
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⚡ Execution

A method for executing programmatic SEO that prioritizes user utility over sheer volume. It involves aggregating unique data points into a single view that saves the user research time.

Core Principles

  • 1.Step 1: Identify Aggregatable Data: Find structured data (proprietary or public) that is valuable when combined (e.g., home values + school districts).
  • 2.Step 2: Validate User Use Case: Verify that a human actually wants to see this specific slice of data (e.g., 'Hotels in Miami' vs 'Plumbers in Zip Code 90210').
  • 3.Step 3: Design the 'View': Create a template that acts as a dashboard or tool for that specific query, not just a wall of text.
  • +1 more...

"Programmatic is the right solution when there's scale and when there's a user use case. If there is not, you create scale for nothing."

#programmatic#value#engine
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