Rethinking SEO Content Strategy pt. 2 — Loren McKechnie // Palo Alto Networks

Loren McKechnie, Head of SEO at Palo Alto Networks, talks about rethinking SEO content strategy. As technology continues to evolve, so does the world of SEO content strategy. With the rise of AI and machine learning, there has been a significant shift in the way businesses approach content production and keyword research. Today, Loren continues the discussion on rethinking your approach to SEO content strategy.
About the speaker

Loren McKechnie

Palo Alto Networks

 - Palo Alto Networks

Loren is Head of SEO at Palo Alto Networks

Show Notes

  • 01:52
    Overcoming barriers in enterprise content production
    First, enterprise companies must define the problem and focus on the customer journey. SEOs should own all areas of the site from a customer perspective and use data to develop a plan to create content that addresses their needs.
  • 05:07
    Common challenges with SEO alignment in content production
    The biggest challenge is the focus on last-touch attribution, which doesn't accurately represent the customer's journey. However, multi-touch and first-touch attribution must be taken into consideration to accurately assess the effectiveness of SEO.
  • 08:25
    Aligning SEO goals with business strategy and customer intent
    The model of attribution should align with the growth plan and internal currency and SEO goals may focus on traffic or revenue depending on the company's strategy. Its crucial to have SEO content at each stage of the customer journey and prioritize intent over high search volume keywords.
  • 13:53
    Focusing on total traffic vs keywords for SEO success
    Consider the totality of traffic and prioritize the intent of the user over high search volume keywords. Testing should be conducted through collaboration between paid search and SEO, and it's important to look at all keywords related to the root word you care about.
  • 17:11
    Improving cross functional alignment in the content creation process
    Aggregated data is not reliable as it does not provide insights into how it was collected or the audience it represents. However, SEOs can collaborate with other teams, such as the product team, to gain insights into customer problems that keyword research cannot provide.
  • 21:24
    Using keyword stuffing as an SEO strategy
    Keyword stuffing is not a recommended SEO strategy. While it's important to have relevant keywords on a page, keyword density should not be the sole focus. Meeting user intent and providing a good user experience are more important factors in ranking well on search engines.
  • 23:33
    AIs ability to replace human content creators in enterprise content production
    The use of machine learning and big data in SEO can create feedback loops that are often misguided, leading to an echo chamber effect. It's unclear how much weight AI gives to SEO-driven content, and the correlation between what we know and the top five search results is likely high.
  • 24:49
    The importance of thorough keyword research for SEO content creation
    When hiring an SEO, it is recommended to ask them about keyword research as the definition varies by SEO. While some may focus on forecasting traffic, others may prioritize ranking and competition analysis, but keyword research is crucial for effective SEO content creation.

Quotes

  • "The purpose of your website is to pre-sell everything and get the customer where they need to be going, not where you want the customer to go, which is usually how it's done." -Loren McKechnie, Head of SEO, Palo Alto Networks

  • "As an SEO, to get the team playing together, you have to speak in the currency of the company. That may be customers, new subscriptions, revenue, margin, etc." -Loren McKechnie, Head of SEO, Palo Alto Networks

  • "When I look at some sites, there are 100,000 different keywords driving traffic. So I doubt that we can pick the top 20 keywords that we care about, and that drive the business." -Loren McKechnie, Head of SEO, Palo Alto Networks

  • "Think about your traffic as a whole. Think about all the keywords that include a root word you care about, not just the two iterations you think are the right iterations of that keyword." -Loren McKechnie, Head of SEO, Palo Alto Networks

  • "All aggregate data is crap, because when you aggregate it, you lose the understanding of how it was collected from the scientific method." -Loren McKechnie, Head of SEO, Palo Alto Networks

  • "Most challenges are overcome by thinking about how the customer thinks, and then thinking about where in your organization knows about that customer." -Loren McKechnie, Head of SEO, Palo Alto Networks

  • "If you have an SEO or you're going to hire an SEO, ask them about keyword research, because it means something different to every SEO." -Loren McKechnie, Head of SEO, Palo Alto Networks

  • "At a really large website, you could spend three months or more, if they don't have any of the infrastructure, creating and doing keyword research." -Loren McKechnie, Head of SEO, Palo Alto Networks

About the speaker

Loren McKechnie

Palo Alto Networks

 - Palo Alto Networks

Loren is Head of SEO at Palo Alto Networks

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