SEO, if it was a design problem

SEO used to be a term marketers tossed around.

They talk about how to rank higher on Google Search, choosing low difficulty, high search potential keywords, and obsessing over backlinks.

I led the SEO strategy at Helicone. I read a ton of online articles and spoke to a ton of people. I've come to realize it's actually a design problem.

The same principles that guide great product design, user empathy, problem discovery, competitive analysis, and thoughtful execution, also builds the foundation for content that naturally rises to the top.

Grab some tea, get comfy, let's redesign how we think about search!

Preface

There are a ton of articles out there on what SEO is, and how Google's search algorithm works.

This piece won't be for that. We'll talk about how to think about SEO as a design problem - because it'll simplify your life.

note: for the rest of the article, the terms "users" and "audience" are interchangeable.

Step 1: User Empathy

Before designing anything, we always conduct user research to get a better understanding of the problems people are trying to solve.

Finding topics to write about for SEO is the same. It requires a deep level of empathy, meeting your users where they're at.

If you think about how we design products, we don't start with "how can I make this look better?"

We start with "What problem are my users trying to solve?"

SEO works the exact same way.

• Where do our audience hang out? Reddit? Twitter? Discord?
• What are they talking about? (not what you think they're talking about)
• How many people are wondering about this? Is it niche?
• How urgent is this problem for them? Are they searching now?

Real empathy is leaving your bubble to spend time where your users are. Looking in subreddits, joining Discord servers, following the Twitter conversations. You might start to see the same questions pop up over and over.

Step 2: Problem Discovery

Once we understand our users, we can start identifying the actual problem they're trying to solve when they look for a solution on Google.

• What specific problem are they experiencing? What solution are they looking for?
• How are people currently solving it? (Or failing to)
• What's missing from the current solutions?

These "problems" are goldmines for SEO. Pressing problems make great topics for potentially high search traffic because they're actual user needs, hence more likely to be searched for. Not just keyword opportunities.

Step 3: Competitor Analysis

This step has to do with positioning & differentiating.

• How does your content differentiate from what's out there?
• Is your solution better? In what specific ways?
• More recent? With what new information?
• A different POV? From what unique angle?

If you can solve a problem better than existing content out there, it's likely Google Search will pick it up. The algorithm looks at engagement signals (time on page, bounce rate, etc.) to determine if users found what they needed.

By creating quality, actually helpful content, you naturally rank higher without having to keyword stuff.

Hot tips:

Analyze the top 3-5 results for your target search query. What are they missing? Where do they fall short? That's your opportunity to create something 10x better.

Step 4: Embellishment

Once we've got the substance right, it's time to make it feel good.

Keep it conversational

You're writing for another human being, not the algorithm. Use natural language. People are ultimately who influence the ranking of your writing.

Keep it updated

Google rewards content that is maintained and refreshed. The last updated date matters.

Make it easy to read

Nobody likes reading blocks of text. People come to find answers. Make it easy for them! Section your text with clear headings. Use bullet points liberally. Include visuals.

Keep it concise

Don't repeat the same thing over and over. Make your point, and move on.

Topic Clustering

One of the hardest problems is figuring out what to write. At first, it seems impossible:

• What if I run out of ideas?
• What if I don't know what my users want?
• What if I can't stand out from the crowd?

Until I learned about topic clustering - the idea of taking a broad topic and breaking it down into subtopics. For each subtopic, I can write a whole blog post dedicated to it.

On the pillar level, I'm aggregating content related to the same theme. Each section can become its own support blog post where I dive deeper and get technical.

The pillar page needs to be refreshed regularly. And what do you know! By adding more content, you increase the surface area of your site and create more entry points for search traffic!

GEO, the new kid in town

def. Generative Engine Optimization (GEO)

Influencing the AI search engines to mention your brand name in a positive light.

With the rise of AI search, we're seeing more and more people come to Helicone's site from ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity, Gemini, just to name a few.

This has completely disrupted the sleepy marketing world. The same SEO formula is no longer as effective.

In fact, the common SEO tactics like backlink building and keyword targeting simply don't help with GEO in the same way.

How does GEO work?

They use semantic search to understand meaning, not just keywords. They prioritize reliable, authoritative sources. They aim for comprehensive, nuanced answers. They often synthesize information from multiple sources.

This means your content strategy needs to evolve beyond keywords to focus on becoming the definitive source in your niche.

Search engine simplified

If you look up SEO and GEO, people talk about all sorts of things. Most are tactics, which are short-term and non-sustainable. Without an underlying strategy, you might find yourself typing the same thing into the search bar in 2 weeks:

How to improve my SEO?

It's actually rather simple:

• Create useful and comprehensive content.
• Genuinely write something you're proud of that delivers actual value.
• Understand who your writing benefits, and use their language to describe the problem.
• Find where your audience hang out, and share your content there.

The strategy isn't about gaming the algorithm anymore. Just like good design, it's about solving real problems for real people in the most helpful way possible.

More on this

If you're further along on the GEO journey, or have an alternative take, email me. I'd love to hear your thoughts!