Demystifying SEO and Online Presence for SMB Owners - Part 3

For the 3rd of our 4 part series, we're turning to the expertise of Wes McDowell, a well-known web strategist and consultant who helps business owners with his knowledge of digital marketing, SEO, and AI.  After 10+ years of creating and testing websites for business owners — and building a YouTube channel with over 300,000 subscribers — he's well known for his cutting-edge, yet practical approach to generating an Online Presence.  His comprehensive (read as, "you may want to break this into more than one session") plan for dealing with AI in our new online world is superb. While even the summary of his recommendations shown below may seem overwhelming at first, our suggestion is that you read through it and file the specific parts for future reference.  We'll show a recommended, somewhat simpler approach in our final article in this series.

Intro

• SEO is changing in a way that gives businesses a stronger advantage, and a small group of smart business owners have figured out how to pivot their strategy toward AI to get tools like ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, and Google's own AI mode to recommend their business.
• Customers coming from AI recommendations are worth 4.4 times more than regular Google clicks, but almost nobody knows how to tap into this opportunity yet.
• We will show how AI SEO is different from traditional Google SEO and why it's a better opportunity, including what specific content is needed to get AI tools recommending a business and how to amplify the signal on other websites.
• To understand the shift, it's essential to recognize how people are changing the way they look for businesses online, with many turning to AI tools like ChatGPT for recommendations instead of searching on Google.
• A personal experience of using ChatGPT to find a contractor for a rooftop project resulted in three solid recommendations with specific reasons why each one would be a good fit, demonstrating the potential of AI recommendations.
• The use of AI tools for recommendations can provide a more streamlined and efficient experience, giving users a list of tailored suggestions instead of a list of links to investigate.
• By the end of the video, viewers will learn how to tap into the opportunity of AI SEO and get tools like ChatGPT to recommend their business.

People Are Trusting AI Tools

• People are starting to trust AI tools more than traditional Google searches because they feel that AI provides objective and unbiased results.
• When using AI search, individuals complete their entire buyer's journey in the chat, from identifying a problem to finding the exact solution they need.
• Studies have shown that customers who come from AI recommendations are worth 4.4 times more than those from Google clicks, as they are already pre-sold on why a particular business is the right choice.
• This trend creates a huge opportunity for businesses that figure out AI SEO first, representing a blue ocean opportunity where companies can start getting traffic from AI tools in days, rather than months or years.

What Makes AI SEO Different

• AI SEO differs from traditional Google SEO in that it does not rely on keyword phrases, instead, the AI tool is smart enough to understand the context and arrange information in a more human-like manner.
• AI tools have the ability to know a lot about the person asking for recommendations, including their age, location, and previous conversations, which allows them to provide more personalized results, making it essential to know your ideal customer well so that you can write about serving people just like them.
• When creating content for AI SEO, it is crucial to write conversationally, as AI models prefer human-sounding content, and to avoid using corporate jargon, instead writing at a seventh-grade level, which can be achieved with the help of AI tools.
• Most of the content written for AI SEO should be written in a neutral, expert voice, rather than in first person from the business owner's perspective, to sound less biased and more authoritative.
• AI tools do not care about duplicate or thin content, unlike Google, so the focus should be on creating helpful, specific, and brief content, without worrying about overlap or repetition.

AI SEO vs Traditional SEO

• The difference between AI SEO and traditional SEO lies in where it fits into the overall sales funnel, with traditional SEO typically focusing on writing blog posts that answer informational questions, such as how to train a puppy or optimize a LinkedIn profile, to guide readers through the sales process.
• Traditional SEO usually targets top-of-funnel questions, aiming to engage readers and eventually lead them to hire a service, like puppy training or LinkedIn profile optimization, as they progress through the content.
• In contrast, AI SEO does not focus on answering informational questions, as AI platforms can provide those answers themselves, and instead concentrates on bottom-of-funnel buyer intent questions, such as identifying the best business for a specific service, like a pergola painter.
• The primary goal of AI SEO is to train AI platforms to recognize a business as the best in its category, effectively establishing it as the top choice for customers with specific needs or intentions.
• AI SEO involves optimizing for questions that indicate buyer intent, where the customer is ready to make a purchase or hire a service, rather than simply seeking information, which is a key distinction from traditional SEO strategies.

