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I recently had the pleasure of joining Michal Suski from Surfer SEO for a live conversation focusing on what drives SEO success going into 2025. We touched on several interlocking pillars of SEOâbrand-building, topical authority, content quality, and overall user experience. We went deep on why âbrandâ is such a powerful ranking factor and how it ties in with creating real expertise-based content.
At Notebook Agency and through my newsletter, SEO Notebook, Iâve seen firsthand how Google favors businesses that generate genuine brand searches. One of the best hacks I shared is that consistently posting job adsâeven if youâre only building a candidate poolâcan encourage more branded searches from curious job seekers⌠the main hack mentioned in the email is not NOT post your company website and make candidates Google your company instead so that we đ brand searches.
We also explored how looking at your Search Console data tells you exactly where to focus your efforts. My guiding principle is simple: double down on whatâs already working before getting sidetracked by less-promising areas.
We also dove into the concept of âconsensus scoresââGoogleâs move to fact-check and validate passages against trusted sources. I shared my Fact Checking Agent GPT as well. I also pointed out how, in an age of AI and content commoditization, showing real expertise with verifiable facts can give you an edge. In the same vein, we discussed internal linking as not just an SEO tactic but a way to guide users toward content that enriches their journey. This approach keeps people on your site longer and tells Google your content genuinely serves their needs.
We also touched on content velocity. For newer sites or lower-authority domains, you need a more measured content velocity. At FreshBooks, we could launch hundreds of posts at once because we had the domain strengthâfew can do that without trust already established. Regardless, it all boils down to building a recognizable brand, using data from GSC to guide your focus, enriching each piece with true expertise, and never forgetting the userâs perspective. From what Iâve seen, that holistic approach is the clearest path to consistent and lasting SEO gainsânow and into 2025.
Prefer to watch instead?
https://www.youtube.com/live/8YIMoV4NkUA
Below is a condensed set of insights covering the core ideas and strategies from the discussion.