How to SEO for your Ideal Customer (9 step checklist):

"Know thy customer".

If you don't, your SEO will suffer.

Here's a proven SOP to follow:

1. Demographics
• Pinpoint age, location, income, and education level of your target audience.
• Let it tailor your content tone, formality, and relevance.

2. Search Intent
• Identify whether they’re looking for information, comparing options, or ready to buy.
• Match content type (e.g., blog post, comparison page, or product page) to their intent.

3. Pain Points
• Understand the main challenges or problems they’re facing.
• Address these directly in content to provide valuable solutions.

4. Preferred Content Types
• Know if they prefer blogs, videos, reviews, or infographics.
• Shape your content strategy around these formats for higher engagement.

5. Buying Motivation
• Determine what drives their purchase decisions (e.g., quality, price, or convenience).
• Highlight these motivators in product descriptions and CTAs.

6. Common Keywords
• Discover keywords your persona frequently searches for.
• Use these in content, headings, and meta descriptions to align with their queries.

7. Objections and Barriers
• Identify reasons why they might hesitate to buy (e.g., cost, trust, lack of knowledge).
• Create FAQ or educational content to address these concerns.

8. Preferred Channels
• Know where they spend time online, like social media or forums.
• Share and promote content where they’re most active to drive traffic.

9. Decision-Making Process
• Understand if their decisions are quick, or if they compare extensively first.
• Offer resources like comparison guides or testimonials to aid their process.

---

What did I miss?

♻️ REPOST so others can learn too.

P.S. Join 6,500+ on my weekly SEO newsletter: connorgillivan.com/newsletter. 1. Demographics

Age, location, income, and education level of your target audience.
Helps tailor content tone, formality, and relevance.

My 7 "MUST Make" Lead Magnets for 2025:

Your website traffic only goes so far.

You need lead magnets to "convert" visitors into:

- email subscribers
- scheduled calls
- free trial sign ups
- email inquiries

Steal my 7 favorite lead magnets and do it yourself: 1. eBooks & Comprehensive Guides
Why it works: Saves time and simplifies processes.

Tips for 2025:
— Make templates customizable (e.g., editable in Canva or Google Sheets).
— Target industry-specific pain points.

Examples:
— “AI in Marketing: What You Need to Know”

How I "steal" backlinks from my top competitors:

Ready to be a backlink "thief"?

Let's dive into it: Step 1: Search Competitor in Ahrefs

- Use Site Explorer
- Search top competitor’s domain
- Head to the “Backlinks” tab
- Sort by “DoFollow” & filter by URL Rating 30+

Now you’ve got a full list of the sites linking to them.

Steal my 7 Favorite SEO ChatGPT Prompts: 1. SEO Content Ideas

"You're an SEO expert with 10+ years of experience. Build a list of 100+ relevant subtopics using the hub and spoke method for the keyword: “SEO content creation.”

My Winning SEO Funnel Strategy (BOFU, MOFU, TOFU):

To win in SEO, you need to go after the right keywords.

And you need to understand how the SEO funnel works.

So you go after keywords that actually create revenue.

Here's the breakdown: TOFU

→ “Top of funnel”
→ To build awareness.
→ People learning a topic. Not looking to purchase.
→ Builds authority w/ educational content
→ Most impacted by Google’s AI Overviews
→ Ex: “what is link building in seo?”

How to Start SEO from Scratch with AI (5 simple steps):

If you're a business owner, marketer, or SEO, this is for you.

Follow these 5 steps w/ Writesonic to jumpstart your SEO. 1/ Build a Hub and Spoke Map

- Prompt: "Create a Hub and Spoke map for {insert website URL}. Break it down into 5 main Hubs and 3-5 Spokes per Hub."
- Output: You'll get areas of content to focus your keyword research and SEO efforts on.

Today, I’m sharing an incredible SEO resource from Greg Heilers.

Greg is an SEO Expert and a Founder of Jolly SEO.

I found his link building course in early 2024 and it BLEW my mind.

For all of you, he’s offering the course for $0 (normally $99).

Here’s what you’ll learn: 1/ Profile Optimization

Ensure homepage features real About page with photo, bio, and contact info.

Use branded email address with headshot and signature linking back to website.

How I'm using AI to improve my SEO sales, onboarding, & strategy meetings:

(Use these 9 features of @NottaOfficial to save HOURS of your time) @NottaOfficial 1/ Recording Meetings

I capture any SEO sales, onboarding, or strategy meetings.
I can record Zoom, Google Meet, and Microsoft Teams with audio and video, so there’s always a record.

Steal my On Page SEO Checklist (21 steps for TOP content): Step 1: Add the keyword to your URL

Edit your URL so that the keyword is the focal point.
Keep it simple & memorable.