The AI SEO Playbook

• The playbook splits up the work into two main categories, similar to traditional SEO: on-page and off-page, with on-page referring to the content on the website and off-page referring to everything else done around the web.
• On-page work involves adding new elements to the website to make it easy for AI to find and use the information to recommend a business.
• The on-page elements are important for the AI to easily find the information on the website and use it to make recommendations.

Best-Fit Briefs

• Best-fit briefs are short posts that position a business as the best choice for various situations, and their purpose is to provide AI with all the circumstances and situations where the company should be the top choice, by spoon-feeding it with relevant information.
• The headline of a best-fit brief should be phrased as a question asking for a recommendation, such as "who's the best artificial turf installer in Las Vegas", to help AI understand when to recommend the company.
• To create best-fit briefs, brainstorm specific situations and requests that would lead to AI recommending the company, and use tools like ChatGPT to help with brainstorming if needed, then answer each question simply and include the features and benefits that make the company a good choice.
• Each best-fit brief should be short, conversational, and to the point, including a real testimonial or multiple testimonials to back up the company's claim, as AI tools prefer concise answers over fluff.
• The best-fit briefs can be added to the website's blog section, with each brief being its own short blog post, and it is recommended to move the blog link to the footer of the site where it's less likely to be picked up by human visitors, but still easily accessible to AI.
• By keeping the blog link in the footer, AI can still easily find the new content, while human visitors are less likely to read it, making it an effective way to provide AI with the necessary information without compromising the user experience.

Top Reasons Series

• Creating clear, structured content is crucial as it allows AI to easily pull from it when making recommendations, and this can be achieved by making a list of all services offered and writing an article for each titled "top reasons to choose your business" for the service provided.
• The article should be a simple list of the top five to 10 reasons why the business is the best choice for that service, including features, benefits, pricing, and anything that makes the business stand out in that category.
• If needed, ChatGPT can be utilized to help brainstorm and write these articles, and it is recommended to write one article for each service offered, especially for local businesses.

Strategic Service City Posts

• To dominate local AI search results for specific service and location combinations, strategic service or city posts should be added for businesses that work with customers in person, which involves creating a post for every combination of services and cities served.
• A simple spreadsheet should be made with all services listed along the top and all the cities serviced along the side to organize the content, and then a post should be created for each combination.
• Each post should be titled with a phrase like "best service in city" followed by the business's name, and include a paragraph or two explaining why the business is the best in that area, written in third person from an independent expert's perspective.
• Relevant testimonials or case studies of customers helped with that service in that city should be included in each post to add credibility and support the business's claims.
• The content of the posts for each service may be similar from city to city, but this is acceptable and does not hinder the effectiveness of the strategic service or city posts.

Service Comparison Table

• To create an effective comparison, a simple structured comparison table should be made between the service provided and its three to five biggest competitors, showcasing the service as the clear winner, by highlighting categories such as pricing, features, and benefits.
• The comparison table is beneficial because AI tools can utilize this deep research to assist people in making decisions, and it should be titled something like "who's the best fill-in-the-blank service, a full comparison".
• It is essential to be honest and not misrepresent the service or its competitors, instead trying to cleverly highlight the advantages of the service in as many categories as possible, and this process should be repeated for every major service provided.

