How to align your SEO actions with your data and your content strategy?

By David Séjourné, VP SEO at Jellyfish

Yesterday’s SEO approaches are no longer enough to navigate our increasingly complex environment: the user journey is now fragmented across different devices and channels, which upends the way we need to think about our SEO strategies.

At SEO Square 9, I had the chance to share my perspective on these transformations. In this article, I invite you to explore how to adjust your SEO actions with an approach that is both content- and data-driven, so you can maximize your impact and your visibility with your users.

Understanding a fragmented digital ecosystem

Today, as you surely know, the user journey has become both complex and fragmented. Uses are diversifying: we move from a smartphone to a computer, then to a tablet, depending on the time of day and the context (commuting, at home, breaks at work). This multiplicity of screens therefore represents a major challenge when it comes to capturing and holding users’ attention, which is becoming increasingly volatile and increasingly scattered across platforms.

That’s right! We are now well beyond traditional searches on Google, since users are turning to social networks like TikTok, Instagram, YouTube Shorts, or even conversational assistants and LLMs such as ChatGPT to find answers to their questions. This dispersion of channels means we have to rethink our SEO approach to cover these different touchpoints.

Text content is no longer enough: why you need to evolve

Faced with this fragmentation, Google has had to evolve its SERPs to capture users’ attention. For several years now, these have no longer been limited to text but incorporate a variety of formats: images, videos, maps, rich snippets, shopping, and so on. This diversity is pushing brands to adapt, because text optimization alone is no longer enough to stand out.

Three approaches to adapt your SEO strategy

To help companies rise to these new challenges, here are three approaches to optimize our SEO strategies.

1. Find qualified opportunities

The first step is to identify high-potential semantic opportunities. Of course, classic approaches such as keyword research, competitor analysis, and using AI tools to spot trends remain essential, but it is just as crucial to explore less conventional avenues:

• Analyzing customer reviews, to understand users’ expectations and frustrations.
• Internal data, such as feedback from customer service, to refine your content strategy.
• Insights from conversations with other teams (product, marketing, insights) to align our SEO actions with the needs of the market.

To retain its audience, Google is becoming increasingly demanding about content quality. It is no longer just about ranking well; you have to meet users’ intentions with rich and diverse content, limit pogosticking (quickly returning to the results page after a click) and ensure the relevance and resonance of the content.

Yet many companies still focus solely on the ranking of their pages while forgetting essential aspects such as user experience (UX) and engagement after the click. And yet, it is high-quality content combined with a smooth experience that are the keys to staying at the top of the SERPs today (thanks, Google leaks)!

2. Engage users in the SERP

The work doesn’t stop at producing optimized content! It is just as important to analyze the SERP to understand the context in which you appear. SEA ads can sometimes get in the way of SEO traffic, even if you are ranking well.

To overcome this difficulty, I therefore recommend using pixel ranking tools to assess how far up your results appear on the page, especially on mobile, where visibility is more limited.

Lessons learned: for example, for competitive queries such as “loan September 2024”, we found at Jellyfish that paid ads took up all the space above the fold, making it hard to reach the organic results. Conversely, thanks to the SERP, a query like “rate September 2024” delivered far better-performing results.

3. Generate engagement after the SERP

To generate engagement once the user is on your platforms, here are the 4 steps that seem key to me in shaping your content strategy: meet expectations, differentiate, retain and build loyalty.

Meet expectations

Everything rests on two decisive elements: the sweet spot and the TILT.

• Sweet spot: this is about creating content that the brand is passionate about, where it is recognized, expert, and answers a market need. Example: creating tutorials to repair an object that would otherwise be costly to replace. This helps create a quality user experience and build customer loyalty!

• TILT (Targeted Interest Leverage Technique): this is the angle through which you approach content in a unique way to stand out and attract a specific audience. It includes the angle, the format and the uniqueness. For example, Red Bull invested in extreme sports, targeting a very precise audience that, because of this investment, will be more inclined to consume energy drinks.

Differentiate

SEO should not be treated as an isolated lever. It should be woven into the DNA of your brand. This is where Simon Sinek’s Golden Circle concept makes complete sense: start by understanding why you do what you do! This approach will help you create content that truly resonates with your audience.

Retain and build loyalty

SEO should not be treated as an isolated lever. It should be woven into the DNA of your brand. This is where Simon Sinek’s Golden Circle concept makes complete sense: start by understanding why you do what you do! This approach will help you create content that truly resonates with your audience.

Methodologies for lasting SEO results

To ensure long-term results, it is essential to structure your SEO actions around a rigorous framework:

1. Document each initiative with observations, challenges, actions, specific KPIs and results.
2. Distinguish global reporting from per-action reporting to measure the impact of each optimization precisely.
3. Test and optimize your content regularly to keep up with SERP changes and user expectations.

Conclusion: build your own SEO strategy!

To ensure long-term results, it is essential to structure your SEO actions around a rigorous framework:

In conclusion, my message is simple: build your own SEO approach, aligned with your brand and adapted to your market. As Bruce Lee said, “Be water, my friend”. Be flexible, constantly adapt to the new realities of digital, of your industry, of your company, and above all, never lose sight of the fact that the ultimate goal of SEO is to serve your users, not just to satisfy an algorithm.

David Séjourné

VP One Search Program lead at Jellyfish

An SEO and acquisition expert for nearly 15 years, David Séjourné manages Jellyfish’s Southern and Central Europe teams.