SEO

Search engine optimisation (SEO) is getting found in search results without paying for ads. It is free in clicks but takes time and consistency to build.

Chapters25 Tools22 About

Chapters

Article8 min
Authority is borrowed, so earn links by being worth citing
Promote a finished guide in four steps: share it on your own channels, earn links in communities, swap value with partners and get listed on resource pages.
Article2 min
Common failures
The usual ways SEO goes wrong, from chasing volume over buyer intent to orphan pages with no links, and the fix for each one.
Article2 min
Earn the answer with depth a competitor cannot fake
Google now spots rewritten competitor content, so rank with what only you know: real numbers, processes you have run and mistakes you paid for.
Article2 min
Engine 1: a few deep pages that earn authority
The first engine is a handful of deep, first-hand pages with real proof, written by hand, that earn the authority the rest relies on.
Article2 min
Engine 2: programmatic pages that scale without writing
Programmatic SEO turns a database row and a template into a useful page, repeated at scale, spending the authority your deep pages earned.
Article2 min
FAQs
Expect six to twelve months before organic content brings pipeline, and run paid ads alongside it rather than instead of it.
Article2 min
Get cited, not just ranked: the GEO layer
Buyers increasingly ask AI engines instead of clicking links, so aim to be the source the answer quotes. Generative engine optimisation for B2B.
Article1 min
Match the intent behind the query, or nothing else matters
Search the term and read page one before writing, because the format Google already ranks tells you which kind of answer the searcher wants.
Article1 min
Measure pipeline and patience, not last week's ranking
Judge search work by organic pipeline and revenue on a slow monthly cadence, not by daily rankings that tempt you to quit before it pays.
Article1 min
Organic traffic is a demand-capture engine, not a vanity number
Traffic is only the means. Aim organic content at terms attached to buyers, since qualified pipeline is the goal and ranking for students is a trophy.
Article2 min
Start this week
Three first moves for the coming days, starting with one topic you can own completely, because the asset compounds only once you ship.
Article1 min
Technical foundations are table stakes, so clear them once and move on
The technical side of SEO is a floor you cross once. Make every page crawlable, fast and cleanly indexed, then return to content and links.
Article2 min
The 5-hour week: the repeatable loop
One weekly loop of a few focused hours, split between writing pages only you can write and the editing, publishing, linking and distribution.
Article2 min
The AI sandwich: how to use AI without getting bottom-rated
Use AI in the middle only: a human sets the angle and experience, AI drafts, a human edits and verifies, or Google rates the page low.
Article2 min
The asset, not the factory
A content team is rented output that stops when you stop paying. SEO built as an asset keeps earning from pages you made once.
Article2 min
The reframe: you're not short a content team, you're short an angle
You are not short of writers, you are short of an angle, and an angle is the one thing a content team could never give you.
Article2 min
Why the old playbook is dead (and why that's good news for you)
AI Overviews now answer generic explainer queries before the click, which ends the old model and favours founders with real experience.
Article1 min
Win the cluster, not the keyword
Plan in topic clusters: one pillar page covering the subject, linked to focused pages that each answer one sub-question in depth.
Article2 min
Your unfair advantage: experience Google can't fake
Google added an E for experience to its quality framework, rewarding first-hand knowledge that a solo founder has and content farms cannot fake.
Article11 min
How to define your SEO content strategy
Set a traffic goal, group keywords by intent, and build a strategic content pillar map that scales with clear launch plans ready to execute.
Article7 min
How to build a content production workflow
Turn your organic-growth strategy into a production system. Track ideas, score by impact, move through workflow, and publish on time consistently.
Article6 min
How to create high-quality content
Write content that educates, engages, and converts with clear transformation. Create for one reader with proof, optimise for search, drive qualified traffic.
Article11 min
How to optimise content for SEO and AI
Turn high-quality articles into discoverable assets. Craft title tags, schema, internal links, add llms.txt, fix speed, and rank in search and AI.
Article5 min
How to repurpose content efficiently
Convert every long-form guide into LinkedIn posts, carousels, videos, and podcast snippets in minutes with AI prompts and reusable templates.
Article6 min
How to promote content for organic reach
Launch your repurposed assets with a step-by-step plan. Time email blasts, social drops, community posts, and engage for 60 minutes per launch.