Key Pages

• A website should have key pages that are expected by clients and can help with conversions, including an FAQ page that makes it easy for AI to find clear answers about the business when making recommendations.
• A case studies page is necessary to show real proof of results that AI can reference when explaining why someone should choose the business, and it should include stories of transformations made for customers, such as the services provided and the improvements made.
• Testimonials are a huge factor when AI tools are deciding who to recommend, and a dedicated testimonials page should be created with positive reviews from various sources, such as Yelp, Google reviews, and Facebook, and should lead with the best ones that tell a good story of transformation.
• A pricing page is expected by both customers and AI, and it's best not to hide this information, but rather provide ballpark ranges or starting prices to give an indication of the costs, and the rest of the website should highlight the unique selling points of the business.

Off Page SEO

• Off-page SEO for AI tools like ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Gemini differs from traditional SEO, and this difference is beneficial for small businesses, as it no longer requires obtaining links from high-authority websites.
• In traditional SEO, getting links from high-authority websites, which are considered reputable and have strong track records, was a challenging task, especially for small businesses trying to convince large websites to link to them.
• AI tools prioritize how the internet discusses a business, regardless of whether sites are linking to it or not, and they gather information from various sources such as Reddit, review sites, social media, and other online platforms where people discuss businesses.
• Getting mentioned on platforms like Reddit, review sites, and social media is easier than obtaining backlinks from large blogs, making it more accessible for small businesses to improve their off-page SEO.
• The shift in focus from traditional link-building to online mentions and discussions provides an opportunity for small businesses to increase their online presence and improve their ranking in AI-powered search results.

Get Mentioned Everywhere

• To increase visibility, it is essential to get mentioned everywhere possible, as AI tools gather information about businesses from various directories and platforms.
• Claiming and filling out every single profile that makes sense for the business is crucial, including Google Business Profile, Bing Places, Better Business Bureau, LinkedIn company page, and social media profiles, ensuring that the about sections are completed.
• Listing the business on every major directory relevant to the industry, such as Yelp, Angie, and Home Advisor, is also important, and for local businesses, finding and listing themselves on city-specific business directories is necessary.
• Utilizing a tool like Yex can help distribute business information across hundreds of platforms simultaneously, saving time and effort.

Get 5 Star Reviews

• Getting as many five-star reviews as possible is important because the number of reviews and average star rating have a significant impact on whether AI tools recommend a business or not.
• The average star rating and the total number of reviews are crucial factors that influence the recommendations made by AI tools, with most AI tools currently favoring Yelp reviews.
• Despite potential issues with Yelp's business practices, such as hiding or showing reviews to encourage advertising purchases, it is still necessary to play by their rules and encourage happy customers to leave reviews on the platform.
• It is advised not to pay for Yelp's advertising and to ignore their phone calls, instead focusing on getting more customers to leave reviews.
• Encouraging happy customers to leave reviews on Yelp is a key strategy, as this can improve a business's visibility and reputation in the eyes of AI tools.

Get Featured in Articles

• Getting featured in articles is one of the most effective ways to increase the likelihood of AI recommending a business, as AI tools heavily rely on articles that round up the best businesses in different categories.
• To get featured in such articles, businesses can reach out to bloggers and journalists who write these types of articles and pitch why they should be included, and even without a link, just getting the business name mentioned is valuable.
• If reaching out to people does not work, there are SEO services that can place articles on blogs for a fee, or businesses can write their own "best of" list with their business as the top choice.
• Using a press release service is another option to get articles distributed to major websites like NBC, CBS, and Fox, but the content must feel somewhat newsworthy to avoid rejection.
• Writing a press release and distributing it through a press release service can be an effective way to get a business mentioned in articles on major websites, which can, in turn, increase the chances of AI recommending the business.

Use a Press Release Service

• Using a press release service can help get a business's name mentioned across the web as many times as possible, establishing it as a top choice in its category.
• The strategy of using press releases can be applied to various scenarios, such as writing articles about success stories with customers, announcing new services, or winning awards.
• To maximize effort and make the process more manageable, it is recommended to download a comprehensive playbook that provides a step-by-step guide to implementing this strategy.
• The playbook is available for free and can be obtained by clicking on a provided link, allowing users to access the information and work through it at their own pace.