SEO and content strategy are still very important for digital marketing success even in this age of AI technology. At Digital Summit Los Angeles, I got a chance to chat with Mindy Weinstein of Market MindShift. Mindy is highly respected in the SEO industry and gave two great presentations on SEO Strategy and Content Strategy as part of the Masterclass sessions at Digital Summit. I was eager to get her thoughts on the best strategies for SEO and content marketing these days.
Web Hosting Cat:
How has SEO changed with the advent of AI technology?
Mindy Weinstein:
it’s a really great question about how has SEO evolved with AI. It’s interesting because there’s a lot of factors within SEO that have remained consistent, and they’re fundamental in terms of still trying to understand who you’re trying to reach when you’re doing SEO, which means, what are those keywords that you need to think about, the topics, the content. Is it a good user experience with Page Speed and all of that? Those things matter a lot with AI search, but they have mattered before, too, where we’ve seen a shift is just making sure that we’re thinking about the holistic experience, that we have the right content to show up, different content formats, and the different types of AI searches.
WHC:
How important are the SEO “legacy” factors, like backlinks and on page elements?
MW:
Great question, and it’s interesting, because I just presented on this. So backlinks still are important, but really from a matter of, are we getting our message out there? So I like to think of backlinks in terms of more public relations. So PR, so are we in the media? Are we sharing our expertise? Do we have content we’re producing, like guides or research? Those are going to naturally get links, plus we get featured. And so to me, that’s really where we’re at. And then on page optimization, I mean, yeah, how are you going to show up in AI searches? If you haven’t really thought intentionally about what’s on your page itself, it’s not a checklist like do 1234, and five. When you’re done with your on page, it’s Who are we trying to reach? Do we have the right content there? Are we placing in the right way? Are we wording things correctly? So it does matter. Again, to me, it’s just a lot of fundamentals still.
WHC:
What are the most important points to keep in mind when you’re trying to develop a content strategy in this age of AI search?
MW:
So it’s interesting when it comes to content, you’re thinking overall like your topics or your themes. You can think of it that way. And so you’re trying to figure out, from a broader perspective, what should we be creating that makes sense for our audience and our website? And then from there, breaking it out and getting specific, so it could be questions you’re answering, it could be content in the format of videos, of audio, of visuals, or just the written word itself. And so you really need to focus on those things. And again, that goes back to the holistic experience and showing up in an AI search.
WHC:
What are some of the key psychological principles to trying to boost engagement and conversions these days?
MW:
A lot of it are the things you have to do ahead of time. So figuring out what is the intent of the searcher. So they’re searching for whatever it is, x, y, z, they end up on our website, or they end up watching our video on YouTube. Did what we created match their intent? So that’s still like psychology, because we’re trying to understand their needs, their wants, really, what’s underneath? But then even the type of wording that you’re using once someone is there? Is it wording that prompts action urgency? Is it really highlighting their pain points and showing you have the solution. So you have to think about things that way too.
Market MindShift specializes in psychology-driven digital marketing. For more information on their services, visit marketmindshift.com.