Tools

ToolClient acquisition
Ahrefs
Combines backlink analysis, keyword research, rank tracking and technical audits built on an extensive web index.
SEO
Free plan
Sign up on Ahrefs
ToolClient acquisition
Ahrefs Brand Radar
Tracks brand mentions and visibility across AI answer engines like ChatGPT, Gemini and Google AI Overviews.
SEO
Free plan
Sign up on Ahrefs Brand Radar
Tool
ChatGPT
Answers questions, writes, researches, analyses and codes via web and desktop apps with built-in search and grounding.
AI agents
Free plan
Sign up on ChatGPT
ToolClient acquisition
Clearscope
Grades content on keyword and topic coverage ranked by Google, using AI analysis of competing top-ranking pages.
SEO
Sign up on Clearscope
ToolClient acquisition
Close
Brings calling, SMS, and email directly into a sales CRM with pipeline management for high-volume outbound.
CRM
Sign up on Close
ToolClient acquisition
Frase
Research competitors, draft long-form content and optimise it for Google and generative search.
SEO
Sign up on Frase
ToolClient acquisition
Google Ads
Manage paid search and display advertising campaigns, tracking spend, clicks, and conversions by account.
Paid search
Sign up on Google Ads
ToolClient acquisition
Google Analytics
Measure website and app traffic, user behaviour, conversions, and revenue with free event-based analytics.
Tracking
Free plan
Sign up on Google Analytics
ToolClient acquisition
Google Search Console
Monitor your organic search performance with impressions, clicks, and search queries per site.
SEO
Free plan
Sign up on Google Search Console
ToolClient acquisition
HubSpot
Combines CRM, marketing, sales and customer service around a shared contact database with a free tier.
CRM
Free plan
Sign up on HubSpot
ToolClient acquisition
LinkedIn
Professional network where B2B founders and sellers research, connect with and reach out to decision-makers.
Outbound
Free plan
Sign up on LinkedIn
Tool
Looker Studio
Build interactive dashboards and reports from Google Analytics, Ads and hundreds of other data sources free.
Data
Free plan
Sign up on Looker Studio
ToolClient acquisition
Otterly.AI
Monitor how your brand appears inside AI search results across ChatGPT, Perplexity, Google AI and Copilot.
SEO
Sign up on Otterly.AI
ToolClient acquisition
Peec AI
Monitor how your brand appears in AI search answers across ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity and other engines.
SEO
Sign up on Peec AI
Tool
Perplexity
Get instant answers to questions backed by live web search results and inline source citations.
Tech stack
Free plan
Sign up on Perplexity
ToolClient acquisition
Profound
Tracks how AI assistants describe your brand and recommends content changes to improve those answers.
SEO
Sign up on Profound
ToolClient acquisition
Scrunch AI
Monitor how your brand appears in AI search and serve optimised pages to AI crawlers.
SEO
Sign up on Scrunch AI
ToolClient acquisition
SEMrush
Unify keyword research, backlink analysis, technical audits and rank tracking in one dashboard.
SEO
Free plan
Sign up on SEMrush
ToolClient acquisition
Semrush AI Toolkit
Track how your brand appears in AI search answers and measure your share of voice.
SEO
Sign up on Semrush AI Toolkit
ToolClient acquisition
SurferSEO
Optimise your content in real time with recommendations based on top-ranking search results.
SEO
Sign up on SurferSEO
ToolClient acquisition
Webflow
Builds responsive websites visually with a built-in CMS and ecommerce, producing HTML, CSS and JavaScript.
Website
Free plan
Sign up on Webflow
Tool
Zapier
Connects web applications and automates workflows using event triggers and actions without writing code.
Automation
Free plan
Sign up on Zapier

About this playbook

SEO is how you get traffic from search engines by creating content that answers what people search for. It takes months to build but traffic is free and predictable once you have it. Learn what search engines want, how to do keyword research, how to write for people and search, and how to measure progress and find what works.