Episode 551 SEO With Warren Laine Naida Offpage SEO

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Show Summary

This podcast episode featuring Warren Laine-Naida shares a discussion on off-page SEO, arguing that it has become more important than on-page efforts in the current digital landscape. The guest speaker suggests that with the rise of AI-powered search results and increasing use of social media for discovery, focusing solely on website optimization is an outdated approach. Instead, he emphasizes the value of being cited and mentioned across various platforms, highlighting the importance of conversational SEO and optimizing for where people are actually finding information.

Show Notes

Episode Overview:

This month, Warren Laine-Naida dives deep into the evolving world of SEO, arguing that the future (and present) lies firmly in Off-Page SEO. Forget the obsession with H1 tags and keyword density; the real key to getting found in today’s digital landscape is building visibility outside your own website. Warren challenges the traditional focus, exploring why your presence on social media, AI platforms, and high-authority sites matters more than ever.

Key Discussion Points:

• The Big Shift: Why Warren believes Off-Page SEO now trumps On-Page SEO, even if it ruffles some feathers.
• Beyond Your Website: Challenging the idea that all SEO must point directly to your site. It’s about being found, period.
• Cutting Through the Noise: Moving past “tech bro” SEO and focusing on the ultimate goal: discoverability by people who don’t know your name yet.
• The Rise of Zero-Click & AI:
  • With ~65% of searches ending without a click and AI Overviews (already 13% of Google searches) growing, traditional snippets are fading.
  • People are searching everywhere: YouTube, Amazon, eBay, Etsy, and directly within AI tools like ChatGPT, Grok, and Perplexity.
• What Doesn’t Matter (As Much): Structure, metadata, H1s, keyword density.
• What Does Matter:
  • Citations & Mentions: People talking about you and linking to you.
  • Content That Travels: Creating assets that get shared across platforms, chat rooms, and conversations.
  • Visibility & Authority: Building these off your website.
• SEO is SXO: It’s about the Search Experience, not just ranking.
• AI Citations: The new frontier – getting mentioned and embedded in AI-generated results.
• Social Search: Leveraging platforms like LinkedIn, Reddit, Facebook, Discord, and even TikTok as powerful search and discovery tools.
• Backlinks as Discovery: Viewing links less as ranking signals and more as pathways for human connection and discovery.
• The Role of Your Website: It’s not obsolete, but it’s now the endpoint for conversion (sales, sign-ups, leads), not the starting point for discovery.

Warren’s 2024 Off-Page SEO Strategy:

1. Publish on High-Crawl Platforms: Prioritize sites like LinkedIn and Medium where content gets indexed quickly.
2. Create for Citation: Develop content (articles, data, insights) that both humans and AI are likely to reference.
3. Embrace Sharable Content: Experiment with short-form video (YouTube Shorts, TikTok) for easy consumption and sharing.
4. Stay in the Conversation: Be active on relevant platforms (Yes, even Twitter X!). Don’t give up free visibility.
5. Optimize for AI: Actively work towards getting cited in AI results and featured in zero-click environments.
6. Publish Where Google Looks (If Needed): If search engine brand visibility is still key, focus on platforms Google currently favors (Reddit, LinkedIn, Medium, etc.).

Final Thoughts:

SEO isn’t dead; it’s evolving. We’re moving into an era of SXO (Search Experience Optimization). Stop assuming people will come to your website. Go where the people are – social media, AI platforms, online communities, and even offline spaces. Build conversations, share your expertise, and focus on making your content travel. Spend most of your time getting your message out there, not just perfecting the inside of your website.

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See you next month!