Optimize

Join Nate Matherson as he sits down with Shaun Hinklein for the seventh episode of the Optimize podcast. Shaun is currently the Head of SEO at Ramp, with previous notable experiences leading teams at Squarespace and Jet.com. This episode breaks down SEO KPIs and goal setting, crafting buyer journeys, and user experience optimization. Have your notepad handy as Shaun and Nate openly share techniques and outline frameworks that drive conversions at scale. For more information please visit www.positional.com, or email us at podcast@positional.com.Resources:Join Positional’s Private Beta Here: www.positional.comCheck in with Nate on LinkedIn & TwitterCheck in with Shaun on LinkedinWhat To Listen For:02:40 Shaun’s Background04:56 Shaun’s Thoughts on SEO Team Composition07:45 Ramp’s Competitive Landscape: FinTech Startups & Legacy Companies09:47 How To Craft SEO Buyer Journys That Convert13:11 SEO is Cross-Functional15:23 Are Cross-Functional SEO Relationships Mutually Beneficial?17:13 What Does It Mean To Build Topical Authority18:46 How To Set KPIs & SEO Goal Setting27:26 How To Prioritize Revisiting & Optimizing Content29:23 Shaun Speaks Pros & Cons of AI-Generated Content31:24 Are Backlinks Important In 2023?34:00 Are Internal Links Worth Doing?35:06 Lightning Question Round

Join Nate Matherson as he sits down with Dave Rathmanner for the sixth episode of the Optimize podcast. Dave is the founder of Upper9Media and manages a portfolio of websites including OddsAssist, LaxDrip, Delaware Sports Bets, and Lacrosse Lines. This episode highlights the latest trends in SEO, showcases strategies you can replicate on your own portfolio, and debates the technical aspects of SEO. Get ready for an eye-opening episode as Dave and Nate discuss strategies for revisiting and optimizing content, debate on the importance of backlinks, and reveal insights into the power of storytelling. For more information please visit www.positional.com, or email us at podcast@positional.com. Resources:Join Positional’s Private Beta Here: www.positional.comCheck in with Nate on LinkedIn & TwitterCheck in with Dave on Linkedin & Twitter & https://upper9media.com/ What To Listen For:03:06 Dave’s Background05:45 Dave Reflects: Technical Changes to Organic Search + SEO Since 201408:13 Dave Reflects: Changing Costs of Organic Search 2014 to Present10:43 What Does A Piece of Content Cost In 2023?11:55 Revisiting Previously Published Content15:56 Are Backlinks Important In 2023?21:52 Techniques to Building Backlinks (Small + Large Scale)23:40 Storytelling: How to Capitalize on Free Data Sources & Current News Cycle28:01 How To: Get A Journalist To Pickup Your Content30:08 Is AI Content Valuable?37:02 Is SEO Finally Dead?41:33 Lightning Question Round

Join Nate Matherson as he sits down with Jeffrey Trull for the fifth episode of the Optimize podcast. Jeffrey is an SEO veteran and agency owner with over 10 years of experience in the industry. He was employee #4 at Student Loan Hero and played a pivotal role in building their organic search strategy, which ultimately led to the startup being acquired by Lending Tree for a reported $60 million. In episode #5, Jeffrey and Nate revisit Student Loan Hero’s SEO journey, chat about Google's E-E-A-T guidelines, and discuss how you can create link bait to generate thousands of backlinks organically. For more information please visit www.positional.com, or email us at podcast@positional.com.Resources:Join Positional’s Private Beta Here: www.positional.comCheck in with Nate on LinkedIn & TwitterCheck in with Jeffrey on LinkedIn & Twitter & https://www.impactfullymedia.com/  What to Listen For:2:44 Jeffrey's Background4:45 Jeffrey Path: Building His Own Finance Blog to Working at Student Loan Hero6:58 Student Loan Hero: The Most Expensive 301 Redirect of All Time8:34 Jeffrey Reflects: Changes to Organic Search + SEO Since 201410:02 Rebuilding Student Loan Hero In 2023: Crazy or Doable?11:50 Importance & Value of Search Intent13:28 Launching an Agency (Impactfully Media)16:10 Jeffrey talks about building Link Bait 20:38 What is Fantastic Content?21:47 The Benefits of Refreshing Previously Published Content24:01 Legacy Publishers: Parasite SEO or Expanding Markets?26:50 AI Content: A Viable Strategy?30:31 What does a piece of content cost in 2023?31:53 What is an Effective Outline?33:38 The Death of SEO?, Impacts of Google's upcoming UX/UI changes, and E-E-A-T35:16 AI-Generated Snippets37:12 Page Views Don’t Equal Dollars38:48 Lightning Question Round

Join Nate Matherson as he sits down with John-Henry Scherck for the fourth episode of the Optimize podcast. JH is the founder of Growth Plays, an SEO consultancy focused on B2B content strategy. As a foremost expert in B2B content marketing and SEO, he frequently serves as a growth marketing consultant to high-performing SaaS companies. JH has worked with a number of incredible startups like LaunchDarkly, Hopin, Lattice, and Heap among many others. In episode #4, JH and Nate chat about mapping buyer journey's, building an SEO channel to will actually drive additional pipeline, technical SEO at scale, and how organic search is and isn't changing in 2023. For more information please visit www.positional.com, or email us at podcast@positional.com.Resources:Join Positional’s Private Beta Here: www.positional.comCheck in with Nate on LinkedIn & TwitterCheck in with JH on LinkedIn & Twitter & https://growthplays.comWhat to Listen For:2:35 JH's Background4:51 JH on why he started an SEO and content marketing agency8:21 What makes content marketing and SEO channels so powerful for B2B or SaaS companies?13:00 How to measure SEO campaign success15:35 Conversion Rate Optimization19:10 How long does it take to build a meaningful organic search channel?23:19 How important are backlinks in 2023?30:52 JH's commentary on how to think about topical relevance and authority34:00 What does a piece of content cost in 2023?40:06 The Importance of Technical SEO and Internal Links43:09 Does Anchor Text Matter In 2023?45:17 Is SEO Dead? What are the impacts of Google's upcoming UX/UI changes and SGE?50:24 Lightning Question Round

Join Nate Matherson as he sits down with Tyler Hakes for the third episode of the Optimize podcast. Tyler is the founder of Optimist, a content marketing and SEO agency focused on startups and growth-stage businesses. Tyler has worked with a number of incredible startups like Sendbird, Submittable, and HelloSign. In this episode, we explore how organic search is changing, including what Tyler has coined AI and Dark Search. Tyler and Nate dive deep into building topical authority, relevance, and Google's new Search Generative Experience (SGE). For more information please visit www.positional.com, or email us at podcast@positional.com. You can reach Tyler at www.yesoptimist.com, or connect with him on LinkedIn.

I'm excited to announce that Aakash Shah is our second guest on the Optimize podcast. Aakash is a fellow Y-Combinator alum and the Co-founder/CEO of Wyndly. Over the last 18 months, he has scaled Wyndly's content and SEO channel quickly with their website generating over 100k / visitors per month from organic search. I enjoyed learning throughout the episode about how Wyndly has leveraged video content as a way to improve rankings and scale organic search traffic to their blog posts. As an added bonus, Aakash went on to tell me about their novel approach to doing keyword research with TikTok. For more information please visit www.positional.com, or email us at podcast@positional.com. You can reach Aakash at www.wyndly.com, or connect with him on LinkedIn.

Ryan Bednar, Founder of RankScience, discusses the ever-changing world of organic search, covering perspectives on content development, value of backlinks in 2023, and the pros & cons of building content marketing and SEO channels in-house vs. with an agency.