The 43rd episode of the DesignRush Podcast brings us a conversation with Andy Crestodina, one of the most renowned marketing voices in the business world.
Tune in to the show to learn:
- Why you shouldn’t start with SEO when creating new content, and what should you focus on first instead
- Why you should put something of visual interest at every scroll depth in the PC preview
- Why turning off all of your B2B ads for mobile will save you money
Who Is Andy Crestodina?
Andy Crestodina, CMO and co-founder at Orbit Media Studios, has been at the forefront of digital marketing innovation for the last two decades. With a deep-seated passion for SEO, analytics, and website optimization, Andy is highly regarded as a leading expert in the marketing world.
In 2024, SEO challenges content creators to go beyond visibility and foster real connections.
With 68% of online interactions starting from search engines, success hinges on high-quality content, user experience, and strategic linking – key factors in Google's ranking algorithm.
Speaking to DesignRush editor Vianca Meyer, Andy shared a surprising fact that he doesn't start his content creation process with SEO:
"I have a strong bias toward SEO. I've been an SEO specialist for 24 years, I love search and it's done wonderful things for my brand."
"However, I don't start with search when creating content. I start with my audience with the reader in focus. I care about prospects and being a helpful member of the community."
What Does the Best Content Creation Process Look Like?
Thinking about what to write has given headaches to all content creators at least at some point in their career.
Andy explains his process for deciding on the topic he'll cover:
"So I first think about the topic, and then I ask myself, what are the best promotion channels for this topic? Frequently, it's something that people might be searching for."
"Sometimes it's not what people are searching for – in this case, I look for other channels to promote it."
Andy gives us an example to prove his point:
"I wrote an article about best practices for an About Us page. People look for that. That's a keyword opportunity. I start to optimize that article."
"One other time I wrote an article involving 27 pictures of marketers desks. What are their cameras like there, in their microphones? Nobody is looking for that. It's an unexpected, but highly visual topic."
"It's collaborative. It's got influencers in it. Perfect for social – so there's a topic channel fit, and not everything is a keyword opportunity."
According to Andy, not every topic has an SEO component to it. If it’s SERP, marketers should be highly focused on keywords and semantic SEO.
If not, you shouldn't worry about keywords at all – simply write the content and promote it through your marketing channels.
Focus on the Basics – Don't Worry About Google Updates
Google's latest Helpful Content Update from March prioritizes user-centric content, shifting focus from SEO tactics to relevance and engagement of what's written, enhancing both readability and user interaction.
If it's a keyword opportunity you're seeing, you need to check the following criteria:
- You've validated the fact that someone is looking for this
- You've found a potential primary target keyphrase
- You've checked to confirm that you have some chance of ranking for it
When all of this is done, now's the time to think about search intent.
As Andy explains:
"Does this keyword have information intent, in which case it's going to be an article? People are just looking for it. It's something that you're answering questions. It's educational content."
"Is it a keyword with commercial intent? This is going to be a service page. We're going to rank for this. It's a money phrase, search, see it, click, land, might be prospects."
We agree that every keyword = intent.
"Every keyword equals intent. I think that's a very important starting point for search."
"When you're constructing the content, I don't believe we should compromise the flow or the topic to the extent that it hurts the user experience, because search isn't about ranking."
"Search is about qualified traffic that takes action – traffic that's engaged."
There's a Problem with the Traditional SEO Approach
Andy shares the unpopular opinion that many other SEO experts often write about: There's a problem with the traditional SEO approach which focuses purely on rankings.
"There's a big problem with SEO. I think SEO is too focused on rankings – this is why Google comes out with something called the Helpful Content Update," Andy notes.
"What, as if now you realize content should be helpful? Or EEAT – now you realize that your content should be trusted?"
"It's absurd that these are even topics that the SEO community talks about. Why weren't you always focused on being helpful and adding trust and expertise?"
It's ridiculous, Andy concludes.
READ MORE: DesignRush Study Shows How SEO Is Evolving in 2024
Write the Best Possible Page You Can
10X good content gives 100X benefits for your website, our SEO experience teaches us.
Andy explores why effective SEO prioritizes audience needs over keywords:
"I don't go read all the current high-ranking things. I write the best possible page I can make on that topic. It's an exhaustive authority piece on about-page best practices or whatever I'm writing."
However, Andy confirms he's doing a couple of extra SEO steps once he's done creating his piece:
- Did I answer all the related questions?
- Did I incorporate all semantically related phrases that I touched on all the subtopics?
"I'll spend probably an hour spiffing it up to improve its relevance after I've crafted the best piece I possibly can."
The bottom line and the opinion I share with Andy is that if you don't make the best piece of content on the internet for your topic, you don't deserve the right to rank.
As Andy concludes:
"You're trying to trick a robot and that's boring. You should reconsider what you do for a living. I'm being blunt, but I feel that pretty strongly."
If you've found this article insightful, I suggest you listen till the end of our conversation on Spotify:
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