Use Data Or Be Used By Data!

The September 22 issue of Seotistics is here for you!

In the last issue I've talked about Growth and why it's not all there is in business.

Consistency is often an underrated concept because many companies worry too much about uncontrolled growth.

Today I show you the other side of the equation.

Why is acquisition super important for growing?

P.S. New article out about GSC data and metrics, stay tuned for more.

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📣📣 Important Announcements 📣📣

Thanks to anyone for letting me cross the 2K subs on this newsletter!

We can definitely get to 5K, I am sure of it.

My content is still super specialized but I am sure a broader audience would enjoy it.

The Basic Traps

It's important to dispel any myth and start from a clean slate... businesses need to acquire customers at all times.

The idea that you can survive with the same user base is delusional.

This is even more relatable and true for websites!

The entire point of inbound is to have this nice flow of people coming to you.

Instead of complaining about search engines or social media reducing your visibility, go find another way!

It costs 5x more to acquire a new customer!

Yeah, sure...

This is another myth originated from nowhere, as explained by Dale W. Harrison in one of his posts.

Now that I think of it, this is a business dogma.

No one actually questioned it because it looks reasonable... until it doesn't.

In fact, after years in the field, I've noticed that this isn't exactly true!

The Seotistics Example

I often talk about Seotistics as a reference of small B2B websites.

The KPIs I track are:

Users (on the website ofc)
LinkedIn Views
Newsletter subscribers

Yes, this doesn't mean it will bring $$$ but those are good indicators as a creator if people notice you.

Having loyal readers is super super important.

But... I also know that growth mostly comes from new people and expansion.

If you create content, you want it to be read by as many people as possible, especially if it's your relevant audience.

The Ecommerce Example

How many times did you hear "oh it's fine your Ecommerce lost 40% traffic but revenue wasn't affected".

Too many I bet.

These statements are often true, revenue does NOT get impacted by content losses in the short term.

Yes, in the short term.

What about 1 or 2 years later? Is visibility that optional here?

Assuming the content was indeed relevant, it will affect your revenue.

For sure good results come from products and categories, you need to sell your merch!

But this doesn't mean building awareness is useless.

A strong brand means lower CAC (how much it costs to acquire a new customer) and more effective marketing.

Think about it... would you spend money on a store you have never heard of?

So yeah, before spending a fortune in ads, think that maybe you need a decent brand to be considered.

Now visibility is getting more attention after LLMs became a thing... but the opposite is also bad.

Focusing on visibility or "awareness" can be used as an excuse to delay results.

You need both awareness and the relevant work to get people to buy, that's it.

Yep, brand metrics express effectiveness, aka reaching your goals. ROI is an efficiency metric, showing how you spend your $.

Honest & Simple Tips

So far, after almost 8 years with websites, this is the bare minimum you should do:

have good resources for your ICP/customer/reader
distribute and repurpose the heck out of your content
be sure to have CTAs

The amount of websites I've worked with wasting traffic is incredible.

Imagine having a nice B2B website and there is no CTA to contact your company.

Or being a publisher with no mailing list or community to retain your users.

Even worse, being a niche DTC shop and having 0 content to assist your customers.

Most of these tips are simple and don't require the complex stuff we are sold on LinkedIn.

Yet, how many are consistent with them?

The usual content advice is always valid:

Content (Once Again)

2025 and content is still misunderstood.

You don't do content because people like reading but to:

be visible at the right times
be present and gradually build trust
solve problems

No one buys the first time they see your website... I mean it's possible but not really.

Great content is one of the best ways to farm authority and be trusted over time.

Without it, you are making your life impossible.

I often see Ecommerce dismissing content because agencies or professionals they work with are weak at it.

Really, the few times I open X I notice agency owners still talking about churning content for ranking 😭

Luckily one of my friends, Antonis Dimitriou, expressed the same concern in one of his recent posts.

Free Stuff Helps

A common mistake I see that professionals and companies do is to ONLY produce BOFU content ❌

If you sell 24/7, you are not going to acquire new users, grow or become an authority.

You will annoy a lot of people, at most.

Free content like lead magnets, white papers and even tutorials help massively.

Just think about websites like Ahrefs, Backlinko, Animalz and so on.

There must be a reason why they had power over time, don't you think? 👀

Great content is a powerful growth driver IF people are able to read it.

Most of Seotistics can be summarized like this. People don't magically buy after ONE interaction, especially in B2B.

That's why I think that only specific content should be gated and the rest should never be.

Still, we see professionals saying "blogs are dead" and that informational content shouldn't be written.

How do you think notorious B2B SaaS get people to trust them and buy?

Why do big influencers "waste" time creating content on multiple platforms?

OK... How Is Data Related?

As I always say, data is your raw material and Analytics is what helps you convert that mess into action.

Most of my content will get you into the right direction but just as a reminder for the new readers:

use GSC to measure your organic performance and efforts
use GA4 to measure more channels and what people do on your website
never rely on GA4 for financial data or transactions. Use the source system instead

You use data to show your results and even run experiments.