Nicole Bump’s Post

SEO is so important. The key is to be super-specific. I think a lot of people discount SEO because they target these nebulous terms that kinda sorta relate to their company or product, and then they get discouraged when they don’t rank. Instead, identify specific questions that people are asking and specific information they’re looking for, then write detailed posts answering those questions and providing that information. If you do it right, not only will you drive traffic, but you’ll also drive conversions.

imo, well done SEO is part of a good content distribution strategy. And, you can't hope to get organic search traffic without considering SEO at all. Like, I archive my newsletter on my website. But, it's written without SEO in mind, and if I checked rn, I'd bet organic search traffic to random posts is non existent.

It definitely plays a role but I write content for humans rather than just search engines. If you create relevant, valuable content that speaks to what your customer cares about (and is searching for), search engines will likely reward you. So do your keyword research, spend time understanding what ranks, but create content for your customers not only Google.

Very, but it is not easy. Especially when it comes to strategy, intent and getting that traffic to convert! I think it's also easy to forget that off page and technical SEO are just as important as on page SEO.

SEO is extremely important Nicole Bump It is the best way to understand our reader's demands. Apart from ranking, SEO gives us a lot of info about our readers.

I love the callout for "natural paths to deeper content," because so much of SEO-focused content is missing exactly that. Readers can TELL when a blog post drenched in keywords isn't actually going to help them in a meaningful way — so there's no way they'll feel like they can trust that your solution is going to help them in a meaningful way either. But when it's an enjoyable, helpful (AND SEO-optimized) read that naturally leads them to your middle and bottom-of-funnel content, too? *cue angel choir* Magic.

This is why I don’t diss SEO; I just diss 80% of SEO. 😜 Yes, SEO is important—for direct lead gen for SMB and mid-market, and for awareness and education for Enterprise. But I think a lot of marketing leaders think of SEO as the “cheap, scalable” option, which leads to bloated publishing cadences and low-quality content that lands a long way from the tree you’re describing.

I think it depends on how companies measure content performance. At Postal.io we care about pipeline created from organic traffic—so yes, SEO is important to our content performance, along with optimizing for on-page conversions. Gotta give a shoutout to Demandwell and Content Cucumber in playing a key part in our content strategy, by helping us identify keywords with high search intent, then scaling production around those topics.

Absolutely agree! If understanding our audience is job one for marketers, a thoughtful SEO strategy is table stakes. Search optimized content vs. quality content is a false dichotomy that serves nobody but the "thought leaders" who benefit from dangling click bait in the social media waters. Careful keyword research shines a light on what your readers crave — a critical first step in creating quality content.