Use Data Or Be Used By Data!

The April 28 issue of Seotistics is here for you!

I am generally against AI because most of the stuff we read is slop.

There are super valid use cases though and I am here to show you how YOU can do the same.

If you need some motivation for your professional life, this is for you!

​Read this in your browser​

📣📣 Important Announcements 📣📣

We are getting closer and closer to the launch of my new course!

You can preorder my new course at a 30% discount until launch (May 12)!

The last update can be read here and I will post another one this week.

It gives you all the missing business and marketing skills I mention when talking about Web Analytics.

If you purchased my previous course, go to this lesson here and the last section contains a special promo code for you:

Product updates:

• ​Analytics for SEO course v5​
• BigQuery Handbook v2 (subscribe! Check the welcome email if already subscribed)

The Stack

My stack right now is very simple yet effective.

The only thing you need to pay for is a Claude subscription ($20/month) and optionally Excalidraw.

Excalidraw is also integrated inside Obsidian via a plugin...

But for the time being I use the pro version and draw 99% of my pics there.

Coding

My issue before as a Data Analyst was that complex code took too much time to write compared to other tasks.

I recall how in college I spent weeks to improve a sentiment analysis script and I had to jump between Stack Overflow threads.

Now, those times are over.

Claude massively cut the time to value as I can prototype whatever I want quickly and send it to engineers.

This is no small difference as it not only makes you more productive but also more efficient.

Cursor is another big help to have AI-assisted coding into your IDE.

P.S. Google Colab also got FREE Gemini integrated into it so you can also use it to generate some nice code.

The Power of MCP

You may have heard of MCP (Model Context Protocol) since it got quite popular in the last few weeks.

To keep it short, it's a protocol to connect your AI models to other software or files.

For example, I connected Claude to Obsidian to work on my personal notes.

The process isn't complex but requires some attention.

Now, I can simply open Claude Desktop and ask it to work on my files, which means:

• I can re-format old notes
• I can create new notes or folders on command
• I can summarize my own resources and transcribe them to Obsidian

You can also connect Claude to your computer to get access to your local files.

Pretty cool, isn't it?

Here is a quick example with Obsidian:

To summarize some of my old resources and give me some nice summary notes connected to each other:

Obsidian

I downloaded this software around last year, tested it and then dropped it.

That was until some day a month ago I decided to give it another try.

I finally cracked the code and figured out why it was so important.

Obsidian allows you to create knowledge bases and connect all the dots in your documentation.

Combine all of this with an extreme flexibility to modify everything and one of the best community work ever.

What I showed before can also be represented as a directed graph:

Now that you know more about the tools, here is a recap of what I did:

I keep mentioning how documentation is the MVP but it's boring and it takes too much time.

This examples makes it easier for you.

To me, Obsidian is the true GOAT of note-taking and in general for storing information.

In the end, use whatever suits you. Still, my recommendation is to ditch outdated methods like Google Docs.

Sure, you can share critical information via GDocs but the Google Stack it's all but good for storing data and create what works for you.

What It Means For You

If you always struggled with prototyping technical ideas or creating small automation, LLMs definitely help now.

Many fail in capitalizing on this new technology, though.

I myself am still figuring out what is the most efficient compromise for my productivity.

Some Examples Of What I Built

A lot of things... a lot!

Just to name my best use cases:

• Checking and improving 90% of my code, especially for BigQuery-related tasks
• More sophisticate scraping bots
• Improved SERP Clustering
• Cool plots that would require too much manual work

Prompting will NOT grant you good results if you don't know what to ask and how.

LLMs are still stupid and tend to get things wrong from time to time.

Always specify how you want to achieve a given result and be clear.

If you want to create a nice scraper, it's quicker if you instruct LLMs on which libraries you need and what is the final purpose.

Even better, use Projects or CustomGPTs to distill specific knowledge into the models.

Here is a sample output of what I scrape:

I extract URLs, titles and content for competitive analysis (and to get ideas).

The LLMs knows it has to use specific libraries like Trafilatura to accomodate my requests.

But in 99% of the cases you need to be familiar with Web/SEO data.

Needless to say, my best resource out there is my dedicated course:

---

[Analytics For SEO Course - v5] - Updated!

If you want to be guided and start from scratch, this is the course for you!

You can read about the changes for v5 here.

You will:

✅ Use GSC and GA4 Data to their fullest potential

✅ Learn Python/SQL for your needs

✅ Get a complete blueprint for auditing websites

✅ Learn how to 10x your productivity

✅ Learn BigQuery to work on large websites

I teach you what's needed to go from 0 to a professional Data Analyst.

Even if you leave SEO, the foundations are the same for other jobs!

Learn Analytics for SEO Now!

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A Quick Calculation

It's easy to estimate more or less how much time you are saving and how much more value you can add with the right stack:

• what took me weeks now takes me minutes
• the tools I paid for and no longer pay
• the mental health saved

OK, where is the catch then?

You can't always cut time off, there is a limit. Costs will never reach $0 and there is a fixed amount beyond which you can't go.

The same is NOT true with opportunities.

AI and new technologies can be used to surface new opportunities faster... I hate they are used ONLY for automation and cost savings.

If you approach AI purely in terms of operations, you will miss out a lot and get bored quickly.

Marco, I Want To Learn Even More!

Don't worry, I am already working on some freebies for my dear readers.

My content plan is brimming with ideas.

My upcoming course already includes a LOT of references to improving your work with data...

And if you want some preview of what's coming next:

• Some cool freebies for my readers
• Some more articles
• More use cases like the ones showed today

I am not using Make that much but I do have some use cases to share with you...

👥 Join Our Community

Our Discord community offers a small place where we can talk business and web data.

If you hate all the noise of social media, then this place is for you.

Join our Discord Community!

🔎 Analytics For SEO Ebook (v8)

If you want to learn about Analytics for SEO and prefer self-study, this is for you!

P.S. An update is coming soon 👀

It will teach you or your employees to:

👉 Prepare audits that make sense and are actionable 🔥

👉 Avoid common pitfalls that cost you money 💸

👉 Create analyses that add value and money💯

👉 Move the needle faster with efficient SEO systems ⏳

This comes with periodical updates to keep the content fresh.

Unlock Powerful Insights Now!

📚 Recommended Reads - Peak Content 🗻

Some more peak content to read. Get the mindset right first:

• ​Obsidian Documentation​
• ​Content Management & Operations Retold: Analytics & AI​
• ​📚 The 2025 Web Automation Stack​
• ​🪄 Dispelling AI Myths & What To Do Instead​
• ​Analytical Skills for AI and Data Science : Building Skills for an AI-Driven enterprise​
• ​Data Literacy In Practice​

My LinkedIn content:

• ​The biggest problem of learning is...​
• ​Descriptive Web Analytics​
• ​Notebooks VS Sheets​
• ​Traffic Metrics & Techniques​
• ​Some other Web metrics/dimensions you should track​
• ​You can't evaluate content quality with a script​
• ​GA4 BigQuery Schema - Overview​
• ​Analytical Maturity​
• ​Data-driven is a terrible buzzword​

❗️ Feedback and Recommendations

If you have ideas/recommendations for the next issues of Seotistics, you can simply reply to this email.

Marco Giordano
​Data/Web Analyst

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Bernerstrasse Süd 169, Zurich, Switzerland
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