Use Data Or Be Used By Data!

The May 13 issue of Seotistics is here for you!

There is a lot of buzz around content and its future.

I am more than bullish about it... you know why?

Because many people haven't really grasped the essence of content.

You will soon understand why content is so important.

P.S. I've just launched my new course "Think Like a Web Analyst" yesterday.

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📣📣 Important Announcements 📣📣

Think Like a Web Analyst is out!

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

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To come next:

Analytics for SEO ebook v9
Freebies
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Articles

The Industry Today

Many compare the industry before to the industry now:

Keyword-stuffed "SEO" content
How-to and Ultimate guides
Traffic farming

The thing is, this is still done today, it's not a thing of the past.

And this "holier-than-thou" behavior has also been abused.

Under the guise of EEAT (lol), many have been convinced that their content was bad because of some fictional criteria.

Truth is, machines can't evaluate content because it's a subjective topic.

But... as long as people buy from you and you maintain a strong brand, you are good to go.

Most companies don't have "great" content and will never have though.

Great content is expensive and requires you to have some expertise in the topic you are talking about.

AI is already helping in content research and drafting, which is a HUGE advantage if you do it properly.

The Industry Tomorrow

It's hard to say but I will still write my predictions and hot takes because why not?

AI will inevitably be integrated into all of the software we know but that won't replace entire jobs... like some claim.

The most common misconception is that the newest automation will save us time and make everyone better.

This is completely false.

Everyone will still work the same amount of hours as before. No way we get the same pay for fewer hours...

Productivity improves and then tanks after a while but your workload doesn't!

Jevon's Paradox shows that technological improvements that increase efficiency can lead to more consumption, thus reducing the efficiency gain.

In the context of AI and technology, we could even claim the following:

We take on more tasks and responsibilities
We raise our standards and expectations
Work complexity increases to fill the capacity created by automation

If there is an underrated topic right now, that would be Knowledge Graphs.

This is an example of my notes in Obsidian displayed as a Knowledge Graph.

My oldest readers recall that I talked about them 2-3 years ago.

This technology will be even more mainstream than today as it mixes perfectly with some concepts like RAG.

So far, thought leadership content and the niche B2B content are fine👌

I am not very positive about your average informational articles... but good ones will be hard to replace.

The Impact of the AIO

There are many opinions on the newly released AI Overviews...

most of them focus excessively on traffic and clicks.

Content is a means to get awareness and brand recall, not just a way to make clicks and that's it.

For sure, it also depends on your content...

Too many people think content marketing=copywriting. These are misconceptions! Education is NOT persuasion.

Low quality informational content doesn't get you much brand recall.

But a collection of great content that you distribute across multiple channels gets you result in the long-term.

Content does take time to show you results, some quick wins from "sprints" don't last.

Anyway, I recommend you always measure your Site CTR to see if you had any real drops:

Yes, you can run a simple query in BigQuery and simply go to "Chart" to plot it.

This is the CTR for Seotistics, feel free to ignore this May as the month is not finished.

For bigger websites, you will notice clear drops immediately and you can do many more comparisons.

Measurement Is Still Outdated

The content and SEO industry are quite far from being informed on proper measurement.

How many times did you have to read audits with the following:

Pages by performance
Generic advice (make it longer, add this and that)
No idea about distribution

If we want to boast quality, we deserve to go beyond and do the following:

considering a content strategy
connecting marketing to business
stop relying on 1 channel

TikTok helped many people to see the importance of omnichannel but it's still not enough.

Having more than one channel makes a big difference!

It's also true that now your share of voice (aka your search visibility) and impressions matter much more.

Clicks alone won't probably make the cut!

If you want to get the most advanced resource in terms of content measurement, here we go:

[Analytics For SEO Course - v5]

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

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!

Wonders Of AI

AI is extremely powerful but also overrated depending on the context.

For personal productivity, it's incredible. I get much more done and I am just getting started.

As I explained in my previous newsletter on how AI skyrocketed my productivity.

For automation and enterprise use cases... eh, Marketing isn't the best domain.

Many people are simply taking what already existed (basic coding + automation) and making it 10x more complex with AI.

As explained in my previous newsletter about AI Productivity.

I don't even recommend you study AI in depth because pretty much everything will have some basic AI embedded.

Notion and Apple products are great examples of improving existing features.

But if you expect AI to revolutionize your work out of the blue... no way.

If everyone has access to the same tools, then there is no competitive advantage.

Actually there is but it's 100% dependent on YOU.

How To Protect Yourself

The best way to protect yourself is with common sense and upskilling.

I don't recommend you learn everything and fall prey of shiny objects... stick to what's needed for your role.

The real issue is not learning crazy stuff... it's not being on par with industry standards.

Companies are raising the bar and cutting the budget so it's cautious to get your way out of uncomfortable situations. 👀

My next issue will cover some of the topics I mentioned here! I am still resting after the launch yesterday!

👥 Join Our Community

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

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🔎 Analytics For SEO Ebook (v8)

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

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.

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📚 Recommended Reads - Peak Content 🗻

Some good reads to learn more about the topic (and in general):

My LinkedIn Content:

❗️ 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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