Matt Bailey

Call it SEO. Call it GEO. Call it AEO. But here’s the truth: it will not work if your company is siloed. Cross-functional strategy isn’t optional; it’s the only way to create lasting impact. SEO wins, or ANY team wins, are strongest when they’re shared. Results are amplified when teams collaborate. True growth happens, and lasts, when every channel is aligned: website, social, email, PR, affiliates, partnerships… Omnichannel isn’t “new.” It’s always been the goal. The difference is: today, it’s a non-negotiable if you want to continue to see online success. I've heard from friends in various industries of their teams being told to hit XYZ arbitrary goal by EOY without any support from social, dev, paid... It's not doable and it makes for a potentially toxic work environment. If your teams aren’t working together, your strategy won’t scale. Period.

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Sometimes running SEO feels less like marketing… and more like being a doctor. Clients show up with symptoms: “Our traffic dropped.” “We lost rankings.” “Competitors are outranking us.” You run the diagnosis: - Algorithm updates. - Technical gaps. - Content signals weakening. You prescribe the treatment: - Content refresh. - Authority building. - Tech clean-up. But here’s the catch → what the client really wants is - “More leads & Faster.” That’s the tension every SEO director or agency owner lives with. SEO isn’t just about fixing symptoms — it’s about tying the cure back to business outcomes. If you’ve worked with clients in India, you’ve definitely heard this line: “Traffic kab badhega?” What’s the most repeated line you hear in every SEO review call? Would love to know, what that 1 statement or line you face in every client review call. #seo #seoagency #seoprofessional #googleupdate #googleranking #SERP #seoindia #digitalmarketing #seoreview

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What you want may not be what you need. "I need a website." No, you probably don’t. What you need is a way to generate leads, convert visitors into customers, or establish credibility in your industry. The website is just the tool, but without strategy, it’s just another digital brochure getting lost in the sea of sameness. Too often, businesses focus on what they think they want, rather than what they actually need. This is why working with external partners who take the time to audit your business and brand is invaluable. A real partner won’t just execute your request, they’ll challenge it, refine it, and build a solution that works for you. Because you can’t be your own doctor. You’re too close to see the blind spots​. A great strategist will ask: - What’s the actual problem? (Not just the surface-level request.) - What’s the desired outcome? (Not just the deliverable.) - How does this align with your brand’s positioning? (Not just aesthetics.) Great branding doesn’t start with execution. It starts with deep understanding. So, before saying, I need a new website, a logo, or an ad campaign... Ask yourself: Do I need it, or do I need strategic clarity first? Because what you want may not be what you actually need.

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I’ve been seeing a flurry of SEO posts lately that say, “Don’t focus on the keyword anymore.” I totally agree, but this isn’t new. We’ve been moving in this direction for years. Google is way past the era of keyword stuffing and exact matches. They knew they had to overwrite their old systems with new technology that matches topics to user intent. Once we were given the Hummingbird Update (around ten years ago), the new direction of data retrieval was created. We've seen studies showing that traffic grows when deprioritizing keywords and traditional SEO tactics for content written to focus on user intent. This leads to better engagement, which in turn leads to less "pogo-sticking" back to search results. Instead, focus on solutions for humans. Focus on writing clear, helpful content that people (and Google) appreciate. Think of Estimated Search Volume as a proxy for how interested people are in a topic (represented by a keyword/keyphrase), and not as a vehicle to stuff keywords. If you're still doing old-school SEO, you're not doing what Google rewards today. Those days aren't coming back.

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“How the !@#$ do we measure AI?” ↳every marketer with an SEO dashboard right now. There’s no market-wide answer right now. But I can tell you what it *won’t* be: An AI visibility score. Trying to measure AI the way we measured SEO doesn’t work. How do I know? Run a query in Gemini, then do it again five minutes later.  Half the citations will change. AI visibility isn’t: - A one-and-done score - A chart you can defend quarter to quarter - A tidy rank you can show the board It’s the ocean, always moving. And chasing a single score is like trying to measure the tide with a yardstick. Want to know what we’re doing at Skyword instead? I’ll break it down in a full post later this week. If you want the details early, DM me.

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Someone on Reddit asked: "What should I learn after SEO? Technical SEO or something different, like CRO?" My take: Learn conversion optimization. AI can write copy. AI can build websites. But AI can’t truly understand the humans on the other side of the screen—their hesitations, motivations, or the small design changes that turn “just looking” into “I’ll buy it now.” That’s where CRO shines. It’s one of the few skills that directly connects your work to a client’s bottom line. You can double, even quadruple, conversion rates without spending a dime more on traffic. That’s not just valuable—it’s rare. When I ran an agency, we were known for SEO. But the biggest wins we delivered for clients? Those came from CRO and analytics. We weren’t just getting them found, we were making sure the traffic mattered. If you understand how to turn existing traffic into measurable results, you’ll have a skill that’s relevant no matter where the industry shifts.

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Feeling overwhelmed by all the SEO changes? (AI overviews, zero-click searches, ChatGPT...) After a decade in SEO, here's what I know for sure: focusing on what works TODAY while preparing for TOMORROW is the key to sustainable success. ⬇️ Here are go-to ways to balance both: 💰 Focus on ROI First Don't chase every shiny new trend. Know what drives actual results for your business. ✅ Leverage AI (Smartly) • Use it as a helper, not a replacement ✅ Know Your Audience More important than ever! With fragmented traffic sources and fewer clicks from Google, you need to know: • Exactly who you're targeting • What they're actually searching for • How you uniquely serve them ✅ Invest in Quality Content Yes, still. But now it needs to: • Work across multiple channels • Showcase genuine expertise • Stand out from AI-generated noise • Actually help your audience ✅ Update Your SEO Processes, just because it worked in 2020 doesn't mean anything now ✅ Communicate with Stakeholders, Keep your team/clients informed about: • What's changing • What's working • What's next • Why it matters Remember: If you're feeling overwhelmed by SEO changes, you're not alone. But don't let that stop you from taking action. Want to learn how to navigate these changes together? That's exactly why I created Search Party 🪩

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Klaviyo performance dropped? ⚠️❗ Use the Fishbone Diagram framework to spot the root causes. We've all been there: numbers dip, and you're scrambling to figure out why. Is it timing? Targeting? The offer? This simple framework helps you map out all potential causes (timing, targeting, messaging & more) to quickly pinpoint the exact performance blocker. Watch my full video breakdown below to see it in action

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