AI is changing SEO in a BIG way. The "old" way of SEO doesn't work anymore. If I was starting SEO today with a minimal budget and wanted legit traffic and leads, here's how I'd tap into AI: Forget the old ways:

• Keyword stuffing
• Backlink volume
• Manual data analysis

Embrace the new approach with AI:

• Predictive analysis
• Content optimization
• User intent understanding
• Real-time data adjustments

Step-by-step Ultimate Guide to become an SEO Expert in 2025:

I was inspired when I saw this breakdown by @aleyda.

She laid out the SEO learning process so accurately & succinctly.

Whether you're a marketer or business owner this guide will take you from ZERO to HERO in SEO. @aleyda 1. LEARN SEO FUNDAMENTALS
- Introduction to SEO
- Keyword Research
- Competition Analysis
- Content Optimization
- Technical Optimization
- Link Building

SEO is like a game...there's levels.

The more you level up, the better the game gets.

Let me break each level down for you: Level #1: Beginner

• Keyword stuffing (oh no!)
• Fixing basic meta tags
• Copying top-ranking pages

Steal my AI SEO Keyword Research Process: Step 1: Start with a Seed Keyword

Start with what your tool actually does.

Pick 2-3 core keywords like: “calendar software”, “appointment scheduling tool”, “small business calendar app”

🔍 Prompt:
“Give me 25 long-tail keywords related to ‘calendar app for small business’.”

SEO shouldn't be overwhelming.

Approach it in 90 day "sprints" then adjust based on the data.

Steal this "unlock" I've been using for 10+ years...

I hear it all the time:

"I want to start SEO, but where do I start?"

I'm putting an end to this question.

Follow these 5 steps: 2 Hour SEO Audit

▪️ Research your website's SEO w/ Ahrefs or Semrush.

▪️ Analyze your Domain Rating. 0-100 scale.

▪️ Look at what keywords you're already ranking for.

▪️ Research potential keywords you should target.

▪️ Understand your backlink profile & current strength

SEOs & Marketers, steal these 6 copywriting formulas for writing better SEO, ad, & website copy:

📄 BOOKMARK & ♻️ REPOST to spread the knowledge.

Shout out to @ecomchasedimond for originally putting this together 🙏

Let's go through each one: @ecomchasedimond 1/ AIDA

- Attention, Interest, Desire, Action
- “Discover the secret of smooth skin. Loved by thousands. Why wait? Try now!”

Want to rank #1 on Google?

The #1 spot on Google isn’t won, it’s earned.

You need to clear 5 SEO "levels" to rank #1.

Here's your roadmap to SEO success: Level 1: Analyze Competition

See who's already ranking top 10.
What's their DR?
What type of content?
Do you stand a chance right now?

Skills Gained: Competitive Analysis and Content gap Idenftification

SEO is the marathon, PPC is the sprint, and email is the follow-up.

Each plays a unique role in your marketing strategy.

Here’s a breakdown of SEO vs. PPC vs. Email Marketing:

The right mix can transform your business. SEO:

- Cost effective long term
- Drives organic traffic
- Depends on Google
- Higher conversions
- Long term investment

6 Best SEO Courses to Become a Certified SEO:

Get certified by the world's best SEO institutions online.

(Shout out to Anna York for this killer graphic. Go give her a follow if this post resonated.)

To succeed in SEO, you need to keep leveling up.
--> There's no better time than now.

Here's what to expect: 1. Yoast - Free SEO training for beginners
↳Best if you're totally new to SEO and blogging.

- SEO for beginners’
- WordPress for beginners
- Yoast SEO for beginners

Link: lnkd.in/emheMcAK

I started SEO for my business EcomBalance in 2023. In 2 years, it's skyrocketed to 10,000+ traffic/mo. Here's exactly how I did it: Step #1: Found the right keywords

- I analyzed my top competitors.
- I found high intent, BOFU keywords.
- I created a keyword research sheet.
- I prioritized which were most important.

Google Search Console is GOLD for "SEO tracking".

It's free. It tracks data daily. And there's endless insights.

Unfortunately, most don't even know it exists.

Let's put a stop to the madness. Here's my SOP for it: 1. Log into Google Search Console.

- If you don't have an account set up yet, do it in 30 mins. It's super easy.
- If you do, simply log in to get access to all of your GSC data.

Backlinks are key to SEO success, but getting them right isn’t easy.

ChatGPT simplifies the process, helping you find high-quality, relevant backlinks.

I’ve put together my SEO backlink cheat sheet using ChatGPT’s power.

Here’s how to build a strong backlink profile w/ AI: Custom SEO Backlink GPTs

Tools:

1/ Free Backlink Finder
chatgpt.com/g/g-PXQJuT6BS-…

2/ Serpstat SEO Tool
chatgpt.com/g/g-DGSpNhxyW-…

3/ SEO Link Insertion PRO
chatgpt.com/g/g-CsUnCOA6p-…

4/ HARO Backlink Generator
chat.openai.com/g/haro-backlin…