Lenny's Podcast: Product | Growth | Career

The ultimate guide to SEO | Ethan Smith (Graphite)

Dec 1, 2022

01:30:59

Snipd AI

Ethan Smith, CEO of Graphite, discusses when to invest in SEO, building an SEO team, and the three main buckets of SEO. He explains the difference between topics and keywords and provides tools for developing an SEO strategy. He also addresses roadblocks and resource advocacy. Other topics include debunking SEO myths, understanding Google's SEO algorithm, hiring strategies, and the importance of topical authority in SEO strategy.

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Quick takeaways

SEO should be prioritized over ads, as the traffic gained from SEO can equal or surpass that obtained from ads.

Understanding the addressable market and using comprehensive content with topics instead of just keywords are key to successful SEO.

Ranking in the top 20 for certain keywords and observing positive trends in rankings are early indicators of SEO progress.

For effective hiring in SEO, consider individuals with a growth background and technical skills for programmatic SEO, or young motivated candidates for editorial-focused SEO.

Deep dives

Relevance of SEO Over Ads

The speaker emphasizes the need to prioritize SEO over ads, noting that companies often over-resource ads and under-resource SEO. They argue that spending large amounts on ads while neglecting SEO doesn't make sense, as the amount of traffic gained from SEO can be equal to or even greater than that obtained from ads.

When to Invest in SEO?

03:41

Keyword clusters

03:08

What is programmatic editorial SEO?

02:44

Great sites and engagement should be optimized

02:19

Introduction

4min

The Journey into SEO and Growth

4min

Debunking SEO Myths

15min

Understanding and Reverse Engineering Google's SEO Algorithm

17min

SEO Results and Timeline

4min

Hiring Strategy for SEO Professionals

3min

Programmatic SEO and Finding the Right Person

21min

The Importance of Topical Authority in SEO Strategy

16min

Using GPT-3 for SEO: The Pros and Cons

4min

10.

Next Steps After the SEO Episode

2min

Ethan Smith is the CEO of Graphite, a boutique growth agency that’s helped companies like MasterClass, Thumbtack, Robinhood, Medium, and Honey develop and execute their SEO strategies. SEO is one of the least-understood levers for growth, while also one with the biggest payoff. This episode is a true master class on all things SEO. Ethan shares a wealth of information, including when you should begin investing in SEO, how to build an SEO team, and the three main buckets of SEO. He explains the difference between topics and keywords, gives the exact heuristics and tools to help you be successful in developing and implementing your own SEO strategy, and also goes deep on how to deal with roadblocks and advocate for resources.

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Find the full transcript here: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/the-ultimate-guide-to-seo-ethan-smith

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Where to find Ethan Smith:

• Twitter: https://twitter.com/ethan_l_s

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ethanls/

• Graphite: https://www.graphitehq.com/

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Where to find Lenny:

• Newsletter: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com

• Twitter: https://twitter.com/lennysan

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lennyrachitsky/